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Motivation Quote by Marion Motley

"If I don't get you now, I'll get you later"

About this Quote

"If I don't get you now, I'll get you later" is competitive speech stripped down to its sharpest edge: a promise, a warning, and a self-portrait in nine words. Coming from Marion Motley, a Browns-era powerhouse who ran with both violence and intelligence, it reads less like trash talk than like a philosophy of inevitability. The line doesn’t beg for belief; it assumes time is on his side. That confidence matters, because it frames competition as cumulative. One play is just a data point. The real contest is attrition.

The intent is practical: keep pressure on an opponent even when the moment doesn’t break your way. It’s a verbal stiff-arm aimed at the other guy’s nervous system. If you escaped this snap, you still have to line up again. The subtext is psychological warfare: Motley is telling you he’s patient, he’s watching, and he’s not emotionally derailed by short-term failure. In football terms, it’s the logic of the run game and the trench fight - keep leaning until something cracks. In human terms, it’s resilience without sentimentality.

Context sharpens it further. Motley played while navigating segregation-era America, where “later” wasn’t just the next series; it was the long game of proving you belonged in a league and a country that often acted like you didn’t. The quote carries that double register: on the surface, a competitor’s vow; underneath, the steady, almost defiant belief that persistence eventually becomes its own form of justice.

Quote Details

TopicNever Give Up
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Motley, Marion. (2026, January 16). If I don't get you now, I'll get you later. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-dont-get-you-now-ill-get-you-later-127684/

Chicago Style
Motley, Marion. "If I don't get you now, I'll get you later." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-dont-get-you-now-ill-get-you-later-127684/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If I don't get you now, I'll get you later." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-i-dont-get-you-now-ill-get-you-later-127684/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Marion Add to List
If I Don't Get You Now, I'll Get You Later - Determined Mindset
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About the Author

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Marion Motley (June 5, 1920 - July 27, 1999) was a Athlete from USA.

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