FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, December 21st, 2014

NOTES & QUOTES FROM NBC’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” – WEEK 16

“He’s a battler. He plays as competitively and courageous as anybody we’ll ever see.” – Jerry Jones to Kathryn Tappen on Tony Romo

“Matthew Stafford talked about finding ways to get better. He needs to start with himself because he’s been inconsistent all year.” – Rodney Harrison

“They finally have a quarterback that they can build the pieces around for the future.” – Tony Dungy on Vikings rookie QB Teddy Bridgewater

“The decision has not been made. The co-owners of the Giants, John Mara and Steve Tisch, need to have a conversation about this. They haven’t had it yet.” – Peter King on Tom Coughlin’s job status

STAMFORD, Conn. – December 21, 2014 – Following are highlights from NBC’s Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports. Bob Costas opened the show live from inside University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. — site of Super Bowl XLIX to be broadcast on NBC — to preview Seahawks-Cardinals. Costas was joined on site by Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth, sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward and NBC Sports’ Josh Elliott.

Dan Patrick co-hosted Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1. He was joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy; two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com, and NFL Insider Peter King. Kathryn Tappen reported from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on the Colts-Cowboys game.

In addition, Costas interviewed Seahawks CB Richard Sherman and Elliott spoke with Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who was head coach at USC from 2001-09, remembers war hero and USC alumnus Louis Zamperini, who is the subject of the book and upcoming movie of the same name, Unbroken.

Following are highlights from Football Night in America:

ON PATRIOTS

Harrison: “If I had one concern about the Patriots, it would be at the strong safety position, and maybe even at the linebacker position, covering tight ends down the field. Patrick Chung gave up a touchdown to an average tight end, and that’s been the theme the entire year.”

Dungy on if the Jets provided a blueprint against the Patriots: “The blueprint is, if you can put the pressure on Tom Brady and rush. The Jets do it (with) creative rushes, and they make things uncomfortable.”

ON STEELERS

Collinsworth: “Stephon Tuitt and Mike Mitchell and some of these young guys are now starting to come in on this defense. We know with Dick LeBeau it takes a little while, and now their defense is starting to grow into it. And speaking of growing into it, the old guy came back. James Harrison is back. I don’t care what anybody says, when he’s lined up [with] 92 on the outside, it’s a different looking defense.”

Harrison: “That Steelers defense was physical today.”

ON COWBOYS

Owner/President/GM Jerry Jones to Tappen post-game on Tony Romo: “The guy that I really want to be in the foxhole with is not the one that’s his first time in there, and maybe even one that had a bad experience in there. If you’ve got somebody that lived to tell about it, yet they’ve had those experiences and haven’t deterred their will and their will to succeed, then you’ve got something. And that’s what we’ve got in Tony Romo. He’s a battler. He plays as competitively and courageous as anybody we’ll ever see. But he’s got outstanding talent, and he’s been our ticket to get there for several years.”

ON COLTS

Harrison on if he believes in the Colts: “I don’t. It’s just disappointing. I know they rely on Andrew Luck so much, but they have a lot of flaws.”

Dungy: “To be an elite team you’re going to have to step up and beat a Dallas, a New England, and those types of teams.”

ON LIONS

Harrison: “Matthew Stafford talked about finding ways to get better. He needs to start with himself because he’s been inconsistent all year.”

ON RAVENS

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh at his post-game press conference on their loss to the Texans: “Anything we don’t need stays here (in Houston). We’re only taking back with us what we can use to go play, compete and beat the Cleveland Browns. Period.”

Harrison: “Well, coach, you better leave Joe Flacco in the locker room.”

Patrick to Harrison: “Joe Flacco in one word.”

Harrison: “Terrible. Absolutely terrible.”

ON DOLPHINS

Harrison: “The players play hard for Coach Philbin. The thing that they need to improve on is being able to finish in the fourth quarter, like they did today.”

ON VIKINGS

Harrison on Teddy Bridgewater: “He’s the best rookie quarterback, and each and every week we see improvement.”

Dungy: “They finally have a quarterback that they can build the pieces around for the future.”

ON 49ERS

Florio on Rooney Rule slowing a possible Jim Harbaugh trade: “There’s a belief that Coach Jim Harbaugh will be traded quickly by the 49ers. But it can’t happen that quickly because the team that would be trading for Harbaugh has to fire its coach, comply with Rooney Rule by interviewing at least one minority candidate, then work out a deal with the 49ers, and work out a deal with Harbaugh. It can’t happen quickly, and if it does happen quickly, it would suggest that things happened behind the scenes prematurely, making a mockery of the Rooney Rule.”

ON GIANTS

King on status of Tom Coughlin’s job: “Make no mistake about it. The decision has not been made. The co-owners of the Giants, John Mara and Steve Tisch, need to have a conversation about this. They haven’t had it yet. They’ll have it in the next week or so.”

ON RAIDERS

Dungy on Derek Carr: “He has given them a spark, and if you look at what this Buffalo defense did to Peyton Manning and to Aaron Rodgers, Carr went out there — no turnovers today — and played great ball. They’ve got something to build on.”

