Super Bowl XLV – Monday, February 7, 2011
NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL & NFL EXECUTIVE VP ERIC GRUBMAN
(opening remarks from Roger Goodell during the MVP press conference) “Good morning. Congratulations to Coach (Mike) McCarthy. Fantastic football game. I want to congratulate not only coach, but (President) Mark Murphy, (General Manager) Ted Thompson, the great players in the entire (Green Bay Packers) organization the great Packer fans. We have preliminary readings that have come in already that indicate that the game will be the most-watched show in the history of television, so we’re excited about the fan reaction from last night and the incredible game they were able to see. Any time you put on an event of this magnitude, you have your challenges. We’ve had them this week. We had an issue this week with several seats for our fans. It’s something that we have been taking very seriously, working at it. We apologize to those fans that were impacted. We are going to work with them and we are going to do better in the future. We will certainly do a thorough review and get to the bottom of why it all occurred, but we take full responsibility for that as putting on this game. But the one thing we will never do is compromise safety – safety for our fans, safety for our players, anyone involved with our event. I want to thank in context of that, the Arlington Fire Department and the Arlington Police Department. They, and other officials in this area have done an outstanding job and we are grateful to them for their hard work and helping us as we addressed many of the challenges this week. I’d also like to take a minute and thank our staff, who worked tirelessly this week and right through the game and right through the night last night – they did an extraordinary job. Several of our employees volunteered to give up their seats so we could accommodate those fans. I’m proud of what they’ve done and I thank them for all of that. And we’re going to take your questions after Aaron (Rodgers) gets done. (President of NFL Ventures, inc.) Eric Grubman and I will meet you over here on the side and will be happy to answer your questions on that. Let me just make one more thank you, which is to the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee: Roger Staubach, Bill Lively, Troy Aikman, all the people that worked so hard on this event. They did an absolutely terrific job and we’re grateful for their hard work and the success that they had. But this morning is about the Super Bowl. It’s about football and it’s about the great players and the great team that won the Super Bowl last night. We have a Super Bowl MVP that represents the best in the game, the best of the people who play the game. He’s not only an extraordinary quarterback who had a great performance last night, more importantly, he’s a great young man. He really does things right and he’s a terrific person to have involved in the NFL. We’re so proud that he is the Super Bowl MVP, and so I’d like to have Aaron Rodgers come up and accept the Pete Rozelle MVP Trophy for a great performance last night. (on why the seats in Cowboys Stadium were not set up in time for the Super Bowl) Goodell: “We are going to do a thorough review of that. We don’t have all of the answers to that, but it was obviously a failure on our part, and we have to take responsibility for that.”
NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL & NFL EXECUTIVE VP ERIC GRUBMAN
(on if the Cowboys’ organization bears any responsibility) Goodell: “No. We put on this event. This is a responsibility of the NFL.”
(on if the issue was weather-related or ice-related) Goodell: “I’ll try to let Eric (Grubman) address some of the particulars on it. We had, obviously, a lot of challenges this week. There were a lot of things we were trying to deal with. But, there is no excuse. When you put on an event like this, you know you are going to have those challenges. We’re used to those kinds of things. Maybe Eric can add a few points.”
(on how North Texas did on hosting the game). Goodell: “I think North Texas did a great job. As I said earlier, and I’ve said it all week, again, we had many challenges this week, as we did throughout the country. The weather issues affected the entire country, and I think the people here, with the leadership of Bill Lively and Roger Staubach, the entire North Texas Host Committee and (Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones and his family, did an outstanding job.”
(on why the seating was a problem) Grubman: “I don’t think the weather had any significant contribution to the seating issue. We had a plan that was approved by the authorities, and we all agreed at the end of day, as you know from the statement last night, safety was a paramount concern, and we simply ran out of time on a couple of sections. It’s a shared responsibility, but it’s our overall responsibility to manage that. We’ll have to look very carefully at the key steps along the way, and where we could have done better, and make sure we do a better job next year.
(on if the NFL knew of the issue earlier in the week) Grubman: “The fire marshal did not step in late, neither did the police. They were there with us every step of the way. We were in consultation with them. We were in agreement with them. There were no disputes. Everybody was looking at it the same way. In fact, what they did helped us gain time to try to get it done, and at the end, we just ran out of time.”
(on if the fans affected could have been notified earlier) Grubman: “We made a judgment that we had a very good shot to be able to complete it. We made a judgment that it was the right course of action to bring the fans in, rather than discourage them, or create a sense that they wouldn’t have the information necessary.”
(Goodell) “Let me just respond to one other thing. It was important to note, that we didn’t know how many fans, or which fans, would be affected. And that went into a lot of our thinking about how we communicate with them, but we had a tremendous number of people out trying to reach those fans yesterday as we determined who was going to be impacted on that.”
(on if Goodell met with the affected fans) Goodell: “Some. I was not able to get to all of them. Obviously, we will be doing that over the course of the next couple of days.”
(on if the seats were added at the last minute) Grubman: “None of the design was added at the last minute. This was an installation issue, and a failure, a shared failure, and it is as simple as that.”
(on when during the week they found out it would be a problem) Grubman: “We felt in the middle of the week that it was going to be a problem. We did not feel until the game day that we had an issue where there was a distinct possibility that we wouldn’t be able to accommodate fans.”
(on what point work was still being done) Grubman: “The work, the final work was completed in the afternoon of game day.”
(on whose fault it was) Grubman: “I’ll just simplify it. All the parties were working together, and when parties are working together and something goes wrong, everybody has a responsibility. We will figure out what the key steps were, which ones were ours, which ones were someone else’s, and we’ll address that.”
(on who made the final decision) Grubman: “The responsibility to certify the structural integrity and the safety remains with the police department and the fire department. And safety is the paramount concern for our fans, so when it became obvious that certain of those sections could not be prepared in time to ensure that, they made the decision as to what the certification was, and from there it was very easy, those seats were not going to be in play and we moved into a mode to try to seat as many of those fans as possible.”
(on whether it was a vendor issue) Grubman: “We have a lot of work to do to figure out what the different parts of the failure were. We’ll be doing that in the coming weeks.”
(on what the NFL will do for the fans who didn’t get seats) Grubman: “We’re going to reach out to the fans, we’ve already started that. We have a responsibility to them not just to give them the seat, but also make a great experience. We’re going to do everything that we possibly can to make sure that they have an opportunity in the future to come back to the NFL.”
Goodell: “And for the 400 that we were unable to relocate into seats in the bowl, we are going to be reaching out to them and we’ll be inviting them to the Super Bowl next year.”
(on the fans being upset about losing their seats) Goodell: “We understand that, and that’s why we’ll be working with them and reaching out to them. But we’ll be bringing them to the Super Bowl as a guest of the NFL next year.”
(on the stadium design and plan) Grubman: “The stadium was designed to accommodate the number of people that we had in the building. You can come up with a variety of designs for how the seating and the standing room only is going to be accommodated to put that number of people in the building. We’ll look at whether there’s a better design to accommodate that number in the future for an NFL event.”
(on if breaking the Super Bowl attendance record was a goal) Grubman: “The attendance record was not the goal. The goal was to use this great building in a way that showcased the NFL, showcased North Texas and showcased some great players that we have in the NFL. And if we can come up with a better installation plan for a future event, we’ll do that.”
(on the entrances to Cowboys Stadium that were shut down) Grubman: “Until the morning of the game, we had a distinct possibility that we were going to get that ice down. We cordoned off the areas for safety so that we had a place to bring it down, and then it was a matter of whether the weather cooperated with us or not. But we had to have a plan the night before for the eventuality that those entrances would not be available, and it was a decision then for safety, which again, that’s an easy decision. The safety of the fans, we’re going to make that kind of decision, and we know our fans will see it that way and understand it.”
(on if there was still ice on those sections of the stadium) Grubman: “Yes, there was.”
(on why they couldn’t relocate fans) Grubman: “We began building contingency plans as soon as we saw the risk. It was a sold-out building, so it’s not easy to simply get whatever that number of tickets is, and as the Commissioner said earlier, we simply didn’t know what sections, and sections have different amount of seats in them, we didn’t know which sections could be at most risk.”
(on why they didn’t make an announcement to fans sooner) Grubman: “We would have made the call to begin moving those fans and notifying them had we known earlier in the week that we were definitely not going to have them, but our objective was to accommodate all our fans safely and in comfort and to have them not have to think about anything other than watching that game.”
(on what the specific seating problem was) Grubman: “At the final point, there was no vertical structural issue that we were aware of from the police department. That was completed earlier. There was a final installation of railings, of tightening risers, steps, things of that nature, and that’s what did not get completed at the end.”
(on whether North Texas might get another Super Bowl) Goodell: “Sure, it’s a membership vote, but I think they did an outstanding job. It was a great event, and I’m sure that they’ll be seeking another Super Bowl, and I’m sure the ownership will look at that very seriously.”
(on the reaction from NFL owners to the game) Goodell: “I haven’t seen any owners this morning. I saw a couple last night and they said they thought it was a great week.”
(on if any owners said this week was an issue for them) Goodell: “No, they did not.”
(on Jerry Jones’ reaction) Goodell: “I haven’t talked to Jerry this morning. I haven’t seen him. I spoke to him yesterday afternoon earlier, and we were all working for solutions yesterday afternoon.”
(on if they worked with the Cowboys the solve the problem) Goodell: “Yes, the entire Cowboys organization, they participated in volunteering to give up their employee tickets yesterday also. So I think the entire organization worked to help us develop solutions.”
(on some fans filing lawsuits against the NFL) Goodell: “We’re more concerned with making sure we take care of the fans in an appropriate way, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”
(on the game’s television ratings) Goodell: “It is preliminary ratings that have come in, but right now they say it’s on track to be the most-watched show in television history, topping last year’s game.”
lunes, 7 de febrero de 2011
GREEN BAY PACKERS QB AARON RODGERS MVP - Ingles
Super Bowl XLV News Conference
Dallas, Texas – February 7, 2011
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
(opening remarks) “Good morning. Congratulations to Coach (Mike) McCarthy. Fantastic football game. I want to congratulate not only Coach, but (President) Mark Murphy, (General Manager) Ted Thompson, the great players in the entire (Green Bay Packers) organization the great Packer fans. We have preliminary readings that have come in already that indicate that the game will be the most-watched show in the history of television, so we’re excited about the fan reaction from last night and the incredible game they were able to see. Any time you put on an event of this magnitude, you have your challenges. We’ve had them this week. We had an issue this week with several seats for our fans. It’s something that we have been taking very seriously, working at it. We apologize to those fans that were impacted. We are going to work with them and we are going to do better in the future. We will certainly do a thorough review and get to the bottom of why it all occurred, but we take full responsibility for that as putting on this game. But the one thing we will never do is compromise safety – safety for our fans, safety for our players, anyone involved with our event. I want to thank in context of that, the Arlington Fire Department and the Arlington Police Department. They, and other officials in this area have done an outstanding job and we are grateful to them for their hard work and helping us as we addressed many of the challenges this week. I’d also like to take a minute and thank our staff, who worked tirelessly this week and right through the game and right through the night last night – they did an extraordinary job. Several of our employees volunteered to give up their seats so we could accommodate those fans. I’m proud of what they’ve done and I thank them for all of that. And we’re going to take your questions after Aaron (Rodgers) gets done. (President of NFL Ventures, inc.) Eric Grubman and I will meet you over here on the side and will be happy to answer your questions on that. Let me just make one more thank you, which is to the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee: Roger Staubach, Bill Lively, Troy Aikman, all the people that worked so hard on this event. They did an absolutely terrific job and we’re grateful for their hard work and the success that they had. But this morning is about the Super Bowl. It’s about football and it’s about the great players and the great team that won the Super Bowl last night. We have a Super Bowl MVP that represents the best in the game, the best of the people who play the game. He’s not only an extraordinary quarterback who had a great performance last night, more importantly, he’s a great young man. He really does things right and he’s a terrific person to have involved in the NFL. We’re so proud that he is the Super Bowl MVP, and so I’d like to have Aaron Rodgers come up and accept the Pete Rozelle MVP Trophy for a great performance last night.
(on no longer being overlooked) “I guess I ran out of motivation, huh? You know what, I’m always looking for challenges. I think the challenge now goes to repeating, scrutinizing this season, finding ways to get better. Obviously, being a perfectionist and having a quarterback coach who is as well, there’s going to be plenty of time to work on things and plenty of things to work on.
(on how he thinks he stacks up against other quarterbacks in the league) “Well, I was competitive last night. I need to play well for our team and Mike (McCarthy) and his staff had a great game plan. We rolled through some calls and I made enough plays to get the job done last night. As far as where I compare to other quarterbacks in the league, that’s for you guys to determine and talk about. As a kid, I always wanted to obviously win a Super Bowl. Now that I’ve got one, it’s like, ‘Now what?’ Let’s go get another one.”
(on how he has typically been referred to as an underdog and how he reflects on his career after getting the opportunity to win a Super Bowl as a starting quarterback) “That’s kind of been my career there, getting my opportunity and making the most of it. In high school, junior college, Division-I, being a backup, getting overlooked on draft day, three years as a backup, finally getting an opportunity and making the most of it. This was another opportunity that doesn’t come around too often. I just wanted to make the most of it and we did. Great team, great locker room. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
(on if he got his ring finger sized with the rest of the team) “I actually missed the little table there. I didn’t get sized up. I was wondering when I was taking my pregame shower if that was a bad omen or not, to not get sized for my ring. Hopefully I can still get sized with that.”
(on his relationship with McCarthy) “As far as Mike and I go, I’ve had a chip on my shoulder ever since he passed on me (in the draft) when he was in San Francisco. So maybe this will help to bring us together a little bit better.”
(on if he thought the Steelers would try to knock him out of the game given his concussion history) “I don’t know if anyone ever tries to do that, but it just kind of happens sometimes. I was in the circumstance to have two concussions this season. That part of the game, it’ll show you how human you are and how important a head injury is and keeping your head safe is your livelihood. That being said, I don’t know if they’re out there trying to take me out, but they definitely brought a lot of pressure like they always do. They’re a great defense. I’m just very grateful, I know my family is as well, that Chad (Clifton) and Bryan (Bulaga) played so well and kept Lamarr (Woodley) and James (Harrison) off me.”
(On whether he talked to quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Steve Young on how his life would change after being named Super Bowl MVP) “No, I didn’t. I didn’t talk to them about that stuff, but Steve and I have become good friends the last couple years. He’s been a great guy to lean on for advice. Similar situations, starting our careers out, following a legend in our respective cities. They both, during the week, said the same thing, keep the distractions to a minimum. Don’t alter from your preparation routine too much, which is easier said than done because there are a lot of things grabbing at you; family gets in on Thursday, then we go to dinner, obviously you are going to pay. There are a lot of distractions, but I think I managed them pretty well. I think you have to give Mike (McCarthy) credit for that, the way he put the schedule together this week. I stayed pretty focused and was able to get myself to Saturday night, where I really slept great. I slept eight hours. This morning, it was just like a home game. I think I slept so well because I was just confident in my game plan and in my preparation.”
(On whether he talked to Young or Warner about the difficulty of making it back to the Super Bowl) “Yeah, I know it’s been awhile. I think this is the 11th or the 10th different team, in the last 10 years, from the NFC, to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. It’s a challenge, but I feel like we are kind of reloading. We are going to have the best tight end in the NFL back into the mix here. I think we are getting, I think 15 guys back from I.R. (Injured Reserve) I’m sure a number of those guys will be back. It will be a different team. Every team has a different face to it, every year, different players, guys come and go, but I think the core, the nucleus of this team is intact to make runs like this for the next four or five years.
(On whether he noticed any changes in Head Coach Mike McCarthy this year and how he thinks the players responded to that) “Mike doesn’t like to hear this, but he is a player’s coach. He thinks there’s a negative connotation there. To me it means he allows for input from his guys on a number of different levels and obviously he has final say, but he allows his staff to coach, he allows the players to have input. He has final veto power obviously and I think that’s his greatest quality is he allows input in the schedule, input in the way we do things and I think he’s really set up a schedule, a team, a program that allows his players to be successful and his coaches to coach and he’s assembled an incredible staff and a lot of high character guys. I have to give credit to (General Manager) Ted (Thompson) and Mike on putting this team together, but also to Mike for allowing his coaches to coach and his players to play.”
(On how he managed his emotions with the magnitude of the Super Bowl) “I think early on I missed a couple throws. I was maybe, a little bit hyped up. I never felt the nerves. Again it just goes back to my preparation. When I get to Saturday night and Sunday gameday, if I’ve put in the time and the proper preparation, I feel like I should be successful on gameday. There aren’t any doubts, the was confidence there. It was no different last night. I felt good about the plan, felt good about the way I practiced, the way I prepared, the way I studied and just knew I was getting a lot of opportunities and expecting to make those plays that were going to be there.”
