01/31/2009 | |
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2009 Announced Bob Hayes, Randall McDaniel, Bruce Smith , Derrick Thomas, Ralph Wilson, Rod Woodson
Friday, January 30, 2009
Super Bowl Party: Playboy Party At American Airlines Arena
I'm not in Tampa, but the 2010 Super Bowl is in -- drumroll -- Miami! That's what I'm looking forward to.
And besides, there's no Playboy Super Bowl Party this year. RATS! The reasons they give are well...
""While we are huge fans of Super Bowl weekend and are participating in the DirecTV Celebrity Beach Bowl event, we will not be hosting a separate party in Tampa,"
But I'll bet they'll be back in Miami and Zennie62 will be there!
SF Bayview Hunter's Point CAC/PAC Lennar Community Meeting
This is a video of the meeting held Wednesday night and regarding the Urban Design plan for the proposed Bayview Hunter's point Lennar development which would include a stadium for the San Francisco 49ers.
The video captures the anger that community members had over the process, expressing a desire to see the committee just approve the plan and build the project, but making sure the site is cleaned up and jobs are provided for them,
It's the second video on this community process and includes the roll call vote. You can hear who voted and how they voted.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Mireya Grisales high-fives Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons
All I can say is who's Mireya Grisales? She's a super hot reporter for Telemundo who's wowing them in Tampa. Wish I were there --- sort of.
Kurt Warner: Arizona Cardinals QB At Super Bowl Media Day
This is a great pict of Arizona Cardinals QB holding court at NFL Media Day. I'm not there as I didn't plan to go to Tampa last year. Still, I miss the parties but I don't miss not being able to get into some of them and the weird behavior of some people just because they're there.
Heck, I've been to six Super Bowls.
Super Bowl T-Shirts Boxes
Just in time for Super Bowl XLIII, shirts! But I've never seen so many and in their boxes.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
an open Letter to NFL PLAYER reps and the NFLPA executive Board
Dear NFLPA Executive Committee Members and Player Representatives:
As you know, a class action suit was filed against the NFLPA and a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff class of retired NFL players who had signed a "Retired Player Group License Agreement". It should be noted that the acting Director of the NFLPA, Richard Berthelson was a key witness for the NFLPA, but despite his testimony, the jury found that the NFLPA had breached its fiduciary responsibility and their duty to market retired players and compensate them for the use of their images. The verdict was for $7.1 million in compensatory damages and $21 million in punitive damages. After the trial, the lawyers for the NFLPA filed a motion to set aside the verdict. After careful consideration of all the facts, Judge Alsup denied all post-trial motions from the NFLPA's lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler.
In Judge Alsup's ruling, he made a few statements that summed up the reason he thinks the jury came to the decision they made. I have highlighted some of the more important conclusions he made. He said "The jury could reasonably have accepted the view of the evidence that defendants undertook a fiduciary duty to promote and to market all retired players who had signed RPGLAs — yet made no effort to do so — and that defendants' true commercial motive was to create an illusion of representation so that no one else would seek to sign up the RPGLA class and to market them. While defendants offered vague verbal testimony of passing attempts to market the RPGLA group as a whole, the jury could have easily rejected those snippets as self-serving "double talk." Not a single offer to market the entire group was ever in writing; nor was there ever any documentary corroboration of any such verbal group offer. To the contrary, the only writings showed the opposite of marketing — for example, that defendants told Electronic Arts to "scramble" the identities of retired players in the lucrative Madden vintage-team game. This game would have been a golden opportunity for defendants to have offered to license the entire group of RPGLA members but, significantly, no such offer was made — or so the jury could reasonably have found. Instead, defendants told EA to "scramble" the names and identities of retired players and the class received zero from this potential bonanza. What is more, the Hall of Fame evidence showed that defendants were willing to "sell out" the RPGLA class members in order to curry favor with EA (by keeping a competitor of EA out of the market) — or so the jury could have reasonably concluded. And, the "escrow account" referenced in the RPGLA (supposedly to be set up to hold revenues for class members) was never even established by defendants, from which it could reasonably have been inferred that the escrow account was never intended to be anything more than an illusion. A monumental fact was never adequately explained by defendants — how could it have been that defendants lobbied thousands of retired players for fourteen years to sign up for defendants' RPGLA "program," yet never paid one cent to any retired player under the program? Put differently, if retired players' images and identities were really the undesirable"dog food" contended by the defense, then why did they try so hard to sign up the RPGLA class members for so long — only to never pay a penny? Given the golden opportunity presented by the Madden vintage-team game, the jury could reasonably have concluded that the true motive was to deter or to head off any competing effort by any third-party promoter (or by the retired players themselves) to license them as a group and to lull the retired players into misbelieving that defendants were out on the hustings trying to generate revenue for them. Instead, defendants gave complete priority in their group efforts to marketing active players. Defendants got to keep a large share of the active player group money (and very little of any retired player group money) so the incentives were skewed to favor marketing the active players to the exclusion of the retired players."
The Judge also made these comments about the amount of money awarded:
"The verdict is sufficiently low in relation to the vast sums negotiated for the active players and was sufficiently close to the ad hoc totals for retired players that by these benchmarks the verdict was reasonable."
"The evidence as a whole supported the conclusion that had defendants tried to market the RPGLA class members rather than letting EA scramble their identifies, a group royalty in the general vicinity of the verdict would have been obtainable. When viewed against the massive amounts paid for active player group rights, the $7.1 million was reserved."
After reading the Judge's analysis and commentary, we would hope that the NFLPA Executive Committee and the Player Representatives would reconsider appealing the verdict. We do not believe that the active players were fully aware of what was being done by the executive staff and the administrators of the NFLPA with regard to the marketing and compensation of retired players that signed GLA's.
Although we do not hold you totally responsible for the actions that led to the filing of the class action lawsuit, we hope you will look closely at the administration of the NFLPA and realize that there are people still working there that put you in the position you are now in. Make no mistake about it. They work for you. You are their employer and you have every right to hold them accountable for the actions that led to this lawsuit, verdict and monetary award. Remember this……the jury, after listening to hours of testimony and looking at all the evidence, came to the conclusion that not only should retired players be compensated for the use of their images, but that the NFLPA should be punished (punitive damages) for their treatment of retired players. If a jury that had no prior knowledge of these issues could come to this conclusion, then it seems to us that it is time for some major housecleaning at the NFLPA. You have the power to make those changes. Change we can believe in! You know the lessons of teamwork…..you are only as strong as your weakest link. If that link to the past isn't removed then eventually the chain will break.
Retired NFL players are a unique fraternity of men. A fraternity that all of you will someday be joining. For most players, that day will come sooner than they want it to, but while you are still an active player we want you to understand the issues that are important to us. When Gene Upshaw and Doug Allen first put forth the idea of helping retired players through a marketing strategy that compensated all retired players, we were thrilled to say the least. The idea was an exact replica of what you and all active players enjoyed by signing a Group Licensing Agreement. Just like active players, all retired players would share equally in the royalties whether we were a perennial bench warmer or the MVP of the Superbowl. As you now know, that never happened. When we complained, no one at the NFLPA would listen to our concerns and as a result we were forced to take legal action.
Now that the Judge and jury have spoken, we want to put the past behind us and begin healing the wounds that have divided active and retired players. The easiest way to do that is for the NFLPA Executive Committee and the Player Reps to instruct their attorney Jeffrey Kessler to end the legal battle that has pit us against each other and has cost the NFLPA millions of dollars in legal fees.
This is not the time for you to sit back and let others make the decisions for you.
