STATELINE, Nev. – It’s a business partnership, but it’s also abundantly clear that to the three leaders of the primary cogs of the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, it’s much more than that.

NBC Sports, the tournament’s owner since it debuted in 1990; American Century Investments, its title sponsor since 1999; and the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority were all faced with a difficult decision as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the country in the months leading up to the 31st annual event, one of the most important and impactful events on the calendar in the Lake Tahoe region. And that was to continue or to shut down.

Soldier on, they decided, without fans and with stringent testing and social-distancing protocol. The reason to do so brought heart-felt pause to Jon Miller, the president of programming for NBC Sports.
It’s a testament to the strength of the partnership and the relationship that the three key players – ACI President and CEO Jonathan Thomas and LTVA President and CEO Carol Chaplin make up the other two – have built and fostered.

Miller was asked if he believed the tournament could have survived a coronavirus-type pandemic in its early years, before the event captured major attention and after its first title sponsor, Isuzu, discontinued after the 1998 tournament.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t. I don’t,” Miller said Friday at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course during the opening round. “I think it took an enormous amount of vision and leadership, but also guts.

“And we’ve had the benefit of working with American Century for 23 years. We’ve obviously been here with Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority for 31 years. But we’ve never had the combination of two leaders like we have with Carol and Jonathan. It wouldn’t have happened 25 years ago.”

Thomas credited the leadership of Miller and his right-hand man, NBC Sports programming Vice President Gary Quinn, for building long-standing relationships with celebrities that make this such a desirable event for them.

“Jon doesn’t say much about it, but he’s developed and cultivated relationships with these celebrities that are really amazing,” Thomas said. “There’s a lot of mutual respect between Jon and Gary and the players. And that bond that they have going in that direction also builds the strength and the resiliency of this tournament as well to persevere in times like this.”

That mutual love between the tournament/celebrities and the South Lake Tahoe community has been growing for years, too. The Angora Fire in 2007 – which destroyed 242 residences and 67 commercial buildings and damaged 35 other homes just west of Lake Tahoe – was a key moment in the tournament’s history. NBC Sports and ACI both stepped up to help the community, and tournament regular Charles Barkley donated $190,000 and hosted firefighter meals. It garnered a great deal of attention, and if any celebrity has become a de facto “player host,” it’s Barkley, who always makes himself available for interviews and appearances.

It’s moments like the reaction to the Angora fire – and the partnership and friendship the three leaders have developed – that create such positivity even during these dark, uncertain times.

The tournament set an attendance record (60,530) for the sixth straight year in 2019. The lack of fans, as well as the cancelation of the three celeb-ams during tournament week, are having a major economic impact on the community. But Chaplin never wavered in her thoughts about whether to continue this year.

“We can’t deny the impact of it,” Chaplin said. “But the promotion of the area has always been priceless. I think there’s a commercial about that. But we wanted more than anything to let the world know that we were open for business and that American Century could not be kept down, and that we knew that it had to be done differently.”

This pandemic is historical and unprecedented, but it’s not going to disrupt this marriage of 30-plus years now.

“For the community, it pulls on our heartstrings to have this event this year,” Chaplin said. “You know what the buzz is like – and Jon’s right, that’s a little bit changed, but it doesn’t mean that the American Century Championship isn’t part of our lives and part of our summer and really the highlight of what we do here in partnership with NBC and American Century.

“And I speak a lot about the partnership, and that isn’t even fair. It’s much closer than that. It’s much more emotional for us. … And I think this year the message is we are resilient. We can come back.
“And for all of our partners here in town … they were committed from long before they started conversations; we went out and asked: Do you want this this year? And there was not a hesitation on anyone’s part. It is part of our fabric, and I can’t wait until No. 32.”

American Century Championship
Friday, July 10, 2020
Jon Miller
Jonathan Thomas
Carol Chaplin
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Jon Miller, President of Programming, NBC Sports; Mr. Jonathan Thomas, President and CEO of American Century Investments; and Carol Chaplin, President and CEO of the Lake Tahoe Visitor Authority.

One of the major issues and the first question we’ve been getting since the announcement in June that the tournament was going to continue was why is the tournament continuing, how did you do this and what were the different steps involved in making it happen. Jon, you want to give us background on that.

JON MILLER: First of all, we get asked that question every day both inside and outside our respective organizations. I will tell you this is a very important event on the NBC Sports calendar. This is our 31st year in this wonderful setting.

We have the most unbelievable partnership with American Century and Jonathan Thomas and his team and then the folks in Lake Tahoe with Carol.

And we knew how important it was to the community. We also felt it was an opportunity to conduct the event and employ some really good social-distancing guidelines.

We went through all the proper protocols, dealt with our government affairs and legal folks throughout. Gary Quinn, who is my associate, really spearheaded it for NBC and working everything out. And we’ve been able to pull it off with the cooperation of everybody, including the celebrities who understood and who, quite honestly, reached out to us when the pandemic hit in March.

We heard from everyone from Charles Barkley to Tony Romo, to Aaron Rodgers, to Steph Curry, please, please, keep Tahoe alive; we want to come to American Century. And we knew we would have to do special things to make it work. We spent a lot of time and a lot of dialogue with American Century, who, as I said, is a great partner. And we figured out a way to make it happen.

And that’s one of the things we’re proud of. We’re excited. Today the first round just started about a half an hour ago. It’s a little bit of a different vibe out there. It’s a little bit quieter. I’m not used to it being so quiet on a Friday. But we’re excited and ready to go.

Q. Jonathan, tell us the thought process was with American Century Investments. This is for you to bring your special customers and guests out, and that’s not part of the deal this year. So how did that factor into the overall decision for you to continue?

JONATHAN THOMAS: You’re absolutely right. This is typically a major branding event where we also have the opportunity to entertain some special clients and guests of ours. And we knew immediately that wasn’t an option. This quickly came down to effectively an encore performance of reruns or to that do this scaled-back version of what you see here today.

But all the planning took place on shifting sands. Jon and I and his team were on the call every week talking about the latest updates in the news. And NBC and the resources that they’ve brought to this has just been amazing. You see the creativity and the ingenuity in a company like this to pull this off is just breathtaking.

But for us, you know, we don’t have very special guests, it’s still a branding platform for us. As an organization, we are deeply entrenched in giving for every year, for 20 years we’ve been giving 40% of our profits each year to medical research. This is a platform for us to tell that story.

And then, of course, through this event itself, we’ve also raised millions and millions of dollars for charity. And this year, probably more than ever, we think those charities needed those funds. And, so, like always a portion of them will go to the Lake Tahoe charities, but this year we’ve added a COVID relief charity as well, as well as an equal justice initiative, which is about a social justice program, really. And all the proceeds, the entire purse will be directed to the charities.

Q. That purse is $600,000, so that’s major. Carol, from Lake Tahoe’s standpoint, what does this mean to the community to keep this event going for the 31st consecutive year?

CAROL CHAPLIN: Well, I think we should name July American Century Month here in Lake Tahoe. Honestly for the community —

JON MILLER: I’m all for that.

JONATHAN THOMAS: Second.

CAROL CHAPLIN: For the community, I think it’s, it pulls on our heartstrings to have this event this year. You know what the buzz is like, and Jon’s right, that’s a little bit changed, but it doesn’t mean that American Century Championship isn’t part of our lives and part of our summer and really the highlight of what we do here in partnership with NBC and American Century.

And I speak a lot about the partnership, and that isn’t even fair. It’s much closer than that. It’s much more emotional for us. And that doesn’t even have anything to do with the advertising and the promotional opportunity that we still have this year.

And I think this year the message is we are resilient. We can come back. The ingenuity that’s been spoken about, the creativity, the dedication and the commitment to the event and to the contributions to the community and enjoying the celebrities, even if we can’t get up close and personal this year, it’s just amazing.

And all of our partners here in town, you know, it’s not the same thing. But they were committed from long before they started conversations, we went out and asked: Do you want this this year? And there was not a hesitation on anyone’s part. It is part of our fabric, and I can’t wait until No. 32.

Q. Jonathan, Jon Miller told us in many of the conversations that one of the big reasons that American Century continued this was because of these relationships.

JONATHAN THOMAS: That’s extremely accurate. The connection, as Carol just talked about, to this community, is genuine. It’s authentic. It’s deep. And as we sat around the table with NBC thinking about the pros and cons of doing a cut-back event, raising money and supporting this community, especially during these times, was absolutely a key consideration.

It’s funny how the connectivity has grown. It’s sad for me not to see all the volunteers on the holes as we used to. But I’ve been coming out here for 15 years. And I recognize two-thirds, three-quarters of the volunteers and the people from the community.

And it’s just, there’s a level of connectivity that I’d be shocked to see if that exists in any other tournament like this in the country.

Q. Jon, we know there’s been a lot of questions as far as the safety issues. And could you please address some of the things that the tournament’s doing this year to maintain that safety?

JON MILLER: We have a very aggressive screening process for anybody who comes on the grounds. NBC has hired a company called Medcor, so everybody who comes on the grounds has to answer questions on an app, as well as have their temperature taken to make sure that we keep everybody safe.

I think one of the most remarkable things is when Gary and I started looking at this, we realized we had to reduce the footprint, to try to keep our celebrities, our volunteers and our senior officials safe and still conduct the event.

So in 2019, last year, we had a record crowd. We had over 62,000 people on the ground, including spectators, fans, sponsors, hospitality, you name it, credentialed media. This year that number is 250. So we have reduced it by over 61,750 people.

And it was a big challenge. And a lot of work had to go into it, to the point where now all you’re going to see on the golf course are the players, those players who have chosen to bring a caddie. We’re allowing some players to take carts for the first time.

We have a scaled-down volunteer contingent, who are marshalling the different holes. We have staff. We have PGA officials who are here. And that’s it, as well as a very small media representation.

But by doing this and by wearing masks — and for this interview we’re not wearing them, but we have masks on all the other times that we’re out there. We’re very careful — no parties, no concerts, no functions like we’re all used to having here. And everybody bought into that and understood that was the price we were all going to have to pay to keep this going. And I’m happy to say that it’s working out quite well.

Q. We notice you’re all six-feet apart?

JON MILLER: We are six-feet apart.