(On who got him his championship belt) “That was sent to the hotel to my brother by some random person I think. But I actually had another belt that was sent to me by Dana White from the UFC with a nice note that Chuck Liddell brought over, who was on the field. I don’t know if anybody saw Chuck with the green mohawk, but he was definitely on the bandwagon last night, but I wanted to bring that one over. The belt is a situation that I don’t want to get too worn out because it’s just a fun thing I do on touchdowns, but my brother was having a good time with that.”
(On whether it was his responsibility to take Steelers S Troy Polamalu out of the game) “He’s a guy that you have to be aware of him, where he’s at all times. He’s a great player, had a great season, but guys have to respect where my eyes are looking so it was important to me to use good eye control on the field and not stare anybody down because he can cover a lot of ground quickly and when he was down in the box, we made sure he was picked up in the protection schemes. A couple of times when he came on blitzes, we adjusted the protection to make sure we had him picked up because he’s a very talented blitzer and when he’s high, a deep safety, you just have to make sure you are good with your eyes.”
Chevrolet Director of Advertising Kevin Mayer
“Thank you. Thank you Commissioner. Good morning everyone. What a great night as a fan. Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and to the Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers. On behalf of Chevrolet, I’d like to thank the NFL and Commissioner Goodell for the partnership we have formed over the years together. We are proud to celebrating Chevy’s 100th anniversary this year. So it’s only fitting for the Camaro Convertible, with its heritage and workmanship is the official Super Bowl MVP vehicle. Aaron, on behalf of Chevrolet and our dealer partners across the country, I’d like to present to you the keys to the 426 horse power Chevy Camaro Convertible. Now, let’s go out and take a look at it and you can choose your color. Thank you.”
Dallas, Texas – February 7, 2011
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
(opening remarks) “Good morning. Congratulations to Coach (Mike) McCarthy. Fantastic football game. I want to congratulate not only Coach, but (President) Mark Murphy, (General Manager) Ted Thompson, the great players in the entire (Green Bay Packers) organization the great Packer fans. We have preliminary readings that have come in already that indicate that the game will be the most-watched show in the history of television, so we’re excited about the fan reaction from last night and the incredible game they were able to see. Any time you put on an event of this magnitude, you have your challenges. We’ve had them this week. We had an issue this week with several seats for our fans. It’s something that we have been taking very seriously, working at it. We apologize to those fans that were impacted. We are going to work with them and we are going to do better in the future. We will certainly do a thorough review and get to the bottom of why it all occurred, but we take full responsibility for that as putting on this game. But the one thing we will never do is compromise safety – safety for our fans, safety for our players, anyone involved with our event. I want to thank in context of that, the Arlington Fire Department and the Arlington Police Department. They, and other officials in this area have done an outstanding job and we are grateful to them for their hard work and helping us as we addressed many of the challenges this week. I’d also like to take a minute and thank our staff, who worked tirelessly this week and right through the game and right through the night last night – they did an extraordinary job. Several of our employees volunteered to give up their seats so we could accommodate those fans. I’m proud of what they’ve done and I thank them for all of that. And we’re going to take your questions after Aaron (Rodgers) gets done. (President of NFL Ventures, inc.) Eric Grubman and I will meet you over here on the side and will be happy to answer your questions on that. Let me just make one more thank you, which is to the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee: Roger Staubach, Bill Lively, Troy Aikman, all the people that worked so hard on this event. They did an absolutely terrific job and we’re grateful for their hard work and the success that they had. But this morning is about the Super Bowl. It’s about football and it’s about the great players and the great team that won the Super Bowl last night. We have a Super Bowl MVP that represents the best in the game, the best of the people who play the game. He’s not only an extraordinary quarterback who had a great performance last night, more importantly, he’s a great young man. He really does things right and he’s a terrific person to have involved in the NFL. We’re so proud that he is the Super Bowl MVP, and so I’d like to have Aaron Rodgers come up and accept the Pete Rozelle MVP Trophy for a great performance last night.
(on no longer being overlooked) “I guess I ran out of motivation, huh? You know what, I’m always looking for challenges. I think the challenge now goes to repeating, scrutinizing this season, finding ways to get better. Obviously, being a perfectionist and having a quarterback coach who is as well, there’s going to be plenty of time to work on things and plenty of things to work on.
(on how he thinks he stacks up against other quarterbacks in the league) “Well, I was competitive last night. I need to play well for our team and Mike (McCarthy) and his staff had a great game plan. We rolled through some calls and I made enough plays to get the job done last night. As far as where I compare to other quarterbacks in the league, that’s for you guys to determine and talk about. As a kid, I always wanted to obviously win a Super Bowl. Now that I’ve got one, it’s like, ‘Now what?’ Let’s go get another one.”
(on how he has typically been referred to as an underdog and how he reflects on his career after getting the opportunity to win a Super Bowl as a starting quarterback) “That’s kind of been my career there, getting my opportunity and making the most of it. In high school, junior college, Division-I, being a backup, getting overlooked on draft day, three years as a backup, finally getting an opportunity and making the most of it. This was another opportunity that doesn’t come around too often. I just wanted to make the most of it and we did. Great team, great locker room. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
(on if he got his ring finger sized with the rest of the team) “I actually missed the little table there. I didn’t get sized up. I was wondering when I was taking my pregame shower if that was a bad omen or not, to not get sized for my ring. Hopefully I can still get sized with that.”
(on his relationship with McCarthy) “As far as Mike and I go, I’ve had a chip on my shoulder ever since he passed on me (in the draft) when he was in San Francisco. So maybe this will help to bring us together a little bit better.”
(on if he thought the Steelers would try to knock him out of the game given his concussion history) “I don’t know if anyone ever tries to do that, but it just kind of happens sometimes. I was in the circumstance to have two concussions this season. That part of the game, it’ll show you how human you are and how important a head injury is and keeping your head safe is your livelihood. That being said, I don’t know if they’re out there trying to take me out, but they definitely brought a lot of pressure like they always do. They’re a great defense. I’m just very grateful, I know my family is as well, that Chad (Clifton) and Bryan (Bulaga) played so well and kept Lamarr (Woodley) and James (Harrison) off me.”
(On whether he talked to quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Steve Young on how his life would change after being named Super Bowl MVP) “No, I didn’t. I didn’t talk to them about that stuff, but Steve and I have become good friends the last couple years. He’s been a great guy to lean on for advice. Similar situations, starting our careers out, following a legend in our respective cities. They both, during the week, said the same thing, keep the distractions to a minimum. Don’t alter from your preparation routine too much, which is easier said than done because there are a lot of things grabbing at you; family gets in on Thursday, then we go to dinner, obviously you are going to pay. There are a lot of distractions, but I think I managed them pretty well. I think you have to give Mike (McCarthy) credit for that, the way he put the schedule together this week. I stayed pretty focused and was able to get myself to Saturday night, where I really slept great. I slept eight hours. This morning, it was just like a home game. I think I slept so well because I was just confident in my game plan and in my preparation.”
(On whether he talked to Young or Warner about the difficulty of making it back to the Super Bowl) “Yeah, I know it’s been awhile. I think this is the 11th or the 10th different team, in the last 10 years, from the NFC, to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. It’s a challenge, but I feel like we are kind of reloading. We are going to have the best tight end in the NFL back into the mix here. I think we are getting, I think 15 guys back from I.R. (Injured Reserve) I’m sure a number of those guys will be back. It will be a different team. Every team has a different face to it, every year, different players, guys come and go, but I think the core, the nucleus of this team is intact to make runs like this for the next four or five years.
(On whether he noticed any changes in Head Coach Mike McCarthy this year and how he thinks the players responded to that) “Mike doesn’t like to hear this, but he is a player’s coach. He thinks there’s a negative connotation there. To me it means he allows for input from his guys on a number of different levels and obviously he has final say, but he allows his staff to coach, he allows the players to have input. He has final veto power obviously and I think that’s his greatest quality is he allows input in the schedule, input in the way we do things and I think he’s really set up a schedule, a team, a program that allows his players to be successful and his coaches to coach and he’s assembled an incredible staff and a lot of high character guys. I have to give credit to (General Manager) Ted (Thompson) and Mike on putting this team together, but also to Mike for allowing his coaches to coach and his players to play.”
(On how he managed his emotions with the magnitude of the Super Bowl) “I think early on I missed a couple throws. I was maybe, a little bit hyped up. I never felt the nerves. Again it just goes back to my preparation. When I get to Saturday night and Sunday gameday, if I’ve put in the time and the proper preparation, I feel like I should be successful on gameday. There aren’t any doubts, the was confidence there. It was no different last night. I felt good about the plan, felt good about the way I practiced, the way I prepared, the way I studied and just knew I was getting a lot of opportunities and expecting to make those plays that were going to be there.”
(On who got him his championship belt) “That was sent to the hotel to my brother by some random person I think. But I actually had another belt that was sent to me by Dana White from the UFC with a nice note that Chuck Liddell brought over, who was on the field. I don’t know if anybody saw Chuck with the green mohawk, but he was definitely on the bandwagon last night, but I wanted to bring that one over. The belt is a situation that I don’t want to get too worn out because it’s just a fun thing I do on touchdowns, but my brother was having a good time with that.”
(On whether it was his responsibility to take Steelers S Troy Polamalu out of the game) “He’s a guy that you have to be aware of him, where he’s at all times. He’s a great player, had a great season, but guys have to respect where my eyes are looking so it was important to me to use good eye control on the field and not stare anybody down because he can cover a lot of ground quickly and when he was down in the box, we made sure he was picked up in the protection schemes. A couple of times when he came on blitzes, we adjusted the protection to make sure we had him picked up because he’s a very talented blitzer and when he’s high, a deep safety, you just have to make sure you are good with your eyes.”
Chevrolet Director of Advertising Kevin Mayer
“Thank you. Thank you Commissioner. Good morning everyone. What a great night as a fan. Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and to the Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers. On behalf of Chevrolet, I’d like to thank the NFL and Commissioner Goodell for the partnership we have formed over the years together. We are proud to celebrating Chevy’s 100th anniversary this year. So it’s only fitting for the Camaro Convertible, with its heritage and workmanship is the official Super Bowl MVP vehicle. Aaron, on behalf of Chevrolet and our dealer partners across the country, I’d like to present to you the keys to the 426 horse power Chevy Camaro Convertible. Now, let’s go out and take a look at it and you can choose your color. Thank you.”
GREEN BAY PACKERS HEAD COACH MIKE MCCARTHY - Ingles
Press Conference
Monday, Feb. 7
(Has it sunk in yet that you’re taking that trophy home? How did you spend the evening?)
It was a fun night. I can’t put into words the experience post-game in the locker room. But we had a party back at the hotel. We’re a community-owned football team, so you can see all the fingerprints on our trophy. It was passed around. Everybody had a lot of fun with it. Spent a lot of time with family throughout the evening. I’m sure it will sink in when we get off that plane in Green Bay.
(You made a lot of bold coaching moves over the last couple months. Giving pre-game to the captains. The ring thing. What went into that whole confidence thing from your perspective?)
I talked to our football team a lot about having real confidence, and those are just examples and opportunities to express that. I felt that the measurement of the rings, the timing of it would be special, it would have a significant effect on our players doing it the night before the game. Letting the captains speak to the football team before we go out in pre-game, frankly was really an opportunity to try to develop leadership. I wanted to look for ways for Aaron Rodgers to continue, for his leadership to develop and grow, and it has tremendously this year. Same with Charles Woodson. So it’s just all about staying focused on the program. It’s an excellent football team that we feel is going to continue to grow and get better, and it was just a thought of trying to develop leadership. Ego, everybody has an ego, but you have to discipline your ego and look for those types of opportunities, even coaches too. We have assistant coaches that talk before practice on Friday, and it’s an opportunity for them to grow and express themselves and give a good message, because it’s about the team, it’s about growth, it’s about development, and that’s something we did a very good job of as a football team, particularly through the injury phase that we went through.
(What factors contributed to your game plan of throwing from beginning to end? Was there something about Pittsburgh that made that the best way to attack them?)
Well, a huge part of our game plan was really putting the ball in Aaron Rodgers’ hands. He did a great job at the line of scrimmage. A majority of our plays were run and pass options. We were really feeding off of how they were going to play our personnel groups, and Aaron’s discipline, ability to throw the ball away when it wasn’t there, didn’t take any chances, just gave me the ability to be aggressive as a play-caller. But it was a game plan that we were going to put the ball in Aaron’s hands, put it on his shoulders, and we knew he would produce.
(You had a chance to put the game away at the end when you settled for a field goal. How upset were you that you didn’t put the game away at that point? How worried were you that Roethlisberger could come back and lead his team to a win? And how hard will it be to do this again? What are the challenges to repeat?)
The last drive, we had an opportunity there to get the touchdown. It was an opportunity that was missed. The second down call, I frankly could have probably given Aaron a better call there. And frankly, when Pittsburgh took the ball, it was a very similar situation to our game against them last year in the regular season. That’s what the offseason is for, that’s what you practice for. Adversity defense, to be in that situation again, and our defense to come up with the stop, which they’ve done time and time again. Concerned … you’re managing a game at that point. I look at it really as just a missed opportunity and our defense took care of it.
The second question, really, success is the hardest part of this business. Handling success, it comes at different levels. Obviously we’re at the highest level here today. We’re the Super Bowl champions, and that’s something we’re going to have to manage as a football team.
(You talked about dealing with adversity throughout the season. But as the tough losses mounted, how did you convince the players to stick to the plan and buy into it?)
It really comes down to the players and taking advantage of the opportunity. But from a coaching standpoint, it’s our responsibility to give those players, to put them in position to be successful, and I felt that we did that. You can go back to the last series for our defense. We had some injuries and did some things in the second half, frankly, we weren’t holding up against the run, and we just went to our fire-zone package. That’s what we do best. That’s what we’ve been doing since Doing since Day 1. It gives our defense an opportunity to play with more tempo. I never met a defensive player that doesn’t like to pressure. Just stayed true to the basics, and the players have totally bought in and were successful.
(Can you talk more about measuring for the rings on Saturday night? What did you tell the players and did you think you were tempting fate?)
I wish I’d have made a bigger deal out of it. I just told them that we’re going to get measured for rings tonight, at snack. I felt it was the right time to do it. I talked to Sean Payton about some of the things he did from a scheduling standpoint. Scheduling is so important during the course of the week, and you want to do certain things at certain times, and I felt that was the appropriate time. I thought it would be special. I thought it would give us a boost of confidence to do it the night before the game. But that’s about as far as I took it.
(You were so confident before the game. Why? Have you given any thought to what this offseason will be like?)
Really haven’t given much thought to the offseason yet. That’s something we’ll do when we get back. That’s normal operating procedure for us after a season concludes. But you just have to trust your preparation. The coaches get to go watch the film first, put the game plan together. We felt that we had an aggressive game plan on both sides of the ball, going against Pittsburgh. As the players got into it, you could see they had the confidence, you could see the excitement. We felt we were a better team than Pittsburgh. No disrespect for them, we really respect the way they play. We knew they were going to be a physical, tough football team, but we felt we were a better football team coming in here, and we needed to go out and prove it. That’s why we were so confident.
(How anxious are you to get to next September and get your whole roster back?)
It’s going to be exciting. On paper, it’s a lot like this year. Coming out of training camp, it was the best football team that I’d stood in front of. I knew we had an excellent opportunity to win the Super Bowl, and definitely, you look at our returning roster next year, it’s going to be the same type of situation. I’ll be very excited to coach these guys. It’s a great core group. Our locker room is better than it’s ever been. Winning definitely helps it, no doubt about it. Definitely I’ll be very excited just like the rest of the coaching staff to get started when it comes around.
(They say winning any championship is a career-changing experience. When you woke up this morning, did you feel any different?)
I think waking up tomorrow will be the first real experience of getting a good night’s sleep and stepping into my new life. This was tough duty, answering this bell right here to be honest with you.
(Polamalu and Harrison were defensive players of the year two of the last three seasons. How were you able to take those two out of the game, other than Harrison’s sack?)
I can’t say enough about our tackles. It was obvious when we went into the game, we left them in one-on-one situations throughout the game, and Chad Clifton and Bryan Bulaga got it done. They did an excellent job. Chad has been playing extremely well down the stretch for us. He’s played very well against some big-time defensive ends. We knew that was a big part of our plan. And for us to stay the course, to stay aggressive the way we did, that was going to have to happen, and those guys played great.
(You have a few guys, like Cullen Jenkins, unsigned for next year. Are you confident everyone will want to come back? Also, the last NFC team to win a Super Bowl and win a playoff game the next year was the Packers in 1996-97, so how intimidating is that history that teams that win this thing don’t go on to have success the next year?)
Well, I look at history and tradition as an asset, and we feel very blessed in Green Bay to have a tremendous history and tradition, and that’s something that now we’re a part of, we’re permanently part of, and that will be something that we’ll use as a strength and an outlook. So I don’t look at it as pressure. I don’t feel stress from it. I embrace it. It’s something that players feed off of. We celebrate it as fine as any sports organization in the world, and we’ve added to it. So to me, our tradition and history and our ability to repeat, that’s exciting to us. That’s the next challenge.
