Jerry Maguire There's genius everywhere, but until they turn pro, it's like popcorn in the pan. Some pop... some don't.
Played by Tom Cruise 
Jerry Maguire (1996) · 63 quotes
Jerry Maguire (1996) · 63 quotes
Most-quoted character in Jerry Maguire (1996): in 35 of its 63 quotes
Most scenes with: Rod Tidwell (7), Dorothy Boyd (5), Marcee (2)
I am out here for you. You don't know what it's like to be ME out here for YOU. It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about, ok?
More lines from Jerry Maguire
15 quotes Jerry Maguire Jerry Maguire I hated myself... no, I hated my place in the world.
Jerry Maguire Two nights later in Miami at our corporate conference, a breakthrough. Breakdown? Breakthrough. It was the oddest, most unexpected thing. I began writing what they call a Mission Statement for my company. You know -- a Mission Statement -- a suggestion for the future. What started out as one page became twenty-five. Suddenly I was my father's son. I was remembering the simple pleasures of this job, how I ended up here out of law school, the way a stadium sounds when one of my players performs well on the field... And suddenly it was all pretty clear. The answer was fewer clients. Caring for them, caring for ourselves, and the games too. Starting our lives, really. Hey, I'll be the first to admit it. What I was writing was somewhat "touchy feely." I didn't care. I had lost the ability to bullshit. It was the me I'd always wanted to be.
Jerry Maguire I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game featuring you, while singing your own song in a new commercial, starring you, broadcast during the Superbowl, in a game that you are winning, and I will not sleep until that happens. I'll give you fifteen minutes to call me back.
Jerry Maguire He said that? He said I don't understand what it means to be a black person? I am Mister black people!
Jerry Maguire Well, don't worry! I'm not going to do what you think I'm going to do, which is FLIP OUT! But let me just say, as I ease out of the office I helped build -- sorry, but it's a fact -- that there is such a thing as manners. A way of treating people... These fish have manners! They have manners. In fact. They're coming with me! I'm starting a new company, and the fish will come with me and... you can call me sentimental. But if anybody else wants to come with me, this moment will be the ground floor of something real and fun and inspiring and true in this godforsaken business and we will do it together! Who's coming with me besides..."Flipper" here?
Jerry Maguire I'm still sort of moved by your "My word is stronger than oak" thing.
Jerry Maguire See this jacket I'm wearing? You like it? I don't really need it, because I'm CLOAKED IN FAILURE. I lost the number one draft pick the night before the draft. They will teach my story to other agents on "do not do this" day in agent school. Why? Let's recap. Because a hockey player's kid made me feel like a superficial jerk, I had two slices of bad pizza, went to bed, grew a conscience and wrote a 25-page Manifesto of Doom!
Jerry Maguire [to Dorothy]
Okay. Lil' speech before I go. Do. Not. Worry. About. Your. Job. Our company is in good shape. You and your son... we... are just fine. You still have a job. I want you to feel confident! In. Me. And I have a problem with people who talk about themselves in the third person, but let me tell you something about Jerry Maguire. Come after me and you will lose I am a survivor! Do not underestimate Jerry Maguire! I've got wits! I've got the instincts of a panther!
Jerry Maguire [to Rod]
Help me... help you. Help me, help you.
Jerry Maguire That's more than a dress. That's an Audrey Hepburn movie.
Jerry Maguire I'm not trying to make history here.
Jerry Maguire Jump right into my nightmare, the water is warm.
Jerry Maguire Have you ever gotten the feeling that you aren't completely embarassed yet, but you glimpse tomorrow's embarrassment?
Jerry Maguire Bob Sugar said I don't understand what it's like to be a black man? I'm Mister black people!
Scenes with Jerry Maguire
19 scenes
I loved your memo, by the way.
Jerry Thanks... actually, it was just a "Mission Statement."
I think in this age, optimism like that... it's a revolutionary act.
Jerry You think so?
Oh yes.
Jerry I appreciate that, because some of that stuff... you know, it was two in the morning and...
-- the part about "we should embrace what it is still virginal about our enthusiasm" -- "and we should all force open the tightly-clenched fist of commerce, and give a little back for the greater good.". I mean, I was inspired, and I'm an accountant.
Avery Don't...ever...stop...****...me!
Jerry Sooner... or later... I'll have to stop.
