Bob Costas on The Dan Patrick Show (Toughest Interviews, Pete Rose, Adrian Peterson) 11/21/2014

this is bob

costas

from football night in america joining us here he's got cowboys and giants where you'll be in the meadows next weekend um is this business or pleasure you're here for it's always a pleasure to be with you Dan, but I'm on my way to the Meadowlands to interview the Giants' Odell Beckham for Sunday night's pregame

show

. The most difficult interview you have ever had. Well, there are two ways to define that. If the person is combative, you know that people can remember them. the vince mcmahon thing from uh hbo with no live commercials 27 28 minutes of practically non-stop tension and then there was the sandusky thing, which was newsworthy and was a bit of a tightrope walk, but it was actually the hardest and i think you would probably agree if the person is just boring or unresponsive if you can't get anything those are really the hardest ones if bill belichick didn't want to play with you but if somehow the league forced him and he didn't want to pay the fine like that marshawn lynch sat here with you for half an hour and the whole thing was we're in cincinnati, that would be difficult if marshawn lynch was forced to talk, I don't think so, actually, I don't think so, you know, I think there may be certain situations where you have to be available at a press conference the way they usually bring the quarterback or the star of the game with the coach, but the idea that you have to talk at your locker or whatever, I think. that's a little too regimented um steve carlton didn't talk to the press george hendrick is one of the nicest guys I've ever met silent george nice is one of the nicest guys in baseball politely didn't talk eddie murray ed eddie murray sometimes eddie murray has become an extremely nice and approachable guy later in his career and in retirement i had a bit of resentment before but i had no problem with eddie not speaking to the media generally speaking yeah i think there are moments in which You have to be more aware and Eddie, Eddie and I are friends.

Eddie grew up with Ozzy Smith and Ozzy and I are close thanks to St. Louis, so I've gone to dinner with Eddie many times and gotten to know him. and I respect that, but think back if this story is not too old or boring The 1995 baseball world series comes from the disastrous strike and the whole thing they are trying to come back cleveland and atlanta face each other in the world series the brave men win the first two games cleveland wins game three to come back in front of a roaring crowd in cleveland they haven't had a world series since 1954 and he gets the winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning and he comes out and jim gray is hey can we talk to you at that moment?

You have to tell yourself that I owe it to baseball to say yes, it was great. I hit a slider. We're back in the series. See you tomorrow. That's all you need. He does not. I'm going to ask you about your background or your opinion on who should win the presidential election. Well, it could be Jim. Well, I take it back. What did you think when Jim cornered Pete Rose and tried to basically get him to come over? Clean up on gambling, you know full disclosure here because it's fair. Jim talked to me the morning of the game and he told me what are some of the questions he would ask Pete Rose, but in my mind all those guys from the all-century team.

That was the night they announced the all-century team, so you know Mickey Mantle's family is there, he had passed away, but Sandy Koufax is there and Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, they're all there, okay and whatever. We imagine it was during the course of the game. There would be a box that these guys would be in and then you would go to Jim and he would ask you one or two questions, so we discussed the questions and then it turned out that he gave Pete the best analogy right after. What I can offer is suppose one of Nixon's daughters had gotten married right in the middle of Watergate.

There, all the legitimate questions you could ask Nixon, you still don't ask them as they walk down the church steps. Well, even there it is. So this is Pete's moment because basically what the fan said and chose him for the all-century team was not that he was one of the 30 best players or the six best outfielders; he's somewhere on the list, but it's probably not that short. list, but this was his hall of fame vote for Pete, this was his moment, so after asking a question, I think Jim now realizes that he should have backed away from all the questions he asked him if the would have done on this program today.

The program of meeting the press in a different context was a legitimate question. It was the timing and tone that worked against Jim. What if we let the public put Pete Rose on the ballot since the public is the one who goes to the room? of fame this is a museum bob um I think we have a holier than thou view of the baseball hall of fame when it's for the fans do the fans want to see Pete Rose in the hall of fame? It's that fair, definitely not, I think. If you put it to a vote of the fans, yes, they would simply say that we are tempering justice with mercy.

We're not saying here that what he did didn't deserve punishment and, my goodness, hasn't he already been punished in multiple ways? The fans don't just want him on the ballot, I think they want him in the hall of fame and I think the argument is compelling. look at the guys who clearly use steroids, some of them admitted that steroids may not be in the room, but they are. on the ballot put

pete

on the ballot reset the clock because he was never on it and see what happens from there this is bob

costas

joining us here on the dan

patrick

show

from the caveman New York City If someone doesn't accept an interview with you, yes, take it personally, is it a compliment?

