Thomas Jones Quotes

#1. No one had ever made it big from my town until I was able to make it to the NFL and now the big screen. The journey from my town to where I am now has taught me how to be resilient and fearless, and for that I will forever be grateful.

Thomas Jones

#2. I'm a gym rat, I have to admit. I live in the gym, and now that I don't have to get beat up for a living, I can truly enjoy taking care of myself without worrying about breaking my leg or getting paralyzed.

Thomas Jones

#3. Everybody dismissed athletes as being purely physical, but when you retire, you go from such an intense brain time - study of defense, audibles, hand signals, plays, adjustments - to a level of mental inactivity that's hard to comprehend. It's a big reason why I stay so active. Creating, evolving.

Thomas Jones

#4. My inspiration is my hometown.

Thomas Jones

#5. Friends may come and go, but barbecues accumulate.

Thomas Jones

#6. Football was everything to me. There was the physical aspect, sure. I did pushups and sit-ups every night, even as a kid. But I also just studied the game constantly. It was my life.

Thomas Jones

#7. You're whatever you think you are. People like to compartmentalize other people. I don't worry about what other people think. I'm not living for them.

Thomas Jones

#8. The common perception is it only happens to people who aren't paying attention.

Thomas Jones

#9. Acting has helped me detox in football. Getting lost in a character and a scene, it's awesome.

Thomas Jones

#10. Many do with opportunities as children do at the seashore; they fill their little hands with sand, and then let the grains fall through, one by one, till all are gone.

Thomas Jones

#11. While I was in the NFL, I would eat five times a day. I only eat twice a day now, and I box and play basketball every day. I'm extremely happy with my body and mind.

Thomas Jones

#12. I feel like there's no such thing as failure.

Thomas Jones

#13. As a football player, you're really an actor. I spent all Sunday getting into character. Sunday at 10 a.m., I have to be upset with someone who didn't do anything to me. By 11 a.m. I have to be angry. And by noon, I have to be furious.

Thomas Jones

#14. I look at failure as the fertilizer to success.

Thomas Jones

#15. The hardest thing I've had to overcome was being from my small coal-mining town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia. My mother was a coal miner for nineteen years, and the expectations of making it out of my town were slim to none.

Thomas Jones

#16. I had a great family. My father was in the Air Force, so we were always disciplined, goal oriented.

Thomas Jones

#17. I took care of my body. Your body is your business in the NFL.

Thomas Jones

#18. When I'm 75 years old, I want to say that I chased my dream. I didn't let other people's opinions dictate what I have in my book of my life.

Thomas Jones

#19. My father played in high school. My uncles played. From age five or six, I remember watching all the games. And I remember saying to my mom and dad even then that I was going to play in the NFL, and buy them a house and a car.

Thomas Jones

#20. When you see a black guy on TV, he's always a thug or always portrayed as someone that's in trouble. It spreads the message to everyone else that that's who we are. People often don't try to understand black men as a whole. We're creative, strong and influential.

Thomas Jones

#21. My inspiration is my hometown. I feel that because I'm representing my very overlooked region of Virginia, I have to keep accomplishing my goals to show everyone there that you can truly become whatever you believe with hard work and dedication.

Thomas Jones