Avery Oh Gawd, oh yes, it's never been better. Never BETTER!! Never BETTER!!
Avery [The two finish having sex]
Open your eyes. If you ever want me to be with another woman for you, I would do it. I'm not interested in it. There was a time, yes, it felt normal for me, but it was a phase, a college thing, like torn Levi's or law school for you... people change, but if you ever feel like being adventurous in that way, I would do it for you... You want anything from the kitchen I'm going to get some fruit --
Jerry You know I don't think we need to do the thing where we tell each other everything!
Avery Jerry, this is what intimacy is!
Sugar I came here to let you go.
Jerry Pardon me?
Sugar Came here to fire you, Jerry. It's real, Jerry. You... you should say something.
Jerry Aw shit...the crowded restaurant... so there's no scene...
Sugar I know. It sucks. I suck.
Jerry You...
Sugar You did this to yourself. You said "fewer clients." You put it all on paper. Scully was very upset. Heart attacks make some people sweeter, but not him. You did this to yourself -- although I do gotta hand it to you. For about five minutes you had everyone applauding smaller revenues.
Jerry You... ungrateful... unctuous...
Sugar ... dick?
Jerry Dick.
Sugar Give me a little credit for doing this face-to-face! What I went through knowing I was going to do this to my mentor! Can you get past yourself for a second?
Jerry You'll lose.
Sugar You wanted smaller.
Jerry I'm over it. Now I want all my clients and yours too.
Sugar Jerry --
Jerry -- and I'll get 'em.
Sugar You'll always be my hero, Jerry. Always always always. We're bringing other elements in, we're focusing on endorsements -- it's not about handholding anymore. We're no longer babysitters.
Jerry Rod! How ya doing? Jerry Maguire.
"How am I doing?" I'll tell you. I'm sweatin, dude! That's how I'm "doin." I'm sweatin my contract. I'm sweatin' Bob Sugar calling and telling me I'm blowing the big endorsements if I stay with you. I'm sweatin'. You hear what I'm saying?
Jerry I hear what you're saying...
No. I hear that you hear what I'm saying. But do you hear what I'm saying?
...
Alright, we're just getting started on my list of things you need to know. Take notes if you want to.
Jerry Okay.
Good, 'cause see, I am a valuable commodity. I go across the middle. I see the ball and a dude coming right at me, wanting to kill me, I tell my brain "get killed, catch the ball." That's New York Steak, baby. Rare. And yet, nobody's giving me LOVE. Nobody's giving me PROPS. Nobody. I went to Arizona State, I'm from Arizona, I break Arizona records, I'm a Sun Devil, man!!!
Jerry Now you want Arizona dollars.
Exactly. And I'm sitting here with an ant problem, look! And my brother Tee Pee's room is flooded with water. The house is fallin' apart, we don't even know where we're gonna live in a year, and I'm supposed to be a "superstar," man! Are you catching my flow, here?
Jerry I need a decision from you, Rod.
...
Now to recap, I want to stay in Arizona. I want my new contract. I like you, you're nice to my wife.
Jerry That's that's great. I'm really... happy.
Are you listenin'?
Jerry Yes!
This is what I'm gonna do for you: God bless you, Jerry. But this is what you gonna do for me, Jerry?
Jerry Yeah, what can I do for you, Rod? You just tell me what can I do for you?
It's something very personal, a very important thing. Hell! It's a family motto. Are you ready Jerry? I wanna make sure you're ready, brother. Here it is: Show me the money. SHOW! ME! THE! MONEY! Jerry, it is such a pleasure to say that! Say it with me one time, Jerry.
Jerry Show you the money.
No, no. You can do better than that! I want you to say it brother with meaning! Hey, I got Bob Sugar on the other line I bet you he can say it!
Jerry Ye, ye, no, no, no. Show you the money.
No! Not show you! Show me the money!
Jerry Show me the money!
Yeah! Louder!
Jerry Show me the money!
I need to feel you Jerry!
Jerry Show me the money! Show me the money!
I love black people.
Jerry I love black people!
Who's your mother****er, Jerry?
Jerry You're my mother ****er! Show me the money!
Uh! Congratulations, you're still my agent.
Note: the bolded line is ranked #25 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.
Avery They're all heatseekers! All of them, everybody. You keep one superstar and they'll all follow. There's no real loyalty, and the first person who told me that, Jerry Maguire, was you.
