Sports Then and Now

The NFL season has begun, which means a lot of football on TV.

Thankfully, there are multiple streaming options available on the internet where you can catch your favorite team without the need to hang around a television set. The top matches of this week include Bears vs Rams, Colts vs Jaguars, Patriots vs Eagles and finally, Texans vs Baltimore.

The best thing about the NFL is that it allows you to watch the games on the platform of your choice. You can easily stream the games on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or any device that suits you best. As NFL often signs new contracts with streaming services, the method to watch the games change with every new policy. Therefore, in this updated guide, we will tell you about some authentic ways to catch your favorite games online.

One of the cool parts of the NFL celebrating 100 years in 2019 is remembering the great moments and players that have helped shape the history of the game.

The NFL Network has been sharing their selections for the top moments, game-changers, teams and characters. Soon they will be unveiling their list of the top 100 players in NFL history.

In a sport that has seen great change and evolution over 100 years, creating any comprehensive all-time list is going to be subjective and open to interpretation.

That is likely even more pronounced when trying to choose the top 100 players of the NFL’s first 100 years.

Some will certainly rely heavily on statistics as a guide, but my opinion is that while individual season statistics and the number of seasons leading the league in a statistical category can help identify greatness, career and all-time statistics are not as helpful and can be misleading when trying to pick an all-time team.

Whether it is related to the number of games played each season, move from playing both ways to position specialization or rule changes that impact offensive production, there has been enough change over the history of the game that I believe reduce the importance of career statistics.

 That is why for the Sports Then and Now list of the Top 100 Players in NFL history we chose to give greater emphasis to other factors. The things we looked at when choosing our top 100 included All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, number of times leading their league in statistical categories, how they compared to other players from within their era and peak performance. Team success was given greater weight in ordering quarterbacks, but played only a minor role in selecting players from other positions.

The result is a Sports Then and Now Top 100 list that I fully expect to look very different than the list that will be unveiled on the NFL Network beginning on November 22^nd. For our list, we made sure not to forget those players from the 1920s-1950s whose career statistics are well below players from future decades, but who were clearly all-time greats.

The distribution of players by era for the ST&N Top 100 is very interesting: 1920s-1930s: 8; 1940s-1950s: 13; 1960s: 24; 1970s: 15; 1980s: 12; 1990s: 12; 2000s: 8; 2010s: 7. However, 14 of our top 20 played a majority of their career after 1980.

This is the first of four posts over the next couple weeks announcing the ST&N Top 100. This one includes players 100-76.

100. Larry Wilson – St. Louis Cardinals – 8 Pro Bowls; 5 time 1^st Team All-Pro: The creator of the safety blitz, Wilson was a hard-nosed player who was one of the top defensive players of the 1960s. He registered 52 career interceptions and scored seven defensive touchdowns during his career.

99. J.J. Watt – Houston Texans – 5 Pro Bowls, 5 time 1^st Team All-Pro: When healthy, J.J. Watt has clearly distinguished himself as an all-time great. He has earned first-team All-Pro in each of the five seasons in which he has been healthy throughout the year and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year three times in his first four years. Unfortunately, a recent injury that has ended his 2019 season marks the third time in the last four years that he has played in eight or fewer games.

98. Adrian Peterson – Minnesota Vikings (primary team) – 7 Pro Bowls; 4 time 1^st team All-Pro: A three-time NFL rushing champion, Adrian Peterson was the most dominant running back in the NFL during his 10 seasons in Minnesota. After suffering a major knee injury in 2011, the next season he rushed for 2,097 yards, which is the second highest single season total in NFL history.

97. Derrick Brooks – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 11 Pro Bowls; 5 time 1^st team All-Pro: Often over-shadowed by more flamboyant teammates, Derrick Brooks was the steady leader of a Tampa Bay defense that was among the best in the league for nearly a decade. In their Super Bowl winning season in 2002, Brooks was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year as he returned three interceptions for touchdowns during the regular season and had another score in the Super Bowl.

In a career that started in 1956 and ended in 1976, the Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month was never really a leading man, but he seemed to be part of the supporting cast for many huge moments in NFL history.

The second overall pick in the 1956 NFL Draft out of Michigan State, Earl Morrall joined a San Francisco 49ers team that already included the famous “Million Dollar Backfield” of Y.A. Tittle, Hugh McElhenny, Joe Perry and John Henry Johnson.

Morrall started four games during his rookie season, but just before the start of the 1957 season was traded along with guard Mike Sandusky to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for linebacker Marv Matuszak and two first-round draft picks.

Choosing the perfect gift for an avid football fan is easier than you think. And no, you do not always have to stick to getting him a replica of the world cup. There are so many gift ideas that you can consider for that diehard football lover you know. You can get him the jersey of his favorite team or buy chairs online for him to relax and watch the game. Here are the top six ideas that will help you choose the right gift for that football fan you are planning to surprise on his birthday or on your anniversary.

1. Tickets to the next big game

Of course, the best thing that you can gift a football fan is the tickets to the next game he is waiting to watch. You can surprise him by getting the tickets early and gifting it to him on his birthday, or as a token of appreciation for his achievements in college or at work. He will be overjoyed at the opportunity to get to watch his favorite team in action.

2. The jersey of his favorite team

One of the most popular gifts for a football fan is the jersey of his favorite team. Get a custom made team jersey by printing his name and lucky number on the back. Or, you can also get him a similar jersey to the one that his favorite player wears, with the name of the player on it. Either way, he will be really happy to watch the game wearing that tee-shirt.

NFL betting enthusiasts may have often come across the term ‘covering the spread’. Not many people would be aware of the concept behind the term. Also due to assumptions and misconceptions, the concept gets re-defined the wrong way. As a result, you may place a wrong bet and then stand a chance of losing your hard- earned money due to your misconceptions around such terms. This is why it is crucial to have a clear understand of this term, and augment your chances of winning with strategic bets.

When there is a face-off between a stronger team and a weaker team, bettors usually spread the point so that there is betting in favor of both teams at equal odds. The general tendency will be to prefer the stronger team and not bet on the weaker one. However, with a handicap or a virtual ‘headstart’, betting in favor of the weaker team can be made more appealing and attractive.

After years of struggling to find a consistent quarterback, the Chicago Bears now hope third-year player Mitchell Trubisky will be their quarterback for years to come. As the Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month we are recognizing the best quarterback in Chicago Bears history.

Chosen out of Columbia–where he played tailback–with the second pick in the 1939 NFL Draft, Sid Luckman spent 12 seasons as the quarterback for the Bears and led them to five NFL Championship Game appearances and four titles.