Bob Griese – October 18, 2022
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Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Hall of Fame QB Bob Griese
(Opening Statement) – “I heard everything, every word that (Larry) Csonka was saying. He was – in the huddle, he was on one side of me, and Mercury Morris was on the other side of me. And you saw how long Csonka talks and you saw how intelligent he is, well, Mercury thought he was just as talkative, and he was, but he wasn’t nearly as smart as Csonka. But occasionally, I would say, ‘Alright, I don’t have any ideas of what I wanted to call.’ It was like second-and-1 or third-and-1. I would say, ‘Anybody got any ideas?’ Well, gee, here we go. Csonka says P 10, Mercury Morris says Flow 38, and then (Bob) Kuechenberg is up there, and he’s playing left guard, or he might be laying center, and he has his suggestions. So that’s what I put up with. I just want you guys to know that Mercury and Csonka and Kuechenberg, and then (Head Coach Don) Shula is on the sidelines, ‘Bob, hurry up! Hurry up, Bob! Hurry up!’ I said – and he knew, he knew, he knew, he knew what the problem was. So I didn’t ask for suggestions of play calls very often, but when we were ahead, it was fun to see those guys jump in there. You just saw with Csonka, a very intelligent guy, very intelligent but also – I always liked that play in the Super Bowl where he came, got swept and he hit that guy on the sideline. Shula thought it was going to be a penalty on the other guy, but no, it was on Csonka. (laughter) I enjoyed seeing that one, I do.”
(I think one of the most interesting things about this season is how you ended up splitting quarterback duties with QB Earl Morrall over the course of the season because of injuries. I was wondering if you could just speak about that, and also because he can’t speak with us today, if you could just reflect on QB Earl Morrall?) – “I played the first five games. We were inside the five-yard line, and I called a – I don’t know what the play was called, it was a pass. I dropped back to pass, I threw the ball, and I followed through with my right leg, and one of the defensive ends – I think it was San Diego or Los Angeles? Anyway, (he) fell on my right front leg, and I knew immediately that this was not going to be a thing that I was going to play the rest of that game. I’m saying I’m wonder how many games I’m going to miss. It was a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle. The dislocated ankle was much more serious than the crack in the fibula. So here comes Earl, Earl Morrall. Earl had been with (Head Coach Don) Shula in Baltimore. Shula’s second year with us, he brought Earl from Baltimore to us, because if anything happened to me, he had a lot of confidence in Earl. A lot of the guys didn’t see that yet, because Earl hadn’t played. Earl was not a good practice player. He was not the good practice player. So all the guys and the offense and the D-guys on the defense and the guys on the rest of the team were saying, ‘Uh oh. Uh oh, Bob’s hurt. Earl is going in. Did you see where he threw that pass on Friday? You see how he threw those passes on Saturday? Oh geez, here goes Earl.’ Earl was like, I don’t know, 38 or 39, which was – nobody played when they were that old in the league. So anyway, Earl comes in and just sets all the questioners, all the guys to the side, he answers all the questions. He leads us the rest of the way. And I’ve always said Earl was a great guy. We lockered next to each other, and he did a great job. There would be no undefeated season without Earl Morrall.”
(That’s great of you to say. I’ve got to say, one other aspect of that season for you that seems like something out of a movie is halftime AFC Championship game, Head Coach Don Shula talks to you about coming into the game. Can you just describe that moment a little bit?) –
“Well, I was ready. I was ready. In fact, I was healthy. I think I missed – what I miss? 10 games? 11 games? Like I said the cracked fibula was not problem, it was the dislocated ankle. I was getting treatment all the way from the time I got injured, well once they took the cast off, all they way up there. I had some friends and they played softball in the in the offseason. And a guy had a dislocated ankle like I did, and he said, ‘it took me two years to get over that dislocated ankle.’ And I said, ‘It took me five months.’ So five months and I was back playing. Everybody saw me in practice, I was running the second team. Earl Morrall was still running, he was doing his thing. Sometimes he was looking good in practice, sometimes (inaudible). (laughter) So anyway, I was throwing the ball well, I had a fresh arm. I mean, I had no bumps and bruises. I had no people stepping on me. Nothing was wrong with my head as far as bad plays. My arm was fresh, but Earl was doing a good job. So when Coach Shula came to me at halftime in Pittsburgh, the AFC Championship game, and he said, ‘You’re in,’ and I said, ‘Alright, I’ve been ready for the last couple of games.’ And he saw that and he knew that, and the rest of the team knew that. So I said, ‘OK.’ So, that was it – I just went in. Earl did a great job getting us there, and like I said, he’s a big part of that 17-0.”
