As a 9th grader, I competed with the high school kids and out of 600 people, I finished 10th.
I would say my greatest achievement in life right now - my greatest achievement period is - and I'm still trying to achieve it - is to be a wonderful father to my kids.
I've always played with kids that were five, six, seven years older than me.
I was always the fastest and strongest kid in my school so events like the 100 meter and discus throwing attracted me. I could throw the discus for great distance s without the proper spin and throw technique.
Growing up as a kid, the back of my house faced a little community airport about four or five miles from my house.
I have always been an avid bike rider. Even before I became an avid bike rider, I was an avid bike stealer when I was a kid. I am very educated on bikes.
My confidence and drive to go play came when I realized how gifted I was at such a young age and how much bigger my build was than the kids my age.
I grew up in a tough neighborhood where a lot of kids were older than me. The older kids decided to pick me on me starting when I was about 6 and it didn't take me long to take a stand for myself.
When I was a kid, everybody in the neighborhood picked me to be the one in jail or be in the cemetery by the time I was 20.
By doing that and being very competitive, the grown-ups started telling me even back before I started playing organized ball that I was too physical and too advanced for the kids my own age.