Sports Then and Now

Losing Tony Romo to a broken collarbone twice in the 2015 season derailed the season for the Dallas Cowboys.

Football is a tough sport. Injuries are a constant part of the game that can even occur on the practice field when players aren’t even giving it their all. That’s the nature of a contact sport with strong guys that can weigh in at a solid 300 pounds.

But the 2015 season was riddled with hundreds of injuries that sidelined just as many players. Experts are blaming the onslaught of injuries, many of which happened early in the season, on overuse. It’s a result of football teams training and/or playing almost year round.

Past injuries were also a hot topic. One of the biggest stories of 2015 was the NFL concussion lawsuit settlement that is now being appealed. The settlement would pay a total of $1 billion to 20,000 plaintiffs that suffered brain trauma while playing in the NFL.

Let’s check in on how players with some of the most serious injuries this season are recovering.

Ricardo Lockette’s Possible Career-Ending Neck Injury

Mid-way through the NFL season, Seattle Seahawk’s wide receiver Ricardo Lockette suffered one of the scariest injuries of the year. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Lockette said that he was extremely dazed after a hard hit and felt completely numb. He ultimately had to have neck surgery for the disc and ligament damage that he suffered. Lockette felt normal mentally after surgery, but he then began a long physical rehab process that started with just walking down a hall. It’s still uncertain where he’ll be at the beginning of the 2016 season. Read the rest of this entry →

Though Peyton Manning is closing quickly, Brett Favre is currently the NFL’s career leader for passing yards.

In your quest to find a reliable betting strategy, you will be best served to look for betting systems that work over a long period of time. In the NFL, that is not an easy thing to do given the likelihood of major injuries and inconsistent play from the stars of the game. Consistency is always the key when selecting a betting strategy from a short list of betting systems that work.

The value of consistency can best be represented by looking at the football career of quarterback Brett Favre. He currently sits at the top of the list for career passing yards (71,838) with Peyton Manning zeroing in on the record with 71,215 yards. Favre also sits in second position for career touchdown passes with 508, second only to Manning’s amazing 537.

Brett Favre was drafted as the third pick in the second round by the Atlanta Falcons on 1991. He was anything but a darling to Falcons Head Coach Jerry Glanville who claimed from the beginning that Favre would just rot on the bench before he would ever play him. Of course, Favre did himself no favors when he threw four passes as a Falcon for zero completions and two interceptions, of which one was returned for a touchdown.

In the off-season, the Green Bay Packers saw Favre as the best alternative to its QB problems when compared to players available in the 1992 draft. They traded the team’s number one pick (19th overall) to acquire the man who would go on to become a legend in Green Bay.

As a testament to his durability and consistency, Favre played in 255 straight games for the Packers between 1992 and 2007. He then went on to play 16 straight for the New York Jets in 2008 and 29 straight with the Minnesota Vikings between 2009 and 2010 before succumbing to injury and retirement. Read the rest of this entry →

The Colts fake punt was one of the many odd plays so far in the 2015 season.

Sports are so much more volatile today. It seems that in years past, players performed more consistently, dynasties lasted longer, and upsets were few and far between. But today’s NFL is anything but predictable. Some teams overachieve, others fall short. Players are full of surprises. And it’s anyone’s guess who will be hoisting the Lombardi trophy come February.

So the ability to view as many games as possible is quite the gift these days. If you hear an update that suggests something bizarre is about to take place, it’s amazing to be able to jump to another channel and get right in on the action. Sure, it will all air on highlights later, but the element of surprise and the chance to watch it live is unparalleled.

There are quite a few reasons why you might be kicking yourself if you don’t have DIRECTV Sunday Ticket or some kind of way to view any game at any time. If you still don’t get on the horn after reading this, you’ll be kicking yourself all season.

Fantasy Sports

Let’s just get right to the point. This hobby has become hugely popular. It is lots of fun, because it gives you the potential for bragging rights over not just your friends, but over coaches and GM’s who might have traded, released, or not drafted a player who you think can be successful.

And thanks to popular fantasy websites like Fan Duel and Draft Kings, you can actually win money with your immense knowledge.

So you’ve got to follow the games, not just to find the outcomes of matchups where your potential victories are involved, but also to scout players and teams to see what you will want to do for the next week. With a full-league television option, you’ll never miss a thing. Read the rest of this entry →

Today’s Sports Then and Now blog remembers the late Reggie White.

