Face the Nation transcripts February 3, 2013: Goodell on Super Bowl Sunday
(CBS News) Below is a transcript of "Face the Nation" on February 3, 2013, hosted by CBS News' Bob Schieffer. Guests include NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, CBS NFL analyst Jim Nantz, CBS NFL analyst Shannon Sharpe, and former NFL quarterback Phil Simms.
SCHIEFFER: Today on Face the Nation, it's Super Bowl Sunday, the event that's become part of America's culture. New Orleans is ready and the fans around the country are excited about the big game, but when the President of the United States says that if he had a son he'd think long and hard about letting him play the game, the commissioner of the National Football League knows he's got a problem.
GOODELL: I'll do anything that's going to help us make the game safer and better and they have my commitment to that.
SCHIEFFER: But how do you make it safer without changing the game as away know it? We'll ask commissioner Roger Goodell. We'll talk about that and today's game with the CBS broadcast team, Jim Nantz, former Giants quarterback Phil Simms, and Hall of Fame receiver Shannon Sharpe. It's the big game in the Big Easy, and it doesn't get any better than that. And this is "Face the Nation."
ANNOUNCER: And now from New Orleans, site of Super Bowl XLVII, "Face the Nation" with Bob Schieffer.
SCHIEFFER: And good morning again. We are at Jackson Square in historic New Orleans just down want road from the Superdome, where the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers are going to face off this evening. We're joined by the commissioner of the National Football League, Roger Goodell, plus our CBS sports broadcast team, Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, who will be calling the game tonight and hall of fame wide receiver and CBS analyst Shannon Sharpe, who seems to me the only guy here today wearing some Super Bowl rings.
SHARPE: I thought the occasion warranted me bringing out the big diamonds.
SCHIEFFER: All right. Mr. Commissioner, we thank you for being with us. Some very serious questions now that are on your plate. The president of the United States says he's not sure he'd want his kid to play football if he had a son. What is your reaction to this? Would you want your children to play football now if...
GOODELL: Absolutely. I have twin daughters, just like the president. And I'm concerned when they play any sport. The second highest incidence of concussions is actually girls' soccer. So what you have to do is make sure that the game is as safe as possible. In the NFL, we're changing the rules. We're making sure the equipment is the best possible equipment. We're investing in research to make sure that we can address concussions, not just to make football safer at the NFL level, but all levels, and other sports.
SCHIEFFER: Well, and let me ask you this -- and I'm going to ask you this question because some widows of some NFL players have asked me to ask you -- do you now acknowledge that there is a link between the game and these concussions that people have been getting, some of these brain injuries?
GOODELL: That's why we're investing in the research so that we can answer the question, what is the link? What causes some of the injuries that our players are still dealing with? And we take those issues very seriously. So we're putting $30 million into the National Institutes of Health. This morning we announced an initiative with General Electric to put more research into how do these injuries occur? How do we prevent them? And how do we diagnose them with some leading companies. And this is something we think is going to be very important.
SCHIEFFER: Because for years the league would not acknowledge, really, that there was a connection. You now acknowledge that there is a connection?
GOODELL: Well Bob, again, we're going to let the medical individuals make those points. We are going to give them the money, advance that science. In the meantime, we have to do everything we can to advance the game and make sure it's safe.
SCHIEFFER: Jim?
NANTZ: Well the commissioner talked about football and all sports. And I think there's no question there's a link. It's just there's still a lot more research to be conducted to find out exactly how soon these athletes come back to perform. Do they come back too soon? Do they put them back in the game too soon? I really applaud what Roger has been doing. I know there's been an outcry by the players around the League trying to make the game too safe, it's taking away what is a contact sport. But I really believe he is trying to look after the future, not only of the sport but of these individuals. Somebody cries about he's penalized or fined too much, but what they don't realize is there are thousands of people right now lined up with lawsuits against league. Talk to them about what their later life is after football. You know, he's trying to look after your later life. I really believe that.
SCHIEFFER: Well you know, Mr. Commissioner, in light of those lawsuits, there are some people out there who are saying that the league hid the dangers of this game from the players who were playing it. Did you?
GOODELL: No. And in fact, we're all learning more about brain injuries. And the NFL has led the way. We started a concussion committee back in the mid-90s with players association to study these issues and to advance science. We're obviously now learning more and more, and we're investing more and more, and I think that's going to lead to answers, even outside of brain injury, I think even to brain disease.