Q. Jon, talk about the coverage this year. Understand there will be more coverage this year for the audience at home?

JON MILLER: Right. We were very fortunate that we have three hours a day of live coverage. We come on today at 5:00 Eastern, 2:00 local here in Tahoe for three hours. And then three to six on the East Coast, Saturday and Sunday. And all nine of those hours will be shown again in an encore presentation in prime time on The Golf Channel from seven to 10:00 pacific. First time we’ve ever been able to do that. We’ll actually have 18 hours of coverage of the event.

Another thing I wanted to talk about here, this is a very important event for NBC. We were all in Ponte Vedra, Florida, in March, when we got pulled off the golf course on that Thursday, at the PLAYERS Championship, when the TOUR decided to shut down, quite honestly, their biggest event. Our golf unit has not been back together since that Thursday/Friday in March.

And we have a very big golf schedule coming up in August, starting with the BMW Championship, followed by the TOUR Championship in Atlanta, and then two weeks after that we have the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which we just recently reacquired.

It was very important for our golf team to get back together, put the protocols in place that we’re doing here, so that they’d be able to administer them when they get on the grounds for these PGA TOUR events. So that was another critical reason why we wanted to get this event up and running.

Q. Jonathan mentioned a little bit earlier one of the charities is the Equal Justice Initiative. And I know there were some interviews conducted yesterday with a number of the players in that regard. Do you want to give us some details on that as well?

JON MILLER: It’s interesting. Comcast has made a very strong commitment to social justice and social responsibility. So in the early dialogue about the event we made a decision that we would put 100 percent of the purse towards charity.

Obviously the Lake Tahoe community was front and center. And clearly we wanted to try to identify some COVID charities as well.

But with the social justice that’s taken over the country and the dialogue that’s going on, we went to American Century and said, look, this is your money; you need to tell us and give us some guidance on where it wants to go.

I’ll let Jonathan tell you how his company came to the decision to go with the Equal Justice Initiative, which was remarkable.

JONATHAN THOMAS: Thanks, Jon. So this issue is important to us, to American Century Investments as well. And we’re a family. We’re a privately owned company. Connective tissue between the employees is very strong. Given the environment we’re living in, we thought it would be an interesting way to do it.

We actually conducted a vote. Every single employee at American Century was given a survey of three different, four different social justice organizations that NBC had vetted for us. And the employees all voted, and Equal Justice Initiative is the one that prevailed.

We like it because it’s money that we’re funding, as Jon mentioned, with the direction of it going to a great cause, to a highly regarded organization that was selected by our employees.

Q. Jon, this golf tournament probably is more representative of population than any others. We have a number of African-American players here. Probably more than any other event I can think of.

JON MILLER: Normally we would have a field of about 92 to 95. We try to sneak in a few extra ones. As long as Mike Milthorpe, our tournament director, doesn’t get after me on that. But we’ve had a big field. And we’re at capacity with a very strong list of people who will come in and fill in at the last minute if we lose anybody.

This year we had to freeze our list at 80. And then once we had people drop, we weren’t able to fill those spots. So we actually are at 71 players. And more than a third of them are African-American golfers. This is clearly the most diverse field in golf. And we’re very proud of that fact. And we try to be a very welcoming event. We introduce a lot of new players every year.

We have some great new competitors who are joining us this year for the first time. And it’s pretty exciting to see their reaction when they show up and see this event that they’ve seen on television for so many years and now they get to participate.

Q. Jonathan, can you talk a little bit — you did earlier — but could you talk about the process of those weekly conversations you had in terms of what the challenges were and what the discussions were about on the: Can we do this; can we not?

JONATHAN THOMAS: Great question. It was, like I said right out of the gates, we knew we weren’t going to be able to do what we were doing the previous 30 years. That was just out of the question. And we had to define the two options kind of the scaled-back version we’re experiencing today, or an encore performance.

And we had to do it in a period where there was tremendous uncertainty. When you think about, when we first started talking amongst ourselves, what we did and did not know about this pandemic has shifted tremendously, right? We thought it was living on surfaces and couldn’t be transmitted in the air and all sorts of things that have turned out not to be true.

And as we become more informed, and as the pandemic has spiked and eased and starting to spike again, we’ve been changing on a weekly basis with the NBC folks. And like I say, the relationship with the NBC team could not be any stronger.

The creativity and the adjustments we made each week were amazing. Even sitting out here today, every day I think all of us walk around and notice, oh, something here isn’t quite like it used to be. And we’re making on-the-fly adjustments.

But in the end, it came down to protecting — making sure that the players felt respected and protected and that they could come out here and compete in a very safe environment.

And that was really the driving force behind all of our decision-making. And the staff; you all. You can see we’ve changed this room dramatically. The volunteers. It was all about health and safety.

Q. Carol, how different is it this year? How much of an impact is it to not have the 60,000 fans and not have the Celeb Ams out here all week?

CAROL CHAPLIN: There’s obviously economic impact. Like I said, July is American Century month. I’ll declare that today.

Our businesses — it’s amazing to me to understand what this tournament does in terms of its own environment and how many local businesses are involved on the course, behind the course, behind the scenes, and of course places where we have visitors, lodging, restaurants, et cetera, going.

And so it’s obviously limited it a lot. I think this is — so we can’t deny that. We can’t deny the impact of it. But the promotion of the area has always been priceless. I think there’s a commercial about that stuff.

But we wanted more than anything to let the world know that we were open for business and that American Century could not be kept down, and that we knew that it had to be done differently.

I would say right now, this is a testament, the way this is running, to how our community needs to respond to COVID and how we are helping our visitors to understand how to respond and to respect everybody.

I’ve been saying for a while, we have to be the best human beings we can be, and this is absolutely — I was telling Jon earlier, they wrote the book on it. And so I think this can be, going forward, impactful in another way where we understand how this day-to-day reinvention can really be applied to other places in the community.

So that’s another benefit. I’m always looking for the silver lining here these days. So, yeah. But the air time that we get. And of course yesterday was our event center groundbreaking, a huge project. It’s my first and last event center, I’ll say that right now.

It went off so nicely. And NBC partnered with us and filmed it, which was — that’s not — we don’t usually ask — they’re so busy anyway. So they made that special effort for us. So another opportunity and we didn’t know that going into this.

I’ll just have to say, because I think these two guys are more interesting than me, but Mr. Quinn, I’ve never had so much conversation with him on a weekly basis. I wasn’t sure whether I should pick up the phone or listen to his message, because every time I talked to him he was so concerned and told me about how many meetings went on with this event and how many times they had to meet and they were working through these things and assured me that they were doing what they could.

And you guys have a great partnership, and we love Mr. Quinn as much as all these guys.

JON MILLER: It may be American Century month here, but it’s Gary Quinn week.

CAROL CHAPLIN: There we go. There we go. So impact-wise, sometimes there’s things that come out of bad situations: Creativity; new collaboration; new partnerships; new ways of doing things. And we’ll come back bigger and better. And it’s the way that we are telling the world that we’re strong and we can beat this.

Q. Jon, with so little live sports on TV over the last six months or so, how important is it to have this? And also if your Nielsen ratings over the years have been X, can you guess what they might be this year?

JON MILLER: I’ll answer your first question. I think it’s obviously very important to have live sports. People are at home obeying social distancing and sheltering-in-place guidelines and trying to protect themselves and their families and their communities, and they’re thirsting for live sports. We’ve not had the benefit of things like Major League Baseball and NBA and NHL, normally would have finished up in the spring, or started in April with baseball.

We’ve actually been fortunate in a lot of our properties have resumed, whether it’s the Premier League in soccer and NASCAR and Indy Car and motorsports and horse racing packages have all started to come back.

But this is a unique event because not only is it live sports, but it’s golf, and it’s a lot of people that you recognize. You go down the list of 71 players, and I would bet you that the majority of people would know just about everybody on that list. So they get to see these people. And I think it’s also reassuring for them to get to see those people.

As far as ratings are concerned, I don’t like to predict because I don’t know what it’s going to be like. But I certainly think we’re expecting a jump up in ratings this year.

We’ve got a little competition from the PGA TOUR, with a very strong event in Columbus, Ohio. There’s also some NASCAR programming going on up against us over the weekend. But I’m confident that this event has established itself as a pretty big event and it will more than hold its own and certainly should improve off prior year’s numbers.

Q. This partnership is so strong now, and it has been for many, many years, but do you think this could have survived COVID maybe 25 years ago, when it was still kind of a fledgling type of event?

JON MILLER: I’ll be honest, I don’t. I don’t. I think it took an enormous amount of vision and leadership, but also guts.

And we’ve had the benefit of working with American Century for 23 years. We’ve obviously been here with Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority for 21 years.

But we’ve never had the combination of two leaders like we have with Carol and Jonathan. It wouldn’t have happened 25 years ago.

JONATHAN THOMAS: I’ll jump in on that, too. Jon doesn’t say much about it, but he’s developed and cultivated relationships with these celebrities that are really amazing.

There’s a lot of mutual respect between Jon and Gary and the players. And that bond that they have going in that direction also builds the strength and the resiliency of this tournament as well to persevere in times like this.

JON MILLER: If you think about it, you’ve got Steph Curry here, but you’ve also got the reigning NFL Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and you’ve got Aaron Rodgers. You’ve got so many active athletes who are here whose seasons are supposed to begin in four to six weeks.

You’ve got the head coach of the Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers. And these guys have felt strongly enough about this event and what it does and what it represents that they have taken some risks being here as well.

So I don’t think you can underscore how much we appreciate the player participation.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

American Century Championship
Friday, July 10, 2020
Tony Romo
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have our two-time defending champion, Tony Romo, with us. You’re going for the tie with Mulder for three in a row.

Mulder, we asked him if he had any advice for you yesterday. He said no. So — (laughter). So welcome back. How is your game? And tell us what you’ve been doing these past few months.

TONY ROMO: Well, like everybody, just quarantining and spending time with the family. And luckily, golf was still available to get out and play a little bit.

But we feel comfortable coming in. Feel pretty good about my game. And hopefully I’ll get a chance to be in contention on Sunday.

Q. Is getting your third straight important to you, or is this just the next year’s tournament? As far as matching Mulder.

TONY ROMO: I think whenever you compete, you want to win, regardless of really any situation you’re in. But I think whenever you win at a place like this, with the people each year, it makes it even more special.

