Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters and Producer Jay Rothman Discuss 2014 MNF Season
ESPN conducted a media conference call today with Monday Night Football producer Jay Rothman and commentators Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Lisa Salters to discuss the 2014 NFL season. ESPN kicks off the 45th year of MNF on September 8 with a doubleheader: New York Giants vs. Detroit Lions (7 p.m. ET) and San Diego Chargers vs. Arizona Cardinals (10:15 p.m.). Full audio replay; MNF TV schedule and photos). Transcript:
JAY ROTHMAN: Thanks, I’ll be brief so you can get to the guys on the phone here. But we’re proud to kick off the 45th season of Monday Night Football, and while 45 is not 50, it’s still significant. It’s a milestone we’re all proud to be a part of, and this group takes great responsibility to the legacy of the series. We take that very seriously. Despite primetime on the NFL on three of seven nights, it’s just as much a big deal to the fans, the viewers, the players, the coaches, the organizations to be on MNF. And we also take great pride it’s still the most watched show on cable and broadcast each and every Monday night.
Our schedule is stout. In our new deal, we have eight teams appearing twice, boosting our matchups this year. Those teams are the Giants, the Eagles, the Redskins, Indy, Chicago, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and the Jets. So, again, with the added bonus of having teams appear twice, it’s really helped the layout of our schedule.
We have continuity in the booth, as you know with Mike and Jon. I believe these guys are in their fifth year now together. Mike, second to none in terms of hosts, play by play men in the industry coming off an unbelievable run at at the World Cup and the British Open and some US Open tennis prior to the start of our season.
Jon is just getting better and better each year. He’s as creative, as innovative as a broadcaster as he was a coach, and nobody works like Jon. He’s a blast to work with and he coaches up our team like none other.
Lisa continues her great work not only on E:60 and the NBA, but on MNF on the sidelines as well.
We have continuity in the truck. I’m fortunate my partner, director Chip Dean, this is our 24th year together. Our production team is consistent with years past. Our technical crew as long as we’ve been doing the NFL, we’ve had very little turnover. I think that helps a ton in our weekly broadcast.
We’re blessed to have state of the art facilities, cutting edge technology. This year we’ve upgraded a handful of cameras, including high speed cameras, and goal line robotic cameras which will be in 4K, which give us brilliant pictures, nuances of goal line, back of end zones and the field of play. We have improved telestration devices. We’ve worked hard to create virtual graphics from our overhead Spidercam system, which is new to the industry. And I think lastly on the technology side, which I’m excited about, which I think is a big ticket item which I’m sure many of you have read the NFL’s next gen stats which they’re offering all of their broadcast partners. Six of those games we will be offered. Hopefully it’s up and running and it will be working. It’s really a work in progress this year with a full rollout schedule for 2015, but they’ve cracked the code by putting chips on players, chips in shoulder pads, and in meetings we’ve had in New York, meetings we’ve had with them up here in Connecticut at our headquarters have been really exciting, and I believe it’s a game changer in terms of the way fans will be watching football in the future. Similar to the yellow line, the 1st and 10 line when that came along, having chips on players is a whole different ballgame, and I think pretty significant.
So we’re excited for all of that and we’re ready to roll in Detroit Monday night.
MIKE TIRICO: It’s hard to believe this is season 9 for ESPN and for both Chip and Jay and myself on this project. 45 years is a long run. It’s the longest running entertainment show in American TV and to know that after this year we’re at 20% of the history of MNF is a bit shocking. It doesn’t feel that way. It’s flown by so quick and been so much fun.
Monday night is still special in the cities. Thursdays and Sundays are great, but Monday still has a unique feel to it, I think because it’s the start of the work week. People will feel like they’re extending their weekend. It’s the end of the NFL week as well. So it’s still resonated as Jay said, the schedule boosts that up this year, and having a playoff game here at the end is such a big deal for us. And we’re so thrilled that to be part of the postseason and to be one of the places where the run to the Super Bowl begins and to be there once Super Bowl week starts in Glendale with the Pro Bowl will be a big deal for all of us.
