Bob Costas interviews Saints QB Drew Brees
Alex Flanagan interviews Bengals QB Andy Dalton and WR A.J. Green
NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley hosts Saturday Night Live Tonight and Makes Guest Appearance Today on Football Night in America
“If he wants to make the most money, he’ll go to Miami because Miami owner Stephen Ross will outbid the Rams.” – Peter King on Jeff Fisher
“If Tebow struggles again on Sunday against the Steelers, head coach John Fox is prepared to go with Brady Quinn.” – Mike Florio
“I don’t care what you say. You’re wrong, Charles.” – Rodney Harrison to Charles Barkley after Barkley pick Lions to beat Saints
NEW YORK – January 7, 2012 – Following are highlights from a special Wild Card Saturday edition of Football Night in America. Bob Costas hosted the show live from the Mercedez-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La. Co-host Dan Patrick was live from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios in New York and was joined by commentators Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Peter King and Mike Florio along with NBA Hall-of Famer Charles Barkley, who is hosting Saturday Night Live tonight.
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Peter King and Mike Florio discuss issues around the NFL:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/45912491#45912491
Charles Barkley joins Dan, Tony and Rodney to talk about hosting SNL and today’s Wild Card games:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/45912633#45912633
ON COLTS:
King on Manning bonus situation: “I am hearing that Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts both may be amenable to pushing back that March 8th date on which he is owed $28 million and that option bonus.”
Dungy: “I’ve known Jim Irsay for 10 years. He’s going to make these decisions with his heart as much as his head. So I believe Jim Caldwell will be the coach. Peyton Manning, if he is healthy enough to play, he will be their quarterback. And I now believe that they will draft Andrew Luck with the first pick.”
Patrick: “Forgone conclusion, it’s always been Andrew Luck that they were going to take?”
Dungy: “When Bill Polian was there he was looking at a lot of tape on Robert Griffin, and he had gotten comfortable with Robert Griffin. He would think outside the box; he picked Edgerrin James rather than Ricky Williams. So when Bill (Polian) was there I don’t know, but now I think its Andrew Luck.”
KING ON JEFF FISHER: “The hot guy on the head coaching circuit is Jeff Fisher. Fisher, to relax a little bit and consider his options, is duck hunting today in the Midwest. He will be at the Rams practice facility tomorrow to finish his fact-finding. Then Monday and Tuesday he will set about making his decision between the Miami Dolphins and the St. Louis Rams. If he wants to make the most money, he’ll go to Miami because Miami owner Stephen Ross will outbid the Rams.”
FLORIO ON BRONCOS AND TIM TEBOW: “If Tebow struggles again on Sunday against the Steelers, head coach John Fox is prepared to go with Brady Quinn. The players in that locker room are behind this, because if that’s what it takes to win this game, then that’s what it takes.”
ON PLAYOFFS BEING DIFFERENT FROM REGULAR SEASON
Dungy: The difference is the emotion and the energy. I remember our first playoff game in Tampa and we’re playing the Detroit Lions and Barry Sanders. I am nervous thinking, ‘How are we going to stop this guy?’ We walked out on the field for warm-ups, it was so loud and so noisy, I said, ‘There is no way we are losing this game.’”
Harrison: “During the playoffs, players change their weekly routine. You see guys who don’t even watch tape, they’re in there at 6:30 in the morning watching two hours of tape and I am looking at them like, ‘yeah right.’ And then you see guys that you have to actually drag into the weight room (during the regular season), now they’re doing push-ups and sit-ups. You don’t have to do all that. I’ve played in a lot of playoff games; just do your normal routine. Do what got you here.”
ON HOSTING SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
Patrick: “You’re not nervous hosting Saturday Night Live?”
Barkley: “No, if you screw up on TV you still have a job.
HARRISON AND BARKLEY DEBATE LIONS-SAINTS:
Barkley: “I love the Detroit Lions. It’s going to be a field goal game either way but I think Detroit is going to win that game.”
Harrison: “Why are you taking Detroit? Do you think they have the best defense?
Barkley: “I think they’re both going to score. But if I can pick one defense that can have a monster game, I think that the Detroit defensive line can do that. Their defensive line can just explode.”
Harrison: “I am going to tell you this. The New Orleans Saints are a different team on the road compared to being at home. I’ve played there. That place is loud; it’s going to be rocking. (Saints) will win, I don’t care what you say. You’re wrong, Charles.”
Alex Flanagan interviewed Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green, together, for today’s special Wild Card Saturday edition of Football Night in America, and Bob Costas interviewed New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees for an interview that will appear at halftime of the Bengals-Titans Wild Card game. Below are excerpts from the interviews.
DREW BREES WITH BOB COSTAS
COSTAS: “All the successful quarterbacks have some kind of meaningful relationship with their head coach. But others really seem to be linked: Shula with Marino, Walsh with Montana. That kind of thing has developed here with you and Sean Payton, right?”
Brees: “Well that’s pretty good company, those that you mentioned. My relationship with Sean goes back to when I am sitting in a hospital room in Birmingham, Alabama, two months after my shoulder surgery and he calls me up and tells me that he wants me to be his quarterback here with the New Orleans Saints, in his first head coaching job. His belief in me from the very beginning, and how much confidence he’s given me, and all that he’s taught me. Certainly he’s the guy that every time I step onto the field, I’m playing for Coach Payton. Just because of the opportunity he gave me and how much belief he has in me.”
Costas: “We’ve sited your numbers. Matthew Stafford threw for 41 touchdowns. Threw for better than 5,000 yards himself. He’s from Dallas, you’re from Austin, could we have a Texas shootout here on Saturday night?”
Brees: “I was thinking about the Texas quarterbacks that are in this league. You know Chase Daniel, our back-up, is a Dallas product as well. I root for all the Texas high school quarterbacks, although on this (Saturday) I can’t say that I’m rooting for (Stafford).
Costas: “This can be a brutal game. Some guys though seem to enjoy it. Seem to be able to derive a smile out of it even in the midst of battle. You strike me as one of those guys. Why do you think that is?”
Brees: “I know how blessed I am to play this game and I don’t take it for granted for a second. This game is meant to be fun. As difficult and stressful as it is at times…that anxiety turns into confidence and turns into this feeling of, ‘We’re going to go out and we’re going to have a great day and we’re going to pitch and catch and we’re going to win.’ Life is too short not to have fun.”
ANDY DALTON AND A.J. GREEN WITH ALEX FLANAGAN
ON FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Dalton on Green: “The first time he went up and got one, made a couple of guys miss and scored a touchdown, I thought, ‘He’s the real deal.’ He caught on pretty quick.”
Green on Dalton: “I saw something in him that I didn’t see in a lot of quarterbacks. Andy is different in his approach and the way he carries himself on and off the field. He’s a natural leader and has a lot of confidence in himself.”
Dalton on reaction in Cincinnati on Bengals success: “Everybody’s excited. That’s been one of the best parts about it…just being around town and seeing how everybody’s coming up and saying, “You’ve really changed the attitude of this city and turned this city around.’ So that’s just great to see.”
ON A.J. GREEN’S TALENT FOR JUGGLING
Flanagan: “A.J., we heard you can juggle. We read about it and now we need proof.”
Green: “I was on the juggling team for six years.”
Dalton: “The juggling team? There’s a juggling team?”
Green: “From kindergarten through fifth grade. We used to perform at halftime of basketball games.”
GREEN THEN DEMONSTRATES HIS JUGGLING
Dalton (to the camera): “So thank you to his kindergarten teacher. You’re the reason he is who he is today.”
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