NBC Sports commentator Hines Ward had a spirited on-field relationship with Ravens LB Terrell Suggs when Ward was a WR with Pittsburgh (1998-2011). On tonight’s broadcast of Sunday Night Football the pair team up for an interview. Here’s an excerpt.
Ward: “Let’s get right to it…do you still hate me?”
Suggs: “Get back to me tomorrow after the game. I can’t answer that right now.”
Ward: “Even without the jersey on?”
Suggs: “Even without the jersey on. No matter what Peyton Manning is doing right now with Denver, he will always be a Colt. Tom Brady will always be a Patriot. You will always be a Steeler. I don’t know what it is, I can’t like you. You know what I mean? You seem like a real cool dude right now, but I just can’t.”
Ward: “Do you even know my name?”
Suggs: “Oh, I know your name. [Laughs] I have more than one for you, but I know it.”
Ward: “Is there someone on the team now that you hate just as much as you hated me when I was playing?”
Suggs: “Oh, there will never be another 86…because you didn’t just do it with your mouth, you did it with your pads and with your playing. You always did something to affect the emotion of the game, and a lot of times, it won the game for you. As your opponent, I had to hate you because it’s a rivalry, but I do respect it…you would have made one hell of a Raven.”
Ward: “How do Steelers fans treat 55?”
Suggs: “They do a good job of welcoming me in Heinz Field. It’s very vivid on not only what they would like to do to my team, but to myself. There’s no bigger stadium to me than Heinz Field. I love it every time I come here, and I love the opportunity that I have in front of me.”
Ward: “Is the Ravens-Steelers still the best rivalry in the NFL?”
Suggs: “Yeah, it still is. That’s why when the scheduling came out, they gave this the Sunday Night game. Ravens-Steelers, this one is going to stick to you not just the rest of the year, but I bet you can remember every time you beat us and every time you lost to us, too…how you felt walking off of the field. These games are kind of personal. Everything that goes on around you, your whole atmosphere, it’s like, don’t talk to me until after the game…it’s the biggest thing in the world.”
