NFL League

Giants' victory over Patriots simply super

2008-02-04T03:37:00.000-08:00

Greatest Super Bowl ever. That’s what you watched Sunday, and if you didn’t see it, find somebody who recorded it and see for yourself.

If you’re a kid, you’re going to be talking about this one for the rest of your life. If you’re a geezer, you’re going to have to shuffle your memories around, throw out whatever other Supe you had in the No. 1 slot and replace it with Giants 17, Patriots 14.

There have been bigger upsets, including the Patriots’ destruction of Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl. And no upset will ever be bigger than the Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969. That win, guaranteed by Joe Namath, legitimized the old AFL and made its merger with the NFL the success story that it has been.

But I’m talking about the greatness of a game, and when you think of who was playing and what was involved and how it ended, nothing that has come before can match Super Bowl XLII.

It had everything — a first half filled with violent and smothering defense. A final quarter consisting of two great drives, the first by the master of the genre, Tom Brady, the second by the kid who wasn’t supposed to have the onions to be here, Eli Manning.

And in the middle of that winning drive was a catch that is as great as any ever seen in a game so big and a situation so critical. People have marveled at the Joe Montana-Dwight Clark connection to beat the Cowboys and propel the 49ers to their first championship. And now New York has its own version of “The Catch.”

Call it Manning-to-Tyree, with David Tyree, a backup’s backup, leaping as high as he could to catch a pass Manning thrown in desperation after escaping a sack on third-and-5 at his own 44. Safety Rodney Harrison, one of the greatest defensive backs in the game, also went up for the ball, and got his hands on it. He clawed desperately to wrench if from Tyree’s grasp, but the little-used special teamer refused to let go, coming down at the 24 with the game in his hands and 59 seconds left on the clock, which was 24 seconds more than the Giants would need to complete their incredible journey.

Before Manning-to-Tyree, the Giants were on the wrong side of midfield and using time way too rapidly and gaining ground far too slowly to get as far as they needed to go in the time remaining. After the catch, the game was all but won.

That Tyree caught it and not one of the Giants’ primary receivers, Plaxico Burress or Amani Toomer, just added to the magic of the moment. He was like the banjo-hitting infielder who wins the big game. So now Boston has another name to go with Bucky Bleeping Dent and Aaron Bleeping Boone — David Bleeping Tyree.

And just to add to the pain, Tyree caught the pass that scored the Giants’ first touchdown of the game –— it was his first touchdown catch of the season.

Had Giants coach Tom Coughlin ever seen a bigger catch in such a desperate situation?

Nike paying McFadden's training expenses

2008-02-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

As top NFL Draft prospect Darren McFadden prepares for the scouting combine, his training tab is being picked up by Nike as part of the shoe company's sponsorship of the Michael Johnson Performance Center, sparking speculation that the Arkansas running back will sign an endorsement deal with Nike.

Nike Dir of U.S. Media Relations Dean Stoyer in an e-mail said McFadden does not have a signed agreement with Nike "at this time."

"Who Mr. McFadden signs with is up to Mr. McFadden, but there is certainly an opportunity for us to demonstrate what Nike is all about ... hard work and peak performance," Stoyer wrote.

Olympic Gold Medal-winning sprinter Johnson opened the Nike-sponsored training center last year after previously training a number of top NFL Draft prospects, including Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, at IMG Academies for former IMG and current CAA Sports football agent Tom Condon.

Johnson's training center in McKinney, Texas, is sponsored by Nike. "As an official training center for Nike athletes, they will send us athletes year in and year out," Johnson said. "They have been in discussions with Darren ... so he came in on their allotment."

Bucking the trend

Historically, NFL contract agents have paid for and arranged for pre-combine training for their prospective rookie clients, but this is the first year that NFL agents have been prohibited from contacting third-year juniors until the NFL officially releases the list of underclassmen that declared for the NFL Draft on Saturday.

There has been a lot of speculation in football circles that top juniors, including McFadden, would not be ready to work out at the combine since NFL agents pay for and often control the slots at the top training programs. "I am not sure if he will run at the combine, but we are preparing to (do it)," Johnson said, adding that was a decision McFadden would make with his eventual agent.

Looking for a marketing agent

Meanwhile, the McFadden family is close to choosing a marketing agent, according to NBA player agent Mike Conley Sr., an advisor to the family as well as a candidate for the marketing agent job. Conley, who attended Arkansas and won a Gold Medal at the '92 Barcelona Games, said the goal of the McFadden family is to have a marketing agent "in place" before Saturday.

Sources said other marketing agents being considered for the job include Mike Ornstein, Bill Henkel and Jamey Crimmins of The Agency. Conley said he is a friend of Johnson and recommended his training center to McFadden's father, but does not know who paid for the training. But he added that the training center arrangement does not necessarily mean that McFadden will ink a deal with Nike. "What I am saying is that Darren McFadden hasn't decided to be a Nike athlete or an adidas athlete or a Reebok athlete," Conley said.

Monk's time for Hall of Fame has come

2008-02-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

Can we put Art Monk in the Hall of Fame already? Please? And while you’re at it, oh high and exalted committee of electors, how about putting Darrell Green in with him when you make your selections Saturday? They were the key parts of a dynasty, the best of their era. They belong.

Green should be a no-brainer, but given the Byzantine machinations of the selection committee, there’s no such thing as a shoe-in with the Hall. In that, it’s similar to baseball’s Hall of Fame, whose would-be members are held hostage by the whims of more than 500 baseball writers.

I suppose that adds to the mystique of such pantheons of athletic prowess, and all the talk that’s generated by the great players who keep missing their turn is good for the game.

But some slights are bigger than others. Harry Carson, the former linebacker for the Giants who finally got in last year after waiting slightly longer than the half-life of plutonium, really deserved enshrinement. But he had been overshadows on the Giants by Lawrence Taylor, and his omission for so many years didn’t raise the ire of fans in general.

Monk’s situation isn’t like that. It defies every rule of logic that the Redskin wide receiver had been passed over for eight years.

Monk retired with the NFL’s all-time record for receptions. He’s since dropped to sixth place on the list, which is headed by Jerry Rice, but all Monk could do was break the record that existed in his day. To keep him out because subsequent receivers were better is like saying Babe Ruth doesn’t belong in baseball Hal of Fame because Hank Aaron broke his record for home runs.

Monk won three Super Bowls on those Joe Gibbs dynasty teams. Gibbs remains the only coach to win three championships with three different quarterbacks. But all of them had the same primary target — the redoubtable Mr. Monk.

The receiver was also named to the NFL All-1980s team. If a player is recognized as the best at his position for an entire decade, it’s impossible to say he’s not Hall of Fame material. That’s what the Hall is about: enshrining the best of every era. To say the best receiver of an entire decade is not also an all-time great is incomprehensible.

Apparently, Paul Zimmerman, the long-time pro football writer for Sports Illustrated, has been holding up Monk’s canonization. A football blog is reporting that Dr. Z as saying he’s tired of being the jerk — he used a somewhat earthier word — who’s keeping Art out of the Hall and is ready to “put him the (naughty word) in.”

