Archives for October 2018

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Al Michaels

Cris Collinsworth

Michele Tafoya

Fred Gaudelli

MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to today’s Sunday Night Football conference call to preview Packers versus Patriots, featuring quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Kickoff on Sunday is 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC with Football Night in America’s coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Joining us on today’s call are the executive producer Fred Gaudelli in his 29th season as the lead producer of NFL’s primetime package.

Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth in the booth. In ten seasons together, this is their 28th time calling a Patriots game, their 28th time calling a Packers game, but their first time calling [Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady].

And our sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who had an extensive interview with Aaron Rodgers for Artful Living magazine. It’s her 37th Packers game and 36th Patriots game on the sideline.

With that, I’ll turn it over to executive producer Fred Gaudelli.

FRED GAUDELLI: Thanks. Every year there’s a game or two that you hope the schedule maker will drop onto your schedule. This was the game this year for obvious reasons, not only Brady and Rodgers, but Brady and Rodgers for only the second time.

We had a Green Bay-New England game, I believe it was back in 2010, that Aaron had a concussion the week before and couldn’t play. So we were looking forward to doing this one, and thankfully the National Football League put it on Sunday Night Football.

AL MICHAELS: Fred, you and I had talked during the off-season, knowing this was a game that could pop up. You know your schedule for the following year… We’re covering games that, boy, we’ve got to get to those games. One in New Orleans last week.

I think back to the song with the lyrics “been waiting all day for Sunday night.” It’s that Sunday night. We’ve been waiting all season for it.

We’re very lucky to the extent we go back to the opening game this year, and we are in Green Bay for Chicago against Green Bay, and we’re watching Aaron Rodgers go to the locker room on a cart. If you go to the locker room on a cart, you’re normally done for the whole season or most of it. I remember Cris and I looked at each other and went, oh, we can’t believe this. The number one game on our schedule is now going to perhaps go away.

We know what happened. Aaron came out of the locker room and led them to a big come-from-behind victory, and here we are. So this is about as exciting as it gets on a Sunday night. Can’t wait to get there, and I know my partner feels the same way.

CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Absolutely. Thanks for everybody joining us on the call. We’re excited just for everybody to talk about this game. It’s the first time we’ve kind of gotten together as a group to talk about this game. And as much as I love talking about offensive line play and blitzes and pass rushes and coverage, we might be talking a little bit about these two quarterbacks. I know Al feels the same way about this.

There are certain relationships that you build over time, and these two quarterbacks are about as interesting a people to talk about and talk with before the ball games as we get to see. Their depth of understanding of what defenses are trying to do to them, their depth of understanding of how they’re going to operate their own system, how they read motion and what that means to them, how they can redirect offensive line play based on blitzes they see — there’s a million different things that we love talking with these guys about and watching them play.

We’re certainly hoping that, during the course of the game, that you’ll have a much better understanding of just how in-depth their knowledge is. I’m 100 percent certain I will not see everything that they see, but we have a good time watching this highest level of quarterback play that there really is in the National Football League, and when they’re on the same field at the same time, it’s pretty amazing stuff.

So looking forward to it. Michele will be closest to the action. Let’s turn it over to her.

MICHELE TAFOYA: Well, I just remember this whole week producer Fred Gaudelli saying, all I care about is that Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers stay healthy for our game. So he was watching with great interest at both of them in the previous week to make sure they were going to come into this game healthy and in one piece. We’re going to get that.

The Packers made a couple interesting trades heading into this game. It should be interesting to see how the changes impact that, but it’s just of interest to me. Yeah, these quarterbacks are similar, yet distinct from one another. I think similar just in the level of confidence. They’re cool on the field. The way that they see the game, like both Cris and Al said.

If the Patriots win, we’ll be sure to get a “Hi Mom” from Tom, and if the Packers win, in the post-game, we’ll be sure to get something very clever from Aaron. So I’m looking forward to this game just as much as all of us are.

Q. My question is a little bit of a just for fun counter factual, and I’d love to hear you guys’ thoughts on what might have happened if these two quarterbacks switched places or had been drafted to the opposite teams. What their careers would have looked like and just what we might think of them today.

AL MICHAELS: I’ll start with the hypothetical. Let’s put it this way. I don’t know exactly what would have happened, but I think as has been the case over the past 10, 12 — and in Brady’s case, 19 years — both teams would have had a tremendous amount of success.

