Let’s move to the NFL Today on CBS and a couple of videos to go along with the notes and quotes. Let’s give you what we have from CBS Sports.
NEWS, NOTES & QUOTES FROM CBS SPORTS’ “THE NFL TODAY” WITH JAMES BROWN, DAN MARINO, SHANNON SHARPE, BILL COWHER AND BOOMER ESIASON FOR WEEK 1 ON SEPTEMBER 11
SUPER BOWL PREDICTIONS
DAN MARINO: Pittsburgh-Green Bay
BILL COWHER: Pittsburgh-Atlanta
SHANNON SHARPE: San Diego-Green Bay
BOOMER ESIASON: New England-Green Bay?THE NFL TODAY’S JAMES BROWN HAD LIVE INTERVIEW WITH COLTS VICE CHAIRMAN BILL POLIAN
JB: In your estimation, will we see Peyton (Manning) this season? Or Bill, do you think he’ll be on IR (Injured Reserve)?
POLIAN: I honestly don’t know, J B. We’ve said that we’ll leave the spot on the active roster open as long as it’s possible that he may come back. The doctors will make that determination; and the doctors only. I want to underline that, down the road. But that will be a while down the road, I suspect.JB: Business being what it is in the world of professional football, if you knew that it was as serious as it is, the issue that he’s dealing with now, the injury, would you have given him a new contract.
POLIAN: Oh, yeah. There is no question about that. Our intention was to sign him to a contract. We had given him the franchise player tender, and there was no issue there. As we have gone through the process here, we recognized early on what his physical condition was. This latest bump in the road is something new. But it’s not career threatening according to everyone that we’ve spoken to. The contract was mutually agreed to, and we understood that at his age, things like this might happen, and that was taken into consideration.JB: Given what you just said in that answer, you pretty much have answered the question, but let me ask it anyway. Do you see any scenario where Peyton will not be with the Colts next season?
POLIAN: Well, in these kinds of situations you can’t predict anything, and that is particularly true with injuries. I’ve always been wary of predictions with respect to injuries as all the guys on your panel know. But in terms of if Peyton Manning is playing football, he’s going to play for the Colts. That’s for sure.To view the entire interview, see below.
(Reaction to Peyton Manning’s injury)
DAN MARINO: In my last year, I got hit the third game of the year. And got a bruised nerve in the lower part of my neck, and I ended up missing six weeks. What happened then, I basically lost all the strength in my arm. I couldn’t pick up a fork let alone a football, obviously…Peyton’s had three surgeries so it’s a totally different thing. The thing I remember most when the doctors told me when I come back, which I did come back that year, if I take another severe hit, it could be a lot worse, and you never know what’s going to happen in your neck. If you’re Peyton Manning, there is always that thing in the back of your head that something could happen to my neck.BILL COWHER: You never know what could happen in this division right now. To me this opens it up wide open right now. Houston has the best team on paper, no question. The only thing I would say look out for are the Tennessee Titans. They got Matt Hasselbeck in the off?season, and got stability in that position. They have the best run runner in football in Jovan Ringer. I think they’re another team that you better look at [with] an offensive line coach, and a hard?nosed team. Clearly the pressure is on them now.
SHANNON SHARPE: We always thought it was a foregone conclusion that when he retired, statistically he’s going to be the greatest quarterback whoever played in the National Football League. Now that doesn’t seem like a foregone conclusion anymore. That just goes to show you how fragile day-to-day it is in the NFL.
BOOMER ESIASON: Maybe the best off-season signing, Wade Phillips is now the defensive coordinator in Houston. He will ramp it up. Mario Williams, outside linebacker, he’s going to have a great year. And welcome to the hot seat Gary Kubiak. Because if you don’t get it done this year, you ain’t ever getting it done.
? REMEMBERING 10th ANNIVERSARY OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
THE NFL TODAY’s Lesley Visser sat down with former New England Patriots offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi and his brothers Billy and Marc, New York City firefighters on September 11, 2001, to relive their memories of the events that happened 10 years ago. Deb Gelman is the producer.
?“INSIDE THE NFL” WITH CHARLEY CASSERLY
(On teams skirting rules of contacting players during lockout)
CASSERLY: Well, the league is investigating a number of teams, not a lot, but a number of teams they’re investigating for violations of rules during the lockout. One of the teams will be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for impermissible contact of players.(On any issues with Tampa Bay providing its players with tablets)
CASSERLY: There will be on game day for them and any other team using an iPad. The league has ruled iPads illegal 90 minutes before the game and throughout the game. Here’s the reason why. Because you can look at game video on an iPad. And game video is not permitted 90 minutes before the game and during the game. That’s why iPads cannot be used by teams.
That’s it. Now I have ESPN’s Sunday NFL quotage and that’s next.