So there you have it, everyone who has been pelting the electors with denunciations of their sin of omission. Lobbying, pressure, and political compromise do work. If only Congress worked as well — it’s been 35 years since our first oil crisis and that cowardly collection of pompous panderers still hasn’t come up with a comprehensive plan to break our national addiction to imported oil. Compared to that monumental record of nonfeasance, the eight years Monk has had to wait is a momentary inconvenience.

Miami Dolphins New Name: Mahi Mahi

2008-01-28T06:49:00.000-08:00

Years ago there was a show about a smart Dolphin on television called "Flipper". Flipper was a cute mammal which could perform numerous tricks and on almost every episode he managed to save someone's life.

Flipper made millions aware of dolphins and after that show aired many people fell in love with dolphins.

In the Atlantic Ocean there is a fish that is also called a dolphin. It is a long fish of the pelagic variety and is loved by fishermen for its hard fighting nature and acrobatic leaps when hooked. It also makes great table fare.

It was just a matter of time before some confusion arose in grocery stores and fish markets over which dolphin was a fish and which was a mammal. The result of this confusion was settled in a politically correct fashion by changing the name of the fish variant to Mahi Mahi.

Bill Parcells was just hired by the Miami Dolphin football team and many know him as the "Tuna". Today the Tuna announced that the Dolphins will henceforth be known as the Miami Mahi Mahi.

Many fans of northern teams like the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, and the New York Jets are elated to hear the news of the name change. Now when they yell out, "squish the fish" they will be 100% correct. And besides the odor comming out of Miami this years smells not unlike that of a bag of discarded fish heads tossed out of a car by a salty dog.

The Miami Mahi Mahi football team fighting song will go something like this from now on : Miami has the Mahi Mahi, The greatest football team, They're on the ground or in the air like no one's ever seen, They're chewed right up and then spit out by every football team, And when you're talking toilet bowl, Miami is the team, Cause we're the Miami Mahi Mahi, The Miami Mahi Mahi, Miami Mahi Mahi number Thirty-two, Miami Mahi Mahi, Miami Mahi Mahi, They really make me feel real sick and I'm sure they do you too.

For celebrity drama, tears, tune into NFL

2008-01-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

'Women weaken legs!" -- Burgess Meredith's Mickey, warning Sylvester Stallone's Rocky about the downside of romance in the original "Rocky."

Somehow the post-event analysis after the Cowboys-Giants game was more emotional and gossipy than the post-event analysis of the Golden Globes.

Nobody cried behind designer shades at the Golden Globes -- but Terrell Owens cried behind designer shades after the Cowboys lost.

Nobody gossiped about celebrity couplings at the Golden Globes -- but the ESPN guys gossiped about a celebrity coupling after the Cowboys-Giants game.

Everything we know to be true has been spun around. It's just like Superman's Bizarro World!
Blame it on the girlfriend

Watching Tony Romo falter in the fourth quarter last Sunday, you just knew a lot of the post-game talk was going to be about his romance with Jessica Simpson, the untalented but undeniably famous singer/actress who has been the subject of intense discussion in sports circles ever since she showed up at a game in a custom-pink Cowboys jersey with Romo's number -- and he proceeded to have one of the worst games of his career.

The girl-wearing-the-guy's-jersey thing is very high school. Think Eva Longoria in her Tony Parker Spurs jersey, or Paris Hilton showing up at a Monday night game in a Brian Urlacher jersey. (Question: when a girl is a top jock in high school, does the boyfriend wear her jersey?)
The idea that a girlfriend can distract an athlete is very fifth grade. It's as if we're at a Pop Warner game and the boys are saying to the best kid on the team: "Ew, you like that yucky girl? Stop thinking about her, she's making you stink!"

Romo on the rise

Coming out of a big career with Eastern Illinois, Romo had potential but was undrafted. The Cowboys signed him as a free agent and he rose to stardom faster than anyone anticipated. But he's still green; he's still learning. Over the last two seasons, he's shown an alarming tendency to fade down the stretch.

Romo's worst moment came last year when he botched the snap on a potential game-winning field-goal attempt in the playoffs. It was like something out of "North Dallas Forty."

But he wasn't dating a reality star last year, so nobody blamed it on the girlfriend. This year, Romo and Simpson went to Cabo during the Cowboys' off-week -- a decision that earned intense scrutiny. This year, the New York Post hired a Simpson lookalike to sit behind the Cowboys' bench as a supposed distraction. (Now THAT'S journalism.)

Here's the lead from the Associated Press -- not the Star or Us Weekly, the Associated Press -- after Sunday's game:

"IRVING, Texas -- Tony Romo can go wherever he wants with Jessica Simpson now. Eli Manning and the New York Giants knocked him and the Dallas Cowboys into the offseason Sunday."

Geez. It's as if Romo staggered onto the field like Elaine's saxophone player boyfriend on "Seinfeld," unable to hit a single note because he was so worn out.

A teary T.O.

So there was Terrell Owens choking back the tears at the post-game press conference, saying, "You guys can point the finger at [Romo]. You can talk about the vacation. And if you do that, it's really unfair. ... It's my team. It's my quarterback. ... We lost as a team, man."

He was absolutely right -- but the guys on ESPN fixated on Romo's romance with a "superstar," as one called Simpson. (The superstar's last movie, "Blonde Ambition," opened last month on eight screens and grossed $384 on its first day.)

Was it smart for Jessa-Romo to go to Cabo in this day and age? No. They should have known the media would go into hysterics, despite Romo's valid point that it's not as if he spent three days getting drunk in Vegas.

Really though, the idea that Romo would have played better without the "distraction" sounds like something out of a 1947 movie. What about QBs such as Snake Stabler and Joe Namath -- the party kings who won Super Bowls?

Tom Brady is the father of Bridget Moynahan's baby and he's dating Gisele Bundchen -- and he just turned in arguably the greatest performance in NFL playoff history for a team that hasn't lost a game. If we're going to blame Romo's performance on his romance with Simpson, should we credit Brady's brilliance on his romances with Bridget and Gisele?

NFL Celebrity Picks With ... Bobby Valentine

2008-01-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

Bobby Valentine has always been a lightning rod for attention. Highly regarded out of high school in both football and baseball, Valentine was recruited by Southern California coach John McKay as a replacement for All-American tailback O.J. Simpson.

Valentine decided to go -- until he was drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was in Triple-A at the age of 19, and considered a better prospect than future stars Bill Buckner, Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell. Though a broken leg suffered in 1973 -- an injury sustained while crashing into the center field wall -- hampered him through the rest of his career, he later found success in the major leagues as a manager, first with the Rangers, then with the Mets.

Valentine is currently serving as the skipper for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese League, where he led the team to their first-ever Japan Series championship. Valentine has three years remaining on his contract, but at 56 years old, he acknowledges that a return to the major leagues one day is within the realm of possibility.

Q: How was your time in Japan this year?

A: Another good year. An exciting year. We didn't play as well this year as we did last year (the Marines finished in fourth place), but there was a lot of progress made and I'm still enjoying the heck out of it.

Q: Do you get homesick at all?

A: Well, when you're working -- and I work full-time -- you get involved in your job. Wherever I am, I'm working. I feel at home when I'm in Japan. As far as not being with friends and family, I definitely miss that, and I bring over as many friends and family as I can.