(Have you had a chance to talk to Donald and Charles, and what can you say about the way your team rallied behind those two veterans when they went out? And talk about dealing with so much adversity all season, next guy in.)
I had a chance to see them both briefly after the game. That’s one of the toughest things about the Super Bowl. You don’t really have the opportunity to get your team together in the locker room. We’ll do that tomorrow in Green Bay. We have had some experience in that situation. When players go down the next guy steps up. I know Charles was very emotional at halftime. I know Donald was very frustrated that he couldn’t go. Our players just kept playing. We knew it was going to be a four-quarter game and that was the case.
(Can you talk about the job Dom Capers has done with your defense in two years, and about him getting a title after 25 years in the league?)
Dom was probably one of our biggest free-agent transactions. We get beat up so much about not acquiring anybody, but Dom has done a tremendous job. He has brought a scheme to Green Bay that is a scheme that gives us a lot of flexibility. It makes us aggressive. It gives us the opportunity to really have more linebackers on our roster. I think it is better for our overall football team and helps on special teams. He has coordinated an excellent staff. You have a bunch of new guys that come in the first year. The biggest responsibility in my opinion as a coordinator is coordinating that staff into one unit. He has done a great job with that. It’s an excellent defensive staff. And then most importantly, the players have totally bought into the system. You can see the growth from Year 1 to Year 2 and that is what you look for, whether it is a player in his development or whether it is a system of offense, defense or special teams. And his experience, he brings 20-plus years of coaching in the National Football League. For him to get his first Super Bowl, that’s very, very special for him personally and glad to be part of that. But Dom Capers is a tremendous, tremendous football coach.
(The last Packers coach to win a Super Bowl left a couple of years later. Do you see yourself being in this job long-term? Do you see this as your last job?)
I would hope this is my last job. I’m a builder and we have built something special. This program was built the right way, has quality people in Aaron Rodgers and all the way through that are going to lead this football team for a long time. So I would definitely hope this is my last job.
(What is your view of the way Rodgers played last night, and how in sync do you feel you are with him now?)
I thought Aaron Rodgers played like Aaron Rodgers, and that’s why he is the MVP. He has been so consistent throughout the season, and even more so in the playoffs. But the play-caller and the quarterback are on the same page. Just the conversation we had in the locker room before the game. It was simply let me be aggressive as the play-caller; you have to be the disciplined one and keep us in favorable plays and throw it away if you have a bad look, and he did a great job with that. I think he has the best set of skills in the league as far as his pinpoint accuracy, his athletic ability, and all of his best football is in front of him. It’s a special relationship. It will go on long after football, but he did exactly what he was supposed to do. He let the play-caller be aggressive and he managed the football game.
(The last two coaches to win the trophy, Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin, said they only got an hour or two of sleep and they slept with the trophy. How much sleep did you get, and did you sleep with the trophy?)
My wife is too good looking not to sleep with her. I didn’t sleep with the trophy. The trophy is with our director of security, Doug Collins. I don’t know if he slept with it. You’ll have to ask him.
Monday, Feb. 7
(Has it sunk in yet that you’re taking that trophy home? How did you spend the evening?)
It was a fun night. I can’t put into words the experience post-game in the locker room. But we had a party back at the hotel. We’re a community-owned football team, so you can see all the fingerprints on our trophy. It was passed around. Everybody had a lot of fun with it. Spent a lot of time with family throughout the evening. I’m sure it will sink in when we get off that plane in Green Bay.
(You made a lot of bold coaching moves over the last couple months. Giving pre-game to the captains. The ring thing. What went into that whole confidence thing from your perspective?)
I talked to our football team a lot about having real confidence, and those are just examples and opportunities to express that. I felt that the measurement of the rings, the timing of it would be special, it would have a significant effect on our players doing it the night before the game. Letting the captains speak to the football team before we go out in pre-game, frankly was really an opportunity to try to develop leadership. I wanted to look for ways for Aaron Rodgers to continue, for his leadership to develop and grow, and it has tremendously this year. Same with Charles Woodson. So it’s just all about staying focused on the program. It’s an excellent football team that we feel is going to continue to grow and get better, and it was just a thought of trying to develop leadership. Ego, everybody has an ego, but you have to discipline your ego and look for those types of opportunities, even coaches too. We have assistant coaches that talk before practice on Friday, and it’s an opportunity for them to grow and express themselves and give a good message, because it’s about the team, it’s about growth, it’s about development, and that’s something we did a very good job of as a football team, particularly through the injury phase that we went through.
(What factors contributed to your game plan of throwing from beginning to end? Was there something about Pittsburgh that made that the best way to attack them?)
Well, a huge part of our game plan was really putting the ball in Aaron Rodgers’ hands. He did a great job at the line of scrimmage. A majority of our plays were run and pass options. We were really feeding off of how they were going to play our personnel groups, and Aaron’s discipline, ability to throw the ball away when it wasn’t there, didn’t take any chances, just gave me the ability to be aggressive as a play-caller. But it was a game plan that we were going to put the ball in Aaron’s hands, put it on his shoulders, and we knew he would produce.
(You had a chance to put the game away at the end when you settled for a field goal. How upset were you that you didn’t put the game away at that point? How worried were you that Roethlisberger could come back and lead his team to a win? And how hard will it be to do this again? What are the challenges to repeat?)
The last drive, we had an opportunity there to get the touchdown. It was an opportunity that was missed. The second down call, I frankly could have probably given Aaron a better call there. And frankly, when Pittsburgh took the ball, it was a very similar situation to our game against them last year in the regular season. That’s what the offseason is for, that’s what you practice for. Adversity defense, to be in that situation again, and our defense to come up with the stop, which they’ve done time and time again. Concerned … you’re managing a game at that point. I look at it really as just a missed opportunity and our defense took care of it.
The second question, really, success is the hardest part of this business. Handling success, it comes at different levels. Obviously we’re at the highest level here today. We’re the Super Bowl champions, and that’s something we’re going to have to manage as a football team.
(You talked about dealing with adversity throughout the season. But as the tough losses mounted, how did you convince the players to stick to the plan and buy into it?)
It really comes down to the players and taking advantage of the opportunity. But from a coaching standpoint, it’s our responsibility to give those players, to put them in position to be successful, and I felt that we did that. You can go back to the last series for our defense. We had some injuries and did some things in the second half, frankly, we weren’t holding up against the run, and we just went to our fire-zone package. That’s what we do best. That’s what we’ve been doing since Doing since Day 1. It gives our defense an opportunity to play with more tempo. I never met a defensive player that doesn’t like to pressure. Just stayed true to the basics, and the players have totally bought in and were successful.
(Can you talk more about measuring for the rings on Saturday night? What did you tell the players and did you think you were tempting fate?)
I wish I’d have made a bigger deal out of it. I just told them that we’re going to get measured for rings tonight, at snack. I felt it was the right time to do it. I talked to Sean Payton about some of the things he did from a scheduling standpoint. Scheduling is so important during the course of the week, and you want to do certain things at certain times, and I felt that was the appropriate time. I thought it would be special. I thought it would give us a boost of confidence to do it the night before the game. But that’s about as far as I took it.
(You were so confident before the game. Why? Have you given any thought to what this offseason will be like?)
Really haven’t given much thought to the offseason yet. That’s something we’ll do when we get back. That’s normal operating procedure for us after a season concludes. But you just have to trust your preparation. The coaches get to go watch the film first, put the game plan together. We felt that we had an aggressive game plan on both sides of the ball, going against Pittsburgh. As the players got into it, you could see they had the confidence, you could see the excitement. We felt we were a better team than Pittsburgh. No disrespect for them, we really respect the way they play. We knew they were going to be a physical, tough football team, but we felt we were a better football team coming in here, and we needed to go out and prove it. That’s why we were so confident.
(How anxious are you to get to next September and get your whole roster back?)
It’s going to be exciting. On paper, it’s a lot like this year. Coming out of training camp, it was the best football team that I’d stood in front of. I knew we had an excellent opportunity to win the Super Bowl, and definitely, you look at our returning roster next year, it’s going to be the same type of situation. I’ll be very excited to coach these guys. It’s a great core group. Our locker room is better than it’s ever been. Winning definitely helps it, no doubt about it. Definitely I’ll be very excited just like the rest of the coaching staff to get started when it comes around.
(They say winning any championship is a career-changing experience. When you woke up this morning, did you feel any different?)
I think waking up tomorrow will be the first real experience of getting a good night’s sleep and stepping into my new life. This was tough duty, answering this bell right here to be honest with you.
(Polamalu and Harrison were defensive players of the year two of the last three seasons. How were you able to take those two out of the game, other than Harrison’s sack?)
I can’t say enough about our tackles. It was obvious when we went into the game, we left them in one-on-one situations throughout the game, and Chad Clifton and Bryan Bulaga got it done. They did an excellent job. Chad has been playing extremely well down the stretch for us. He’s played very well against some big-time defensive ends. We knew that was a big part of our plan. And for us to stay the course, to stay aggressive the way we did, that was going to have to happen, and those guys played great.
(You have a few guys, like Cullen Jenkins, unsigned for next year. Are you confident everyone will want to come back? Also, the last NFC team to win a Super Bowl and win a playoff game the next year was the Packers in 1996-97, so how intimidating is that history that teams that win this thing don’t go on to have success the next year?)
Well, I look at history and tradition as an asset, and we feel very blessed in Green Bay to have a tremendous history and tradition, and that’s something that now we’re a part of, we’re permanently part of, and that will be something that we’ll use as a strength and an outlook. So I don’t look at it as pressure. I don’t feel stress from it. I embrace it. It’s something that players feed off of. We celebrate it as fine as any sports organization in the world, and we’ve added to it. So to me, our tradition and history and our ability to repeat, that’s exciting to us. That’s the next challenge.
(Have you had a chance to talk to Donald and Charles, and what can you say about the way your team rallied behind those two veterans when they went out? And talk about dealing with so much adversity all season, next guy in.)
I had a chance to see them both briefly after the game. That’s one of the toughest things about the Super Bowl. You don’t really have the opportunity to get your team together in the locker room. We’ll do that tomorrow in Green Bay. We have had some experience in that situation. When players go down the next guy steps up. I know Charles was very emotional at halftime. I know Donald was very frustrated that he couldn’t go. Our players just kept playing. We knew it was going to be a four-quarter game and that was the case.
(Can you talk about the job Dom Capers has done with your defense in two years, and about him getting a title after 25 years in the league?)
Dom was probably one of our biggest free-agent transactions. We get beat up so much about not acquiring anybody, but Dom has done a tremendous job. He has brought a scheme to Green Bay that is a scheme that gives us a lot of flexibility. It makes us aggressive. It gives us the opportunity to really have more linebackers on our roster. I think it is better for our overall football team and helps on special teams. He has coordinated an excellent staff. You have a bunch of new guys that come in the first year. The biggest responsibility in my opinion as a coordinator is coordinating that staff into one unit. He has done a great job with that. It’s an excellent defensive staff. And then most importantly, the players have totally bought into the system. You can see the growth from Year 1 to Year 2 and that is what you look for, whether it is a player in his development or whether it is a system of offense, defense or special teams. And his experience, he brings 20-plus years of coaching in the National Football League. For him to get his first Super Bowl, that’s very, very special for him personally and glad to be part of that. But Dom Capers is a tremendous, tremendous football coach.
(The last Packers coach to win a Super Bowl left a couple of years later. Do you see yourself being in this job long-term? Do you see this as your last job?)
I would hope this is my last job. I’m a builder and we have built something special. This program was built the right way, has quality people in Aaron Rodgers and all the way through that are going to lead this football team for a long time. So I would definitely hope this is my last job.
(What is your view of the way Rodgers played last night, and how in sync do you feel you are with him now?)
I thought Aaron Rodgers played like Aaron Rodgers, and that’s why he is the MVP. He has been so consistent throughout the season, and even more so in the playoffs. But the play-caller and the quarterback are on the same page. Just the conversation we had in the locker room before the game. It was simply let me be aggressive as the play-caller; you have to be the disciplined one and keep us in favorable plays and throw it away if you have a bad look, and he did a great job with that. I think he has the best set of skills in the league as far as his pinpoint accuracy, his athletic ability, and all of his best football is in front of him. It’s a special relationship. It will go on long after football, but he did exactly what he was supposed to do. He let the play-caller be aggressive and he managed the football game.
(The last two coaches to win the trophy, Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin, said they only got an hour or two of sleep and they slept with the trophy. How much sleep did you get, and did you sleep with the trophy?)
My wife is too good looking not to sleep with her. I didn’t sleep with the trophy. The trophy is with our director of security, Doug Collins. I don’t know if he slept with it. You’ll have to ask him.
sábado, 5 de febrero de 2011
NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL - Ingles
Super Bowl XLV News Conference
Dallas, Texas — February 4, 2011
Opening Statement:
“Good morning. Welcome to Super Bowl XLV. We are all thrilled to be here in North Texas. We are concluding one of the greatest seasons in the history of the NFL. It will always go down, at least until next year, as the most watched season in the history of the NFL. We thank our fans and all of the people who supported us in this great season. It was really one of the more competitive seasons we’ve had, just from a reflection of the fans reaction to this season. We had great performances, both individual and by teams. And we want to congratulate the two teams that have risen above all of it: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. Congratulations to both organizations. It just sounds like football. Packers. Steelers. This is what has the whole country excited about this weekend and this year’s Super Bowl. When you think of the great history, the great traditions that come from both of these organizations, and recognize that both of them are small markets, it says a lot about what is unique about the National Football League – that competitiveness, that hope that you can always win. I know that it is going to lead to a great Super Bowl here in North Texas.
“Certainly, we’ve had a winter to remember. Some may say to forget. It’s happened here in North Texas this week but it hasn’t dimmed any enthusiasm of the NFL or the people here in this community. We are so grateful for the tremendous work that this community has done to put on an absolutely fantastic Super Bowl week. We know that we are going to have a great weekend, but we want to thank the leadership here in this community for all they have done. All of the public officials who have been focused, prepared for all outcomes. You can see it in the way they are dealing with the issues. This storm is approaching and attacking most of our country, and here in North Texas we are prepared and all of our events are going on as scheduled, and we are grateful to all of them. That includes Jerry Jones, and his family of course, who have been working tirelessly to make this a great event, and Bill Lively, the head of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee. To you and your organization, an extraordinary job. I know we have a few days left, but we are grateful for all of the work you’ve done to make this a great weekend. And of course the two co-chairpersons: Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. Your leadership is greatly appreciated by us and we know it is going to be a great week.
“Like any organization, we have our challenges and our challenges are ahead of us and we are focused on that. We believe in better and we will do better and we will improve. We are not satisfied where we are, but I promise you we are going to work hard to be better in everything we do. This is your press conference so I’m going to take your questions, but before we move forward, there is an individual who we wanted to recognize from the Fort Worth area: Dan Jenkins, who I understand couldn’t be here this morning, having difficulty getting out of his home, but I wanted to acknowledge and recognize him for what he’s done for your industry as well as our industry. You mean so much to the National Football League, and Dan Jenkins epitomizes that. His work over the years has made a huge difference in pro football and the National Football League, and we want to recognize him. I don’t believe his daughter Sally is here. I hear she is helping to get Dan over here, but in any case, ‘thank you’ to both of them.
“Okay, I think Barry Wilner, you are up first.”
Roger, this week in the Associated Press poll, [it] found that 27 percent of the respondents, only 27 percent, favor an 18-game regular season schedule and when asked if they are NFL fans, only 18 percent say they strongly favor that. Dan Rooney’s also said he sees no reason to go to an 18-game schedule. My question is: How much feedback have you gotten from owners about the 18-game schedule and how much feedback have you gotten from the fans and the public about an 18-game schedule?
“We started this with the fans. The fans have clearly stated that they don’t like the quality of our preseason. As you know, our structure is a 20-game format. We have four preseason games and 16 regular-season games. Repeatedly, the fans have said the quality of the preseason doesn’t meet NFL standards. That is one of the basis on which we started to look at the 18-and-two concept, by taking two of those low quality, non-competitive games and turn those into quality, competitive games that the fans want to see; they want to support. I talk to fans all the time. I get that feedback from them, including season-ticket holders who are the ones who are going to those preseason games and paying for those preseason games. I feel an obligation to make sure we are doing the best we can to present the best football, and that includes [asking] how do we make the preseason as effective as possible and the regular season as effective as possible, and I believe we are on the right track to get that done.”
With the possibility or probability of a lockout, what is your message to Indianapolis with the Super Bowl next year, whether it will be impacted and if it is, is there a Plan B? Do they go to the next in line, the end of line? What happens to that Super Bowl?
“The message to our friends in Indianapolis is to continue their planning. We believe we are going to be playing there in the Super Bowl, and we believe it is going to be a great community for us to be in. It takes a lot of work as you know to have these events and I’m confident that all that planning will be done in the best possible way. Our focus is on trying to get an agreement done and get it done without any disruption, whether it be to the Super Bowl, or the preseason or regular season. We want to get this deal done in the next few weeks. That’s where our focus is, Mike.”