CRIS COLLINSWORTH: It definitely is an interesting question from the standpoint of meshing of personalities and all the different combinations that comes out of that, but I think at the end of it, the one thing that all — that both of these quarterbacks want is they have a thirst for new knowledge. I can remember talking with Peyton Manning, and they used to love it whenever they signed a new quarterback from a different organization or a new coach or a new offensive coordinator from a different organization because he wanted fresh ideas, and that is what these two quarterbacks are all about.

MICHELE TAFOYA: You know, you got to wonder if Tom would have met Gisele and she would have been willing to live in Green Bay. That’s about all I got.

I think what Cris and Al said is absolutely true. Yeah, I mean, it’s a fun thing to think about and how their images and how Bill Belichick would have worked with Aaron. But I think both coaches would have been happy either way.

Q. My question is actually for Fred. What with that being a rare sight, Brady-Rodgers, only the second time ever, do you guys have anything special planned for the broadcast on Sunday night?

FRED GAUDELLI: Obviously, we’ve done a lot of research about where these two fit in the history of the game, and it’s pretty obvious they fit at the very top of the position. But I think one of the notions that we’re going to try to put out there is that this is, as Cris was saying, this is quarterback mastery. This is quarterback play at the very highest level. While you know they can throw it, and in Rodgers’ case really throw it on the run and extend plays, there’s so much more that these guys do that can be brought out hopefully into this telecast, and just try to work around that word, mastery.

The one thing, having spoken to both guys already this season — and Tom twice already — is that they really dig deep to find the very smallest of edges to improve themselves. Whether it’s what they do in the off-season, whether it’s how they practice, what they do at practice, just reading Michele’s interview with Aaron Rodgers, the mind exercises he does before the game. So we look to try to expose some of that as well.

Then I think — I had this discussion with my team this morning: People are tuning in for two reasons Sunday night, and that’s to watch each guy play quarterback, and nothing we do should interfere with that. Hopefully, we’ll do a great job on that and be able to surround the edges with a lot of good information and insights and hopefully a little bit of a pulling back of the curtain on what makes these guys great.

Q. And before the schedule came out in April — I know the league works on it for months — was this matchup the number one must have matchup for you guys?

FRED GAUDELLI: It was for us definitely. It was the game we targeted that we really wanted to have. I’m sure it had to be 1 or 1A on Fox’s list, and I’m sure it was 1 or 1A on ESPN’s list, but we were fortunate enough that it ended up on the Sunday Night Football schedule.

Q. I know you all have recently done a lot of Sunday night games at Gillette, and I was curious, I guess maybe now for all three of you, how the overall experience of visiting and doing a game in New England is different compared to other locations, if there are — I don’t know if there are any like — if there are challenges or things that you really enjoy.

FRED GAUDELLI: I’ll just start out and say that the great thing about Gillette is it’s a fairly new stadium that they seem to make improvements on every single year. So from a broadcast technical standpoint, it has everything that you want, and obviously, it has a really passionate fan base with all the success the team has had. So it’s a great environment for a game.

I think the temperature is going to be right around 50, so like perfect football weather. It’s always great to go to Foxboro.

AL MICHAELS: I’ll tell you something great about Gillette. We get there 3, 3 1/2 hours before the game. We don’t come in on the main entrance. We come in through the neighborhood through the back door of Gillette. And John Madden and I, in those years we were together, we used to come in through that neighborhood. It’s always bucolic. You got pumpkins and all the rest from Halloween out there, the foliage.

And we always used to say, here we are in this neighborhood. You’ve got the houses. You’ve got signs up for parking. People are walking to the game, and you look like you’re in the middle of the country. And all of a sudden, as John once said, a stadium pops up. So it’s the only one I can think of where a stadium pops up as opposed to most of them, which you can see for miles and miles away.

AT&T and Dallas, you can see from five, six miles away. The others in the middle of the city. You see them from — they’re a landmark. But that makes Gillette kind of distinct, and it’s a really good place for us to call the game too. I love it.

MICHELE TAFOYA: Cris, can I just jump in? I have to dove tale on what Al said. The first time I drove in there with John Madden on the Maddencruiser, I said, wow, this is a really pretty approach. And Madden looked at me and said approach? And I said, yes, it’s a beautiful approach. Yeah, that’s all I had. It was a beautiful approach, and John made fun of me for saying that, and I always remember that.

