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'Football Night In America” preview – Wild Card Saturday Special Edition, J.J. Watt Interview

By April MacIntyre Jan 5, 2013, 22:31 GMT

J.J. Watt (99) - Reliant Stadium - Houston, TX, USA © PRK / PR Photos

Tune in alert as Michelle Beadle interviews Texans DT J.J. Watt. Bob Costas Interviews Vikings RB Adrian Peterson and Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. Coverage Begins with Special Wild Card Saturday Edition of Football Night in America at 4 p.m. ET.

“When I'm in the off-season, in the gym, and nobody's watching, you're working for these moments when you're on national television and the whole world is watching.” – J.J. Watt

“In my mind, I'm the MVP whether I win it or not.” – Adrian Peterson

“We are kind of tired of hearing about it. We want to see our defense shut him down… He’s fun to watch if he’s playing someone else.” – Aaron Rodgers on Adrian Peterson

NBC Sports kicks off its NFL postseason coverage with a Wild Card doubleheader on NBC today featuring the Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) at Houston Texans (12-4) at 4:30 p.m. ET and the Minnesota Vikings (10-6) at Green Bay Packers (11-5) at 8 p.m. ET. NBC’s Wild Card coverage begins Saturday at 4 p.m. ET with a special Wild Card Saturday edition of Football Night in America.

Michelle Beadle interviewed Houston Texans DT J.J. Watt for today’s special Wild Card Saturday edition of Football Night. Bob Costas interviewed Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson for an interview that will appear at halftime of today’s Bengals-Texans Wild Card game and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers for an interview that is scheduled to air in between Wild Card games.

Costas hosts the special Wild Card Saturday edition of Football Night in America live from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. He will be joined by NFL analyst and former Steelers WR Hines Ward. Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com.

Veteran play-by-play announcer Dan Hicks will call the Bengals-Texans game, joined by analyst Mike Mayock and reporter Alex Flanagan.

Calling Vikings-Packers is NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast team of Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 27th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 13-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth; and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who, last year in her first season with SNF, won the inaugural Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Reporter.

J.J. WATT INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE BEADLE

On being considered a ‘freak’ and a ‘physical specimen:

“It's pretty cool. It's an honor. This is what I've been working my whole life for. When I'm in the off-season, in the gym, and nobody's watching, you're working for these moments when you're on national television and the whole world is watching.”

On seeing people wearing his No. 99 jersey:

“Christmas Day was one of the coolest days ever, because I just got to see pictures of kids opening up these gifts. And you see grandmas and grandpas with No. 99 jerseys. Everybody, all ages, so it's one of the coolest things ever.”

On Head Coach Gary Kubiak saying he wants the Texans to play with ‘reckless abandon:’

“That’s the favorite thing I could ever hear. Because that's when I play my best…Off the field, I'm a real nice guy, and I'm like a big teddy bear. But as soon as I step across those white lines, you turn into beast mode. You turn into monster mode. And it's time to go.”

ADRIAN PETERSON WITH BOB COSTAS

On coming back so quickly from his torn ACL and MCL:

“My mind works differently. I already feel like just genetically, from my family, that my body heals quicker than others. And most importantly, just my mindset is a lot different from other people. So I didn't base my recovery on what everyone else had to say about it.”

On if he should win the NFL MVP:

“Why should I win? I don't really want to just plead a case for myself. In my mind, I'm the MVP whether I win it or not.”

On Packers LB Clay Matthews saying they will do a better job of stopping the run:

“That'll be fine with me. I'm going out trying to win. I'm not trying to break no records. I'm not worried about yardage. I'm worried about getting a ‘W’ when that last second went off the clock in the fourth quarter.”

AARON RODGERS WITH BOB COSTAS

On what changes for him in the post-season:

“I really believe that you earn your paycheck during the season, and play at a high level, and get your team to the playoffs. And then the post-season is all about creating your legacy. The great quarterbacks are remembered for their playoff successes and triumphs and Super Bowl championships and Super Bowl MVPs. We've got one here and we want to add to that.”

On Adrian Peterson:

“As far as we’re concerned, we are kind of tired of hearing about it. We want to see our defense shut him down. We’ve played him twice and he had, I believe, 210 yards in the first game and 199 last week. He’s fun to watch if he’s playing someone else.”

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