(I wanted to talk a little bit more about how you mentioned the injuries that you suffered and QB Earl Morrall came in. Looking at this year’s Dolphins team, they’ve been dealing with injuries at the quarterback position. It’s derailed the season a little bit. They’ve suffered a few losses. Are you excited to see – It appears QB Tua Tagovailoa is coming back into the lineup. Are you excited to see him reintroduced out there onto the field? Is that the kind of spark that a team can have that will help get them back on the winning ways and really help turn the season back to where it was at the beginning with those three straight wins?) – “You couldn’t get any worse than having not only your two top quarterbacks, but your three top quarterbacks injured before you played six or seven games. But they’ll be back – none of them are out for the season. Tua (Tagovailoa) coming back – Tua will play and play well. The other two guys will heal. The thing we’ve found out is that seventh-round draft pick (Skylar Thompson) is pretty good player.”
(Another question just related to that a little bit. I know you were listening to Larry Csonka when he was talking with us. And he said listen, back in his day, these players could knock each other off their feet. Not the case anymore – the NFL really trying to protect the players and making rule changes. As a quarterback, what are your thoughts on the way the game is played now? I know there are some pluses and minuses. You see the questionable roughing the passer call with Tom Brady that social media erupted over. As a guy who played quarterback for so many years, what are your thoughts on the rule changes now to help protect players?) – “Well, when I played and all the other quarterbacks have played, they needed to protect the quarterback a little bit more. They may have gone overboard a little bit, but I would say I’d rather see them (stay) on the side of too much protection of the quarterback rather than too little, like they did back when we played.”
(We talked to Larry Csonka a little bit obviously before. He gets pretty excitable about the prospect of the undefeated teams losing each time that they have a chance. Can you talk about – is that a shared sentiment? Or would you say there’s somebody that gets the most excited about a team nowadays that loses the chance to match you guys? Or how does that go about with you guys?) – “Well, we’re kind of used to having one or two or three teams go undefeated, maybe halfway through the season, but this year was different. After, I don’t know, almost three games, there were only one or two teams still undefeated. I haven’t seen Philadelphia play that much, but I’ve seen some highlights. And like I guess like ‘Csonk’ (Larry Csonka) said, they could – but it gets tougher as you go along. It’s tougher, even the weaker teams have the chance to beat you. But yeah, they play one more game (or) two more games than we did. So I don’t know – if we went 17-0, they go 19-0. So they have one more game, but we still have the zero on the loss column.”
(Is there a certain trait you can point to that you guys had that you would say was the most significant trait for that team for not losing a game?) – “Oh, we had a hell of a defense. We had a hell of a defense, and we had a hell of an offensive line. We had the hell of a running game, which controlled, I think Csonka talked about it a little bit, we were out there not trying to score points so much but to stay on the field, keep our defense on the sideline and the opponent’s very good offense on the sideline. As long as we stayed out there making first downs and running that clock, we were doing our defense and our team a service and a disservice to the other team’s offense by not letting them on the field. So things change a lot. Back in that day, the thing was the running game and the offensive line and the running game. Today, it’s not that – it’s the passing game. So it’s kind of hard to control the field and the offense and the clock with a passing offense, but some people can do it.”