But it is. It’s a really cool place to drive into, and we’ve just gotten to know it so well because we’ve been there so often. So I’d just piggy-back on what Al said.

CRIS COLLINSWORTH: For me, I just expect greatness there. We’ve seen so many unbelievable games there. Not just in Super Bowls, but in that stadium, and it almost seems like every time they shoot off the muskets, I’m reminded of not just the play that just happened, but of something else great that I’ve seen in that stadium. We’ve seen so many up and down games, Peyton Manning, Colin Kaepernick. Just memorable, memorable moments in that stadium.

That, and the booth is actually close enough to the fans where you don’t have to guess what they think about you on occasion (laughter). I’ve had a few fun interactions over the years, and I enjoy that part too.

Q. Cris, this is for you, and this isn’t about the Packers-Patriots game. As a former player, I kind of wanted to get your thoughts on the trade deadline yesterday. Obviously, a lot of action, and specifically what the Lions did moving their leading receiver. After, I guess, making a big move the week before, it seems like this move is counteractive to what they want to get done the rest of the year. As a former player, how would you react to a move like that in the locker room?

CRIS COLLINSWORTH: They obviously have pretty good receivers there anyway. I think Golden’s contract situation was such that they kind of thought they weren’t going to be able to re-sign him anyway. He’s in that 30-year-old category. So that didn’t totally stun me.

But for the second year in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles have pulled off a pretty good coup here. You know what Golden Tate is. He’s a quarterback’s best friend. He’s one of those guys that you throw a little check-down, and he makes four people miss, and all of a sudden, you’re off and running. For Carson Wentz, it is a huge deal. That one would have made me extremely uncomfortable in that division if you were coming into the division, and extremely happy if you were going out of my division.

I get it. I know that there’s a longer term play here, and we’re seeing that with more and more teams all the time. Certainly, we’re seeing it with the Raiders right now. I think Detroit is transitioning to wanting to be a little more physical kind of team. So it didn’t completely stun me, but it definitely shifts a little of the power in the NFC by throwing him back on the Eagles.

Q. I have a question because we saw it so often. How is this rivalry and the presentation of it, or this matchup, different from Peyton Manning and Tom Brady?

AL MICHAELS: Well, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady seemed to be every year. I don’t know how many times they faced each other. We did most of those games either on Monday or Sunday, and it was just the way the schedule worked out for the most part. There’s a formula, and the way the formula exists right now, these two teams will only meet every four years, but when Peyton was in the AFC and Tom was in the AFC, they would meet a lot more on that. It was kind of like Green Bay and Dallas. Despite not being in the same division, would meet very regularly just because of the way the schedule broke.

So we saw a lot of Peyton against Tom. We haven’t seen very much of Tom and Aaron, and that to me is the most significant difference.

CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Yeah, and you get that whole “greatest of all time” question, right? And this is a really interesting one because, in the case of Peyton Manning against Tom Brady, it was more MVPs as opposed to Super Bowls, right? That was always the debate. And now you get this greatest athlete, greatest arm, all that kind of stuff against Tom Brady and the Super Bowls and the championships and all of the above.

I bet you, if I added them up, this argument, the Aaron Rodgers versus Tom Brady argument is starting to draw equal with the Tom Brady-Peyton Manning argument that took place over time. And this one is so unique because of the physical skills of Aaron, and, of course, Aaron is coming into this with a limited physical ability because of the knee and how that plays into this game at this point.

But guys are competitors. In every level, in every sport, when you start talking about who is not just the greatest at this time, but potentially the greatest of all time, and you have two of the guys in that conversation, that makes for a special night of football.

FRED GAUDELLI: The only thing I would just say too, when Tom and Peyton met, it usually meant home field for the playoffs no matter what time of the year it was. And obviously, Aaron and Tom are in two different conferences, so it’s not going to mean that. But that’s one of the ways it’s a little bit different.

Q. I was wondering if you could touch on what you saw out of these two teams last week, the Packers playing the Rams as well as they could have without getting the win, and then the Patriots taking care of their business in Buffalo on Monday night.

CRIS COLLINSWORTH: I’ll start with the Packers. It was one of the most interesting defensive days I’ve ever seen out of the Packers. They made some mistakes, but there were times in that game that they changed defenses every play. I mean, every play. And Jared Goff got confused, and he got pressured, and he made some mistakes, and that’s a great thing, right? You go, okay, the Packers have cracked the code.

