FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, January 3rd, 2015
NOTES & QUOTES FROM WILD CARD EDITION OF NBC’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”
“You’ve got to keep your poise. One penalty can end your season.” – Tony Dungy on managing emotion during intensity of Ravens-Steelers
“During ‘Ravens Week,’ the weight room is packed. Everybody’s in the weight room, including our kickers and long snapper.” – Hines Ward on the Steelers preparation for the Ravens
“If I’m the Patriots, this is the team I don’t want to see.” – Harrison on the Ravens
STAMFORD, Conn. – January 3, 2015 – Following are highlights from the Wild Card edition of NBC’s Football Night in America. Bob Costas opened the show live from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa., to preview Ravens-Steelers. Costas was joined on site by Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya and NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward, who won two Super Bowls with the Steelers.
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, and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com.
Costas interviewed Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Ward spoke with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
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MIKE FLORIO LAUNCHES NBC SPORTS RADIO PROGRAM THIS MONDAY
ProFootballTalk Live with Mike Florio, a new three-hour football-focused radio program featuring Mike Florio — the creator of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com and co-host of Pro Football Talk on NBCSN — premieres this Monday, Jan. 5, at Noon ET, on NBC Sports Radio, the NBC Sports Radio app and NBCSportsRadio.com. The show will feature Florio’s critically-acclaimed NFL insight, all-encompassing coverage of the league with the most current news and analysis, and thought-provoking debate.
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Following are highlights from Football Night in America:
ON INTENSITY OF RAVENS-STEELERS
Dungy: “You have to play on edge…you’ve got to be aggressive, but you can’t be crazy. You’ve got to keep your poise. One penalty can end your season.”
Harrison: “You have to control your emotions…You have to play within yourself.”
Ward: “Between these two teams, they hate each other…During ‘Ravens Week,’ the weight room is packed. Everybody’s in the weight room, including our kickers and long snapper, because you knew it was going to be a physical game when you played each other.”
Costas: “When the PR staffs and the owner are pumping iron, you know it’s serious.”
Harrison on Ravens: “If I’m the Patriots, this is the team I don’t want to see.”
Harrison on Steelers against the Ravens depleted secondary: “With that secondary, pass the ball 40 or 50 times.”
ON WEATHER AND FIELD CONDITIONS IN PITTSBURGH
Harrison: “It’s an advantage to the defensive players…(offensive players are) so worried about the field, they don’t worry about the defense.”
Dungy: “It can definitely get in your head.”
ON DECISION TO START STEELERS S TROY POLAMALU
Harrison: “I love Troy. He’s not the same player that he used to be, but in a playoff situation I’m taking the experience of Troy Polamalu over the fresh legs of the younger player.”
Dungy: “Knowing Mike Tomlin the way I know him, it was an easy call for Mike, because you play on that emotion. You need all of that for this rivalry game. No question on why he put Troy in there.”
ON PANTHERS (who beat Cardinals 27-16 in this afternoon’s NFC Wild Card game)
Dungy: “Once they got up by two scores, just run the clock, get off the field, and don’t get guys hurt. But they won the game, and they’re playing hot football…This is not a bad football team.”
Harrison: “It’s a good win but you have to keep everything in perspective. They’re playing against a third-string quarterback who looked scared to death back there…I think they’re in trouble.”
Dungy on if the Panthers play the Seahawks: “They have the formula to play Seattle tough.”
ON COACHING AND FRONT OFFICE MOVES, AND NFL DRAFT
Florio on Rex Ryan: “One place he’s not heading is Chicago. I’m told the Bears have no interest in Rex Ryan as a head coaching candidate…The Raiders have some interest in Rex Ryan, they’ve yet to request an interview. The Falcons have considerably more interest.”
Florio on Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff: “The Falcons still have a general manager in Thomas Dimitroff, but I’m told that that still could change if the next head coach wants to bring in his own personnel specialist into the organization. That could mean Dimitroff would be out on a delayed basis.”
Dungy on Chip Kelly attempting to trade up to draft Marcus Mariota: “I could see Chip doing it.”
Harrison on the prospect of the Bucs trading out of the No. 1 pick: “Lovie Smith would absolutely be crazy if he were to trade and give up that young kid.”
Below are excerpts from Costas’ interview with Harbaugh and Ward’s interview with Tomlin.
JOHN HARBAUGH WITH BOB COSTAS
Harbaugh on if familiarity between Ravens and Steelers breeds respect or contempt: “Respect, absolutely. We love playing them. It’s a great rivalry, and we’re honored to be a part of it.”
Harbaugh on his relationship with Tomlin: “We have a little fun together. We go to the owners meetings and laugh a little bit, but in the end we do want the same thing. We want the AFC North championship, and congratulations to (the Steelers) since they won this year – but we want to win.”
Harbaugh on potential cold weather conditions on Saturday night: “We’re built for it in our division. Everybody brings in quarterbacks that can play in this kind of weather. We told our team it’s going to be dark in the stadium. That’s figurative and literal. It’s going to be rainy, cold and muddy – just the way it should be.”
Harbaugh on a potential rematch of the 2013 AFC Championship Game with the New England Patriots next weekend: “We’ve got plans on this week’s game. We’ve got ambitions for winning in Pittsburgh. That’s our goal right now.”
MIKE TOMLIN WITH HINES WARD
Tomlin on the Ravens-Steelers rivalry: “It’s tough…The organizations are so like-minded in that we are singularly focused. That’s a recipe for fireworks. But I think largely that it’s guys like you (Hines Ward), guys like Ray (Lewis), that not only played the game in a special way, but instill that passion in the guys that they play with that still persists to this day.”
Ward: “In the 2008 AFC Championship game, you said you wanted me to set the tone for the game. What player sets the tone for you guys?”
Tomlin: “It’s done in a different way, but it’s ‘84’ (Antonio Brown) – because you trained him. He’s a competitor. He’s a very similar competitor to you, but his skill set is different. But it inspires us nonetheless in a very similar way.”
Tomlin on who he fears most on Ravens roster: “I love (Terrell) Suggs. He’s a guy for all situations. He does it all. He rushes the passer, stops the run, and plays on the perimeter screen game. You get in the no-huddle, and he knows your verbiage at the line of scrimmage.”
Ward: “And he still doesn’t like me (laughing).”
Tomlin: “I wouldn’t like you if I were him either (laughing). He’s the type of guy that if he’s on your team, you love him. If he’s not on your team, not so much. But I’ve been around long enough to just appreciate that element of him.”
Ward: “There’s a genuine dislike in this rivalry between the players. Is it the same for the head coaches?”
Tomlin: “Sure (laughing).”
Ward: “Do you hate Coach (John) Harbaugh (laughing)?”
Tomlin: “Not personally, but professionally, he wants the same things that I want. He appears to be similarly committed to it as I am, so we’re going to have problems. He’s a good guy, but when we step into the stadium, we’ve got business, and that business is not the same.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–