SCHIEFFER: Phil, would you advise parents to let their kids play football?
SIMMS: Yes, I would. I have two kids, two sons that play football at many levels, even in the pros. And I would not hesitate now, especially, because what we have learned about what goes on with the contact and everything. Because here's why-- because they've changed the rules to make the game safer. And it's changing at every single level. So that means it's even changing in the Pop Warner. So we're going to have generation of kids now starting, they're going to go through -- hopefully they'll play 10 years of professional football. But they're going to play -- their contact is going to be limited to such a small percentage of what people like Shannon and myself went through. So I think we're going to see -- it's going to take a few years, but we're going to see a new generation of players that get through the NFL and their health is going to be so much better than some of the generations we've seen before.
SCHIEFFER: Shannon, what I want to ask you is how can you make this game safe and ensure that it's safe? Football is about blocking and tackling. How do you make it safe and yet keep it football, the game that we know?
SHARPE: Well, I think the commissioner and the NFL has done a great job of trying to bring awareness, as you mentioned, from the Pop Warner level, the helmets-- they're trying to make them safer. They're dealing with the NASCAR, they're dealing with the military to try to find the safest helmet possible. It also comes down to the players. And you look at Alex Smith. He got a concussion. He did everything right. He said, "I don't feel good." They took him out of the ball game. The week leading up to the next game, he didn't feel any better. They put Colin Kaepernick in and, Colin Kaepernick is the starter now. So the player is saying to himself now everybody is watching this, why am I going to tell them that I have a concussion if I run the risk of losing my job? Colin Kaepernick had a seat center stage. Alex Smith is walking around with the practice squad guys. So guys bear some responsibility. You look at the article that came out in the paper the other day that the commissioner had a 61 percent disapproval rating. See change is always met by resistance. You look at integration, it was met with resistance. You look at civil rights, it was met with resistance. But as we look back, we realize that was the right thing to do. I think 10, 15 years from now all the players will sit back and say, you know what? I didn't like what the commissioner did at the time, but it was the right thing to do. He has an obligation to the National Football League to grow it, make sure it's prosperous 30 gears from now, but he also wants to make sure his players are healthy leaving the game and having a 20-year healthy rate after the game.
SCHIEFFER: Jim.
NANTZ: We're talking about should your children play football? You have daughters. I have a daughter. We have the Nantz National Alzheimer's Center down at Methodist Hospital in Houston. We're all over this research right now. I have committed my life to this. My father died of Alzheimer's And I believe it was the result of a football injury he suffered in college. Research shows at the college level, a woman's soccer player is two and a half times more likely to suffer a concussion than a college football player. I don't hear anybody saying right now, should we put our daughters in these soccer programs? The point this issue spreads well beyond the NFL. They're at the top of the ladder so everybody looks up to the NFL. But what are they going to do at the college level? The NCAA has just hired a chief medical officer, Dr. Brian Hartline, for the first time. They're opening up the NCAA Sports Science Institute. They really want to get their hands on this to affect everybody, because you go the level below that to the high school level. I mean, concussions are happening in all these various sports. It's not isolated to the NFL.
SCHIEFFER: Let me just ask you this, commissioner. I guess they just ran a survey of the players and, what, four out of five say they don't trust the medical teams that the doctors have -- I mean, that the teams have. That sounds like they need to do something on that front.
GOODELL: Well, we have done things over the years, Bob, on that. One is every player has the right to a second opinion. They can go to a neutral doctor unaffiliated with the team. Second, just this week we announced we were bringing in an unaffiliated to doctor on to the sidelines to be about to help the team doctors with the analysis of whether somebody has had a concussion and be there for any kind of diagnostic help. I believe we are giving them the best possible medical care. These doctors are not team doctors alone. They're with some of the best institutions in the world.
SCHIEFFER: Let me also ask you about how you have been received since you got here in New Orleans. You were not a very popular fellow around here after you levied all those fines and suspensions against the Saints in connection with the bounty scandal -- that is, when they were accused of putting bounties and paying players to hurt other players. How has it been since you got here?
GOODELL: It's been great. The people here have been wonderful. They are -- have done a great job here with the Super Bowl. They have been welcoming. They are loyal to their team and they should be. They weren't part of is this. Their team was and the NFL. So I appreciate the passion they have, and they couldn't have been better this week.
