Quotes from Adam Thielen

You know, the media always tries to twist things and make things into what they're not.

When I was early in my career, I really followed Twitter, seeing what people were saying about me. I definitely saw them talking about Mr. Mankato and all that. It was fun for me to have a little bit of extra support from outside people. I definitely helped me build confidence, that's for sure.

I'm always going to feel like the underdog. I feel like that's the kind of mind-set I want to have and if I do lose that mind-set, I want somebody to slap me in the face and say, 'Hey, pick it up and get back to the roots.'

In high school I just loved to compete and play sports. I didn't have a sport that I was going to say, 'Hey, I'm going to play this at the next level.' Whatever my best opportunity was was what I was going to do.

In the NFL, there's never really that moment where you're like, Hey, I made the team. Or: Hey, you made the practice squad. You just kind of show up the next day and go to work. Nobody really says anything. You just kind of go to work.

That's something you work on Day 1. You never stop your route.

I love when people doubt me. I love when people don't think that I'm good enough to play at a certain level, not good enough to be a starter, things like that. That's the stuff that drives me.

Being able to put the film out there that I did and prove that I can be a starter in this league, it's put me in a good situation.

I feel like I've proven that I can be a starter in this league, and I want to be respected in that way.

I honestly don't care about individual awards or statistics.

I thought I was better at basketball, but obviously people didn't think so. But I loved them equally, whether it be baseball season, basketball, football, golf, I liked them equally.

It's frustrating when you don't feel like you help the team like you should, but at the end of the day there's going to be ups and downs and it's how you react.

I think that everybody should have the same opportunities.

I didn't need to be motivated by other people overlooking me. My motivation was internal, to be better every day.

I don't care what people think about me.

I think when you're not in the NFL or when you're early in your career, you don't understand how hard guys work, especially the guys that play a long time and are successful.