FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, November 12th, 2017

FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA FEATURES MIKE TIRICO INTERVIEW WITH JOHN ELWAY

“It’s tough for everybody in this building because everybody in this building, and really Bronco country, is used to winning.” – Elway on Broncos four-game losing streak

“I think that he is the best coach to ever coach.”  – Elway on Bill Belichick

“When you see him on the football field, there is nothing that is more important to him. And that’s why I think that he will go down as the greatest of all time by the time that he gets done playing.” – Elway on Tom Brady

STAMFORD, Conn. – November 12, 2017 – Tonight’s Week 10 edition of NBC’s Football Night in America, the most-watched weekly studio show in sports, will feature Mike Tirico’s interview with Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway. Football Night will also feature highlights, analysis, and reaction to earlier Week 10 games, ahead of Patriots-Broncos tonight on Sunday Night Football.

Football Night airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC. Tirico will host Sunday’s program live from inside the stadium, joined on site by the Sunday Night Football team of Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya as well as PFT Live co-host Chris Simms.

Dan Patrick hosts Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1, joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, and NFL Insider Mike Florio of NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk. Paul Burmeister will report from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on the Cowboys-Falcons game.

INTERVIEW: Below are excerpts from Tirico’s interview with Elway. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing tonight on Football Night in America.”


MIKE TIRICO WITH JOHN ELWAY

Elway on the Broncos’ four-game losing streak: “It’s very tough. And I think it’s tough for everybody in this building because everybody in this building, and really Bronco country, is used to winning. Especially when you go through the way that we’ve lost, you know, with the turnovers. So the way that we are losing, I think is that much more frustrating too. What we’ve got to learn is we’ve got to learn that everybody has got to do their job the best that they can do their job. Don’t make the big mistakes that we’re making. So we got to try to get out of that, and hopefully get back to playing the quality football that we are used to.”

Elway on New England head coach Bill Belichick being on a different stratosphere than other coaches: “He deserves to be there because I think that he is the best coach to ever coach as far as the NFL or really any coach. He is the same every single day and he does not budge. You know what the expectations are when you play for Coach Belichick, and that’s to win football games. Now, he may not do it like everybody else and be a little unorthodox at times, but he’s not afraid to be that way. And then to have a partnership with a guy like Tom Brady is not too bad either, the greatest combination of quarterback-head coach in the NFL.”

Elway on the characteristic that he admires most about New England QB Tom Brady: “His mindset and the way he plays and his competitive nature. When you see him on the football field, there is nothing that is more important to him. And that’s why I think that he will go down as the greatest of all time by the time that he gets done playing.”

Elway on what his game day is like now: “It’s a lot of anxiety. As a quarterback, I had all control inside the lines because I touched the ball every down, and I had no control outside when I was the quarterback because I wasn’t determining who I was playing because that was coming from the outside. But now I’m in charge on the outside putting players on the inside, and now they’ve got all the control on the inside so that’s why it gets tough for me. I get, ‘Oh man, I kind of wish I was inside those lines again.’”

Elway on reminiscing about his playing days: “Yeah, yeah. There are many times that I still have dreams of playing believe it or not after 19 years. It’s much tougher sitting up there in the box watching it than it is down there playing it, but I still miss it. I miss that 28-year-old body is what I miss. Not having to get hit though, that’s OK.”

–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–