it is gone! >> done it again. it is caught for a touchdown! back-to-back world championships. >> the new england patriots in their long and storied history with going to their seventh super bowl. >> in the end zone with 35 seconds to go and the giants regain the lead. >> the patriots will not be -- the giants are the most improbable win of super bowl bowl xlii. this is costas tonight, live at the super bowl. presented by chevy. here's bob costas. and at the indiana repertoire theater, site of this live nfl town hall meeting. over the next two hour, a live array of panelists, coaches and players among them. as well as nfl commissioner, roger goodell. they'll weigh in on the vital issues. the reason we're in indianapolis this week, the giants and the patriots in super bowl xlvi. joining us now to talk about the game, a super bowl champ with the giants in 2008 and an analyst for fox, michael strahan. the just retired pro bowler, jason taylor. a star of super bowl xliii, larry fits verld and since we're in indy, here comes the applause, colts defensive end and super bowl xli champion, dwight freen i. [ applause ] michael, let's start with you because four years ago seems like the score i line coming in. other than the odds on the game was the same as this time. can the giants pass rush get to brady, get him out of rhythm and give them a chance to win the game? you say? >> it's the same formula, the same thing. eb september for the giants have a better offense now. eli used to drop back. i would hold my breath and go, please don't mess this up. now he drops back. you have the utmost confidence that he's going to get it done. in the pass rush, it could possibly be as good if not better than they were, than in 2007. >> not jason pierre paul. >> tuck can play inside. as before, osi and i were the ends. that's great when you have guys who can play all over the place. >> tom brady, win or lose on sunday, is one of the best quarterbacks. >> win or lose, he's going home to gisele. he's winning. that cat is winning. i don't care. he's winning no matter what. [ applause ] >> absolutely. >> win or lose on the scoreboard at lucas oil stadium, he's one of the best ever. you went up against him in the super bowl. jason, starting next year no more but this year twice a season usually with the dolphins. the book is that even the best of them can get rattled if they don't know where it's coming from. an unnamed assistant coach went over the film of the patriots loss to the jets in last year's playoffs and said he saw tom brady acting like he had never seen him act before. that he ducked a couple of times and looking for things that weren't there because the jets were getting to him that much. true? >> i don't know who the unnamed assistant is. every quarterback in the league hates to get hit. they don't like being hit -- unless you're tim tebow. he likes to be hit and he usually does the hitting. to rattle any quarterback, you immediate to get in their face, move them off the spot, so to speak. pressure them a little bit. none of them like that. they all want to be comfortable. if anybody can deal with it, i think it's tom brady. i know the giants did it a few years ago in the super bowl. we've done it over the years. tom tom brady. he can still throw the ball and make plays. he's good at adjusting and making his line better. >> how good is their offensive line, dwight? >> it's very good. they may not have the best person but together they play very well. they play smart. tom gets rid of that ball. it's almost like you can probably play the game without the offensive line. that's how efficient they are. it's going to be a tough matchup. >> the way he gets rid of it quickly and the way necessity use a short passing game in place of a running game, they stayed out of third and long which doesn't negate but neutralizes the pass rush a bit, right? >> absolutely. they probably have the best i've seen in a couple years where they get the defensive line, almost like running the bau. it's going to be tough. >> you went to the super bowl larry and veneerly won it as a 9-7 team. a 9-7 never won the super bowl. the rams against the steelers many years ago, played them tough, lost it, you guys the same against the steelers. here are the giants at 9-7. they got on a roll late. in that sense, it's similar to what you did a few years ago. >> it was. we got beat up pretty bad. foxboro, they beat us by 40 point. that was the turn around for us. in seattle, weigh played well. i know the positive momentum from the regular season played a factor into the way we played in the post-season. we were underdog in every game we played. they had to go on the road, play in hostile environments, you saw it in 2008, they did it again this year. that's always about positive momentum going to the playoffs. >> i think, all of this -- they're staying healthy. you have the teams who are great one year and the same personnel, but everyone is hurt. the packers