Jay mentioned Jon and Lisa. I get to work with a bunch of people and many analysts and a half dozen different sports. Nobody prepares for an event like Jon, or a game, I should say, and nobody prepares the people who he’s working with the way Jon prepares us for our football games. If you go back and watch our games during the year, most of what Jon lays out at the start of the game, the key to the game ends up being the deciding factor in the game. It’s extraordinary. Those things are seen as little throwaways to introduce the announcers to the broadcast. The reality is Jon kind of game plans those for the viewers and he’s been right on almost every week when we do those.
Lisa and I have worked together at the NBA for over a decade. She’s as solid a reporter as you’ll find anywhere in the business. So thrilled to be part of it. Nice to open up at home in Detroit, and looking forward to another great season.
JON GRUDEN: Mike, those are nice words and I certainly echo many of the things he just said. Really eager to get started and excited about the games we have on schedule, and very proud to be on this team. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed being around the group that we’ve assembled.
LISA SALTERS: I know it’s cliché, but because we have been led by Chip and Jay, Mike and Jon, they make it fun to come to work and to work all week. Everyone is the best at what they do. We all challenge each other to be better and you’re not going to find a better group of people to work with, not just in television but any profession. So happy to be here for year three for me. And like Mike said, playoff game? Bring it on. Looking forward to that.
Q. Jon, you have a long history in the league and I know you appreciate the history of football, so I think you’re an interesting guy to ask this question. How do you personally view using the nickname Redskins while in a broadcasting capacity?
GRUDEN: Well, I realize the sensitivity regarding that topic. I’m going to refer to them as the Redskins.
Q. Is there a reason why? That’s the name or history or something else?
GRUDEN: That is the name. I’m going to refer to every team as the team they like to be referred to. And I have a lot of respect to people’s opinion. … I’m going to refer to them as the Redskins. I certainly am sensitive to all of the things that I’ve read, but I think Joe Gibbs had a quote, the ex-coach of the Redskins that I read when I was out in D.C., and I don’t have the exact quote in front of me, but if you can find it, I’ll just say I feel similarly to Coach Gibbs.
TIRICO: I’m sure the question will come up here at some point so we can shorten up the timeframe on that question. We broadcast a Washington preseason game and then ESPN released a network policy I think it was five days after that game. So what I followed from that broadcast was my approach, which I had vetted in a conversation with my bosses on site, Jay and Jed Drake, our senior managing person on MNF with us there on site.
There are a bunch of issues here. I just saw surveys today on SportsCenter, what fans think, what players think. That doesn’t really matter to me. I think the most significant issue is what do Native Americans think of the name? Those people who in my opinion can only truly gauge the impact of (what) using the term really is. I’ve connected with Syracuse in my college days and early workdays. The Oneida Nation which has been very vocal on this issue and is just a few miles from the campus of Syracuse. I’ve been aware of the sensitivity of Native Americans and things that are perceived by many Native American communities as slurs for a couple decades now.
In general to me, broadcasting a game is a bit different than working in studio. When you’re in the studio you’re talking about a team for a pretty limited length of time. Calling a game for three and a half hours, you might make hundreds of references to it by first name of the city or by nickname. Also I think to factor in here too all the networks, you broadcast a home game from D.C., from Landover, technically, the word Redskins is painted in the end zone, really the logo with the head dress is in the middle of the field, so by not saying it are you lessening the impact of the nickname? It’s there in front of you. I don’t think we’re going to in a computer graphic way blur that out.
There are also contractual issues here with the league. We have an obligation to use the names and the marks of the teams. The league sells us the right to do the games and we sign up as part of that as well. Here’s the bottom line for me. I have my own personal feelings on the name. I think it’s time for Dan Snyder and the league together truly take a long look at making a change.
But if I’m there to document the game, and that’s what I’m paid to do and charged with, the body of the game broadcast to me is not the forum or the place to pass judgment on this issue while dancing around 2nd and 5 at the 35 yard line. I think that’s a little unfair. So I’m going to do what I did in the preseason game. The appropriate approach to me is minimize the use of the nickname but not completely avoid it. I think that’s the approach I’m going to take. We have Washington twice in early October and late October, and I’m sure this thing will play out in very formal ways over this year and years to come.
