"My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing"
About this Quote
The repetition does real work. “Longest day of my life. Long day.” sounds like an athlete replaying the moment the way players rewatch film: same clip, different angle, same sinking feeling. He doesn’t dress it up with excuses or strategy. That plainness is the point. Singletary is performing accountability, the language of a locker room where credibility is earned by owning your errors before anyone else can weaponize them.
There’s also a quiet apprenticeship narrative embedded in the benching. The timeout isn’t merely a rule violation; it’s a breach of rhythm, of not yet understanding the tempo and authority structure of the NFL. Getting sat down becomes a compressed lesson in hierarchy: coaches control the chaos, rookies learn by watching, and winning doesn’t care about your ego. That’s why the anecdote endures. It reframes greatness as something built after the most human possible beginning: panic, punishment, and a team that keeps moving.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Singletary, Mike. (2026, January 16). My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-first-game-i-played-the-first-play-of-the-game-82617/
Chicago Style
Singletary, Mike. "My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-first-game-i-played-the-first-play-of-the-game-82617/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-first-game-i-played-the-first-play-of-the-game-82617/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