And so winning three in a row, obviously the goal’s always to win. But I don’t really think about necessarily the numbers as much as wanting to play good golf this week and put myself in a position to have a chance on Sunday.

Q. Rick Rhoden, obviously, won seven times here, do you think about that; is that something you want?

TONY ROMO: I’m sure as I get older. But I can’t get to seven this year, so… just trying to get a ball in the hole on the first hole, for birdie or par, hopefully.

Q. And obviously I’d imagine there’s a lot of differences, but just generally what are the differences between a PGA TOUR event and one of these?

TONY ROMO: Well, this is one as well as I feel like a TOUR event. I feel like NBC almost does the same thing, when they run an event and the TOUR. I think they just follow all the same, I don’t want to say protocol, but a lot of the similar type of feelings, I guess, when you show up on site.

It’s first class. American Century has done an incredible job. Just a really enjoyable tournament to be part of. My family loves coming every year. It’s been a special place for us.

Q. Obviously you can win this, Mulder can win this, Smoltz, a couple others. Do you feel like Steph Curry might have a greater chance than normal just because of the way the NBA season has gone?

TONY ROMO: Yeah, you have to ask Steph. Steph always had enough game to be able to compete. Obviously when you have more time, you have an opportunity to practice and put in time on some of your weaknesses; but I feel like he’s always had enough game to be able to contend and win this.

Q. You’re better than even money this year. What are your thoughts on that, your reaction?

TONY ROMO: Nothing, really. I just found that out yesterday. We were laughing. I was, like, I thought this was golf, not one-on-one. But it’s just a nice statement that they think that I’m playing decent golf and hopefully — but I don’t think anyone here is that big of a favorite.

Q. Coming back year after year, have you formed any traditions or had any fandom that you’re missing out on this year?

TONY ROMO: It’s just starting right now. But I think the biggest thing was just the fans that are here. Obviously, it’s the right thing to do, not have a gathering of a lot of people.

But I feel like just the interaction with a lot of the kids and people that come, I think that will be hopefully back next year and you’ll get a chance to see fathers and sons out here. It has a special place in my heart. That’s the first thing.

Q. As far as No. 17, it’s probably going to be a little more subdued this year obviously because there won’t be the same air quite as much. Your thoughts over the years on that particular hole?

TONY ROMO: That hole is — there’s really two holes, not everyone sees on the front nine, too. Because I think you’ve got 7 which gets pretty rowdy as well.

But 17 is just a unique experience. I don’t think — there’s nothing like it that I’ve seen. Maybe Scottsdale is probably the closest thing you can think of, the stadium. But it’s just really — it’s just a passionate fan base that gets crazy. If you want everyone to be quiet when you’re hitting a golf shot, you’re not going to get it there.

Q. This year the local authorities have asked folks to take it easy out there, to maintain social distancing. And unfortunately to not be as interactive with the players and each other, quite frankly, as in the past. So that’s one of the real big safety issues that’s been going on this week. So I think it will be a little different. So be prepared.

TONY ROMO: That’s perfect. We’re ready.

Q. You’ve been the favorite, have you been across the street to visit that place? What are you thinking?
TONY ROMO: I haven’t gone over there. Sticking to my own area.

Q. I was wondering, what do you think are the key holes in the tournament that you have to play well on to win again?

TONY ROMO: I think 16 and 18 are always going to be where you can make up a turnaround. It’s swung every year. Someone’s got five points, and all of a sudden there’s an eagle and two birdies coming in, now they’re at 20 or something. You find very quickly you can make up a lot of ground coming down the stretch. So I think you just have to stay patient and understand, even if you’re not playing as well, when I first started this a while back, if you didn’t play really well early, it wasn’t going your way, you can easily let that mindset creep in. And reality is it only takes one or two holes to get back in this thing. So just stay patient.

Q. Last year you seemed to have a level of confidence that was almost intimidating for the other players. It really was, with you playing, going out and playing in professional golf tournaments on TOUR, what not. And it just seemed that there was a confidence about you and a calmness.

TONY ROMO: Yeah, you know when you’ve made a little bit of a leap in your game. And so I felt confident last year knowing, pretty similar to this year, I think when you’re able and confidently to wake up the next morning and say I feel like my ball should go this way. I wasn’t always like that, I promise you. It allows me to feel comfortable, competing, hopefully have a chance.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

American Century Championship
Friday, July 10, 2020
Kyle Williams
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Kyle Williams.

Q. First round last year, I believe you had 12 points. Last year Romo ‘s 26; you have 25 today. You’ve been filling some shoes.

KYLE WILLIAMS: It’s a good start, that’s for sure. Being here again for another year, getting a little more comfortable on the greens, and I really hit some good wedge shots today. That’s really what it came down to. I hit some wedge shots really close that were basically kicking.

Hopefully just continue to get more comfortable, especially putting out here, which is a tricky thing, and look forward to tomorrow. A lot more to go.

Q. Take us through your holes, which holes did you birdie. Or did you have any eagles?

KYLE WILLIAMS: Really got going — I missed a short birdie, fourth hole of the day, and just the next hole just backed it up and made one from about a foot. Just hit it really close.

Birdied both the par-5s on the back 9, which we started on 10, but really kick started me. And like I said, really just hit some good wedge shots. Hit them close. When you hit them that close, you better be making them, especially with the kind of field that’s here.

Q. 16 and 18 you birdied, then?

KYLE WILLIAMS: I did.

Q. That was your front nine today?

KYLE WILLIAMS: 2-putt 16 from 12 feet, 12 feet for eagle, and just tapped in, which was a comfortable feeling.

Q. What did you hit in on 16?

KYLE WILLIAMS: I hit a hybrid, like a 3 hybrid.

Q. Any other holes with birdies on the other side?

KYLE WILLIAMS: You know, I think the most important one was last one of the day. Birdied 9, had 80 yards in and hit a little sand wedge to about a foot and a half.

Hit the wedges good today, hit them really close, where you really didn’t have many chances to miss them when you hit them that close. I don’t expect it to go that way all weekend. So hopefully my putter will follow suit.

Q. So 16, 18, 9. Looks like you liked the waterholes.

KYLE WILLIAMS: At least when I can see it. It’s working out so far. Long way to go. Looking forward to a fun weekend.

Q. How do you feel being in the hunt with the guys who have won it before. Romo’s been there the last two years obviously and he’s always the guy to look out for, along with Mulder and Smoltz.

KYLE WILLIAMS: Sure, I had a really good Saturday last year, moved up the board. I was within the last couple of groups, just didn’t play well enough. Didn’t putt very well.

So hit the ball really well all last year, just couldn’t get the ball in the hole. So really in my practice time here the last couple days, have spent most of my time on the greens, getting comfortable, get a good feel for them.

I’ve been lucky I’ve been able to play in some golf events here and there especially since I’ve retired. So it won’t be from being nervous or being in the hunt. I can hit good shots and bad shots. Doesn’t matter what I’m doing. Like I said, it’s a great field, really good start for me today, looking forward to a good weekend.

Q. Any particular message for the quarterbacks in this group? Usually the quarterbacks are the ones that have excelled in this event. And I think this is the lowest score by a defensive lineman that we’ve ever had.

KYLE WILLIAMS: Well, I’m here holding it down for the 300-plus pound guys. I may not be there anymore, but I used to be. So I’m a card-carrying member. So big boys can play too.

Q. I wanted to ask what your weight is now. You were at 300 when you played?
KYLE WILLIAMS: Honestly, I haven’t been on a scale, but I’m probably 290. I’m not much into working out. I had to do that for a living for a long time. I don’t partake in that much.

Q. You played 13 years in the NFL, plus college, plus — and obviously a big guy. How did you get through all the bumps and bruises of the NFL and still be at the high level of golf that you’re at?

KYLE WILLIAMS: I’m not without my issues, especially in the mornings when I wake up, a little creaking and popping, takes me longer to warm up.

I was always a baseball player growing up, started playing a little bit as a kid, really got into it in college. And just really grinded it out and found the golf game. I think I enjoy working on my game more than I do actually playing. So just reps and reps for me, really.

Q. The oddsmakers only had I think seven guys listed ahead of you. Did they know something about you since last year? You did well last year.

KYLE WILLIAMS: I’m not totally sure you guys would have the information better than I would. But I think I scored 23 or 24 points on Saturday last year. Had a good round. And really my first and last round last year were just riddled with 3-putts that really just kind of crippled me. So I’ve been able to play, qualified and played in a USGA event. So I play a good bit of golf and been able to play well at times. So that’s probably what the odds saw.

Q. Should the SEC follow the Big Ten’s lead in playing conference-only games? What’s your thoughts?

KYLE WILLIAMS: Here’s my issue with that: It goes even deeper, is these teams are playing nonconference opponents that rely on, lack of a better term, payday to float the boat for their athletic department. It’s such a hard decision. I’m glad I’m not in the decision-making chair.

I just hope that we have some semblance of normally through sport this fall. I know that there’s going to be a lot of people tuned into this golf tournament this weekend because they’re looking for something to watch and view. So I’m hoping that we get some games in, however that may be. And I hope that’s the last resort that they go to conference games only.

Q. By the way, you did have 24 points in the second round last year and eight in the final round. So the putter got you last year.

KYLE WILLIAMS: It was really not a good day. I’m glad you brought that up with me right now. (Laughter).

Q. Anything I can do to offend a 300-pound defensive lineman.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

Hosted by NBC Sports’ Damon Hack, Primetime Special to Cover Social Justice, Conversations on Race & How Sports Can Combat Inequality

Race and Sports in America Filmed at American Century Championship Celebrity Golf Tournament; Live Coverage Today-Sunday on NBCSN & NBC

LAKE TAHOE, Nev., (July 10, 2020) – Monday at 8 p.m. ET, celebrity athletes – including two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry and Basketball Hall-of-Famer and TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley – will be featured on Race and Sports in America: Conversations, a wide-ranging roundtable discussion special that will simulcast on GOLF Channel, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC Sports Regional Networks and the Olympic Channel.

