Much like Scores Report contributor John Paulsen, I had the opportunity to sit on a conference call with three-time Super Bowl champ Troy Aikman and FOX play-by-play announcer Joe Buck. I was even fortunate enough to ask Troy about his past Super Bowl experiences, as well as listen to his response on whether he believes the Patriots are one of the greatest dynasties ever. Below I’ve compiled five of the most interesting questions from the call, including my question to Troy (which is listed first) and Joe’s response to being asked about the differences between calling a World Series compared to a Super Bowl.
Troy, Tom Brady is going for his fourth Super Bowl victory and Eli Manning his first. You were a three-time Super Bowl winner – I realize all Super Bowl victories are hard-fought, but was there one in particular that stood out to you as being harder than the rest?
TA: Well, each one got a little more difficult for us and the last one was the most compelling when we played Pittsburgh. That was a pretty tight ballgame and the other ones, you know, we beat Buffalo the first time 52-17 and it was basically over by halftime or early in the third quarter. New England though, the three that they have won, they’ve won all three by only three points, so they’re accustomed to being in tight games. So, they’re going to be well prepared if this game goes down to the wire, too.
There seems to be many complaints from Giant fans that you guys are biased towards the Patriots. Do you feel that there’s any merit to that?
JB: Since I’ve been doing all of these World Series – I’ve done 10 of them – and this is the second Super Bowl, it doesn’t matter what the matchup is or the history of me and that city, or my relation to that city…and I know this is the same for Troy and anyone else that puts on the headset…if you get emotional and get excited during the key moments of a game, you’re always going to be considered by one fan base or the other as being for or against a certain team. I can honestly sit here and tell you that I do not care who wins on Sunday, nor have I cared at any time during the postseason. You just call the game and people are going to hear it the way they’re going to hear it. I get it – if Giants fans are used to hearing their local announcer Bob Poppa get excited or disappointed when the Giants don’t do well…it happens more in baseball because there’s more of a local feel…that people get used to hearing games a certain way, so to hear it from a down-the-middle perspective, they think automatically the (announcer) is against (your team). It’s pretty easy to understand and it doesn’t affect any one-second of what I do on Sunday. And Troy is starting to go through this for the first time this post season. It’s just the nature of the business and it’s been this way since my dad was doing it, (Vince) Scully and everyone else.
TA: Yeah in Dallas, they feel that I’m anti-Dallas (laughing). You know, it’s a small minority of whom we hear from and you know, hey, that’s why they’re called fans. It’s pretty absurd or ridiculous to think that we have a rooting interest in the booth or that we’re calling the game that’s slanted towards a particular team.
Troy, since you were on a team that was considered one of the best Super Bowl teams of all time, where would you rank the Patriots if they prevail on Sunday?
TA: You know, when you get into ranking the best teams or best players, I think it’s obviously very difficult to do. If they’re able to win this week and win four world championships, it obviously puts them in a class with San Francisco and Pittsburgh as far as those dynasties during those decades are concerned. I certainly appreciate what (the Patriots) have been able to accomplish, you know, having been through it myself and knowing how difficult it is to do. The thing that has been most impressive to me is the fact that, you know, this is a team that has gotten better in a lot of areas, as well as gotten younger. And whether it was a team that I was a part of or the 49ers or the Pittsburgh Steelers, the key figures were guys that were on all of those (championship) teams before. Tom Brady is obviously a constant for New England, but I use the example of their offensive line all the time. Matt Light is the oldest player on their offensive line and he’s just 29-years old. There are only two starters on the offense that were starting back in ’01 when they won their first Super Bowl. So, I do think that if they are able to win this week, you could make the argument that they’re the greatest team of all time and it would be a very strong argument considering they haven’t lost this year. As far as being a dynasty and where they rank with the other franchises in the other decades…you could make that argument that they’re the best ever…but I also don’t see this being it for them. I see them being really, really good for a long time.
Joe, is there any difference in preparation from calling a World Series compared to a Super Bowl?
JB: Well, the World Series is so different because it seems like you’ve been there night after night after night…and it used to start with FOX coverage of the Divisional Series and then the Championship Series then you know, you get to the World Series…and you hope that (the emotion) builds during the course of a World Series. Then you get to a Game 6, a Game 7 – we haven’t been that lucky lately but we’ve been there before – and with it being night after night, it’s a machine gun-style way to broadcast. And in the Super Bowl, you prepare for this game in a weekend, but there’s been so much downtime from the last game we did in Green Bay and the game coming up on Sunday that you feel like you’ve got three hours or however long the broadcast lasts – three hours to give it your best and don’t embarrass yourself, and do a good job. And the (World Series) is more a marathon, you know? If you make a mistake, you’ve got plenty of time to correct it and make up for it. Here in the Super Bowl, from my perspective, a mistake is a little more magnified and you hope you don’t make them.
John Madden had this theory that quarterbacks don’t do well in the big games because they have a tendency to have too much adrenaline and overthrow a lot of the passes. What’s your feeling – is there something particular about the big game that makes it harder on the quarterback?
TA: I think it depends on the quarterbacks you’re referring to. I don’t think it was too difficult for Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana. I don’t think it has ever been too difficult for Tom Brady, either. Good luck trying to get any emotion out of Eli, because he’s been so calm lately. I think people react to it differently and you can’t prepare yourself for the enormity of the event. You know, you tell yourself it’s just like any other game and that’s the approach you take until you hit the field. But it’s not like any other game, at least not initially. You’re aware that this game is special and that’s why you want to be a part of it. I wouldn’t define the pressure being only to quarterbacks, either. Some people handle it differently than others. I think that’s one of the best things about this game – you get a chance to see how quarterbacks, players, whoever it may be, react and respond to being on center stage with so much at stake. And that’s why I’m looking forward to this game and why I’ve always looked forward to the Super Bowl.
