Tirico Joined by Fellow Monday Night Football Co-Hosts Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden; Full Podcast Available Below

The latest version of ‘Open Mike’ with Mike Tirico – ESPN Radio’s newest original podcast that focuses on the issues surrounding the biggest events in the sports world – features an NFL season preview with Mike Tirico’s Monday Night Football co-hosts, Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden, discussing the issues, news and events surrounding football this year.

Each episode of ‘Open Mike’ with Mike Tirico covers a single, timely topic and begins with a set-up piece rich with sound and perspective and features interviews central to the topic.  That is followed by a discussion with a guest or panel of guests and concludes with Tirico’s personal observations and reactions.

In the podcast, available today, Tirico addresses the start of the NFL season and several of the hot topics with the new season, including Brett Favre and Michael Vick.  Guests include Vikings DL Jared Allen, Saints QB Drew Brees and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  From the interviews:

Jared Allen on what it’s going to mean for the team’s confidence having Brett Favre in the locker room:

“We’ll see how it plays out.  He comes in here and he’s not afraid to tell everybody ‘Listen, I’m going to give it everything I got  to help you guys win, but, you know, we got to go out and play all these games.  So it’s going to take all 53 of us to get this job done.’  But, I mean, people are going to have to game plan us a little differently.  You can’t stack the box and just try to shut down Adrian.  You’re going to have to look out for number 4.”

Drew Brees on being mentioned in the same company as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady by guys in the game like Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden:

“Well, that means a lot, coming from those two guys, Jaworski and Gruden, they’ve played a lot of football and coached a lot of football, respectively.  So, that’s a big honor coming from those two but, I can definitely say that the quarterback position is measured by wins and losses and championships.  And I don’t have any championships yet, so, obviously I got, still got a ways to go.”

Roger Goodell on whether labor negotiations will be going on during the season:

“Yes I do.  I’d be surprised if we are not.  You know, we all have a job to do here and the owners have negotiating teams and D (Demaurice Smith) is prepared to get started in negotiating, so I do hope that it will be in earnest.  We’ve had a couple of formal sessions but I really hope that we can get into some discussion about various alternatives and options that we can get started on in the next couple of weeks.”

Goodell on still being a fan when he sits down to watch an NFL game:

“…I gotta tell you, no one is more excited for this football season than me. You know, just having, this is kickoff week for us starting on Thursday night and with a great weekend and I’m going to be going to 3 or 4 games this weekend. I just, um, I’m thrilled, it’s, I love the game as much as anybody and while I do have responsibilities around it and I have to look at the game maybe slightly different, I haven’t lost the passion for it, Mike, I assure you that.”

Commissioner Goodell was also interviewed today on Mike & Mike in the Morning.  For more on the commissioner’s take on Vick, the length of the NFL season, the league’s blackout rule, the expiring CBA and whether a third party should be used in union issues and disciplinary matters, click HERE.

Click HERE to listen to the full podcast from ‘Open Mike’ with Mike Tirico.  The podcast debuted on Wednesday, September 2 featuring an in-depth discussion on the state of American tennis, available HERE.

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