SALTERS: My opinion is pretty simple. I never want to offend anyone with my actions or my words. So if I offend one person with the use of the nickname, I’d rather not use it. So for me it’s a pretty simple solution because I’m not talking constantly throughout the game like Mike and Jon.
So for me in our preseason game I chose to in our pregame coverage, which lasted for a few hours, I chose to just say Washington. That’s just how I dealt with it, and it was pretty simple, pretty subtle. No one noticed, no one said anything. So that’s just how I handle it.
Q. Jon, can I get your analysis what you think is going to happen with the Cowboys this season, and what does Jason Garrett have to do to save his job?
GRUDEN [Note: he re-addresses the question after first answer was inaudible]: The Cowboys strength is on offense. They’re going to have to really rely on this offensive line. I think from left tackle to right tackle with all these first round draft choices, it’s as good a group as there is in the NFL. They can do a lot of things, run blocking and pass protecting. They need to possess the ball, convert on third downs, commit themselves to the running game and cover for their defense while they continue to build it back. There are a lot of unknowns.
They’ve already been hit hard, they’ve lost the high draft choice, they’ve lost (Sean) Lee, they’ve lost (Orlando) Scandrick because of a suspension. They’re going to have to outscore people and have to have a great year offensively. I think that is the key for the Cowboys. They’ve got to count on some young players on defense early and throughout this season and hopefully they grow up quickly.
Like any other coach, you have to win games. You have to have progress throughout the season. Only Jerry Jones knows the criteria of what he’s evaluating the head coach on. But they’re going to have to get it done on offense, and certainly they’re going to have to win some high scoring games, I believe.
Q. Where do you think the whistle will settle on illegal contact? Will this emphasis on illegal contact curtail some defenses like Seattle, for example? Second question is which team in the NFC North do you think has the best defense on paper?
GRUDEN: Well, that first question is a good one. I’m eager to find out myself. I did see it taper off a little bit in the fourth preseason game. But I think it will be a detriment to teams like Seattle that play a lot of press coverage. I can’t imagine that being called like it was in the preseason. It was up, I don’t know how much percent, but they’re obviously going to make it a point of emphasis, and it will impact the teams that play tight press man-to-man coverage.
But I think pass interference calls should call themselves. We should be able to see it and agree on it most of the time as fans or certainly as broadcasters or players. But that’s a silver dollar question. In terms of who has the best defense in the NFC North, boy, I tell you, there’s been so much change on these rosters. Premier pass rushers have changed teams. The inside defenses, the safety position of the Chicago Bears is still an unknown.
The Packers are going to count on a young safety to come in and contribute quickly. The Lions secondary is to me very much a question mark. And I think (Mike) Zimmer in Minnesota is going to do some good things there with that defense with his scheme. So if I had to pick one team, I’m going to go with the Minnesota Vikings. I think overall by the end of the season they’ll have the best defense in the NFC North.
Q. In New York there is a tremendous amount of anxiety about the state of Eli and the Giants new offense. What do you expect to see from them on Monday night?
GRUDEN: We’ve been studying the Giants carefully for the last couple weeks, and it’s been up and down throughout the preseason. Eli Manning has changed his fundamentals; he even stands differently in the shotgun. There are a lot of different receivers, there are new linemen, there are new running backs. So not only is he learning a new system and learning new coaches, he’s had to react to a lot of new players everywhere. It’s going to be, I think, a process throughout the season.
I remember when we went to Tampa, we weren’t very good at all the first few weeks, but by the end of the season, we were clicking on all cylinders and got hot at the right time. Eli Manning has to stay committed to it. He has to continue to keep an open mind, and hopefully they get Odell Beckham back, because they don’t appear to have the fire power at wide receiver or tight end that Giant teams have had in the past, and the offensive line is still a big question mark from the personnel standpoint regardless of the system. So I’m more concerned with the personnel right now and the question marks that they have on the offensive side of the ball than I am with the system.
