NFL HONOURS NOMINEES REVEALED

Craig Llewellyn NFL

The NFL and The Associated Press have announced the finalists for their annual awards, with winners to be revealed at the NFL Honours ceremony in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX. This year’s awards, are to be hosted by Snoop Dogg, will also feature the presenttion of the prestigious Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year accolade along with …

GRIDIRON POWER RANKINGS: THE FULL 32

Nicholas McGee NFL

Welcome to Gridiron’s final power ranking of the 2024 NFL regular season, featuring — for the first time — all 32 teams. Who comes out on top after 18 weeks of competition? Is the worst team in the league the one that will be picking first in April’s Draft? And how are the 14 playoff teams stacking up?   GRIDIRON POWER …

A Christmas Garo

Craig Llewellyn NFL

The 4pm kickoff had appeared amiable enough, until legendary kicker Jan Stenerud’s field goal attempt sailed wide to the right of the goalposts at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. Dinner wouldn’t be late, but those who were due to consume it would be. It was a new dilemma. Sure, there had been conflicts between football and fare on Thanksgiving for as …

Walter Payton Award nominees unveiled

Gridiron

The NFL has announced the 32 nominees for this year’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide, reflecting the off-the-field endeavours of those better known for their performances between the lines. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award has become the league’s most revered honour, recognising players who excel on the field and demonstrate …

This Given Thursday: Reasons to be thankful

Thomas Ritchie NFL

Ah, Thanksgiving. The time to stuff your face with turkey, spend time with family, and then spend frivolously on useless merchandise for the next couple of days.  The most American of holidays means little to us on this side of the pond. For NFL fans, it’s a chance to enjoy some midweek football. I’m thankful for that. For that reason, …

NFL WEEKEND PREVIEW: WEEK 13

Neil Dutton NFL

The annual Thanksgiving weekend is a big event for the National Football League, but even the schedule planners would be surprised at a Week 13 lineup featuring only three games between teams with winning records. The standout matchup amid such a dearth of highlights is clearly that between the 8-4 Baltimore Ravens and 9-2 Philadelphia Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium. …

Not Dallas Again?

Gridiron NFL

Contrary to popular belief, playing football on Thanksgiving Day is not an NFL invention. The league may be credited with bringing a lot of innovations to the sport, but the origin of games being played as part of festivities celebrating a successful harvest predate the formation of the National Football League by nearly 50 years, when the college teams from …

Rooney Award nominees out as Pro Bowl vote opens

Gridiron NFL

Thirty-two players have been nominated for the eleventh annual Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, the winner of which will be determined in the build-up to this year’s NFL Pro Bowl. Created in 2014, the award honours the late Art Rooney Sr., founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers and now resident in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Each NFL team nominates a …

This Given Sunday: Heart stopping action league-wide

Thomas Ritchie

Week 12 of the NFL season should have come with a health warning. Blocked punts, missed extra points, botched holds, onside kicks returned for touchdowns, muffed kickoffs recovered and housed, overtime and game-winning field goals. Not suitable for the faint of heart. The beady-eyed among you will note most of those pulse-raising plays happened in one game. In fact, in …

LEAGUE GOES ALL-IN ON MADDEN CELEBRATIONS

Gridiron NFL

The National Football League will continue to honour the late John Madden at next Thursday’s Thanksgiving games with commemorations of the former player, coach and commentator liberally sprinkled throughout. Madden once said that, ‘There’s no place that I would rather be on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game,’ and the now-annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration aims …

NFL Weekend Preview: Week 11

Craig Llewellyn NFL

Week 10 was one of the worst weeks of the 2024 season in terms of offensive output. Teams averaged 1.86 points per drive and threw interceptions at a 2.9% rate, both “good” for the second-worst weeks of the season. But while Week 11 can’t guarantee more explosive play on offense, it promises to be a fascinating week with several key …

NFL Weekend Preview: Week 10

Craig Llewellyn NFL

With nine of 18 weeks — and 138 of 272 games completed — the 2024 NFL regular season has edged past its halfway point with the Kansas City Chiefs still clinging the league’s last unbeaten record, having moved to 8-0 with a hard-fought overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. With the win, the Chiefs became …

