Home -> All About Sheldon -> Quotes Quotes This page will be your one-stop for quotes relating to the Sheldon Kennedy/Graham James case, as well as some of the most touching lines and exchanges from the made-for-TV movie, The Sheldon Kennedy Story. Sheldon Kennedy "You feel people are looking
at you. I put up a shield. I didn't let anybody in. It's a very lonely
way to feel. You never feel normal. You know something is wrong but
you don't know why it is like that." "He considered me his wife.
There was absolutely nowhere for me to turn. I had no one, nobody." "He didn't even blink an eye," said Kennedy. "He kept me with him all the time. It was like we were married. It was unbelievable." (Calgary Herald, 1/7/97) "You do not have a clue what
to do," Kennedy said. "You tell your mom and she makes you
come home. You tell your friends and they will just portray you as a
gay guy. It is just a very scary thing." "It's difficult to discuss with anybody," Kennedy said. "It was difficult to discuss with my mom, dad, sister and brother. I went 13 years without discussing it with anybody." (Knight-Ridder, 1/9/97) "I feel like I am 10 months old inside a 27-year-old body. You are learning to live again. You are learning to have friends. You have to learn to love and relax. ... I can't remember the last time I relaxed totally." (Tampa Tribune, 1/7/97) "There's been a lot. Guys like
Eric Lindros and Ron Hextall and Brian Skrudland. Eric Lindros was the
first guy. He kind of pulled me out of the dressing room and said, 'I
think what you're doing is great.' "He said if there was ever anything
he could do, I should call him. That makes you feel really good." --
Sheldon Kennedy on the support he's had from all over the league
since his story of sexual abuse broke out. "I offer no excuses. I blame nobody but myself. I was selfish. I am truly sorry that this happened." (Calgary Herald, 1/7/97) "Did I expect Sheldon Kennedy to do this? Absolutely not. Sheldon and I were close...He legitimately cared. Not about (the sex), obviously. He cared. He knew I was lonely, and you know, that sort of registered as desperation. He cared enough to put up with limited things...I didn't think, at the time, that this was something that was bothering Sheldon. It wasn't that Sheldon was gay -- he's not gay. It wasn't that he enjoyed it -- he didn't. Maybe I'm just trying to legitimize things myself, but at no time did I think it was a major thing for him." (Ottawa Citizen, 1/8/97) Friends and Family "The coach is a godlike figure -- he holds all the cards. I guess in a situation like [Kennedy's] a kid can go home, but that is the end of your hockey career. That is the problem. There is no way to turn." (Washington Post, 1/8/97) The Sheldon Kennedy Story "I want people to know that I'm the guy...guys don't like to talk about this stuff, so I wanna talk about it. I wanna talk about it for all of the guys that can't. My name's Sheldon Kennedy...and, um...Graham James...he stole something from me. He stole my innocence and...my love of the game. Kids always think that everything is...their fault, you know? And I guess I just had to learn to forgive myself. If it wasn't for my wife, Jana...what are we gonna do about these kids, eh? Because kids...they can't protect themselves. So that's what we have to do. They have to know it's okay to say 'Hey Mom....'. I just don't want any kids to feel the way I did." -- Sheldon to the Press "What'd you mean when you said
that he was bullshit?" "He's still coaching? He's still
coaching kids?!" "All I've got in my life is hockey." "Do you have any idea what those
guys would do to me if I told them?" "I hate my skin." |