You touched on this a little bit in your opening marks, but if I could get you to expand on it a little. We know of the ice storm in Atlanta and how the Super Bowl has never gone back there. This is obviously the biggest stadium in the NFL, and it’s going to be a financial windfall for the NFL. Will the weather at all, even though you don’t have a vote on this, will the weather at all affect future bids for Dallas/Ft. Worth?
“You know there are a number of factors that our owners take into consideration when they make the decision of where to have the Super Bowl. They each have their priorities. I think the stadium is a priority that is consistent across all 32 clubs, because quite frankly that’s our stage. You are going to be playing – we’re going to be playing, and you’re going to be seeing the Super Bowl from one of the great stadiums in the world. I think that will demonstrate the importance of having great facilities for all of our games, including the Super Bowl. And the fact that it can handle the weather by closing the roof is a benefit in this case. As I say, I think this community has done an extraordinary job under some very difficult circumstances that are across this country today. There are very few communities anywhere right now who have not been impacted by this storm. This community has pulled together and done an extraordinary job and my hat’s off to them.”
The position of the ownership in the labor dispute seems to be that since the 2006 season the players have gotten too great a share of revenues. Yesterday DeMaurice Smith said, I quote, ‘The undeniable fact is the share of all revenues that has gone to all players has gone down since the 2006 deal.’ How do you explain the difference in those two sets of facts?
“I think one is a fact and one isn’t. In fact, if you want to deal with facts, the president of the union just in the last week said that the players got a great deal in 2006, and that clearly is indicating that the pendulum has shifted too far in one direction. And in any agreement, you want to have a fair agreement. You want to make sure that it’s fair to the clubs. You want to make sure it’s fair to the players, but allow our great game to grow. Since 2006, we have not built a new stadium, and that is an issue for us. You will point to Dallas. You will point to New York. You’ll point to the renovations in Kansas City, but those were all in the ground or on their way. This agreement needs to be addressed so we can make the kinds of investments that grow this game and make it great for our fans.”
You said you talked to two dozen non-Steeler players and none of them supported (Ben) Roethlisberger. Mike Tomlin said, ‘Why would you expect non-Steeler players to support him.’ What was the point of those conversations with those non-Steeler players?
“The context of that entire discussion, as you know, Sports Illustrated did a profile piece and in the context of that Peter King was asking, ‘How do you go about making these decisions’ and I said, ‘You talk to a lot of people.’ You try to get input, and one of the most important inputs for me is players. How do players perceive this? How does it reflect on players as a group? What should be done? I am not taking a vote. I’m not allowing them to make decisions on what the discipline is against other players. I am well aware of that issue, but I do believe in seeking out input to try to make a fair decision that considers all aspects, and that’s what we were trying to do.”
You said that Bill Belichick deceived you. Did you follow up on that or just let it pass?
“No, I didn’t do anything further with that.”
If there is not a new labor deal by March 4, or substantial progress toward one that leads to that deadline being pushed back, will the owners lock out the players? And does the owners decision on a lock out depend, in any way, on whether the union decertifies or not?
“There were a lot of questions in there, Mark (Maske). I guess the first one is that we have not made any determinations of what will happen on March 4th. The ownership is completely focused on getting an agreement that works and is fair to the players and the clubs. That’s their focus right now. They are prepared for every outcome, as they should be. That is only smart negotiations, and I assume the union is doing the same. We have to focus on making sure we get an agreement that works for everyone. At that point in time, if we are not successful in getting an agreement, I’m sure a lot of steps are going to be taken, which is why the window of opportunity is in the next few weeks to get an agreement that works for everybody.”
If it’s not a good value for the fans and it could threaten players’ welfare over time, why not be a little fan friendly and maybe knock down the prices for the two preseason games, each home game? Don’t make them regular season prices and they’ll get their bang for their buck and the players will stay healthier:
“I think the first thing you started off with, I believe you said, ‘If it’s not good value for the fans.’ I would disagree. I think fans, when they understand that you are going to take two preseason games and turn them into regular season games, they do see value in that. They do see the fact that you are improving the quality of what they are paying for. That’s what we are trying to do, increase that value. Everybody - everybody, including people in this room - has been impacted by the economy, and we are trying to find out how do we create more value in everything we offer our fans. Whether it be new stadiums, whether it be on television, whether it be on our merchandise that we offer, you have to create value in this environment. We look at every aspect of that. We have looked at every alternative that you’ve mentioned there, but what you also want to do, is you want to continue to grow the pie. That’s good for everybody. It’s good for the game, it’s good for the players and it’s good for the clubs, so you keep looking for ways in which you can grow revenue, grow the pie, that’s good for everybody.”
On the CBA front, if this gets past March 3, March 4, and we get into some kind of a work stoppage, the team and the players make most of their money from August or September through the rest of the season. Why would we expect there to be a deal done any time before August?
“David, if we’re unsuccessful in getting an agreement by March 4, I expect that the uncertainty will continue, which will be bad for our partners. It will be bad for the players, it will be bad for the clubs. That uncertainty will lead to a reduction, potentially, in revenue, and, when that revenue decreases, there will be less for us to share. That will just make it harder to make an agreement. So, what we have to do is remove the uncertainty. A series of things will happen in March if we’re not successful. There will not be free agency, which will impact on the players. There will be a number of things that I’m sure both sides will consider, that, strategically, I believe will move us away from the negotiating table rather than toward the negotiating table. I have frequently said, and I will be as clear as I can on this, this will get resolved at the negotiating table. All of the other public relations, litigation strategies, congressional strategies, this is about a negotiation. We have to address the issues and find solutions.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t expire for another month, and already teams like the Chiefs and the Jets seem to be using the possibility of a lockout as an excuse to reduce their work staffs. The Chiefs recently let go 11 people, including three employees that had been with the organization for a combined 72 years. Do you have a problem with any of this, and are you concerned with how it makes a league that is producing record revenues look when it lets paycheck-to-paycheck people go like this?
“I don’t think anyone is using anything as an excuse, Paul. When you make decisions on personnel – and I’ve had to make them in our organization two years ago, when we were going through some difficult times in the economy – there are still difficult economic challenges out there. All of our clubs, and the league, and every other business, including businesses that you all are associated with, have to make very tough decisions in this kind of environment. When you’re dealing with employees and their future, there is nothing harder to do. But the reality is, this is a tough environment out there. We want to make sure that we are making smart decisions for our employees, our players, our clubs, for the long term, and make sure that we can continue to have a successful product. No one likes to see our employees let go, Paul. It’s a very, very difficult thing.”
Jerry Jones said that he thinks that urgency is necessary to get a deal done in this type of situation. DeMaurice Smith followed that up yesterday, saying he views March 4 as a hard deadline. Do you see it that way and do you sense the proper sense of urgency is out there on both sides right now to get something done that’s fair on both sides?
“I frequently said that I think that March 4 is a very critical date, because, again, a lot of different strategies will take place if we’re not successful in getting an agreement by that time. We need to have intensive, round-the-clock negotiations to address the issues and find solutions. If we’re committed to doing that, I think we can be successful. But we have to demonstrate that commitment and get to work.”
Do you feel that sense of urgency is there now, or do you still need to find it?
“I can assure you that I have that sense of urgency, and I believe that both sides do. And I’m glad to hear you say that DeMaurice (Smith) said that yesterday.”
In terms of player safety, has there been much discussion about players wearing all of the equipment that is available, specifically leg pads and mouthpieces, and how much research is being done on helmets?
“There’s a tremendous amount of research being done on helmets. We shared all of that information with our players prior to the start of this season, and we will do more work on that through our Head, Neck and Spine Committee this offseason and share all of that with our players as we get into the 2011 season. As it relates to pads, as you know, we proposed to the union last spring that we would require players to wear the thigh pads, the knee pads, and potentially the hip pads. They wanted to do some work, they wanted to do some studies along with us. We did that this season, and we believe that those should be implemented and that they should be required for all players to wear at least the hip and knee pads. We’ll be addressing that this offseason, but I expect that will happen for the 2011 season.”
Given the rate of injuries we’re seeing during the regular season, how is the push for an 18-game schedule consistent with the concern you all express for the long and short term health of the players?
“Tom, the number one thing here is we are still staying within our 20-game format. We are not playing 22 games, which is permitted in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement by the way. We are taking the 20 games that we are looking at and we are proposing and working with the union and figuring out the best way to do that, and if we can’t do it right, we won’t do it. But consistent with the safety issues, you always have to keep safety as a priority, under any format. Injuries occur in preseason games, including the four preseason games, so you have to try to look to see what you can do in the offseason. We’ve talked very extensively about - do you alter the OTA structure and what happens within the OTA structure? Do you alter the training camp period? Do we need extensive training camp periods, and how much contact should occur? What happens in the regular season? Do we really need to have players practicing in pads at some points during the season? I think all of those things have been addressed by the ownership for the last couple of years. Our committees have been focused on this. John Madden and Ronnie Lott and the safety committee are looking at these issues. All of this is going to help us make better decisions and the right decision to make the game as safe as possible.”
Just a follow up on the 18-game schedule. From the standpoint of the owners and the League, is the 18-game regular-season schedule, does it have to be in the next CBA? In other words, is it a deal breaker?
“Sal, there are no deal breakers. We need to sit down and have a healthy negotiation about how we address the issues that we have. There are many different ways of addressing the issues that we have, but the only way to do that is by sitting down and making sure everyone understands what those challenges are and addressing them in an appropriate fashion. So in negotiations, there’s give and take and that’s how you get to an agreement that makes the game better. That’s our entire focus. How do we make the game better? The status quo is not acceptable. We have to address these issues going forward.”
Earlier this week Anschutz Entertainment Group announced a 30-year, $700 million naming rights deal with Farmer’s Insurance. Keeping in mind as you mentioned there have been no stadium started since 2006, can you look ahead and tell me what a naming rights’ deal, which would be the largest in history, would mean to bringing football back to Los Angeles, and is this a game changer?
“Well Sam, I think it’s obviously a positive development because it’s an important revenue stream, but even with that positive development the financing of the stadium in Los Angeles is still a very difficult proposition. We have to get the Collective Bargaining Agreement addressed in such a way as to make it so that it is a smart investment that that can be financed so that we can create the kind of economic activity in Los Angeles that I believe can happen if we’re successful, whether it be in downtown or out in the City of Industry. There are some great opportunities for us to continue to grow the game, but we have to recognize that cost is associated with that and address it in a way that incentivizes everyone to make those kind of investments. I think this is a positive thing for the league, for the players, for the game, and for, most importantly, our fans in Southern California.”
What I wanted to do is sort of enlighten you with what he said about the equipment, and I wanted to ask you, couldn’t you as the Commissioner have someone do like they do in colleges where the umpire goes and makes sure that all of this equipment starting with the helmet down to the kneepads, the hip pads, and the shoulder pads, all of these things be on the players, all of the players that play for the National Football League. This is not a track meet, and a lot of these guys are not wearing their pads, and I’ve known some of them to have their legs hurt for the rest of their life. Once you injure yourself arthritis comes and I was hoping you could have someone like the umpire come in and make sure that he has to wear certain pads from his head down to his knees.
“It is something that we’re very focused on. We actually do have personnel at every game making sure that the uniform is properly worn, but what has been the focus is those pads are not required. We think they should be required. We think that the players are safer having those pads, so that’s why we believe we need to make them mandatory. I think anytime you have players, you’re going to have the issue of safety vs. performance. We believe they can perform with the new technology that’s out there with respect to thigh pads and kneepads at the same level. We want them to be safe. We also want them to perform well, but we think you can do both, and safety should be the number one priority.”
With the weather problems here in Dallas struggling to keep up with the snow – looking into the 2014, you have an outdoor Super Bowl in New York – are there any concerns moving forward? Any lessons to be learned from this? Especially any concerns that would happen on game day in the event of a storm?
“The most important lesson is that you have to be prepared for everything. North Texas was prepared if this happened. In New York, not only are they prepared, they’re probably planning on this type of weather. The fact is they are going to be prepared for this. It’s going to be a fantastic Super Bowl here and I also think it’s going to be a fantastic event in New York.”
(from Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco) You represent 32 NFL owners and right now I’m standing here representing over 1800 NFL players. We want to know one thing, seriously. I don’t want the politically correct answer as far as it will be done in a week. Do you know how far away we are from getting a deal realistically done? What is the real time-table for us really getting it done? Because I see a lot of things being prepared on your guys’ end – you guys are somewhat preparing for a lockout.
“As I said before, both sides are going to be prepared for every outcome. The commitment on behalf of the ownership is to get an agreement. We will get an agreement. That is only going to happen when there are some intensive negotiations between your union and the owners. That has to take place now. This is the window of opportunity to get this done right. Otherwise, uncertainty is going to seep into all of our operations and make it harder for everybody to reach that agreement. Right now, I would say, let’s get to work and let’s get an agreement that works for everybody.”
This weather here in Dallas has been unexpected, but we are two years away from the New Meadowlands. You praised how well Dallas has handled everything and hosted the Super Bowl. Would you be open to cold-weather cities based on how things have gone here from your perspective? Also, with the New Meadowlands being outdoors and hosting a Super Bowl in two years?
“We have and we are. We’re going to Indianapolis next year. I need to emphasize again, this is a storm that is impacting most of our country. There are very few places that aren’t dealing with the after effects of this storm. It’s an extraordinarily rare storm. It’s something that this community has responded well to. When we chose to play in climates where this is more likely to happen, they are very capable of dealing with these types of issues and we have been very comfortable playing there. We’ve played in Detroit. We’ve played in Minnesota. We’ll be playing in Indianapolis next year. I think the people in those communities recognize the preparation that is necessary, and we’ll be in that position.”
I understand the CBA is important, but Michael Vick is an important player to the fans in Philadelphia. How do you feel about his progress, now that you’ve seen him back in the league for a couple of years? How concerned were you that initially he was a part of another party that was scheduled here in Dallas for the Super Bowl?
“I spoke to Michael three times in the last two weeks about his schedule here – what he’d be doing. He has said that on numerous occasions people have been using his name about being involved in some type of party, but that he had no intention of participating in that. I am extremely proud of what Michael has done. He has taken his responsibility seriously. He has made a commitment to himself to make better decisions. He has committed to doing the right thing going forward. I think that is a great thing. We’re looking for success stories. We’re not looking for players to fail. This is a young man who made horrific mistakes. He dealt with them. He paid a very significant price, and now he is doing the right thing. I support him on that and I want to make sure he doesn’t put himself in a position where he is going to make bad decisions or bad things can happen around him. He takes that seriously also. I am frequently in contact with Michael. I want to see him continue to succeed off the field as much as on the field.”
The NFL has come out and said that teams will be allowed to start franchising players on March 10. The union said yesterday that it will challenge those franchise tags. How will you reconcile that, and are you expecting a court battle after February 10 on the franchise issue?
“I assume if the union does not believe that the franchise tag can be applied then they will challenge that through the normal process, and that will go through the normal process and be determined.”
There seems to be a massive disconnect between the owners and labor, and trust seems to not exist or at least exist in a very scant amount. Why should fans trust either side when it’s looked at as billionaires arguing with millionaires?
“I think at this point, what I hear from fans is that they just want football, and the fans aren’t forgotten here. We want to bring more football – better football – to our fans. And that’s the focus I think both sides have to keep their attention on because we need to get an agreement that works for everybody, that’s fair to everybody, but also continue the great game that we have for our fans. I think they care about just getting an agreement. They don’t care about the details. They just want to make sure that their football is going to appear on Sundays and Mondays and Thursdays. They want to make sure they have the great game they love. That’s our responsibility, and I don’t think anyone is going to feel sorry for any one of us, including yours truly, if we’re not successful at doing that.”
A Steelers player on Tuesday at Media Day said that his ultimate scenario for Sunday would be to see you have to hand the MVP trophy to either James Harrison or Ben Roethlisberger and have to “eat humble pie like you never have before.” How would you feel about having to give that trophy to them? And to answer an opinion that has been voiced on a number of occasions at Pittsburgh, a lot of Pittsburgh fans are saying it’s a bigger deal to see you have to do that than even beat the Packers – that beating you is a bigger deal than beating the Packers.
“I know Steelers fans; I don’t buy that. Listen, I would be happy – if the Pittsburgh Steelers win, I would be more than happy to hand the MVP trophy off to Ben Roethlisberger or James Harrison. They’ve had extraordinary years, and I think it’s great for the game of football. I think it’s great for them as individuals and I hope they will have terrific games on Sunday. I can’t root for anybody, but whoever gets up to that stage, I’ll be proud to hand the trophy off to, I promise you that.”
When you came up here today, you talked about how the NFL had its most-watched season and you hoped for bigger, better things next year. On a personal level and looking at the CBA and everything it involves, do you reach out to anybody like a Paul Tagliabue in any type of situations? And how much do you want to avoid the blemish on your record? I know when Paul left it was a big boost to him to leave the NFL without that void and working stoppage. For you on a personal level, what do you think about that?