Q: What are the main differences you see in the game between the U.S. and Japan?

A: Well, there are many differences. The game is the game everywhere, but in Japan the system is much different. The ownership is corporate. Teams are used to advertise the corporations for the most part. There is much less player movement there. There is more loyalty to the team and from the team to the player. The minor league system is different. There's only one minor league team. And the fans are different. They participate in the game the way soccer fans do, or Duke basketball fans do. They're there to participate, not to spectate.

As far as the players, they play a refined game of baseball without the big bang. They have guys that hit it over the fence, but they only go 400 feet instead of 500. Pitchingwise, when you see a guy like Jeff Suppan pitch, that's how most pitchers in Japan pitch. They hit their spots, they change speeds, they have impeccable command of many pitches as well as great endurance. The pitch limit isn't part of the program there, because their training is more refined than it is here.

NFL and Motorola Unveil New Communication Equipment for 2007 Season and Beyond

2008-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

National Football League and Motorola Inc. unveiled new communication equipment for 2007 seanson and beyond. The NFL and Motorola are unveiling newly designed Coaches Headsets and Sideline Communication Centers during preseason games across the League. The two initiatives are part of an ongoing collaboration between the NFL and Motorola to upgrade in-game communication systems and capabilities. The new headsets are lighter, thinner and more ergonomically advanced in comparison to their predecessors. The series of headsets range from the traditional over the head style which has improvements in ear comfort, acoustic sealing and microphone performance to the new behind head style which allows coaches the ability to wear a variety of hats while using the headsets.

N.F.L. Sues Jones to Stop 'Ambush' Deals

2008-01-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

Jerry Jones and the National Football League are officially at war.

Fed up with "ambush" deals signed by the Cowboys' maverick owner with Nike and Pepsi over the past month, NFL Properties struck back yesterday with a lawsuit in Federal District Court in New York that seeks $300 million in damages from Jones, his team and Texas Stadium.
The league's action came on the eve of the owners' meeting today in Atlanta, where handling Jones's rogue deal making was the main subject on the agenda.

The legal action does not seek to undo the Nike and Pepsi deals, which are worth an estimated $40 million. But it would bar Jones from signing future deals to "undermine existing N.F.L. sponsorship or licensing contracts."

Coca-Cola, the brand poured in 28 of 30 stadiums (Foxboro Stadium also sells Pepsi), and Reebok are official league sponsors and the most direct rivals of Pepsi and Nike. An imminent deal between Jones and American Express apparently prompted the league to file suit.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

"The effect of the recent ambush marketing deals signed by Jerry Jones," said Roger Headrick, chairman of NFL Properties, "has been to undermine existing NFL Properties sponsorships and contracts that were made on behalf of all 30 clubs and to inhibit NFL Properties' future arrangements. Our sponsors and licensees keep asking us whether we are representing all 30 N.F.L. clubs, or just 29 in competition with the Cowboys."

Jones was not available for comment.

In signing the Nike and Pepsi deals, Jones has said he was not trying to wreck the revenue-sharing scheme that binds National Football League owners. Rather, he said he was operating legally by conferring stadium, not team, rights on Nike and Pepsi. The Nike swoosh logo is now painted on Texas Stadium and a Nike-Cowboys theme park at the Irving, Tex., facility is in the planning stages.

Nike is also outfitting Cowboy sideline personnel (anyone not wearing a jersey), but the swoosh is not visible. Only Starter, Champion, Reebok, Logo Athletic and Wilson are authorized N.F.L. sideline apparel makers. Nike has sought a license for years.

Recently, Jones said: "I am well advised and sensitive to playing by the rules. There is no way that I'm in violation of any N.F.L. rules."

But the league evidently feels otherwise, asking the court to "order the defendants to stop violating their agreements with NFL Properties."

Jones has said that the 30 N.F.L. teams can market their names and logos better than the league can -- easy to say when the Cowboys account for 24 percent of league-licensed merchandise sales -- and he has called for the end of NFL Properties when its term expires in 2003.

The Football Is Fine, but the Saints’ Finances Aren’t So Bright

2008-01-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

The New Orleans Saints’ jubilation at beating the Philadelphia Eagles to advance to the National Football Conference championship game typified the reactions of a winning team: players embracing, Coach Sean Payton high-fiving fans in the box seats, the owner Tom Benson flashing V signs and photographers surrounding Saints players at midfield of the Louisiana Superdome.

But the Saints are by no means typical. They were born in 1966 as the political price the National Football League paid to Congress for the antitrust exemption that allowed its merger with the American Football League. They play in a small market without the strong business support enjoyed by most teams.

Most important, no professional sports franchise has ever been turned into a nomad for a season by a natural disaster, as the Saints were by Hurricane Katrina, only to return to a city with less than half its former population.

“We’re nowhere where we need to be, given the state of the community,” said Ben Hales, the team’s vice president for marketing. “The problems we had before Katrina have been exacerbated.”

The Saints’ 2006 season has been, by some measures, a rousing success. Still, Forbes magazine’s estimate of the team’s worth ($738 million) ranked the Saints 27th out of 32 N.F.L. teams. The season started with the emotional return to the Superdome and culminated in a 10-6 regular-season record and Saturday’s 27-24 defeat of the Eagles, which put the Saints in the N.F.C. title game for the first time.

The team sold out every game and built its season-ticket base to 65,800. The team signed national sponsors like Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Chevrolet, Coors and Alltel to lengthy deals as a hoped-for financial bridge to a time when the city’s and region’s struggling companies are healthier.

“As much as people’s hearts are in the right place, it’s hard to justify the cost of sponsorships,” said Frank Vuono, a partner in 16W Marketing in Rutherford, N.J., which the league hired to help rebuild the Saints’ business.

Still, about a quarter of the stadium’s luxury suites are unoccupied (they are all in various stages of construction), and naming rights to the Superdome are unsold.
“We’re financially viable,” said Dennis Lauscha, the team’s chief financial officer. “We have two big problems, a facility problem and a market problem. If you fix both, you’ll have strong viability.”

The Saints face formidable obstacles. Not the least is whether local and state governments, with enormous rebuilding priorities, can, or should, help finance a new stadium or let Benson move elsewhere. After Katrina struck, Benson was reportedly interested in moving the team to San Antonio, where it played several home games during the 2005 season.

That talk cooled with the renovation of the Superdome, but the Saints’ lease has only four years to go. At its end will come the last of 10 years’ worth of subsidies totaling $186.5 million. This year, the Saints are scheduled to be paid about $20 million.

“We hope to sit down with the team and discuss an extension beyond 2010, and that would include inducement payments,” said Larry Roedel, counsel to the Louisiana Sports and Exposition District, a state-appointed commission that oversees the Superdome and other facilities. “I don’t know if they’ll want more than what they’re getting.”

But some sports marketing experts said it was unlikely the Saints would ever earn enough in New Orleans to satisfy the Benson family, which could earn much more by playing in a larger, more stable and wealthier market.

New Orleans’s population has fallen to an estimated 230,000, and Nielsen Media Research has said that the area’s market ranking has plunged to 54th from 43rd.

A widely reported spate of murders has made safety a concern, and much of New Orleans is in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt or razed.