Q. Does Miami look to you like about a .500 team again?
GRUDEN: Well, everybody in the league is right now looking like they have vulnerabilities and they have strengths. I think a lot of it is going to depend on (Ryan) Tannehill and this offensive line. Can the offensive line play better? They went there in the first round of the draft. They have issues right now with Pouncey’s health at center. But last year they weren’t competitive enough blocking people, and I think that’s the number one thing they have to do is keep Tannehill up right where he can see things and go through his reads and function better as a passer. That will be the big question for me.
Q. Jay, you mentioned the virtual graphics on the overhead Spidercam system. How do you plan to use those this season?
ROTHMAN: Well, it’s a work in progress. We’ve studied a lot of virtual graphics in not only just sporting events but in news broadcast and what really makes sense – what really makes sense, what’s organic to the field, what doesn’t feel like a stretch, all that sort of stuff. So we wound up flying our end cam – end cam is the virtual graphic camera system. We wound up flying that to Austria after the summer X Games in Austin, Texas, and did a full on test in Austria, and brought that system to Chicago in the preseason and did offline testing with Spidercam throughout that whole game.
So there will be just a variety of different graphics that you’ll see, some that typically out of commercial breaks, just given the timing of games where they might grow up and grow from the field and fly by. Kind of the sizzle factor is the tracking that you’re able to do, not just having static graphics on the field, but the ability to show movement, tag players.
We have a little toolbox of different elements to utilize, and as I said, we’re really just going to walk before we run because you’re relying on a pilot that’s flying a camera on cables that’s flying over the field who is sitting up in the press box somewhere. So it’s a tricky little thing. But if we can pull it off, we think it’s a wow.
Q. Those new 4K cameras, where do you see those having the greatest impact?
ROTHMAN: We tested them in Chicago as well, and they’re unbelievable. We wound up doing a full on camera shootout at Yankee Stadium in late June. We had a Sunday Night Baseball game in Yankee Stadium, so that’s where we had that exclusivity, and we wound up bringing our own truck. We wound up flying different manufacturers in from all over the world testing all sorts of high speed cameras, 4K, 8K, and the 4K was one that was really appealing to us.
To answer your question, by having it on the field line to be able to zoom with clarity anywhere, anywhere that’s in the frame, in the shot, it was really unbelievable. The initial conceit was to have the defining angle at the goal line and back of the end zone, but then as we studied plays that went on during the game, whether it was a pulling guard on a block, to be able to zoom and track the players and show nuances of the game that we didn’t even think of, quite frankly, until we studied what we had. It was unbelievable. Just critical plays in the game, really cool nuances. Again, we’re going to walk before we run, because we haven’t had it, but I think it allows – and the picture quality is stunning. I mean, it’s stunning from, as I said, anywhere that’s in the frame. It’s really fantastic. I’m looking forward to that.
Q. I was wondering what your experiences with Jim Caldwell what you know of him, and what you think he can bring to Detroit? Do you think he’s the type of guy that can get this franchise to the playoffs?
GRUDEN: I don’t know Coach Caldwell extremely well, but have crossed paths several times. He’s a class act. I’m sure you’ve discovered that yourself. He’s a hard-working man. He puts a lot into it. He’s hired Coach Lombardi from the New Orleans Saints, and when you watch the Lions play right now, I see a little more of the New Orleans Saints than I do the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens where Coach Caldwell came from. They also brought in a Baltimore Raven assistant. But I still see a lot of Detroit Lion scheme wise than I’ve seen in the past. They’re still a four three team that haven’t gone to the three four.
But to make a long story short, he is a very good person with a vast football background. He’s coached a lot of different positions, and I think his greatest strength so far is hiring good coaches. Hopefully they’ll continue to support him and some of these players that they drafted can come through for them.
TIRICO: Jim is such a good guy, and so respected as Jon knows and said earlier, remember our first preseason game last year. Taking a walk to pick up some lunch in Baltimore, and there was Jim Caldwell who was then working as an assistant, just walking down the street and ended up having a 10, 15 minute conversation with him so much about his philosophies on football and coaching and the different places he’s been and the experiences he’s had. He’s always a refreshing person to be around. I had a chance to go watch him in training camp during the year and visit with Jim as well. Look, that is a team that needs to be better disciplined. That is a team that did not close well and hurt itself with penalties and turnovers repeatedly over the last couple of seasons.