“We have to continue to double down and keep people accountable in all walks of life, all industries, all forms of leadership, the judicial system. And hopefully for my kids’ generation, their kids, we will see change. – Stephen Curry

“This crap started 400 years ago. We can’t do anything about that. We can’t do anything about systematic racism. What I challenge every Black person, every White person to do: What can I do today going forward? And you have to tell yourself, ‘I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.’ Because if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem.” – Charles Barkley

Hosted by Damon Hack (GOLF Channel / NBC Sports), and filmed Thursday at the American Century Championship golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, the primetime special will focus on topics ranging from social justice, locker room conversations about race, and ways that sports can help combat inequality. Additional subjects will include the relationship between athletes and law enforcement, reaction to George Floyd’s death and reflections on personal experiences in the weeks since, and thoughts on what the conversations should be a year from now.

Additional athletes joining Curry and Barkley on Race & Sports in America include:
• James Blake – 10-time ATP tennis champion
• Troy Mullins – World Long Drive competitor
• Anthony Lynn – Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach
• Jimmy Rollins – World Series champion Shortstop
• Kyle Rudolph – Minnesota Vikings Tight End
• Ozzie Smith – Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer

Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Jerome Bettis also sat down with Damon Hack for an extended one-on-one interview that will be available on NBC Sports’ digital and podcast platforms in conjunction with the television airing.

The panel of participants are all competing in the American Century Championship, a 54-hole tournament taking place at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Lake Tahoe. A field of 71 participants from the world of sports and entertainment are competing in the three-day tournament, one of the longest-running made for television events. Live coverage airs today on NBCSN (5-8 p.m. ET) and NBC on Saturday and Sunday (3-6 p.m. ET).

The tournament is being contested without spectators and under social distancing guidelines in accordance with governmental and health guidelines. All prize money and additional donations from the 2020 American Century Championship are being donated to organizations supporting COVID-19 relief efforts, the Equal Justice Initiative and Lake Tahoe regional non-profits.

-NBC Sports Group-

American Century Championship
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Mark Mulder
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Mark Mulder. This is number 12 for you?

MARK MULDER: It’s somewhere around there.

Q. And you’re the only three-time consecutive winner here, a few years ago. And now you’ve got Tony Romo that’s won the last two years. You’re about to go get him, I guess, and how’s the game?
MARK MULDER: Well, the game’s good right now. It all depends what happens on Friday morning when you start. So this tournament’s unique where all you’ve got to do is look at the numbers, with the scoring.

I didn’t show up very well the last two years, and Tony earned all of it the last two years. When it comes to the points, I think the years when I won it it was low 80s upper 70s and the last couple of years I believe I was in the 60s.

I didn’t perform the way I wanted to. And I need to play better if I want to compete with him.

Q. The folks at Caesar’s have you going off at 5-to-2 right behind Tony. Have you made a trip across the street yet?

MARK MULDER: No, I’ll be there in the next day or two, though. We got in too late last night. I’ll venture over there here shortly.

Q. With no spectators this week, how does this course play differently this year with no spectators for you?

MARK MULDER: There’s certain holes, to be honest, where — I know 7 there’s always a lot of people on 7. Then when you get to the last couple, adrenaline plays into all of this. And this year there’s not going to be that.

You’re still going to have the adrenaline of the pressure of the tournament, but there’s certain clubs, I’ve taken on some of those holes that I’d never hit that far any other time during the year because you have that much adrenaline flowing through your body at that time.

So there’s going to be — that’s going to be a tad bit different. But, for example, today when we were on 14, normally to me 14 looks so back-to-front, the pitch of the green. And without that grandstand behind the green, it borderline looked flat when we got there. Millar and I were actually laughing about how there was no slope to that green anymore.

I actually asked, Did they redo this green? It didn’t look the same. So obviously you get used to some of the looks with the grandstands behind the greens, and not having them this year is going to be a tad bit different. But there’s still that pressure of the tournament. I actually enjoy having the fans out there because of that adrenaline, because of that pressure.

It just gives you a little bit added focus, I guess you could say, to some of the shots that you hit. You don’t want to get booed.

Q. Very good observation; they did flatten that green. They took the back off so you don’t have the slope.

MARK MULDER: I didn’t know that.

Q. Three-time winner noticing that. Obviously the favorites, you’ve got Tony and you and Derek Lowe and Mardy Fish, and a lot of questions coming up about Steph Curry now that he’s had time to play. I see Steph is going off 18-to-1. That’s the best odds for any active player out there. What’s your thought on Steph’s chances?

MARK MULDER: Well, I know for me personally, when my career ended, I was able to play a little longer consecutively time-wise and I did get better, especially my short game.

So the fact that he’s coming into this tournament having continuously played — I haven’t played with him recently. So I can’t speak to his game.

But when you can play for an extended period of time, generally your short game is going to be better. For me, with baseball, when the season started, season would get done and my short game was kind of not very good.

So it’s not going to hurt him, let’s put it that way. It can only help him in some way, shape or form. But I can’t speak on how his game is right now or anything like that.

Everybody’s a little different of how they work and how much they practice and how much time they put in. But I would expect for a good showing this weekend.

Q. What aspect of your game do you feel best about coming into the tournament?

MARK MULDER: Right now, compared to the last couple of years, my driver. The last couple of years my tee ball wasn’t where I wanted it to be. My short game was okay. My approach shots have always been okay. But my tee ball, the last couple of years, hasn’t been very good, which is a big advantage for me as far as I hit it.

So as long as that continues, I’m going to have a chance on Sunday, I feel.

Q. You said earlier that Romo is going to be going for his third in a row. He’s the only guy that’s won three in a row. Any helpful words of advice you’d like to offer him?
MARK MULDER: No. I’ll keep it simple.

Q. Baseball and what’s going on right now with coronavirus, what’s your take on everything as far as the season?

MARK MULDER: I’m glad they’re playing something. It’s better than nothing. I just hope with the short little three weeks of pitchers trying to get ready, I just hope we don’t see some big-named guys get hurt. You just don’t want to see somebody out there blowing it out and next thing you know there’s a shoulder or elbow of a big-named guy because it was just not enough time.

Forget the virus, it’s the injuries that I hope we don’t see. When it comes to hitters, you know, there’s that rib cage. Guys hurt themselves that way on a check swing maybe because they don’t have those five, six weeks of spring training. They only have three. It’s the injuries I guess that worry me the most. You just don’t want to see that happen.

On the other hand, you’re going to have some teams that have some players who are coming back from injury that might help them in this short amount of time because they don’t need them for a whole season grind. It’s just a short amount of time. You can maybe hide them in the bullpen, even some starting pitchers coming back from Tommy John, whoever that might be.

It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be a short little race. There’s not going to be that full season to pace yourself. It’s going to be a little bit of a sprint.

Q. More of a local question here because you made your bones when you were pitching for the A’s in Oakland, the new stadium situation there and what’s going on. What’s your opinion there?

MARK MULDER: I guess I haven’t followed it a lot. In past years I’ve put stuff on Twitter that there’s no chance they’re going to have a new stadium before 2030. I just don’t see it happening. There’s too many issues. Too many groups, I guess, that are against it.

We were supposed to have a new stadium in a couple of years when I was there. So why is that going to change? That’s the unfortunate thing. That whole stadium site, it’s such a cool area, whether they move it to downtown or on the water there, I forget.

Q. Jack Lemmon Square?

MARK MULDER: Whether they move it there. And so many cool sites would do something for that area to make it better as far as restaurants and jobs and everything like that. There’s no way it’s going to happen.

It’s sad to say it, but I feel as though the A’s aren’t going to have a new stadium unless it’s somewhere other than Oakland, which is really unfortunate if that’s the case, because every time they propose something it gets shot down by somebody. And there’s just too many people against it. I just don’t see it happening.

Q. As far as being able to keep their talent, they’ve got a lot of talent on their team.

MARK MULDER: They always have. Without a new stadium you can’t do those types of things. I feel like sometimes with the A’s that’s always the crutch they fall back on. We don’t have the money for it. Well, without a new stadium, of course you don’t.

And that’s the unfortunate part about it. And it’s sad to see that every other team sometimes reaps the benefits of those young players right before they’re free agents.

Q. I believe last year Tony won it with 71 points in the modified Stableford format. You had 61, if memory serves. You talked about hitting the driver better this year. Is that what it’s going to take, from what you guys are saying as far as the greens being in the shape they’re in?

MARK MULDER: Yeah, it’s the best I’ve ever seen this course, and it’s not even close. The last couple of years I think I’ve said the same thing, that the course has been in incredible condition.

The fact how firm they are, how fast they are, how smooth the greens are, you’re going to see a lot of guys 3-putt, just because of the speeds of those greens, especially if they get dried out a little bit over the next couple days, a little faster. It’s still going to take 70-something to win this tournament.

No matter how tough the greens are. So you still have to find a way to put the ball in the hole. So, yes, I can sit here say my tee ball is better but you’ve still got to make those puts.

Q. Smoltz was in here earlier. He said he had seven birdies today. How did you play?

MARK MULDER: I played good. I think I had three or four, maybe. I’ve had a lot of tournaments where I’ve come in for practice rounds and shot 65 and didn’t win the tournament. So it really doesn’t make a bit of a difference. It’s very different on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, when it starts to matter.

Q. Are you at all frustrated, whatever, whatever the word might be, that Tony Romo’s kind of stolen your thunder here these last couple of years?

MARK MULDER: No, because to be honest, I haven’t played very well the last two years. And I said to them, I said it’s all based on points. The years I won it I had low 80s, upper 70s.

And the last couple of years I think I’ve been in the low 60s, maybe. So he’s earned it. He played well. I didn’t. So I need to show up if I want to contend again. And I haven’t done that the last two years.

Q. I guess that’s a true competitor. It’s on you, not on him.

MARK MULDER: Exactly.

Q. You can win it — Romo, you, there’s three or four other guys, do you think Steph Curry has maybe moved up a little bit just because of the situation with the NBA?

MARK MULDER: I haven’t played with him. So we might play tomorrow. But to be fair, I don’t know. I don’t think it can hurt him. If anything, it could help him, the fact he’s continuously been playing.

I know when my career ended and I started playing year-round, your short game gets better. Your chipping gets better; putting gets better, because those are the things that leave you when you take the break during the season if you’re not playing very often.

So the fact that he has maybe what you might want to call prep time for this tournament, it’s not going to hurt him. If anything, I think it could help. But to be fair, whether that’s really going to matter once we start teeing it up on Friday, who knows.