Marc Ganis, whose Chicago-based sports consulting company has worked with several N.F.L. teams, said the Saints would need larger subsidies than they now receive. He said the level of government support might depend on whether the team could truly capitalize on its 2006 renaissance or whether the sellouts and the addition of new sponsors were one-time, post-Katrina upticks.

“Pre-Katrina, the market was tough at best,” Ganis said.

“Post-Katrina, it’s even worse for business, but the Saints are more important than they were before, because they enliven the spirit of the community.”

Michael Ozanian, a Forbes editor who helped prepare the valuations, said he could envision a long-term future for the Saints in New Orleans only if the area around the Superdome underwent renewal.

“I think if they get to the Super Bowl, you’ll see a lot of talk of rebirth, but the numbers just aren’t there, in terms of people living there and in terms of the business there,” Ozanian said. “It’s a real problem for the N.F.L.”

After Katrina, the league’s desire to see the Saints return to New Orleans became a priority, leading to its contribution of $15 million to $20 million to the fast-paced overhaul of the Superdome.

The N.F.L. has not set a timeline to evaluate the Saints’ long-term prospects for survival. For now, league officials have said they have done enough financially.

“We want the Saints to succeed in New Orleans, but the business community, especially, has to step up, and continue to support the team,” said Joe Browne, an executive vice president of the league. He said the N.F.L. would not offer subsidies because, “We already have the best revenue-sharing plan in sports and that helps teams like the Saints in a small market.”
But Mark Rosentraub, dean of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, said the league had to provide subsidies to shore up the Saints or they would be “dead in New Orleans.”

“If I were advising N.F.L. owners,” Rosentraub said, “I’d say, ‘You have two choices: pull the team out or guarantee revenues to the owner.’ ”

N.F.L. Signs With Pepsi

2008-01-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

The National Football League today selected PepsiCo Inc. as its official sponsor of soda, juices and snacks, ending a 19-year sponsorship relationship with Coca-Cola.

The deal is worth about $160 million over the next five years, a source familiar with the negotiations said. Pepsi is also likely to continue its Super Bowl-related spending, which would increase the value of the deal to nearly $200 million through 2007.

The sponsorship allows Pepsi to use the N.F.L. logo on its advertising and promotions. N.F.L. teams share the revenue from national sponsorships.

Besides Pepsi's carbonated soft drinks, the company is putting its Tropicana juices into the deal and renewing its Frito-Lay snack brand as a sponsor. Pepsi's Gatorade sports drink is already an N.F.L. sponsor.

Coke officials said the N.F.L.'s price was too high. The company has continuing sponsorship deals with 20 of the league's 32 teams, the spokesman Bill Marks said.

On Tuesday, the N.F.L. signed a five-year deal making the Adolph Coors Company the league's official beer sponsor. Sports Business Daily reported that the Coors contract was valued at $300 million. Previously, Miller Brewing and Anheuser-Busch split the beer sponsorship.

