Morgan rattled off three tragic stories in a four-day period:

"December 5, a 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his younger brother in Minneapolis with his father's handgun in the home. December 6, a 7-year-old finds his grandfather's gun -- this is in Philadelphia -- and shoots his sister," Morgan said. "December 9, a 7-year-old boy (is) shot dead when his father's handgun went off in a parking lot of a Western Pennsylvania gun store."

Costas said those are exactly the circumstances he thinks we need to try and avoid. He noted there are many instances of legitimate self-defense. But in his opinion, they don't outweigh "how many bad things happen because of an attitude toward guns in this country."

"That's what I was trying to get at on that Sunday night. And my mistake was, and I've acknowledged this, normally, we have about 2½ minutes. That's tight enough. Here we had only 90 seconds," Costas said.

"I alluded in a general way to the culture of football but didn't have time to enumerate it. But those who think that I was reluctant to hold the NFL to account are not familiar with my work. Because almost alone among network sports broadcasters, I have made many points about the culture of the NFL, asked many questions of (NFL Commissioner) Roger Goodell and NFL officials, and continue to -- plan to do so in the future.

"Are drugs involved, alcohol involved? Yes, all those things. But guns are among them. It seems that some people want it to be about everything and anything but guns. I don't think it's only about guns, but I think that guns, even if legally obtained, people's attitudes toward guns are definitely a part of this problem."

Costas said he understands why many people feel the need to have a gun, whether it is for safety in their home or elsewhere.

"Over the course of a year, how often do you think that would lead to tragedy and how often do you think it would lead to safety? That's my question."