(I’m just curious, 50 is a big number – 50 years is a big number. But I remember at 25 years, Nick Buoniconti saying you guys were the forgotten team and Head Coach Don Shula saying you didn’t get your respect. Do you think by now that the undefeated and the achievement of it is on a bigger stage than it was back then and maybe what you guys deserve?) – “Yes, that’s a good point. That’s a good question. I think back then, so what? So you go undefeated, win the Super Bowl – somebody is going to do it in five years. Nobody did it. In 10 years – they’ll do it soon. 15 years, nobody has done it. 20 years? No, nobody. 30 (years), then the good teams come by, the Brady year, the New York Giants with Eli Manning beating the Patriots in that Super Bowl game. And everybody says, ‘Geez, that must be pretty hard to do, go undefeated.’ So yes, I think as time has gone by, I think more people realize that that was something special. We didn’t realize it was something special. We just thought – we didn’t try to go undefeated. We just went out there and tried to win each game. Win each game and that’s what we did. But it’s tougher to do now because there are more games. I think we get more respect now than we did back then because we went undefeated.”
(Just generally, how do you think like the game has evolved with the rules for concussions? Especially with what we know about CTE? How do you think head trauma injuries are like viewed now as supposed to back then?) – “I’m glad to see them protecting the quarterback a little bit more. A few years ago, they said, ‘OK, you can’t hit the quarterback below the waist, and you can’t hit him above the shoulders when you’re coming in there.’ Now, when the guy grabs him legally and twirls him around and throws him down and his head and his helmet pop back on the ground, now they’re starting to call that. I’m all for the quarterbacks – you can’t protect enough (is) what I’m saying. What would a game be without Aaron Rodgers? What would a game be without (Tom) Brady and some of these quarterbacks? You want to see them in there. As long as the rules are the same for both sides, both defenses and both offenses, I like it.”
(It just seems like there’s more of an awareness now for head trauma injuries as opposed to back in the day for all positions. What are your thoughts on that and how concussions and CTE are viewed now as opposed to back then?) – “Back in the old days – I’m looking across here at armoire and I see two or three of my helmets sitting up there. Inside those helmets are the way that helmets used to be made, and that was just straps. There were just straps in there holding your head away from the helmet and protecting it – not very good. Today, they’ve got these air-filled helmets on the inside that you can pump up and pump up, so the technology has come a long way. I see these guys hitting their heads and I say, ‘Oh, if that would have been me back int eh day, I probably would have had a concussion.’ But they’re much better – the helmets are much better, and they’re protecting the quarterbacks a little better. I like what I’m seeing.”
(I spoke to QB Tua Tagovailoa probably in the beginning of this season, he said he never had the chance to speak with you before. If there’s one thing that you could tell QB Tua Tagovailoa, what would that be?) – “Keep doing what you’re doing. He’s a bright kid. I would tell every quarterback this; when you drop back in the pocket, and you look to the right, and you look over the middle, and you look to the left, if nobody is covered and there’s no way to takeoff running, scrambling up the middle or scrambling to the right or the left, get rid of the ball. You have to think that. You have to say, ‘OK, I’ve got three receivers going out on the right and two on the left and they’re coming across the middle of field. I’m looking here first, then I’m looking here.’ And if not, I said, ‘I’m looking over here. I’m going to get rid of the ball over the middle. And if not, that baby is going somewhere. It’s going at the feet of somebody that’s covered. I’m getting rid of the football.’ And that that is a trait that the really good quarterbacks in this league have.”
(You spent some time as part of the greatest college broadcast team with you and Keith Jackson. What was that experience like working with him over the years?) – “Oh nelly! Oh nelly, I’ve got to tell you. Keith (Jackson) was – Keith was a great guy. My first game, he says, ‘I’ll take care of you.’ I never will forget, my son, Brian, was playing for Michigan and they were in the Rose Bowl. Michigan was ranked No. 1, and everybody was asking me, ‘How are you going to call this game without being favored to your son and to Michigan?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ve been – we did five or six Michigan games, and I just call it the way I see it.’ I called – the Michigan quarterback was my son, I called him Griese. I didn’t call him – so anyway, we’re doing the Rose Bowl game, the National Championship, (and) Michigan wins. They win the National Championship. So they win, and Keith – it’s kind of near the end of the broadcast, kind of signing off and he says, ‘Woah, nelly. Do you want to know who the MVP is? I’m standing right next to his proud daddy.’ And I said, ‘Keith, you better take it from here, because I can’t talk.’ (laughter) He was a great guy – one of the best.”
