Tonight, NBC’s Sunday Night Football will be at Soldier Field for the Minnesota Vikings-Chicago Bears game. As usual, Football Night in America’s Bob Costas conducts interviews with some of the players who will be featured by NBC tonight. We have partial transcripts.
“FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” PREVIEW – WEEK 6
BOB COSTAS INTERVIEWS BEARS LB BRIAN URLACHER AND VIKINGS QB DONOVAN MCNABB & RB ADRIAN PETERSON
“I’m always mad after games.” – Urlacher to Costas on his postgame comments critical of Bears defense
“We have to be able to close games.” – McNabb to Costas on Vikings early-season strugglesNEW YORK – October 16, 2011 – Bob Costas interviewed Bears LB Brian Urlacher, and Vikings QB Donovan McNabb and RB Adrian Peterson (together) for tonight’s Week 6 edition of Football Night in America, which will also include highlights, analysis and reaction to Week 6’s afternoon games.
Football Night airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET with Costas hosting the program live from inside the stadium. In addition to his interviews, Costas is joined on site by Sunday Night Football commentators Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst) for reaction to the afternoon games.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com. Alex Flanagan will report from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., on the Cowboys-Patriots game.
Football Night is averaging 9.4 million viewers and a household rating of 5.8/10 (7:30-8:15 p.m. ET) through the first five weeks, up 19 percent and 18 percent, respectively, from last year’s first five weeks.
INTERVIEWS: Below are excerpts from Costas’ interview with Bears LB Brian Urlacher, and Vikings QB Donovan McNabb and RB Adrian Peterson.
BRIAN URLACHER
COSTAS on Urlacher’s critical comments of the Bears defense after last week’s game: Do you really think you stink or was that an attempt to motivate your guys?
URLACHER: I was mad after the game. I’m always mad after games. It felt like we played bad, but going back and watching the film we didn’t play that bad. Big plays are killing us.COSTAS: There was a scene on Monday night where it appeared that you and Lance Briggs were jawing at one another. You want to clear that one up?
URLACHER: My daughter asked me the same thing. She said, ‘Why are you and Uncle Lance fighting on the sideline?’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ She said, ‘You were yelling at Lance.’ I said, ‘I wasn’t yelling.’ … I think it was right after a touchdown, I’m sure, one of the long ones. We were just trying to figure out what happened on the play. Lance and I don’t bicker on the sidelines, we bicker during the game. (laughs) We fight during the game or after a play’s over. We don’t fight on the sideline. We usually talk and try to figure out what happened and then go on to the next play.COSTAS on the abuse Jay Cutler has been taking: You’ve got to feel for the guy.
URLACHER: I feel bad for him. Jay’s tough. I think everyone’s seen how tough he is. He takes hits. He doesn’t say anything. He keeps coming back for more. He doesn’t complain. He just goes out there. He played great on Monday night. We’ve got to play better on defense and give them some better opportunities to score.COSTAS: You’re part of a line of great Chicago linebackers: Butkus, Singletary, yourself. What does it mean to you?
URLACHER: Bill George is the first one. Just to be mentioned…is an honor for me. It’s a great city to play football in, especially defense and middle linebacker. It’s definitely an honor.COSTAS on New Mexico being the only major school to recruit Urlacher: Are you carrying a chip on your shoulder?
URLACHER: For sure. I feel like I have something to prove every day. I think you have to have that at this level…just to try and get better every day. I know Lance does it. I think there were 12 guys drafted in front of him. That motivates him. I’m the same way.DONOVAN MCNABB & ADRIAN PETERSON
COSTAS: First three games out of the shoot, you’ve got a halftime lead on San Diego; you’ve got the halftime lead on Tampa; you’ve got a 20-0 lead on Detroit. When you’ve got a running game, like Adrian Peterson, usually a team with a ground game doesn’t lose those kinds of leads, right?
MCNABB: Teams usually don’t lose a lead, if you don’t turn the ball over. We have to be able to close games, and we’ve all discussed that over the weeks and understand exactly what we have to do.COSTAS to Peterson: How much of a student of the game’s history are you? The only two great ones I can think of who combined power and speed the way you do: O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson. Maybe Jim Brown.
PETERSON: You don’t want to throw (Walter) Payton in there?COSTAS: Although Walter was not as fast as you, with all due respect.
PETERSON: He was pretty fast…But I agree with those guys.
That’s it.