KANSAS CITY, MO., July 8, 2020 – In conjunction with the American Century Championship, the global asset manager’s annual celebrity golf tournament, American Century Investments launched “The Future. How Will You Play It?,” a new, integrated marketing campaign. Key components of the campaign include a television commercial, a social media contest and a landing page. The campaign also has employee and client engagement elements.

The newly created 30-second commercial will air July 10 through 12 during televised coverage of the American Century Championship on NBC, NBC Sports Network and Golf Channel. The spot features a video montage of people in their homes making trick golf shots to evoke how the ups and downs of everyday life can impact a person’s approach to investing.

“Bumps in the road. Left turns. And a crazy thing called 2020,” intones the voiceover. “We can’t always know what comes our way, but we can decide how to play it. At American Century Investments, we anticipate the unexpected and sense when to pivot. Reaching for a more prosperous life.”

According to Erik Schneberger, American Century’s chief marketing officer, the advertisement is very relatable for those who have been trying to navigate life against the backdrop of the pandemic and other unplanned events.

“Life is unpredictable and full of unexpected turns, but ‘how we play it’ can mean the difference between thriving and just getting by,” said Schneberger. “American Century looks for opportunities even in the most unpredictible times, always optimistic about what the future holds. Our goal is to partner with clients to develop a plan that is built for the long-term and empowers them to move forward with confidence and conviction.”

The new commercial dovetails with a social media contest developed in partnership with the Golf Channel. Participants in the “Play It ACC Trick Shot Challenge” must upload to Twitter or Instagram an original video of a trick golf shot and include the hashtags #PlayItACC and #contest. For the trick shot video, any kind of ball can be used as long as it’s hit with a golf club. Those submitting the winning video will receive two general admission tickets to the three-day 2021 American Century Championship plus airfare and hotel accomodations.Submissions must be made prior to July 14. Three trips will be awarded.

The PlayItACC.com campaign landing page features the new television commercial, social media contest information and Twitter and Instagram feeds showcasing posts with the hashags #PlayItACC and #contest. There are also links to information about the official tournament charities including the Equal Justice Initiative and various COVID-19 relief organizations. The page also provides information about American Century’s unique ownership model, which results in more than 40 percent of the firm’s annual dividends being directed to medical research.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 31st edition of the American Century Championship will be a TV-only event. To maintain a safe environment for the celebrity participants, no spectators will be allowed on the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. Only the players, caddies and essential tournament staff will be on site. All will be required to practice social distancing. “Since this year’s tournament is a broadcast-only event, we wanted to find a way to engage our fans in a different way.” Schneberger said “The American Century Championship is steeped in fun, and unconventional golf shots and this contest embody the spirit of the event while looking to the future by giving the winners access to the 2021 event.”

The 2020 tournament will feature a powerhouse lineup of approximately 80 sports legends and celebrities. Returning participants include two-time defending champion Tony Romo, Steph Curry,

Charles Barkley and Aaron Rodgers. Here’s the television schedule for the tournament:
• Friday, July 10 – NBC Sports Network (Cable): 5 p.m. ET.; Golf Channel: 10 p.m. ET.
• Saturday, July 11 – NBC (Broadcast Network): 3 p.m. ET.; Golf Channel: 10 p.m. ET.
• Sunday, July 12 – NBC (Broadcast Network): 3 p.m. ET.; 10 p.m. ET.

Also, all prize money for the American Century Championship golf tournament will be donated to the Equal Justice Initiative, regional Lake Tahoe non-profits and the COVID-19 relief charities: the Notah Begay III (NB3) Foundation COVID-19 Response Fund and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund.

American Century Investments is a leading global asset manager focused on delivering investment results and building long-term client relationships while supporting research that can improve human health and save lives. Founded in 1958, American Century Investments’ 1,400 employees serve investment professionals, institutions, corporations and individual investors from offices in New York; London; Hong Kong; Frankfurt, Germany; Sydney; Mountain View, Calif.; and Kansas City, Mo. Jonathan S. Thomas is president and chief executive officer, and Victor Zhang serves as chief investment officer. Delivering investment results to clients enables American Century Investments to distribute over 40 percent of its dividends to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, a 500-person, non-profit basic biomedical research organization. The Institute owns more than 40 percent of American Century Investments and has received dividend payments of $1.6 billion since 2000. For more information about American Century Investments, visit http://www.americancentury.com.

# # #

American Century Championship
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
John Smoltz

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome Mr. John Smoltz, one of our favorites in the tournament.

I think this is his 12th time playing in the American Century Championship. Looking for his first win here. He’s won the last two tournaments at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Orlando, two-time defending champ. Welcome back.

Questions.

Q. John, you finished ahead of, I think it was, Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Kite, Hale Irwin, at a recent Champions event. I know those guys are a little bit older now, but is that still kind of a surreal moment to you to be in that kind of — those guys are major championship winners.

JOHN SMOLTZ: Yeah, it is. First of all, that event and that field, I know where I stand, right? But I’ve learned so much watching them play. And playing in those events, it helps me for tournaments like this.

Running joke was, for a while, you know, somebody was telling me: How can you play in those events and you’ve never won Tahoe? And I said, “Because I need to play in my age group.”

And no one got the joke. Like they’re the best 50-year-olds in the world. I said, The players here are younger, and stronger, and hit it farther.

But it really has helped me become a better golfer. And I learned a lot about myself.

But I’m not going to lie. Those names you mentioned, and those players, my tournament in Atlanta, I played in the final round with Tom Watson and Calcavecchia, and all I wanted to do was beat them. I wanted to be able to play with them. And luckily that day I did. But it’s a treat, when you think about all that they’ve accomplished.

Q. Romo’s the guy to shoot for this year again, I would think. You can beat him. Mulder can beat him. Do you think Steph Curry can now this year, too, given the circumstances of the NBA season?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I really do. Given the circumstances of what everybody’s been under for the last three months, I would assume that the majority of people that had nothing to do that love golf probably played golf. So their game is probably as good as it’s going to get coming into this, because every one of us, with the exception of a few people, are coming off a sport season.

For me, baseball, I’m always coming here after the All-Star Game, flying in, trying to hurry up to play a tournament. This year I had nothing but time.

So I think Steph — and the fact that this year’s going to be so unique without fans — and the fans make this tournament, we all know that, — there will be some less nerves.

And a little quicker play, where that comes into play coming, 16, 17, 18, you wait; it takes about an hour and change to play those three holes.

So if you don’t have your swing right and you don’t have your nerves right, coming into those holes and waiting, it exacerbates it and makes it worse. So I think the guys will be in more rhythm in the golf tournament.

And ironically, the course will play a little harder because of that; no grandstands; no fans to frame the hole. So the holes are actually playing a little different when you don’t see things you normally are used to seeing.

Q. I think you know this, obviously, you started at 30-to-1. Did that shock you?

JOHN SMOLTZ: Oh, my gosh, I thought it was a misprint.

Q. And you’ve dropped to 14-to-1, which means they either fixed it or somebody put a lot of money on it. Did you by chance bet on yourself?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I did. I did not go in early enough to see the 30-to-1. I just didn’t even believe it, didn’t even wander in. I thought it was a misprint. Lo and behold it was not. So that was shocking to me. So I know I haven’t had great success here. And last year’s last round was about the worst golf round I could have played, so maybe they were going off of that.

Q. We seem to be on some streaks here. Tony Romo has won this twice in a row. Before that, Mark Mulder won it three times. You’ve won two in a row down in Orlando. Why the streaks?
JOHN SMOLTZ: You know, the Orlando tournament is different than this. It’s four rounds. It’s more of a pace yourself. And this is a shootout. And I’ve yet to have a round where I’ve done the shootout.

Those guys you mentioned, when they make their birdies and they’re making six and seven a round, that’s what you have to do here. You can’t walk around this golf course and shoot par and have a bunch of pars and maybe one or two birdies. This is really taking advantage of the point system. And three points is a big advantage over the one point for par.

As opposed to Diamonds, it’s two points for par and three points for birdie. So I strategically play that course a lot different mindset than when you come out here trying to fire at birdies.

I will have to say, this is the best conditioned course that I’ve ever seen here at Edgewood. Everyone is just blown away by the shape it’s in. The greens are the most intimidating greens I’ve seen in a long time. So it’s going to be interesting to see how guys navigate, and gals, navigate these greens, because, man, they’ll strike the fear in you if you’re in the wrong spots.

I think today — I know I had seven birdies today but I had seven 3-putts. That can tell you what can happen if you’re in the wrong spots today.

Q. To that point, how many birdies do you think it’s going to take each day to win this thing?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I’ve always said — the reason I’ve never gotten to a position to win, except for one year when I was in second, I just am not dominating the par-5s like everyone else is. I literally haven’t birdied No. 3 and I rarely birdie 18.

And I think on the par-5s historically in 12 years I may have the worst score of what you need. So that’s got to change. And I don’t think I’ve ever had an eagle on this course, which again is something that you would think the times I’ve played it I would be in position to do that.

So when I think about this golf course, I think about position in the fairway and then really grinding on not being above the hole, because you’re dead if you’re above the hole. You have no chance.

Q. Last week Charles Barkley on a conference call, when asked about what the impact of having no fans was going to be, he said, “Well, for me it’s probably going to be pretty good; I won’t hit anybody.” But then he talked about how much he’s been playing and practicing, and he claimed that he was going to finish in the top 60 this year. I think we have 71 players right now.
What would your estimate of that be?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I’ve seen him play at my club recently. And of course with the time that he’s mentioned, he is playing better. And you see Charles at the range, it’s a different golfer. But then what happens is he comes to the course and then the things that start creeping in.

So I think without the fans, I think it’s going to be better for Charles. I wouldn’t put it past him. I really wouldn’t. Like I said, the people that normally come here at a disadvantage because of nerves and tension I think will be at ease because the pace of play will be better and the fact of people kind of screaming on 16 and all these different elements, which you become used to and love, will be a little bit easier for those guys.

Q. Give us your top five this week; is it going to be the standard or do you think — any surprises you’re anticipating?

JOHN SMOLTZ: Oh, there should be a surprise. I think anytime you’ve had this kind of time off. The traditional guys are going to be there. I remember one tournament looking at the scoreboard, seeing Mark Mulder had six points going into 16, thinking what happened. And he went birdie, birdie, eagle. And just like that, that’s 18 points.