were a little different last year because they were injured but for some reason their backup stepped up well. for the giants -- they were beat up early in the season. all of a sudden everybody is healthy now, you have every key player that you depended on at the beginning is playing their best football now. that rarely happens that you get guys healthy at the right time. that's only to their advantage. >> the key injury is rob gronkowski with the high ankle sprain which is the identical injury that you had, dwight, two years ago when the colts played the saints in the super bowl. as i understand it, the injury was pretty much okay in the first half, a sack in the first half, then it tightened up in the long super bowl halftime which is always longer than any normal game. >> absolutely. it was pretty much day and night, just working on that ankle, working on that ankle. great first half. halftime killed me. i don't know what was going on out there. i don't know what was happening. it killed me. it stiffened up, the pain came back. i was 30% less than the start of the game. probably the biggest problem for him. i don't know exactly what his injury is. i know it's a high ankle sprain. my ligaments were torn. it's a little different. they have to keep him warm during halftime. >> mike flore yoe is in the audience. you see him every sunday on football night in america. what's the latest on gronkowski in. >> he did practice today on a limited basis. it's the first time he since he suffered in the afc championship game. it's widely expected he will play. his agent told nbc sports talk earlier today, if it wasn't the super bowl, gronkowski would not be playing. super bowl, gronkowski is going to give it a try. >> if you had to guess, what is it, 60%, 70%. >> probably between 60 and 80. when you need a guy like that to step up big, that may not be enough. >> if he is not truly gronkowski, even though they have aaron hernandez, how much of an effect does that have on the game? >> the only thing i'm sitting here, i'm going to tell madonna to sing two extra songs. [ laughter ] >> he is such a big part of that offense. every week it's gronkowski. he is huge. i've never seen a tight end that big and that strong, yet age i will. not just tom brady, for that team. when they need a big play, they know they can look to him. now to look at that guy may not be as effective. that could just affect the psyche of everyone. >> it's going to be interesting what they do with him. they do a lot of things. like a receiver. or they can keep him in the core. >> i think the patriots go as long as wes welker goes. welker opens up so many things. i know gronkowski is a matchup nightmare. he's the -- he almost slows you to death. he's so big and lumbering. the thing with him with the ankle sprain is you can't tackle him up high. you have to tackle him low. the more that happens, it could be bothering him. >> what about the giants receiving core which is sometimes overlooked and the patriots secondary which some think is suspect. >> those receivers, the way they've been playing as of late, nick's had a phenomenal run but cruz will be tough. victor cruz is phenomenal. not only catching the football but once he gets the ball in his hands, breaking tack ms and making plays it will be tough to deal with. >> you had a great quote post super bowl after your team had a couple of down years. you said, i've tasted the caviar so i'm not interested in eating out of the garbage can. we have some news that may in some way relate to upgrading your cuisine. let's go to peter king who is in the audience. lot of speculation here about the future of peyton manning and many people had been seriously saying he may never take another snap in the nfl. what's the news today? >> bob x i don't think it's that big a story that the news came out today that peyton manning has been cleared by doctors to play. he was cleared for contact in december and could have played back then in december. but the whole issue with him now obviously is his arm strength. if he's going to continue his career whether it be with larry in arizona, will it be mike shanahan in washington or rex ryan with the jets, wherever, if it's anywhere, he's really going to have to make sure that his arm strength is right first. but i'll tell you this, peyton manning does not want to be told to retire. i think that peyton is going to take the next step and he's going to try to play at some point in the 2012 season. >> it's clear now he doesn't play here anymore, right? >> it's almost certain that he won't play here. i don't think the owner of the team wants to take a $28 million risk on peyton manning. >> well, i'm assuming it's not just a social occasion. i'm told that you plan to have dinner this week with peyton manning. i'm thinking to tell him all about how it's just a dry heat in arizona and it's very comfortable. [ laughter ] >> i don't even have peyton's number. i got the room in the