But they also this week have let go of one of their veteran safeties, and they made some mistakes in that game. They had some troubles with crossing routes and leaving people running wide open that Goff didn’t see that you’ve got to think Tom Brady is going to see.

So if you’re making comparisons between the two, do you come back to that formula now with one of your veterans no longer there and Brady had a chance to see it? So that’s going to be a really fun one for me to watch because they still play the dime defense. They played it last week. They did a great job on a relative scale stopping the run and Todd Gurley with all of that out of there. And, of course, the Patriots are a little light at the running back position, depending how their health comes out in this one. So that was interesting.

And the flip side of that was watching the Bills playing the Patriots because the Bills went almost ultra conservative, playing just zone defenses, almost waiting for a good first-down play and then jumping into some pressure and some things to try and win the down and get to third down. They held Tom Brady and the Patriots to kicking field goals, winning in the red zone and things like that. So is that now the formula of the week to try and slow down?

It’s almost like a concession that we’re not going to be able to stop you between the 20s, but we hope you make a mistake or we hope we can stop you in the red zone or we force you to kick a field goal, you know, that kind of mentality. So will that one come into play here. When you have great quarterbacks, how much does it change the script on a defense that works that you’ve seen on tape and what you’re trying to game plan for?

I’ll be as interested to see and hear what these defensive coordinators do as I am to watch these two quarterbacks.

Q. Question for Michele. Can you talk about working a game like this, the electric atmosphere that must be on the sidelines. Do you do anything differently to prepare for a game like this?

MICHELE TAFOYA: No, not really. I think we prepare the same for just about every week. One thing I do know is this game is going to be chockful of a lot of action on the field, and it’s probably going to be a tight game. We may see a good amount of no huddle. And that, to a certain extent, limits the opportunities for the sideline reporter, which is fine.

But as far as the environment or anything changing the way that I approach it, no, I’m still going to prepare exactly the same way and I’m just really grateful — I’m going to knock on wood here — that it looks like it’s not going to rain. That would require a different preparation.

Q. Going back to the trade deadline question from earlier. The Texans have done well since you had their game here against the Cowboys. Curious about your thoughts on their performance the last two, three weeks, and also what they might have done involving — with the acquisition of Demaryius Thomas although that was to basically fill an injury hole that they have at wide receiver.

AL MICHAELS: Dallas and Houston, it’s so funny — just to digress for one second. The league is so full of offensive explosiveness these days, the points per game, the highest it’s been since the ’50s, and it’s great once in a while to have a game like that Dallas-Houston game, which was very exciting.

We look at that team, Watson, tremendous. The guy is playing — has to be playing through a lot of pain and the suffering, whatever, trying to get him ready for each week. All he did the other night, of course, was throw the five touchdown passes. The trade, we totally understand because you lose a key receiver and you want to pick one up to go with Hopkins. They’ve been a fun team to watch. People can’t discount them. You start 0-3. Now you’re 5-3. Who knows what the future holds.

CRIS COLLINSWORTH: What makes it interesting for me is you go out and you make that bold move that maybe they don’t make if they’re not on this winning streak. I’m not sure you go get a veteran receiver. I think they are beginning to look at this thing like, okay, we got off to a slow start. We may never have the best record this year to get home field or whatever, but defense travels pretty well, and these guys — and J.J. Watt, was he really going to be able to come back? Was Watson going to come back? They just looked like a middle of the road Texans team.

And then all of a sudden that defense starts exploding with J.J. Watt leading the way. Watson is unbelievable. Hawkins, the game we did — Antonio Brown, Julio Jones were always 1, 2, who’s the greatest receiver ever in the game? And Hopkins in the game we did was as phenomenal as I’ve seen, and he continues to make plays like that. So I think that’s why you make the trade.

You see enough around you to where you say, “Why not us? What is there now? We have the quarterback. We have the defense. We have the ability now, if we have two play makers outside, to do some things that maybe we couldn’t have done in the beginning.”

I think there’s a real sense of that right now in Houston, and I tend to agree with that. There’s a possibility. You could put together some scenarios now where that team has a deep run in the playoffs.

MODERATOR: Thanks, everybody, for joining us. Packers-Patriots, 8:20 eastern on Sunday. Have a good day.

