FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 19th, 2020

TONY DUNGY ON MINORITY HIRES; RYAN NEWMAN ON RETURN TO RACING; ROD THORN ON “THE LAST DANCE” — QUOTES FROM TODAY’S LUNCH TALK LIVE WITH MIKE TIRICO AND THE RICH EISEN SHOW ON NBCSN

“I think the biggest thing was the actual broadcast of the Draft. I think when people saw that and you saw the decision makers and their families…the draftees and their families, just that contrast. I think it gave a visual picture to what everyone was seeing.” – Tony Dungy on Monday’s PFTPM podcast on what pushed NFL proposals regarding minority hires  

“Not everybody expected me to be back, not everybody expected me to be here…so it makes me appreciate it to the Nth degree in so many ways.” – Newman on returning to racing last weekend for the first time since his Daytona 500 crash

 “I thought he put himself out there a little bit more than I would have expected because toward the end of his career, he was pretty guarded on what he said.” – Rod Thorn on Michael Jordan in “The Last Dance”

 “Every team and every club and every league around Europe does all need to stick to the same schedule, but every country is dealing with coronavirus differently, so that’s very, very difficult.” – Rebecca Lowe on the summer transfer window

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 19, 2020 – Mike Tirico hosted today’s episode of Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN and was joined remotely by:

    • NASCAR driver Ryan Newman
    • Three-time Olympic gold medal beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh-Jennings
    • INDYCAR driver and NBC Sports motorsports analyst James Hinchcliffe
    • NBC Sports’ Rebecca Lowe
    • NBC Sports reporter & host Jimmy Roberts

 

The Rich Eisen Show followed Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN, as host Rich Eisen was joined by:

    • Former NBC Sports commentator and NFL player Ahmad Rashad
    • Basketball Hall of Famer and former Chicago Bulls general manager Rod Thorn
    • Actor Frank Grillo from Showtime’s Billions
    • Actor Will Forte from the film SCOOB!

 

Following are highlights from NBC Football Night in America analyst Tony Dungy on the PFTPM podcast with Mike Florio — which was recorded Monday — about minority hiring in the NFL:

Dungy on the need for more diversity among NFL executives and head coaches: “A lot of things have taken place. I think the biggest thing was the actual broadcast of the Draft. I think when people saw that and you saw the decision makers and their families, just one after another after another, the draftees and their families, just that contrast. I think it gave a visual picture to what everyone was seeing.”

Dungy on the potential proposals, including draft-based incentives (which were not adopted in today’s resolution) for minority hires: “In my mind, this is drastic. I don’t personally think it’s the right thing to do, but I think it should spur some consideration and some communication and conversation…I just have never been in favor of rewarding people for doing the right thing, so I think there’s going to be some unintended consequences.”

Following are highlights from Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN:

Ryan Newman on returning to racing last weekend for the first time since his crash at the Daytona 500: “Not everybody expected me to be back, not everybody expected me to be here and I am, so it makes me appreciate it to the Nth degree in so many ways. To be able to hug my daughters and give them a kiss before I left…makes me appreciate it that much more.”

Newman on recovering from his crash: “I didn’t really realize what I had been through in Daytona…When I walked out of the hospital there, that was the first time that I was me, when I had my daughters in my hand…I feel like I’m a walking miracle because of it…A lot of things went wrong, but there are things that could’ve [been worse] and me not be here.”

Newman on his race at Darlington: “I thought it was good…I felt good behind the wheel, I felt we had a good race…Had a blast getting back behind the wheel.”

Newman on racing without fans at the track: “It was just quiet. Pre-race ceremonies and all the excitement that usually goes around that was almost non-existent…After the green flag drops, I would have never known if there were one person in the grandstands or a million…but we look forward to having the fans back at the racetrack.”

Newman on honoring doctors that cared for him on his car: “Those were the heroes to me. Those were the people that have made a huge difference and will continue to make a huge difference because I feel like I was part of their family, but I also know that there are several other people that are part of their family as well.”

James Hinchcliffe on 2020 Indy 500 moving from traditional “Month of May” to August 23: “It’s so bizarre. I live in Indianapolis…It’s crazy to think you’re spending all this time at home rather than the racetrack. I’ve never sat in my backyard at the pool in May before. You’re always stressed out at the track…You miss a lot of what May really means because this town and this city, they really get behind the race from the minute the calendar strikes May 1st.”

Hinchcliffe on challenges facing INDYCAR drivers returning to racing: “It’s such a unique scenario for us. Most drivers haven’t raced anything since last September…We’re going to one of the most daunting places at Texas Motor Speedway…It’s a very difficult track and the margins for error are small and the cost of error are quite high, so it’s going to be a game of patience.”

Kerri Walsh-Jennings on her plans for the postponed Olympics: “It is what it is, and I just have to make the most of it. I’m excited for this one-year extension in my Olympic career. This is my last Games.”

Walsh-Jennings on her approach to quarantine: “It’s our duty in life to make the best of what’s thrown at us and every day I have to have a talk with myself, ‘Kerri, act like you chose it’ because I don’t want to feel like I’m a victim to this situation.”

