Matt Birk
Matt Birk
Matthew Robert "Matt" Birkis a former American football center. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round of the 1998 NFL Draft, and later played for the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at Harvard. Birk is a two-time All-Pro, six-time Pro Bowl selection, and one-time Super Bowl champion...
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth23 July 1976
balance dangerous success
The more balance you can get, the more success you can have. And the more dangerous you can become.
frustrated point seemed
In 1999, it seemed like Randall was struggling, and he kind of seemed frustrated to the point where he didn't know what else to do,
clean happy measures necessary ownership restore team
I'm happy that the ownership of this team is going to take the measures necessary to clean this team up and restore it to respectability.
gene hurting money thinks
Gene thinks we're making all this money because of Gene Upshaw. No, we're making all of this money because of TV. This sport is huge, and what's going on right now is hurting all of us.
ready until
I'm ready to go right now. I'll never know until I get out there, but that's the way I feel.
calls classy game hope left mail number passionate players regret union voice
I left him a voice mail apologizing. The union and the players and the game is something I feel passionate about, and I was kind of emotionally charged. I left him my number and hope that he calls me back. It just wasn't a classy thing to do on my part, and I regret it.
contribute field gives hopefully looking minnesota obviously playing respect seven six surgery totally
I totally respect their decision. Obviously I am disappointed that I won't be able to contribute on the field this year. But looking long-term, hopefully this surgery gives me another five, six or seven years on the field playing for the Minnesota Vikings.
morally people sit
I'm not going to sit here and tell people morally what they should do,
both burned candle caught feeling focused healthy last
Right now I'm just focused on getting healthy and feeling good. It's a bummer. Going through what I went through last year, I burned the candle at both ends. It caught up to me.
again assume career felt injured last pain playing risked shortened team unless willing
Playing with pain is part of the game. But I felt that I had risked my career by playing injured last year, and probably shortened it. And I wasn't willing to do it again unless the team was going to assume some of the risk.
amount certain drama good seems
That's Randy. You take the good with the bad. We're used to a certain amount of drama around here. It always seems like there's something going on with somebody.
people surprised
We're kind of on a roll. People are surprised we're 5-0. But we're not.