When Fox debuts its Sunday-morning pregame show on the NFL's opening day (Sept. 4), host and former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw will represent the offensive side of the ball, while co-host and former Raiders defensive end Howie Long will give the defensive signals.
And the two have some rather different interpretations from the opposite sides of the line of scrimmage."I have never been around a quarterback with his personality," Long said. "Terry is a throwback kind of quarterback, I guess. I'm too young to know.
"But seriously, he's very defensive-minded, aggressive - things that you would identify a defensive player with."
But not most offensive players.
"I think there are two different types of players. Non-athletes that generally play on offense in the line," Long said. "And the athletes that play on the defensive line. And the linebackers . . . Those guys are a little nastier on defense. They're a little more aggressive. They're a little more geared up.
"Offensive guys, their lockers are cleaned. Their notebook is probably well-written and well-kept. Whereas a defensive guy doesn't take notes."
Bradshaw, of course, had a rather different interpretation of the offense.
"We're more finesse-oriented, because we try to go around things and create lanes and gaps and stuff," he said.
"We don't want to go through things, because that's stupid. Look at him!" he said, pointing at Long.
BOYS WILL BE BOYS: As the only female member of the Fox NFL studio team, Lonnie Lardner - who will do player profiles and celebrity interviews - had an interesting time last month when she and her new co-workers got together for a week of seminars and training sessions.
"I've just spent five days in seminars with these guys. Unbelievable," she said. "And I've decided my sole mission is to get Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw in touch with their feminine side."
Good luck.
TIME TO MOVE ON: Long, who just retired from the Raiders after last season, said he could have stayed on another year. That the Raiders had even offered him more money - a lot more than Fox is paying him.
However, not only did he say he didn't want to be one of those players who "played a couple of years too long," but he wanted to spend more time with his wife and three sons.
"Football is a very demanding sport. Not just from July through January, but it's also demanding in the off-season," Long said. "I planned my vacations around the Pro Bowl.
"It was time for me to spend more time, because what my 9-year-old did for me was he made me realize that it goes very quickly. And I wanted to spend some time with my 4-year-old and my 5-year-old and catch up with my 9-year-old."
Long's Fox Sports colleague, lead analyst John Madden, said it was pretty much the opposite story that drove him into broadcasting when he retired from coaching after leading the Oakland Raiders to more than 100 wins and a Super Bowl championship.
"When I got out of coaching, I thought I was going to spend time with my family," Madden said. "And I went home and I found out they had stuff to do. And that it was over-rated, and it was just me and my dog. And the dog didn't say much.
"So I said, `I've got to do something. So I started doing this."