We had three NFL pregame shows today, but for some reason, ESPN was lax or somehow I did not get the quotage from the special edition of Sunday NFL Countdown. I’ll take what I can get.
What a game between San Diego and Indianapolis! That was fun to watch. I was at a party at a friend’s house and I managed to keep up to date on the game until I left and got home. Luckily, I listened to the tying field goal, then was able to find the *ahem* backdoor sites to watch the OT period online. I’m not saying which one, but suffice to say, it was great to watch NFL postseason action tonight.
So, I’ll provide you with quotes from the NFL Network’s NFL Gameday Morning hosted by the 10 year old Spero Dedes and then Football Night in America. Both shows had interviews with recently fired executives. I’ll start with NFL Gameday Morning. Get ready to scroll for a while.
News and Sound Bites the From Wild Card Saturday Edition of NFL GAMEDAY MORNING
“THE BOTTOM LINE IS YOU GET PAID TO WIN. WE DIDN’T GET IT DONE.” – former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan
“I WILL NEVER QUESTION HIS TOUGHNESS…YOU DON’T LAST THAT LONG IF YOU’RE NOT A TOUGH GUY.” – Steve Mariucci on Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson
“YOU HAVE TO TRY TO PLAY; YOU HAVE TO GO. IF THERE’S A SMALL OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO PLAY, YOU PLAY. IT’S THE PLAYOFFS.”– Marshall Faulk on LT
“WHATEVER COACH COMES INTO THAT SYSTEM IS GOING TO HAVE TO CRACK THE WHIP AND GET THEM ORGANIZED. THERE’S A LOT OF TALENT ON THAT TEAM, YOU JUST HAVE TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER.” – Special Player Correspondent Willie McGinest on the coaching situation in Cleveland
NFL GameDay Morning is the longest, most comprehensive NFL pregame show on TV airing Saturday at 2:00 PM ET and Sunday at 9:00 AM ET on Wild Card Weekend. Warren Sapp, Marshall Faulk and Steve Mariucci alongside hosts Spero Dedes and co-host Alex Flanagan with news reports by Adam Schefter, bring fans the latest news, injury reports, pregame analysis and game previews on NFL Network. Special player correspondents Willie McGinest and Rodney Harrison provide additional analysis from Wild Card sites.
Adam Schefter EXCLUSIVE 1-on-1 with former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan: NFL Network’s Adam Schefter sat down with former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan to discuss the departure from Denver, his relationship with Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and his future plans.
Following are quotes from Part I of Schefter’s conversation with Shanahan. Part II will be featured on Sunday’s edition of NFL GameDay Morning at 9:00 AM ET.
“I was a little surprised myself, but I understand this business. If you’re in the position that Pat’s (Bowlen) in, you have to make some tough decisions and do what’s best for your organization.” – Shanahan on his initial reaction to being fired.
“I didn’t know it was coming but found out very quickly.” – Shanahan on the purpose of his meeting with Bowlen.
“It was harder on (Bowlen) than it was on me.” – Shanahan on his feelings in the meeting.
“You’re disappointed because you saw our football team getting better. When you have a franchise quarterback and you’re doing good things offensively, you like the chemistry of the team, you’re quite disappointed that you can’t finish something that you started.” – Shanahan on his biggest disappointment in being dismissed.
“He was very good to me. Very professional. He saw how hard we worked, what we did to prepare. He was one of the guys. It was one of those situations where you look back and say, ‘hey, that’s a relationship I’ll be very proud of for years to come, even though it ended the way it did, our friendship will never end.” – Shanahan on his relationship with Bowlen.
“Anytime you are at one place for a while sometimes change is a positive.” – Shanahan on being with the Broncos for so long.
“The bottom line is you get paid to win. We didn’t get it done.” – Shanahan on why he was fired.
“I would say definitely yes.” – Shanahan on if he would still be the head coach if the Broncos made the playoffs.
“That’s what football is all about, winning. This is a performance based business. You get it done or you don’t.” – Shanahan
“You’re going to have to tune in tomorrow.” – Shanahan on his future in coaching.
Schefter’s News Rep
orts:
- Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson has a detached tendon in his groin area. The injury is so severe that doctors recommended this week that he have surgery. If he had this injury at the mid-point of the season, he likely would have had to shut it down for the remainder of the season. It will be up to the Chargers to make that decision tonight. Clearly, if LT can play, which is hard to imagine, he will be largely ineffective. This is a very severe injury and is not what Tomlinson would have wanted. Considering last postseason Tomlinson played with the knee injury that shut him down against the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game and was questioned after that. Now Tomlinson has to deal with this groin injury hanging over him.
- It’s a real busy day for Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. He is interviewing with the New York Jets this afternoon in New Jersey, then drives to New York City and interview with a contingent of Broncos officials. An interesting note about the Jets search – they started it on Friday with Brian Schottenheimer and Bill Callahan from their current staff. However Jets owner Woody Johnson was not there for the interviews and was not present today to interview Spagnuolo. Johnson is on vacation and will be back on the job next week.