“As I said earlier when we were talking about it, I believe you need to talk to a lot of people in this job. You represent a lot of constituents and a lot of perspectives: the fans, the clubs, the players, our business partners. You need to understand what’s happening out there and you need to listen. The number one thing we need to do is listen to one another and understand the issues and figure out how to address them. I am not worried about legacies or how I am going to be perceived; I’m worried about doing the right thing for this game, for our fans, and for the long term. This isn’t about the next three months; this is about the next 10 years. This is about our game and making sure we get an agreement in place that is going to ensure the success of our game going forward.”
Given San Diego’s inability to make any progress on a stadium and the fact that 90 miles up north you have progress – at least you have progress with AEG and Farmers Insurance. Is there any reason to believe the Chargers are not headed for a move to L.A. and is it more important for the NFL to have a team in Los Angeles than keep a team in San Diego?
“The second part of your question, we want to keep our teams where they are. The Chargers have been committed to getting a solution in their stadium in San Diego for, I believe, well over eight years now. They’ve been working on different alternatives. They’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time and resources to try and develop those solutions and they still continue to this day to do that. They want to be in San Diego. They want the Chargers to be in San Diego, and so does the NFL. But, we need to find a solution to the stadium issue in San Diego.”
You said earlier today that in negotiations there has to be give and take. What are the owners going to give in this negotiation? Jeff Pash told reporters earlier this week that you made concessions. Did you make any concessions on the economic issues? And yesterday Kevin Mawae said you have to open your books to get this deal done, for them to take this kind of pay cut. Are you willing to move on those issues?
“Well Liz, you’ve raised several issues in there. We have to get beyond this negotiating ploy of opening the books, because that’s all it is. The players have more than sufficient information to understand why the economics of this deal do not work. They recognized that 12 months ago when I was sitting at the table and they said, ‘We recognize the clubs are being squeezed.’ Kevin Mawae, himself, said just last week, ‘It’s been a great deal in 2006 for the players.’ They recognize why the economics aren’t working. It doesn’t pay us any service to sit here and talk about where they give and take. We’re not going to negotiate this at a press conference, but I can assure you that the owners are willing to have a give and take and I believe the players are willing to have a give and take to find solutions that work.”
A few Steelers players have been somewhat critical of the NFL recently in their administration of discipline regarding helmet-to-helmet hits, and specifically some of the ambiguity regarding that administration. What will the NFL do in the future to perhaps provide some clarity for teams?
“As commissioner, I have to take ultimate responsibility for making sure that the integrity of the game and the safety of our game are going to be implemented in a consistent and fair way. That’s my responsibility. We will continue to work with the Competition Committee. We will continue to work with the players who contribute into the Competition Committee, their input, in trying to help the players, the coaches, all of our clubs and the general public understand the techniques that we are looking to eliminate from the game, but also the techniques that we think should be used. This has been discussed every offseason by our Competition Committee and our football people, and the rules are determined by 32 clubs. There were no rule changes this year in the season. It was made in the offseason and they were made by the collective 32. The rules apply to 32 teams and every player in the league, no exceptions. I’m the commissioner for the entire league, for 32 teams. Everyone’s going to play by the same rules. We will work harder to make sure they understand the appropriate techniques, and I think people have adjusted. If you look at the game this year, they adjusted. The players adjusted, the teams adjusted and the game of football was extraordinary, and it was safer.”
If you do choose to lower your salary to a dollar, do you have a particular part-time job in mind to make ends meet? And secondly, do you worry about a backlash from the fans towards the popularity of the game, or do you feel like it’s more immune from that?
“No, I do not think we’re immune from that. I have said repeatedly, the fans want football. If we are not successful in reaching an agreement, that will be toward the commissioner, towards the clubs, towards the players, everybody involved. That’s why I think collectively, we have to work and make a commitment to get something done that makes sense. I don’t want my salary to go to a dollar. My wife doesn’t want my salary to go to a dollar. But the reality of it is, it’s a collective sacrifice. It’s a bad outcome if we’re not able to reach that agreement, and it should affect everybody in the league, including yours truly. We have to make sure we work as hard as we can to avoid it and get something done as quickly as possible.”
Can you talk about what it means for the League to have two storied franchises be playing in Super Bowl XLV and two fan bases that travel like they do?
“Well, that is a refreshing question. When you look at this matchup, and I said it earlier, you say ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’ and ‘Green Bay Packers,’ that’s football. There’s no doubt about it, that’s football. These great organizations who have had so much success in the past, it represents the traditions of our game. The fans are tremendous in both of these communities. I lived in western Pennsylvania for five years and those fans, there aren’t any better fans than Steeler fans. Then you look at the Packer fans and they’re the same way. Tremendous passion, they support their team through thick and thin, and it means a lot to these communities. And they’re both national teams. This isn’t just about fans in western Pennsylvania or in Wisconsin, they have national followings, and I think that’s what’s so exciting for this country and our world, to look at this game and say, ‘Wow, that’s real football.’ This is fun. This is celebrating the game that I love and we all love and I think it’s going to be a terrific night.”
What are some of the innovations that you envision with respect to the NFL’s digital media and overall technology future? For instance, iPads, graphs being used during games to diagram plays and iPads used in-game by team personnel to receive X-ray results reviewing. For ownership, perhaps some password-protected apps for showing and sending confidential league business information and perhaps for fans, the ability to purchase special helmets allowing them to listen to quarterback huddle plays while the quarterback is talking. I realize all of this would require delicate legal work by your in-house attorneys and cooperation from business partners. I haven’t had a chance to talk to your Game Operations Chief Ray Anderson or Digital Media Chief Brian Rolapp yet, but I’m hoping to get your perspective on all of this.
“You talk about something that is critical to the National Football League, and that’s innovation. The National Football League has had great success, but to continue that success, we have to innovate everything we do. That means the game of football, that means the experience for our fans in the stadium, it means the experience for our fans at home. One of the great things about technology is it has made the game greater for our fans. They have new ways of experiencing the game of football. I think one of the greatest innovations in television history, frankly, is the RedZone. It’s an extraordinary product that is now going to be available at some point on iPads and on your telephone. That’s a great thing for fans. There has never been a better time to be a fan of the NFL because you can get football, more football, to so many other platforms. But it also creates challenges. The experience at home on a high-definition television with super slow-mo and that great technology, that makes that experience wonderful. We’re also trying to get people to come into our stadiums and enjoy the game in the stadiums. So we have to put money into stadiums to make sure that the digital opportunities that you’re talking about are available to fans in the stadium so that experience can compete against the experience at home. That’s a challenge for us going forward. I think it’s a challenge for all the sports. But we can meet that challenge because we have a great product. The game is wonderful. Whether you’re in the stadium or you’re at home, we want to make that experience wonderful for everybody. This is why I’m so optimistic about the future of the NFL. All these devices are going to just allow people to engage with the NFL more deeply. When that happens, there are more fans, the game continues to grow and the popularity of the game continues to grow. That’s a great thing for all of us.”
When you say that there will not be free agency on March 4th without a new labor deal, aren’t you essentially saying there will be a lockout if there isn’t a deal by March 4th? If not how else would free agency be delayed?
“If I misspoke, I apologize, but I said if we are not successful by March 4th, a number of things will happen. When that happens, one of them would be that there wouldn’t be free agency. There are close to 500 players that would qualify for free agency who won’t be free agents. There are enough incentives for all of us to get to the table and get this deal done right.”
Do you think it is time for the Rooney Rule to be tweaked? It has done, obviously some good things but you had some assistants complaining about the interviews. Owners knowing who they want to hire and some assistants will play the role as the good soldier to just come in maybe for rewards and later on. Do you think it is time to re-look at it?
“Anything can be improved. I think that the Rooney Rule has been extraordinarily successful. It has made significant changes, not just in the NFL, and I said this to the Fritz Pollard Alliance last night. It has made the NFL better. We have had better people that have been exposed, given an opportunity, and succeeded in the game of football because they have considered a diverse slate of candidates. I think that is great for the game of football. The Rooney Rule has gone beyond the game of football. We get calls frequently from other industries, saying, ‘Can we adopt the Rooney Rule? Would you allow us to use the Rooney Rule in our industry because it has had a great impact?’ I think you can tweak anything. I think you can improve anything and we will continue to look at that and see what we can do. I think just two years ago we extended it beyond just coaching to the top football personnel. We use it in the league office for every one of our positions. We do not make a hire in the league office without considering a diverse slate of candidates. I think that is the right thing to do and the best thing to do. We will always look to improve.”
Dallas, Texas — February 4, 2011
Opening Statement:
“Good morning. Welcome to Super Bowl XLV. We are all thrilled to be here in North Texas. We are concluding one of the greatest seasons in the history of the NFL. It will always go down, at least until next year, as the most watched season in the history of the NFL. We thank our fans and all of the people who supported us in this great season. It was really one of the more competitive seasons we’ve had, just from a reflection of the fans reaction to this season. We had great performances, both individual and by teams. And we want to congratulate the two teams that have risen above all of it: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. Congratulations to both organizations. It just sounds like football. Packers. Steelers. This is what has the whole country excited about this weekend and this year’s Super Bowl. When you think of the great history, the great traditions that come from both of these organizations, and recognize that both of them are small markets, it says a lot about what is unique about the National Football League – that competitiveness, that hope that you can always win. I know that it is going to lead to a great Super Bowl here in North Texas.
“Certainly, we’ve had a winter to remember. Some may say to forget. It’s happened here in North Texas this week but it hasn’t dimmed any enthusiasm of the NFL or the people here in this community. We are so grateful for the tremendous work that this community has done to put on an absolutely fantastic Super Bowl week. We know that we are going to have a great weekend, but we want to thank the leadership here in this community for all they have done. All of the public officials who have been focused, prepared for all outcomes. You can see it in the way they are dealing with the issues. This storm is approaching and attacking most of our country, and here in North Texas we are prepared and all of our events are going on as scheduled, and we are grateful to all of them. That includes Jerry Jones, and his family of course, who have been working tirelessly to make this a great event, and Bill Lively, the head of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee. To you and your organization, an extraordinary job. I know we have a few days left, but we are grateful for all of the work you’ve done to make this a great weekend. And of course the two co-chairpersons: Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. Your leadership is greatly appreciated by us and we know it is going to be a great week.
“Like any organization, we have our challenges and our challenges are ahead of us and we are focused on that. We believe in better and we will do better and we will improve. We are not satisfied where we are, but I promise you we are going to work hard to be better in everything we do. This is your press conference so I’m going to take your questions, but before we move forward, there is an individual who we wanted to recognize from the Fort Worth area: Dan Jenkins, who I understand couldn’t be here this morning, having difficulty getting out of his home, but I wanted to acknowledge and recognize him for what he’s done for your industry as well as our industry. You mean so much to the National Football League, and Dan Jenkins epitomizes that. His work over the years has made a huge difference in pro football and the National Football League, and we want to recognize him. I don’t believe his daughter Sally is here. I hear she is helping to get Dan over here, but in any case, ‘thank you’ to both of them.
“Okay, I think Barry Wilner, you are up first.”
Roger, this week in the Associated Press poll, [it] found that 27 percent of the respondents, only 27 percent, favor an 18-game regular season schedule and when asked if they are NFL fans, only 18 percent say they strongly favor that. Dan Rooney’s also said he sees no reason to go to an 18-game schedule. My question is: How much feedback have you gotten from owners about the 18-game schedule and how much feedback have you gotten from the fans and the public about an 18-game schedule?
“We started this with the fans. The fans have clearly stated that they don’t like the quality of our preseason. As you know, our structure is a 20-game format. We have four preseason games and 16 regular-season games. Repeatedly, the fans have said the quality of the preseason doesn’t meet NFL standards. That is one of the basis on which we started to look at the 18-and-two concept, by taking two of those low quality, non-competitive games and turn those into quality, competitive games that the fans want to see; they want to support. I talk to fans all the time. I get that feedback from them, including season-ticket holders who are the ones who are going to those preseason games and paying for those preseason games. I feel an obligation to make sure we are doing the best we can to present the best football, and that includes [asking] how do we make the preseason as effective as possible and the regular season as effective as possible, and I believe we are on the right track to get that done.”
With the possibility or probability of a lockout, what is your message to Indianapolis with the Super Bowl next year, whether it will be impacted and if it is, is there a Plan B? Do they go to the next in line, the end of line? What happens to that Super Bowl?
“The message to our friends in Indianapolis is to continue their planning. We believe we are going to be playing there in the Super Bowl, and we believe it is going to be a great community for us to be in. It takes a lot of work as you know to have these events and I’m confident that all that planning will be done in the best possible way. Our focus is on trying to get an agreement done and get it done without any disruption, whether it be to the Super Bowl, or the preseason or regular season. We want to get this deal done in the next few weeks. That’s where our focus is, Mike.”
You touched on this a little bit in your opening marks, but if I could get you to expand on it a little. We know of the ice storm in Atlanta and how the Super Bowl has never gone back there. This is obviously the biggest stadium in the NFL, and it’s going to be a financial windfall for the NFL. Will the weather at all, even though you don’t have a vote on this, will the weather at all affect future bids for Dallas/Ft. Worth?
“You know there are a number of factors that our owners take into consideration when they make the decision of where to have the Super Bowl. They each have their priorities. I think the stadium is a priority that is consistent across all 32 clubs, because quite frankly that’s our stage. You are going to be playing – we’re going to be playing, and you’re going to be seeing the Super Bowl from one of the great stadiums in the world. I think that will demonstrate the importance of having great facilities for all of our games, including the Super Bowl. And the fact that it can handle the weather by closing the roof is a benefit in this case. As I say, I think this community has done an extraordinary job under some very difficult circumstances that are across this country today. There are very few communities anywhere right now who have not been impacted by this storm. This community has pulled together and done an extraordinary job and my hat’s off to them.”
The position of the ownership in the labor dispute seems to be that since the 2006 season the players have gotten too great a share of revenues. Yesterday DeMaurice Smith said, I quote, ‘The undeniable fact is the share of all revenues that has gone to all players has gone down since the 2006 deal.’ How do you explain the difference in those two sets of facts?
“I think one is a fact and one isn’t. In fact, if you want to deal with facts, the president of the union just in the last week said that the players got a great deal in 2006, and that clearly is indicating that the pendulum has shifted too far in one direction. And in any agreement, you want to have a fair agreement. You want to make sure that it’s fair to the clubs. You want to make sure it’s fair to the players, but allow our great game to grow. Since 2006, we have not built a new stadium, and that is an issue for us. You will point to Dallas. You will point to New York. You’ll point to the renovations in Kansas City, but those were all in the ground or on their way. This agreement needs to be addressed so we can make the kinds of investments that grow this game and make it great for our fans.”
You said you talked to two dozen non-Steeler players and none of them supported (Ben) Roethlisberger. Mike Tomlin said, ‘Why would you expect non-Steeler players to support him.’ What was the point of those conversations with those non-Steeler players?
“The context of that entire discussion, as you know, Sports Illustrated did a profile piece and in the context of that Peter King was asking, ‘How do you go about making these decisions’ and I said, ‘You talk to a lot of people.’ You try to get input, and one of the most important inputs for me is players. How do players perceive this? How does it reflect on players as a group? What should be done? I am not taking a vote. I’m not allowing them to make decisions on what the discipline is against other players. I am well aware of that issue, but I do believe in seeking out input to try to make a fair decision that considers all aspects, and that’s what we were trying to do.”
You said that Bill Belichick deceived you. Did you follow up on that or just let it pass?
“No, I didn’t do anything further with that.”
If there is not a new labor deal by March 4, or substantial progress toward one that leads to that deadline being pushed back, will the owners lock out the players? And does the owners decision on a lock out depend, in any way, on whether the union decertifies or not?
“There were a lot of questions in there, Mark (Maske). I guess the first one is that we have not made any determinations of what will happen on March 4th. The ownership is completely focused on getting an agreement that works and is fair to the players and the clubs. That’s their focus right now. They are prepared for every outcome, as they should be. That is only smart negotiations, and I assume the union is doing the same. We have to focus on making sure we get an agreement that works for everyone. At that point in time, if we are not successful in getting an agreement, I’m sure a lot of steps are going to be taken, which is why the window of opportunity is in the next few weeks to get an agreement that works for everybody.”
If it’s not a good value for the fans and it could threaten players’ welfare over time, why not be a little fan friendly and maybe knock down the prices for the two preseason games, each home game? Don’t make them regular season prices and they’ll get their bang for their buck and the players will stay healthier:
“I think the first thing you started off with, I believe you said, ‘If it’s not good value for the fans.’ I would disagree. I think fans, when they understand that you are going to take two preseason games and turn them into regular season games, they do see value in that. They do see the fact that you are improving the quality of what they are paying for. That’s what we are trying to do, increase that value. Everybody - everybody, including people in this room - has been impacted by the economy, and we are trying to find out how do we create more value in everything we offer our fans. Whether it be new stadiums, whether it be on television, whether it be on our merchandise that we offer, you have to create value in this environment. We look at every aspect of that. We have looked at every alternative that you’ve mentioned there, but what you also want to do, is you want to continue to grow the pie. That’s good for everybody. It’s good for the game, it’s good for the players and it’s good for the clubs, so you keep looking for ways in which you can grow revenue, grow the pie, that’s good for everybody.”
