FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, November 9th, 2014
BOB COSTAS INTERVIEWS BEARS HEAD COACH MARC TRESTMAN, JOSH ELLIOTT SITS DOWN WITH PACKERS LB A.J. HAWK ON NBC’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”
“We didn’t take this as torture, we embraced it.” – Marc Trestman on the Bears’ bye week
“In between trying to fight off the motion sickness, I was trying to recreate scenes from Top Gun.” – A.J. Hawk on flying with the Blue Angels
Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison Preview Week 11 Sunday Night Football Patriots-Colts Matchup on Conference Call Tuesday, Nov. 11
STAMFORD, Conn. – Nov. 9, 2014 – For tonight’s Week 10 edition of NBC’s Football Night In America, the most-watched studio show in sports, Bob Costas interviews Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman, and Josh Elliott speaks with Green Bay Packers LB A.J. Hawk. Football Night will also preview NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Bears and Packers, and include highlights, analysis and reaction to earlier Week 10 games.
Football Night 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 analyst Cris Collinsworth, sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward, and Elliott.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1, and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy; two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison; Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com and NBCSN, and NFL insider Peter King. Carolyn Manno will report from CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash., on the Giants-Seahawks game.
INTERVIEWS: Below are excerpts from Costas’ interview with Trestman, and Elliott’s interview with Hawk. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing tonight on Football Night in America.”
MARC TRESTMAN WITH BOB COSTAS
Trestman on how the Bears handled their bye week after the team’s 51-23 loss to the Patriots: “We didn’t take this as torture, we embraced it. We went back to work a couple days after the bye, spent some time trying to find things we could do to help our players get better, and reevaluated what we were doing.”
Trestman on Rodney Harrison’s statement that the Bears need to re-focus their offense around RB Matt Forte: “I think it’s a valid point. We want everybody involved to be a part of our success as we move the ball on offense.”
Trestman on QB Jay Cutler: “He’s an extremely bright guy with great football intelligence. He works extremely hard at his craft and is looking to move up and play better. He needs to do a better job at protecting the football, and he’s certainly taken accountability for that.”
Trestman on DE Lamarr Houston’s sack celebration and injury: “Lamarr knows what he did was completely inappropriate at the time. It was something that we not only don’t want to see on our team, we don’t want to be a part of that. That’s not what the NFL is all about.”
Trestman on the significance of the Bears-Packers rivalry: “No doubt it’s a great rivalry. Growing up in the Midwest, watching this rivalry my whole life, I understand it’s really about the NFL. It’s about the traditions of the NFL, and anybody who loves the league has got to love this matchup, because it’s part of the history of the league.”
A.J. HAWK WITH JOSH ELLIOTT
Hawk on flying with the Blue Angels: “It’s hard to even describe. I didn’t come in as a tough guy and say, ‘Alright, try and make me puke. I can pull 9 G’s.’ I said, ‘I was getting sick in the car ride over here. I have a little baby stomach. Sorry if I throw out these corny Top Gun lines. I’m sure every guy that sits back here does it.’ In between trying to fight off the (motion) sickness, I was trying to recreate scenes from Top Gun. I was in the air for 50 minutes, and I would say for the last 42 minutes I was dying – but I would do it right now if they asked me again.”
Elliott: “You’ve found a lot of balance in your life, and now you’re coming for our jobs with The HawkCast (laughing)?”
Hawk on his podcast: “I’m a curious little guy. My kids have turned me more curious because I see the questions they ask me. It’s like the old saying, ‘I know enough to know that I don’t know everything.’ I just want to talk to people of all different walks of life, and ask them why they are the way they are, and what makes them so successful.”
Elliott: “Have you taken lessons from what you’ve learned in your conversations with members of the military, and applied those lessons on the field?”
Hawk: “I heard a Navy SEAL say, ‘If I can’t trust a man with what he does off the field, if he doesn’t have good morals and character off the battlefield, you can’t trust him on the battlefield.’ I feel like everything is intertwined, and hopefully I’m living right, taking care of my family, my wife and kids. Hopefully when I’m on the field, I’m a positive influence on the guys around me.”
TONY DUNGY & RODNEY HARRISON PREVIEW WEEK 11 PATRIOTS-COLTS “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” MATCHUP ON CONFERENCE CALL TUESDAY, NOV. 11
Football Night In America analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison will preview next weekend’s Sunday Night Football matchup, featuring the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, on a media conference call Tuesday, November 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Click here for full information on Tuesday’s conference call: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2014/11/06/tony-dungy-rodney-harrison-preview-patriots-colts-sunday-night-football-matchup-on-media-conference-call-tuesday-nov-11/
—FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA—