Randy Moss | Guilty Until Proven Innocent

2008-01-23T10:35:00.000-08:00

The classic 1933 Novel “Lost Horizon” written by James Hilton tells the story of Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service who finds inner peace, love, and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La. At the end of the novel (made into two movies and one of the plots for the hit ABC series “Lost”) Conway who has found peace and the contemplative scholarly life that he has always sought, is forced out of the magical valley he has found. Conway is told once he leaves the valley he’ll never be able to return – he loses what he has sought his entire life, a last inner peace. When Randy Moss was traded from the Oakland Raiders to the New England Patriots for a fourth round draft pick before the start of the current NFL season, he must have believed after contentious stops with the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders that he had found his own football version of Shangri-La.A troubled soul both on and off the football field, Moss has thrived in New England where the Patriots are set for the AFC Championship Game Sunday. Moss set a single season NFL record teaming with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady catching 23 touchdown passes. In the locker room Moss has proven whatever issues he faced in Minnesota and Oakland haven’t been a problem with the Patriots. Selected as an NFL All-Pro for the fist time in his career, the ‘other’ Randy Moss had to deal with his life outside the peace and tranquility of Shangri-La Wednesday after allegations surfaced that a Fort Lauderdale woman who Moss acknowledged he has known for 11 years, obtained a temporary restraining order in the Broward County Court (Fort Lauderdale) against the Patriots wide receiver on Monday. In her petition, Washington alleged Moss caused her serious injury in the Jan. 6 incident (the team’s bye-week) and denied her medical attention."It's unfair to athletes if a person makes a false claim," said Moss, standing in front of his locker at Gillette Stadium. "You know, there is nothing we can do. The only thing we can do is either pay up or sit back and listen to what's been said or what's being written. I can honestly say . . . for someone to make a false claim about me, I'm kind of furious."My situation is where I felt that I did nothing wrong. It was an accident. Whatever happened, it was an accident. I wish I could sit here and tell you all what happened. But there is a lawsuit or whatever coming against me; I can't really explain or tell you all what is going on."As is so often the case with those who live their lives in the public light – whatever sins they’ve committed come back to haunt them whenever “allegations” arise, whether those “allegations” have any basis in truth whatsoever. However, in all fairness, Randy Moss has been anything but a choirboy before his arrival in Shangri-La.Moss's dream was to play for Notre Dame, but he also considered going to Ohio State, where his half-brother, Eric, had played offensive tackle. According to former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz, Moss was "the greatest high school athlete I had ever seen — a bigger Deion Sanders."After originally signing a letter of intent to play college football with Notre Dame in 1995, Moss took part in a racially-charged fight at his high school that left one person hospitalized. He entered a plea of guilty to battery, and received probation along with a 30-day suspended jail sentence. Notre Dame subsequently revoked his scholarship, but this did not stop another high-profile college football program from giving him a chance. Notre Dame officials suggested he attend Florida State due to the reputation of its coach, Bobby Bowden, for handling troubled players. However, because of his signed letter of intent at Notre Dame, the NCAA considered him a transfer student, which made him ineligible to play for the Seminoles in the 1995 football season. He was red-shirted in his freshman season.[4] While at Florida State, Moss ran a 4.25 40-yard dash, with only Deion Sanders being faster (4.23).In 1996, while serving his 30-day jail sentence in a work-release program from 1995, Moss tested positive for smoking marijuana, thus violating his probation, and was let go by Florida State. He served an additional 60 days in jail for the probation violation.Ultimately, Moss transferred to Marshall University, about an hour's drive from his home. Because Marshall was then a Division I-AA school, NCAA rules allowed him to transfer there without losing any further eligibility. In 1996, he set the NCAA Division I-AA records for most games with a touchdown catch in a season (14), most consecutive games with a touchdown catch (13), most touchdown passes caught by a freshman in a season (29), and most receiving yards gained by a freshman in a season (1709 on 78 catches), a record which still stands. Moss was also the leading kickoff returner in Division I-AA on the season, with 484 total yards and a 34.6 yard average. Marshall went undefeated and won the Division I-AA title in its last season before moving to Division I-A.In the 1997 season, Marshall's first in Division I-A, Moss and current New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington were the centerpiece of an explosive offense that led the Thundering Herd to the Mid-American Conference title. Moss caught 25 touchdown passes that season, at the time a Division I-A record, and was a first-team All-American. For the season, he had 96 receptions for 1820 yards, and 26 touchdowns. He won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation's leading wide receiver, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy (finishing fourth in the balloting, behind Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning, and Charles Woodson, who won the award).Moss left Marshall with 168 receptions for 3,467 yards and a school record 53 touchdowns.During the 1998 NFL Draft, Moss, who was projected as a high first-round pick, was taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st overall pick after a number of NFL clubs-- even those in need of a WR-- were concerned with Moss' well-documented legal problems.In 1998, Moss helped the Vikings to become the number one ranked offense that season while they set a record for total points by a team. They finished with a 15-1 winning record and were poised to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. However, the Atlanta Falcons stunned the Vikings by winning the NFC Championship Game 30-27 in overtime. At the end of the 1998 regular season, Moss was named a Pro Bowl starter and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for his rookie record 17 touchdown receptions and the third highest receiving yardage (1,313) total of 1998.In 1999, Moss had another impressive season, catching 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns. He went on to record 5 receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings 27-10 NFC wildcard playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota lost in the divisional round to the St. Louis Rams 49-37, despite Moss catching 9 passes for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns. Moss was fined $40,000, which was later reduced to $25,000, during that game due to squirting an NFL referee with a water bottle. There was a stipulation that he would have to pay the difference in addition to any other fine if he had another run-in with the league.Moss's fortunes took a better turn on the football field during the 2003 regular season, where he became the second wide receiver in history (behind Jerry Rice in 1995) to play more than 12 games (he played 16) while averaging over 100 yards and one touchdown per contest. He finished with 111 receptions for 1,632 yards and 17 touchdowns. All three of the numbers either tied or became a new personal best.Randy Moss made the Pro Bowl 5 times in his 7-year career with the Minnesota Vikings (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2003).Two years with the Raiders and a 2007 draft day trade from the Raiders to the Patriots one of the most gifted receivers in NFL history had arrived not only on the doorstep of football’s premier franchise but at his last chance for football and personal redemption. As great as Moss had been on the field – his off field antics painted the picture of a troubled soul.In 1997, Randy Moss was quoted, in a Sports Illustrated article as saying the 1970 Marshall plane crash "was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big." Moss claimed that the quote was taken out of context.On September 24, 2002 in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his car, ordering him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss didn't comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a small amount of marijuana. Initially charged with Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon which is a felony and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation, and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service.During the last game of the 2004 regular season against the Washington Redskins and with two seconds remaining on the game clock, Moss walked off the field and into the locker room; critics criticized Moss for quitting on his team. Moss stated afterward that he didn’t think Minnesota, who ended up losing 18-21 to Washington, would recover the onside kick.On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings traveled to Green Bay to take on the heavily favored division rival Green Bay Packers, in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss was effective, finishing the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 31-17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost. Facing away from the crowd, he feigned pulling down his pants, and pretended to moon the Green Bay fans. TV announcer Joe Buck, who was calling the game, was incensed at the mooning, calling it "a disgusting act" on-air. Days later, the NFL fined him $10,000, finding it unsportsmanlike and offensive during the playoffs. However, Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, the former Vikings defensive coordinator, explained Moss' action by pointing out that Green Bay Packers fans are infamous for actually mooning the buses of departing opponents, unlike Moss' fully-clothed imitation. However, he was fined for the incident.In August 2005, during an interview with Bryant Gumbel on HBO’s Real Sports, Moss admitted that he has smoked marijuana during his NFL career "every blue moonMoss’s idealistic Shangri-La like life in New England was shattered Wednesday when reports initially surfacing in Orlando created a media fire-storm in New England. Happening just days before the Patriots are set to meet the San Diego Chargers at Boston’s Gillette Stadium in the AFC title game – Moss held an impromptu news conference in the Patriots locker room following the teams practice. The unproven allegations Moss is facing led EVERY, that’s EVERY New England televised newscast Wednesday evening. The regular Patriots report from Gillette Stadium led off the regular scheduled sportscast, but Randy Moss was the flavor of the day in New England."It's something I've been battling for the last couple days, threats of going public if I didn't pay X amount of dollars. Before people rush quick to judgment, I think you need to find out the facts about really what is really going on. This young lady, by no means, is hurt. I didn't hurt her."I think that, what I heard, I really don't know the whole story, of what is being said. All I know is supposedly I -- battery -- whatever it may be, that I physically hurt a woman. Well, I want to make something clear. In my whole entire life of living, 30 years, I have never put my hand on one woman, physically or in an angry manner. This battery they're talking about, I guess from a legal standpoint, there has to be something said. Like I said, I don't really know all the facts. I don't know what's going on as far as everything that has been alleged."All I know is that it's a friend of mine, a young lady, it was an accident where she hurt herself, to where they called me, called my attorneys, trying to get X amount of dollars out of me, and if 'we don't get X amount of dollars' they were going to go to the press before this game."Basically what I'm saying, I'm actually going to hold off for questions. I just really wanted to get out there to the people that I am aware of what is going on. I don't really want people to rush quick to judgment [without] knowing the facts. My teammates don't have anything to do with this. They don't know anything. I think it was just brought to their attention. If you could all just leave them out of it, because they don't know anything that's going on. I don't really know the whole situation of what's going on, just bits and pieces. It definitely was not my intentions of doing anything like this, with this battery with the woman. That's really not my makeup, that's not me, I've never been in that situation where I've had to put my hands on any woman, any lady."Like I said, man, before you rush quick to judgment, find out all the facts before you start criticizing me or judging me."While it would be unfair to even consider comparing Adam Pacman Jones to Randy Moss, earlier Wednesday, Jones who was suspended for the entire 2007 NFL season for his deviant off-field behavior saw a woman who earlier this week reportedly filed chargers against Jones for hitting her had those allegations against Jones withdrawn. As is the case all too often with a professional athlete with a troubled past the allegations against Jones were front and center. Wednesday’s news that the chargers had no basis whatsoever was reported as an afterthought by the media.Whenever a member of the Patriots is linked to off-field issues the media loves to recall how longtime Patriots owner Robert Kraft handled the Patriots selection of Christen Peter in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL draft.Kraft took a stand against employing players with criminal records. In the fifth round of the 1996 NFL draft, the Patriots picked Nebraska defensive lineman Christian Peter, who had been arrested eight times (and convicted four times) during college for a variety of offenses, including the assault of a former Miss Nebraska and the rape of another woman. When Peter's past came to light (it was Kraft’s wife who alerted her husband), Kraft cut the player before he was even offered a contract. "We concluded this behavior is incompatible with our organization's standards of acceptable conduct" said Kraft. While he received numerous letters of support from high school and college coaches, he was not praised by the NFL. Peter’s had a seven-year NFL career.If Robert Kraft’s stand against Peter meant nothing after Peter ‘enjoyed’ the benefits (financial and personal) of being an NFL players, is there any explanation for why NFL owners allow players whose off-field behavior is out of the boundaries of the law? SportsBusinessNews.com spoke with John F. Murray, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical and SportPerformance Psychologist in Palm Beach, Florida early in 2007 regarding professional athletes and their sense of entitlement.“I think all owners would like to have a totally clean image and completely law abiding players. It only helps their franchise in their own community, helps the image of the NFL which they have an obvious stake in and ultimately helps their team perform better with fewer distractions. The problem is that there is also a great temptation to take a player who might not have the halo over his head if he can bring immediate improvement to the team, and there is competition for these on-field talents. Another problem I believe is that owners could invest more wisely in player evaluations. I have seen some of the evaluations conducted in the NFL, and while they are thorough in many areas, one area that appears to be still lacking is the solid evaluation of mental skills and psychological factors, and this is an area that presents a huge upside in talent evaluation in the future. There are so few legitimate sport psychologists, but they need to be more involved in assessment,” Murray told SBN.Late Thursday afternoon the attorney representing Rachelle Washington, who filed a temporary restraining order against Randy Moss, released a statement:"For the past 11 years, Ms. Washington has cared deeply for Mr. Moss and has been there for him throughout all of his trials and tribulations. However, she refuses to be further disrespected by him. It has never been her intention to hurt Mr. Moss in any way. However, she has suffered mental and physical harm as a result of his actions. She simply wants him to take responsibility for what he has done. As a battery victim, she has shown great strength throughout this entire ordeal."Ms. Washington has been unfairly characterized as someone simply seeking financial gain. In fact, it was Mr. Moss' representatives who first contacted our office to offer a "six figure" settlement with hopes of not having this incident become public record."We have heard Mr. Moss' statement regarding the incident. He has acknowledged that he was at Ms. Washington's Florida residence and that he was "guilty" of an "accident" which occurred. However, Mr. Moss fails to mention how his reckless and degrading conduct rendered Ms. Washington unable to drive her vehicle to seek medical attention. As the evidence will show, there is serious doubt that Mr. Moss is capable of recalling with clarity the exact details of what transpired that evening. As Mr. Moss has previously stated, "Do your homework and check his resume."We look forward to presenting all of the evidence at the court hearing on January 28, 2008."Minneapolis attorney Joe Friedberg, who has provided legal counsel to Moss in the past, told The Boston Globe Wednesday the player's agent, Tim DiPiero, told Friedberg that the lawyer representing Washington asked Moss for $500,000, or her allegations would be made public."The whole thing is outrageous," said Friedberg, who is obtaining legal representation in Florida for Moss.Friedberg also made it clear to The Boston Globe; Moss does not have to appear at the hearing. "A lawyer will appear for Randy and agree that he doesn't want to come within 500 feet of her and probably get a reciprocal order that she can't contact him," he said. "If she sues him later, then so be it. But there certainly is never going to be any criminal charges arising out of this."As is so often the case in the media’s eyes, Randy Moss is guilty – until he proves himself innocent. Despite the fact that he has proven to be nothing but an exemplary man on the field for the Patriots, in the teams locker room and off the field, the sins of his past came back to haunt Randy Moss Wednesday just as he is poised to reach football’s holy shrine – Super Bowl XLII, and unless the Patriots team bus gets lost on their way to Gillette Stadium Sunday or University of Phoenix Stadium on February 3, Moss is destined to be a part of the second team in National Football League history to go undefeated during an entire NFL season. The 2007 Patriots are the ‘stuff’ that football dreams are made of, and unproven allegations against a key member of that team should in no way take away from the team or Randy Moss’ accomplishments.