So anything with those kind of firepower, it is bound to be some of those guys lurking at the top. And my only goal is to have a better first round. I never have a good first round. I just dig myself too big of a hole. So I’m going to have a better first round.

Q. For you, without fans, any pressure or less pressure; you seem to respond all the time?
JOHN SMOLTZ: I’ll be honest when you talk about Champions Tour, my biggest fault in my golf game is that I don’t like playing slow. And I create really bad habits, because I’ll play 36 holes in the time it takes most people to play 18.

So the pace of play should help me, I would think. The fans, I love the focus of having the fans line a course or be around. I really think that part doesn’t bother me. I like it.

It’s the sitting around and waiting that really gets to me. And I’ve learned how to do that on Champions Tour. But it’s a little different here when you’ve got the excitement and the entertainment and the people always interacting, that won’t happen. So I think you’ll see some better scores because of it.

Q. How has the social distancing affect how you’re actually going to enjoy Lake Tahoe when you’re not on the course?

JOHN SMOLTZ: To each their own in how the information they apply and — look, from the very start of this I’m aware of what a lot of people have told — the experts have had a lot of — no one’s been right. So it’s an ongoing fluid situation.

And so what we’ve done as a family and what we’ve done, and me, myself, individually, I just don’t do anything stupid. I just don’t assume. And I respect everybody’s wishes. Now I live in a state where I haven’t had to wear a mask. I live in a state where it’s been relatively, in my area there’s been really no cases.

So I can’t imagine what it’s like when you start seeing — I never thought we’d get to this point at this point in the tournament. I thought we’d see everything going down. And unfortunately it’s been going in different places.

So it’s weird. There’s no other way to describe it. Like for my job is going to be the weirdest job I’ve ever done in my life broadcasting a game not on site. Just things you’re accustomed to you have to relearn. But then I’ve just made it and our family have made it — we’re not going to be paralyzed by fear to not think that this is going to be like this for the rest of our lives.

I’m sure in time we’ll have the ability to gather again, see fans in the stands, and we’ll never forget this timeframe in our life. But for every single person it’s different.

There’s no way to say that it’s the same. And for me, personally, I think I know three or four total people of all the people that I know that have gotten it.

So it’s just weird when you hear all the numbers and then in your own little bubble it’s not percentagely the same. So this part, tipping the hat, I’m still going to do all that. I’m going to have fun. I’m going to have fun with the people we play with.

And I’m going to adhere to the protocols that are before us and really take this in, because three months ago this crossing my fingers hoping this event went on because this is my favorite event, period. And at least people are going to be able to watch it on TV, which I think — you can’t showcase a better place in the country and the weather is going to be phenomenal this week.

If you can’t enjoy yourself here, you can’t enjoy yourself anywhere.

Q. What’s your call for MLB? When you hear the stories now that there’s been some COVID infections and whatnot and there’s some doubts out there, what is your overall take?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I think baseball has the hardest challenge. There’s a million things they have to think about more than probably some of the other sports just because of the moving parts and the amount of games and the amount of players.

I think football has a challenge, but it’s later. Baseball is just going to have to make a decision, I think, and follow kind of like what golf did, in my opinion. They’ve made the right decision by moving forward and taking their protocols seriously but understanding that some people are going to get it, and then in time they’ll be able to come back.

I think baseball players are the same. Again, just about every one of these guys are in great shape. Should get over it really quick. And the mindset’s gotta be next guy up.

We’ve got to play this season. And I think getting through the season will have its challenges, but I’m confident that they will be able to do that, whether it’s even sometimes having to move a team from a different stadium if there’s a hotspot.

But baseball being back and basketball coming back and hockey and football, for this country, and for people who have really trying to figure out what the future holds, it will be a nice — it will be nice to have options back on TV.

I know people are getting used to things they never got used to before; and for me personally, my schedule just got crazy because I’m going to be doing a lot of games from a studio. And that’s going to be hard for me.

I like structure. I like being at the stadium. I like seeing the players. I like knowing what’s going on. First week I’m going to be flying blind a little bit trying to figure out this thing works and technology that’s going to allow me to broadcast a game.

So the 24th or 25th is my first game for MLB Network and Fox. And I’ll be going at it pretty hard, as long as the season keeps going.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

July 10-12 on NBC, NBCSN and GOLF Channel

MLB, NBA, NHL and Football Hall of Famers Join Current Athletes and Entertainment Personalities in the 71-Player Field; 2020 Tournament Being Contested Without Fans

All Prize Money to be Donated to Social Justice, COVID-19 Relief and Lake Tahoe Non-Profits

LAKE TAHOE, Nev., July 6, 2020 — NBC Sports Group this week will provide comprehensive on-air and digital coverage of the nation’s premier celebrity golf tournament, the American Century Championship, celebrating its 31st year and taking place at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Lake Tahoe. A field of 71 participants from the world of sports and entertainment will compete in the three-day tournament, Friday-Sunday, July 10-12.

NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will air the opening round on Friday from 5-8 p.m. ET, followed by coverage on NBC Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m. ET. GOLF Channel also will replay all three rounds of coverage in primetime at 10 p.m. ET.

In accordance with governmental and health guidelines with safety as the top priority, the 2020 American Century Championship will be contested without spectators and under social distancing guidelines.

ENTIRE TOURNAMENT PURSE AND DONATIONS TO CHARITY: All prize money from the 2020 American Century Championship will be donated to the Equal Justice Initiative, along with organizations supporting COVID-19 relief efforts, including the Notah Begay III (NB3) Foundation COVID-19 Response Fund and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) COVID-19 Response Fund, as well as regional Lake Tahoe non-profits. Combined with additional donations, event organizers anticipate fundraising to exceed $600,000. The American Century Championship has donated more than $5 million to various charitable organizations over the years.

PATRICK MAHOMES, STEPHEN CURRY, TONY ROMO AND AARON RODGERS HEADLINE STAR-STUDDED CELEBRITY FIELD: Reigning Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, two-time defending champion and CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo and two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers headline the star-studded field of 71 players from the world of sports and entertainment. Mahomes will make his competitive golf debut this week at the American Century Championship. Curry, who finished 7th in 2019, will be making his eighth appearance. Romo, who successfully defended his title in 2019, will look to become a three-time champion. Rodgers will look to improve on his 21st place finish in 2019.

Joining them in the field include 12 Hall of Famers, 13 active NFL, NBA and NHL players and entertainment personalities Ray Romano, Alfonso Ribeiro and Larry the Cable Guy, among others. For a complete list of players, click HERE.

WORLD LONG DRIVE COMPETITOR TROY MULLINS, FORMER MISS AMERICA KIRA K. DIXON AND NBC SPORTS’ KATHRYN TAPPEN IN FIELD: World Long Drive competitor Troy Mullins headlines the female participants in the field this week, making her debut. She will be joined by GOLF Channel host / 2015 Miss America Kira K. Dixon, and NBC Sports’ host Kathryn Tappen.

TWELVE FIRST-TIME PARTICIPANTS: Twelve first-time participants are entered in the field, including Canelo Alvarez, Chauncey Billups, Chace Crawford, Eddie George, Cooper Kupp, Patrick Mahomes, Brian McCann, Brandon McManus, Troy Mullins, Michael Pena, Andre Reed and Chase Utley.

NBC SPORTS BROADCAST TEAM: Host Dan Hicks and analyst Peter Jacobsen will anchor coverage at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. They will be joined by Jimmy Roberts as a hole announcer, along with Notah Begay and Roger Maltbie reporting from the course. Steve Sands will conduct interviews with players in the field throughout the championship.

RACE AND SPORTS IN AMERICA – CONVERSATIONS: On Thursday, GOLF Channel’s Damon Hack will host a series of roundtable conversations with several players in the field – including Charles Barkley and Stephen Curry – that will be utilized for a special that is scheduled to air in primetime on GOLF Channel and NBCSN on Monday, July 13 at 8 p.m. ET. The wide-ranging discussions will focus on topics including social justice, locker room conversations about race and ways that sports can help fight inequality.

NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS AND NBC LOCAL AFFILIATES SURROUND COVERAGE: Thursday and Friday leading up to opening round coverage, CNBC, NBC Sports Regional Networks and NBC affiliates across the country will prepare viewers for live coverage with interviews from Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course with players in the field.

DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE: GOLF Channel, NBCSN and NBC Sports’ social media handles will provide content throughout the week. Live tournament coverage also will integrate social media into its telecasts Friday-Sunday, incorporating social media posts from celebrities, athletes and fans using the hashtag #ACCGolf.

New for 2020 is a social media trick shot contest in partnership with American Century, with the opportunity for fans to win a trip to the 2021 American Century Championship. Throughout the week, fans who post their trick shots on Instagram or Twitter using #PlayItACC and #contest will be eligible to win and be on-site for the 2021 event.

NBC Sports’ coverage of the American Century Championship will be streamed via GOLF Channel Digital and NBCSports.com as well as on the GOLF Channel app and the NBC Sports app. The official tournament website – http://www.AmericanCenturyChampionship.com – will be a one-stop shop for videos, photos and live scoring. Fans can keep up with the American Century Championship through NBC Sports Group’s social media platforms throughout tournament week, including exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, interviews, video clips, up-to-date news reports and highlights at @NBCSports, @GOLFChannel and @ACChampionship.

GOLF CHANNEL MORNING DRIVE AND GOLF CENTRAL NEWS COVERAGE: GOLF Channel’s signature news shows Morning Drive and Golf Central will provide news coverage with highlights throughout the week.

CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT WAGERING: Sportsbook wagering odds posted by Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas lists Tony Romo as the favorite at 5/6 with three-time champion Mark Mulder the second choice at 5/2. The other top choices are Derek Lowe and Mardy Fish (both 12-1) and Stephen Curry (18-1). “Tony Romo’s the man to beat but we may find out how good Steph Curry really is this year since he’s been on the golf course instead of the basketball court during these preceding weeks,” said Harrah’s Tahoe Sports Book Manager Dave Cudney. Other notables on the Caesars Entertainment board include Mahomes (500-1); Rodgers (100-1); Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (125-1); and comedian/actor Ray Romano (5000-1). Basketball Hall of Famer turned and TNT NBA Analyst Charles Barkley is listed at 7500-1.

