The National Football League will honor veterans and active duty members of the military during November, with teams designating home games as special Veterans Recognition Games throughout the month. The NFL has a long history of supporting America’s armed services, including a 44-year partnership with the USO that includes overseas visits to troops and trips to military hospitals nationwide.
The NFL will continue to offer its Game Pass HD service free of charge at USO Centers for military members stationed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Germany, Italy, Korea and Japan. At the USO facility in each of these locations, servicemembers …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Last night’s 51-29 win by New Orleans over Green Bay boosted the National Football League to the first 800-point weekend in its history. A total of 837 points were scored in the league’s 16 Week 12 games (it averaged out to more than 50 points per game), the most ever in a single NFL weekend. The previous record was 788 points, set three times back in 2002, 2004 and 2007. Games this season are averaging 45 points. If that holds up, it would top last season’s average of 43.4 points and the record average since …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
A new survey that will be released tomorrow by Expedia (aka the Official Travel Team of the National Football League) found that more than 80% of football fans with tickets to an important game would travel an average of 554 miles to see their team play, and 40% of football fans would pass up a hot date or their own birthday party to go to a professional football game. These are just a few examples of how pro football fans say they prioritize their enthusiasm for America’s favorite pastime.
Expedia’s “Go Like Pro Survey” revealed just …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The NFL has been acknowledged as America’s most popular sport for the past 43 years, rated #1 by fans in the Harris Poll since 1965. In fact, for the fifth consecutive year, twice as many people named professional football (30%) as their favorite sport over baseball (15%). NFL popularity can be measured in other ways as well. For instance:

Nearly 158% more women ages 18-to-49 watched Super Bowl XLII (22.1 million) than the 2008 Academy Awards (8.5 million).
Viewership for 35 NFL games during the 2007 season would rank among prime-time’s five most-watched May 2008 season/series finales.
The …read more

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL
If you’re a keen observer, you’ve noticed a slightly modified version of the NFL logo floating around these days. And you’re intrigued. Well, the National Football League is introducing an upgraded NFL shield that will be officially unveiled at the upcoming 2008 NFL Draft April 26-27. I like the new version a lot. It’s cleaner and less cluttered. And while it stays true to the original’s design, the new shield is thinner; the font is more modern; and the number of stars has been reduced from 25 to eight, representing the eight NFL …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
The National Football League is more popular than ever. In fact, I just received a press release today announcing that the league set a paid attendance record for the fifth straight year. But not only is the game itself big business, so are the players. Fellow b5er Miki Saxon (who writes for LeadershipTurn.com) brought this interesting factoid to my attention. From the Timothy R. Clark book EPIC Change: How to Lead Change in the Global Age:
“Consider the changing physical profile of linemen who play in the National Football League (NFL). In 1976, there …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
Worried because your team is 0-2? Well, history shows that 0-2 teams advance to the playoffs more often than people might think. Since 1990, 18 teams have begun 0-2 and still qualified for the postseason. In fact, the 0-2 Dallas Cowboys in 1993 won Super Bowl XXVIII, the 0-2 New England Patriots of 1996 played in Super Bowl XXXI, and in 2001, the 0-2 Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI. So all you Falcons, Bills, Chiefs, Dolphins, Saints, Giants, Jets, Raiders, Eagles and Rams fans, don’t despair. There is still hope. You may not …read more

Photo courtesy eas.com
Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
If you go to any stadium in the NFL, you will notice fans enjoying a pre-game meal in the parking lot. Tailgating is part of the whole NFL experience, but fans are not the only ones who enjoy their food before kickoff. Many NFL players — like San Francisco’s Vernon Davis — have special pregame eating habits that don’t vary. Here are a few examples:

Vernon Davis, 49ers – baked chicken, broccoli and cheese, spaghetti
Matt Bryant, Bucs – chocolate malt milkshake
Jonas Jennings, 49ers – turkey club sandwich with no bacon
Igor Olshansky, Chargers …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
Wondering why Vince Young wasn’t in uniform for the Tennessee Titans’ preseason opener against the Redskins last night? Head coach Jeff Fisher suspended him for a game. The Titans were pretty tight-lipped about it, but Coach Fisher did say:
“I made a decision earlier today to not put Vince in the ball game for violating a team rule. Period. End of story. He’ll be back in the building Monday with his teammates, practicing. He’s our starting quarterback.”
I have no idea what the rule was that Vince broke, but I applaud Coach Fisher for showing …read more

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
You may have noticed the green dots on the back of NFL quarterbacks’ helmets. That’s something new for this year. All QBs will have a green dot on their helmet. It signifies that the player has a radio helmet and the NFL will put the stickers on the helmets themselves each week. Only a QB can have a radio, and only one green dot can be on the field at a time. So, if a 2nd string QB comes in for a trick play, he has to have a different helmet to wear.