BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- To Bears coach Lovie Smith, the Olympic competition he watched every night after training camp meetings in his dorm room at Olivet Nazarene University was a vital football lesson for everyone in the game.
As Peyton Manning looks for a new home after 14 years with the Colts, it's important to remember one thing: It rarely ends well for the great ones, especially the quarterbacks.
Once upon a time, we thought we knew how the Peyton Manning story would end in Indianapolis. After a long and record-breaking run as the Colts iconic quarterback, face of the franchise and civic treasure, Manning would finally leave the game behind, slide into a comfortable and over-celebrated retirement and toss the keys to the next young passer unlucky enough to follow his act in the helmet with the horseshoe on it.
So let's start with some intersport comparisons, a favorite activity here. A few minutes after the Super Bowl, I asked via Twitter if Giants quarterback Eli Manning is the NFL's Rafael Nadal, and Patriots QB Tom Brady is Roger Federer.
If you watched Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, you were part of the most-watched television show in U.S. history.
Eli Manning is heading to Disney World. Madison Avenue will be close behind.
Triumphing in a thriller, quarterback Eli Manning led the New York Giants on Sunday to their second Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in four years.
For the past few days, the NFL punditry here has been remarkably divided on predictions for Super Bowl XLVI. For every expert espousing New England Patriots' depth and balance there is another waxing rhapsodic about the New York Giants' "momentum" and "destiny." Las Vegas echoed this ambivalence, as the gambling line continues to shift.
The American Football League and National Football League played their World Championship Game in 1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Technically, this was Super Bowl I, though no one had thought to title the game, much less give it a numeral, Roman or otherwise. The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in front of something less than a capacity crowd. Don't believe it? Well, you'll have to take our word, because no one thought to keep a tape of the game.
INDIANAPOLIS -- The irony is too rich to miss here this week. The juxtaposition as stark as it could possibly be. Peyton Manning isn't in this Super Bowl, but somehow he still looms over it, with the drama surrounding his future providing a backdrop for a game that's chock full of intriguing storylines.
Chase Blackburn always had a bag packed. Just because the New York Giants no longer wanted him didn't mean no other team would. For three months, he kept the suitcase by the door.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Of the 18 podiums constructed for media day at Super Bowl XLVI on Tuesday, none was reserved for a kicker. Perhaps that's because kicker stories typically are as sexy as wives wearing rollers, facial cream, flannel PJs and knee-high socks to bed. (Note to wife: I find such get-ups extremely ... cough, cough ... attractive.)
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.
On Sunday, Super Bowl XLVI will be played in Indianapolis's Lucas Oil Stadium. In addition to watching the biggest game of the year, the more than 70,000 fans in attendance and the millions viewing at home will see numerous advertisements and promotions. The NFL, obviously, will decide what fans see. Companies will pay the NFL for that privilege and they will want it to be as exclusive as possible.
Tom Coughlin, the crusty, often vilified, old coach of the New York Giants, is the team's secret weapon -- a coach with a remarkable ability to win unwinnable games against superior foes, and often on the road.
While the Giants and Patriots gear up for the rematch of a lifetime, Super Bowl XLV, federal agents are preparing for one of the biggest sports-related counterfeit busts ever.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The game is hard enough without the constant barrage of doubt and criticism. But has anyone, anywhere faced down the skeptics and so consistently won over the non-believers as Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin during their years together in New York?
On the Ravens, Joe Flacco, Tony Corrente's very rough cancer treatment, Bill Leavy and the unfortunate power of Twitter's immediacy, and some tentacles from the Manning/Umenyiora trade concerning the Cleveland Browns:
Grading out the performances from the New York Giants' impressive 37-20 upset win at Green Bay in the NFC divisional playoffs.
1. Tom Brady's paper-tiger Patriots need this win more than Tim Tebow's magical Broncos.
1. It's beginning to look a lot like 2007, down to the smallest details.
There has been no greater National Football League dynasty than the Green Bay Packers of the 1960s.
In the sport of table tennis, the emphasis on neutral playing conditions is a heavy one. So much so that even at low-level tournaments, the organizers will regulate temperature, humidity and the current from the arenas' air conditioning vents. Contrast with the NFL. Teams can play alongside the beach -- under a cloudless sky in 90-degree heat -- on one Sunday; and then play alongside one of the Great Lakes -- in a heartlessly cold blizzard -- the next Sunday.
Let me begin by saying that if Mr. Martin so much as breathes a word about George Blanda, Earl Campbell or Warren Moon, I win this debate.
