“The Redskins nickname is offensive to Native Americans. In 2013, we need to get that name changed.” – Tony Dungy
“He’s thinking about making a mistake, not about making a play.” – Rodney Harrison on Tony Romo’s late-game woes
“Eli and this offense, they’re just terrible.” – Harrison on the Giants
“When he does something good, he’s Adam Jones. When he does something bad, he’s Pacman Jones.” – Dan Patrick
NEW YORK – Oct. 6, 2013 – Following are highlights for Football Night in America, the most-watched pre-game show in sports. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside Candlestick Park in San Francisco where the 49ers are hosting the Houston Texans. Costas was joined on-site by Sunday Night Football commentators Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst), as well as NBC NFL analyst and former Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward.
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 Pro Football Talk on NBCSports.com and NBCSN; and Scott Pioli, the former NFL Executive of the Year and newest addition to the NBC NFL team. Alex Flanagan reported from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on the Broncos-Cowboys game.
Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON REDSKINS
King on name controversy and team owner Daniel Snyder: “I’m told he’s resolute. He will not change the name.”
Florio: “I’m told there will be no discussion of the team’s name at the ownership meetings, either now or at any point in the future. If this ever goes down, I’m told to expect Commissioner Roger Goodell and a handful of select owners to approach Daniel Snyder privately.”
Dungy: “I hope Daniel Snyder does reconsider and change it. The Redskins nickname is offensive to Native Americans. In 2013, we need to get that name changed.”
Patrick: “We’ve seen a lot of colleges back away from it, but it’s different with Daniel Snyder.”
Dungy: “It is, but we need to do that. I hope Snyder changes his mind.”
ON COWBOYS
Patrick on Tony Romo’s late-game interception: “It has to be mental…right?”
Dungy: “It really is. You couldn’t play better football than he played today.”
Harrison: “He’s thinking about making a mistake, not about making a play.”
ON SAINTS
Dungy: “At least for this week, they’re the best team in the NFC…They’ve got weapons.”
Harrison: “When you’re this explosive on offense, you don’t have to be great on defense. You just need to be good on defense, and it allows your defense to take chances, to be aggressive.”
ON SEAHAWKS
Harrison on Richard Sherman (while watching highlights): “Richard Sherman, you claim to be the best defensive back in the National Football League, but look at this hustle, a lack of hustle; even Earl Thomas makes him cut back. There’s a chance that maybe he could strip the ball or make the tackle before he gets to the end zone.”
Dungy: “Sherman stops, it costs them a touchdown. That’s how you lose games on the road.”
ON GIANTS
Harrison: “Eli and this offense, they’re just terrible.”
ON CHIEFS
Dungy: “It comes back to Andy Reid. Last year, they had good defensive personnel. They were -24 in giveaway/takeaway. This year, they’re +10 and that’s Andy Reid taking Alex Smith and telling him, ‘You’ve got to protect the football.’”
ON RAVENS
Dungy: “The thing that has me concerned is that offensive line. They’ve had some injuries. They’re not running the ball effectively with Ray Rice. That’s putting a lot of pressure on (Joe) Flacco. And the protection is not there.”
ON BENGALS
Patrick: “When he does something good, he’s Adam Jones. When he does something bad, he’s Pacman Jones.”
ON BUCCANEERS
Florio: “Whatever decision Josh Freeman makes, look for Josh Freeman to sign just through the end of this year, and then try to become a free agent next year; maximize his market by having a big year going someplace where he will be able to play.”
ON JAGUARS
Dungy: “I haven’t seen anything like this. We’ve watched them week in and week out, and you never feel like they’ve really got a chance to win the ball game. Getting Justin Blackmon back helped them. They’ve got some explosiveness on offense, but they’ve got a long way to go.”
ON PANTHERS
Harrison: “It’s just time to switch quarterbacks…Cam Newton has struggled time and time again. We’ve seen flash opportunities for him to get better, and just time and time again it just seems like he regresses.”
Dungy: “But, in those highlights you can’t blame Cam. They’re dropping passes, seven sacks; I like Cam Newton.”
Harrison: “I like him too. I didn’t say I didn’t like him. But it’s time for him to change teams.”
ON 49ERS
Dungy on speaking with Jim Harbaugh about last year’s QB switch: “I talked to Jim before I talked to Colin, and I asked him about making the switch from Alex Smith. He said, ‘You know, Alex can make us a good team. Colin can take us to the Super Bowl.’”
ON TEXANS
Dungy: “J.J. Watt is just a special blend of size, speed, strength and an unstoppable motor. This guy does it all.”
Harrison: “I’ve watched a lot of tape and he’s the most dominant lineman I’ve seen since Reggie White.”
INTERVIEW: Below are excerpts from Dungy’s interview with Kaepernick and Costas’ interview with Schaub.
COLIN KAEPERNICK WITH TONY DUNGY
On Harbaugh yelling at him: “My rookie year we had a couple of rough days. There was one day, I don’t remember exactly what I was doing. There was something I wasn’t doing quite right, quite how he wanted me to, and he just went off. He has a little fire to him and he doesn’t really snap and go off on players so when he did that, I’m really messing up. For him to go off like this in front of everybody, it’s bad. I’ve been better since then.”
On his twitter following and criticism: “It lets you know that there are people that still think you aren’t where you should be. It’s kind of like what Coach Harbaugh tells us sometimes: ‘When people start talking really good about you, that’s when you need to be worried.’ I think from the time I was young, I’ve had a lot of people tell me I can’t do things so that’s a reminder that I’ve been through this before, and I’ve been successful going through it before.”
Tony Dungy: “As far as you guys know, are you guys still the best team in the NFC?”
Kaepernick: “I’m not going to say what’s on our mind but I think we’re a team that’s to be reckoned with.”
Dungy: “That’s not what I asked. Are you the best team in the NFC?”
Kaepernick: “I think everybody on this team thinks so. We have to go out and prove it week in and week out because after four weeks in the season, I think teams doubt us. They doubt what we’re capable of and I think they think we’ve fallen off, and we have to go out and prove that that’s not the case.”
Click here to watch the interview: http://www.nbcsports.com/football/nfl/kaepernick-were-team-be-reckoned
MATT SCHAUB WITH BOB COSTAS
On the scrutiny and criticism the past few weeks: “It’s been tough. Obviously a lot of times we get too much criticism, but also we get too much praise when things are going good. It just comes with the territory. The one thing you have to do is go back to work the next day and the next week and prepare for the next game.”
On his second interception against Seattle, which tied the game and led to a loss in OT: “It was a bad decision. I should have, in that situation, just taken a sack or just thrown the ball at the ground near the vicinity of my receiver. It was just a bad play and I take responsibility for that.”
On his reaction to fans burning his jersey in front of the stadium and the Matt Schaub “Pick 6” burger: “I’m just going back to work. For me, it was get right back in the film room, get right back out on the practice field, get the game plan down, and just get ready for San Francisco. That’s all I know. That’s all I can do. These obviously are passionate fans, so we’re just looking to erase the past few weeks with a win.”
--FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA--