With all the traveling and promotion I’ve been doing for ‘Murderball,’ its been difficult keeping up with my rugby training. – Mark Zupan
For those people who don’t know what Whiteboy clothing is, it is not a white-supremacy thing. It is a great clothing line that just says, ‘Have fun.’ – Mark Zupan
I played college soccer before I was hurt, and just to be able to jump back into something that you could be so competitive at or you can achieve, to get to the Paralympics, that’s the first really big achievement that you can have. It’s the second biggest sporting event in the world. To be a part of it and to get a medal for that, it’s unreal. – Mark Zupan
We’re normal people. Don’t be scared because we are in a chair. People don’t understand that. They think, ‘Oh, a wheelchair, something’s wrong with their heads, something’s just not right.’ Well yeah, we may be a little twisted, but no more than anyone else. – Mark Zupan
I met Evan Rachel Wood, James Woods, Kevin Bacon at Sundance. Steve Buscemi is pretty laid-back. I met Judy Greer in Vegas, and she was cool. – Mark Zupan
If I can be an inspiration for someone, that’s fine, but just don’t look down on me. Don’t say, ‘Oh, you’re in a wheelchair.’ – Mark Zupan
You break your neck, you don’t know what’s going to happen. I mean, it’s foreign. You’re in this body that you thought you were – that you were accustomed to, and now you’re not. You have to figure out everything. I think the biggest thing for me was getting a license, because it gives you – it gives you your independence back. – Mark Zupan
I’m not scared of getting hurt. I’m not scared of, pretty much, anything. If you live your life scared, what’s the fun in living it? If you were scared of getting hit by a car, would you still cross the street? – Mark Zupan
The whole thing is you don’t want to be pigeon-holed as ‘Oh, he’s a guy in a wheel chair. He’s very fragile. You better watch out.’ – Mark Zupan
Focus on what you want to do. Don’t be scared to try stuff. You only live once. Get your mind towards what you want to do and you’ll achieve it. It makes it fun. You gotta take risks at times. Risks pay off. – Mark Zupan
Man, if they played the commercials for ‘Murderball’ as much as they do for ‘Hustle & Flow,’ ‘Murderball’ would blow up! – Mark Zupan
For those of you who worry that I am a skinhead and anything that goes along with that, I am not. – Mark Zupan
I feel pain everywhere. A lot of guys in chairs do feel their legs. But if you don’t, there’s a thing called disreflex, so you know if something happens, say, you can’t feel your foot or your leg and your body reacts. You know something’s not right and you survey what’s going on. – Mark Zupan
Just because we are in wheelchairs doesn’t mean we can’t play a fast-paced, full-contact sport. – Mark Zupan
There really isn’t anything more refreshing then iced Coke out of the old-school glass bottles. – Mark Zupan
People aren’t familiar with wheelchair sports. The only film crew in Athens for the Paralympics was the documentary crew. – Mark Zupan
Playing college soccer was going to be the top of my athletic feats. I wasn’t going to the Olympics. I was a decent player, but it’s because of hard work, not because I was Freddy Adu. I wouldn’t have a medal from the Olympics if I wasn’t in a chair. I wouldn’t have gone to the Olympics and experienced the whole atmosphere. – Mark Zupan