On the CBA front, if this gets past March 3, March 4, and we get into some kind of a work stoppage, the team and the players make most of their money from August or September through the rest of the season. Why would we expect there to be a deal done any time before August?
“David, if we’re unsuccessful in getting an agreement by March 4, I expect that the uncertainty will continue, which will be bad for our partners. It will be bad for the players, it will be bad for the clubs. That uncertainty will lead to a reduction, potentially, in revenue, and, when that revenue decreases, there will be less for us to share. That will just make it harder to make an agreement. So, what we have to do is remove the uncertainty. A series of things will happen in March if we’re not successful. There will not be free agency, which will impact on the players. There will be a number of things that I’m sure both sides will consider, that, strategically, I believe will move us away from the negotiating table rather than toward the negotiating table. I have frequently said, and I will be as clear as I can on this, this will get resolved at the negotiating table. All of the other public relations, litigation strategies, congressional strategies, this is about a negotiation. We have to address the issues and find solutions.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t expire for another month, and already teams like the Chiefs and the Jets seem to be using the possibility of a lockout as an excuse to reduce their work staffs. The Chiefs recently let go 11 people, including three employees that had been with the organization for a combined 72 years. Do you have a problem with any of this, and are you concerned with how it makes a league that is producing record revenues look when it lets paycheck-to-paycheck people go like this?
“I don’t think anyone is using anything as an excuse, Paul. When you make decisions on personnel – and I’ve had to make them in our organization two years ago, when we were going through some difficult times in the economy – there are still difficult economic challenges out there. All of our clubs, and the league, and every other business, including businesses that you all are associated with, have to make very tough decisions in this kind of environment. When you’re dealing with employees and their future, there is nothing harder to do. But the reality is, this is a tough environment out there. We want to make sure that we are making smart decisions for our employees, our players, our clubs, for the long term, and make sure that we can continue to have a successful product. No one likes to see our employees let go, Paul. It’s a very, very difficult thing.”
Jerry Jones said that he thinks that urgency is necessary to get a deal done in this type of situation. DeMaurice Smith followed that up yesterday, saying he views March 4 as a hard deadline. Do you see it that way and do you sense the proper sense of urgency is out there on both sides right now to get something done that’s fair on both sides?
“I frequently said that I think that March 4 is a very critical date, because, again, a lot of different strategies will take place if we’re not successful in getting an agreement by that time. We need to have intensive, round-the-clock negotiations to address the issues and find solutions. If we’re committed to doing that, I think we can be successful. But we have to demonstrate that commitment and get to work.”
Do you feel that sense of urgency is there now, or do you still need to find it?
“I can assure you that I have that sense of urgency, and I believe that both sides do. And I’m glad to hear you say that DeMaurice (Smith) said that yesterday.”
In terms of player safety, has there been much discussion about players wearing all of the equipment that is available, specifically leg pads and mouthpieces, and how much research is being done on helmets?
“There’s a tremendous amount of research being done on helmets. We shared all of that information with our players prior to the start of this season, and we will do more work on that through our Head, Neck and Spine Committee this offseason and share all of that with our players as we get into the 2011 season. As it relates to pads, as you know, we proposed to the union last spring that we would require players to wear the thigh pads, the knee pads, and potentially the hip pads. They wanted to do some work, they wanted to do some studies along with us. We did that this season, and we believe that those should be implemented and that they should be required for all players to wear at least the hip and knee pads. We’ll be addressing that this offseason, but I expect that will happen for the 2011 season.”
Given the rate of injuries we’re seeing during the regular season, how is the push for an 18-game schedule consistent with the concern you all express for the long and short term health of the players?
“Tom, the number one thing here is we are still staying within our 20-game format. We are not playing 22 games, which is permitted in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement by the way. We are taking the 20 games that we are looking at and we are proposing and working with the union and figuring out the best way to do that, and if we can’t do it right, we won’t do it. But consistent with the safety issues, you always have to keep safety as a priority, under any format. Injuries occur in preseason games, including the four preseason games, so you have to try to look to see what you can do in the offseason. We’ve talked very extensively about - do you alter the OTA structure and what happens within the OTA structure? Do you alter the training camp period? Do we need extensive training camp periods, and how much contact should occur? What happens in the regular season? Do we really need to have players practicing in pads at some points during the season? I think all of those things have been addressed by the ownership for the last couple of years. Our committees have been focused on this. John Madden and Ronnie Lott and the safety committee are looking at these issues. All of this is going to help us make better decisions and the right decision to make the game as safe as possible.”
Just a follow up on the 18-game schedule. From the standpoint of the owners and the League, is the 18-game regular-season schedule, does it have to be in the next CBA? In other words, is it a deal breaker?
“Sal, there are no deal breakers. We need to sit down and have a healthy negotiation about how we address the issues that we have. There are many different ways of addressing the issues that we have, but the only way to do that is by sitting down and making sure everyone understands what those challenges are and addressing them in an appropriate fashion. So in negotiations, there’s give and take and that’s how you get to an agreement that makes the game better. That’s our entire focus. How do we make the game better? The status quo is not acceptable. We have to address these issues going forward.”
Earlier this week Anschutz Entertainment Group announced a 30-year, $700 million naming rights deal with Farmer’s Insurance. Keeping in mind as you mentioned there have been no stadium started since 2006, can you look ahead and tell me what a naming rights’ deal, which would be the largest in history, would mean to bringing football back to Los Angeles, and is this a game changer?
“Well Sam, I think it’s obviously a positive development because it’s an important revenue stream, but even with that positive development the financing of the stadium in Los Angeles is still a very difficult proposition. We have to get the Collective Bargaining Agreement addressed in such a way as to make it so that it is a smart investment that that can be financed so that we can create the kind of economic activity in Los Angeles that I believe can happen if we’re successful, whether it be in downtown or out in the City of Industry. There are some great opportunities for us to continue to grow the game, but we have to recognize that cost is associated with that and address it in a way that incentivizes everyone to make those kind of investments. I think this is a positive thing for the league, for the players, for the game, and for, most importantly, our fans in Southern California.”
What I wanted to do is sort of enlighten you with what he said about the equipment, and I wanted to ask you, couldn’t you as the Commissioner have someone do like they do in colleges where the umpire goes and makes sure that all of this equipment starting with the helmet down to the kneepads, the hip pads, and the shoulder pads, all of these things be on the players, all of the players that play for the National Football League. This is not a track meet, and a lot of these guys are not wearing their pads, and I’ve known some of them to have their legs hurt for the rest of their life. Once you injure yourself arthritis comes and I was hoping you could have someone like the umpire come in and make sure that he has to wear certain pads from his head down to his knees.
“It is something that we’re very focused on. We actually do have personnel at every game making sure that the uniform is properly worn, but what has been the focus is those pads are not required. We think they should be required. We think that the players are safer having those pads, so that’s why we believe we need to make them mandatory. I think anytime you have players, you’re going to have the issue of safety vs. performance. We believe they can perform with the new technology that’s out there with respect to thigh pads and kneepads at the same level. We want them to be safe. We also want them to perform well, but we think you can do both, and safety should be the number one priority.”
With the weather problems here in Dallas struggling to keep up with the snow – looking into the 2014, you have an outdoor Super Bowl in New York – are there any concerns moving forward? Any lessons to be learned from this? Especially any concerns that would happen on game day in the event of a storm?
“The most important lesson is that you have to be prepared for everything. North Texas was prepared if this happened. In New York, not only are they prepared, they’re probably planning on this type of weather. The fact is they are going to be prepared for this. It’s going to be a fantastic Super Bowl here and I also think it’s going to be a fantastic event in New York.”
(from Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco) You represent 32 NFL owners and right now I’m standing here representing over 1800 NFL players. We want to know one thing, seriously. I don’t want the politically correct answer as far as it will be done in a week. Do you know how far away we are from getting a deal realistically done? What is the real time-table for us really getting it done? Because I see a lot of things being prepared on your guys’ end – you guys are somewhat preparing for a lockout.
“As I said before, both sides are going to be prepared for every outcome. The commitment on behalf of the ownership is to get an agreement. We will get an agreement. That is only going to happen when there are some intensive negotiations between your union and the owners. That has to take place now. This is the window of opportunity to get this done right. Otherwise, uncertainty is going to seep into all of our operations and make it harder for everybody to reach that agreement. Right now, I would say, let’s get to work and let’s get an agreement that works for everybody.”
This weather here in Dallas has been unexpected, but we are two years away from the New Meadowlands. You praised how well Dallas has handled everything and hosted the Super Bowl. Would you be open to cold-weather cities based on how things have gone here from your perspective? Also, with the New Meadowlands being outdoors and hosting a Super Bowl in two years?
“We have and we are. We’re going to Indianapolis next year. I need to emphasize again, this is a storm that is impacting most of our country. There are very few places that aren’t dealing with the after effects of this storm. It’s an extraordinarily rare storm. It’s something that this community has responded well to. When we chose to play in climates where this is more likely to happen, they are very capable of dealing with these types of issues and we have been very comfortable playing there. We’ve played in Detroit. We’ve played in Minnesota. We’ll be playing in Indianapolis next year. I think the people in those communities recognize the preparation that is necessary, and we’ll be in that position.”
I understand the CBA is important, but Michael Vick is an important player to the fans in Philadelphia. How do you feel about his progress, now that you’ve seen him back in the league for a couple of years? How concerned were you that initially he was a part of another party that was scheduled here in Dallas for the Super Bowl?
“I spoke to Michael three times in the last two weeks about his schedule here – what he’d be doing. He has said that on numerous occasions people have been using his name about being involved in some type of party, but that he had no intention of participating in that. I am extremely proud of what Michael has done. He has taken his responsibility seriously. He has made a commitment to himself to make better decisions. He has committed to doing the right thing going forward. I think that is a great thing. We’re looking for success stories. We’re not looking for players to fail. This is a young man who made horrific mistakes. He dealt with them. He paid a very significant price, and now he is doing the right thing. I support him on that and I want to make sure he doesn’t put himself in a position where he is going to make bad decisions or bad things can happen around him. He takes that seriously also. I am frequently in contact with Michael. I want to see him continue to succeed off the field as much as on the field.”
The NFL has come out and said that teams will be allowed to start franchising players on March 10. The union said yesterday that it will challenge those franchise tags. How will you reconcile that, and are you expecting a court battle after February 10 on the franchise issue?
“I assume if the union does not believe that the franchise tag can be applied then they will challenge that through the normal process, and that will go through the normal process and be determined.”
There seems to be a massive disconnect between the owners and labor, and trust seems to not exist or at least exist in a very scant amount. Why should fans trust either side when it’s looked at as billionaires arguing with millionaires?
“I think at this point, what I hear from fans is that they just want football, and the fans aren’t forgotten here. We want to bring more football – better football – to our fans. And that’s the focus I think both sides have to keep their attention on because we need to get an agreement that works for everybody, that’s fair to everybody, but also continue the great game that we have for our fans. I think they care about just getting an agreement. They don’t care about the details. They just want to make sure that their football is going to appear on Sundays and Mondays and Thursdays. They want to make sure they have the great game they love. That’s our responsibility, and I don’t think anyone is going to feel sorry for any one of us, including yours truly, if we’re not successful at doing that.”
A Steelers player on Tuesday at Media Day said that his ultimate scenario for Sunday would be to see you have to hand the MVP trophy to either James Harrison or Ben Roethlisberger and have to “eat humble pie like you never have before.” How would you feel about having to give that trophy to them? And to answer an opinion that has been voiced on a number of occasions at Pittsburgh, a lot of Pittsburgh fans are saying it’s a bigger deal to see you have to do that than even beat the Packers – that beating you is a bigger deal than beating the Packers.
“I know Steelers fans; I don’t buy that. Listen, I would be happy – if the Pittsburgh Steelers win, I would be more than happy to hand the MVP trophy off to Ben Roethlisberger or James Harrison. They’ve had extraordinary years, and I think it’s great for the game of football. I think it’s great for them as individuals and I hope they will have terrific games on Sunday. I can’t root for anybody, but whoever gets up to that stage, I’ll be proud to hand the trophy off to, I promise you that.”
When you came up here today, you talked about how the NFL had its most-watched season and you hoped for bigger, better things next year. On a personal level and looking at the CBA and everything it involves, do you reach out to anybody like a Paul Tagliabue in any type of situations? And how much do you want to avoid the blemish on your record? I know when Paul left it was a big boost to him to leave the NFL without that void and working stoppage. For you on a personal level, what do you think about that?
“As I said earlier when we were talking about it, I believe you need to talk to a lot of people in this job. You represent a lot of constituents and a lot of perspectives: the fans, the clubs, the players, our business partners. You need to understand what’s happening out there and you need to listen. The number one thing we need to do is listen to one another and understand the issues and figure out how to address them. I am not worried about legacies or how I am going to be perceived; I’m worried about doing the right thing for this game, for our fans, and for the long term. This isn’t about the next three months; this is about the next 10 years. This is about our game and making sure we get an agreement in place that is going to ensure the success of our game going forward.”
Given San Diego’s inability to make any progress on a stadium and the fact that 90 miles up north you have progress – at least you have progress with AEG and Farmers Insurance. Is there any reason to believe the Chargers are not headed for a move to L.A. and is it more important for the NFL to have a team in Los Angeles than keep a team in San Diego?
“The second part of your question, we want to keep our teams where they are. The Chargers have been committed to getting a solution in their stadium in San Diego for, I believe, well over eight years now. They’ve been working on different alternatives. They’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time and resources to try and develop those solutions and they still continue to this day to do that. They want to be in San Diego. They want the Chargers to be in San Diego, and so does the NFL. But, we need to find a solution to the stadium issue in San Diego.”
You said earlier today that in negotiations there has to be give and take. What are the owners going to give in this negotiation? Jeff Pash told reporters earlier this week that you made concessions. Did you make any concessions on the economic issues? And yesterday Kevin Mawae said you have to open your books to get this deal done, for them to take this kind of pay cut. Are you willing to move on those issues?
“Well Liz, you’ve raised several issues in there. We have to get beyond this negotiating ploy of opening the books, because that’s all it is. The players have more than sufficient information to understand why the economics of this deal do not work. They recognized that 12 months ago when I was sitting at the table and they said, ‘We recognize the clubs are being squeezed.’ Kevin Mawae, himself, said just last week, ‘It’s been a great deal in 2006 for the players.’ They recognize why the economics aren’t working. It doesn’t pay us any service to sit here and talk about where they give and take. We’re not going to negotiate this at a press conference, but I can assure you that the owners are willing to have a give and take and I believe the players are willing to have a give and take to find solutions that work.”
A few Steelers players have been somewhat critical of the NFL recently in their administration of discipline regarding helmet-to-helmet hits, and specifically some of the ambiguity regarding that administration. What will the NFL do in the future to perhaps provide some clarity for teams?
“As commissioner, I have to take ultimate responsibility for making sure that the integrity of the game and the safety of our game are going to be implemented in a consistent and fair way. That’s my responsibility. We will continue to work with the Competition Committee. We will continue to work with the players who contribute into the Competition Committee, their input, in trying to help the players, the coaches, all of our clubs and the general public understand the techniques that we are looking to eliminate from the game, but also the techniques that we think should be used. This has been discussed every offseason by our Competition Committee and our football people, and the rules are determined by 32 clubs. There were no rule changes this year in the season. It was made in the offseason and they were made by the collective 32. The rules apply to 32 teams and every player in the league, no exceptions. I’m the commissioner for the entire league, for 32 teams. Everyone’s going to play by the same rules. We will work harder to make sure they understand the appropriate techniques, and I think people have adjusted. If you look at the game this year, they adjusted. The players adjusted, the teams adjusted and the game of football was extraordinary, and it was safer.”
If you do choose to lower your salary to a dollar, do you have a particular part-time job in mind to make ends meet? And secondly, do you worry about a backlash from the fans towards the popularity of the game, or do you feel like it’s more immune from that?
“No, I do not think we’re immune from that. I have said repeatedly, the fans want football. If we are not successful in reaching an agreement, that will be toward the commissioner, towards the clubs, towards the players, everybody involved. That’s why I think collectively, we have to work and make a commitment to get something done that makes sense. I don’t want my salary to go to a dollar. My wife doesn’t want my salary to go to a dollar. But the reality of it is, it’s a collective sacrifice. It’s a bad outcome if we’re not able to reach that agreement, and it should affect everybody in the league, including yours truly. We have to make sure we work as hard as we can to avoid it and get something done as quickly as possible.”
Can you talk about what it means for the League to have two storied franchises be playing in Super Bowl XLV and two fan bases that travel like they do?