This Given Sunday: The League’s Best Pull Away

Thomas Ritchie NFL

The NFL season has been characterised by tight games, nip-and-tuck affairs that are decided in the dying embers. While there were a number of such games again in Week 9, the league’s best are starting to pull away from the competition. All but one of this Sunday’s games were won by the bookies’ favourites. While the Ravens and Lions solidified …

NFL Weekend Preview: Week 9

Gridiron NFL

Week 8 of the 2024 NFL season was a riot of scoring, with 777 points scored across the 16 games. But the theme of the season, namely close games, continued, with 13 of the games within eight points heading into the fourth quarter. Through the first eight weeks of the season, 67 games have been decided by seven points or …

IF THE CAP FITS

Gridiron NFL

Rachael Hearn @rachhearn11 Another year and, what d’ya know, we have another silver bullet to solve the NFL’s concussion crisis. Remember the mouthguards that were going to stop concussions in their tracks? What about Russell Wilson’s concussion water? Or Tom Brady’s CTE vitamins? This year, it’s all about the Guardian cap. WHAT IS THE GUARDIAN CAP You’ll have seen the …

This Given Sunday: Rookies struggle in Week 1

Gridiron NFL

Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels became the eighth quarterback pairing taken with the first two picks of the NFL Draft to start on the opening weekend of their rookie season, but both learned that life in the pro game is vastly different from the college game they graced in 2023. Along with 12th overall selection Bo Nix, who got the …

NFL expands Global Markets Programme

Gridiron NFL

The National Football League has further expanded its Global Markets Programme, with four new clubs and five new markets set to participate in 2024, following approval from the International Committee at the league’s annual meeting in Orlando. First launched in 2022, the Global Markets Programme awards NFL clubs international marketing rights to build brand awareness and fandom beyond the U.S., …

OLÉ! Madrid gets NFL regular season game in 2025

Gridiron NFL

The National Football League’s International Series roster continues to expand with news that Spanish capital Madrid is to host a regular season game in 2025. The announcement confirms the NFL’s continued prioritisation of global growth by taking the International Series to new cities and markets around the world, and follows hot on the heels that the Philadelphia Eagles will be …

GET YOURSELF TO THE GRIDIRON AFTERPARTY!

Gridiron NFL

The NFL has returned to London and, with just days remaining before the Dolphins and Jaguars face off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, time is running short if you want to attend the legendary Gridiron Afterparty at Bloomsbury Lanes. Tickets are still available for the ONLY place to be on Sunday October 17th, and why not ramp up your enjoyment by hiring …

Late Bloomer Or Already Withered?

Gridiron NFL

This article originally appeared in Issue XXXVIII of Gridiron magazine back in 2018 – for individual editions or subscriptions, click HERE It is ironic that, as Josh Rosen battles to become the first quarterback taken in the 2018 NFL Draft, a man whose spectre may determine the outcome of his efforts is undertaking a similar quest to woo evaluators. For …

Mr 17-and-0

Matthew Sherry NFL

Perfection. It is the one word that coaches around the land preach. Over and over again. And yet it’s the one thing that eludes them all. The ultimate, and ultimately unattainable, goal. However, there is one man – in the NFL at least – who can at least claim to have overseen ‘perfection’. Of course, and Don Shula will be …

Draft Analysis 2020: AFC

Simon Clancy NFL

As the smoke clears on the first ever virtual NFL Player Selection Meeting, we grade each American Football Conference team on the strength of their acquisitions. AFC EAST Buffalo Bills: Given that they gave up their first pick for Stefon Diggs, Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane did an outstanding job across all three days. AJ Epenesa should contribute immediately, and …

Iron Mike’s Big Dance Memories

Gridiron NFL

Looking back at Super Bowls is like reviewing my adult life. I remember the first clearly, Pete Rozelle’s NFL-AFL World Championship Game – Lamar Hunt wouldn’t christen it the Super Bowl until the second year – even though I wasn’t yet a rebellious child of the Sixties; I rooted for the Green Bay Packers’ triumph over the trash-talking Chiefs and, …