- Also a busy day for Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. With the Titans on the bye, Schwartz is taking advantage of that. He is interviewing with the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns today. A lot of people believe that Cleveland would be a dream job for Schwartz. He would love to go back to the city where he once coached, but he has a busy day today with interviews with the Lions and the Browns.
- Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had a great three-hour interview on Friday with the Cleveland Browns, during which time they told him that they have no problem hiring a head coach before they hire a general manager. That’s very interesting coming from Cleveland. On Sunday morning, McDaniels will interview with the same contingent of Broncos officials that are in New York City to interview Spagnuolo.
- In Oakland, Raiders owner Al Davis has been in and out of the hospital for the past 30 days with a knee injury. The knee is very swollen and has made it hard to conduct a head coaching search and a lot of people believe that interim head coach Tom Cable is the favorite. However on Saturday, according to a Giants source, the Raiders did receive permission to interview Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. It looks like Gilbride will become the first candidate that Davis interviews over the phone about the Raiders vacant head coaching job.
- Mike Shanahan and a potential coaching position with the Dallas Cowboys makes a lot of sense. The Cowboys and Broncos have practiced together in training camp for the last two years. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Shanahan know each other. Shanahan went to Eastern Illinois where Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo played college football. Romo and Shanahan would work great together, but in talking to people in Dallas, Jones is not going to do that this year. It looks like Wade Phillips is going to be back as head coach of the Cowboys next season as Jones has said. It sounds like the Cowboys are open-minded, perhaps exploring Shanahan in 2010 if things don’t work the way they want next season.
- Cardinals QB Kurt Warner is in the last year of his contract, so if the Cardinals lose today, this could be his final game with the Arizona Cardinals. The two sides have not had any significant contract talks, so there’s a long way to go to bridge their differences. The Cardinals could always slap their franchise tag on Warner and Warner would like to stay in Arizona, but the truth is they remain far apart in their talks for a new contract.
- The Denver Broncos are also planning to interview Cowboys coordinator Jason Garrett for their head coaching position Tuesday, followed by Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Broncos offensive line coach Rick Dennison Wednesday.
- If the Falcons win today’s game vs. the Cardinals, Falcons QB Matt Ryan will get a $100,000 incentive. He’s got a $200,000 incentive in his contract if he wins a divisional playoff game, a $400,000 incentive for a conference championship win and a $1 million incentive to win the Super Bowl.
- There’s been some speculation that Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, who has two degrees from Oklahoma, would contact Sooners head coach Bob Stoops about interviewing for the Broncos head coaching position, but Stoops told reporters that he is not a candidate for the Broncos job, he has not been contacted and he will not be jumping to the Broncos job or a job in the NFL anytime soon.
Quotes from NFL GameDay Morning:
“You have to try to play; you have to try to go. If there’s a small opportunity for you to play, you play. It’s the Playoffs.” – Marshall Faulk on Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson.
“I don’t see how he’s going to be able to play. Even if he really wants to go out and play in this game, it’s going to be hard for him to cut. I’ve been through this injury, I tried to do everything I could and played one play and I was done for the whole game.” – Special player correspondent Willie McGinest on Tomlinson injury.
“This Cinderella story f
or the Miami Dolphins comes to an end this weekend because this Baltimore team is built for the playoffs.” – Steve Mariucci“It’s the big mistake that really matters and sometimes you really worry about the young quarterbacks.” – Mariucci on comparing veteran to rookie QB’s in playoff games.
“I will never question his toughness. The veteran he is in this league, you don’t last that long if you’re not a tough guy.” – Mariucci on Tomlinson.
“I was a little surprised, but we had heard that they were going to play their guys to get them ready for the Playoffs, but are you kidding me? That’s big Ben Roethlisberger. He’s one of the hardest guys to take down…That is their $100 million guy, so they’re going to make sure he’s alright. He’ll be ready to go.” – McGinest on his Week 17 sack on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers decision to start him.
“If you look at our team right now, there are a lot of moving parts and a lot of question marks, but I don’t think you can ever question Bill Belichick, who is the brains and the mastermind behind the entire organization.” – Special player correspondent Rodney Harrison on the current state of the New England Patriots.
“Bill Belichick is the guy. We’ve figured this out. We’ve seen Romeo Crennel go to Cleveland and not be successful there, we’ve seen Mangini’s struggles with the Jets and even Charlie Weis’ struggles at Notre Dame, so we’ve figured out that the guy is Bill Belichick. He’s put it all together…his thumbprint is on this team.” – Faulk on Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
“They call him ‘Matty Ice.’ I don’t know if deserves that name yet, but I do like him.” – Faulk on Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan’s nickname.
“The Chargers are tired.” – Warren Sapp
“You’re not going to win in the playoffs if you can’t run the football. They don’t have a glimpse of a run game.” – Faulk on the Colts.