SCHIEFFER: So let's talk a little bit about the game. What's going to happen here? Who do you like, Phil?
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMS: Me, I'm not going to pick the game because Jim and I are doing it, and I learned something a long time ago. Players really take it personal when you pick a team. I don't know if you've noticed that.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHIEFFER: You noticed that?
SIMMS: And I don't know if you noticed, they're really big men, and they're young, so I'm not going to upset them. But, yeah, I'm just looking forward -- you know, we're hoping just for an exciting, close game. And, you know, quite honestly, everybody at CBS, we're rooting for overtime because...
(LAUGHTER)
... there hasn't been one in the Super Bowl, and it would be awesome to be part of one that goes to...
(CROSSTALK)
NANTZ: ... predict that a few times this week.
(LAUGHTER)
Here we've got one of the best storylines of all time.
SCHIEFFER: Unbelievable.
NANTZ: We've got two brothers. I mean, what are the odds, seriously, that you could actually have two children, opposite conferences, opposite sidelines. I mean, you've got a better chance of winning the -- you know, the national lottery, the Super 6 or whatever. I mean, it's just amazing to think. And I don't know how we're going to keep up with it all day long, for three and a half hours. If you just say, "Coach Harbaugh is going to do this," well, which Harbaugh did you mean? You know what I'm saying? We have to, kind of, check ourselves.
SCHIEFFER: And, you know, their mom and dad are here in town. And, I mean, you know, they're just two of the greatest people. I mean, they're just like -- they're just regular folks, salt of the earth, their mom, very competitive. And I guess they moved around all over because the dad's a football coach. And it's just a great family, to be rooting for the whole family.
SHARPE: I couldn't imagine -- I had a brother that played in the National Football League, and we played against each other twice. He won once. I won once. But to play on this stage, in this ball game, it would tear me up. Honestly, it would tear me up; I know it would tear my mom up that my -- if I were to win this game, my greatest joy as a professional football player would come at the expense of my brother. It would -- it would tear me up. Now, mind you, I would run over the top of my brother...
(LAUGHTER)
... to make sure I won.
(LAUGHTER)
But once the game was over, I'd be in a lot of pain.
SIMMS: Well, tell them where your third ring is.
SHARPE: Well, the first Super Bowl ring, because my brother suffered a career-ending neck injury, I gave him my first Super Bowl ring. So that shows the kind of love and affection that I have for him. But if he was on that field...
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMS: No, no, what else did you say as we were getting ready to come on the air about your third Super Bowl ring?
SHARPE: I should take it back.
SIMMS: You want it back?
(LAUGHTER)
SCHIEFFER: All right. We're going to take a little break. We'll come back and talk some more football in just a minute.
SCHIEFFER: And we're back now with the commissioner of football, Roger Goodell, our CBS broadcast team. Let's talk about the game here. Commissioner, do you think football is going to be around? I mean, I noticed there was one player that said the other day -- he said he didn't know if football would still be here in 30 years. And we do know sports come and go. You know, when I was a kid, the big sports were baseball and boxing. And you don't hear much -- boxing is still around, but it's not where it was in those days. Will football be here?
GOODELL: Absolutely. I couldn't be more optimistic about it, because the game of football has always evolved. Through the years, through the decades, we've always made changes to our game to make it safer, to make it more exciting, to make it a better game for the players, for the fans. And we have done that in a very calculated fashion. So I'm very optimistic about...
SCHIEFFER: Are there going to be changes in the rules? Are we going to see different things introduced here? What are you thinking about?
GOODELL: Of course. We're always going to make changes in the rules, as we always have. When we see techniques that we think can lead to injuries, we're going to get them out of the game. One thing that we're going to look very closely at this year are low blocks and can those low blocks cause injuries that can cost players to miss games and miss seasons? And we don't want to see that. Fans want to see the players on the field and we want the players on the field.
SCHIEFFER: And you're going to have a neurologist, starting next year, on the field at the games?
GOODELL: Yes, we're going to have an unaffiliated neurologist that will have to be there at every game that will be there to support the team doctors. And if there is any need for their services, they will be available.
SCHIEFFER: Shannon, what -- what would you like to see? Do you think there are some changes needed here in the rules and the procedures?