Because sports are governed by seasons, not years, "The Year in Sports" always makes for a very bad movie. If 2011 were a motion picture, Aaron Rodgers would win the Super Bowl in the first reel and lose to the Chiefs just before the credits roll, making the Packers' quarterback the feel-bad story of 2011.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in Arrowhead Stadium, ending the defending Super Bowl champions' quest for a perfect season.
Perhaps it's a byproduct of the league-wide obsession with all things Tebow, and the remarkable story that just keeps raging on in Denver, consuming more and more oxygen every week. Maybe it's a bit of perfect-season fatigue, with the 2007 Patriots and the 2009 Colts having trod this same parcel of ground so recently. And without a doubt, some of it can be attributed to the Packers themselves, a small-market team almost devoid of drama, with no prima donnas or screaming need to draw attention to itself.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- If perfection comes to pass this season in Green Bay, remember this one. It was as close to defeat as the Packers have come this season, and like an accident narrowly avoided, it sent the adrenaline surging and brought out the best possible reaction from the defending Super Bowl champions.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight in a Week 13 fairly well filled with playoff-contending teams -- like Chicago, Atlanta, Oakland and Cincinnati -- that didn't look particularly playoff worthy...
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 5. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer.
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.
It's somehow fitting, in that come-full-circle kind of way, that it's once again Giants week in Philadelphia. Because perhaps only the Eagles' annual trip to New York offers the ideal vantage point and perspective needed to stand back and survey just how much has been lost in such a short span of time in Philadelphia.
The defending Super Bowl champions Green Bay Packers are planning to sell stock to the public next week, the team's first stock offering since 1997.
Fairly amazing weekend in the NFL: Road teams went 10-4. Giants by four at one of the toughest places to win in the league (Foxboro), Ravens by three at a similarly tough Waterloo (Pittsburgh), Niners by eight in their fourth East Coast trip in seven weeks (Washington), Pack by seven against a troubled but troublesome team (San Diego), Broncos by 14 in a Black Hole (Oakland), Dolphins by 28 in what formerly was a very tough venue (Kansas City) ... and, Monday night, the Bears by six over a team that continues to mystify the western world (Philadelphia).
For those of you desperately missing basketball during the NBA lockout, an antidote to your hoop pangs is on the way -- a musical comedy about basketball will open for previews on Broadway on Nov. 12. It's called Lysistrata Jones and is based on the original Lysistrata, which, of course, was written by Aristophanes back in 411 BC.
We can stay past closing time, debating the leading sports region in American right now. It's a good time to be a Wisconsinite. The Brewers won a franchise-best 96 games this past season, the Packers, the defending Super Bowl champions, are currently undefeated; so are the Wisconsin Badgers, currently No. 4 in the nation. Boston might be fixated on the supernatural collapse of the Red Sox, uncovering the mystery of which pitchers consumed which caloric treats where and when. But over the past decade, Beantown teams have won titles in bulk, as if shopping at Costco. If the Rangers win the World Series, Dallas will hold another championship parade, barely four months after feting the Mavs.
With 10 games remaining on their schedule, of course it's way premature and patently ridiculous to start speculating on the Green Bay Packers' chances to go through the regular season a perfect 16-0. And of course we're going to do it anyway. Premature speculation comes with the job when you cover the NFL these days.
Lions coach Jim Schwartz and 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh may not be best buddies these days, but they do share one thing in common -- they and their 5-1 teams are far exceeding expectations so far this season.
During my NFL front office career, I saw NFL teams often wrestle with the question of when any young player -- and especially a highly drafted quarterback such as Tim Tebow -- is ready to play.
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Donovan McNabb took a seat in a cramped office at the Vikings' training facility and brushed his right hand over his face. He let out a long sigh, flashed a broad smile and, in a nasal baritone that is as much his trademark as his No. 5 jersey, repeated the words that had greeted him moments earlier:
Every once in a while, we're reminded that maybe the NFL schedule makers really do know what they're doing after all. Week 5 provides us with ample evidence.
Usually we don't care about watching Lions games unless it is noon on Thanksgiving. Now, watching Lions games is must-see entertainment every week. Go figure.
The Super Bowl XX champions Chicago Bears -- regarded as one of the most colorful teams in NFL history with players nicknamed "The Fridge," "Da Coach," "Sweetness," and a punk quarterback -- has been invited to the White House next month to make up for a visit that was canceled 25 years ago, a White House official told CNN Thursday.