Jim Schwartz in my opinion deserves a ton of credit. He took a zero win team that also had major contracts and salary cap issues and got that team to the playoffs, and they played in the playoff game in New Orleans. Jim Schwartz deserves a heck of a lot of credit for where they got to. Now, I think it’s up to Caldwell and this group to clean up the errors and force the leaders who are at that leadership point in their careers, and I mean Stafford and Johnson and Suh, to be leaders on and off the field for that team and take growth steps. If that happens, the team has contended in the NFC North the last few years and should be able to again.
But Jon hit the one issue earlier, they have to play better in the secondary. That’s been the issue the last three years. I don’t know if what they did in the off season addressed that specifically, and that is the area I’ll be watching most against the Giants in the coming weeks. That will determine, I think, if this group can get to the playoffs or they’re an around .500 team.
Q. I wanted the fact on the Bears specifically, Brandon Marshall who is becoming a big star in the NFL, and their receiving corps. Do you think they have the best receivers in the NFL?
GRUDEN: Yes, I think they do. Arguably, you could make that case in a couple of other places. But Jeffery and Marshall from a size standpoint, from an acrobatic standpoint, and from a route free standpoint, they are top flight receivers. They can run any route from any alignment on the field, and they love the ball when it’s in flight. They can go get it. I think the addition of Bennett at tight end makes these two receivers great because you can’t key on either one of them in the middle of the field. It’s an area where the Bears have struggled to throw it to the tight end for years.
They are three dimensional and the back coming out of the back field makes it very hard to double anybody because Forte can kill you. He had over 70 catches. But I love the way these two receivers feed off each other. They’re unselfish, they’re outstanding blockers, they push each other, and I think the Sky is the limit provided Jay Cutler stays healthy.
Q. Jon, Kyle Rudolph signed a huge deal here with Minnesota and is coming off an injury that cut the 2013 season short. What are your expectations for him at tight end and piggy backing that, why has Norv Turner been able to leverage so much production from that position wherever he’s been?
GRUDEN: I like the fact that we refer to Kyle Rudolph as the tight end. He is the man that plays tight at the end of the line of scrimmage and he blocks people. I don’t think anybody keeps a statistic for blocking, but this man can block a six technique, he can pass protect, he’s a vital part of Adrian Peterson’s success, and he’s also a very good route runner. He can run intermediate patterns. He’s a force in the red zone. You can detach him, but he is one of the top two or three all purpose tight ends in football when you take blocking into consideration and how important that is with a back like Petersen.
In regards to Norv Turner, if you’ve been around him you’ll see that he has an inventory of offense. We all know his background as the Ernie Zampese, Sid Gillman background. Everybody refers to him as a digital guy that numbers routes. He caters his offense to his quarterback and he’s been able to run the ball extremely well throughout his career and set up a deadly down the field play action attack.
And if you like screen passes and perimeter offense, I’ve studied his perimeter offense for years. I just think he’s so experienced and so detailed and he’s such a very good person and he’s able to communicate and adjust with whoever he has. That is a strength of his.
Q. Jon, I know that you’ve been around Sean Payton quite a lot in the past. Is the relationship between Sean and Drew Brees maybe the best in the league between a coach and his quarterback and their working relationship and being of the same mindset? Also, could you talk about do you believe that since his suspension, have you seen a change in Sean in any way in his approach to coaching?
GRUDEN: Well, I think that relationship, first of all, Drew Brees and Sean Payton, it is as good as any there is in the league. I can’t say for sure because I’m not quite sure of all 32 relationships, but they’ve had great continuity. Pete Carmichael’s still there, they communicate well. They ask so much of Drew Brees. Before the ball is snapped, after practice, in the meeting room, in the offseason program, Drew is an extension of Sean.
There is incredible trust, incredible knowledge that these two men portray, and they bring it to the football team every day with enthusiasm like today is the last day in the history of Saints football. It’s refreshing when you go there and watch them practice, and the things they accomplish in a short period of time in the meeting room or out on the field.