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sincerely,
NFL Retired Players
As you know, a class action suit was filed against the NFLPA and a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff class of retired NFL players who had signed a "Retired Player Group License Agreement". It should be noted that the acting Director of the NFLPA, Richard Berthelson was a key witness for the NFLPA, but despite his testimony, the jury found that the NFLPA had breached its fiduciary responsibility and their duty to market retired players and compensate them for the use of their images. The verdict was for $7.1 million in compensatory damages and $21 million in punitive damages. After the trial, the lawyers for the NFLPA filed a motion to set aside the verdict. After careful consideration of all the facts, Judge Alsup denied all post-trial motions from the NFLPA's lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler.
In Judge Alsup's ruling, he made a few statements that summed up the reason he thinks the jury came to the decision they made. I have highlighted some of the more important conclusions he made. He said "The jury could reasonably have accepted the view of the evidence that defendants undertook a fiduciary duty to promote and to market all retired players who had signed RPGLAs — yet made no effort to do so — and that defendants' true commercial motive was to create an illusion of representation so that no one else would seek to sign up the RPGLA class and to market them. While defendants offered vague verbal testimony of passing attempts to market the RPGLA group as a whole, the jury could have easily rejected those snippets as self-serving "double talk." Not a single offer to market the entire group was ever in writing; nor was there ever any documentary corroboration of any such verbal group offer. To the contrary, the only writings showed the opposite of marketing — for example, that defendants told Electronic Arts to "scramble" the identities of retired players in the lucrative Madden vintage-team game. This game would have been a golden opportunity for defendants to have offered to license the entire group of RPGLA members but, significantly, no such offer was made — or so the jury could reasonably have found. Instead, defendants told EA to "scramble" the names and identities of retired players and the class received zero from this potential bonanza. What is more, the Hall of Fame evidence showed that defendants were willing to "sell out" the RPGLA class members in order to curry favor with EA (by keeping a competitor of EA out of the market) — or so the jury could have reasonably concluded. And, the "escrow account" referenced in the RPGLA (supposedly to be set up to hold revenues for class members) was never even established by defendants, from which it could reasonably have been inferred that the escrow account was never intended to be anything more than an illusion. A monumental fact was never adequately explained by defendants — how could it have been that defendants lobbied thousands of retired players for fourteen years to sign up for defendants' RPGLA "program," yet never paid one cent to any retired player under the program? Put differently, if retired players' images and identities were really the undesirable"dog food" contended by the defense, then why did they try so hard to sign up the RPGLA class members for so long — only to never pay a penny? Given the golden opportunity presented by the Madden vintage-team game, the jury could reasonably have concluded that the true motive was to deter or to head off any competing effort by any third-party promoter (or by the retired players themselves) to license them as a group and to lull the retired players into misbelieving that defendants were out on the hustings trying to generate revenue for them. Instead, defendants gave complete priority in their group efforts to marketing active players. Defendants got to keep a large share of the active player group money (and very little of any retired player group money) so the incentives were skewed to favor marketing the active players to the exclusion of the retired players."
The Judge also made these comments about the amount of money awarded:
"The verdict is sufficiently low in relation to the vast sums negotiated for the active players and was sufficiently close to the ad hoc totals for retired players that by these benchmarks the verdict was reasonable."
"The evidence as a whole supported the conclusion that had defendants tried to market the RPGLA class members rather than letting EA scramble their identifies, a group royalty in the general vicinity of the verdict would have been obtainable. When viewed against the massive amounts paid for active player group rights, the $7.1 million was reserved."
After reading the Judge's analysis and commentary, we would hope that the NFLPA Executive Committee and the Player Representatives would reconsider appealing the verdict. We do not believe that the active players were fully aware of what was being done by the executive staff and the administrators of the NFLPA with regard to the marketing and compensation of retired players that signed GLA's.
Although we do not hold you totally responsible for the actions that led to the filing of the class action lawsuit, we hope you will look closely at the administration of the NFLPA and realize that there are people still working there that put you in the position you are now in. Make no mistake about it. They work for you. You are their employer and you have every right to hold them accountable for the actions that led to this lawsuit, verdict and monetary award. Remember this……the jury, after listening to hours of testimony and looking at all the evidence, came to the conclusion that not only should retired players be compensated for the use of their images, but that the NFLPA should be punished (punitive damages) for their treatment of retired players. If a jury that had no prior knowledge of these issues could come to this conclusion, then it seems to us that it is time for some major housecleaning at the NFLPA. You have the power to make those changes. Change we can believe in! You know the lessons of teamwork…..you are only as strong as your weakest link. If that link to the past isn't removed then eventually the chain will break.
Retired NFL players are a unique fraternity of men. A fraternity that all of you will someday be joining. For most players, that day will come sooner than they want it to, but while you are still an active player we want you to understand the issues that are important to us. When Gene Upshaw and Doug Allen first put forth the idea of helping retired players through a marketing strategy that compensated all retired players, we were thrilled to say the least. The idea was an exact replica of what you and all active players enjoyed by signing a Group Licensing Agreement. Just like active players, all retired players would share equally in the royalties whether we were a perennial bench warmer or the MVP of the Superbowl. As you now know, that never happened. When we complained, no one at the NFLPA would listen to our concerns and as a result we were forced to take legal action.
Now that the Judge and jury have spoken, we want to put the past behind us and begin healing the wounds that have divided active and retired players. The easiest way to do that is for the NFLPA Executive Committee and the Player Reps to instruct their attorney Jeffrey Kessler to end the legal battle that has pit us against each other and has cost the NFLPA millions of dollars in legal fees.
This is not the time for you to sit back and let others make the decisions for you.
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sincerely,
NFL Retired Players
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Time Pieces: The return of the veteran NFL QB and what it means for the youth movement at the position
Photo above Via Picapp-"hey Vince, you like Country Music, right?? you know i have an album coming out right? Oh,..we're losing?
Time Pieces: The return of the veteran NFL QB and what it means for the youth movement at the position-By Dr. Bill Chachkes-Managing Partner-Football Reporters Online
We have recently seen the trend of veteran QB’s who revive NFL teams when and where they arrive as free agents. Currently two players are having success at the QB position.
Kurt Warner took over for 2006 1st round draft pick Matt Leinart in Arizona. Suddenly Arizona wins their division for the first time in 33 years. Is it the success of the new coaching staff? The change in the running game personnel due to the switch from Edgerrin James to rookie Tim Hightower? The two star wide outs who were just wasting away under the last coaches’ system (ok, maybe not “Wasting” away, but surely they we less productive)?
No, it’s a combination of all three, coupled with Warner’s maturity and experience. He gained that experience under four different coaching staffs. First with Dick Vermeil and Mike Martz in St. Louis, then briefly with Jim Fassel and Sean Peyton in NY, and now in Arizona through two coaching staffs. Warner seemed lost at first in Arizona under Dennis Green. When Matt Leinart was drafted it was with the understanding that he would be “the QB” of the future. His constant struggles and maturity issues have left Owner Bill Bidwell and GM Rod Graves disenchanted with their high profile #1 Selection. Warner has used that backdrop to resurrect his career and, at 37, looks every bit as good as he did at 29 & 30. Most importantly, his team is hosting the NFC Title game this weekend. So while Leinart ponders a movie career( I hear he and Nick Lachey are remaking Ronald Regans’ Hit Movie “Bedtime for Bonzo”) Kurt Warner will just keep on Throwing the rock to whomever the Cardinals have catching it.