green number. >> i have peyton's number. >> i don't have it. >> i'm hearing it. >> i'm thinking -- >> i saw jeff over there. he put his head down when he heard that. >> st. elmo's, palomino's. some place in town. >> i've had no contact with him. i don't know where that started, honestly. >> it's not true? >> no, it's not true. >> wait a minute. >> larry is smart enough to know about tampering. the things that come with it. >> give me your scenario by which your team, your old team the giants wins the game and the flip scenario by which the patriots win the game. >> giants put pressure on tom brady. if you don't he's a surgeon with the football. you have to do that. i think they have to -- it's the same form. protect eli, get to tom brady. i think eli is a much more confident player. he has receivers around him, the young guys, i'm surprised the way that they're playing. i think for the giants, to win, have to find a semblance of a run game. can't depend on all on eli. jacobs and bradshaw have to come out of the shell they were in until three weeks ago. i think for the patriots to win, keep brady up right, short passes, frustrated defense. nothing worse than rushing a quarterback and he throws the ball. i would have been called for so many penalties or fined so much money, i was going to hit you anyway. i work that hard to get that close and you throw it. oh, no, sir. michael is going to take a chance. you have to frustrate the giants up front. if you can do that, it can break down the defense >> i think michael said, the giants have to establish a run game. if they can get a run game going and take possessions away from the patriots. i think if they get in that huddle, hurry up offense and shorten their possessions up and then the giants can run the ball effectively and take some poe teg possessions away. >> in the giants run the ball effectively, i don't think the game will be -- >> the giants will win big. >> the patriots have to guard the giants receiver man-to-man outside, bringing that safety down and the running game. i think it's a disadvantage for the patriots on defense. >> that doesn't happen, and if the pass rush doesn't get to brady and he sits back and gets in rhythm, then the scoreboard explodes, right had. >> yes, it does. i don't see that. the giants have shown it week after week. gotten to aaron, gotten to the quarterbacks they've played and be able to get to tom. >> absolutely. you definitely have to minimize the amount of times that tom touches the ball. if the giants score some points running the ball and doing those things, then the defensive line on the giants going to have a better chance to get to tom. they'll hold on to the ball a little bit longer trying to catch up. in the beginning, it's going to be no huddle. get rid of the ball quick. try to precise passing. >> this is the first time in your long and distinguished career that the colts have not made the playoffs. not only that, here is the super bowl on your home field and a different manning starting the game. how weird is this whole experience for you? >> you said it. it is very weird. we're used to year in and year out being in the hunt, playoffs. this year, it's just been -- i don't know. then now being here talking about the super bowl and not -- the thing is my season has been over for a while now. [ laughter ] >> week five maybe? [ laughter ] >> yes. it's okay. >> so i had a long time to kind of let everything calm down, digest, calm down. you're mott in the super bowl this year. i was able to do things like that. >> is it galling at all that not just anybody but the patriots, your long-standing rivalry are using your facility, dressing this your locker room? >> i definitely heard about that. that's definitely going to be strange. i have some friends over there making sure that we lockdown certain areas of the facility, making sure the playbook isn't there, give them a fake playbook. it's funny. definitely is. >> larry, dwight and michael have super bowl rings. you came this close, caught seven passes in the super bowl against the steelers. two for touchdowns in the fourth quarter. there's the famous shot we may roll it in here of you heading for the end zone and looking up at the big board and see yourself hitting the end zone with what looked like it might have been the winning touchdown. how often do you think about how close you came? >> something that's crossing my mind especially during this time year round. you see the highlights you're watching tv. something that you think about quite often. you have to tip your hat. sometimes they make a play. they made the play to win the game. we didn't get it done. as simple as that. that's something i have to live with. >> michael, how would your post career life be different if you hadn't won super bowl xlii? >> can i curse? no, i'm joking. >> last time we were on hbo. then you could say whatever you wanted. i'm not sure what the new rules on the nbc sports network. >> it