Solid crop of senior tight ends in this year's draft

2008-01-22T14:39:00.000-08:00

In this era of spread offenses in college football, we've seen a major shift in the tight end position. The tight end has evolved from primarily a run blocker to an athletic vertical threat with multiple uses in the passing game. Some offenses virtually eliminate the position while others embrace the athletic tight ends and look for favorable matchups through creative schemes.

As a result, we see more and more athletic tight ends entering the NFL draft more suited to H-Back and flex positions than the traditional in-line blocking tight end. This year's senior class has three high-level players that should go in the first two rounds, followed by six mid-round players that will appeal to certain teams based on scheme.

1. John Carlson -- 6-foot-5, 255 pounds (Notre Dame)

Production was down in an offense that was painful to watch. Carlson had 40 receptions for 372 yards and three touchdowns, but is the best combination of blocking and pass catching in this year's class. As an in-line blocker, he will bend his knees, sink his hips and use leverage to win. He's not a killer, but understands positioning and is a tough player.

Carlson is athletic in the passing game with an understanding of how to find the open zone or manipulate a man-to-man defender. He has good speed and excellent hands. Carslon should be drafted in the late first to early second round.

2. Fred Davis -- 6-3, 244 pounds (USC)

Rocked-up ex-receiver has a frame similar to former first round pick Vernon Davis. He enjoyred a breakout senior season. Prior to the Rose Bowl, Davis had 55 catches for 794 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged 14.0 yards per reception and had a personal highlight reel game vs. Washington State with nine catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns.

Davis is a positional blocker who would improve his in-line blocking with better technique and effort. His strength lies in the pass game. He is explosive off the line of scrimmage and very effective in motion or split out. He catches the ball naturally with his hands and rarely lets it into his body. I like his value in the second round but a big combine could boost his stock.

3. Dustin Keller -- 6-2, 242 pounds (Purdue)

Another former wide receiver who bulked up in the weight room without losing speed and athletic ability. keller caught 61 passes for 731 yards and six touchdowns. Keller explodes and separates off the line of scrimmage and is very dangerous after the catch. He is not a conventional in-line tight end and must be used on the move or in the slot. Keller will be drafted by a team looking for a TE/H-Back that can get vertical and win matchups against safeties and linebackers. I don't think Keller will get out of the second round.

Best of the rest (Projected for Rounds 3-5)
Martin Rucker -- 6-4, 247 pounds (Missouri)

With 81 receptions with eight touchdowns in a creative scheme, Rucker is athletic with a big frame and minimal blocking abilities.

Jacob Tamme -- 6-3, 230 pounds (Kentucky)

Highly athletic former wide receiver had 53 receptions for 584 yards and five touchdowns. Tamme has excellent speed and hands, but won't block anybody. Purely a move guy in the pro game.

Gary Barnidge -- 6-5, 235 pounds (Louisville)

Enjoyed a very solid senior season with 53 receptions and seven touchdowns. Barnidge is not as fast as Tamme but gives better effort as a blocker and has the frame to get bigger and stronger.

Craig Stevens -- 6-4, 250 pounds (California)

Tough kid that will compete as an in-line blocker, Stevens has average speed but good hands.

Tom Santi -- 6-5, 250 pounds (Virginia)

Under-the-radar player with a solid skill set and great intangibles. Santi won the Tatum Award as the ACC's top football scholar athlete.

Kellen Davis -- 6-6, 260 pounds (Michigan State)

Phenomenal body with good athletic ability, Davis was an under-achiever with off-field issues. Somebody will fall in love with his upside as a tight end or defensive end.

Surprising prospects from a non-Division 1A conference

The Colonial Athletic Association boasts three senior tight ends worthy of draft consideration: Villanova's Matt Sherry, William and Mary's Andrew Atchison and Massachussets' Brad Listorti.