An ordained pastor and Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman, this NFL defender brilliantly embodied his fitting Minister of Defense nickname.

During a storied 15-year NFL career, the Minister of Defense delivered his football version of a fire and brimstone sermon by dominating opposing offenses.

Whenever Reggie White set foot on the football field, he constantly administered defensive pressure. And, when away from the gridiron, he tirelessly catered to the needs of inner-city youth and those less fortunate through his work as a Christian minister.

NFL.com rated White as the #7 NFL player of all-time, and ESPN Sports Nation named him the greatest player in Philadelphia Eagles history. His storied career validates their lofty choices.

White graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1984 after being named SEC Player of the Year during his senior season. The Minister of Defense then played two years in the now defunct USFL with the Memphis Showboats, earning the 1985 USFL Man of the Year Award.

After the USFL folded, White proceeded to the NFL and starred for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1985 – 1992. Read the rest of this entry →

It’s the Super Bowl. You’re over at your buddy’s house watching the game when the clock finally expires in the second quarter. Up next are some clever commercials before the broadcast returns and you’re greeted with an epic, gargantuan halftime show that seemingly covers the entire football field.

Ten minutes ago, the field was more or less empty. But right now, there’s a huge stage front and center, not to mention all the props, costumed folks, lighting apparatuses and other spectacles.

How the heck do they pull off these kinds of stunts?

It’s not luck: it’s the result of intense, careful planning. After all, there are only a few minutes to get the stage together. The performance itself is 12 minutes long, and then the stage needs to be completely disassembled and carted off the field.

“It’s the most unique of any unique show or experience,” explains Hamish Hamilton, who’s directed the Super Bowl halftime show since 2010. “It’s easily the most intense and by far the most adrenaline-charged because you have a very real set of factors that can only come together at halftime.” Read the rest of this entry →

Brett Favre told Sports Illustrated that he could still play in the NFL.

I don’t know if you’ve had the same reaction, but for at least the last five years (and probably for all seven years since he left the Green Bay Packers) every time I see Brett Favre in a commercial or hear his name mentioned in any context, I do an internal eye roll and automatically tune out the discussion.

Earlier this month when the cover of Sports Illustrated showed a grinning Favre and promised insight into whether he thinks he could still play (of course he does), I had to set the magazine aside as just the thought of Favre returning to the NFL gave me a twitch.

That someone who was so beloved and enjoyed by football fans for over a decade somehow became the crazy uncle that no one wants to acknowledge or discuss is really one of the strange stories of the recent NFL.

There is little dispute that Favre was one of the quintessential players of the NFL from the early 1990s through the late 2000s. Even if you were not a Green Bay Packer fan, you knew about Favre and dazzled in his exuberance and talent.

He was the gunslinger who occasionally shot himself in the foot, but more often put the bullet directly in the heart of his opponents. He won a Super Bowl as a 28-year-old and very nearly made it back late in his career with both the Packers and later the Minnesota Vikings.

However, for many football fans, it was his inability to exit gracefully that is still remembered and is the reason he often is omitted from lists of the top quarterbacks in NFL history.

Though he had hinted at retirement a year earlier, it was not until March 4, 2008, just weeks after Favre had thrown an overtime interception that helped the New York Giants defeat the Packers in the NFC Championship Game, that Favre announced his retirement.

Had Favre’s story ended there with a tearful goodbye and a career full of Packer memories, his place in history would certainly have been secure.

However, as is well documented, Favre spent the next three seasons turning the idea of retirement into a national joke.

Just three months after retiring, he told the Packers he wanted to come back. That led to a heated battle that burned many bridges between the quarterback and the team he had led for 16 years. The Packers had committed themselves to Aaron Rodgers (which turned out to be a pretty good decision) and hoped Favre would honor his decision to retire (they even offered him a $25 million marketing agreement to walk away).

Favre was clear that he was no longer interested in retiring and wanted to return to the NFL. If the Packers were not going to give him the starting quarterback job back, then he wanted them to release him so he could sign with any team. Rumors were swirling that he wanted to play for the division rival Vikings both because of their head coach (Brad Childress) and because they played the Packers twice during the season. Read the rest of this entry →