would definitely be different. i'd still be playing. i'd be -- i wouldn't be here, man. i'd be in a walker. come here, tom brady. [ laughter ] i take my hat off to eli and david tyrese and to those guys because they don't -- they still -- they will never know how much it meant for me 15 years in to have these guys step up and play the way they played in a season, bob, i came back from almost retierpg. didn't care about football. i wanted to have fun with the fellas. they turned it into ha it became. my career would be different. i would have to sit on stage and have them talk bad about me not having a ring. there's no shame in that in anything. >> he put in 15 long years. >> never played a one. >> larry got to one, barely lost. these guys have been there and won. you had a great career. but never got there. now you have to walk away without fulfilling that dream. >> yep. thanks. >> you get late in your career, maybe you could engineer a trade to a team closer to contention than the dolphins are right now. did you have a sense maybe, one more year if i could find the right situation, i could push for it one more time? >> the right situation was probably not the past season was the previous in new york with the jets. we came into a playoffs. we came here and beat dwight and the colts, went to new england -- sorry. i know, i know. let me have my three minutes of fame. i never had a super bowl. let me enjoy this for a minute. like i was saying, we came to indy, dweet peyton manning, dwight freeney and those guys. we beat tom brady, and wes welker and lost to pittsburgh in the afc championship game. it took me 14 years to get to that point and that loss was so difficult that afc championship game because of all the struggles that we had in miami for so many years and never had the chance to get there. i'm probably one of the few players in in room tonight that has not played a one. i know tony gonzalez has not either. sorry tony. misery loves company, baby. it's unfortunate. >> what did he say? >> i don't know. >> what was that? >> huh? >> nothing. >> yell it right out, tony if you want to. >> i said i'm still playing though. >> he's still playing. still got a shot. last thing. jason is thinking about making a move to television. you preceded him. what's your broadcasting advice? >> man, you know what, have fun with it. it's work. the key is to be yourself. you can't be what you're not. i'm fortunate to be where i am with god. i can have fun. it's a great life. you wake up on sunday, you won't be blamed for losing. you won't be sore. none of that. it's not bad, man. but welcome to the other side. [ applause ] >> all right, guys. michael, jason, larry dwight, thank you very much. we're just getting started here in indianapolis. chargers quarterback philip rivers. just a few of those will be on stage during this live town hall meeting from indianapolis. still to come, coaches on one of the hardest jobs in all of sports. plus, nfl commissioner roger goodell live on stage for a wide ranging interview. and up next, a discussion of the state of the nfl, 2012. welcome back to costas tonight presented by chevy. here again, bob costas. >> at the indiana repertoire theater, a little less than 72 hours before super bowl xlvi and a little more than six months since the cop collusion of a lockout that seemed to put the start of the season in jeopardy. instead, no games were lost. of course, the league continues to face critical issues. touchdown, 91 yards. 10 to the 5, touchdown. how did he do it? >> in many ways, the state of the game has never been stronger. there's no sport as popular. and none nearly as profitable. with a product that's not only exciting but perfectly tailored for the ever expanding appetite of today's sports fan. but along with its overwhelming success, football is shadowed by one of its defining attributes. its level of violence. more and more being uncovered about the link between head injuries and serious medical problems later in life. already, former players have taken the step of suing the league, claiming that it didn't do enough to protect them. but just how to achieve that protection is an ongoing dilemma. new rules against hits to the head satisfy some but confuse and even frustrate others. plus, until recently, the nfl's concussion policy seemed to place the responsibility for taking players out of action on those with conflicts of interest. training staffs, team doctors. coaches. and the players themselves. and if the hits can be more frightening than ever, it's mostly because the players are bigger, faster and stronger than ever. still after the lockout, the nfl and the players union were unable to come to an agreement on human growth hormone testing. meanwhile, as these issues hover over the league, there's another very different one looming in the stands. seat licenses and skyrocketing ticket prices are countered by the new reality of big screens and hdtv. raising the question, c