Gatorade and NFL launch annual "Beat the Heat" campaign

2008-01-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

As teams around the National Football League (NFL) and from schools across the country prepare for two-a-day preseason practices, The Gatorade Company will join forces with the NFL to lead a nationwide "Beat the Heat" campaign aimed at educating parents and football coaches about the importance of hydration in order to keep athletes safe and on the field during the annual summer sessions. This year's Gatorade Training Camp program, which includes donation days, youth clinics and a national media campaign, follows a very successful inaugural campaign in 2006 and is part of the ongoing effort by Gatorade and the NFL to reduce the number of preventable heat-related injuries each year.

As part of this effort, Gatorade will oversee league-wide Gatorade Donation Days at training camp to raise money to further the awareness and educational efforts of the Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation (KFMF), which was founded by Mike and Rhonda Fincher in memory of their son, Kendrick, who succumbed to complications from heat stroke during the summer of 1995.

"When we created the Foundation, our primary goal was to make sure no parent would ever have to experience what we experienced with Kendrick, especially when heat-related illnesses are almost 100% preventable," said Rhonda Fincher. "It's so important for parents and coaches to pay extra attention to proper hydration awareness and cool down techniques to help ensure players stay safe on the field during hot summer practices. Gatorade and the NFL have been instrumental in getting the message out to a much greater audience."

The ongoing team effort between Gatorade and the NFL is built on communicating heat-illness prevention and treatment techniques, including the key tools all teams need to defend against heat illness: education, preparation, proper hydration and a "cool pool" on the sidelines for cold water immersion to treat heatstroke.

"Heat-related illnesses need to be taken seriously at all levels," said Pepper Burruss, head athletic trainer for the Green Bay Packers. "Dangers caused by overexposure to high temperature and humidity are preventable if coaches and players know the early warning signs and stay cool and hydrated. Simple steps like allowing for acclimatization, adjusting the intensity of practice to environmental conditions and access to properly formulated sports drinks can make all the difference."

Research conducted by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute found that approximately 70% of high school football players show up to practices significantly dehydrated, placing them at great risk for heat illness and injuries. Further research indicated that a simple hydration strategy could dramatically reduce this incidence of pre-practice dehydration and lower the risk for heat illness.

"Partnering with the National Football League and the Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation is a great way to boost heat illness awareness among football players and coaches at all levels," said Jeff Urban, senior vice president of sports marketing for Gatorade. "Our goal is to leverage the resources all three organizations bring to the table to educate as many parents, coaches and players as possible, to help reduce the number of heat-related injuries that occur across the country."

In addition to the "Beat the Heat" initiative, the partnership will support and help boost awareness this summer about KFMF efforts to provide educational pamphlets to parents, coaches and players as well as to provide squeeze bottles to thousands of youth players across the country.

Teams | NFC

2008-01-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

NFC North

Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams

Teams | AFC

2008-01-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC South

Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tennessee Titans

AFC East

Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New York Jets

AFC West

Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Oakland Raiders
San Diego Chargers

National Football League | History

2008-01-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

This section will provide a quick overview of how football got started to give general overview about how the sport became so popular today.

In the Beginning

The story of football began sometime during the 19th century in England when a soccer player, frustrated at using only his feet to manipulate the ball, decided to simply pick it up and run with it. Although it was clearly against the rules of soccer, other players soon found the new way of playing soccer appealing and thus, the sport of rugby was born.

The new sport soon became a world-wide success that found its way into America by the mid-1800s. Played by many northeastern colleges, it was not long before Harvard University and Yale University met in Massachussetts in 1876 to formalize the rules to rugby that were similar to those in England. There were differences however: instead of playing with a round ball, the schools opted for an egg-shaped ball and the game's name was changed from rugby to football. To finalize the meeting, an organization called the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) was created to preside over the Americanized sport.

Football was still basically American rugby -- much different from the popular sport known today. Over the course of three years starting in 1880, Yale player Walter Camp eventually convinced the IFA to change a series of rules in football to create a game that is very similar to the one we know today. For his efforts, Camp is considered by historians as the father of modern football.

Nationalizing the Game

College football matured through the 1800's in a league of its own until the beginning of the twentieth century when professional football teams began appearing. By that time, college sports fell under the newly-established National College Atheletic Association(NCAA) so the rules of professional football were derived from the collegiate organization's guidelines.

When 1920 arrived, there were more than 10 professional teams across the United States. Organizers from the teams decided to meet in Canton, Ohio to form the American Professional Football Association(APFA) which later became the National Football League(NFL). The NFL continued to change the rules of the game and the game of football began to establish itself as an all-American past time.

Becoming a Popular Sport in America

From the time of the NFL's establishment, football's popularity caught on with the general public. The games played by the Chicago Bears against teams like the Los Angeles Tigers and the New York Giants featured Harold (Red) Grange, the fresh-out-of-college rookie star who helped draw record numbers of fans into the stands. After the NFL divided into two divisions, the culmination of the best teams from those sections played the first NFL championship game in 1933.

As football became a favorite sport with Americans, many leagues followed the NFL in trying to establish their own franchises. The NFL's dominance was so pervasive that many leagues did not even last beyond four years. Under millionaire Lamar Hunt, however, the American Football League (AFL) was the only lasting follow-up league that was able to keep up with the NFL. Soon thereafter, both leagues fought to draft star college players, television contracts, and other perks generated from football's popularity. The NFL bested the AFL most of the time.

In another historic moment in football history, representatives from both the NFL and the AFL met in 1966 to agree on merging both leagues, but keeping the NFL name. Within the new league which actually began in 1970, two conferences were created that reflected the NFL's origins: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference(NFC). From then on, the two best teams from each NFL conference were set to play a championship game (later named the Super Bowl. This practice started with the two champions from the NFL and the AFL.

Football Today

One of the top sports in America, football has come a long way from the rebelling college students who wanted to play a different type of game. With the introduction of the television (which greatly increased football's accessibility to more parts of the United States) and the merger of the NFL and the AFL, football games became the most-watched television program. The ratings were as big as the profits. The titanic flood of fan interest generated billions of dollars by the 1990s. These enormous profits eventually trickled down to the players' salaries.

If change was how football began, it is change that has kept the sport's popularity high. The rules governing football have continued to evolve throughout the years to generate fan interest. For example, rules enacted in the 1970s promoted the passing game while placing less focus on the running game. Passing became less risky, and the rule change altered the complexion of the sport. In 1994, a greater emphasis was drawn from field goals to the two-point conversion. The game of football will continue to evolve with the times and provide Americans and people all across the world with a fun and enjoyable athletic experience.

Chuck Bednarik

2008-01-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

No National Football League player in the 1950s was immune to bone-jarring contact with the Philadelphia Eagles' Chuck Bednarik because the 233-pounder played on both the offensive and defensive units long after the two-way player had largely faded from the scene.

Bednarik didn’t really get into football until he returned from World War II (after a 30-mission tour as a B-24 waist gunner with the Army Air Corps that saw him win the Air Medal). He showed up unheralded at the University of Pennsylvania, where he went on to win All-America honors as a center his last two seasons.

