March 2, 2010
"I’m very sorry that I lost my mom after 58 years. She had pancreatic cancer, and she was diagnosed 30 days ago. We lost her on Sunday. There are a few things. Number one, I would like to say thank you to everybody that has been so giving with emails and notes and cards and calls. It’s just impossible with the outpouring of thanks and blessings and prayer that we can’t get back with everybody right now and we will. Some would ask why I’m here today. My mother would want me here today. Every day of her life was football. She loved football. My brothers and I took her to the funeral home on Sunday. We made all the arrangements yesterday. I’ve got two brothers in Cookeville (Tenn.), and we’ll go back tonight and bury her tomorrow and have a great celebration of her life and know that she’s in heaven and she’s in a better place, because she was really sick. The message that I gave to the team is that I’m sad she’s gone, but it would’ve been selfish for us to ask that she stay, because she was so sick.
"I talked to my mom at least three times each week for my whole life. I told her that I loved her every day. We need to all reach out to our parents and say that we love them and care for them and make sure that they know that, because we’ve got a hard world out there. Make sure that we love our brothers and sisters and friends, and don’t take things for granted. Mom was told a month ago she had between two and four months to live. If someone told us that today, how would we spend our days and our time? We’ve got to do our work. We’ve got to do the things that are important.
"Again, we don’t need to be angry and sit around and worry about things that are unimportant. We need to focus on things that are important, help each other be honest, and be fair. That’s what my mom was all about. She never walked by a person without speaking and trying to make that person feel really good. She loved her sons unconditionally. That’s the way parents should be. I would send that message to all fathers too. For all of you guys out there that have a mom, make sure you hug them. Make sure you love them. Losing a mom is really, really tough. I’m just lucky that I had her for 58 years."
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