NBC Sports will have a camera "focusing solely" on Deion
Sanders during their Super Bowl telecast. Director John Gonzalez
said they would have a camera following him "offensively,
defensively and on the sidelines for his reactions" (Steve Zipay,
NEWSDAY, 1/24)....Sanders refused to do a taped interview with
NBC's Mike Ditka for Sunday's pre-game show. Ditka has been
critical of Sanders in the past, but it was the first rejection
of a major network interview request by a player before the Super
Bowl that anyone at NBC can remember (Barry Horn, DALLAS MORNING
NEWS, 1/24)....Sanders was concerned about being misquoted during
media day yesterday, so he wore a tape recorder under his jersey.
Sanders: "I'm wearing my tape recorder ... in case you guys try
to blow up something I say" (Frank Fitzpatrick, PHILADELPHIA
INQUIRER, 1/24)....Former Steelers Coach Chuck Noll, who once
referred to writers as "pencil necks," is doing nightly reports
for a Pittsburgh TV station. Noll said his "years of feuding"
with the media prepared him for the role: "Don't let the facts
get in the way of a good story" (Pat Yasinskas, TAMPA TRIBUNE,
1/24)....ESPN football analyst Sterling Sharpe said he will try
to play football again, as early as next year (N.Y. TIMES,
1/24)....NBC Sports VP Ed Markey said the network plans no
changes in its postgame interview process, despite the profanity
used by some players during live interviews after the conference
Championship Games (Bill Fleischman, PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS,
1/24)....The NFL expects 3,000 newspaper reporters, TV news
crews, radio host and media types to cover the game (FT. WORTH
STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/24)....NBC's Jay Leno visited the NFL Experience
and reportedly filmed shots for the "Tonight Show." Leno starts
broadcasts from Tempe tomorrow night (ARIZONA REPUBLIC,
1/24)....Members of the media were given canvas briefcases
embroidered with the Super Bowl XXX logo when they checked-in
(ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/24).