Aaron Rodgers Faces Tom Brady for the First Time at Gillette Stadium; Second Time Ever

Michael Jordan Previews This Week’s SNF Matchup with “Greatest Ever” Promo

Coverage Begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET; New, Earlier 8:20 p.m. ET Kickoff Time for SNF

Aaron Rodgers Discusses Relationship with Tom Brady on The Mike Tirico Podcast  

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya & Fred Gaudelli to Preview Packers-Patriots on Conference Call Today at 2:30 p.m. ET

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App to Live Stream All Sunday Night Football Games to Desktops, Tablets, Connected TVs, & Mobile Devices

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 31, 2018 – Tom Brady and the AFC East-leading New England Patriots (6-2) return to primetime this weekend to host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (3-3-1) in a highly-anticipated match-up on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Coverage begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by a new, earlier SNF kickoff time of 8:20 p.m. ET, from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA.

Sunday night marks only the second time Brady and Rodgers will face off as starting quarterbacks, and the first time since 2014, when they combined for 613 passing yards and four touchdowns in a five-point Green Bay victory at Lambeau Field. Between them, Brady and Rodgers boast 19 Pro Bowl selections, five NFL MVP awards, nine Super Bowl appearances, and six Super Bowl rings.

In his 18 seasons as an NFL quarterback, Brady has led his team to more division titles (15) than any other quarterback in league history and has appeared in eight Super Bowls, winning five. Rodgers is the NFL’s all-time career leader in passing rating (103.6), while Brady ranks third (97.6) (minimum 1,500 attempts). Rodgers has 326 touchdown passes and 40,785 passing yards since entering the NFL in 2005, while Brady has 504 touchdown passes with 68,359 passing yards in his career. Entering Sunday’s game, Brady has thrown for 2,200 yards with 16 touchdowns this season, while Rodgers has thrown for 2,283 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Calling Packers-Patriots is Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his record 33rd season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth; and two-time Emmy Award-winning sideline reporter Michele Tafoya. This marks the 10th season that Michaels and Collinsworth will serve as the announce team in the NBC broadcast booth. In addition, three-time Super Bowl referee and SNF’s new rules analyst Terry McAulay will join Michaels and Collinsworth in the booth.

Click here for a preview of this week’s Sunday Night Football matchup on the battle of the QBs.

The Packers come off a narrow loss to Jared Goff and the undefeated Los Angeles Rams after a late fumble in last week’s game. Rodgers threw for 286 yards and one touchdown, and the Green Bay defense forced the league’s top rushing offense to punt on their first five possessions.

The Patriots improved to 6-2 after defeating the Buffalo Bills on Monday night and now sit one game behind the Kansas City Chiefs at the top of the AFC. Prior to the Bills game, the Patriots scored at least 38 points in four consecutive games. They are on an AFC-best give-game winning streak.

Mike Tirico will host Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET on NBC alongside Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, and NFL insider Mike Florio from NBC Sports’ International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Liam McHugh will co-host Football Night in America on-site from Gillette.

NBC’s coverage of Sunday Night Football is led by executive producer Fred Gaudelli and director Drew Esocoff.

AL MICHAELS, CRIS COLLINSWORTH, MICHELE TAFOYA & FRED GAUDELLI TO PREVIEW PACKERS-PATRIOTS ON CONFERENCE CALL TODAY AT 2:30 P.M. ET

Michaels, Collinsworth, Tafoya, and Gaudelli will be on a media conference call today at 2:30 p.m. ET to preview this week’s Sunday Night Football matchup.

Click here for more information.

NBC DEBUTS MICHAEL JORDAN “GREATEST EVER” PROMO VIDEO FOR THIS WEEK’S SNF MATCHUP

In a 45-second promotional spot that debuted on Sunday night, basketball icon Michael Jordan previewed the upcoming Week 9 Rodgers-Brady matchup by stoking the “Greatest Ever” debate, and concluding that “the best way to settle this debate is top play it out – head to head.” Watch the critically-acclaimed spot here.

AARON RODGERS DISCUSSES RELATIONSHIP WITH TOM BRADY ON THE MIKE TIRICO PODCAST

Mike Tirico interviewed Aaron Rodgers in last week’s episode of The Mike Tirico Podcast. During the episode, Rodgers discussed his friendship with Tom Brady and how Brady has been a pioneer for other quarterbacks in the league. Following are excerpts from the interview. Click here to listen to the full episode.