Kerry Collins is also proving father time isn’t always on time so to speak. Many thought his last great throw was the loaf of bread into a basket in the NY United Way commercial several years back. Yet when Vince Young had his meltdown. There was Ol’ Kerry, ready to put down his acoustic guitar and pick up the football again. He led the Titans to the #1 Seed in the AFC and, with the exception of this past weekend’s loss to the Ravens, he had every bit as good a season as he did in 2000 in New York. Titans Head Coach Jeff Fisher has already stated that he wants Collins back in Nashville next year. So what happens to Vince Young? Does he wait his turn again (or until Kerry throws 6 int’s in a game)? Or does he seek employment elsewhere? I personally think Vince will wait it out, because Kerry’s got a Country Music album coming out in a few months, and as soon as he sees how much cash he can make without subjecting his body to constant punishment, he’ll pack it in and start touring as the opener for Brooks and Dunn or Billy Ray Cyrus.
(note: I was actually going to put Brett “the Farveulous one(sm)” Farve in this article as well, until he held up true to form, and led the J_E-T-S-S-S into another late season Swan Dive like all those Asian high divers at the summer Olympics)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Indy Colts Coach Tony Dungy Announces Retirement Today
Tony Dungy is my all time favorite NFL head coach. Today, after really about three years of thinking about it, he actually did it. He retired.
Dungy was the modern day Tom Landry, with a stern demenor on the sidelines and a keen football knoweldge. He was first the young star defensive coodinator who's talents were first mentioned by John Madden. Then he became head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and had what to many was his signature game in 1998, when his team upset the San Francisco 49ers, sacking quarterback Steve Young eight times.
But an inability to craft an explosive offense there did him in, and he landed with the Colts. There he built the team into the modern force it is and rallied the community behind them.
Tony's unshakable faith in the Lord is a guide for me. I hope one day U get the chance to meet him.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tony Dungy reported to be resigning as Colts coach - Los Angeles Times
More at Los Angeles Times: “Tony Dungy reportedly will announce today that he is stepping down as coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
The team has called a news conference for 2 p.m. PST.
Various media outlets, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation, say Dungy is ready to call it quits after nearly three decades of NFL and college coaching. He has long indicated an interest in stepping away from the game at some point, in part to devote more time to his Christian ministry.”
The team has called a news conference for 2 p.m. PST.
Various media outlets, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation, say Dungy is ready to call it quits after nearly three decades of NFL and college coaching. He has long indicated an interest in stepping away from the game at some point, in part to devote more time to his Christian ministry.”
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Eric Mangini is the New Cleveland Browns Head Coach
Photo Via Picapp
Eric Mangini Hired as Head Coach Of the Browns
The Mangenius has a new home-He will be the Coach of the Cleveland Browns, according to various wire service reports this evening(1/7). The Ink isn't even dry on his contract yet (If he even signed it) and his Wikipedia page has already been updated! What a country we live in eh? Speaking of people interested in NFL Head Coaching Jobs, the Jets have indirectly caused the firing of Boston College's Head Man, Jeff Jagodzinski. BC's AD Gene DeFlippo warned "Jags" if he Interviewed for the Jets job he would be terminated. Meanwhile he claims he has a "Stack" of interested head coaching candidates from other schools. Isn't that kind of two faced Gene? You fired your "Close Friend" for wanting to see if he could possibly return to the NFL, but you have no problem poaching a coach from somewhere else? What a Country.....
2008 NFL Season Review-From NFLMedia.com
2008 NFL Season Review
01/02/2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1/2/09
WOW, WAS ’08 GREAT!
Scoring at a 43-year high…teams turning things around and making the playoffs…rookie first-round quarterbacks starting from Week 1 under rookie head coaches and them all going to the playoffs…Tennessee’s streak…the Giants calmly going about their business…DREW BREES putting on a weekly aerial show…rookie running backs taking over offenses…the solid NFC South…dominating, shut-down defenses…and it all coming down to Week 17 with half the divisions still to be clinched!
“You get everybody’s best every week,” says Tennessee Titans head coach JEFF FISHER, whose club opened the season with a 10-game winning streak.
A perfect example of that approach came in Week 17 when Brees’ Saints – out of the playoff race – still fought the Carolina Panthers down to, literally, the last second of the game before a JOHN KASAY 42-yard field goal won the battle 33-31 and earned the Panthers the NFC South title.
It doesn’t matter what the situation, the commitment and character throughout the NFL shows every week.
“That’s why fans love the NFL,” says the 2008 Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year CHAD PENNINGTON of the Miami Dolphins, who made the playoffs with an 11-5 record after finishing 1-15 the year before. “In any given year, your team can be the surprise team in the league.”
The NFL is built on surprises, week after week, and they lead to the kind of performances that took place in the great 2008:
· Scoring per game was the highest it has been in 43 years. Games averaged 44.1 points, the most since 46.1 in 1965.
· There were six new division winners – Arizona, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota, the New York Giants and Tennessee -- tying 2003 for the most such clubs since realignment was instituted in 2002. “It feels great,” says Carolina quarterback JAKE DELHOMME. “This division is probably the toughest in football.” Well, the NFC South did have the league’s most combined wins (40).
· For the 13th consecutive season, at least five teams made the playoffs that were not in them the year before. Seven clubs -- Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota and Philadelphia -- accomplished the feat this year, with four of them (Atlanta, Baltimore, Miami and Philadelphia) rebounding from last-place finishes in 2007.
Four of the teams – Atlanta (7-game improvement), Baltimore (6), Carolina (5) and Miami (10) – combined to show a 28-game win-improvement from 2007 to 2008. The Dolphins tied 1999 Indianapolis for the biggest jump in wins (10) in history. “We shocked the world,” says Miami linebacker MATT ROTH. “We shocked ourselves.”
· It was a historic season for rookie head coaches. Three of them – JOHN HARBAUGH in Baltimore, MIKE SMITH in Atlanta and TONY SPARANO in Miami – took their teams to the playoffs. Three rookie coaches doing this in the same season has only happened once before, in 1992 (BILL COWHER, Pittsburgh; DENNIS GREEN, Minnesota; and BOBBY ROSS, San Diego).
· And speaking of rookies: wow, did they do great in ’08!
Nowhere was this more evident than among rookie quarterbacks -- namely, first-round draft choices MATT RYAN of Atlanta and JOE FLACCO of Baltimore. They combined for many singular accomplishments.
First off, they each started all 16 of their teams’ games, the first time two rookies have done that in the same season in the Super Bowl era (1966). They took their clubs to the biggest increase in wins from the season before than any other rookie QBs who started every game (Ryan, plus-7; Flacco, plus-6). Then they became the only 16-game rookies to lead their clubs to the playoffs in the same season. Finally, they will become the first rookie QB duo to start in the same postseason.
“It is unprecedented what they did,” says Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback STEVE YOUNG.
· And the rookie running backs were out there, too! Three of them – STEVE SLATON of Houston (1,282 yards), MATT FORTÉ of Chicago (1,238) and CHRIS JOHNSON of Tennessee (1,228) became the first rookie RB threesome in history to rush for 1,200 yards apiece.
Forté and Slaton also established team rookie rushing records, as did Carolina’s JONATHAN STEWART (836).
· Speaking of rushing, the New York Giants had two teammates become only the fourth running back duo in history to each rush for 1,000 yards. BRANDON JACOBS totaled 1,089 yards and DERRICK WARD 1,025. The Giants led the NFL in rushing with 157.4 yards per game. “Congratulations, we made history,” Jacobs told Ward after the latter reach 1,000 in Week 17.
And “All Day” just kept going. Minnesota Vikings running back ADRIAN “ALL DAY” PETERSON – who led the league in rushing with 1,760 yards -- became only the fifth player in history to rush for 3,000 yards (3,101) in his first two seasons (EARL CAMPBELL, 1978-79; ERIC DICKERSON, 1983-84; EDGERRIN JAMES, 1999-00; and CLINTON PORTIS, 2002-03).
