FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, January 3rd, 2016
MIKE ZIMMER SPEAKS WITH BOB COSTAS ON NBC’S “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”
“I’ve talked all year long about the ‘four learns of football.’ Learn how to compete, learn how to win, learn how to handle winning, and learn how to be a champion. I think we’re at the fourth step now.” – Mike Zimmer
STAMFORD, Conn. – January 3, 2016 – For tonight’s Week 17 edition of NBC’s Football Night In America, the most-watched weekly studio show in sports, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer speaks with Bob Costas. Football Night will also preview NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Vikings and Packers, and will include highlights, analysis and reaction to earlier Week 17 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, and NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1 in Stamford, Conn., 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 Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on the Chargers-Broncos game.
INTERVIEW: Below are excerpts from Costas’ interview with Zimmer. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing Sunday night on Football Night in America.”
MIKE ZIMMER WITH BOB COSTAS
On past concerns about possibly never becoming a head coach, after spending decades as an assistant coach: “It crossed my mind several times. I went on interviews with other teams and thought I was going to get the job, but for whatever reason, I did not. The good thing is that I think I fell into the right job. I think I was really lucky actually.”
On being a “coach’s kid” (Zimmer’s father, NFL veteran Bill Zimmer, served as his high school football and wrestling coach. Zimmer’s son Adam currently serves as the Vikings’ linebackers coach): “It makes a difference. I had a lot of opportunities to be on the sideline with my dad. When I won the Super Bowl with the Cowboys, my son held my cord. I actually tried to talk him out of coaching. He’s got a degree in finance, so I said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ He said, ‘Dad, I just couldn’t see myself sitting in an office all day.”
On the Vikings’ challenges when facing the Packers over the last decade: “I haven’t talked to the team that much about beating the Packers. I’ve just talked about getting better each week. One thing I did talk to them about all year long is the ‘four learns of football.’ Learn how to compete, learn how to win, learn how to handle winning, and learn how to be a champion. I think we’re at the fourth step now.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–