I think Sean has changed a little bit from the suspension just from the standpoint that you know when you get fired, when you get suspended, when you get hit with any kind of adversity, it has a tendency to humble you to a degree. I think you also learn how vulnerable you are no matter who you are. You also realize how much you miss the players, you miss the NFL, and you miss the game. I think Sean is a better coach and a lot better person because of everything that’s happened in his career. Based on what I saw this spring or this summer, the best of the Saints might be in the future.
Q. What do you think the future holds for Michael Sam, and what are your thoughts about him being unsigned?
TIRICO: Well, I think I’ve heard a lot of opinions given by folks, including on our network, regarding what should be happening now to Michael Sam’s career. Unless you watch the videotape, and I have not, of every play of preseason, I think it’s really hard to say that he belongs on a roster somewhere or on a practice squad given what we saw the few highlights of his preseason performance. It doesn’t go back to what he did in the SEC. If we go back and look at that, that production was against some of the poorer teams in the SEC in terms of the sack numbers. That doesn’t mean he didn’t do well as we saw him playing. I think the St. Louis Rams handled this as well as possible. Les Snead and Jeff Fisher are at the top of the list of guys who I think can handle anything that might be a distraction around the team, and it gave Michael a chance to perform as a football player.
We all know that 7th round picks aren’t guaranteed to make the NFL, aren’t guaranteed to make rosters. A good percentage don’t. Many of them do end up on the practice squad. I think the difficulty with Sam is because he is really just a 4-3 defensive end, it limits the number of places you can find a home, because half the league is playing 3-4. There is not the usefulness of special teams factor in there. So it doesn’t give him as many options as potentially a different position player would.
Having said all of that, I applaud Michael Sam for what he’s done and what he’s been able to do in this preseason, and I hope he gets an opportunity with somebody’s practice squad as the attrition of the NFL season goes on. If Michael Sam can rush the passer and get to the quarterback knowing what a bottom line business this is, I get the sense that at some point people who know football see the productivity in the film that he put out there in the preseason, then he’ll end up with his opportunity to grow over the next couple of years.
Even in the CFL – I know Montreal has his rights and has inquired about him. We’ve seen players from the CFL come in as pass rushers and make an impact in the NFL. Look at Cameron Wake in Miami. Just because it didn’t happen with him this moment doesn’t mean that Michael Sam’s NFL career hopes are necessarily done. I’m rooting for him to get another chance and hope that it works out with one of these NFL teams or a chance to prove himself up in the CFL.
GRUDEN: I encourage Michael Sam to keep digging, keep working, stay ready. Somebody will give him another opportunity whether it’s in the NFL or in Canada. But there’s hundreds of players that just got released. Hundreds that didn’t make the final 53-man roster. I just want to point out not only in Michael Sam’s case, but there are a lot of young players out there in a similar situation, and the only advice I can give them is just keep digging, keep working, and get ready for your next opportunity, and hopefully somebody will give them a chance. But everybody’s fighting tremendous odds to make it in the National Football League. Not everybody comes close to even getting into a camp. So just keep working hard, keep your phone line open, and be ready for your next workout.
Q. Which Monday night game are you guys really looking forward to?
GRUDEN: I’m looking forward to the first one. I’m ready to get on the road. I always look forward to opening night to be honest with you. I don’t know. We’ve got one game a week, so I always look forward to the first one on the schedule. Opening night is something special.
TIRICO: There are two that stick out down the road, Baltimore at New Orleans in late November. We’ve been down there around Thanksgiving, the Monday after Thanksgiving the last few years and it’s been an entertaining game. And the Saints at Chicago game in December really sticks out to me as something that could be meaningful. And our last regular season game with Peyton Manning and the Broncos going to Cincinnati. With injuries, you never know how things will change, but those are a couple of places on the schedule that I get the feeling we’re going to have a really tremendous game especially late in in the season with those last couple.
Q. We’ve seen a lot of NFL games and a lot of your broadcasts have been affected by instant replay, a lot of delays, the challenges. We’ve seen only the challenges now with all the automatic challenges. Do you like the system as it currently is, or were you were a football Czar, how would you perhaps change the instant replay system?