· One of the most vaunted NFL records – season passing yards -- was almost broken, and the man who came close to doing it reacted with typical class when he failed to do so. New Orleans Saints quarterback DREW BREES – whose pregame pep-talk to his teammates became one of the visual benchmarks of the season – fell 16 yards short of breaking DAN MARINO’s NFL season record of 5,084 yards in 1984.
“When I sit back and look at it, that record has stood for a long time,” said Brees. “One of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game owns it.” With his team finishing 8-8, that isn’t “necessarily the way that record deserves to be broken,” said Brees. “That’s why I’m able to accept the fact it didn’t happen.” Brees did become only the second QB in history to throw for 5,000 yards.
· Meanwhile, out in the desert air in Arizona, footballs were filling the sky, as they well might in Hawaii.
The Arizona Cardinals’ passing attack helped the club score its most points ever (424), quarterback KURT WARNER throw for a franchise-record 30 touchdowns, and three receivers match a milestone only reached four times in history.
Cardinals wide receivers LARRY FITZGERALD (1,431 yards) and ANQUAN BOLDIN (1,038) – who will join Warner as the NFC starting QB-WRs tandem in the Pro Bowl on February 8 – and STEVE BREASTON (1,006) became the fifth teammate threesome in history to each post 1,000 receiving yards.
· Through all the offense, defenses were not sleeping! The Baltimore Ravens added to their NFL-best streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher, raising that number to 35 consecutive games. They also led the league with an NFL-best 26 interceptions, including 16 over their last eight games…Dallas Cowboys linebacker DE MARCUS WARE (20.0) came within three of breaking MICHAEL STRAHAN’s NFL season sack record (22.5)…and the Pittsburgh Steelers placed two players in the top 10 in sacks (JAMES HARRISON, 16.0 and LA MARR WOODLEY, 11.5) – the only team with two in the top-10.
· “From one week to the next in this league, things can change,” says New England Patriots quarterback MATT CASSEL. Nothing exhibits that more than the tightness of NFL games. In 2008, 14 percent were decided in the last two minutes or overtime. In 32 percent of the games, a potential game-winning/tying drive or actual game-winning drive took place within the 20-yard line with two minutes to go.
Games continued to be thisclose. Nearly half were decided by one score:
POINTS
GAMES
PCT.
8 or Less
117 of 256
46%
7 or Less
114 of 256
45%
3 or Less
50 of 256
20%
· The fans could not get enough of it all. Football fans across America continued to tune their televisions to NFL games in huge numbers in 2008. According to Nielsen Media Research, 225 million Americans watched NFL games this season. That is nearly 100 million more than the record number of Americans who voted in the 2008 presidential election (131.2 million).
A rundown of NFL records set and milestones reached in 2008:
THE PLAYERS
PLAYER
ACCOMPLISHMENT(S)
RONDE BARBER
CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
· Moved into third place in NFL history with his 11th touchdown off interceptions and fumble returns, ranking him behind Rod Woodson (13) and Aeneas Williams (12).
ANQUAN BOLDIN
WR, Arizona Cardinals
· Notched career reception No. 450, reaching that mark the fastest in NFL history (74 games).
DREW BREES
QB, New Orleans Saints
· Became only the second QB in league history with 5,000 passing yards in a season, finishing with 5,069 (DAN MARINO; 5,084).
ISSAC BRUCE
WR, San Francisco 49ers
· Recorded career reception No. 1,000 and is the fifth player to reach the milestone. Other players to reach 1,000 receptions are: JERRY RICE (1,549), CRIS CARTER (1,101), MARVIN HARRISON (1,102) and TIM BROWN (1,094).
· Passed TIM BROWN for second on the career-yards receiving list. Bruce has 14,944 yards, trailing only JERRY RICE (22,895) in the category.
· Became the 14th player in NFL history with 15,000 scrimmage yards.
REGGIE BUSH
RB, New Orleans Saints
· Made 200 catches through his first 34 games, tying him with Arizona receiver ANQUAN BOLDIN as the NFL players to reach 200 catches in the fewest games.
JASON CAMPBELL
QB, Washington Redskins
· Surpassed 3,000 passing yards in a season for the first time in his career.
MATT CASSEL
QB, New England Patriots
· Became the fifth NFL quarterback to throw for 400 yards in consecutive games. The others: DAN FOUTS, DAN MARINO, PHIL SIMMS and BILLY VOLEK.
WARRICK DUNN
RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
· Became the sixth player in league history with 10,000 rushing yards and 500 catches.
BRETT FAVRE
QB, New York Jets
· Notched his 169th victory, extending his NFL quarterback record.
· Made his 269th consecutive regular-season start, also extending his QB record.
· Broke a tie with DAN MARINO for victories in the most NFL stadiums by winning in his 32nd at LP Field. (Week 12)
LARRY FITZGERALD
WR, Arizona Cardinals
· Made his 350th reception in his 64th career game, making him the third fastest to reach that number.
· Caught his 400th career pass. He became the youngest player to do so at 25 years, 119 days. He also reached the mark in 71 games, faster than anyone in league history besides teammate ANQUAN BOLDIN (67 games).
ANTONIO GATES
TE, San Diego Chargers
· Reached 50 touchdowns in his 92nd game, the fewest in league history for a tight end. JERRY SMITH held the record (100 games).
TONY GONZALEZ
TE, Kansas City Chiefs
· Became the first tight end in NFL history with 900 receptions.
· Became the first tight end with four 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
· Surpassed SHANNON SHARPE for NFL receiving-yards record by a tight end with 10,940.
· Moved past KELLEN WINSLOW for the most 100-yard career receiving games (25) for a tight end.
· Moved into 11th place on the career list for receptions with 853. (Week 8)
JASON HANSON
K, Detroit Lions
· Broke the NFL record for most 50-yard field goals in a career with 41.
· Passed NICK LOWERY for eighth place on the NFL's career scoring list with 1,714 points.
MARVIN HARRISON
WR, Indianapolis Colts
· Passed CRIS CARTER into sole possession of second place on the NFL’s all-time receptions list with 1,102.
· Moved past WALTER PAYTON and into 10th on the league's career list with his 126th touchdown.
· Passed JIM BROWN for ninth on the NFL touchdowns list (128).
TORRY HOLT
WR, St. Louis Rams
· Moved into 12th place on the NFL career receptions list with 869.
EDGERRIN JAMES
RB, Arizona Cardinals
· Became the 14th player in NFL history to surpass 15,000 career yards from scrimmage.
· Surpassed FRANCO HARRIS to move to 11th on the NFL career list with his 57th 100-yard rushing game. (Week 17)
ANDRE JOHNSON
WR, Houston Texans
· Matched two NFL records by posting at least 130 yards in four consecutive games and 10 or more catches in three games.
· Registered his NFL-record seventh game this season with at least 10 catches and his eighth 100-yard game. His 1,575 yards this season are the most for a receiver since 2003.
JAMAL LEWIS
RB, Cleveland Browns
· Surpassed 10,000 rushing yards for his career, becoming the 24th player in NFL history to do so.
DERRICK MASON
WR, Baltimore Ravens
· Went over 10,000 receiving yards for his career.
PEYTON MANNING
QB, Indianapolis Colts
· Extended his NFL record with his ninth 4,000-yard passing season.
· Became the first player in history to throw 25 touchdown passes in 11 consecutive seasons.
· Tied for sixth with JOE MONTANA with 117 career wins.
· Moved into sixth on the career completions list with 3,839.
· Passed DREW BLEDSOE for seventh place on the NFL's career list for yards passing. Manning has 45,628; Bledsoe had 44,611.
RANDY MOSS
WR, New England Patriots
· Notched his 135th career touchdown reception, passing CRIS CARTER for third all-time.
