FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, September 8th, 2013
BOB COSTAS INTERVIEWS ELI MANNING AND TONY ROMO
Football Night in America Preview – Week 1
“Sometimes he just makes it look easy.” – Eli Manning on Peyton Manning’s 7-TD performance
“I don’t think money ever dictates your confidence.” – Tony Romo on his new contract
NEW YORK – Sept. 8, 2013 – Bob Costas interviewed New York Giants QB Eli Manning and Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo for tonight’s Week 1 edition of Football Night in America, which will preview Giants-Cowboys, and also include highlights, analysis and reaction to earlier Week 1 games.
Football Night, the most-watched pre-game show in sports, airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC with Costas hosting the program live from inside the stadium. He will be joined on site by Sunday Night Football commentators Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst), as well as NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward, for reaction to the afternoon games and to preview tonight’s match-up.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from famous Studio 8H at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios in New York City. He is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy; two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison; Peter King of Sports Illustrated; Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com and NBC Sports Network; and Scott Pioli, the former NFL Executive of the Year who is new to the team this season. Alex Flanagan will report from Candlestick Park in San Francisco on the Packers-49ers game.
INTERVIEWS: Below are excerpts from Costas’ interviews with Manning and Romo. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing tonight on Football Night in America.”
ELI MANNING WITH BOB COSTAS
On Peyton’s 7-TD performance and the Giants facing the Broncos next week: “I’m kind of upset with him. Sometimes he just makes it look easy…Obviously he’s playing at a high level, and hopefully next week we’ll be able to slow them down a little bit…Hopefully, after two games, he’ll be averaging 3.5 touchdowns per game.”
On his “football on your phone” performance and Peyton’s claim that Eli had a dream to be in a boy band: “Peyton can be a liar. I guess Peyton wanted to be in a rock band. He was a big Twisted Sister fan, Wham. That’s what he was listening to back in the ‘80s when he was driving me to school. That’s why he went with the more punk haircut.”
On his big-game and late-game performances being related to his older brothers roughing him up as a child: “I have been roughed up a little bit. Having two older brothers — five years younger than one, seven years younger than the other — you had to get tough quickly, and that’s kind of what I learned. Peyton used to hold me down with his knees on my arms and knock on my chest, and make me name all the NFL teams…Having two older brothers, it does kind of teach you to be tough and hang on, and always feel like you’re going to get out of it.”
TONY ROMO WITH BOB COSTAS
On if his new contract has affected his level of confidence: “I don’t think money ever dictates your confidence or what your mental makeup is. More than anything, I’m in a constant grind to improve, get better and achieve goals for this football team. And that’s never going to change.”
On his post-season performance: “More than anything, your legacy and everything you want to talk about how great you are as a quarterback, we’re all defined by your post-season play. I understand that. That’s what’s great about the game…We have a football team that, hopefully, has improved, gotten better. I feel excited about the team we have.”
On if he feels in the locker room that this is a make-or-break season for Jason Garrett: “No. Jason is our head coach. He’s as established as I’ve been around…every year in the National Football League; everyone’s job is on the line. I think Jason allows us to have some stability and structure in a position that’s consistently changing sometimes in this profession. He provides that clarity for our football team. It’s a great emotional even keel that he keeps, and it trickles down to everybody.”
—FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA—