“Well, that is a refreshing question. When you look at this matchup, and I said it earlier, you say ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’ and ‘Green Bay Packers,’ that’s football. There’s no doubt about it, that’s football. These great organizations who have had so much success in the past, it represents the traditions of our game. The fans are tremendous in both of these communities. I lived in western Pennsylvania for five years and those fans, there aren’t any better fans than Steeler fans. Then you look at the Packer fans and they’re the same way. Tremendous passion, they support their team through thick and thin, and it means a lot to these communities. And they’re both national teams. This isn’t just about fans in western Pennsylvania or in Wisconsin, they have national followings, and I think that’s what’s so exciting for this country and our world, to look at this game and say, ‘Wow, that’s real football.’ This is fun. This is celebrating the game that I love and we all love and I think it’s going to be a terrific night.”
What are some of the innovations that you envision with respect to the NFL’s digital media and overall technology future? For instance, iPads, graphs being used during games to diagram plays and iPads used in-game by team personnel to receive X-ray results reviewing. For ownership, perhaps some password-protected apps for showing and sending confidential league business information and perhaps for fans, the ability to purchase special helmets allowing them to listen to quarterback huddle plays while the quarterback is talking. I realize all of this would require delicate legal work by your in-house attorneys and cooperation from business partners. I haven’t had a chance to talk to your Game Operations Chief Ray Anderson or Digital Media Chief Brian Rolapp yet, but I’m hoping to get your perspective on all of this.
“You talk about something that is critical to the National Football League, and that’s innovation. The National Football League has had great success, but to continue that success, we have to innovate everything we do. That means the game of football, that means the experience for our fans in the stadium, it means the experience for our fans at home. One of the great things about technology is it has made the game greater for our fans. They have new ways of experiencing the game of football. I think one of the greatest innovations in television history, frankly, is the RedZone. It’s an extraordinary product that is now going to be available at some point on iPads and on your telephone. That’s a great thing for fans. There has never been a better time to be a fan of the NFL because you can get football, more football, to so many other platforms. But it also creates challenges. The experience at home on a high-definition television with super slow-mo and that great technology, that makes that experience wonderful. We’re also trying to get people to come into our stadiums and enjoy the game in the stadiums. So we have to put money into stadiums to make sure that the digital opportunities that you’re talking about are available to fans in the stadium so that experience can compete against the experience at home. That’s a challenge for us going forward. I think it’s a challenge for all the sports. But we can meet that challenge because we have a great product. The game is wonderful. Whether you’re in the stadium or you’re at home, we want to make that experience wonderful for everybody. This is why I’m so optimistic about the future of the NFL. All these devices are going to just allow people to engage with the NFL more deeply. When that happens, there are more fans, the game continues to grow and the popularity of the game continues to grow. That’s a great thing for all of us.”
When you say that there will not be free agency on March 4th without a new labor deal, aren’t you essentially saying there will be a lockout if there isn’t a deal by March 4th? If not how else would free agency be delayed?
“If I misspoke, I apologize, but I said if we are not successful by March 4th, a number of things will happen. When that happens, one of them would be that there wouldn’t be free agency. There are close to 500 players that would qualify for free agency who won’t be free agents. There are enough incentives for all of us to get to the table and get this deal done right.”
Do you think it is time for the Rooney Rule to be tweaked? It has done, obviously some good things but you had some assistants complaining about the interviews. Owners knowing who they want to hire and some assistants will play the role as the good soldier to just come in maybe for rewards and later on. Do you think it is time to re-look at it?
“Anything can be improved. I think that the Rooney Rule has been extraordinarily successful. It has made significant changes, not just in the NFL, and I said this to the Fritz Pollard Alliance last night. It has made the NFL better. We have had better people that have been exposed, given an opportunity, and succeeded in the game of football because they have considered a diverse slate of candidates. I think that is great for the game of football. The Rooney Rule has gone beyond the game of football. We get calls frequently from other industries, saying, ‘Can we adopt the Rooney Rule? Would you allow us to use the Rooney Rule in our industry because it has had a great impact?’ I think you can tweak anything. I think you can improve anything and we will continue to look at that and see what we can do. I think just two years ago we extended it beyond just coaching to the top football personnel. We use it in the league office for every one of our positions. We do not make a hire in the league office without considering a diverse slate of candidates. I think that is the right thing to do and the best thing to do. We will always look to improve.”
miércoles, 2 de febrero de 2011
PITTSBURGH STEELERS QUARTERBACK BEN ROETHLISBERGER - Ingles
Super Bowl XLV- Tuesday, February 1, 2011
(on his attitude about today) “Taking it in stride, enjoying the opportunity to film all you guys and play in another Super Bowl because you never know when it’s going to be your last one.”
(on his pre-game rituals) “I have a lot of them. One that everybody can see is that before the game I go around and shake everybody on my team’s hand including the coach, coach Tomlin. So you can see that in the pregame.”
(on why he picked number 7) “John Elway. One of my favorites growing up. I had a lot of favorites but I liked the number and I liked him and the way that he played the game.”
(on if he wins Sunday he’ll have more Super Bowl wins than Elway) “Wow. He’s still the greatest, he’s still one of the greatest to play the game.”
(on finding peace) “If you have it and you know it, then it’s an easy thing to talk about. I think it starts with my faith and I think when you have an understanding with what you want to do in life and the bigger pictures at times, which is life, family, faith, I think that’s the peace that I’m talking about.”
(on if he thought it was impossible to make it to Dallas) “I think that anything is possible if you believe in it and work hard enough.”
(on if he is a different person than a year ago) “I think you always go through changes in life. I’m not going to keep hitting this over and over that it’s a reflective question because it’s not time to reflect because really it’s about this game. When you’re faced with challenges in life you find ways to try to overcome them. Just like when there are doubters and naysayers that challenged me in a football sense, it challenges me to rise above. So in the same way as me being a better person, people saying ‘you can’t do it’, it makes me want to rise to the occasion and be the best I can be.”
(on his appreciation for the Super Bowl) “Yes and no, but it’s the Super Bowl. If you don’t have an appreciation for this regardless of what’s going on in your life, something is wrong with you. I’m sure every player here and all you people out there when you were kids and you played football, you wanted to play in the Super Bowl. So to have that opportunity is awesome.”
(on if he thinks he is a good guy) “I think so.”
(on the Peter King retraction) “Well I got kind of hit with that one yesterday, that question. I had no idea where it came from or any of that stuff so I kind of was unaware of anything. So obviously it got built up real big yesterday. I don’t really read a lot or any newspapers or magazine articles or watch too much TV sports things, so I don’t get to see a lot of those things so a lot of the things I hear are either from my agent, the media people, things like that. I’ve heard a lot of the different things and how they have transpired.”
(on how he wants to be perceived) “I think there are a lot of ways. I think that you’re always taught, people ask you ‘what do you want on your obituary, your tombstone?’ And I think, you know just to sit there and somebody to say that he’s a good person, a God-fearing person that was loyal to his family and put family first, family and God first and enjoyed the way that he played the game of football, enjoyed football and just lived every day like it was his last.”
(on if he is perceived that way) “I don’t know, I think that’s probably a question, that I know people ask, that people go out and ask people. I just try to go out and enjoy life and do the best I can to be the best person I can be, the best son, and Christian and everything like that.”
(on predicting Aaron Rodgers would be good) “I’m pretty good aren’t I? I might have a gig at ESPN as an analyst or something like that after that right? No, I’ve known it. I’ve always known that he’s a great player, a great person, a great quarterback. He has all the tools and the intangibles and the things that you can’t coach. He has football sense, football awareness, the quick release, the athleticism, he can throw on the run, he can make all of the throws. It’s not just sitting in the pocket and being coached to throw this particular way. When a rush comes, you key up, you have to drop your elbow sometimes and throw sidearm. You have to be able to throw going to your left or your right, he can do it all.”
(on being in the Brady, Bradshaw class) “That’s unbelievable company. I don’t put myself there, I think they are too good. I hate sitting there answering those questions because it’s assuming we win you know? I hope we win, I’m going to do everything I can to win it, you just never know. That’s why I don’t want to think about that yet. Maybe that’s a good question if we win and I’m sitting at the podium.”
(on playing football again) “I love playing football. I love doing it, I love being around these guys and I wanted to try to get to this stage for those guys, for the Rooney’s, for the fans. For me the easy part was playing football.”
(on the team without him) “They’re a great football team, they had some great quarterback play in Charlie [Batch] and Dennis [Dixon] and Byron [Leftwich]. I knew that they were in great hands. Those are great players and great quarterbacks.”
(on the hardest part of it all) “You guys, you know what, every day you wake up there’s always challenges that face you and it’s how can you start your day and go throughout your day with the challenges that face you, whatever it is. Everyone has different challenges, whether it’s illness, family issues, whatever it is. Every day challenges are always the hard thing.”
(on the Steelers fans) “Great, the Pittsburgh fans are awesome.”
(on the fan support) “Obviously you see them everywhere we go. I always say that Pittsburgh fans are the best fans in all of sport. I think that’s what this game, why it’s going to be so awesome because Packer fans, I know they travel and I know their passion about their Packers. That’s why I think this is the ultimate game and the ultimate two teams playing in it.”
(on cheeseheads versus terrible towels) “That’s tough, I’m going to have to go with the towel, Myron Cope’s towel, there’s something about it.”
(on winning the media award by Pittsburgh media) “It meant a lot to me. I talk to those guys and see them a lot, obviously the Pittsburgh local media. I wasn’t always the nicest guy to them and I can admit that but I know that they’re doing their job. It’s nothing, I can’t take things personal that they say and write. I just wanted them to know that I apologize to them for ever being difficult to work with and trying to be better to work with and I think that that, I hope that shows that I have been better this year to work with and easier to work with. That award really meant a lot to me.”
(on Tim Tebow) “I think he’s a good quarterback. I think that he worked really hard at trying to work on that, his release or throwing motion or whatever it was. Great athlete obviously, so it’s just a matter of can he find that fine line between being an athlete and a quarterback, I think.”
(on his quarterback style) “I just play the game the way that I know how. It’s hard to really, I don’t know why I do it the way that I do it. I just do it, truthfully.”
(on playing hurt) “Kind of a lot of, I think it’s a couple things. Resilience, how can you bounce back from an interception, from a bad game, things like that. Just being out there, wanting to be out there for your guys. You always hear people say ‘the difference between being injured and hurt’. If you’re hurt, are you still out there playing? Are you out there with your guys and fighting to the end? I think that’s part of toughness and obviously, like I said, being mentally tough is a big one.”
(on winning a Super Bowl as a QB) “It depends on if you played as bad as I played the first time. It’s an awesome thing. Like I said, everyone dreams about it as a kid, especially if you’re a quarterback. To have the opportunity to go to one and then to win it is just an unbelievably awesome thing.”
(on being close with his teammates) “I’m very close with a lot of the guys. One of my best friends [Brett Keisel] is sitting right over there next to me. There was a big group of guys I always had their support, real close, and there was just a couple that I maybe wasn’t as close to as I wanted to be and needed to be and really worked hard to be closer with and be a better teammate with.”
(on what worries him about the Packers) “I don’t know if there’s one concern, there’s a lot of them. But I think it starts with, obviously they have a great quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, but for me it’s probably going to be Clay Matthews and some of those guys on defense who are really, really good players.”
(on escaping danger in the pocket) “I don’t know to tell you the truth. I don’t know where a lot of things I do came from. I just think it’s playing the game. It’s not like, obviously you do drills where you practice things like that. A lot of things I think it’s just having that you know, they call it the clock, the clock that goes off in your head that says, ‘it’s time to get out of here’, get out of the pocket, run, scramble, do what you got to do.”
(on Terry Hoeppner’s impact) “A big impact. He was a fatherly figure to me. The hardest part about that is that like he would be here, I wish he could be here for me and with me and I know he’s got the best seat in the house, better than Jerry [Jones’] seat, but it still would be awesome to have him here because he means a lot to me.”
(on not putting himself in Brady or Manning’s class) “I don’t know, maybe it’s my way of keeping me as the underdog. It drives Coach Tomlin crazy because he wants me to put myself in that category, but, I don’t know, I guess I like being the hunter, not the hunted.”
(on if it bothers him that Pittsburgh has never had to beat New England to get to a Super Bowl) “Just to get to a Super Bowl, I don’t care who we play. Just to get a chance to get here is fine with me.”
(on not being as picturesque as Brady or Manning) “I’m not pretty when I play the game, I’ll be the first to admit it, but I don’t try to be. When I say these things, I’m not trying to knock on any of those guys, you’ll see I say they’re the best. I just play the game to win it. Like I said before, I’ll probably never win a passing title, probably never win the MVP of the NFL, and I’m okay with that, really I am. People may think that I’m crazy. For me, at the end of the day, it’s about wins and losses and championships. That’s the only stat that matters to me.”
(on advice he got about this week) “Just have fun and be yourself, honestly. The people I talk to the most know me the best and they’re like, ‘just be yourself and let people see who you are.’”
(on the weather in Dallas) “This is crazy. No, I don’t know, I woke up and saw the snow out there and thought I was at home for a second.”
(on how it feels to have a lawnmower and a snowblower in his garage) “Well, it gets a lot of use because I do it all myself.”
(on his favorite video game) “Well, I was caught between Tiger Woods and Call of Duty. I couldn’t figure it out, but those would be fun. It’d be really good.”
(on Dallas’ hospitality) “It’s awesome, the people are great. I had a chance to go to an awesome restaurant last night, had a great dinner and everyone is really nice. It’s a great place to be. We enjoy it.”
(on his pregame meal) “Light. Gotta eat light.”
(on if he has changed) “Just like I said at the top of the interview, just being calmer, just enjoying the day, waking up, counting your blessings and just being thankful for the day and thanking God for letting me wake up and have this opportunity. I mean as tough as this could be, and sometimes is, I mean I was going to bring a Twix bar up here if I needed a minute and ever got a tough question. But still just enjoy this because how many people get this opportunity? Like I said, this could be my last time to ever sit on this podium in front of you guys and if it is, it is.”
(on anxiety about answering questions) “I don’t know about anxiety, just trying to be prepared for some kind of, trying to have an understanding of what the possibilities could be.”
(on Terry Bradshaw) “Well, Terry is a guy when I got to the Steelers, you know about him. When you get here it’s about four Super Bowls and about him being the man, so you know, I’ve always said since day one, I’m not trying to be Terry Bradshaw, I’m just trying to be me and trying to win like he did.”
(on his favorite reality show) “I don’t watch reality TV other than the T-Ocho show.”
(on if he got the bug that’s going around) “I got it, absolutely. I lost my voice before the Jets game and now working its way up to my nose, I can’t breathe. Everybody, I wanna know who started it, we’re trying to find the culprit.”
(on the ownership) I don’t know the other owners, but in my opinion, that’s where it starts with us. It was The Chief before I got there, I didn’t know The Chief but Art Rooney and Dan Rooney are the best, and I think it starts with the top.
(on only having to hire three head coaches) “Yes, yes and yes, probably a little bit of all of it. I think part of it is just having faith in the person. There’s times I’m sure in Coach [Bill] Cowher’s long tenure there and I’m sure Coach [Chuck] Noll too that they struggled. And when most owners would fire the coach, I think they stood by him and said, ‘We’re going to give you another chance and another chance,’ and I think that speaks volumes of the Rooney family. That’s just my opinion, to stand by them through thick and thin.”
(on his faith) “Just going back to my faith, it’s not like I found faith for the first time, it’s just getting back to the way I was raised. It’s such a blessing. That’s where the inner peace starts is with your faith and my faith and like I said counting my blessings because every day is a blessing to be alive and to be able to do this.”
(on the joy of being able to come back) “To have forgiveness, the ultimate forgiveness is awesome. To be able to just pray and to talk to, the main calmingness that I talked to was talking to God and reading the Bible before I came up here.”
(on what Jesus Christ means to him) “Everything, honestly. Everything.”
(on playing better when it counts) “I don’t know what it is, I think it’s probably the competitiveness, the drive to want to do whatever it takes to win the game that’s on the line and the ball is in your hands, you wanna make the plays for your team and for your coach and the owner, everybody. You want to do it.”
(on if it has always been that way) “I think so, in all sports, football, basketball and baseball, I want to have the ball in my hand at the end of the game because I want it to be on my shoulders. I don’t do it for the glory, I don’t want to be a hero, I just want to win the game.”
(on Jay Cutler) “Well I don’t know Jay very well but I would just tell him to just keep your head up. You know your body, you know what you’re going through, you know all those things. People are going to attack you for whatever reason if he’s hurt or not. I think he just needs to keep his head up and stay focused on what he needs to do to get healthy and get ready for another season because that’s all he can do is to get ready for the next day and the next season.”
(on playing better when it counts) “I don’t know what it is, I think it’s probably the competitiveness, the drive to want to do whatever it takes to win the game that’s on the line and the ball is in your hands. You want to make the plays for your team and for your coach and the owner, everybody. You want to do it.”
(on if he has always been that way) “I think so. In all sports, football, basketball and baseball, I want to have the ball in my hand at the end of the game because I want it to be on my shoulders. I don’t do it for the glory, I don’t want to be a hero, I just want to win the game.”