· Tied MARSHALL FAULK for sixth in NFL history with his 136th touchdown.
· Upped his career total to 13,201 receiving yards, moving into ninth place in the NFL, three yards ahead of ANDRE REED.
· Joined JERRY RICE (14), TIM BROWN (9) and JIMMY SMITH as the only players in history with nine 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
· Tied MARVIN HARRISON for second in history with his 59th career 100-yard game.
SANTANA MOSS
WR, Washington Redskins
· Notched his third career 1,000-yard receiving season.
TERRELL OWENS
WR, Dallas Cowboys
· Surpassed CRIS CARTER (130) for second place all-time in receiving touchdowns (139).
· Became the eighth player to reach 900 receptions and in the third fewest games (178).
· Surpassed ART MONK for sixth all-time in career receptions (951).
ADRIAN PETERSON
RB, Minnesota Vikings
· Topped 2,000 career rushing yards, becoming the fastest player to reach the milestone in NFL history (21 games).
· Became the fifth player in league history to reach 3,000 rushing yards in his first two years, joining EARL CAMPBELL (Oilers), ERIC DICKERSON (Rams), EDGERRIN JAMES (Colts) and CLINTON PORTIS (Broncos).
CLINTON PORTIS
RB, Washington Redskins
· Joined O.J. SIMPSON as the only players with 120 yards rushing in five consecutive games on two different occasions.
ED REED
S, Baltimore Ravens
· Returned an interception an NFL-record 108 yards for a touchdown vs. Philadelphia (11/23).
BEN ROETHLISBERGER
QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
· Surpassed OTTO GRAHAM, DAN MARINO and TOM BRADY for the most victories in a quarterback’s first five seasons with 61 wins.
MATT STOVER
K, Baltimore Ravens
· Set an NFL record, kicking his 372nd consecutive point after touchdown.
· Passed BRUCE SMITH for 11th all-time after playing in his 280th game.
· Passed JIM BAKKEN in 13th place with 536 PATs.
· Went over 100 points for the 12th season in a row.
FRED TAYLOR
RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
· Passed O.J. SIMPSON and COREY DILLON to move into 16th place on the NFL's career rushing yards list (11,271).
LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON
RB, San Diego Chargers
· With 126 rushing touchdowns, moved out of a tie with MARCUS ALLEN and into sole possession of second place on the NFL's career list. EMMITT SMITH is No. 1 with 164.
· Extended his NFL record of consecutive seasons to begin a career with 10 rushing touchdowns to eight.
· Became the fifth player to rush for more than 10,000 yards and have 500 receptions.
· Passed O.J. SIMPSON and COREY DILLON for 15th place on the career rushing list at 11,279 yards.
· Became the 17th player to rush for more than 11,000 career yards.
HINES WARD
WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
· Notched his fifth career 1,000 receiving-yards season.
DE MARCUS WARE
LB, Dallas Cowboys
· Tied an NFL record with a sack in 10 consecutive games, matching the mark set by Denver's SIMON FLETCHER from Nov. 15, 1992 to Sept. 20, 1993
KURT WARNER
QB, Arizona Cardinals
· Had a perfect 158.3 passer rating for the third time in his career, tying PEYTON MANNING for the NFL record.
· Topped 300 yards for five consecutive games, one shy of the NFL record he shares with STEVE YOUNG and RICH GANNON.
WES WELKER
WR, New England Patriots
· Set an NFL record with at least six catches in each of the first 10 games of the season.
THE TEAMS
TEAM
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
ARIZONA CARDINALS
· Broke the franchise record for points in a season with 424, one more than in 1984.
· KURT WARNER threw a touchdown pass in 21 consecutive games, a Cardinals’ record. Warner set a club record with four consecutive 300-yard games. He also passed for a franchise-record 30 touchdowns this season.
· ANQUAN BOLDIN, STEVE BREASTON and LARRY FITZGERALD notched 1,000-yard receiving seasons, marking the fifth time in NFL history that three teammates each passed the 1,000-yard mark.
· ANQUAN BOLDIN set a franchise record with his 22nd 100-yard receiving game. He also topped 1,000 yards receiving in a season for a club-record fourth time.
· TIM HIGHTOWER's 10 TDs rushing set a franchise record, breaking the mark of nine set by Ron Moore in 1993.
· NEIL RACKERS became the second player in Cardinals history to score 500 points (JIM BAKKEN; 1,380).
ATLANTA FALCONS
· MICHAEL TURNER scored his club-record 17th rushing touchdown, breaking JAMAL ANDERSON’s franchise record of 14 in 1998.
· RODDY WHITE set the team season record for receiving yards (1,382), breaking ALFRED JENKINS' mark (1,358) in 1981.
BALTIMORE RAVENS
· Have gone an NFL-best 35 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
· Notched their 100th franchise win.
· Scored at least 27 points in a team-record four consecutive games. (Week 10)
· ED REED registered his NFL-high ninth interception, tying his own team record.
BUFFALO BILLS
· Won their 200th home game. (Week 7)
· LEODIS MC KELVIN surpassed ERIC MOULDS for the most kickoff return yards by a Buffalo rookie (1,468).
· BRIAN MOORMAN became the first Bills punter to throw a touchdown pass.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
· Reached 100 regular-season victories.
· Had two running backs with 100 yards in the same game for the first time in team history (JONATHAN STEWART and DE ANGELO WILLIAMS on 11/16.
· JONATHAN STEWART's 836 yards rushing set a season rookie mark for the Panthers.
· DE ANGELO WILLIAMS ended the season with a franchise-record 1,515 rushing yards. Williams scored a Panthers' season record 20 touchdowns. He also set a club record by scoring a touchdown in five consecutive games.
CHICAGO BEARS
· Became the first team in NFL history with 700 total victories.
· KYLE ORTON threw a franchise-record 206 consecutive passes without an interception.
· MAT FORTÉ rushed for 1,238 yards and caught 63 passes – both Bears rookie season records.
CINCINNATI BENGALS
· CHAD JOHNSON has at least one catch in 93 consecutive games, tying the team record set by CARL PICKENS.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
· JAMAL LEWIS became the first Browns running back since MIKE PRUITT in 1980-81 to gain 1,000 yards in successive seasons.
DALLAS COWBOYS
· Achieved 450 total victories (Week 5).
· TONY ROMO became the sixth Cowboys quarterback to surpass 10,000 career yards. Romo had his 16th career 300-yard passing game, surpassing TROY AIKMAN for the most in club history. He also became the first Cowboys QB with consecutive 3,000-yard seasons since Aikman did it in three consecutive years from 1995-97.
DENVER BRONCOS
· Tallied their 400th victory.
· JAY CUTLER tied JOHN ELWAY (1987) for the fewest games (11) in team history to reach 3,000 passing yards (11/23). Cutler broke JAKE PLUMMER's franchise record with 4,210 yards for the season.
· Rookie SPENCER LARSEN became the first player in club history to start on offense and defense (11/16). Larsen lined up at fullback and middle linebacker and also contributed on special teams.
· EDDIE ROYAL set Broncos rookie records with five touchdown receptions and yards receiving for a single season (980).
DETROIT LIONS
· CALVIN JOHNSON became the second receiver in team history to record 70 receptions; 1,200 yards; and 10 touchdowns in a single season (HERMAN MOORE in 1995).
· JASON HANSON surpassed MORTEN ANDERSEN's record for most career 50-yard field goals, hitting his 41st on 12/14.
GREEN BAY PACKERS
· DONALD DRIVER established a franchise record with a reception in his 104th consecutive game (11/9), besting the mark set by Sterling Sharpe from 1988-94.
