FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 30, 2017
TONY DUNGY ON FOOTBALL NIGHT IN DALLAS
ON DAK PRESCOTT’S ABILITY TO HANDLE PRESSURE
Dungy: “He is a great young man. What you have to remember, this kid has had nothing but success — high school, college, first year in the NFL. Now, all of a sudden, he has hit a little adversary. Reminds me of Derek Brooks, great Hall of Fame player for me. Derek lost five games at Florida State in his whole career. Then he comes to Tampa, and we are on a three-game losing streak. He was going crazy. He told me it was the worst stretch of his life because he was trying to do too much, trying to win the games by himself. That is what Dak has to concern himself with, be the leader, make plays but you don’t have to win the game all by yourself.”
ON IF DALLAS COWBOYS WR DEZ BRYANT IS A NO. 1 RECEIVER
Dungy: “I think he is still a number one receiver. He’s not what he was three or four years ago. He doesn’t have that explosiveness. But I remember Kurt Warner going to Arizona and playing with Larry Fitzgerald. He had to relearn some things. He was used to those guys running, breaking wide open. Dez is not going to be wide open, but you’ve to give him a chance, especially in the redzone, to get some of the 50/50 balls (jump balls).”
ON KIRK COUSINS
Dungy: “I could not believe how relaxed Kirk Cousins was tonight. I talked to him and I found out why — he has got his left tackle Trent Williams back, and he really thinks they had some things in the first game that they could take advantage of in the passing game. He believes he is going to have time to do that tonight.”
ON FORMER REDSKINS QB DOUG WILLIAMS, WHO WON SUPER BOWL XXII
Dungy: “I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a young assistant coach with the Steelers, and Doug Williams, an African American quarterback in the Super Bowl, we would not think anything of it now, but it was a special moment then. I was rooting hard even though I was an AFC guy. I was rooting for Doug Williams that night.”
ON THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Dungy: “Philly is playing great football, but what I really want to see is how they can go into a hostile environment, a big game, and will they play their game? We’ve seen the celebrations, the free flowing team. I love their attitude, but can they keep that in a situation where they’re going into this hostile environment?”
ON BO JACKSON (tonight was the anniversary of his legendary game in Seattle)
Dungy: “I came to Kansas City as an assistant coach, he was living there, I became his neighbor. I though he was a legend, I didn’t know if he was real, kind of like Paul Bunyan. So my kids wanted to go but I wanted to go too and see if he was real and he turned out not only to be real, but a nice guy.”
Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Cincinnati to face the AFC North rival Bengals and Andy Dalton on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. With a 9-2 record, the Steelers are tied with New England atop the AFC. MNF play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough will call the action from Paul Brown Stadium with analyst Jon Gruden and sideline reporter Lisa Salters. MNF will also be streamed live on the ESPN App. Additionally, ESPN Deportes will televise Steelers-Bengals in Spanish with commentators Alvaro Martin, Raul Allegre and John Sutcliffe. 
Who’s In? ESPN’s Exclusive Announcement of the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six Matchups on Selection Day
In November, ESPN’s First Take enjoyed a 70% increase in overall viewership over the previous year, averaging 511,000 viewers (P2+, Nielsen’s November: October 30 – November 26). The month also saw an increase of 91% for men 18-34 compared to the same month last year (109,000 vs. 57,000).