Jerry I think I was trying to sleep with you at the time.
Avery Well, it worked, and I will not let you fail. You are Jerry Ma- ****in-guire.
Jerry That's right.
Avery King of the Housecalls! Master of the Living Room!
Jerry Okay, this is working.
Avery You are not a loser.
Jerry Who said anything about "loser?" Where do you get this word "loser?"
Avery I'm sorry. I was on a roll. I meant something else.
Jerry I'm Jerry Maguire.
You seem just the way I pictured you. I'm her disapproving sister Laurel.
Jerry Honesty. Thank you.
Jerry The ****in zoo is closed, Ray.
You said "****."
Jerry Uh... yeah... I...
Don't worry. I won't tell.
Jerry I started talking with Dennis Wilburn about your renegotation.
Talking. Jerry Rice, Andre Reed, Chris Carter... I smoke all these fools. They are making the big sweet dollars. They are making the... kwan, and you are talking.
Jerry Kwan. That's your word?
Yeah, man, it means love, respect, community... and the dollars too. The whole package. The kwan.
Jerry Great word. Towel?
No, I air-dry.
Jerry Rod, I say this with great respect, but those players you mentioned are marquee players...
Marquee?!?
Jerry Here's what I'm saying. This is a renegotiation. We want more from them, so let's show them more from us. Let's show them your pure joy of the game, let's bury the attitude a little, let's show them --
You're telling me to dance.
Jerry No, I'm saying to be --
"Love me love me love me... put me on t.v." That's the iconography of rascism, man!
Jerry Rod, I'm not a rascist. I'm telling you to be the best version of you, to get back to the guy who first started playing this game. Way back when you were a kid. It wasn't just about the money, was it?...Was it?
Do your job, man, don't tell me to dance.
Jerry Fine. Fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine.
I'm an athlete, not an entertainer. These are the ABC's of ME. Get it? I do not dance.
Jerry This is going to change everything.
Promise?
Jerry [Looking over an inadequate contract offer]
I'll go back to them.
And say what? "Please remove your dick from my ass"?! I'm sorry. I'm just a little pregnant right now.
Tell me what to do, Jerry. You tell me to eat lima beans, I'll eat lima beans. If you say take the shitty deal, that's all we can get --
"All we can get?"
Can I SPEAK with my agent here?
You know what you're qonna do, Rodney. You're gonna reject this shitty contract. You're gonna play out your existing shitty contract and go be a free agent next year and the hell with Arizona. This is us, and we determine our worth. You're a fine, proud, surviving, splendid black man.
Honey, you are just -- the shit.
Jerry If you get injured, you get nothing.
Won't happen. I'm strong in my mind.
Jerry It's a risk.
Bet on me, dude. Bet on me like I bet on you.
Jerry Can I ask you a question totally unrelated to your career?
Oh, we gonna be friends now?
Jerry What do you know about dating a single mother?
Oh I know plenty. I was raised by a single mother.
Jerry Tell me, because it's been a month, and she's about to take another job in San Diego.
First, single mothers don't "date." They have been to the circus, you know what I'm saying? They have been to the puppet show and they have seen the strings. You love her?
Jerry How do I know?
You know when you know. It makes you shiver, it eats at your insides. You know?
Jerry No, I don't know.
Then you gotta have The Talk.
Jerry But I sure don't like that she's leaving.
Well, that ain't fair to her. A single mother, that's a sacred thing, man.
Jerry The kid is amazing.
No. A real man does not shoplift the "pooty" from a single mom.
Jerry I didn't "shoplift the pooty." We were thrown together and -- I mean it's two mutual people who -- Alright, I shoplifted the pooty.
Shame on you. SHAME on you.
Look, just in case this weekend becomes next month and next month becomes... whatever... Don't make a joke of your life. Go back and read what you wrote. You're better than the rest of them, better than the Bob Sugars, and don't forget it.
Jerry Wait a second. I know a way to s... to save on Medical and rent and... look... what if we stayed together? What if we uh... got married. If I said that, would you stay?
No no. Don't do that. Don't say that unless you want to say it.
Jerry Will you marry me?
You never had The Talk, did you?
Jerry No.
Well, this was another way to go.
D'you know that the human head weighs 8 pounds?
Jerry Did you know that Troy Aikman, in only six years, has passed for 16,303 yards?
D'you know that bees and dogs can smell fear?