· DRIVER and GREG JENNINGS each had 100 receiving yards in Week 17. Combined with RYAN GRANT and DE SHAWN WYNN's 100-yard rushing days, it was the first time in league history that a team has had two 100-yard rushers and 100-yard receivers in the same game.
HOUSTON TEXANS
· Scored touchdowns on their first three possessions for the first time in team history. (Week 7)
· Won four consecutive games in a season for the first time in franchise history.
· ANDRE JOHNSON extended his franchise record by having at least one catch in his 100th consecutive game.
· DUNTA ROBINSON set a Texans record with his 12th career interception.
· STEVE SLATON set the franchise record for yards rushing by a rookie with 1,282 and scored a team rookie-record nine rushing touchdowns.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
· Extended their NFL-record club streak to six seasons in a row with 12 or more wins.
· DALLAS CLARK broke his club season record for receptions by a tight end with 77. Clark also broke the Colts' franchise record for season receiving yards by a tight end with 848, surpassing Hall of Famer JOHN MACKEY's 829 in 1966.
· Head coach TONY DUNGY's teams have gone to the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons, dating back to 1999 when he was the head coach at Tampa Bay. It is the best run by a coach in NFL history, topping TOM LANDRY's run with the Cowboys from 1975-83 (9 seasons).
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
· Jaguars coach JACK DEL RIO posted his 50th regular-season victory.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
· LARRY JOHNSON (5.638) passed Christian Okoye (4,897) for second place on the Chiefs' all-time rushing list.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
· With an 11-5 record after a 1-15 mark in 2007, tied the 1999 Colts (13-3 after 3-13 the previous season) for the biggest turnaround in NFL history – 10 wins.
· Finished the regular season with 13 turnovers, tying the 2008 New York Giants for the fewest ever in a 16-game season.
· CHAD PENNINGTON connected on his first six passes in Week 15, extending his two-game streak to 17 completions in a row to break DAN MARINO's team record of 15 set in 1992.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
· ADRIAN PETERSON rushed for a franchise-record 10 100-yard games. Peterson broke Minnesota's single-season rushing record with 1,760 yards.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
· Finished the regular season with 57 penalties, besting the record-low of 59 set by Seattle in 2007.
· STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI set a Patriots single-season record with 34 field goals, breaking the mark of 32 set by TONY FRANKLIN in 1986.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
· Set franchise records for scoring (461) and yards (6,571).
· DEUCE MC ALLISTER surpassed DALTON HILLIARD for first on New Orleans' career list with 54 touchdowns.
NEW YORK GIANTS
· DERRICK WARD and BRANDON JACOBS both rushed for 1,000 yards, making the Giants only the fourth team with two 1,000-yard running backs.
· Ended the season with 13 turnovers, tying the 2008 Miami Dolphins for the fewest ever in a 16-game season.
· Finished the season with 427 points and 338 first downs, both second highest in team history (448 points in 1963; 356 first downs in 1985).
NEW YORK JETS
· THOMAS JONES broke the team’s season rushing and total touchdowns record (13 rushing, 2 receiving) previously held by CURTIS MARTIN.
·
OAKLAND RAIDERS
· SEBASTIAN JANIKOWSKI (905) broke GEORGE BLANDA's franchise record of 863 career-points.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
· Achieved 500 regular-season victories. Scored a franchise-record 416 points.
· ANDY REID won his 100th career game.
· REID and DONOVAN MC NABB earned their 76th career victory together, passing the Joe Montana-Bill Walsh combo for most all-time. (Week 7)
· MC NABB set a franchise record when he passed Ron Jaworski on the club's all-time passing yards list, finishing with 3,916.
· BRIAN WESTBROOK passed TIMMY BROWN for first place on the club's career list with 27 TD catches by a running back. Westbrook (9,330) surpassed HAROLD CARMICHAEL (9,042) as the Eagles career leader in yards.
· BRIAN DAWKINS made his 34th interception, tying the team record shared by ERIC ALLEN and BILL BRADLEY.
· DE SEAN JACKSON set a team rookie record with 912 receiving yards and also became the first rookie to lead the Eagles in catches (62) since 1942.
· DAVID AKERS kicked 33 field goals, setting a season team record.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
· MIKE TOMLIN became the first coach in Steelers history to win at least 10 games in each of his first two seasons. He became the sixth NFL coach to win a division title in his first two seasons as a head coach.
· JAMES HARRISON's 16th sack surpassed MIKE MERRIWEATHER's 1984 single-season Steelers record. Harrison and LA MARR WOODLEY set a club record (27.5) for most combined sacks by two players.
· HINES WARD set a team record with his 800 career receptions.
ST. LOUIS RAMS
· STEVEN JACKSON became the first Rams running back since ERIC DICKERSON (1983-86) to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons.
· DONNIE JONES established the highest gross punting average in team history – 50.0 yards. It ranks second in NFL history to SAMMY BAUGH’s 51.4 gross average in 1940.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
· Became the first team to make the NFL playoffs following a 4-8 start.
· PHILIP RIVERS threw 34 touchdown passes to break Hall of Famer DAN FOUTS' 1981 season team record. Rivers finished the season with 4,009 passing yards, joining Fouts as the only Chargers QBs with 4,000 in a season.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
· Notched their 250 regular-season victory.
· Head coach MIKE HOLMGREN earned his 160th career victory, most among active coaches.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
· Achieved 200 total victories.
· Started 5-0 at home this season for the first time in franchise history.
· Set team for most total yards in a season with 5,456.
· Tied team record with seven return touchdowns (2000).
TENNESSEE TITANS
· Set a club record with 12 wins in a row.
· CHRIS JOHNSON joined EARL CAMPBELL and EDDIE GEORGE as the only rookies in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards.
· LEN DALE WHITE scored 15 touchdowns for second place in team season annals behind EARL CAMPBELL (19, 1979).
WASHINGTON REDSKINS
· Compiled a streak of 370 consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
· JASON CAMPBELL’s interception percentage of 1.2 was a team record.
· CLINTON PORTIS tied club record with five consecutive 100-yard rushing games.
01/02/2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1/2/09
WOW, WAS ’08 GREAT!
Scoring at a 43-year high…teams turning things around and making the playoffs…rookie first-round quarterbacks starting from Week 1 under rookie head coaches and them all going to the playoffs…Tennessee’s streak…the Giants calmly going about their business…DREW BREES putting on a weekly aerial show…rookie running backs taking over offenses…the solid NFC South…dominating, shut-down defenses…and it all coming down to Week 17 with half the divisions still to be clinched!
“You get everybody’s best every week,” says Tennessee Titans head coach JEFF FISHER, whose club opened the season with a 10-game winning streak.
A perfect example of that approach came in Week 17 when Brees’ Saints – out of the playoff race – still fought the Carolina Panthers down to, literally, the last second of the game before a JOHN KASAY 42-yard field goal won the battle 33-31 and earned the Panthers the NFC South title.
It doesn’t matter what the situation, the commitment and character throughout the NFL shows every week.
“That’s why fans love the NFL,” says the 2008 Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year CHAD PENNINGTON of the Miami Dolphins, who made the playoffs with an 11-5 record after finishing 1-15 the year before. “In any given year, your team can be the surprise team in the league.”
The NFL is built on surprises, week after week, and they lead to the kind of performances that took place in the great 2008:
· Scoring per game was the highest it has been in 43 years. Games averaged 44.1 points, the most since 46.1 in 1965.
· There were six new division winners – Arizona, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota, the New York Giants and Tennessee -- tying 2003 for the most such clubs since realignment was instituted in 2002. “It feels great,” says Carolina quarterback JAKE DELHOMME. “This division is probably the toughest in football.” Well, the NFC South did have the league’s most combined wins (40).
