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Most of the famous NFL quotes came from the greatest NFL players and coaches of all time. These quotes can inspire you to pursue your goals and give you more wisdom about the game of football or life in general. After all, words are powerful and moving.
Famous NFL quotes
Every year, we get countless quotes from NFL players and coaches via interviews, talk shows, and podcasts. However, not all get the same recognition. Most of the famous football quotes proved to stay relevant through the years since the best players and coaches in NFL history said them. These famous NFL quotes are all about hard work, perseverance, and success which football fans love. Moreover, there are also some iconic quotes from the NFL that will surely make anyone laugh.
The greatest NFL players of all time such as Jim Brown, Walter Payton, and Jerry Rice have said some of the best NFL quotes. These players aren’t short of failures and disappointments. Before they became successful, they have gone through adversity which gave them solid wisdom about the game of football. Luckily for us, they have passed this wisdom to us through quotes.
Here are the 52 famous football quotes…
Inspirational NFL quotes
1. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” — Archie Griffin
2. “Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day.” — JJ Watt
3. “When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.” — Walter Payton
4. “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” — Jerry Rice
5. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” — Vince Lombardi
6. “If you ain’t pissed off for greatness, that just means you’re okay with being mediocre.” — Ray Lewis
7. “I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated.” — Emmitt Smith
8. “If you’re not gonna go all the way, why go at all?” — Joe Namath
9. “Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” — George S. Halas
10. “Remember, tomorrow is promised to no one.” — Walter Payton
11. “Stay focused. Your start does not determine how you’re going to finish.” — Herm Edwards
12. “Winning isn’t getting ahead of others. It’s getting ahead of yourself.” — Roger Staubach
Famous NFL quotes about hard work
1. “For every pass I caught in a game, I caught a thousand in practice.” — Don Hutson
2. “Wins and losses come a dime a dozen. But effort? Nobody can judge that. Because effort is between you and you.” — Ray Lewis
3. “I think the thing about that was I was always willing to work; I was not the fastest or biggest player but I was determined to be the best football player I could be on the football field and I think I was able to accomplish that through hard work.” — Jerry Rice
4. “No one ever drowned in sweat.” — Lou Holtz
5. “You cannot make progress with excuses.” — Cam Newton
6. “Try not to do too many things at once. Know what you want, the number one thing today and tomorrow. Persevere and get it done.” — George Allen
7. “Remember, once you set a goal, it’s all about how hard you’re willing to work, how much you’re willing to sacrifice and how badly you truly want it.” — JJ Watt
8. “When you’ve got something to prove, there’s nothing greater than a challenge.” — Terry Bradshaw
9. “I have no magic formula. The only way I know to win is through hard work.” — Don Shula
10. “It’s not the will to win that matters. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” — Paul “Bear” Bryant
NFL quotes about teamwork
1. “The best part of it for me is the idea that this group of young men, who came together and believed in themselves, bought the team concept completely, took the names off the back of the jerseys, checked the egos at the door.” —
Tom Coughlin
2. “The most valuable player is the one who makes the most players valuable.” — Peyton Manning
3. “For a team to accomplish their goal, everybody’s got to give up a little bit of their individuality.” — Bill Belichick
4. “Football isn’t necessarily won by the best players. It’s won by the team with the best attitude.” — George Allen
5. “There is an old saying about the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it’s not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together.” — Bill Belichick
Famous NFL quotes about the game of football
1. “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” — Mike Singletary
2. “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 and that comes in a lot of shapes and forms.” — Tom Brady
3. “Football is like life. It requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority.” — Vince Lombardi
4. “Live with a purpose, play with a purpose.” — Russell Wilson
5. “Football is an honest game. It’s true to life. It’s a game about sharing. Football is a team game. So is life.” — Joe Namath
Famous football quotes by coaches
1. “If you want to win, do the ordinary things better than anyone else does them day in and day out.” — Chuck Noll
2. “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” — Vince Lombardi
4. “The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others.” — Don Shula
5. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” — Jimmy Johnson
6. “When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less.” — Paul Brown
7. “Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.” — Lou Holtz
8. “Failures are expected by losers, ignored by winners.” — Joe Gibbs
9. “If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today.” — Lou Holtz
10. “How do you win? By getting average players to play good and good players to play great. That’s how you win.” — Bum Phillips
11. “Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.” — John Madden
12. “You can’t always control circumstances. However, you can always control your attitude, approach, and response. Your options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how to make the situation better.” — Tony Dungy
Funny NFL quotes
1. “I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first.” — George Rogers
2. “I love me some me!” — Terrell Owens
3. “If my mother put on a helmet and shoulder pads and a uniform that wasn’t the same as the one I was wearing, I’d run over her if she was in my way. And I love my mother.” — Bo Jackson
4. “I feel like I’m the best, but you’re not going to get me to say that.” — Jerry Rice
5. “I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.” — Terry Bradshaw
6. “When I played pro football, I never set out to hurt anyone deliberately unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something.” — Dick Butkus
7. “Hey, the offensive linemen are the biggest guys on the field, they’re bigger than everybody else, and that’s what makes them the biggest guys on the field.” — John Madden
8. “Make sure when anyone tackles you he remembers how much it hurts.” — Jim Brown