Jerry Did you know that the career record for hits is 4,256 by Pete Rose who is NOT in the Hall of Fame?
D'you know that my next door neighbor has three rabbits?
Jerry I... I can't compete with that!
I'm gonna have the game of my life on Monday Night Football, and show all these mother****ers.
Jerry Take care, okay? You're my entire client roster.
Don't I know it. Now go home to your wife.
Jerry What's that supposed to mean?
Why are you even here, man? You could have told me all this over the phone.
Jerry I don't know -- how's "dedication" for an answer?
You don't want to go home, do you?
Jerry Why are you doing this to me, Rod?
I'm asking you a question --
Jerry No, you're --
I'm trying to talk to you. How's your marriage?
Jerry Not everyone has what you have.
Why'd you get married? I'm asking you as a friend.
Jerry You're jabbing at me.
I'm sorry I asked.
Jerry No, I'm going to answer you. You want an answer? I'll give it to you. Loyalty. She was loyal. Everything grew from there.
That's an answer.
Jerry Damn right.
For loyalty, you buy a dog. For love, you get married.
Jerry Look. I'm happy to entertain you, as always, but I have a question for you. Are we really "friends?"
Why not --
Jerry Well, friends can tell each other anything, right? If we have our "friends" hats on --
I think so.
Jerry Alright. Here's why you don't have your ten million dollars yet. You are a paycheck player. You play with your head. Not your heart. In your personal life? Heart. But when you get on the field -- you're a businessman. It's wide-angle lenses and who **** you over and who owes you for it. That's not what inspires people. I'm sorry, but that's the truth, can you handle it? Just a "question," Rod. Between friends.
I don't want to be friends anymore.
Jerry Fine.
Beautiful.
I took advantage of you and worst of all, I'm not alone. I did this with a kid. I was just on some ride where I thought I was in 1ove enough for both of us. I did this. And at least I can do something about it now.
Jerry Well -- I'm not the guy who's going to run. I stick.
I don't need you to "stick."
Jerry What do you want from me? My soul?
Why not? I deserve that much.
Jerry What if I'm just not built that way?
I think we made a mistake here.
Jerry What if it's true? "Great at friendship bad at intimacy." I mean, come on. It's the theme of my bachelor party film --
I know. I watched it. I sort of know it by heart.
Jerry I don't like to give up.
Oh please. My need to make the best of things, and your need to be what, "responsible"... if one of us doesn't say something now we might lose ten years being polite about it. Why don't we call this next road trip what it is. A nice long break.
Jerry What about Ray?
There's no question you'll be friends. Of course you'll be friends.
Jerry So this break... is a break-up.
Come on, Jerry. You know this isn't easy for me. I mean, on the surface, you'd almost think everything was fine. See, I've got this great guy who loves my kid -- and he sure does like me a lot. I can't live that way. It's not the way I'm built.
Jerry Hello. I'm looking for my wife. Alright. If this is where it has to happen, then this is where it has to happen. I'm not letting you get rid of me. How about that? This used to be my specialty. I was good in a living room. Send me in there, I'll do it alone. And now I just... I don't know...but our little company had a good night tonight. A really big night. But it wasn't complete, it wasn't nearly close to being in the same vicinity as complete, because I couldn't share it with you. I couldn't hear your voice, or laugh about it with you. I missed my wife. We live in a cynical world, and we work in a business of tough competitors, I love you. You complete me. And I just...
Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at hello.
Jerry I have a question for you, Rod: are we really friends?
Why not?
Jerry I mean, because, friends can tell each other anything if we have our "friends" hats on, right?
I think so.
Jerry All right. I'll tell you why you don't have your $10 million yet. Right now, you are a paycheck player. You play with your head, not your heart. In your personal life, heart. But when you get on the field, it's all about what you didn't get, who's to blame, who under threw the pass, who's got the contract you don't, who's not giving you your love. And you know what? That is not what inspires people. That is not what inspires people. Just shut up and play the game. Play it from your heart, and you know what? I will show you the quan. And that's the truth, man! That's the truth. Can you handle it? It's just a question between friends, you know? Oh, and when they call you "shrimp", I'm the one who defends you!
I don't want to be friends no more.
Jerry Fine.
And quit using that word, "quan", that's my word!
Jerry I'll see you in L.A.
No heart... no heart? I'M ALL HEART, MOTHER****ER!