SHARPE: I love what the commissioner is doing. I love the fact that he's taking the initiative. Because it's easy to sit back and say, "Well, they're making the game soft; it's not what it used to be when we played," but they're not having -- they don't have to deal with the litigation that the National Football League is facing. So the commissioner, along with the NFL P.A., is trying to make the game as safe as they possibly can to make sure we don't have another situation, say 30 years from now, where we have another 4,000 or 5,000 people lined up to say "This is what happened to me when I played in the National Football League and now we want compensation."
SCHIEFFER: Phil, what do you think?
SIMMS: Oh, I think, in 30 years, I think the league is going to be better than it is now. All this controversy we've been talking about the last year or two, how did it do this year? It went up. you know, interest is bigger than ever. And the one thing about the NFL, it's not like any other sports league. They change the rules every year to accommodate the fans, to make the game more exciting and to make it safe. So they're not afraid of change, and there are significant changes that go on every single year, and I know there will be a few this year, too.
SCHIEFFER: Jim, does this change your job as a broadcaster? Do you put emphasis on different things?
NANTZ: Not a bit.
SCHIEFFER: Do you still talk about hard hits? Do you still show those replays of the hard hits?
NANTZ: It's changed the way, I think, games are presented. You know, we used to, I think -- I'm talking in general -- highlight shows, et cetera; I'm not talking just CBS -- used to glorify the big hit. There used to be a sponsored element in a lot of these studio shows, you know, like let's celebrate the biggest hit of the day. Somebody just blew someone up. They thought that was -- you know, that was a great thing to showcase. That's long gone. Launching yourself at another player with the crown of your helmet, we don't see that like we used to. And I don't hear an outcry -- we were talking about this -- from the fans, saying "The game's not the same," you know, "Now that they've tried to emphasize safety, I'm not in love with the game like before." I never heard a fan complain about it. But I'll say this: 30 years from now, the NFL definitely will still be here, bigger and better than ever, and you'll probably still be here doing "Face the Nation."
(LAUGHTER)
SCHIEFFER: Well, you know what Andy Rooney said one time. He said, "I didn't get old because I wanted to. It just happened."
(LAUGHTER)
If you're lucky, you'll get old, too.
(LAUGHTER)
So I hope we're -- I hope we're all around here. What kind of a game are we going to have today? Do you think it's going to be a game about running? Is it going to be about passing? What will -- what will decide this game?
SIMMS: Well, I just think it's -- I couldn't give you one reason why it's -- what's going to decide it. I know this, we have exciting players on both sides of the football, and I think what we saw during play-off football this year, the quarterbacks throwing the football down the field is pretty exciting. There's nothing like home runs when you go watch a baseball game. And we have home-run hitters playing quarterback for both teams. So you've to be on the edge of your seat at all times because you -- it could be a long touchdown throw the very next play.
SCHIEFFER: You know, I can't remember a year when there's been this many good rookie quarterbacks.
SHARPE: Well, I think it's because they start them out younger throwing the football. And what -- NFL coaches have become less rigid. They're not saying, "This is my system; either you learn how to play within the system or you find another position." No, they've gone back to college. They've implemented what these players do really, really well. You look at RG3; you look at Cam Newton; you look at Russell Wilson and Kaepernick, these guys add an element of what they did in college. And people said the spread option, or the pistol wouldn't work. Well, it's here, guys. And I don't know if this -- if Kaepernick wins the Super Bowl, I don't know if there's going to be a league that transitions to that type of an offense because you have to find that type of guy to run that offense. I still think the pocket passes, the Peyton Mannings, the Tom Bradys -- I think they still have a place in this game.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHIEFFER: But these two quarterbacks -- I mean, what a story both of them are. I mean, just from a personal standpoint, one guy's sitting on the bench at the start of the season; the other one is just this gritty, blue-collar kind of guy...
(LAUGHTER)
... perfect for Baltimore.
NANTZ: You know, Kaepernick, this is his 10th career start. And he came into our meeting on Thursday, and I pointed to Phil, and Phil was asking him some questions. And I said, "Colin, do you realize that you're sitting next to a former Super Bowl MVP?" And he, kind of, looked at Phil...
(LAUGHTER)
You know, he's 25 years old. And he said, "You were?" And I said,"He maybe had the greatest game any quarterback's ever had in Super Bowl history, 22 of 25, three touchdowns, had a couple of drops, almost the perfect game." He said, "Wow." And I said, "How old are you, Colin?" And he said, 25. I said, well, it was 25 years ago...
