FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, October 30th, 2016
FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA FEATURES MIKE TIRICO’S INTERVIEW WITH PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK CARSON WENTZ
“He had a bit of a gunslinger mentality in him, and I think some of that is in me.” – Wentz on being compared to Brett Favre
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 30, 2016 – For tonight’s Week 8 edition of NBC’s Football Night In America, the most-watched weekly studio show in sports, host Mike Tirico interviews Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz. Football Night will also include highlights, analysis and reaction to earlier Week 8 games ahead of tonight’s Eagles-Cowboys Sunday Night Football showdown.
Football Night airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC. Mike Tirico will host tonight’s program live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. He will be joined on site by Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1, and is joined by Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on NBCSN, NBCSports.com and NBC Sports Radio. Paul Burmeister will report from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., on the Packers-Falcons game.
INTERVIEW: Below are excerpts from Tirico’s interview with Wentz. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing tonight on Football Night in America.”
CARSON WENTZ WITH MIKE TIRICO
On returning home to North Dakota as a starting QB in the NFL: “It was pretty cool. It was different, because I feel like a kid who just grew up down the street. I don’t feel any different, but everyone looks at me differently now. I don’t let that go to my head. I’m trying to make the most of my opportunities with interacting with the fans. It’s a great place, a great state, and this sport is unbelievable.”
On playing for Cowboys’ head coach Jason Garrett at the 2016 Senior Bowl: “You could tell he loved the game. He was very passionate, even in the Senior Bowl. He took it seriously and he cared.”
On if he left the Senior Bowl thinking the Cowboys would draft him: “Absolutely. I left there, and everyone is talking. That’s just how it is. I always thought that was an opportunity, but I wouldn’t change the way it played out for the world.”
Tirico: “What would it be like if you were a Dallas Cowboy instead of a Philadelphia Eagle?”
Wentz: “(Laughs) I don’t even want to speculate on that one. I don’t know.”
On being compared to Brett Favre by Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson: “I think you’ll have to ask coach about some of those things. A guy like Brett, to even be in the same breath is unbelievable. The guy just loved the game. I always enjoyed watching him as a kid. To even be in that category is a little ridiculous in my opinion. The way he played the game, the energy that he brought is something that I like to bring. Obviously he had a bit of a gunslinger mentality in him, and I think some of that is in me.”
On tonight’s matchup possibly being the first of many with Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott: “It’s just the next game on the schedule right now. Obviously it’s a big game. A Sunday Night game. We’re pretty fired up about it, but I don’t really put it into this whole ‘Dak vs. Carson’ thing. It’s just another game.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–