Walsh-Jennings on conversations she’s had with student-athletes about staying positive: “This is a chance to train our hearts, our spirits, and our minds…Just like sport, this is preparation for life. This is a challenge and we want to be responsible for how we show up…I keep recommending A, they be intentional…and B, create a schedule.”

Rebecca Lowe on results of the first round of Premier League COVID-19 testing: “The general consensus is that six (individuals testing positive) out of 748 is actually about as positive news as you can get. Those six members of the clubs…will now be isolated for the next seven days…The plan is to test the players and staff members twice a week every week.”

Lowe on the PL season schedule: “June 12th at the moment is very much a penciled in date. It might be pushed back to June 19th, it might even be pushed back to June 26th. It all of course depends on the testing and on how training goes…They need about a seven-week period overall to complete this season.”

Lowe on player movement and the summer transfer window: “The problem is every team and every club and every league around Europe does all need to stick to the same schedule, but every country is dealing with coronavirus differently, so that’s very, very difficult…The 25th of May is when (UEFA) wants to hear from every European league about how they want to move forward…It is a little bit of a mess right now in regards to transfers.”

Lowe on playing in front of no fans: “People play soccer, play football, for the beauty of the game and it can stand alone…Football is strong enough to standalone as a sport to be watched, temporarily on a short-term basis, behind closed doors.”

Jimmy Roberts on the ‘Tiger Slam,’ which premiers this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel: “You just have to understand how rare it was for anybody, through the course of 60, 70, 80 years, to have won all four (majors) in a career. Here he wins four consecutively and decisively…If you never had a chance to see Tiger Woods play…much like people say about Michael Jordan, watch it now because he’s basically Halley’s Comet and it doesn’t happen very often.”

Roberts on parallels between Woods and Jordan: “I do think that the one thing that they both shared…is this kind of indominable nature about the way they go about their business…It wasn’t about malice, it was just about domination.”

Roberts on Wimbledon being cancelled: “It’s more than a sporting event, it’s kind of culturally iconic thing in sports…The comparison is often made it’s like The Masters, it’s like Augusta National, and it is.”

Following are highlights from The Rich Eisen Show on NBCSN:

Rod Thorn on Michael Jordan in “The Last Dance”: “I thought he put himself out there a little bit more than I would have expected because toward the end of his career, he was pretty guarded on what he said and how he wanted himself to be looked at.”

Thorn on if there was any trade interest in the third overall pick when the Bulls drafted Michael Jordan in 1984: “Not when we were on the clock. We had a bunch of calls prior to the draft from teams who were interested in the third pick. I can assume they were interested in Jordan…The two teams who made the better offers were Philadelphia and Dallas.”

Thorn on what Dean Smith said to him about Michael Jordan: “He said to me that he wouldn’t say it publicly because that is not the Carolina way — that Jordan was the most talented player he had coached, and he said he is a really solid good person on top of it.”

Thorn on if any Dream Team players asked him to not select Isiah Thomas for the team: “Isiah, obviously, was one of the guys that was looked at very closely. He was a tremendous player, one of the top point guards that we have had in the NBA…There was no one player, two players or three players that I have read about who said to me or (NBA Deputy Commissioner) Russ Granik, to my knowledge, that they didn’t want to play with any particular player.”

Thorn on Jerry Krause and the end of the Bulls dynasty: “He deserved a lot of credit. I don’t think he felt he got enough credit. I think he was looking forward to rebuilding the team and hopefully making it into another championship-type team and it didn’t work out that way.”

Thorn on the changes within the NBA’s play: “The game played in the late ‘80s and part of the ‘90s was much, much different than the game played today. We instituted some changes during the ‘90s that really calmed the very, very physical play…The game just got to a point where it was too physical, where strength and power were negating talent.”

Ahmad Rashad on if he learned anything from “The Last Dance”: “No, I didn’t. I didn’t because I think…I had a catbird seat to all of it…I didn’t see anything that surprised me. I was glad people got to see the human side of Michael.”

Rashad on Michael Jordan’s flu game: “Every time I used to read something that said, ‘the flu game,’ I would say he didn’t have the flu, he had food poisoning. I never paid any more attention than that.”

Rashad on if Jordan and Phil Jackson ever had a conversation to try to keep the team together: “No, I don’t think that ever happened. I don’t think they had the meeting, I think it was over.”

Rashad on Karl Malone after the 1998 NBA Finals: “When Karl Malone lost that final game…Malone was walking up the bus to congratulate everybody on the bus on that Bulls team. One of the greatest acts of sportsmanship I have ever seen.”

Will Forte on being an Oakland Raiders fan: “My status is in question right now. They are obviously moving to Las Vegas. As a person born in Oakland, that is tough for me to take…They have given me so much pleasure in my life. It will never be exactly the same.”

Frank Grillo on watching “The Last Dance”: “You can’t create a better story than that.”

Grillo on Patrick Ewing: “One of the greatest players that doesn’t have a ring.”

Grillo on the return of the UFC: “The sound, the crackle of the punches, was interesting. It is better than having nothing on television.”

–NBC SPORTS–