Commissioner Goodell visits “Football Night’s” 30 Rock studio

FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA NOTES & QUOTES; WEEK 11

Olbermann: “The big news is that Tom Brady didn’t have any big news.”

Dungy on the Bengals: “This was a big step backwards.”

NEW YORK – November 22, 2009 – Following are highlights from NBC Sports’ “Football Night in America.” Bob Costas hosted the show live from Soldier Field. He was joined on site for commentary by Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Co-hosts Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann, analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, and reporter Peter King were live from NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios, covering the news of the NFL’s 11th week. Tiki Barber reported from Invesco Field at Mile High, site of the Broncos-Chargers game.

ON LAST WEEK’S COLTS-PATRIOTS GAME
Costas: “Bill Belichick said later, he was already inclined to go for it on fourth down. Now that claim is what made the next play call so puzzling. If in fact it was a two-down situation, why did they throw on third down instead of running the ball. If they ran, best case, first down, game over. If not, at least the Colts would have been forced to use their final timeout.”

Collinsworth: “The way that the Patriots played it defensively really ended up getting them beat. If they had sort of all-out blitzed in that situation, maybe they come up with a sack, maybe they come up with a turnover to win the game on the defensive side. But at worst, you give up a quick touchdown and allow Tom Brady to get the ball back with around a minute to go and all you need is a field goal to win the game.”

Michaels: “You can sum it up in four words: Great coach. Poor decision.”

Patrick: “Some of the percentages back up Bill Belichick.”

Dungy: “Those percentages are baloney.”

Harrison: “This is when the Patriots are the most dangerous, when they feel like one of the members of their family has been personally attacked.”

ON PATRIOTS-JETS
Olbermann: “The big news is that Tom Brady didn’t have any big news.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell visited Football Night in America’s 30 Rock studios and discussed a number of league issues with Dan Patrick and Tony Dungy. On Thursday, Goodell named Dungy to lead the newly-created Player Advisory Forum.

Patrick: “Why now? Why announce this program (Player Advisory Forum) now?”

Goodell: “We are always taking player input on a variety of matters both on and off the field. We had a player advisory committee. Tony and I had been talking about how input has been so valuable to the league and we agreed that we could do more. Tony was gracious enough to give us his time and resources to be able to get the right kind of players in a room and give us that kind of feedback.”

Patrick: “But why now? Why Week 11 and not before the season?”

Goodell: “I think this is something that will go on through the offseason. This is not something we’re going to do for two-three weeks. This is something we intend to do for the long term.”

Patrick: “Why Tony?”

Goodell: “People forget that before Tony was a great coach that he was a player in the league. He has a great credibility with the players and the NFL in general. I admire him so much. We’ve talked about this an awful lot the last couple of months.”

Dungy: “That was one of the things we used to say when I was playing, ‘Boy, if Commissioner Rozelle knew this. I wish I could get this message to him.’ I think its great that the players can do that.”

Patrick: Has there been any rule changes from prior player meetings (paraphrase)?

Goodell: We’ve had a lot of rule changes that have come directly as a result of the players input mostly around the safety issue. They identify techniques that are happening that they think are risky both to the player doing the striking and the player taking the hit – whether the hoarse collar, some of the cut-back blocks, the low-cut blocks; I heard from two teams this week. They’re very concerned about those low-cut blocks.”

Dungy: “A lot of players had issues about the player conduct – Pacman Jones for instance – I know you heard from a lot of guys that, ‘Hey, we want to get this under control.’”

Goodell: “There’s no question. The Personal Conduct Policy was really done in conjunction with the players. I must have spoken to well over 150 players who had a lot of input including our Player Advisory Committee and they helped us formulate a policy that I think is terrific and had a great impact. I like to think that this is not only football and business and life. They give us input on all three of those matters.”

Patrick: “We know that you’re knee deep in negotiations or at least talk on both sides with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Peter King from Sports Illustrated spoke with representatives of the players union said they wondered about the timing of this, that you’re aligning yourself with some players as a backdoor way of creating favor with them. Your thoughts on that?”

Goodell: “I’m a Commissioner for everybody in the NFL. That includes the players, the coaches, the owners and I believe the fans also. I’ve always reached out to the players. That’s not what this is all about. I’ve invited them if they wanted to come in. I just met with two teams this week. I regularly seek the input of the players. My record’s clear on that one. I’m going to continue to do that regardless of the negotiations.”

Patrick: “Are you surprised there’s been that kind of reaction by the Players Association?”

Goodell: “I wasn’t even aware of their reaction.”

Patrick: “A report that Jay Glazer from Fox had where you’re going to have independent neurologists looking at players with concussions. What was wrong with the previous plan?”

Goodell: “I don’t think there was anything wrong with it. As we learn more and more, we want to give players the best medical advice. This is a chance for us to expand that and bring more people into the circle to make sure we’re making the best decisions for our players in the long term.”

Dungy: “Did the players ask for this? Was this input from the players, too?”

Goodell: “Not specifically, coach. But they’ve always talked about the concussions. One of the things I’ve always stressed with them is help us identify players when they have some type of a head injury and identify those players so they can get the proper medical care, not so they make the medical decision, but so they can identify a player who needs to see a medical person.”

Patrick: “If you want to stay in the studio audience, you’d be welcome to.”

Goodell: “Thanks. I watch every weekend.”

Patrick (joking): “I noticed when you walked by Rodney Harrison, did you ask for more money?”

Dungy (joking): “Rodney left when he came in.”

ON JAY CUTLER
Costas: “When they first acquired him, you were very enthusiastic about it. Do you remain so?”

Collinsworth: “Absolutely so. There just aren’t many guys around that have his kind of talent.”

Dungy: “These expectations are way through the roof. Jay Cutler was a good player. Jay Cutler was not an elite quarterback when they got him.”

ON MIKE TOMLIN TAKING BLAME FOR STEELERS LOSS
Dungy: “Very much coach speak. Mike was trying to take the blame but what he meant was we played dumb football today but we won’t play dumb football next week. We’ll practice harder.”

Patrick: “You look at this offensive line with Ben Roethlisberger. No running game. He’s scrambling for survival. He’s going to become extinct.”

Harrison: “This is the weakest part of their team this offensive line. Every week, Ben Roethlisberger is running for his life. He’s a great athlete but you can’t expect him to deal with this every single week.”

ON COWBOYS
Harrison: “It’s definitely cause for concern. They go to Green Bay last week, get their butts absolutely kicked and then they come back against one of the worst teams in the National Football League and they only put up one touchdown. So if I’m in Dallas Cowboys nation, I’m definitely concerned.”

ON BENGALS
Dungy: “This is bad. They had a chance to really lock up their division. Carson Palmer talked about this last week, he said we haven’t accomplished anything yet. He was right. This was a big step backwards.”

ON COLTS-RAVENS
Olbermann: “Manning looking for some table service. Garcon?”

Olbermann on Ed Reed’s attempted lateral that resulted in a fumble that essentially ended the game for Baltimore: “Ed Reed drools the drool of remorse into the pillow of regret.”

ON GIANTS
Collinsworth: “Eli Manning, the highest paid player in the National Football League, stepped up, ended that losing streak and he really was the difference today.”

ON CLEVELAND-DETROIT
Olbermann: “Words you thought you would never hear: Cleveland and Detroit. Great game!”

ON SEATTLE
Olbermann: “Mr. Holgmren? Paging Mr. Holmgren.”

ON DENVER RB KNOWSHON MORENO FUMBLING
Barber: “He’s in danger — me having been there before — of being seen as a liability.”

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