Whether to use quote marks for a certain word in a phrase I need to reference

I’m looking to quote a funny saying for a poster/t-shirt.

A fan once said of a famous sporting player (who was very limited in his approach to the game, always kicking):

He had six different signals and they all meant kick

Should the word kick be in quotation marks or anything else? The original source quote did not use them, but I am not sure. Thanks in advance.