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

Plaxico Burress is not under contract to an NFL team. In light of his plea today, Commissioner Roger Goodell has suspended Burress and informed him that he is ineligible to sign with any team until he completes his jail term. Commissioner Goodell said Burress will be reinstated and eligible to sign with an NFL team upon the completion of his sentence. Burress was notified on June 26 that Commissioner Goodell had initiated a review of the matter for potential discipline under the NFL’s Personal Conduct and Weapons policies. Commissioner Goodell and members of his staff conducted a hearing with Burress …read more

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will be spending his summer reviewing the legal situations of a number of different players—most notably receiver Plaxico Burress and quarterback Michael Vick. The Commissioner said he was beginning to focus on evaluating Michael’s situation and that a decision will come in “due time” on whether to reinstate him. Commissioner Goodell did say there was no real timeline until after Michael is released from home confinement and federal custody on July 20.
On the other hand, as far as Plaxico is concerned, Commissioner Goodell said he would not wait for the legal process to run its course …read more

Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams says he doesn’t know if he can trust the NFL anymore—this after the league failed to tell its players that the over-the-counter supplement StarCaps secretly contained a prescription diuretic banned by the NFL. Pat and Vikings teammate Kevin Williams continue to face four-game suspensions to start the 2009 season if their ongoing appeal is overturned.
Pat is willing to take his medicine, so to speak, but he feels betrayed:
“Basically now I got to hold trust issues with the NFL. I don’t know if I can trust them now. If I did something wrong, I’m going …read more

The Cincinnati Bengals will be featured on the annual HBO Sports series Hard Knocks later this summer. A 24-person NFL Films crew will set up shop at the Bengals’ training camp site — Georgetown (Kentucky) College — to shoot more than 1,000 hours of exclusive video beginning July 30. There will be a total of five shows, debuting August 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
A lot of teams would consider this type of coverage more of a distraction than anything else, but Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis isn’t one of them:
“I think our football team is beyond that point. I think …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants a longer regular season. And he’s ready to propose a 17 or 18 game schedule to team owners in May that could take effect as soon as 2011. Of course, there are several obstacles to hurdle, like a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union. But, the Commissioner discussed the possibility this week at the NFL Annual Meeting:
“It’s possible that we could vote in May, but we want to have core discussions on this. Anytime you have change, there is some reluctance. But it’s clear we don’t need four …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
You remember the Pepsi Ultimate Super Bowl Party Pack I gave away last month before Super Bowl XLIII. Over 500 of you entered and Holly Blanco from Utah walked away with the grand prize. Well, to celebrate the start of the always entertaining NFL free agency signing period today, I’m giving away a huge No Fear “Earn Some Cred” Prize Pack thanks to my friends at Pepsi No Fear Energy. Here’s what’s included in the Prize Pack:

2 No Fear Hoodies
2 No Fear T-shirts (one of each style)
1 No Fear Bloodshot Hat
1 12-pack of the new …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The AFC and NFC teams had their first practices today for Sunday’s annual Pro Bowl. This is the 30th straight time the game will be played in Honolulu, but the Pro Bowl will not return to Hawaii in 2010. Next year the game moves to the weekend before the Super Bowl in Miami. Here’s what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to say about it at his Super Bowl XLIII presser last week:
“The entire premise of shifting the Pro Bowl was to make our event bigger and better than it is right now. We’ve had a …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance
by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker, 260 pages, $24.99
Tyndale House Publishers | CoachDungy.com
Just a couple weeks after announcing his retirement from the coaching ranks of the National Football League, former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy has a new book — Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance — in stores today. I received my review copy last week and went cover-to-cover right away. I can enthusiastically say it’s the most uplifting, down-to-earth life lesson book I’ve ever read. And I’ve read my fair share.
You probably remember coach Dungy’s first book, …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
In a very intriguing turn of events today, the National Football League announced that the Pro Bowl following the 2009 season will be played on Sunday, January 31, 2010 and televised live on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET from Dolphin Stadium in South Florida, also the site of Super Bowl XLIV a week later on Sunday, February 7. The 2010 Pro Bowl will be the first played prior to the Super Bowl and only the second Pro Bowl played in the same city as the Super Bowl. The Los Angeles Coliseum hosted the first Super …read more