The Week In Sports
NPR
Saturday, September 24, 2016
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Football season has begun and there's plenty to talk about. Howard Bryant of ESPN.com talks to NPR's Scott Simon about the week in sports.
Transcript
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. Time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: The New England Patriots have to play without the game's most accomplished quarterback. But can they tell? And the most contentious issue in football these days might be the national anthem. Howard Bryant of ESPN and espn.com. Good morning, Howard.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: The Patriots are running out of quarterbacks so much, I understand they even put in a call to B.J. Leiderman, who writes our theme music.
BRYANT: Well...
SIMON: I hope...
BRYANT: But they didn't call you, Scott.
SIMON: No, they...
BRYANT: They're not that desperate yet.
SIMON: Wait, wait, wait. Let me pick up my cell. No, no, not yet. Not yet.
BRYANT: Still - they're still not looking for you.
SIMON: It's early.
BRYANT: The Patriots.
SIMON: I would never want to say they don't need Tom Brady. But my gosh, they've been good.
BRYANT: Well, they're 3-0 without him. He's serving his suspension for the never-ending Deflategate. And it's been amazing what they've done - no question about it - that they would go into Arizona, which is considered to be a Super Bowl team - and to win that game on the road and then to play at home.
They win that game when they lose their backup quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo. And now they come in, and they play Thursday night. They go out, and they beat Houston, a team that's got a great, great defense. And they shut them out 27-0.
So the Patriots have that - they've got that great magic. The Bill Belichick magic never stops. And then, of course, Jacoby Brissett, the quarterback - the third-string quarterback - he goes out and hurts his thumb. Luckily, the Patriots aren't playing this week.
And they don't play another game until October 2. So they're not making any calls to Peyton Manning just yet. But goodness, this is a pretty amazing thing if they go 4-0 with three quarterbacks.
SIMON: Do you take that Peyton Manning stuff seriously? I mean, look, I've seen the commercials. He's just sitting around in his robe and slippers.
BRYANT: (Laughter) Looking for something to do - no, I don't take it seriously, one, simply because it would be kind of amazing to have Peyton Manning in a Patriots uniform. That would send shock waves throughout the 617 and the six-state New England area. But I also think Peyton Manning's done as a football player.
I think everybody knew that last year. It has happened before, where NFL teams have pulled a guy out of retirement for a couple of games. But I don't see that one. That would be what we would call news - to see Peyton Manning in a Patriots uniform a week before Tom Brady came back.
SIMON: Yeah. And I just want to say, since, every week, Tom Brady seems to post a new video of him playing catch, staying - you know, staying in shape with someone else, I'm even available for that, OK? I'll play catch with Tom Brady.
BRYANT: They just want you to be healthy for the Cubs. That's all.
SIMON: Thanks for thinking of me. Colin Kaepernick's demonstration during the national anthem has set off a string of other demonstrations and demonstrations of conscience, as much as anything else, from Seattle to North Carolina. What do you make of what we're seeing, Howard?
BRYANT: Well, I think one of the things that we're seeing - what I find very interesting is that some of these locker-room cliches are being challenged. I think Michael Bennett, the defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, now is saying, look, we also need our white teammates to step up, too.
And I think it's fascinating that you have these cliches of the players talking about being a family and going to war together and doing all of these different things that we've heard them talk about - us against the world.
Yet when you have this issue taking place right now in the NFL and on the male side of sports, it's a black issue. And yet on the women's side, it hasn't been. You've seen Megan Rapinoe step up. And she kneeled down in support of Kaepernick. And then, also, you saw the Indiana Fever as a team kneel because they are a team.
And I think one thing that I found very interesting about this was that the women have shown that they seem to know what a team is, even if they don't all agree - that there are going to be times where you want to find out. And you're supporting the people who are involved in something that's bigger than the game.
SIMON: Howard Bryant of ESPN and ESPN The Magazine, thanks very much for being with us.
BRYANT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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