Rodgers: “Tom and I have known each other for a long time now. He was always great to me as a young player and we’ve continued our friendship over the years. I just have a ton of respect for him as a player. He’s a pioneer as far as how he takes care of his body and has been able to have sustained greatness late into his 30s and into his 40s now… In 2010, we played them and I was out with a concussion, so I’ve only gotten to line up against him once. We played them in ’14 and beat them in a close one. I always enjoy watching his games. We talk a little bit during the season. It will be fun to compete against him again.”

Tirico: “It’s pretty cool that you call him a pioneer. I don’t think people think of him in that regard, because we think of the individual longevity, but all of the TB12 stuff and the science behind it – that might be a more appropriate way to discuss Brady’s longevity, that he’s set the course for you guys and if you want to follow it and play into your 40s, you’ve got a template to there to fit your deal into.”

Rodgers: “He’s done a great job of taking care of himself and opened up some of those secret boxes and let some of us have an idea about how he’s able to do it. I tease him. I feel like he’s gotten more mobile as his career has gone on. You never used to see Tom take off and run. Every now and then now he’s taking off, he had a big one in the Super Bowl, like 15 yards.”

Tirico: “Just please tell me that you don’t have a pair of the TB12 recovery pajamas.”

Rodgers: “No, no – I don’t wear pajamas.”

NBCSPORTS.COM & NBC SPORTS APP TO LIVE STREAM ALL NBC NFL GAMES:

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream all NBC games to desktops, tablets, mobile devices and connected TVs via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. This marks the first season that NBC Sports is able to live stream to mobile devices and on PlayStation 4. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcasts. Powered by Playmaker Media, the NBC Sports app is available on Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Win10, PlayStation and Xbox.

PETER KING’S NFL COLUMN “FOOTBALL MORNING IN AMERICA” DEBUTS EVERY MONDAY EXCLUSIVELY ON NBCSPORTS.COM

A new “Football Morning in America” will post every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com. It was announced in May that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com, making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Florio, and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

PFT LIVE – WEEKDAYS AT 7 A.M. ET ON NBCSN

Mike Florio and co-host Chris Simms bring fans the latest NFL news and interviews with players and coaches every weekday morning with PFT Live on NBCSN at 7 a.m. ET. Peter King will also contribute regularly to PFT Live’s coverage throughout the regular season. In addition, on the mornings after games where rulings are a hot topic, McAulay will join Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Radio and NBCSN.

The two-hour PFT Live provides all-encompassing coverage of the NFL, including the most current news and analysis, thought-provoking debates, and interviews with a wide variety of NFL newsmakers. The program is a simulcast of NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live national program that airs daily beginning at 6 a.m. ET.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SOCIAL MEDIA

•  SNF ON INSTAGRAM: Going into its seventh season, Sunday Night Football gives the SNF fan a look at photos through the filters of Instagram. Fans get a look around each SNF city, as well as access inside the production trucks, the locker rooms, on the field, and on the sideline, as our social media producer captures the best photos of Sunday night and posts in real time. Each week, SNF on Instagram will host Instagram Live interviews with Michele Tafoya and players from each team. In addition, SNF on Instagram will utilize Instagram stories to maximize fans’ exposure to the Sunday Night Football footprint.
•  SNF ON TWITTER: Using tweets, photos, and videos, @SNFonNBC provides unique content with SNF talent, production crew and NFL players. Additionally, Tafoya will provide real-time tweets from the sideline to provide followers with updates all game long.
•  SNF ON SNAPCHAT: For the second season, NBC Sports’ Snapchat account will be creating content on the platform at each Sunday Night Football game, including Kickoff and from the SNF Bus. The NBC Sports Snapchat account will take fans behind the scenes to the FNIA set and around cities where Sunday Night Football comes to town, utilizing lenses and filters to customize content specifically for the Snapchat audience.
•  SNF ON FACEBOOK: – At nearly 3.7 million likes strong, the Sunday Night Football Facebook page provides social-first stories, photos and video every week.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL BUS RETURNS FOR 2018 NFL SEASON 

NBC Sports Group’s Sunday Night Football bus returns this season to travel the country, visiting the host cities of select Sunday Night Football games. The bus will bring the Vince Lombardi Trophy to various SNF locations, before arriving at its final destination in Week 17.