TIRICO: This is Jon’s happy spot, so why don’t you go first?
GRUDEN: I’m not a big fan of it, honestly. Like the old days, 16 millimeter film when everything couldn’t be disputed. Now with modern-day technology the way it is, we’re able to review plays at ultra-high speed slo-mo from a number of different angles. We even have officials in the press box to help some of us who don’t know the rules in their entirety.
Scoring plays being reviewed, I think it interrupts the excitement of the game, and I like football the way it was when I was growing up. Not to say I don’t love it today, but I do not like all the interruptions. I certainly understand that we’re trying to get every call correct, but I’m not a big fan of over-legislating or over-officiating, and I guess I’ll have to go to my grave feeling that way.
TIRICO: I think the improvement of the system getting New York involved will help this year. I’d like to see the NFL evolve to the college system. I happened to go as a fan to a Michigan game this past week and I think that system seems to work a little tighter and quicker than the NFL system. They’re looking at the play upstairs. If they’re in question, they buzz down, the guy calls down with the decision and you’re moving forward. I’d like to see that. I’d also like to see the NFL standardize the cameras that are involved in replay at all of the stadiums. If you have our primetime game or NBC or CBS’s primetime game or the No. 1 game on Sunday, you have more replay looks than you do if you’re on the fourth or fifth game of a network covering on a Sunday afternoon. I don’t think that’s right when all the teams are battling for the same playoff spots. What happens in an Oakland-San Diego game may have an impact for tiebreaker purposes down the line for teams throughout the AFC. So I’d like to see that process more standardized – you get a better look at a replay review in primetime than you do in a regular season late afternoon or early afternoon Sunday game.
But the system’s here to stay. I think it needs to stay because in every other sport we’re at that point where if you see at home that it was wrong, there should be a way to make sure it doesn’t stay wrong at the stadium and the calls are changed. So if we can just find a way to pacify Jon for the two minutes of the reviews, I’d be a much happier person. But that’s my job every week and I look forward to it.
GRUDEN: I’ll just close with, thanks, Mike. I like the human error, the human side of things. I think the officials, the great officials trust that they’re going to make the calls. The players, if you want to challenge an end line play, they have to make it obvious to everybody. I remember working with Jerry Rice and Sterling Sharpe. I don’t remember them ever getting a sideline play challenged or reviewed. I just like the human part of it. I’ll end with that.
Q. Can I get your thoughts regarding the kickoff game on Thursday night opener knowing that that’s a game we had on our Monday night schedule just two seasons ago as a breakout game for the Seahawks?
GRUDEN: Bring your ear plugs, number one. I’m anxious to see Julius Peppers as a Packer, playing in a different defense for the first time maybe ever that you see him standing up on two feet in a 34 defense. How good is this Packer defense going to be? They’ve added a safety in the first round. They’ve obviously tweaked their scheme a little bit with the loss of B.J. Raji. But can they contain Russell Wilson and his legs? He’s a problem running around.
Then Green Bay, the great Aaron Rodgers and this formidable pass offense, can they handle the noise which many teams have failed to do? It should be a great game.
TIRICO: To that point on the noise and the struggle with the tackles and what got them in that “Fail Mary” game was the extraordinary pressure Rodgers was under in the first half of that game. Seattle sacked him a good quarter of the snaps that Green Bay took offensively.
Peter had an interesting point on his Monday Morning Quarterback that there were so few or almost no penalties for defensive holding or illegal contact on Seattle’s DBs in the preseason, given the limited number of snaps. That’s where the attention and focus was, but in reality, they’ve handled the rule adjustment quite well. So that will be interesting to watch as that game plays out.
And Seattle at home, Seattle at home has become the most dominant thing in the NFL over the last year-plus. It’s much like New Orleans at home when they made their run to the Super Bowl. Let’s see if they can pick up where they left off, off the euphoria of the banner, opening night, the 12th Man flag and all of that. Let’s see if they can maintain their incredible record at home to get the season started. But it’s an exciting way to start the season, that’s for sure.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
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