Takeo Spikes: Former NFL linebacker's pursuit of greatness

"It is one of the biggest rushes in the world. One of the few thrills in life where you get the opportunity to feel invincible. I own this moment."

That's the joy of competing in the NFL, according to Takeo Spikes, who played linebacker in the league for 15 years until retiring in 2013.

But then how do you fill that void when football is gone?

"I'm forever chasing that feeling" says Takeo, whose search for it has led him to photography, and the publication of his book, 'Behind the Mask', a collection of intimate short stories and photographs of some of the greatest linebackers to ever play in the NFL.

"My mother loved it. She was great at capturing the moment. It's just that the moment was blurry.

"For me, the photography didn't really come about until I was playing in San Francisco in my 13th year in the league. We came to London to play the Denver Broncos in an International Series game and before the trip, I bought a camera.

"I went around London, took pictures of all the different monuments, had little fake photo shoots with the guys at the hotel, just playing around. But, when we got back on the plane, all the guys who talked bad about me suddenly wanted to see the pictures. That validated it for me."

That pursuit has brought Takeo full circle, back to London, where he has been our guest in the Sky Sports studios for the month of December.

"The locker room: you can't be a politician in there. Everything you do, the guys are watching you."

There is nothing blurry about Takeo's outlook on life. Self-confessed as being "infatuated by greatness", it was that obsession that led him to becoming an All-Pro linebacker in the NFL. It is also evident in 'Behind the Mask', which features insight into the lives of some the NFL's greatest linebackers, including Derrick Brooks, Willie Lanier and Mike Singletary.

"I'm infatuated by greatness. I have always been that way - very inquisitive," says Takeo. "I just want to know what makes people great, what makes them tick. That's the reason why I created this book.

"What I realised was, every guy was driven and motivated by different things. The one thing they did have in common was that everybody wanted to change their circumstances.

"Willie Lanier - he was the first black linebacker inducted into the Hall of Fame. I'm sitting there interviewing him, thinking 'you're the pinnacle, the greatest, the maverick. Everyone comes after you. You created the path'.

"But that never was his motivation.

"He said to me, 'Takeo, I didn't love the game of football'. His outlier moment was his mother and father bringing home a business magazine when he was nine years old. Only then did he know the world was bigger than the city he grew up in."

Takeo's own pursuit of greatness began not with a magazine, but a video-tape.

"My defining moment when I was younger was my father bringing home a video called 'How To Be A Winner'," he says.

"It talked about setting your goals. Lofty goals. They can't be easily attainable, because then when you make it, there's then nothing else to shoot for.

"Guys who make their goal 'I want to be in the NFL' - that isn't good enough. What you really want is to be All-Pro, a Super Bowl champion. That's what helped me. I was always shooting to be better.

"But in order to reach those goals, you've got to have your daily musts and your daily dos.

"Mine: to ensure I stay pure as a man, to put God first in everything I do, to do right, to be honest, treat people the way I want to be treated, love everything that I do and be committed to those pursuits.

"Those are the words I've been living by ever since I was 13 or 14 years old. They're on a note on my wall - the first thing I see waking up in the morning and the last thing I see before I close my eyes at night.

"That was the first time I knew: you could lie to anybody, but you can't lie to yourself."

Lofty ambition and leading by example are ideals at the heart of Takeo's NFL career, as evidenced by his proudest achievements in the game.

"My biggest trial was in 2005 when I tore my Achilles," says Takeo. "I did that at the height of my career and, at that time, no one had ever come back from an Achilles tear, other than a quarterback.

"For me, I wanted to come back, show people, prove them wrong. Not only did I do that, I played seven more years in the NFL. Seven good years.

"On top of that, in 13 of the 15 seasons I played, spread across five different teams, I was a team captain.

"In the locker room, you can't be a politician. Everything you do, the guys are watching you.

"They're going to play for whoever they think is the best to lead them into war. That's probably what I hold most dear to my heart, that I was a leader of men."

A leader of men, for sure. So, when he did finally hang up his cleats, why photography and why not coaching?

"I never really had the passion to coach. It's a lot of stress, and I don't need that in my life right now.

"I enjoy talking about the game, enlightening people. And, once I got into photography, I thought, 'this is how I'll document it, through my lens'."

The thrill of photographing the game might not replicate the rush of playing it but that won't stop Takeo in his search for 'that' feeling - his 'infatuation' with greatness. He has left the NFL, but it hasn't left him.

For more information on Takeo Spikes and 'Behind the Mask', visit behindthemaskbook.com.