Harrison on Carr: “If they can find a great defense to help him out, he wouldn’t feel like he has to force things … at times, young quarterbacks feel like they need to make all the plays. But I think they have a winner in Derek Carr.”

ON ARIZONA

Collinsworth on Cardinals needing big plays to win tonight: “Bruce Arians has big plays up his sleeve. Can they hit them? And if they do, Ryan Lindley is a one-game wonder, and that’s all they need him for.”

Florio: “It’s widely believed the Cardinals will cut receiver Larry Fitzgerald due to a $23.6 million cap number. I’m told the Cardinals will not release him. A trade, maybe, but he won’t be released.”

ON SEAHAWKS

Harrison on if Richard Sherman is the best defensive back in football: “I would say Darrelle Revis is the best cornerback. Richard Sherman is No. 2…what I love about Richard Sherman is his intelligence.”

SOME WEEK 17 PREDICTIONS

On Lions-Packers: Dungy and Harrison both chose the Packers.

On Panthers-Falcons: Dungy chose the Panthers, while Harrison chose the Falcons.

Below are excerpts from Costas’ interview with Sherman, Elliott’s interview with Arians, and Carroll’s memories of Zamperini.

RICHARD SHERMAN WITH BOB COSTAS

On whether being overlooked is a motivation for him: “Definitely. You want to punish everybody who overlooked you. Every little bit of criticism you got…at the end of the day, you want it to sound like noise and ignorance. You want their criticisms to sound like they don’t know what they’re doing — they’re not doing a great job — and hopefully get them fired.”

On whether he’ll be watching Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson on the sideline: “Not really. I really don’t care what happens in his game. I’m concerned about what we’re doing, the win-loss category, and what the scoreboard looks like. I think at the end of the day, the tape will speak for itself. I don’t know if everybody’s compared on an even scale, and I don’t know if he should be mentioned with us [the great CBs in the league]. You give up eight touchdowns in a year; it’s hard to put you in that discussion.”

Costas: “You and Peterson went back and forth about that on Twitter, a little bit. It’s calmed down.”

Sherman: “Yeah, it’s just how you play. At any point, if I gave up that many touchdowns, I think I would be benched on our team. We have a level of accountability and that’s what we strive for. You can’t give up big plays like that and still play.”

On whether moments like the one he had with 49ers WR Michael Crabtree in the NFC Championship last season undermine his other accomplishments: “I really could care less. People are going to have their opinions, good, bad or indifferent. This world is full of people who make criticisms and judgments of other people. One day, they’ll too be judged.”

On whether he has any misgivings about himself: “Honestly, no. At the end of the day I’m pretty happy with the man I see in the mirror. I know who I am and what I’m about. People that know me also know who I am and what I’m about. People who don’t know me and judge me off of what they see on the field or in interviews, I really could care as much about their opinion as the dirt under my shoe right now.”

BRUCE ARIANS WITH JOSH ELLIOTT

On if he’s surprised to be labeled as the underdog this week: “No, not whatsoever. The world champions are coming in. We’re playing with a bunch of college free agents and undrafted guys, and third- and fourth-string quarterback. So, I would think they would think we’d be underdogs.”

On whether “next man up” is the culture of his team: “Yeah, and I think culture, big scheme and talent a lot of times. It’s easy for me to preach it because I lived it myself when [Colts coach] Chuck [Pagano] went down with his illness, I took over the responsibility. Going forward on fourth down, I was never the head coach, Chuck [Pagano] was always the head coach. I told the rest of the staff, I’ll just make this one decision, whether or not we go for it. We’ll probably go for it a lot more than we used to. That’s just who we are.”

On if a lack of national respect has motivated him: “When it’s us against the world, and you continue to have bumps in the road, it continues to submit everything together. Going to St. Louis as an underdog, I think really ticked our guys off. It ticked me off. So, everybody was more than ready to play that game. The way we won the football game was typical Cardinal football.”

On whether these are hard times: “No, these are the fun times. To go with Ryan [Lindley] and you come to work each week here, it’s like, ‘Ok, he’s down. He’s up. Let’s get a plan to win.’”

On if this is his last coaching job: “There’s no doubt this is it. I’m a cowboy in the desert. I’m going to ride off into the sunset after this one.”

Elliott: “Are you going to get dressed in your own locker room in February [for Super Bowl XLIX]?”

Arians: “That’s the plan.”

PETE CARROLL ON LOUIS ZAMPERINI

Note: Louis Zamperini, a World War II prisoner of war survivor, Olympic runner, and subject of the book and upcoming film Unbroken, attended USC, and was friendly with Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who coached at the university from 2001-09. Carroll recalled a few memories of Zamperini, a big supporter of USC football, in advance of the film’s release this week.

“I met Louis, and I didn’t know the story. I learned the second or third time I met him, what he had overcome. It was really hard to imagine – he was such a small and slight guy – that he could have overcome so much and been such a stud. He was wonderful to be around.”

“He was a great fan. He knew what was going on. He knew everything. He would be giving me trouble about the quarterback play, saying, ‘How come you’re throwing the ball so much?’ He was right in there, very actively involved. Whenever I talked to him on the phone, the same stuff, you know, ‘You’re not running the ball enough,’ all of those kinds of things. So he was a good fan about it.”

FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA