I just like to get to the start line knowing there was nothing else I could have done, that there wasn't a single session I didn't give 100 per cent. The physical certainty means you can relax mentally and let the performance come.

I find that you’re a completely different person as a maker than you are as a listener. That’s one of the reasons I so often leave the studio to listen to things. A lot of people never leave the studio when they’re making something, so they’re always in that maker mode, screwdriving things in - adding, adding, adding. Because it seems like the right thing to be doing in that room. But it’s when you come out that you start to hear what you like.

Perhaps one character trait which does help is the ability to focus, and perhaps to be a little stubborn. If I learned something in class that I only partly understood, I wasn't satisfied until I was able to work the whole thing out; it would bother me that the explanation wasn't clicking together like it should. So I'd often spend a lot of time on very simple things until I could understand them backwards and forwards, which really helps when one then moves on to more advanced parts of the subject.

interior design. I would love to design your house for you. At night, I sketch designs for King's Cross, new versions of the British Library, and new versions of my kitchen.

Because of my love for sports, and the nature of my job, it was pretty intense for 30 years, and you have to be sure. I would take it home. My wife would know when things were tight, and she would hear me get up in the night, and walk around and sit and think. It’s not something you can leave at the office.

I have never really studied them very much. I think that I was proud of — not just what I did — but my staff played obviously a major part, did in popularizing the sport, with the early promotional activities of NFL Properties, merchandising, NFL Films, all the work that we put on the Super Bowl to make that a top attraction. All those things, I feel very good about, but I think they played a big part in popularizing the league.

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.

Never underestimate the power of an education. Everyone will tell you that, and you say, “Well, it’s not for me.” But if you can get it, it’s the most valuable thing you can get. Because it leads to happiness in your general life, and also can be your basis for a great vocation. Be patient. Learn to get along with people. It just doesn’t make sense to have an antagonistic personality. Try to get along with people. And when you have a project, prepare carefully for it. Prepare carefully.

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.

We had a no-cut agreement when we got married, and the league honored it. She traveled with me at the time, I would not travel alone. She was very helpful, sitting through all the trials with me, and general travels, Washington, Congress, and so forth. She was very supportive. They just put it in the contract that she could always travel with me, which I wanted. It worked out very well. She was quite an asset.