During tonight’s Football Night in America, Bob Costas will have interviews with New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Matt Sanchez. We have partial transcripts of the interviews.
“FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” PREVIEW – WEEK 3
BOB COSTAS INTERVIEWS REX RYAN & MARK SANCHEZ; TONY DUNGY REPORTS ON HIS SATURDAY MEETING WITH RYAN
“I’m tired of really being looked at as that kind of team.” – Rex Ryan to Bob Costas
“It’s really important to us to represent that logo (the Jets) the right way.” – Mark Sanchez to Bob Costas
NEW YORK – September 26, 2010 – Bob Costas’ interviews with New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez, and Tony Dungy’s report on his private meeting yesterday with Ryan will highlight tonight’s Week 3 edition of “Football Night in America,” which will also include highlights, analysis and reaction to Week 3’s afternoon games.
Dungy met with Ryan yesterday morning and watched practice at the Jets training facility in Florham Park, New Jersey. Dungy and Ryan discussed the Jets controversies this season.
“Football Night” airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET with Costas, who won the outstanding studio host Emmy last year, hosting the program live from inside the stadium. He is joined on site by SNF commentators Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst) for reaction to the afternoon games.
Dan Patrick co-hosts “Football Night” from NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach and Emmy-nominated Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, and Sports Illustrated’s Peter King. Alex Flanagan will report on the Eagles-Jaguars game from Jacksonville.
VIEWERSHIP: “Football Night” (7:30-8:15 pm) is averaging 9.5 million viewers through its first two weeks, its most ever through two weeks and up three percent vs. 2009’s 9.2 million viewers.
INTERVIEWS: Below are excerpts from Costas’ interviews with the Ryan and Sanchez.
REX RYAN
Costas: You came in and changed the atmosphere right away in a positive way. But there’s always a chance that the flipside comes in and a character becomes a caricature. Are you concerned about that?
Ryan: No. I’m not concerned about how I’m viewed. We have so many positive things in our locker room. We’re a team that, we think, we have a chance to do something special here…I’m tired of really being looked at as that kind of team.
Costas: How do you retain the rollicking atmosphere and eliminate the other stuff?
Ryan: We’ve got to be ourselves, number one. And learn from the mistakes that have been made by others. Unfortunately Braylon made a big mistake. Thank goodness it wasn’t more severe than it was. But, hopefully, we all learn from it, not just one man but everybody in the locker room, coaches included, learn from this.
MARK SANCHEZ
Costas: Are you comfortable with the team’s image? The profile is much higher than it would otherwise be because the cameras followed you through training camp. Your coach is a charismatic guy with more than a little bit of bravado about him. So this is a team, which really hasn’t had that much success, but has a pretty high national profile.
Sanchez: That’s part of playing in this market, part of being a New York Jet. We love wearing that logo. It’s really important to us to represent that logo the right way. With the freedoms Rex gives us, be smart about what we do, on and off the field.
Costas: You’re a glamorous single guy playing a glamour position in New York City. (Sanchez laughs). There’s a lot of people who want you, in addition to putting up wins, they want you to be a certain kind of personality. You comfortable with that?
Sanchez: I’ve got to be me. I’ve learned that you don’t get those opportunities outside of this building without playing good football. That’s one of the best things Rex has told me about handling anything outside of this building. Just be yourself. Be the guy we drafted, No. 5 overall. Be our leader. And protect the team with what you say, how you act and what you do on the field.
That’s it for the pregame quotage.
