What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Pete Rozelle said elsewhere, not written here
No, I wanted to be sports editor of the Los Angeles Times. That was my goal.

Rancho Santa Fe, California, Academy of Achievement, 15 May 1991 source ↗

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Question What is your greatest fear? Identity & self
I personally feel that drugs constitute the biggest major problem we have in this country, forgetting sports, because drugs create the medical problems that cause the increase in all our medical costs. They contribute to the homeless, that’s a big problem many people see today, and a lot of that stems from drugs. So I feel very, very uptight about it, and I wanted to do as much as I could.
Recorded Rancho Santa Fe, California, Academy of Achievement, 15 May 1991 source ↗
Question What role should instinct play in major decisions? Craft & work
I think to a certain respect, yes. But also, you try to follow the best guidelines you have, the constitutional by-laws. You have to interpret them from time to time, but in the final analysis, in some instances, it would be a gut reaction. But a gut based on preparation and study. Not just a fly-by-night gut reaction.
Recorded Rancho Santa Fe, California, Academy of Achievement, 15 May 1991 source ↗
Question What is the biggest obstacle you have faced professionally? Craft & work
That was a direct challenge to the NFL constitution, which said you have to have a three-quarters approving vote if you’re going to move your franchise. And we had Davis challenge that in his move from Oakland to Los Angeles. And it was sitting there in the constitution, and I couldn’t just say, “Oh, I’m not going to press this.” I brought it to the attention of the owners, and I said, “I think we have to defend this constitution.” So we had two trials over a couple of years.
Recorded Rancho Santa Fe, California, Academy of Achievement, 15 May 1991 source ↗
Question Which book are you ashamed not to have read? Taste & recommendation
There really wasn’t. That’s one thing I kind of regret. I started reading, and became interested in reading very young. But I read sports books. I read sports pages and newspapers. That’s one thing that I would like to have had that I missed, reading more scholarly books than I did. I was so devoted to sports.
Recorded Rancho Santa Fe, California, Academy of Achievement, 15 May 1991 source ↗

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