Fans will get a closer look at the behind-the-scenes action of SNF broadcasts on the bus, which will take fans from the field, to the studio and in the production trucks. Features of the bus include an interactive replica of the control room, an interactive player wall, a Carrie Underwood music experience, a replica of the Football Night in America desk, an area showcasing SNF’s new initiative with the Boys & Girls Clubs and more.

The bus will arrive in each city two to three days prior to the game, making stops at local landmarks and events before heading to the game site. Once at the stadium, the Sunday Night Football bus will give fans the opportunity to interact with America’s most-watched primetime television show with exclusive activities, memorabilia and a 55-inch monitor housing social media elements.

NBC SPORTS RADIO

NBC Sports Radio will surround the 2018 NFL season with daily coverage across more than 425 radio affiliates, highlighted by PFT Live, featuring NFL insider and Football Night In America commentator Mike Florio daily from 6-9 a.m. ET; the PFT PM podcast hosted by Florio, which takes a look back at the day that was in the NFL; Safety Blitz with Rodney Harrison and Dan Schwartzman; featuring three-time All Pro and two-time Super Bowl-winner Rodney Harrison; and more.

To listen to a live stream of NBC Sports Radio, or find your local affiliate, visit www.NBCSportsRadio.com

NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS

NBC Sports Regional Networks, which serve top NFL markets such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco, will surround the 2018 NFL season with in-depth news, analysis and original programming on the teams that matter most in more than 40 million U.S. households.

NBC’S “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” IS PRIMETIME TELEVISION’S NO. 1 SHOW FOR UNPRECEDENTED SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR:

The last seven years of NBC’s Sunday Night Football (2011-17) have been history-making, as SNF has been primetime TV’s No. 1 show for an unprecedented seven consecutive seasons – breaking its tie with American Idol (six) for the most consecutive years atop the charts (since 1950), based on live plus same day data provided by Nielsen. Prior to 2011, a sports series had never been primetime television’s top show for a full season. Sunday Night Football has also ranked as the No. 1 show in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for eight consecutive TV seasons.

2018 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
*Sun. Nov. 4	Week 9	Green Bay Packers at New England   Patriots
*Sun. Nov. 11	Week 10	Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia   Eagles
*Sun. Nov. 18	Week 11	Pittsburgh Steelers at   Jacksonville Jaguars
**Thurs. Nov. 22	Week 12	Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans   Saints
*Sun. Nov. 25	Week 12	Green Bay Packers at Minnesota   Vikings
*Sun. Dec. 2	Week 13	San Francisco 49ers at Seattle   Seahawks
*Sun. Dec. 9	Week 14	Pittsburgh Steelers at Oakland   Raiders
*Sun. Dec. 16	Week 15	Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles   Rams
*Sun. Dec. 23	Week 16	Kansas City Chiefs at Seattle   Seahawks
*Sun. Dec. 30	Week 17	TBD

*Flex Week

** Thanksgiving Night Game

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING: Flexible scheduling will be used in Weeks 11-17. Additionally, in Weeks 5-10, flexible scheduling may be used in no more than two weeks. In Weeks 5-16, the schedule lists the games tentatively set for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game would be moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday or Monday nights.

A flexible scheduling move would be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the Sunday night game will be announced no later than six days prior to December 30. The schedule does not list a Sunday night game in Week 17, but an afternoon game with playoff implications will be moved to that time slot. Flexible scheduling ensures quality matchups in all Sunday time slots in those weeks and gives “surprise” teams a chance to play their way into prime time.

For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com

—NBC SPORTS GROUP—

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya and Fred Gaudelli to Preview Packers-Patriots Showdown

Dial 334-323-0522 to Participate

Coverage Begins on NBC with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET and a New Sunday Night Football 8:20 p.m. ET Kickoff Time

STAMFORD, Conn. – October 31, 2018 – The Sunday Night Football broadcast team of play-by-play voice Al Michaels, analyst Cris Collinsworth, and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya will join Executive Producer Fred Gaudelli on a media conference call today, Wednesday, October 31, at 2:30 p.m. ET to preview this week’s Sunday Night Football matchup, when two-time MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (3-3-1) visit three-time MVP Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (6-2) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Coverage begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET on NBC. Sunday marks only the second time the two quarterbacks have played against each other.

Media interested in participating should call 334-323-0522; conference ID 9388229.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–