“Whatever coach comes into that system is going to have to crack the whip and get them organized. There’s a lot of talent on that team, you just have to put it all together.” – McGinest on the head coaching position in Cleveland.
Cris Collinsworth joins NFL GameDay Morning crew: NFL Network and NBC game analyst Cris Collinsworth joins Mariucci, Faulk, Sapp and Dedes from University of Phoenix Stadium for a preview of Falcons-Cardinals and Colts-Chargers…
“Darren Sproles is about as exciting a player as there is in the NFL.” – NFL Network and NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth on Chargers RB Darren Sproles.
“I like the Baltimore Ravens to make a run. If you look at all the teams in the playoffs, the way they throw the ball with Joe Flacco, run the ball with their three backs and especially the way they play defense, they look to me a lot like the way the New York Giants looked a season ago when they started on their run.” – Collinsworth on the Baltimore Ravens.
EXTRA POINTS:
- Sunday’s Wild Card edition of NFL GameDay Morning expands to 4 ½ hours starting at 9:00 AM ET for a recap of Saturday’s games and a preview of Sunday’s matchups that will solidify this season’s playoff brackets. NFL GameDay Morning Sunday includes part two of Schefter’s interview with Mike Shanahan, plus Faulk 1-on-1 with Vikings RB Adrian Peterson and analysis from special player correspondents on site.
And we now go to Football Night in America with the cast of thousands. Notice how much shorter this press release is. Granted, FNIA went a half hour and NFL Gameday Morning went 24 hours (actually 2.5, but you get the idea)!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SPECIAL EDITION OF “FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA”
Millen Joins Studio Show for Wild Card Saturday
“I would have actually.” -- Millen to Dan Patrick on if he would have fired himself.
NEW YORK – Jan. 3, 2009 – NBC started its coverage today of NFL Wild Card Saturday with a special edition of "Football Night in America" with Bob Costas (host), Cris Collinsworth (from the game site in Phoenix), Keith Olbermann (co-host), Dan Patrick (co-host), Tiki Barber (from Phoenix) and Jerome Bettis (analyst), joined by former NFL player and executive Matt Millen. Highlights follow:
JEROME BETTIS ON THE PLAYOFFS: "If you have a competitive bone in your body, you want to be out there. This is the only time of year I actually think of coming out of retirement."
CRIS COLLINSWORTH'S RESPONSE: "Were you thinking of coming back as an offensive or defensive tackle?"
Patrick interviewed Millen about his tenure with the Detroit Lions. Highlights follows:
DAN PATRICK: "Would you have fired you?
MATT MILLEN: "I would have, actually. Probably not this year until after the season. I think when you start having changeover in an o
rganization it filters down into the locker room. That's tough to do. I thought that was a tough position for Rod Marinelli to be in. Rod's a stud. Rod's an outstanding football coach."
ON WATCHING THE LIONS GO 0-16 AFTER HE WAS FIRED: "It was brutal. Obviously knowing everybody up there, knowing and understanding the details, watching it unfold, it was probably harder watching it from home than it was when you're up there. At least when you're up there, you have some interaction. At home, you're just sitting there -- your wife just keeps beating on you. So it's tough."
PATRICK: "How responsible were you for this season and the last eight years there?"
MILLEN: "Oh, completely responsible. When you're head of football operations, you throw it back on me. You can say something about coaching, say something about the players, but inevitably, I'm responsible for them so I'm completely responsible for it in my mind.
PATRICK: "Were you qualified to take that job in the first place?"
MILLEN: "In some areas yes, in some areas no. Certainly from a football standpoint, and Xs and Os, that's something you study for a long time. There's a whole other side to that job that you have to learn. Frankly, I didn't understand it going in and had to learn it."
ON CONSTANT CHANGES WITH LIONS: "You change coaches, obviously you're not having success. Any organization that's going to have a winning record, it all comes back to not only stability but consistency. You have to have consistency in philosophy. You have to have consistency with scheme and that type of thing. When changing things over and over, that's tough to do."
ON HIS SUCCESS OUTSIDE HIS LIONS TENURE: "If you're just going to say 'that's the stiff that used to be in Detroit, they lost all those games, it's got to be on him,' I'd say I was in Detroit, you have to blame me. There's a lot more to it than that. I could give you excuses. I could give you reasons. To me, that's just an excuse after the fact. You take the hit and move on. And how they look at me, I know what I am. You can say whatever you want about me."
ON HOW CLOSE THE LIONS ARE TO WINNING: "A lot closer than people think. Right now, it's easy to sit around and say, 'the Lions, they stink,' and kick them when they're down. Is there enough talent up there in Detroit? Absolutely. They've got one of the top receivers in the league in Calvin Johnson. They've got a top running back. There are some pieces in the offensive line. They need some help on defense."
So tomorrow, I hope to get quotage from NFL Network, ESPN, Fox and CBS. Even if ESPN decides not to send an e-mail, three out of four is not bad.
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