If anyone stuck around for the halftime show on Sunday Night Football, they were given a treat. Rodney Harrison decided to call out one of his former teammates, and it caught me so off guard, that I had to rewind it about seven times. Here's the clip if you missed it....

Obviously as a defensive player Harrison would side with Ray Lewis, but to call out his former quarterback like that is usually unheard of. It's no secret that the league protects quarterbacks, and is it wrong for Brady to lobby for the flag? Maybe, but it happens in every sport and really isn't a big enough deal to tell someone to "take their skirt off" though. Still, it was hilarious.

Video: Rodney Harrison Tells Tom Brady to Take His Skirt Off (BSO)

T.O. had his first catchless day in about one-hundred and seventy plus games, but he apparently decided to take his frustrations out on NBC commentator Rodney Harrison. Oh and he did so on Twitter. Via Sports by Brooks....

Well then. While it's certainly true that Harrison used steroids, this definitely just shows how much of a child that Owens really is. Welcome to T.O.'s last year in the league, folks. Hope you enjoy it!

T.O. Goes Beserk, Accuses Announcer Of Steroids (Sports by Brooks)

In a press conference today, NBC said that they will be sending Bob Costas to the game site each Sunday, and he will do the pregame show with Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels. Following the trio discussing the bigger stories of the day, along with Tiki Barber on the sidelines and locker rooms, they will then throw it to Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann (along with Dungy, Harrison and Peter King). Via NBC PR....

Costas, the most honored studio host of all time with 19 Emmy Awards, will host the show from a set at the "Sunday Night Football" game site. He will be joined by the new SNF broadcast team of Al Michaels, a six-time Emmy Award-winner whom the Associated Press has called "TV's best play-by-play announcer," and Cris Collinsworth, the most honored studio analyst in sports television history, winning the award in nine of the 12 years of its existence and winning two additional Emmys for game analyst. Collinsworth moves from the studio to the broadcast booth alongside Michaels to replace the recently-retired John Madden.

"At our best we aspire to give the viewer the best seat in the house -- not the hype around the event, but the story of the event itself," said Ebersol. "Bob has proven time and again that he is unmatched in his ability to appropriately set the scene and tell the story of an event. Having the two premier broadcasters of their generation in Bob and Al on site and appearing together alongside Cris, the best analyst in the business, adds an immediacy that makes 'Sunday Night Football' an even bigger event."

Costas said: "Hosting from the site of the game, being in the stadium surrounded by the fans and the energy and atmosphere of the event, creates an urgency and a sense of place that can't be duplicated in the studio. And of course, this allows me to keep working with Cris, while at the same time building on the special chemistry I developed with Al Michaels in BASEketball."

I've always been critical of NBC's decisions when it comes to "Football Night in America", but this year they seem to be close to getting it right. In fact, you could argue that they only really need Costas, Collinsworth and Michaels, manning the highlights.

(Also to note: As I mentioned before, Andrea Kremer is no longer on the sidelines)

I didn't really have much of a problem with Football Night In America's approach to their program, but apparently they think it's too "highlight driven". Well, with the hiring of Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, that's all going to change. From Dick Ebersol via Sports Business Daily....

NBC Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol yesterday indicated the net’s “Football Night in America” studio show will change its directional tone, cutting back on the amount of highlights from that day’s games to allow for more league analysis and previews of that night’s primetime broadcast. Ebersol: “We have failed to clear out enough time to discuss football, and we’ve been too locked in on highlights for every game.” While clips from each game will still be shown, Ebersol noted there will be “much more emphasis on the whys of what happened at that game than we’ve had in the past.” Ebersol: “I feel that we’ve been neglect in that area.”

I rather enjoyed the no nonsense approach to just showing highlights, but that could be the reason I though Jerome Bettis and Cris Collinsworth were so pointless on the show. NBC can afford to discuss game theory more now, and with Tiki Barber moving on-site, they have the right number of people to do so.

NBC's "FNIA" To Feature More Analysis; Dungy, Harrison In Studio (Sports Business Daily)

All of us watched NBC's coverage of the Super Bowl, and I think most (if not all) of us can agree that Rodney Harrsion's performance as an analyst was less than stellar. Sure there was a great segment on the "David Tyree Catch" involving him, but for the most part he didn't really blow me away with his "analysis".

Well today comes the news, that not only Harrison is being considered by multiple networks, and could even replace the rumored to be fired Jerome Bettis at NBC. Via the Boston Herald....

Harrison represents a trickier case. He has not played a full season since 2004. He turns 37 in December and appears to be paying the inevitable price that comes with his take-no-prisoners style of play.

Because he’s feisty, fearless and opinionated, Harrison has drawn interest from the broadcast networks and could easily land a studio role. Anyone who saw him on the NFL Network during Super Bowl week knows he’s a natural in front of the camera. But Harrison has not yet publicly shut the door on another comeback, and for the time being he appears to be limiting his options to the Patriots, though the Atlanta resident’s hometown Falcons always could be in play.

Before we get into this, it needs to be noted that this rumor is coming from John Tomase. He who claimed the Pats were involved in walkthrough tapings of the Rams. So I would tread lightly when taking it as fact. However, this wouldn't necessarily be a bad move for NBC.

Yes, I've said that NBC need not hire anyone to replace Bettis. But, that was before we learned that Cris Collinsworth was heading to the booth to replace Madden. With just Costas, Tiki, Olbermann and Patrick (and the random appearances from Peter King), the set would seem rather empty. Harrison might be worth a tryout.

D-Day Looms For Rodney Harrison, Jason Taylor (Boston Herald)