Bob Costas interviewed Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and Tony Dungy interviewed Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin for tonight’s Week 9 edition of Football Night in America, which will also include highlights, analysis and reaction to Week 9’s afternoon games.
Football Night airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET with Costas hosting the program live from inside the stadium. In addition to his interviews, Costas is joined on site by Sunday Night Football commentators Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst) for reaction to the afternoon games.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com. Alex Flanagan will report from Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif., on the Packers-Chargers game.
Football Night is averaging 9.0 million viewers and a household rating of 5.5/9 (7:30-8:15 p.m. ET) through the first eight weeks, up nine and 10 percent, respectively from last year’s first eight weeks.
INTERVIEWS: Below are excerpts from Costas’ interview with Suggs and Dungy’s interview with Tomlin. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing tonight on Football Night in America.”
COSTAS: Did you watch the Super Bowl between the Packers and the Steelers?
SUGGS: Not too much…It’s a lose-lose for me. I don’t win…a team that I dislike very much could win. (The Steelers). They’re the enemy…We all know their names. But, they’re the enemy.
COSTAS: How would you describe your feelings towards the Steelers? Warm, cordial, affectionate?
SUGGS: None of the above. I don’t have any feelings towards them to be totally honest with you…Whenever I see those two colors together or a certain someone smiling at me, I don’t get no feeling at all.
COSTAS: Who’s the certain someone?
SUGGS: 86.
COSTAS: Hines Ward.
SUGGS: Yeah.
COSTAS: And he’s gonna go. You were pleading earlier this week (for him to play)…
SUGGS: I needed him to play. I needed him to play.
COSTAS: You’ve had a busy week. You’ve kept the writers and the broadcasters busy. (Quoting Suggs’ comments from earlier in the week): “We have been declared war upon. We are the enemy of the state, the state of Pennsylvania.”
SUGGS: Definitely. It’s definitely a point of view. They said, ‘we declared war.’ So, okay.
COSTAS: How would you describe your feelings when you run onto the field at Heinz Field.
SUGGS: It’s my Madison Square Garden. I love it. Like I said, I’m getting flipped the bird. Their fans are very passionate about their team as they should be. They’ve had a lot of success, at my expense mind you.
COSTAS: Is there more trash talking than the average game?
SUGGS: I think so. I’m glad all of us are not miced because I’m pretty sure my mom; (she) wouldn’t disown me, but she would be pretty unhappy with me if y’all heard everything I say during the course of the game.
COSTAS: Don’t you think that by now your mom has a pretty good handle on what goes on?
SUGGS: She’s got a pretty good handle. She does, and my dad. They still want me to represent them though. They’re old schoolers. “It’s just a game, baby.” But we don’t necessarily see it like that. We want to win.
COSTAS: Who’s the best Steelers trash talker?
SUGGS: The smile. 86. I would say him. 25 got some up in him. They all do it. But (86), he’s probably the best one.
COSTAS: You can’t bring yourself to say their names, right?
SUGGS: They’re the enemy. They’re the enemy.
COSTAS: We’re sitting here 24 hours before kickoff. Can you explain what you’re going to feel like five minutes before kickoff?
SUGGS: No, I can’t because every time is different than the last. This time I’m walking in there with a big cape of confidence. I know we can do it. I know we can. Times before I walked in there, I’d be like, let me see how this one is going to go. This time, I know we gonna do it.
MIKE TOMLIN WITH TONY DUNGY
DUNGY on the Steelers loss to the Ravens in Week 1: Did you feel like maybe your approach didn’t work?
TOMLIN: Yes. (laughs). A lot of things run through your mind but the reality was we weren’t ready to play that day and we didn’t do a good enough job of preparing or playing.
DUNGY: Did your voice level go up?
TOMLIN: I made a conscious effort to stay the same. You know, coach, this is a very emotional game and there’s enough of that going on. I wanted to be a calming influence on the group. These are very fixable problems, and they are. It’s fundamentals. It’s technique. It’s assignment. That doesn’t require a raising of the voice or a pushing of the panic button, if you will.
DUNGY: When we were in Tampa, we used to get a lot of advice at Fosters Barber Shop. After that first loss, could you even go to the barber shop here? I know how these Steelers fans are.
TOMLIN: Hey, coach. I got to shoot you straight. The barber comes to my office now. (laughter). I get advice at the gas station, the stop light. It’s western PA. You know what western PA is about. But we love our fans and we love the high standards that they hold us to. But weeks like that are tough ones.
DUNGY: Terrell Suggs says you’ve declared war on them. Tell me about that.
TOMLIN: That’s Terrell’s perspective. I’ll let him have that.
DUNGY: You told me before that you’ve never been in a rivalry quite like this. Do you have to talk to your guys about the emotions of that kind of game?
TOMLIN: You do. I just don’t know if it does any good. (laugher) I’ve walked away from some conversations feeling pretty good about the things I’ve said about maintaining our poise and so forth and things of that nature, and then the game unfolds in the manner in which it unfolds. I think they understand the nature of this thing. The more I talk about it, it’s probably pouring gasoline on the fire.
DUNGY: Terrell Suggs has had a lot of success against you, despite all the talk. He’s played good ball. Anything special in terms of getting him blocked?
TOMLIN: More than anything, we’ve got to take care of (Haloti) Ngata first. He’s the guy who gets you behind the chains and then Terrell finishes you off on third down. They’re a unique group when you’re talking about Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis and company. They’re a special front.
DUNGY: Has anybody talked about them going for two points when they were way ahead or throwing balls into the end zone when they were three scores up? Has that come up at all?
TOMLIN: Not at all. (laughter). Not at all, coach
(source NBC)
