We continue our pregame quotage and we have what was said on Fox today as Fox NFL Kickoff made its broadcast network debut today and then it was the 21st season premiere of Fox NFL Sunday.
Not all of Fox’s affiliates picked up Fox NFL Kickoff with some shuffling the show to MyNetwork stations or other co-owned local TV stations.
Here is the quotage:
FOX NFL SUNDAY & FOX NFL KICKOFF NOTES – 9/13/15
Cowherd on the Seahawks: “The Seattle Seahawks have been young and hungry, (but) now they’re young, hungry, rich and want to be rich.”
Johnson on Goodell Regarding ‘DeflateGate’: “I think he was influenced by those owners to hand out some ridiculous penalties.”
Long on DeflateGate accusations against Tom Brady: “…if you’re going to call into question the character of Tom Brady, and you’re calling him a liar and a cheat … you better come with something better than, ‘it’s more likely than not…’”
FOX NFL KICKOFF
What will the panel watch this season?
Colin Cowherd: The Seattle Seahawks have been young and hungry, (but) now they’re young, hungry, rich and want to be rich … Love the roster and love Russell (Wilson), but it’s a different vibe in Seattle now than it was a year and two years ago.
Dave Wannstedt: I’m focused on the NFC North. I wasn’t before preseason started, but what happens in Green Bay, obviously, with(out) Jordy Nelson? Their defense has been inconsistent. The Bears will be better. Detroit will be better, and I’m drinking that purple Kool-Aid in Minnesota.
Champ Bailey: The optimism coming from John Fox will rub off on everybody. Then on the flip side, you’ve got (offensive coordinator) Adam Gase. How will he resurrect Jay Cutler’s career? Will he get Jay Cutler back on track? It’s really just about the takeaways. If he can get (his takeaways) down, Jay Cutler’s one of the best quarterbacks in the game.
Troy Aikman on how the Green Bay Packers will compensate for the loss of Jordy Nelson for the season: When you lose your number-one receiver, you don’t just simply replace that guy, but I do believe that if there is an organization that can do it, it’s the Green Bay Packers. They are very methodical on how they develop their young players, and of course (they have) the talents of a guy like Aaron Rodgers … So now you’ve got Randall Cobb who moves into the number-one slot. Second-year player Davante Adams — he becomes more of a factor and he’s looked very, very good. But they key acquisition this past week, James Jones is the third wide receiver. I’ve always believed that that guy really determines the strength of your receiving core. He has a history with this quarterback. He’s played at a high level. He’s been playing in the preseason, so he should be in game shape and he knows the offense.
Bailey blames the Washington Redskins’ lack of success on management: It’s all about leadership, and it starts at the top. You look at Dan Snyder. Back in 1999 I was a young rookie, the summer before my first season, he had just bought the team. He walks into the team meeting, looks at everybody in the room and says words that I probably can’t repeat right now but he made it known that he was going to make it hard for you to work for him. Now how do you want to win for a guy that sets that kind of precedence? You have a coach that fears you; (and) players don’t respect your coach because he fears you. How do you get the players to play?
Bailey has some advice for Jay Cutler: Remember, Matt Forte. Matt Forte.
FOX NFL SUNDAY
The FOX NFL SUNDAY panel on DeflateGate:
Jimmy Johnson: I got so tired of this whole story. It was so overblown and absolutely ridiculous because it had no bearing on the outcome of the games. Had this been the Jacksonville Jaguars, it would have been a little blip in the newspaper and maybe they would have taken away a late pick. That would have been it. Roger Goodell – I think he was influenced by those owners to hand out some ridiculous penalties.
Terry Bradshaw: This game is all about, I’m sorry, quarterbacks and the offense, and I thought this whole thing was ridiculous. A half a pound? Pound-and-a-half? Are you kidding me? And you’re going to suspend the guy for four games? I thought it was a joke. I threw those footballs. I know how hard they were to grip. God bless Tom Brady. I wish I’d have been smart enough for somebody to say, ‘Hey, drop it a little bit.’ My whole point is let them take the air out. There should be no ruling on it. Just go to the refs and say, ‘I’m playing with nine pounds. I’m playing with four pounds.’ Who cares?
Michael Strahan: The counter to that is there is a rule. They should change the rule. Everybody says, ‘Well, why does this happen to the Patriots? Why the Patriots?’ It’s because they’re got pulled over. When you’re in a group of speeding cars, you’re the one who got caught. Unfortunately, the team has had other things that have happened in the past. But I don’t think this penalty was for this particularly. I think it was for, as Jimmy said, probably the owners that got beat by the Patriots, but more so about some of the things the Commissioner has gone through – with the Ray Rice case and some of the criticisms that made him really have to step up and do something a little more harsh than I think we all felt should have happened, but he did hand down that ruling, and now this is one decision you have to live with because he lost in court which stripped him of power, in my opinion.
Howie Long: There are a couple of things about it. One is if you’re going to call into question the character of Tom Brady, and you’re calling him a liar and a cheat, those are big accusations. Here’s a guy that’s won four Super Bowls, three Super Bowl MVPs, two league MVPs, and to the best of my knowledge, has led an exemplary life on and off the field. If you’re going to make those accusations, you better come with something better than ‘it’s more likely than not,’ and to watch Tedy Bruschi and Willie McGinest have to go on TV every day and validate the championships that they won really bothers me. There’s a lot of talk about the integrity of the game, and I get it, and I support that. How about some integrity in the process because if anything has become apparent in this process, it’s that the integrity of the process is flawed and it needs to be changed.
Jay Glazer, who still possesses a full length version of the “SpyGate” video, shares new details: Here’s what people don’t know. Congress, Senator Arlen Specter, was so intent in using this to go after Roger Goodell, he personally actually called me and tried to, I guess ‘coerce’ is the right word, I could use into giving him my copy. Offered me up ‘I got a bigger scoop for you if you can give me that,’ and I said ‘Nah, you know what? I think it’s no place for Congress,’ and then they threatened me if I didn’t do that they actually threatened possible jail time for not giving them my copy.
Bradshaw questions Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones’ optimism regarding the team’s offense without DeMarco Murray: The Cowboys under Tony Romo had their best year; Romo-phenomenal. Now all of a sudden Jerry Jones, the owner, says, ‘Oh our offensive line is so good, anybody can go back there and run the football.’ Joseph Randle, you’ve got a big load to carry, I think [Jones] is wrong. I think the Cowboys reset. They regress. They go the wrong way, simply because (DeMarco) Murray was so special.
Long says Cam Newton is deserving of his recent $103 million, five-year contract: That’s what franchise quarterbacks get. Cam [Newton] showed great toughness and leadership coming back from ankle surgery and a scary car wreck, led the Panthers to their second straight division title. He’s healthy to start the season. No one else is.
And that will do it.