I don't remember taking it personally sometimes it's a compliment because you know if a person is in the middle of a controversy there are certain people they prefer to avoid because they know they are I'm going to get direct questions, I hope they're not unfair questions, but direct questions, so sometimes you can infer that the person is saying: I'm going to go here where more softballs will be thrown, but I don't remember taking it personally. Tom Brady is not available, yes, and sometimes he is not, you don't take it personally, no, no, I have had several good

interviews

with Tom, if they make the Super Bowl this year, I will probably do an interview with Tom, he will will recognize.

You know the importance of that, but yeah, whatever they want to do is fine with me. Look, I was always worried. You know strategically you will choose a place and go. That's where I want to go. Lance Armstrong chose Oprah. for some reason I chose oprah I don't know if bill cosby will choose oprah when he does his interview um if a-rod is going to do an interview mark mcguire chose you to do an interview possibility of getting a-rod uh I have you contacted him , he and I have been in touch, but we're actually in regular contact over the years, and he knows that if he ever wants to sit down and do an interview, I would be willing to do it, but everyone. he has his own approach to him.

I'm not one of those people who really works with an interview topic and constantly sends them gifts or makes phone calls and bothers them. If anyone knows of my general interest, they basically know what I do and how I do it. If that's where they end up going, then that's fine with me, I think in general, if it was Mark Maguire, if it was Lance Armstrong, uh, if it's A-Rod, you're not doing yourself any good if you don't go somewhere that's credible. . You need to go somewhere that's long because you don't want to get bitten, yeah, um, but you need to go somewhere where you're not going to get ambushed but where the person is pretty knowledgeable. but believable because if they just softball you, that actually puts you further behind the eight ball, I think, and we're always critical, we always pick and choose when we look at someone like Oprah, did she do a great job with Lance or uh, James brown interviewed michael vick when he first came back and chose him for a relationship, you know, you start psychoanalyzing it, a lot of it is jealousy in our business too, yeah, you know, we didn't get the interview,

adrian

pete

rson, um, how much?

Could you push to try to get something like that? Why not press? But I would, if it's newsworthy. Yes, forgive me if it's newsworthy. I want to do it. I want to do an interview with Roger Goodell as soon as he's ready to sit down and I. but I want it to be long, I want it to be, if possible, in the Super Bowl with a good part where we have a long period before the game so that we are not short on time, but if you could do it with Goodell or Peterson. Right now, Goodell because the issues are broader, but I would.

He would do both if he could. What is his position on the Peterson story? In case he is reinstated, it served as punishment in case he was able to play. Leave it to the Vikings. This is what I do. The suspicious thing has happened here, the NFL has taken a stance that they hope will go a little further to assure the public that they understand and will continue to get closer to the right thing if the players association prevails in its response and then the league. I can always say, well, this was our position, the players association prevailed and that's what I think is probably their position.

Was there any grandiloquence? Well, I guess that's kind of the implication. Yes, yes, yes, a little. I can not read. minds and I don't have any inside information, but you know, you have to remember that in the case of Peterson Greg Hardy, these guys have been suspended with pay, so really their teams are the ones that have been penalized more than in a tangible way me I would like to see the owners of the Vikings, it would be their responsibility if you want to employ them instead of appointing the commissioner. That's why you pay the commissioner to lead the battle, but if you told him If you want to play with him, you play with him, if you don't, then you release him.

Well, they certainly don't want to release him because they know he can still play and play at a high level and eventually he will be reinstated. No, it's not Ray Rice, yes, but do you want to play with him? If you told the Wills you wanted to play with him, you had a chance to play with him again. I can't read minds, they're not really in the playoff hunt, yeah, um. it might be different if they were and they needed these last few games um there's always overlaps you know considerations I look at you choosing your words carefully I'm going to ask you about being stubborn at halftime when you're doing these rehearsals and that's never the case.

It never ceases to amaze me every time I talk about race, uh, child abuse, it could be domestic abuse, people say the same thing, stick with sports, I'm going to ask you about that, that we can't color outside the lines and have a opinion about What is everyday life for us? Only Bob Lee can call her outside. Oh, there you go and Jeremy buys too, right? If you.