· For the 13th consecutive season, at least five teams made the playoffs that were not in them the year before. Seven clubs -- Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota and Philadelphia -- accomplished the feat this year, with four of them (Atlanta, Baltimore, Miami and Philadelphia) rebounding from last-place finishes in 2007.
Four of the teams – Atlanta (7-game improvement), Baltimore (6), Carolina (5) and Miami (10) – combined to show a 28-game win-improvement from 2007 to 2008. The Dolphins tied 1999 Indianapolis for the biggest jump in wins (10) in history. “We shocked the world,” says Miami linebacker MATT ROTH. “We shocked ourselves.”
· It was a historic season for rookie head coaches. Three of them – JOHN HARBAUGH in Baltimore, MIKE SMITH in Atlanta and TONY SPARANO in Miami – took their teams to the playoffs. Three rookie coaches doing this in the same season has only happened once before, in 1992 (BILL COWHER, Pittsburgh; DENNIS GREEN, Minnesota; and BOBBY ROSS, San Diego).
· And speaking of rookies: wow, did they do great in ’08!
Nowhere was this more evident than among rookie quarterbacks -- namely, first-round draft choices MATT RYAN of Atlanta and JOE FLACCO of Baltimore. They combined for many singular accomplishments.
First off, they each started all 16 of their teams’ games, the first time two rookies have done that in the same season in the Super Bowl era (1966). They took their clubs to the biggest increase in wins from the season before than any other rookie QBs who started every game (Ryan, plus-7; Flacco, plus-6). Then they became the only 16-game rookies to lead their clubs to the playoffs in the same season. Finally, they will become the first rookie QB duo to start in the same postseason.
“It is unprecedented what they did,” says Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback STEVE YOUNG.
· And the rookie running backs were out there, too! Three of them – STEVE SLATON of Houston (1,282 yards), MATT FORTÉ of Chicago (1,238) and CHRIS JOHNSON of Tennessee (1,228) became the first rookie RB threesome in history to rush for 1,200 yards apiece.
Forté and Slaton also established team rookie rushing records, as did Carolina’s JONATHAN STEWART (836).
· Speaking of rushing, the New York Giants had two teammates become only the fourth running back duo in history to each rush for 1,000 yards. BRANDON JACOBS totaled 1,089 yards and DERRICK WARD 1,025. The Giants led the NFL in rushing with 157.4 yards per game. “Congratulations, we made history,” Jacobs told Ward after the latter reach 1,000 in Week 17.
And “All Day” just kept going. Minnesota Vikings running back ADRIAN “ALL DAY” PETERSON – who led the league in rushing with 1,760 yards -- became only the fifth player in history to rush for 3,000 yards (3,101) in his first two seasons (EARL CAMPBELL, 1978-79; ERIC DICKERSON, 1983-84; EDGERRIN JAMES, 1999-00; and CLINTON PORTIS, 2002-03).
· One of the most vaunted NFL records – season passing yards -- was almost broken, and the man who came close to doing it reacted with typical class when he failed to do so. New Orleans Saints quarterback DREW BREES – whose pregame pep-talk to his teammates became one of the visual benchmarks of the season – fell 16 yards short of breaking DAN MARINO’s NFL season record of 5,084 yards in 1984.
“When I sit back and look at it, that record has stood for a long time,” said Brees. “One of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game owns it.” With his team finishing 8-8, that isn’t “necessarily the way that record deserves to be broken,” said Brees. “That’s why I’m able to accept the fact it didn’t happen.” Brees did become only the second QB in history to throw for 5,000 yards.
· Meanwhile, out in the desert air in Arizona, footballs were filling the sky, as they well might in Hawaii.
The Arizona Cardinals’ passing attack helped the club score its most points ever (424), quarterback KURT WARNER throw for a franchise-record 30 touchdowns, and three receivers match a milestone only reached four times in history.
Cardinals wide receivers LARRY FITZGERALD (1,431 yards) and ANQUAN BOLDIN (1,038) – who will join Warner as the NFC starting QB-WRs tandem in the Pro Bowl on February 8 – and STEVE BREASTON (1,006) became the fifth teammate threesome in history to each post 1,000 receiving yards.
· Through all the offense, defenses were not sleeping! The Baltimore Ravens added to their NFL-best streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher, raising that number to 35 consecutive games. They also led the league with an NFL-best 26 interceptions, including 16 over their last eight games…Dallas Cowboys linebacker DE MARCUS WARE (20.0) came within three of breaking MICHAEL STRAHAN’s NFL season sack record (22.5)…and the Pittsburgh Steelers placed two players in the top 10 in sacks (JAMES HARRISON, 16.0 and LA MARR WOODLEY, 11.5) – the only team with two in the top-10.
· “From one week to the next in this league, things can change,” says New England Patriots quarterback MATT CASSEL. Nothing exhibits that more than the tightness of NFL games. In 2008, 14 percent were decided in the last two minutes or overtime. In 32 percent of the games, a potential game-winning/tying drive or actual game-winning drive took place within the 20-yard line with two minutes to go.
Games continued to be thisclose. Nearly half were decided by one score:
POINTS
GAMES
PCT.
8 or Less
117 of 256
46%
7 or Less
114 of 256
45%
3 or Less
50 of 256
20%
· The fans could not get enough of it all. Football fans across America continued to tune their televisions to NFL games in huge numbers in 2008. According to Nielsen Media Research, 225 million Americans watched NFL games this season. That is nearly 100 million more than the record number of Americans who voted in the 2008 presidential election (131.2 million).
A rundown of NFL records set and milestones reached in 2008:
THE PLAYERS
PLAYER
ACCOMPLISHMENT(S)
RONDE BARBER
CB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
· Moved into third place in NFL history with his 11th touchdown off interceptions and fumble returns, ranking him behind Rod Woodson (13) and Aeneas Williams (12).
ANQUAN BOLDIN
WR, Arizona Cardinals
· Notched career reception No. 450, reaching that mark the fastest in NFL history (74 games).
DREW BREES
QB, New Orleans Saints
· Became only the second QB in league history with 5,000 passing yards in a season, finishing with 5,069 (DAN MARINO; 5,084).
ISSAC BRUCE
WR, San Francisco 49ers
· Recorded career reception No. 1,000 and is the fifth player to reach the milestone. Other players to reach 1,000 receptions are: JERRY RICE (1,549), CRIS CARTER (1,101), MARVIN HARRISON (1,102) and TIM BROWN (1,094).
· Passed TIM BROWN for second on the career-yards receiving list. Bruce has 14,944 yards, trailing only JERRY RICE (22,895) in the category.
· Became the 14th player in NFL history with 15,000 scrimmage yards.
REGGIE BUSH
RB, New Orleans Saints
· Made 200 catches through his first 34 games, tying him with Arizona receiver ANQUAN BOLDIN as the NFL players to reach 200 catches in the fewest games.
JASON CAMPBELL
QB, Washington Redskins
· Surpassed 3,000 passing yards in a season for the first time in his career.
MATT CASSEL
QB, New England Patriots
· Became the fifth NFL quarterback to throw for 400 yards in consecutive games. The others: DAN FOUTS, DAN MARINO, PHIL SIMMS and BILLY VOLEK.
WARRICK DUNN
RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
· Became the sixth player in league history with 10,000 rushing yards and 500 catches.
BRETT FAVRE
QB, New York Jets
· Notched his 169th victory, extending his NFL quarterback record.
· Made his 269th consecutive regular-season start, also extending his QB record.
· Broke a tie with DAN MARINO for victories in the most NFL stadiums by winning in his 32nd at LP Field. (Week 12)
LARRY FITZGERALD
WR, Arizona Cardinals
· Made his 350th reception in his 64th career game, making him the third fastest to reach that number.
