American Football Quotes
This collection of (serious) quotes is from american football. For other football codes, see quotes from AFL, Rugby and Soccer. Lots of quotes from Vince Lombardi. The quotes are grouped below by theme.
On Winning and Losing
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.
When you win, nothing hurts.
You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you'll lose again, and then losing becomes a habit.
You are what your record says you are.
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.
It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.
Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal.
The most famous football quote of all — "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" — is usually credited to Lombardi, but it was not his. It belongs to UCLA coach Henry "Red" Sanders, who was using it by 1950. Lombardi popularised it and later said he had been misquoted, insisting that what he meant was closer to "winning isn't everything, but the will to win is."
On Hard Work and Preparation
It's not the will to win that matters — everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters.
Confidence doesn't come out of nowhere. It's a result of something ... hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.
The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.
Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't.
There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
Super Bowl the major event in the world of American FootballOn Teamwork
People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.
Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
Football Is an honest game. It's true to life. It's a game about sharing. Football is a team game. So is life.
Speed is not your fastest, but your slowest man. No back can run faster than his interference.
One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than fifty preaching it.
On the Game Itself
Football is like life -- it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.
Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things - blocking and tackling.
Football is a game played with arms, legs and shoulders but mostly from the neck up.
To play this game (football) you must have fire in you, and there is nothing that stokes fire like hate.
There is no defense against a perfect pass. I can throw the perfect pass.
To me, football is so much about mental toughness. It's digging deep, it's doing whatever you need to do to help a team win.
On Coaching and Leadership
A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.
Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.
Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit - you'll be a winner.
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.
Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.
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