Let’s conclude our round of quotage with Fox NFL Kickoff on Fox Sports 1 and Fox NFL Sunday on Fox. Terry Bradshaw missed Sunday’s show as his son-in-law, Rob Bironas, a former Tennessee Titans kicker, passed away Saturday after a car accident.
Fox NFL Sunday carried on without Bradshaw. We have the quotage below.
FOX NFL SUNDAY NOTES – 9/21/14
Troy Aikman on Goodell’s press conference: “I think there was just a lot of spin there. Instead of getting answers, I think everybody walked away from watching without any answers whatsoever.
Michael Strahan: “The only thing that matters from here on out are the results; they have committees that have been appointed, what are the results? What are the plans?”
Howie Long on Richard Sherman: “He’s an elite cornerback, but there are no shutdown cornerbacks in the NFL today.”
Jimmy Johnson on Kirk Cousins: If he proves himself and he is the guy…You’re going to have another problem – you gave up three first-round picks for a backup quarterback.”From FOX NFL KICKOFF on FOX Sports 1
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and lead NFL on FOX game analyst Troy Aikman’s reaction to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s Friday press conference:
“I think there was just a lot of spin there. It was a great opportunity for the commissioner to come out and be forthright and let everyone know what in fact he did know and why the investigation stopped when it did. Instead of getting answers, I think everybody walked away from watching that press conference without any answers whatsoever. I think if you’re going to hold players and coaches to a certain standard, then you as the commissioner – who has served as judge and jury since 2006 – you’ve got to be held to the same standard as well. If it is proven that that tape in fact did make its way to the league office there on Park Avenue, whether he saw that tape or didn’t see that tape – as we heard in the piece, ignorance is no excuse, that has been levied against the New Orleans Saints and Sean Payton – I think there have to be some pretty severe punishments for the commissioner himself.”
NFL on FOX game analyst Ronde Barber on the New Orleans Saints’ defensive struggles through two games:
“What’s wrong is they lost five guys either to retirement or free agency last year and there’s an experience void. The miscommunications have been rampant the first two weeks. They’ve got an offense that can score 40 points a game if they want to. The defense needs to get simple, start communicating better and they’ll have a better chance to win.”
FOX Sports 1 NFL insider Mike Garafolo on player’ reaction to rumored changes to the NFL’s personal conduct policy:
“Players and the NFLPA are very encouraged by this, because this is something that they’ve been pushing for a while, since Bountygate and beyond. Not only to take the appeals process out of Goodell’s hands when it comes to player discipline, but also the ability to judge and impose suspensions in the first place. In fact, I’m told that the union has proposed to Goodell in the past to have an independent panel when it comes to player discipline. Also encouraging is something that people don’t know and that’s that last week when Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy were put on the commissioner’s exempt list, which was something personally hammered out between Goodell and Smith. That’s a rare occurrence. They did it last year with Richie Incognito, but usually when it comes to player suspensions it is handled between lawyers on the union side and other executives at the league office.”
FOX Sports 1 NFL analyst and former NFL defensive coordinator and head coach Dave Wannstedt on disagreements that can happen between a head coach and coordinator during a game:
“Having worked for Jimmy [Johnson] as a coordinator for eight years, we never really had any major issues. I think you’ve got a head coach here who is so intrigued with the offense and Rob Ryan loves to reinvent the 50 best defenses every week. The way Jimmy wanted to do it, we would come in during the week and take care of that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and there were no secrets. It becomes, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do. Here is what the best three or four calls are.’ So when you get out there on gameday and its third-and-15, we all knew. Everybody on the defensive staff knew what the calls were going to be. It was never really an issue.”
Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and FOX Sports 1 NFL analyst Randy Moss on what the Denver Broncos receiving corps needs to do to create a different outcome in their Super Bowl rematch at Seattle today:
“What I think the wide receivers need to do today for the Denver Broncos is be physical. And I don’t mean physical in the first quarter and then not as physical in the second and third quarters, but then they come back and it’s physical in the fourth quarter. They need to be physical for four quarters, each play, play-in and play-out, because I know the Legion of Boom are going to be physical for four quarters.”
From FOX NFL SUNDAY on FOX
NFL on FOX analyst Howie Long’s message to friend and colleague Terry Bradshaw and his family following the tragic death of his son-in-law, former Tennesse Titans kicker Rob Bironas:
“It’s a heartbreaking day; Terry was very emotional when he left this morning to go back home. Our thoughts and prayers obviously go out to the Bironas family and to you, Rachel, we love you and we’re all thinking about you.”
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end and NFL on FOX analyst Michael Strahan on Friday’s press conference with Goodell:
“I watched the press conference like everyone else and I felt like nothing new was said. There was nothing that was said that made you say, ‘I have a clearer picture of what happened.’ The only thing that matters from here on out are the results; they have committees that have been appointed, what are the results? What are the plans? That’s what everybody wants to see. We all worry about the cover-up, but hopefully this investigation reveals if there was a cover-up or not. Let’s not get lost in everything that we see now. There’s one reason we’re here now and that reason is because of domestic violence, which is an epidemic outside of the NFL, but obviously right now we’re having a battle inside of the NFL that needs to be addressed.”
