Yes, they talk football. But after 2 12 years on weekly interviews on 'Quick Slants', Comcast SportsNet's Tom E. Curran and Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo talk so much, much more . . .
ON FASHION
Curran: "This is my sweater that I wore to cheer you up (after Sunday's loss to the Seahawks)."
Mayo: "Your Bill Cosby sweater. I like it."
Curran: "I thought you would feel better . . . "
Mayo: "Really Christmas-y, Christmas-y."
Curran: ". . . if I wore a silly sweater."
Mayo: "That's not silly, that's . . . just dumb."
New England Patriots
Curran: "Do you feel better, though?"
Mayo: "I do feel better about calling your sweater dumb. That makes me feel better."
Curran: "Look, it's always difficult after a loss. It's hard for me to know exactly which way to go with you 'cause, well, it's a nice intimate setting at the Renaissance Hotel, where the interviews are taped and I don't want to make you irritated. But I thought today I would commiserate. "
Mayo: "Great word."
Curran: "Thank you.
Mayo: "But let's get it straight. It's difficult after a win coming to watch you dressed like that. Just being honest."
ON ATHLETIC COMPETITION
Curran: "I play men's softball and sometimes I'll play flag football and there's times that we lose. And I know what it feels like. There's a lot of things you wish had gone differently, there's a lot of things you say, 'What could I have done?' I know what you're feeling."
Mayo: "You look like a born loser. You look like you were a loser coming straight out, out of the womb."
Curran: "No, I was not!"
Mayo: "For guys like us, you know, New England Patriots, it is difficult, and at this point all we can do is change the page and move on."
Curran: "This was good for 2 12 years, and now it's just going downhill . . . ."
WITH APOLOGIES TO MAMA CURRAN
Mayo: "We say guys like you were beat at birth. That's how we say it. "
Curran: "Beat at birth??"
Mayo: "You were beat at birth. When I see a guy like you across from me, I'm like, 'Ah, he was beat at birth'. "
Curran: "My mother watches this show."
Mayo: "Sorry."
Curran: "He doesn't mean it."
Mayo: "Sorry, Mama Curran."
Curran: "Perfect."
MORE FASHION, AND MORE APOLOGIES TO MAMA CURRAN
Curran: "Did Sunday's loss at Seattle make for a long flight home?"
Mayo: "It was a very long flight home."
Curran: "I can appreciate that."
Mayo: "If I had that sweater, it would have been shorter."
Curran: "You could have wrapped it around you, swaddled yourself . . . "
Mayo: "Exactly. Or used it as toilet paper. However you want to use it."
Curran: "My mother actually knitted this sweater, too, Jerod."
Mayo: "Sorry, Mama Curran, for the second time in this show."
Curran: "Been great so far."
ON DINNER
Mayo: "Do you know what? To be honest with you, I don't pay attention to the media. I've said this time and time again on this show. I don't pay attention to you . . . "
Curran: (To the camera) "He just shows up to talk to the media."
Mayo: " . . . I don't pay attention to what anyone has to say. It's like right now, I'm just talking to the camera. I don't even feel you right here beside me. So at the end of the day, it's all about the New England Patriots and getting better."
(Curran takes a sip of water and blows over towards Mayo.)
Mayo: "I can smell your breath." To the camera: "He had jalapenos."
Curran: "Not yet."
MORE ATHLETIC COMPETITION
Curran (after Mayo had finished praising the Jets): "Yeah, you didn't mention the quarterback, though, did you?"
Mayo: "Mark Sanchez is a good player. And no matter what you say, he's playing well these last couple of weeks. So he's a dangerous player."
Curran: "He throws balls where they shouldn't be! Did you see the touchdown . . . "
Mayo: "Can you throw better than him?"
Curran: "Yeah!"
Mayo: (Stares stone-faced at the camera.) "My face says it all."
STILL MORE FASHION
Curran: 'You know, you're wearing your throwback uniforms this week. You look good in red?"
Mayo: "I do."
Curran: "Did you know that? Did I just break the news to you?"
Mayo: "You did. You did. I do look good in red. But I also look good in blue."
Curran: "You do. Well, you'd also look good in a Christmas sweater."
Mayo: "Probably not."
AND MORE MAMA CURRAN
Curran: "You know, Mom, I'm not happy with this way this thing went, either. So we're going to end it here, we're going to reconvene next week after the Jets game, and we're going to talk some more, different, football stuff."
Mayo: "And knit a new sweater, Mama Curran, please. So we'll have something to talk about."