American Century Championship Live Tournament Airtimes
Friday, July 10 NBCSN 5-8 p.m. ET / 2-5 p.m. PT (Live)
Saturday, July 11 NBC 3-6 p.m. ET / Noon-3 p.m. PT (Live)
Sunday, July 12 NBC 3-6 p.m. ET / Noon-3 p.m. PT (Live)

All three rounds will re-air on GOLF Channel at 10 p.m. ET.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT: Tournament scoring is based on a modified Stableford format with 10 points for a double eagle, 8 for a hole-in-one, 6 for eagle, 3 for birdie, 1 for par, 0 for bogey, and minus 2 for double-bogey or higher. The celebrities will play 54-holes over the 6,846-yard lakeside course at Edgewood.

-NBC Sports Group-

AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP TELECONFERENCE CALL
Tim Brown, John Smoltz & Mike Vrabel
June 23, 2020

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the American Century Championship call.
Tim Brown, John Smoltz and Coach Vrabel have joined us.

I’ll start with a question for Tim. Tim, you’ve been playing in this event since the 1990s. Now you’re coming to Edgewood Tahoe, there will be no fans on the golf course. And you remember when there were not 50,000 fans out there.

How different do you think this experience will be?

TIM BROWN: You know, it’s going to be very different, no doubt about it. Of course, that’s what makes this tournament. In the past it’s been the fans and all the craziness you get with having the fans. And God knows, I can’t imagine the 17th hole without having fans there. It’s going to be a unique experience for the players.

But I believe for the really good players it may be a little more relaxing. Those guys will be able to really concentrate and play the type of golf they’re used to playing when they’re at home without having 50,000 people yelling in their backswing.

But I’m certainly going to look forward to being there. The circumstances are unfortunate with the fans not being able to be there. But at the same time, I think continuing the tournament and having the opportunity to raise money for charity is a beautiful thing. So I’m certainly looking forward to being there and playing my part.

Q Mike, I know last year you said you wanted to have a good time, you had expectations. You went 92, 86, 82. Looks like you’re currently going in the 70s this year. How much time have you had to work with your golf game or what do you expect this year?

MIKE VRABEL: I would say that looked like our football season last year kept getting better as the season went along. I was nervous as hell. Tim’s talking about having no spectators out there. I don’t even think I could pull the club back. I’ve teed off in front of Jack Nicklaus at Muirfield Village and I don’t think I was that nervous, but when I teed off in front of Jack Nicklaus. But I relaxed and I’m going to miss the families.

The thing I was so shocked about was how many parents were there with their children, and it started to dawn on me that that was a much more financially sound decision for their family to go and see these athletes and the celebrities than it would be to go to a game and take them to a game.

So I think those are the people that I’m going to miss the most that those kids go out there and get autographs and get their jerseys signed and their hats signed.

Q Do you get a chance to play much golf? And what’s your offseason like before training camp starts? Did you get the RV out again, or

MIKE VRABEL: I do not. We are in Atlanta as we speak. The game starts in 23 minutes. No RV this year, we decided against it. It will be watching baseball and getting as much baseball in for Carter as I can before I go off to camp and he goes off to college. And Tyler left on Friday.

So this is a good time for all the coaches that put a lot into the offseason and the Zoom meetings to unwind, and try to get recharged before this season that we hope and are positive that’s going to happen. We’re confident and we want it to happen. We wanted it to happen as healthy as we possibly can.

Q Tim, I have a question for you. Going back to your Raider days and considering what’s been going on in our country the last month, the protests, can you define how important racial diversity was to Al Davis?

TIM BROWN: I think a lot of people don’t know because it was never promoted or advertised. Just Al did an incredible job of making sure guys were well taken care of well after their careers were over. I was once present, I sort of snuck in on a conversation that I probably wasn’t supposed to be in on, but I heard what was going on. It was really unbelievable the amount of money that he would spend, almost up to a million dollars a month, to make sure certain guys were taken care of. And the majority of those guys were in the minority.

I think he’s always done an incredible job obviously when you look Art Shell, Art Shell was the first modern day African American head coach in the NFL. And we felt pressure about that. We really felt as if Art didn’t perform well, or if the team didn’t perform well and he didn’t win games, then no other African American would get a chance.

So it was pressure on us to go out and play well and to make him look good. And thankfully we made a couple of playoffs and he had a very good record. And we really believe that opened the doors for more African American coaches to be hired in the NFL.

So Al was big on being the first, no doubt about it. I think he did a lot of things that people don’t know about. But certainly if you know him, and if you were privy to many of the things he was doing behind the scenes, I think everybody would be super impressed with his charge to make sure that minorities were well respected.

Q John, as you look at the baseball negotiations, in your mind how do you apportion blame among association and MLB? And how do you view it differently as a former player? And as an outsider do you think Rob, Tony or Bruce are in danger of getting bounced out before collective bargaining?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I can only tell you from my experiences before. The players, the one thing that I learned as a player is that what gets out in the news doesn’t always accurately describe what’s going on.

So therefore you can derive some conclusions that aren’t accurate and therefore you can create pressure in PR in the wrong department. So a lot of it is posturing at the time we were going through what we were. A lot of it is misinformation as well.

In any negotiations there’s going to be the side of each person that believes what they believe and sometimes the information that gets out gets out on purpose to create pressure on the other side.

And, look, this is unprecedented times. This is not a normal situation to just have a labor dispute. This is trying to figure out how do we have a baseball season in one of the most confusing, fear paralyzing times of our life. And I think that’s difficult in and of itself.

So I don’t think it would be fair for me to I just don’t know enough of what’s going on to levy that kind of teeter totter blame on either side. I just know that the country has anxiously and hopefully waited to see sports again and hopefully we can. I still remain optimistic even though it’s not gone well up to this point.

And if it gets to playing again look, as athletes it’s hard for us to have two sides equally as important in our life. That’s, one, we’re athletes, and that’s what we train, know and do. The other side is the big business part that’s very difficult for everyone to try to soak in and understand. So it’s a long winded answer to say until you’re in that room, you really it’s hard to speak to what’s going on unless you’re in that room caring and sharing information that a lot of other people won’t get.

Q Do you think this public dispute between the sides for both of them will hurt baseball’s popularity with either the regular fans or fans in general?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I think other than the pandemic shutting the game down, the answer would be yes. If the game is played, to what level and the amount of games will become irrelevant to the viewers. It might be more relevant to the owners and the players, that’s why they haven’t been able to get to that common ground.

But I think the sport, as long as it gets to play this year, that won’t affect what you asked.

Now, down the road there’s obviously some stumbling blocks that have to be dealt with down the road. But I think playing the sport at least 60 games, if that’s what it ends up being the end is always what makes our sport great, the World Series and the postseason. So, that’s just as equally as important as the actual season that’s played.

Q John, with the short season this year, 60 games, what do you anticipate, absolutely crazy?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I think it’s going to be awesome from a standpoint of a lot of things that you never could predict and we’ve never seen. So the older player’s going to be refreshed. The younger player’s going to be super anxious to get out there. It’s going to be a strategy so much different on the strategy and the roster and how you manipulate the roster.

But the obvious thing is the great teams that were great before this happened are still going to be great. But there’s a lot more pressure on them, because in a 60 game schedule, I think that you have 25 percent more teams that can compete that had no idea they were going to compete for 162 games.

So you’re going to see more teams have a chance in a 60 game schedule. That’s why in a first half, second half scenario, it’s a totally different philosophy than it is in 162.

I would say this like any other sport, but once you have 162 games and you know your roster is good the first two months don’t bother you, whether you’re 10 games down or eight games down you know you’re better over 162 games. Now leads and pressure of trying to get into the pressure of getting in the playoffs is going to be pressure. It’s really got a chance to be unique.

Q And every game is going to be worth more than two and a half times than a normal regular season game?

JOHN SMOLTZ: Yeah, I think so. I can see scenarios where teams who have the big three in their rotation might get creative with that. You’ll use the pitching is going to be there’s going to be a ton of pitchers anyways. But you just have the resources that you would never have over 162. So there could be some scenarios where the pitching staffs that wouldn’t be able to do what they can do for 162 might be able to do something different for 60.

So I think you’re going to see some creativity that allows a team to justify their ability to play in the playoffs. There are going to be some surprises. That I can guarantee you, and those surprises might be refreshing in the sense that you didn’t see that coming three months ago.

Q John, let me ask you, how surprised are you that it came together for the tournament this year and it’s actually taking place?

JOHN SMOLTZ: Say that again, how surprised am I that it came together?

Q That everything came together for the tournament to actually take place this year?

JOHN SMOLTZ: Like Tim Brown, I’m super excited, if nothing else, look, we love what we do. We did it all in a different form. But to give a diversion, to give somebody something to watch the fan experience is second to none, but we can’t have that for obvious reasons. So, getting out there to compete and being able play, it’s a challenger must for me. And I try to mark it down every year.

And the fact that we’re doing it is exciting, because it’s getting us closer and closer, hopefully, to just being more normal if that’s even possible with the unprecedented times we’re living in.

I’m excited that NBC is going to cover it. And I’m excited at whatever we can bring to the charities that end up becoming a beneficiary from this is exciting as well. But personally for me I miss structure. I miss I’m usually in the middle of a baseball season. And I’m trying to cram in Tahoe in the last second, try to get in and get out and go back to my job.

So I’m starving for something, as I’m sure a lot of people are starving to get back to structure, which, you know, for a lot of us has been nonexistent for a long time.

Q You mentioned competing. Let me just ask, you’ve been an apex competitor in celebrity golf for many years. And I just read in Forbes, they mentioned golf is your other sport. You defended at Diamond. What do you think, how do you think about this year? Is this your year at the American Century Championship? How do you feel about winning?

JOHN SMOLTZ: I have no excuses of my game not being ready. There hasn’t been a whole lot to do other than be able to play some golf. As I mentioned earlier, I’m counting the days and getting out in an unbelievable part of the country, even though, again, it will be without fans. I’m excited. I’ve learned a lot in the last three years of golf.

I had the opportunity to play or was going to play in four Champion Tour events this year, but those got canceled three of them got canceled or postponed. So this is I love tournaments. I love competing.