(on Jay Cutler) “Well, I don’t know Jay very well but I would just tell him to just keep your head up. You know your body, you know what you’re going through, you know all those things. People are going to attack you for whatever reason if he’s hurt or not. I think he just needs to keep his head up and stay focused on what he needs to do to get healthy and get ready for another season, because that’s all he can do is to get ready for the next day and the next season.”
(on other players taking shots at Cutler) “We talk so much about a fraternity, and especially quarterbacks, I don’t think I ever have or I ever will talk negatively about a quarterback, just because you know what you go through and you know what they go through. So you kind of expect NFL players to feel the same way in general, but everyone is opinionated and you’re allowed to have that opinion in this country, and that’s what is awesome about the country. That’s why I won’t say anything about Jay because he’s a quarterback and I know what he’s going through and it’s tough. Especially in a city that is passionate about sports, which Chicago obviously is, very passionate.”
(on being a role model) “I want to be a guy that people look up to and I know it takes time to get that back but I want to be the best someday husband and father and grandfather hopefully if I’m blessed enough to be, and it starts with faith. You have to be able to instill that in your kids the same way it was instilled in me.”
(on Byron Leftwich) “It’s great. It’s funny because we walk in the locker room and his locker is next to mine number-wise and a quarterback, and I said ‘it looks kind of familiar doesn’t it, to Tampa,’ because I have him and Charlie and Dennis who are literally like coaches. They almost coach me more than my quarterback coach does and that’s not a knock on Randy [Fitchner] but when I come off the field they’re usually the first ones I talk to, those are the guys that are going over the pictures with me, talking about game plans and it’s great to have those guys and especially Byron with the experience he has playing this game. Plus he’s a MAC guy, that’s awesome.
(on so many players from the MAC in this game) “It’s a dominant conference, that’s what it says. 16 of us I think? That’s awesome. That just shows that the MAC, and Miami University the Redhawks are becoming a dominant conference and should be considered in the BCS talk.”
(on if Coach Hoeppner is with him) “I talk to him every game, literally every game I will talk to him. Whether it’s reminiscing talking about a game we had in college or just being there. I miss him a lot.”
(on his attitude about today) “Taking it in stride, enjoying the opportunity to film all you guys and play in another Super Bowl because you never know when it’s going to be your last one.”(on his pre-game rituals) “I have a lot of them. One that everybody can see is that before the game I go around and shake everybody on my team’s hand including the coach, coach Tomlin. So you can see that in the pregame.”
(on why he picked number 7) “John Elway. One of my favorites growing up. I had a lot of favorites but I liked the number and I liked him and the way that he played the game.”
(on if he wins Sunday he’ll have more Super Bowl wins than Elway) “Wow. He’s still the greatest, he’s still one of the greatest to play the game.”
(on finding peace) “If you have it and you know it, then it’s an easy thing to talk about. I think it starts with my faith and I think when you have an understanding with what you want to do in life and the bigger pictures at times, which is life, family, faith, I think that’s the peace that I’m talking about.”
(on if he thought it was impossible to make it to Dallas) “I think that anything is possible if you believe in it and work hard enough.”
(on if he is a different person than a year ago) “I think you always go through changes in life. I’m not going to keep hitting this over and over that it’s a reflective question because it’s not time to reflect because really it’s about this game. When you’re faced with challenges in life you find ways to try to overcome them. Just like when there are doubters and naysayers that challenged me in a football sense, it challenges me to rise above. So in the same way as me being a better person, people saying ‘you can’t do it’, it makes me want to rise to the occasion and be the best I can be.”
(on his appreciation for the Super Bowl) “Yes and no, but it’s the Super Bowl. If you don’t have an appreciation for this regardless of what’s going on in your life, something is wrong with you. I’m sure every player here and all you people out there when you were kids and you played football, you wanted to play in the Super Bowl. So to have that opportunity is awesome.”
(on if he thinks he is a good guy) “I think so.”
(on the Peter King retraction) “Well I got kind of hit with that one yesterday, that question. I had no idea where it came from or any of that stuff so I kind of was unaware of anything. So obviously it got built up real big yesterday. I don’t really read a lot or any newspapers or magazine articles or watch too much TV sports things, so I don’t get to see a lot of those things so a lot of the things I hear are either from my agent, the media people, things like that. I’ve heard a lot of the different things and how they have transpired.”
(on how he wants to be perceived) “I think there are a lot of ways. I think that you’re always taught, people ask you ‘what do you want on your obituary, your tombstone?’ And I think, you know just to sit there and somebody to say that he’s a good person, a God-fearing person that was loyal to his family and put family first, family and God first and enjoyed the way that he played the game of football, enjoyed football and just lived every day like it was his last.”
(on if he is perceived that way) “I don’t know, I think that’s probably a question, that I know people ask, that people go out and ask people. I just try to go out and enjoy life and do the best I can to be the best person I can be, the best son, and Christian and everything like that.”
(on predicting Aaron Rodgers would be good) “I’m pretty good aren’t I? I might have a gig at ESPN as an analyst or something like that after that right? No, I’ve known it. I’ve always known that he’s a great player, a great person, a great quarterback. He has all the tools and the intangibles and the things that you can’t coach. He has football sense, football awareness, the quick release, the athleticism, he can throw on the run, he can make all of the throws. It’s not just sitting in the pocket and being coached to throw this particular way. When a rush comes, you key up, you have to drop your elbow sometimes and throw sidearm. You have to be able to throw going to your left or your right, he can do it all.”
(on being in the Brady, Bradshaw class) “That’s unbelievable company. I don’t put myself there, I think they are too good. I hate sitting there answering those questions because it’s assuming we win you know? I hope we win, I’m going to do everything I can to win it, you just never know. That’s why I don’t want to think about that yet. Maybe that’s a good question if we win and I’m sitting at the podium.”
(on playing football again) “I love playing football. I love doing it, I love being around these guys and I wanted to try to get to this stage for those guys, for the Rooney’s, for the fans. For me the easy part was playing football.”
(on the team without him) “They’re a great football team, they had some great quarterback play in Charlie [Batch] and Dennis [Dixon] and Byron [Leftwich]. I knew that they were in great hands. Those are great players and great quarterbacks.”
(on the hardest part of it all) “You guys, you know what, every day you wake up there’s always challenges that face you and it’s how can you start your day and go throughout your day with the challenges that face you, whatever it is. Everyone has different challenges, whether it’s illness, family issues, whatever it is. Every day challenges are always the hard thing.”
(on the Steelers fans) “Great, the Pittsburgh fans are awesome.”
(on the fan support) “Obviously you see them everywhere we go. I always say that Pittsburgh fans are the best fans in all of sport. I think that’s what this game, why it’s going to be so awesome because Packer fans, I know they travel and I know their passion about their Packers. That’s why I think this is the ultimate game and the ultimate two teams playing in it.”
(on cheeseheads versus terrible towels) “That’s tough, I’m going to have to go with the towel, Myron Cope’s towel, there’s something about it.”
(on winning the media award by Pittsburgh media) “It meant a lot to me. I talk to those guys and see them a lot, obviously the Pittsburgh local media. I wasn’t always the nicest guy to them and I can admit that but I know that they’re doing their job. It’s nothing, I can’t take things personal that they say and write. I just wanted them to know that I apologize to them for ever being difficult to work with and trying to be better to work with and I think that that, I hope that shows that I have been better this year to work with and easier to work with. That award really meant a lot to me.”
(on Tim Tebow) “I think he’s a good quarterback. I think that he worked really hard at trying to work on that, his release or throwing motion or whatever it was. Great athlete obviously, so it’s just a matter of can he find that fine line between being an athlete and a quarterback, I think.”
(on his quarterback style) “I just play the game the way that I know how. It’s hard to really, I don’t know why I do it the way that I do it. I just do it, truthfully.”
(on playing hurt) “Kind of a lot of, I think it’s a couple things. Resilience, how can you bounce back from an interception, from a bad game, things like that. Just being out there, wanting to be out there for your guys. You always hear people say ‘the difference between being injured and hurt’. If you’re hurt, are you still out there playing? Are you out there with your guys and fighting to the end? I think that’s part of toughness and obviously, like I said, being mentally tough is a big one.”
(on winning a Super Bowl as a QB) “It depends on if you played as bad as I played the first time. It’s an awesome thing. Like I said, everyone dreams about it as a kid, especially if you’re a quarterback. To have the opportunity to go to one and then to win it is just an unbelievably awesome thing.”
(on being close with his teammates) “I’m very close with a lot of the guys. One of my best friends [Brett Keisel] is sitting right over there next to me. There was a big group of guys I always had their support, real close, and there was just a couple that I maybe wasn’t as close to as I wanted to be and needed to be and really worked hard to be closer with and be a better teammate with.”
(on what worries him about the Packers) “I don’t know if there’s one concern, there’s a lot of them. But I think it starts with, obviously they have a great quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, but for me it’s probably going to be Clay Matthews and some of those guys on defense who are really, really good players.”
(on escaping danger in the pocket) “I don’t know to tell you the truth. I don’t know where a lot of things I do came from. I just think it’s playing the game. It’s not like, obviously you do drills where you practice things like that. A lot of things I think it’s just having that you know, they call it the clock, the clock that goes off in your head that says, ‘it’s time to get out of here’, get out of the pocket, run, scramble, do what you got to do.”
(on Terry Hoeppner’s impact) “A big impact. He was a fatherly figure to me. The hardest part about that is that like he would be here, I wish he could be here for me and with me and I know he’s got the best seat in the house, better than Jerry [Jones’] seat, but it still would be awesome to have him here because he means a lot to me.”
(on not putting himself in Brady or Manning’s class) “I don’t know, maybe it’s my way of keeping me as the underdog. It drives Coach Tomlin crazy because he wants me to put myself in that category, but, I don’t know, I guess I like being the hunter, not the hunted.”
(on if it bothers him that Pittsburgh has never had to beat New England to get to a Super Bowl) “Just to get to a Super Bowl, I don’t care who we play. Just to get a chance to get here is fine with me.”
(on not being as picturesque as Brady or Manning) “I’m not pretty when I play the game, I’ll be the first to admit it, but I don’t try to be. When I say these things, I’m not trying to knock on any of those guys, you’ll see I say they’re the best. I just play the game to win it. Like I said before, I’ll probably never win a passing title, probably never win the MVP of the NFL, and I’m okay with that, really I am. People may think that I’m crazy. For me, at the end of the day, it’s about wins and losses and championships. That’s the only stat that matters to me.”
(on advice he got about this week) “Just have fun and be yourself, honestly. The people I talk to the most know me the best and they’re like, ‘just be yourself and let people see who you are.’”
(on the weather in Dallas) “This is crazy. No, I don’t know, I woke up and saw the snow out there and thought I was at home for a second.”
(on how it feels to have a lawnmower and a snowblower in his garage) “Well, it gets a lot of use because I do it all myself.”
(on his favorite video game) “Well, I was caught between Tiger Woods and Call of Duty. I couldn’t figure it out, but those would be fun. It’d be really good.”
(on Dallas’ hospitality) “It’s awesome, the people are great. I had a chance to go to an awesome restaurant last night, had a great dinner and everyone is really nice. It’s a great place to be. We enjoy it.”
(on his pregame meal) “Light. Gotta eat light.”
(on if he has changed) “Just like I said at the top of the interview, just being calmer, just enjoying the day, waking up, counting your blessings and just being thankful for the day and thanking God for letting me wake up and have this opportunity. I mean as tough as this could be, and sometimes is, I mean I was going to bring a Twix bar up here if I needed a minute and ever got a tough question. But still just enjoy this because how many people get this opportunity? Like I said, this could be my last time to ever sit on this podium in front of you guys and if it is, it is.”
(on anxiety about answering questions) “I don’t know about anxiety, just trying to be prepared for some kind of, trying to have an understanding of what the possibilities could be.”
(on Terry Bradshaw) “Well, Terry is a guy when I got to the Steelers, you know about him. When you get here it’s about four Super Bowls and about him being the man, so you know, I’ve always said since day one, I’m not trying to be Terry Bradshaw, I’m just trying to be me and trying to win like he did.”
(on his favorite reality show) “I don’t watch reality TV other than the T-Ocho show.”
(on if he got the bug that’s going around) “I got it, absolutely. I lost my voice before the Jets game and now working its way up to my nose, I can’t breathe. Everybody, I wanna know who started it, we’re trying to find the culprit.”
(on the ownership) I don’t know the other owners, but in my opinion, that’s where it starts with us. It was The Chief before I got there, I didn’t know The Chief but Art Rooney and Dan Rooney are the best, and I think it starts with the top.
(on only having to hire three head coaches) “Yes, yes and yes, probably a little bit of all of it. I think part of it is just having faith in the person. There’s times I’m sure in Coach [Bill] Cowher’s long tenure there and I’m sure Coach [Chuck] Noll too that they struggled. And when most owners would fire the coach, I think they stood by him and said, ‘We’re going to give you another chance and another chance,’ and I think that speaks volumes of the Rooney family. That’s just my opinion, to stand by them through thick and thin.”
(on his faith) “Just going back to my faith, it’s not like I found faith for the first time, it’s just getting back to the way I was raised. It’s such a blessing. That’s where the inner peace starts is with your faith and my faith and like I said counting my blessings because every day is a blessing to be alive and to be able to do this.”
(on the joy of being able to come back) “To have forgiveness, the ultimate forgiveness is awesome. To be able to just pray and to talk to, the main calmingness that I talked to was talking to God and reading the Bible before I came up here.”
(on what Jesus Christ means to him) “Everything, honestly. Everything.”
(on playing better when it counts) “I don’t know what it is, I think it’s probably the competitiveness, the drive to want to do whatever it takes to win the game that’s on the line and the ball is in your hands, you wanna make the plays for your team and for your coach and the owner, everybody. You want to do it.”
(on if it has always been that way) “I think so, in all sports, football, basketball and baseball, I want to have the ball in my hand at the end of the game because I want it to be on my shoulders. I don’t do it for the glory, I don’t want to be a hero, I just want to win the game.”
(on Jay Cutler) “Well I don’t know Jay very well but I would just tell him to just keep your head up. You know your body, you know what you’re going through, you know all those things. People are going to attack you for whatever reason if he’s hurt or not. I think he just needs to keep his head up and stay focused on what he needs to do to get healthy and get ready for another season because that’s all he can do is to get ready for the next day and the next season.”
(on playing better when it counts) “I don’t know what it is, I think it’s probably the competitiveness, the drive to want to do whatever it takes to win the game that’s on the line and the ball is in your hands. You want to make the plays for your team and for your coach and the owner, everybody. You want to do it.”
(on if he has always been that way) “I think so. In all sports, football, basketball and baseball, I want to have the ball in my hand at the end of the game because I want it to be on my shoulders. I don’t do it for the glory, I don’t want to be a hero, I just want to win the game.”
(on Jay Cutler) “Well, I don’t know Jay very well but I would just tell him to just keep your head up. You know your body, you know what you’re going through, you know all those things. People are going to attack you for whatever reason if he’s hurt or not. I think he just needs to keep his head up and stay focused on what he needs to do to get healthy and get ready for another season, because that’s all he can do is to get ready for the next day and the next season.”
(on other players taking shots at Cutler) “We talk so much about a fraternity, and especially quarterbacks, I don’t think I ever have or I ever will talk negatively about a quarterback, just because you know what you go through and you know what they go through. So you kind of expect NFL players to feel the same way in general, but everyone is opinionated and you’re allowed to have that opinion in this country, and that’s what is awesome about the country. That’s why I won’t say anything about Jay because he’s a quarterback and I know what he’s going through and it’s tough. Especially in a city that is passionate about sports, which Chicago obviously is, very passionate.”
(on being a role model) “I want to be a guy that people look up to and I know it takes time to get that back but I want to be the best someday husband and father and grandfather hopefully if I’m blessed enough to be, and it starts with faith. You have to be able to instill that in your kids the same way it was instilled in me.”
(on Byron Leftwich) “It’s great. It’s funny because we walk in the locker room and his locker is next to mine number-wise and a quarterback, and I said ‘it looks kind of familiar doesn’t it, to Tampa,’ because I have him and Charlie and Dennis who are literally like coaches. They almost coach me more than my quarterback coach does and that’s not a knock on Randy [Fitchner] but when I come off the field they’re usually the first ones I talk to, those are the guys that are going over the pictures with me, talking about game plans and it’s great to have those guys and especially Byron with the experience he has playing this game. Plus he’s a MAC guy, that’s awesome.
(on so many players from the MAC in this game) “It’s a dominant conference, that’s what it says. 16 of us I think? That’s awesome. That just shows that the MAC, and Miami University the Redhawks are becoming a dominant conference and should be considered in the BCS talk.”
(on if Coach Hoeppner is with him) “I talk to him every game, literally every game I will talk to him. Whether it’s reminiscing talking about a game we had in college or just being there. I miss him a lot.”
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