FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 10th, 2018

KENYAN DRAKE SPEAKS WITH PETER KING FOLLWING “MIAMI MIRACLE” FOR “FOOTBALL MORNING IN AMERICA” EXCLUSIVELY ON NBCSPORTS.COM

“Dumbfounded. I am still in awe. Greatest play of my life.” – Drake

King Also Interviews Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, WR Tyreek Hill, and HC Andy Reid

“Sniper vision. Patrick’s got sniper vision. He sees like a great fighter pilot. You can’t coach that.” – Reid on Mahomes

“He brought it all back to Green Bay — the community, the organization, what a privilege it was for us all to be here, and the great opportunity we had here. It was deep.” – Packers OT David Bakhtiari on Mike McCarthy’s goodbye speech

“Football Morning in America” Runs Every Monday Exclusively on NBCSports.com

STAMFORD, Conn. – December 10, 2018 – Peter King’s Week 14 edition of “Football Morning in America,” available now exclusively on NBCSports.com, is highlighted by an interview with Miami Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake following his game-winning, 69-yard touchdown against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

This week’s edition also includes interviews with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and WR Tyreek Hill; 10 things to know about Week 14; an in-depth look at Mike McCarthy’s tenure with the Packers, including an interview with offensive tackle David Bakhtiari; this week’s ‘What I Learned’ with former NFL coach and scout Frank Edgerly; awards, quotes, travel notes and more.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of “Football Morning in America”:

DRAKE

  • Drake on being drafted by head coach Adam Gase: “When I met Coach Gase, he told me, ‘We drafted you to beat the New England Patriots.’”
  • Drake on if ever imagined making a play like that to beat the Patriots: “In my dreams. Really. In my dreams.”
  • Drake on the inspiration for the play-call: “You know, as a testament to that Boise State-Oklahoma game.”
  • Drake on evading Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski: “I saw him. I know how great he is. I know he’s going to the Hall of Fame. Awesome player. But regardless of who was there, he wasn’t stopping me. That I know for sure.”
  • Drake on what he remembers hearing after scoring: “No words, just the hum. Dumbfounded. I am still in awe. Greatest play of my life.”

MAHOMES, HILL & CHIEFS

  • Mahomes on connecting with Hill in the fourth quarter to setup the game-tying touchdown: “I knew he had a chance. I always say he’d be the best center fielder of all time from the way he tracks the ball.”
  • Hill on playing through an injury on Sunday: “Our people did a tremendous job wrapping my foot. I was still feeling my heel, but at the same time, I knew that man, if you want the W, if you want to be a great receiver, this is your moment to make plays.”
  • Ravens LB C.J. Mosley on Mahomes’ no-look pass: “The things he does, it’s hard to practice that.”
  • Reid, in a conversation with King last month, on Mahomes: “I was lucky enough to coach Brett Favre, who was able to throw from every angle possible. I’ve seen it done before. But [now I] just go, ‘Whoa,’ a lot during the game, as you did. You just have to remind yourself that it’s a football in his hand because he does it so easy with grace. Certain guys just know where everybody is on the field. And he has that. He can just go on a play, and he sees. They talk about Ted Williams and that feel. He’s got that … He can see everything, feel everything.”
  • Mahomes on Sunday’s win: “These are the best wins. These are the wins that satisfy you the most.”

10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WEEK 14

  • “1. Chicago is going to be trouble in January. I’d say “big trouble” if Mitchell Trubisky was as trustworthy as a playoff quarterback needs to be.”
  • “5. The standings say the Ravens didn’t have a good day. I beg to differ… Baltimore would open the playoffs with a wild-card game at Houston if the standings looks the same in three weeks. Whoever the Ravens play if they’re in, I could see them pounding out a win or two on the ground in January.”
  • “9. The Browns will have four prime-time games next year. They’re fun, they’re dangerous to play, they’ve got an exciting quarterback, and they should have an exciting young coach. Cleveland finishes thusly: at Denver, Cincinnati, at Baltimore. Imagine a 7-8-1 record. Winning two of their last three would do it.”
  • “10. The most worrisome injury I see. It’s the foot problem Tyreek Hill has. With Kareem Hunt gone and Sammy Watkins sidelined with a foot issue, the Chiefs can’t afford to lose Hill and be anything like the explosive team they’ve been.”

MCCARTHY

  • King on the firing of McCarthy: “I’ve been bothered by the rush to either discredit McCarthy for not winning enough with Rodgers, or by the tendency to jump on Rodgers for whatever part he played in McCarthy’s firing. I don’t like either…the team had gotten stale. Was it McCarthy’s fault? Should Rodgers have been more aggressive, or could he have done more? You could see Rodgers wasn’t himself, for whatever reasons, this year; he’s good at keeping private things private, so I can’t answer the question. But the storyline of Rodgers got McCarthy whacked, I believe, is dangerous and unfounded.”
  • Bakhtiari on McCarthy addressing the team for the final time: “It was very emotional. He brought it all back to Green Bay—the community, the organization, what a privilege it was for us all to be here, and the great opportunity we had here. It was deep. Walking out of that meeting, I thought it was great closure for the team, and for him.”
  • Bakhtiari on McCarthy’s legacy: “Sustaining success in the NFL is very hard, month to month, season to season. His ability to coach, his ability to lead, his character, is what I’ll remember. I was fortunate to play for him for six seasons. He treated the players so well. Every year, either in training camp or minicamp, he’d break up the monotony and bring the whole team to his farm, his house. We’d have the McCarthy Olympics. That was a great day of team-building.”

“WHAT I LEARNED” WITH EDGERLY

Edgerly on what he learned during his time with Patriots HC Bill Belichick: “Everyone always asks me, ‘So what did you learn from Coach Belichick?’ More than anything, it’s his core principles. If you looked at the T-shirts our kids wore under their jerseys in the championship game, you’ll find these three words on them: Do Your Job.”

Read the rest of the column here.

A new “Football Morning in America” will post every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com. It was announced in May that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

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