There's nothing like having a football coach yelling at you at homecoming in front of a bunch of people. You do kind of get used to being inflappable in front of all that heated emotion. At times, that's very useful in business.

There's nothing like making a decision when you're a football referee. It really pushes you to be very clear - to make that decision and to sell it to everybody who's there. You believe in it, but you have to make sure other people believe in it, too.

It disturbs me to see a football coach fired.

For a football coach, there's nothing that matches the pain of a team not playing up to its capabilities.

Some of the best preparation I had for coming to Congress is being a football referee. Because you've got to make a decision, and no matter what you do, someone's unhappy with you.

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it's important.