Menefee addresses Goodell’s promise to get the NFL’s house in order, starting with some of the misconduct among the league’s owners:
“This is certainly not to excuse the players, but Roger Goodell stated that the league needs to get its house in order and he is right. While four players out of the 1,700 on the rosters represents only .002 percent, that’s still too much. Yet while all of the talk about the misdeeds of the players has gone on, it has been the missteps of the owners and the commissioner that have really tarnished the shield. From Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti’s backing of Rice until the heat got too high, to Carolina owner Jerry Richardson letting Greg Hardy play in Week 1, before the heat or his conscience got to him in Week 2, to the Wilfs waffling this week in Minnesota. And that’s not even mentioning a DUI conviction for Colts owner Jim Irsay, Justice Department fraud charges on Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s company, nor a sexual harassment against Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. For the NFL to truly get its house in order, the league had better start paying attention as much to the landlords – the owners, as it does to the tenants – the players.”
NFL on FOX insider Jay Glazer on the Ravens response to a report that they attempted to soften the punishment for Ray Rice’s domestic assault:
“I’m told that after today’s game, on the way back from Cleveland, the Ravens brass is going to get together to decide how they exactly go about this tomorrow. They insist that they are going to have full transparency and that’s all we’re asking for, right? As far as the locker room, the players and coaches in there say, ‘We’re numb to it. We’re probably the only people in America, who aren’t talking about it anymore.’ They are completely galvanized as a result of this and it’s like they are in the eye of the storm and everything else around them is obviously very, very stormy.”
Glazer on the Goodell press conference and the idea that the league is considering the formation of its own player-conduct task force to investigate these types of issues:
“The problem is, after the press conference, teams were saying, ‘We still don’t know what is going to happen moving forward, there are no consistencies there.’ What I am being told is that this week, the NFL is actually going to meet with law enforcement, with judges and they are actually considering starting their own special task force and investigative unit. Whether it’s an outside firm or hiring somebody inside so that they won’t have to wait for law enforcement, they don’t have to wait for prosecutors and they don’t have to wait for courtrooms.”
Two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Jimmy Johnson on the premise that Robert Griffin III can’t lose his starting quarterback job while injured:
“Who made up this rule? I think it was some injured player that made up this rule. You play the player that helps you win the ballgame. When Drew Bledsoe got healthy, did [the New England Patriots] sit Tom Brady down? I don’t think so. So, that’s not a rule for me. Kirk Cousins has six-to-eight weeks to prove himself as being the guy. If he proves himself and he is the guy, I don’t think Dan Snyder is going to be real happy, because they’ve got a little problem with the nickname of the team and now you’re going to have another problem – you gave up three first-round picks for a backup quarterback.”
Long on how the absence of Adrian Peterson affects the rest of the Vikings team and Matt Cassel’s job security as the team’s starting quarterback:
“It’s tough. Our guy Norv Turner has to find creative ways to get Cordarelle Patterson off. The impact that Adrian Peterson had on that football team, not only in the run game, but in the play-action game, pass protection and their defense and I think it’s a tall task to try to replace them. The numbers are a bit skewed for them on defense last week. New England scored 24 points off of turnovers and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Matt Cassel is supposed to be a veteran who comes in and makes good decisions and be a bridge to Teddy Bridgewater. That bridge was a toll bridge before. Now it’s a bridge over a creek and I’m not sure how quickly they are going to pull him.”
Long on the Hall of Fame candidacy of Atlanta Falcons’ wide receiver and kick returner Devin Hester, who set a new NFL record for return touchdowns in Thursday night’s game:
“It’s hard. Special teams players wait a long time. It’s almost like in baseball where relievers struggle to get into the Hall of Fame. It’s hard and you saw Ray Guy waited 23 years. Everybody slights special teams, but one of the first things Jimmy always talks about is special teams.”
Glazer on a fine handed down this week to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick:
“The officials actually say that Colin Kaepernick dropped the N-word on the field toward Lamarr Houston. Now, Colin Kaepernick, he said, ‘Absolutely, I did not say that.’ And Lamarr Houston also said, ‘No, I didn’t hear that.’ The NFL fined him $11,025 and Colin Kaepernick is outraged, saying, ‘If you accuse me of something like that, you better be sure about it.’ He is now appealing.”
Strahan on Peyton Manning’s approach to today’s Super Bowl rematch with the Seattle Seahawks:
“Peyton Manning may have a blueprint to work with now. Philip Rivers took what the Seahawks gave him and he did it quickly, never holding the ball for more than three seconds. The Chargers used quick, short passes to running backs and slot receivers that kept drives alive. Then, they exploited Kam Chancellor’s man-coverage skills when touchdowns were within reach. Look for Peyton to do the same with Julius Thomas. Peyton has to push all of the right buttons with his play-calling and he must get rid of the ball quickly. Trust me, defensive linemen hates when quarterbacks get rid of the ball in less than three seconds.”
Long addressing questions about Seahawks’ cornerback Richard Sherman as the subject of criticism after last week’s game:
“He had four balls caught on him on some motion routes. Did Richard Sherman suddenly get bad? No, he’s an elite cornerback. There are no shutdown cornerbacks in the NFL today. One, because of the new rule changes which were a by-product of that Super Bowl matchup and two, because of the volume of throws and the complexity of offenses. There are no Deion Sanders or Mike Haynes playing.”
That is all.