Chuck was selected first overall in the 1949 NFL Draft as the Eagles' bonus draft choice and earned a starter’s spot as a center on offense and linebacker on defense. As an offensive center, big Chuck was a bulldozing blocker, both on rushing and passing plays. On defense, he was a true scientist in his field and the kind of tackler who could literally stop even the finest enemy runners "on a dime."

In 1950, Bednarik received All-NFL recognition as a center. Although he frequently played both offense and defense right up through the 1956 season, it was as a bone-jarring linebacker that he drew the most attention. He was named All-NFL as a linebacker 1951 through 1957 and again in 1960. His athletic abilities and inspirational play was particularly evident in 1960 when injuries forced the Eagles to ask their 12-year veteran to again play both sides of the line. The 35-year-old was sensational. He finished the campaign with a 58-minute performance, capped by a game-saving tackle in the Eagles' NFL championship victory over Green Bay. With just seconds remaining, the Packers' Jim Taylor appeared to be heading for a winning touchdown until the last Eagle in his path, Bednarik, bear-hugged him to the ground as time ran out.

Sammy Baugh

2008-01-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

Sammy Baugh arrived on the pro football scene in 1937, the same year the Redskins moved to Washington from Boston. The Texas Christian star was the team’s first round pick that year. Over the next 16 seasons “Slingin’ Sammy” not only helped establish the pro game in the nation’s capital, he also was a major influence in the offensive revolution that occurred in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

When Baugh first started with the Redskins pro football was largely a grind-it-out ground game. The forward pass was something to be used with caution, and never inside your 30-yard line, except in desperate situations. By the time Baugh was through, the forward pass was a primary offensive weapon. Obviously, such a change could not be totally brought about by one individual. But Baugh was the catalyst that changed the game. No one had seen a passer who could throw with such accuracy.

Baugh started his pro career as a single wing tailback and didn't make the switch to the T-formation until 1944. He won a record-setting six NFL passing titles and earned first-team All-NFL honors seven times in his career. Sammy also led the NFL in punting four straight years from 1940 through 1943. Extremely versatile, he led the NFL in passing, pass interceptions, and punting in 1943.

One of his best single performances came on “Sammy Baugh Day” in 1947 when he passed for 355 yards and 6 touchdowns against the Chicago Cardinals, that season’s eventual champions. Baugh, although highly competitive, was still comparatively easy-going and never lost his sense of humor. When the Chicago Bears defeated the Redskins, 73-0, in the famous 1940 NFL title battle, a Redskins end dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone. Reporters asked Baugh if the outcome would have been different had the pass been caught. "Yeah," Baugh answered, "It would have made it 73-7."

Lem Barney

2008-01-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

Although he was a three-time All-Southwestern Conference star who had intercepted 26 passes in three seasons at Jackson State, Lem Barney was a comparative unknown when he joined the National Football League as a second-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 1967.

It took only a few games, however, for the 6-0, 188-pound speedster to become widely respected as one of the premier comerbacks in pro football. Barney originally was tested as a wide receiver but his exceptional skills as a defender could not be ignored. After a sensational rookie season, he was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and selected to play in the Pro Bowl, something he would do six more times during his stellar career. Barney also tied for the NFL interception lead with 10. Three of his interceptions were returned for touchdowns, just one short of the then-all-time single-season record.

Barney, a native of Gulfport, Mississippi, also won acclaim as a kick return specialist. Particularly early in his career, he saw duty on both the punt and kickoff return units, as well as playing full-time at comerback. He was highly feared as a big-play threat for good reason. In his 11-year tenure that ended after the 1977 campaign, Bamey had a 98-yard kickoff return, a 94-yard field goal return, a 74-yard punt return and a 71-yard interception runback.

His career record includes 56 interceptions for 1,077 yards, 143 punt returns for 1,312 yards and 50 kickoff returns for 1,274 yards. He scored 11 touchdowns on seven interceptions, two punt returns, one kickoff return and one field goal return. He also recovered 11 opponents' fumbles and doubled as the Lions punter in both 1967 and 1969. Barney was named All-NFL in 1968 and 1969 and All-NFC in 1972 and 1975.

Lance Alworth

2008-01-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Al Davis was an assistant coach with the 1962 San Diego Chargers of the American Football League when he signed a flanker Lance Alworth to a contract after a spirited bidding battle with the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers.Davis recalls his feelings when he snagged this first big AFL prize of the budding inter-league war of the 1960s. "Lance Alworth was one of maybe three players in my lifetime who had what I would call ‘it.’ You could see right from the start that he was going to be a super-star."

Lance epitomized the glamorous, crowd-pleasing, deadly effective approach to football the Chargers exhibited in the early years of the AFL, enjoying nine exceptional years in San Diego before shifting to Dallas for a final two years with the 1971 and 1972 Cowboys. His patented leaping catches and blazing after-the-catch runs are legendary. Statistics many times are misleading, but in Alworth's case, they are not.In 11 pro seasons, he caught 542 passes for 10,266 yards, an 18.94-yard average and 85 touchdowns. During his nine seasons with the Chargers, the graceful receiver averaged more than 50 catches and 1,000 yards per season.He was named All-AFL seven straight years from 1963 to 1969 and played in the league's last seven All-Star games. He caught at least one pass in every AFL game he played, including a then-record 96 straight regular-season games and 105 in a row, if you count two AFL title games and seven All-Star appearances.

It seemed only fitting that in 1978 he became the first AFL player to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As Charley Hennigan, himself a great receiving star with the Houston Oilers, once said: "A player comes along once in a lifetime who alone is worth the price of admission. Lance Alworth was that player!"

Herb Adderley

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When Herb Adderley reported to his first Green Bay training camp in 1961 as the Packers’ No.1 draft pick, he had the unenviable task of competing against future Hall of Fame running backs Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung for a starter’s spot. Midway through the season, however, Packers coach Vince Lombardi decided to try the former Michigan State star as an emergency replacement for injured starting cornerback Hank Gremminger.

Adderley, using his speed and marvelous instincts, quickly demonstrated he had what it took to be an NFL cornerback. The 6-1, 205-pound Philadelphia native took immediate command in the Packers' defensive backfield and, within two years, had won All-NFL honors, acclaim he was to earn four more times in 1963, 1965, 1966 and 1969. A speed-burning ball hawk, Herb amassed 48 interceptions, returning them for 1,046 yards and a 21.8-yard average, with seven touchdowns during his 12-year career with the Packers (1961-69) and Dallas Cowboys (1970-72). He doubled as a kickoff return specialist during most of his Green Bay career and wound up with a 25.7-yard average on 120 returns. Included were a 103-yard return in 1962 and a 98-yard thrust in 1963.Lombardi once admitted that he almost made a mistake with Adderley. “I was too stubborn to switch him to defense until I had to,” he confessed. “Now when I think of what Adderley means to our defense, it scares me to think of how I almost mishandled him.” Adderley played in five Pro Bowl games during the 1960s and was seemingly a fixture in post-season games. He played in four of the first six Super Bowl games, winning championship rings in three of them. He also played in seven NFL championship games in an 11-year span from 1961 through 1971. His teams – the Packers five times and the Cowboys twice – won every one. Herb's 60-yard interception return for a clinching touchdown for the Packers in Super Bowl II was the only interception return for a touchdown in the first 10 Super Bowls.