NEW YORK -- We'll get to what was great in the first NFL weekend (Cam Newton in a exhilarating loss, the Ravens in a monkey-off-their-backs win) and what certainly was not (Tony Romo in a fourth quarter of doofus proportions and my Super Bowl-pick Falcons flopping at Chicago), but first, and I don't want to overdo the emotion of the day, a few thoughts on the 9/11 tributes.
New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott isn't just getting ready for the Dallas Cowboys in Sunday's NFL season opener. He's taking on two additional opponents as well: Twitter and the iPad.
SI.com is previewing all eight divisions throughout the week in anticipation of the 2011 season kicking off. (Send comments to siwriters@simail.com)
SI.com is previewing all eight divisions throughout the week in anticipation of the 2011 season kicking off. (Send comments to siwriters@simail.com)
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we creep within 15 days of the NFL's regular-season opener in Green Bay....
Brace yourself, NFL. It looks like Bill Belichick plans to come back from the lockout with guns blazing.
SI.com has dispatched writers to report on NFL training camps across the country. For an archive of all camp postcards, click here.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Five thoughts looking back at my day with the Chiefs:
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- We'll get to the news of the weekend in a few hundred words, to touchbacks and Starcaps, to playing for now and playing for later, to Colt McCoy taking a big step and Matthew Stafford taking a healthy one, to the first week of the silly season and the panic it induces, to the team trying to figure how the coin toss works and the team trying to figure where to kick off from, and to the NFL player with a tattoo thing for Elizabeth Taylor. In due time. Oh, and reading between the lines, the NFL is not happy with the Bears Wildcatting their own kickoff spot. But more about that later.
SI.com has dispatched writers to report on NFL training camps across the country. For an archive of all camp postcards, click here.
SI.com has dispatched writers to report on NFL training camps across the country. Here's what Don Banks had to say about Packers camp in Green Bay, Wis., which he visited on July 30. For an archive of all camp postcards, click here.
The Philadelphia Eagles on Friday quietly executed a perfect coup de stat -- that's when a team sneaks into the free-agent market to capture the best available player who, most importantly, fills a position of great statistical need.
This time, it finally feels over. If this were a football game instead of a four-month-plus labor stand-off, it would be as if both the owners and players have gone into the victory formation, going through the motions and formalities as they drop to one knee in anticipation of a successful conclusion and maybe even a little celebration.
updated: Tue Jul 12 2011 22:58:00
A rare sight in Texas, snow and ice is making Super Bowl fans frown.
Mother Nature smiled Saturday on ice-weary metro Dallas residents and Super Bowl visitors, providing sunny skies and snow-melting temperatures in the low 50s.
NEW YORK -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight from a quarterback-happy first round of the 2011 NFL Draft at a crowded and rowdy Radio City Music Hall ...
When Bill Russell was winning two NCAA titles, an Olympic gold medal and 11 NBA crowns, championship teams rarely received invitations to the White House. It certainly wasn't like earlier this month, when the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers could boast about a future engagement at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
"That's one small step for NASCAR, one giant leap for NASCAR-kind." OK, maybe I stole that quote from Neil Armstrong, but the suits down in Daytona Beach have been begging for a shred of positive news heading into their Super Bowl. On Tuesday, they finally got it from an unlikely source: the Nielsen ratings, which showed a slight increase from 4.4 to 4.5 for the Bud Shootout, while Daytona 500 qualifying from Sunday was up 19 percent.
The Black Eyed Peas singer gets pumped for her band's big performance at Sunday's Super Bowl XLV
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight from the Packers' taut and gritty 31-25 conquest of Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV Sunday night in Cowboys Stadium. ...
Grading out the performances by the Steelers in their 31-25 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium ...
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Of all the numbers floating around town this week, from $3 million (estimated price of a 30-second commercial for Super Bowl XLV) to $15,946 (the cost for a seventh-row seat on the 50-yard line at Cowboys Stadium, according to the NFL Ticket Exchange by Ticketmaster) to nine (the low in degrees on Wednesday, the coldest temperature in Jerry Jones country since 1989), here is the one that Fox Sports executives have their eyes on:
CHICAGO -- We'll get to the Super Bowl matchup that Doris Kearns Goodwin would love (it's historic, for those not familiar with Ms. Goodwin's work), and to the volcanic Jay Cutler situation, and to one of the greatest predictions in sports history (sort of) soon enough. But I begin this morning with two things -- the Super Bowl XLV Factoid That Will Interest Everyone, and something Packers GM Ted Thompson said, uncharacteristically, in the winning locker room 45 minutes after Green Bay 21, Chicago 14: "I think this game was good for America.''
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