BALL’S VIEW

“When I saw that guy play, I said, ‘Hey, give me him. I didn’t want to get them in trouble. I didn’t want their parents calling me. I just didn’t want that responsibility because I had my own stuff going on. But we went out, ate great, showed him the city a little bit. And I still had him home by 12 since I knew his mom was keen on him being on time and not in the streets or something like that.”

— On hosting Calvin Johnson on Johnson’s official visit to Georgia Tech as a recruit

“The experience of playing with him, I loved it. Who would not like a (6-foot-5) guy that can catch anything in his vicinity on the football field? But one guy cannot win a football game, and that’s evident with what he went through with the Lions.”

— On playing with Calvin Johnson

“The expectations that we had ... I look at it as a compliment. Because the Tech faithful saw something in us that triggered greatness — triggered the thought of greatness — triggered the thought of doing something that we haven’t done in a long time at Tech. And you don’t get those expectations by being bad.”

— On the expectations placed on him at Tech

“I don’t necessarily look at it as a bad thing anymore. Now, if you asked me this question 10 years ago, I’m probably pissed off about it and cussing you. But, going through life and maturing, you realize that nobody expects anything great from a dud. So for people to have polar opposites of you, that’s a complimenting thing.”

— On how his perception has changed of his time at Tech

“I never wanted you to be on the line or the fence on if you liked Reggie Ball or Georgia Tech. Either you hate us or you love us. I don’t have time to figure out if you’re going to be there when we go win in Clemson on the last play of the game or go lose the ACC championship (game). Fans are fans. Most of them don’t care about facts, they don’t care about stats. They care about nothing but their own individual emotions at that time. You’ve got to be prepared to deal with it. Those love-hate types of feelings come with a really good guy or a really bad guy, and I like to think I’m a really good guy.”

— On the mindset of fans

“The passion for the game was still there, but it was more so that I got tired of running sprints and lifting weights, man. The mental aspect of the game — a lot of players don’t understand. If you’re a guy that demands a lot of attention, the mental aspect of the game can wear you down. When you’ve been a Division I and NFL-caliber athlete, you realize the lack of exposure that a lot of the leadership of high school players have. High school coaches and bad coaches may not have the exposure that I’ve had, so let me give back.”

— On his decision to no longer pursue an NFL career after a brief attempt with the Detroit Lions