(LAUGHTER)
NANTZ: (INAUDIBLE). When were you born? He said, November 3rd. On Phil's birthday.
SIMMS: Yes, November 3rd too.
NANTZ: So you were feeling the connection there.
SIMMS: Yes, it was great, it was great.
SCHIEFFER: Phil, don't feel bad about this, last night we were coming out of a restaurant and getting into a cab and some woman ran up to me and said, oh, you're so wonderful, I love you all my life. And she turned around and said, hey, everybody, Dan Rather is here.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMS: You could be called worse things.
SCHIEFFER: Commissioner, what are you looking for today?
GOODELL: A close game. I think we've had incredible playoffs this year. Everybody is talking about how great the games have been. These teams are both on a roll. They have great stories. We always root for the team that's behind in the league office that we have that close game. But I think a Harbaugh is going to come out on top.
SCHIEFFER: A Harbaugh comes out on top.
SHARPE: I know Phil mentioned overtime, I don't think San Francisco won an overtime game. I don't know if they really want the game to come down to a kick with David Akers as he has been struggling this year in the playoffs. But I do (INAUDIBLE) in style. Joe Flacco, prototypical drop- back quarterback, throw the ball from the pocket. Colin Kaepernick wants the bubble, get wide, find lanes, run down the field. But he proved in the championship game, he can throw the football. So it's going to be a hard-nosed football game. These teams are very reflective of their head coaches, very reflective.
SCHIEFFER: There's nothing quite like a championship game, is there, Jim? Whether it's the World Series or the Super Bowl?
NANTZ: I've been around a few, you know? Twenty-eight years now. But this is the best buildup I have ever seen. New Orleans has been just the greatest host city. They know how to throw a party. And there's just a -- the story with the Harbaughes and all, we're 12 hours away from standing on a platform, I'll be there with the commissioner to give away the Vince Lombardi Trophy away. And I usually have a gut feeling, but in this case, I don't at all. I agree, it's going to be a Harbaugh you'll be giving the trophy to.
(CROSSTALK)
SIMMS: ... because you ate too much of this cuisine all week long.
(LAUGHTER)
SHARPE: We have definitely partaken in the cuisine here.
SCHIEFFER: Oh, is that so?
SHARPE: Oh, yes. I've tried everything from duck dumplings to voodoo gumbo, to andouille sausage, and alligator. I -- look, if they put it on a plate, I ate it. And if it didn't move, I ate it. (LAUGHTER)
SCHIEFFER: All right.
GOODELL: Bob, there is one moment though before the game which we like to say we bring the country together on Super Bowl Sunday, and I think there's a moment when "America the Beautiful" is sung today that I hope people don't miss today. It's going to be a real special moment for our country.
(CROSSTALK)
GOODELL: The Sandy Hook Elementary School is going to have a choir singing, along with Jennifer Hudson, and I just think it's going to be spectacular.
SCHIEFFER: Well, the best to all of you. Have a good game. We'll be back in a minute.
SCHIEFFER: So the big day is here. If you were here, as we were in those awful days after Katrina, you had to wonder then if the city that hosted nine Super Bowls could ever pull it off again. Well, make no mistake, the Big Easy is back, not bigger but better than ever. The city that always had more fun per square inch than any place I know may have lost some population but the number of restaurants has nearly doubled. Dinner at old reliables like Galatoires still taste exactly the same as the last time you were here, which is why people keep coming back. You'll find some new dishes, too, around town. My colleague Mo Rocca found a vegan po' boy. Not for me, but it's there if you need it. New Orleans has more good music on the sidewalks than most cities have indoors. The thing is, people here know how to have a good time and want visitors to have one, too. People ask me who I'm cheering for today and my answer is, the people of New Orleans for the job they've done to bring this city back. Only those who were here in the days after Katrina can understand what they've accomplished. No one paid me to say this, but since it does sound like a commercial, I guess I'd better say, I'm Bob Schieffer, and I approve New Orleans. Love it, actually. Back in a minute.
SCHIEFFER: That's it for FACE THE NATION today. But stay with CBS all day for our coverage of Super Bowl XLVII, including Scott Pelley's live interview with President Obama at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Then the kickoff is at 6:25 p.m. Eastern. We'll be back in Washington next Sunday. We'll see you then.