I think this year I’ll probably be less hard on myself because what I’ve learned is when I go to these things, I’m too hard on myself. The expectation’s through the roof and I end up beating myself up mentally over things that I shouldn’t be doing. And this time off has really made me realize that component won’t be there this year.

Q My question is regarding ’94. Do you see parallels, John, between ’94 stoppage and today’s disputes?

JOHN SMOLTZ: That’s a great question. I don’t think so. We’re talking about really two different eras of older generations that were teaching us younger guys of what was the past and what they’re trying to do for the future. I think it’s a really different era of generational players where it’s a young game, and rightfully so. The athletes in this game are prepared to do things that we probably weren’t prepared to do back then. And it’s a different reward system that exists today that didn’t exist back then.

I think it’s two totally different desires, if that makes sense, from the group of people that are playing today versus the group of people that were playing back in those eras. And it was an older game, it was a more older influence, it was more experience. And there was a lot of value in that back then that really helped form us at an information basis even without the technology that exists today that you got access to all kinds of information.

So I wouldn’t say it from the outside looking in that it’s the same.

Q You guys are not just superstars, but you’re also sports fans. Other than getting ready to compete in this tournament, how are you kind of feeding your sports fan Jones?

TIM BROWN: It’s been tough. So many repeat games watching Notre Dame football games, repeat games. And everything that’s on TV right now, I think the “Last Dance” was even though it’s not my sport, but it got you back into that era of basketball that I miss so much for sure.

But it’s been tough. One good thing that’s come out of my 17 year old son decided to play golf, so we’ve been playing a lot of golf together. So I guess that’s one of the ways I’ve been quenching my thirst for sports. It’s tough when there’s no live sports on, it’s really difficult when you’re a sports family anyway it’s difficult. So that part of it has been a little rough. But at the same time this has been a good time for me.

And I try to get better in every sense of the word. That’s what I’ve been focusing on better husband, better father, the whole deal. And hopefully we can come out of this and be a better person.

MIKE VRABEL: Well, obviously just got a lot of access to the Titans film and NFL film. And that’s really what it was. We had a big house full of people. My son was home from college, Boston College, and had another one and we had three two 19 year olds and an 18 year old and me in the house. So it got busy and got crowded. It looked like a fraternity house.

So we spent a lot of time together. And then when they finally let me back in the office, I think I slept outside my office waiting for them to let me back in. But as far as the sports go, it’s been a huge part of our family. It’s important to our family.

My dad raised me to love and be a great teammate, love being part of a team and the atmosphere and the bond that’s built in the locker room. So I think that’s really what we’ve missed as a family and we try to make our own locker room out of it. So that’s really what we did and we’re hoping for some normalcy, the best we can have.

JOHN SMOLTZ: For me it’s kind of funny, because I didn’t really I’ve been retired going on 11 years, and I never really watched a lot of my games. But as Tim mentioned, there’s a lot of historic games that fortunately I was part of that have been rerun. I’ve got a chance to watch them, was kind of digging it. We’re empty nesters, so my college kids were coming back home, and they obviously weren’t born when I pitched a lot of these. They were enamored that I was locked into this game that happened 30 years ago. And they asked me questions like do you remember that pitch and that batter. And, of course, I could have recited the whole game.

At one point they had to tell me I had to stop watching those. That’s what I was filling my time with was a lot of memorable games. And then the Braves had a reunion for the ’95 World Series on Zoom, and that was really cool.

It’s funny because when you retire and you get into what I’ve been into in broadcasting, you’re locked into baseball, but I never really got a chance to watch a lot of those games. So that part was pretty cool until the kids told me to move on.

Q Tim, now that Vegas has happened, what are your emotions? Because you went through this (indiscernible) local in LA, and now it’s happening again. And what are you expecting the team on the field this season?

TIM BROWN: You know, I think I got over the emotional part of the Raiders moving a couple years ago. I can remember having conversations with the head brass, trying to figure out why they were doing what they were doing. They didn’t want to do it, but they felt like they had to do it because the City of Oakland wasn’t responding the way they wanted to. So once you realize that, the question I asked is how do you expect these rich guys to perform in Las Vegas and stay out of trouble?

And their response was, hey, look, Tim, when we were in LA we had trouble. We had trouble in Oakland. We’re going to have trouble in Vegas. There’s always gonna be a couple of knuckleheads, a couple of guys, it’s never the whole team that are going to be the troublemakers.

I think from that standpoint, the one thing I wanted to see was this organization finally have their own stadium and not have to share a baseball stadium no offense, John not have to share a baseball stadium with the Oakland A’s. It’s tough to do. It’s tough to play on that, four or five games every year. So I think them getting their own stadium now.

Unfortunately, it’s in Vegas, but at the same time it’s great that it’s in Vegas because if there’s any team that can pull this off, I think it’s the Raiders. And so I think from that standpoint, it’s going to be an incredible run.

When you look at the team and where they are right now, obviously I’m a big Jon Gruden fan. If not for him I don’t have HoF by my name. I think this guy is capable of getting things done. I think he’s finally got the speed he’s been looking for; probably had it last year going into training camp but the AB blew up on everybody. He has a guy now in Henry Ruggs who can really stretch the field. And we had a guy like that back in the day, James Jett. And he didn’t catch a whole bunch of balls but he garnered a whole bunch of attention because he was a 4.1, 4.2 40 guy. So now you have a guy who’s not only fast but has the ability to make plays with the ball in his hand. It’s going to be very interesting to see what he can bring to the table.

I’m never going to count Gruden out. I think he has amazing abilities to get the best out of players. And if that being the case, I think if the team, if they hone in on what he’s trying to teach them, they can be right there at the end fighting for a playoff spot and even going deeper into the playoffs.

Q Tim, I wanted to follow up with Al Davis, who had wanted this stadium all along, and the vision for it to finally come together and seeing the Raiders with this state of the art stadium out here in Vegas.

TIM BROWN: I know a lot of people may not know, I should say, that Al Davis kept a home, a place in Vegas. So, I think he would be smiling from ear to ear right now being that the team is in Vegas.

I think you look back I got to the LA Raiders in ’88. We moved to Oakland in ’95. And when we got there, they talked about building a stadium, and Al and the city got into it. No surprise there, I guess. But then 22 years later finally the team finds a situation not in Oakland to make their home in.

So I bring that up to say only that the city had 22 years to make Oakland a permanent home, make the Raiders a permanent home in Oakland. They decided not to, for whatever reason.

But now it’s time for us to move forward and to embrace this situation with Vegas. I know the city has embraced the Raiders. Now it’s time for the Raider fans to embrace it and let’s move on and go make some great things happen.

Q I wanted to ask your take on how the Raiders have handled social awareness, especially the Black Lives Matter and making Juneteenth an official holiday for the organization.

TIM BROWN: I think if it comes from your heart then it’s a beautiful thing. But if it comes from your mind because you feel like, oh, we gotta do this because of XYZ, then it’s something totally different. And I know those guys well enough in that organization to know that this is coming from their heart. So it’s a beautiful thing.

And this is what the Raiders have always been about. I mean, I think the Raiders have always been the last act for a whole bunch of veteran players in the league because Al Davis have always given those guys the last opportunity to do something great.

I think this is sort of keeping in line with what Al was all about. And now you have an organization that understands where society is right now and for them to get out front and make this a holiday, it’s what it’s all about.

Again, to do it under pressure is one thing but to do it because it’s what you want to do and what you feel like is the right thing is what it’s all about.

Q Tim, what do you think the real chances are for having NFL football this fall? And a lot of people have asked you also about the move to Vegas. Do you think the Raiders and Las Vegas will be a good fit?

TIM BROWN: Yeah, well this question is tailor made for Mike Vrabel because I’m sure he had more information than I do. I certainly am starting to believe there will be football this year; but that’s just my thoughts and my hopes really. I don’t know about the fans.

Q I said it was all of our hopes.

TIM BROWN: Right. I don’t know if there are going to be fans in the stadium initially. But at the same time I’m hoping that the season does get started. And maybe, you know, in October things are going well, slip a couple of fans into the stadium.

But I think that’s the only thing we can hope right now is that the season can get going. If the season can get going, then I think there will be an end to the season, and I think that’s what it’s all about.

Q Do you think that Las Vegas and the Raiders will be a good fit?

TIM BROWN: I think it’s going to be a perfect fit. Like I said sort of jokingly a second ago, I don’t know if there’s another team in the league that could put (indiscernible) other than the Raiders. But I think people sort of look at the Raiders being the bad boys and all this kind of stuff.

But at the same time, now it’s time to get out and play great football. I think they’re going to have an incredible fan base, not only the original fan base, but I know the Vegas folks are clamoring for a football team. And now that they have it I think they’re going to show up and be ready to support.

Q Mike, the COVID 19 disruption and everything that’s going on with it, do you think it affects the top tier teams like the Titans more than the teams that are trying to get to that next level and make the playoffs?

MIKE VRABEL: Well, I think every year is a new year. That’s what I learned in the National Football League as a player and a coach. Everybody starts back over. There’s free agency. You add players. You lose players. There’s the draft. Player acquisition.

I would say we had as good a virtual offseason that I could have expected. I am somewhat happy that we aren’t a new staff. This staff has been together, the players; the nucleus has been with us now going on three years. I’m hopeful that when it’s safe to go back out there, we’ll be able to resume and pick up where we left off and start back over and continue to try to build a football team.

Q Certainly had a great season last year. Are you personally, yourself, worried about catching the virus?

TIM BROWN: You know, there’s nothing more important than the health and safety of our football team and our players. And I know that whatever the protocols are, we will follow; and we’re always putting our players first. Their best interest is always forefront in my mind.

I don’t worry or concern myself with things that haven’t happened to me yet. So I will continue to try to follow the protocols. When the NFL tells us what that is and it’s as safe as possible time to go back to work, then we’ll go back to work under the guidelines.

Q Seems like it’s impossible to play football with social distancing.

MIKE VRABEL: I think those two things, not the type of football we want to play. Again, when the NFL tells us it’s safe and we follow the guidelines, we’re going to trust in the process and follow the game plan. And if we have to make adjustments to it, we will.

It’s an honor to be invited out there and honor to be on with two Hall of Famers. And I know Tim and what type of person he is, first and foremost, and what type of player he was and obviously the career that John has and the person he is. I appreciate them allowing me to be on with them.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.