JUPITER, Fla. -- Sitting in a box behind home plate at Roger Dean Stadium on an idyllic Monday afternoon, Bill Parcells was doing what he did on many March days: watching the Cardinals, his team of choice, near his home with good friend Ron Wolf. Only on this day, his cell phone kept ringing and beeping. Former players, media people, peers in and out of the league, all wanting to know one thing.
Quarterback Peyton Manning is formally introduced as the newest member of the Denver Broncos.
Peyton Manning is no longer the quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. Manning and team owner Jim Irsay announced the parting of ways during a rather amicable press conference Wednesday.
INDIANAPOLIS -- It's a pretty select club Eli Manning joined here Sunday night. You could almost call it an "elite'' membership to belong to.
INDIANAPOLIS -- When the Hall of Fame voting is announced each year, there is typically a loud and immediate uproar about the finalists who did not earn a spot in Canton. This year is no exception.
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Hall of Fame selection meeting takes place each year on the eve of the Super Bowl. More times than not the meeting produces greater intrigue and suspense than the game itself, because there are 15 modern-era finalists competing for a maximum of five open spots.
This weekend's conference championship games bring back the best and worst memories from my NFL management career. That's because I consider this game to be the toughest to win and the most painful to lose. Yes, even worse than losing a Super Bowl, which happened to me twice.
There has been no greater National Football League dynasty than the Green Bay Packers of the 1960s.
I write and tweet about the Hall of Fame so much, and my buddy Don "Donnie Brasco'' Banks always tells me to stop doing it -- because the more I do it, the more I unleash the masses, angry that this guy or that guy didn't make the Hall -- or, in this case, didn't make the list of the finalists for enshrinement in the Hall when the 44-person Board of Selectors meets in Indianapolis Feb. 4.
This year's tripleheader slate of Thanksgiving Day games is being hailed as the NFL's best ever, with much of the buzz building on behalf of the Packers-Lions appetizing early showdown in Detroit or the family-style grand finale that will be the highly anticipated Harbaugh Bowl in Baltimore.
The Detroit Lions are back in the headlines, and in his own understated way, so is Barry Sanders. He still watches the team he used to run so hard for, the team he made relevant even when the Lions were duds, the team he left abruptly after 10 seasons.
Randy Moss should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I believe this firmly, as a guy who watches an inordinate amount of football, who covers the game, and who does not have, deserve, or want a Hall of Fame vote. For most of the last 14 years, nobody could keep Moss out of the end zone. How can you keep him out of the Hall of Fame?
In 1991, his final year in the NFL, Redskins cornerback Eugene Profit was posed a question by his position coach, Emmitt Thomas.
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- Very quiet in Laborville, isn't it? And aren't we all happy about that? Ten days before the draft begins, I've got a draft-education MMQB, and you're going to get to know about players you might not know now (Jimmy Smith, Ricky Stanzi, Ryan Williams) but must get schooled on before the big weekend.
DALLAS -- It didn't take long for the name-calling to start Saturday after the 2011 inductees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame were announced in the spacious ballroom of a downtown hotel.
I don't recall such a negative reaction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame class as this year's in the 18 years I've been on the Selection Committee.
GREEN BAY -- Back in the spring and summer of 2008, Aaron Rodgers was still an unproven curiosity. He had been drafted 24th overall out of Cal by the Packers three years earlier (after an long, embarrassing wait in the Draft Green Room, video of which Rodgers has never watched, because, in his words, "I don't have to; I was there.'') and in those ensuing three seasons had thrown just 59 passes. His experience seems almost old school at this point, with rookie QBs now being regularly force fed (Sam Bradford, Josh Freeman, Matt Ryan, among others).
Grading out the performances from the Jets' thrilling 17-16 road win over the Colts ....
The futility of Chargers football has turned into one of the biggest statistical stories of the 2010 season -- and perhaps in recent football history.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Five things we learned while watching the Saints beat the 49ers in a real nail-biter on Monday Night Football, with New Orleans winning 25-22 on Garrett Hartley's wounded-duck field goal as time expired ...
Some NFL jerseys tell a story. In the case of Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew case, his number 32 tells a tale of revenge.
Hundreds weighed in on our selections for the best NFL players by jersey number. Many of you complained about the omission of Dan Fouts at No. 14 (yep, we probably missed there), Donovan McNabb over Paul Hornung at No. 5 (hey, you might be right) and Tom Brady over Terry Bradshaw at No. 12 (We'll stand by our pick). Here's a sampling of reader feedback from email, Twitter and FanNation:
Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice headline the Hall of Fame Class of 2010 this weekend, after similarly awe-inspiring careers of gaudy stats, a trio of title rings and more glittery highlights than a New Jersey hair salon.
What is it like to be around true greatness? A lot of fans over the years have asked me that question, or a variation of it, and fortunately for me and them, I know exactly what it's like. That's because for the third straight year a former teammate of mine will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This year it is former Cowboy teammate Emmitt Smith.
It's not a claim many people can make. For years, when I came to work, I could expect to witness near perfection.
I've just come up from a months-long burrowing through the tunnels and warrens of pro football history. The result can be found in this week's SI: a piece that explores how the NFL, which was integrated upon its founding, came to bar black players in the '30s and only reluctantly reintegrated after World War II.
Hall of Fame voters have finally found religion.
NEW YORK (SI.com) -- Legendary NFL broadcaster John Madden has made his last call.
Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association and a Hall of Fame guard with the Oakland Raiders, has died, the association said on its Web site Thursday.
Pro Football Hall of Fame voters have long treated NFL defenders the same way Patton's 3rd Army treated German defenders in World War II.
It's fitting that in the same year two small college legends (Emmitt Thomas and Darrell Green) will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, two small school cornerbacks are regarded as the gems of the 2008 draft class at that position.
PHOENIX -- Trying to predict the Pro Football Hall of Fame class is always difficult, but I don't recall a more difficult year in my decade and a half as one of the selectors. The reason: there are no gimmes in this group and there are varying degrees of support for many of the 17 candidates.
The six men inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today richly deserve it. My two should-have-been-first-year-locks, Michael Irvin and Thurman Thomas, finally are bronzed, as are a deserving pair of old-timers, Cleveland guard Gene Hickerson (best blocker on the best running team of his day) and Detroit tight end Charlie Sanders (seven 30-catch seasons when tight ends didn't catch the ball). Bruce Matthews? Easy. Fourteen Pro Bowls, played every position on the line, played 296 games.
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