· Caught his 400th career pass. He became the youngest player to do so at 25 years, 119 days. He also reached the mark in 71 games, faster than anyone in league history besides teammate ANQUAN BOLDIN (67 games).
ANTONIO GATES
TE, San Diego Chargers
· Reached 50 touchdowns in his 92nd game, the fewest in league history for a tight end. JERRY SMITH held the record (100 games).
TONY GONZALEZ
TE, Kansas City Chiefs
· Became the first tight end in NFL history with 900 receptions.
· Became the first tight end with four 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
· Surpassed SHANNON SHARPE for NFL receiving-yards record by a tight end with 10,940.
· Moved past KELLEN WINSLOW for the most 100-yard career receiving games (25) for a tight end.
· Moved into 11th place on the career list for receptions with 853. (Week 8)
JASON HANSON
K, Detroit Lions
· Broke the NFL record for most 50-yard field goals in a career with 41.
· Passed NICK LOWERY for eighth place on the NFL's career scoring list with 1,714 points.
MARVIN HARRISON
WR, Indianapolis Colts
· Passed CRIS CARTER into sole possession of second place on the NFL’s all-time receptions list with 1,102.
· Moved past WALTER PAYTON and into 10th on the league's career list with his 126th touchdown.
· Passed JIM BROWN for ninth on the NFL touchdowns list (128).
TORRY HOLT
WR, St. Louis Rams
· Moved into 12th place on the NFL career receptions list with 869.
EDGERRIN JAMES
RB, Arizona Cardinals
· Became the 14th player in NFL history to surpass 15,000 career yards from scrimmage.
· Surpassed FRANCO HARRIS to move to 11th on the NFL career list with his 57th 100-yard rushing game. (Week 17)
ANDRE JOHNSON
WR, Houston Texans
· Matched two NFL records by posting at least 130 yards in four consecutive games and 10 or more catches in three games.
· Registered his NFL-record seventh game this season with at least 10 catches and his eighth 100-yard game. His 1,575 yards this season are the most for a receiver since 2003.
JAMAL LEWIS
RB, Cleveland Browns
· Surpassed 10,000 rushing yards for his career, becoming the 24th player in NFL history to do so.
DERRICK MASON
WR, Baltimore Ravens
· Went over 10,000 receiving yards for his career.
PEYTON MANNING
QB, Indianapolis Colts
· Extended his NFL record with his ninth 4,000-yard passing season.
· Became the first player in history to throw 25 touchdown passes in 11 consecutive seasons.
· Tied for sixth with JOE MONTANA with 117 career wins.
· Moved into sixth on the career completions list with 3,839.
· Passed DREW BLEDSOE for seventh place on the NFL's career list for yards passing. Manning has 45,628; Bledsoe had 44,611.
RANDY MOSS
WR, New England Patriots
· Notched his 135th career touchdown reception, passing CRIS CARTER for third all-time.
· Tied MARSHALL FAULK for sixth in NFL history with his 136th touchdown.
· Upped his career total to 13,201 receiving yards, moving into ninth place in the NFL, three yards ahead of ANDRE REED.
· Joined JERRY RICE (14), TIM BROWN (9) and JIMMY SMITH as the only players in history with nine 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
· Tied MARVIN HARRISON for second in history with his 59th career 100-yard game.
SANTANA MOSS
WR, Washington Redskins
· Notched his third career 1,000-yard receiving season.
TERRELL OWENS
WR, Dallas Cowboys
· Surpassed CRIS CARTER (130) for second place all-time in receiving touchdowns (139).
· Became the eighth player to reach 900 receptions and in the third fewest games (178).
· Surpassed ART MONK for sixth all-time in career receptions (951).
ADRIAN PETERSON
RB, Minnesota Vikings
· Topped 2,000 career rushing yards, becoming the fastest player to reach the milestone in NFL history (21 games).
· Became the fifth player in league history to reach 3,000 rushing yards in his first two years, joining EARL CAMPBELL (Oilers), ERIC DICKERSON (Rams), EDGERRIN JAMES (Colts) and CLINTON PORTIS (Broncos).
CLINTON PORTIS
RB, Washington Redskins
· Joined O.J. SIMPSON as the only players with 120 yards rushing in five consecutive games on two different occasions.
ED REED
S, Baltimore Ravens
· Returned an interception an NFL-record 108 yards for a touchdown vs. Philadelphia (11/23).
BEN ROETHLISBERGER
QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
· Surpassed OTTO GRAHAM, DAN MARINO and TOM BRADY for the most victories in a quarterback’s first five seasons with 61 wins.
MATT STOVER
K, Baltimore Ravens
· Set an NFL record, kicking his 372nd consecutive point after touchdown.
· Passed BRUCE SMITH for 11th all-time after playing in his 280th game.
· Passed JIM BAKKEN in 13th place with 536 PATs.
· Went over 100 points for the 12th season in a row.
FRED TAYLOR
RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
· Passed O.J. SIMPSON and COREY DILLON to move into 16th place on the NFL's career rushing yards list (11,271).
LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON
RB, San Diego Chargers
· With 126 rushing touchdowns, moved out of a tie with MARCUS ALLEN and into sole possession of second place on the NFL's career list. EMMITT SMITH is No. 1 with 164.
· Extended his NFL record of consecutive seasons to begin a career with 10 rushing touchdowns to eight.
· Became the fifth player to rush for more than 10,000 yards and have 500 receptions.
· Passed O.J. SIMPSON and COREY DILLON for 15th place on the career rushing list at 11,279 yards.
· Became the 17th player to rush for more than 11,000 career yards.
HINES WARD
WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
· Notched his fifth career 1,000 receiving-yards season.
DE MARCUS WARE
LB, Dallas Cowboys
· Tied an NFL record with a sack in 10 consecutive games, matching the mark set by Denver's SIMON FLETCHER from Nov. 15, 1992 to Sept. 20, 1993
KURT WARNER
QB, Arizona Cardinals
· Had a perfect 158.3 passer rating for the third time in his career, tying PEYTON MANNING for the NFL record.
· Topped 300 yards for five consecutive games, one shy of the NFL record he shares with STEVE YOUNG and RICH GANNON.
WES WELKER
WR, New England Patriots
· Set an NFL record with at least six catches in each of the first 10 games of the season.
THE TEAMS
TEAM
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
ARIZONA CARDINALS
· Broke the franchise record for points in a season with 424, one more than in 1984.
· KURT WARNER threw a touchdown pass in 21 consecutive games, a Cardinals’ record. Warner set a club record with four consecutive 300-yard games. He also passed for a franchise-record 30 touchdowns this season.
· ANQUAN BOLDIN, STEVE BREASTON and LARRY FITZGERALD notched 1,000-yard receiving seasons, marking the fifth time in NFL history that three teammates each passed the 1,000-yard mark.
· ANQUAN BOLDIN set a franchise record with his 22nd 100-yard receiving game. He also topped 1,000 yards receiving in a season for a club-record fourth time.
· TIM HIGHTOWER's 10 TDs rushing set a franchise record, breaking the mark of nine set by Ron Moore in 1993.
· NEIL RACKERS became the second player in Cardinals history to score 500 points (JIM BAKKEN; 1,380).
ATLANTA FALCONS
· MICHAEL TURNER scored his club-record 17th rushing touchdown, breaking JAMAL ANDERSON’s franchise record of 14 in 1998.
· RODDY WHITE set the team season record for receiving yards (1,382), breaking ALFRED JENKINS' mark (1,358) in 1981.
BALTIMORE RAVENS
· Have gone an NFL-best 35 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
· Notched their 100th franchise win.
· Scored at least 27 points in a team-record four consecutive games. (Week 10)
· ED REED registered his NFL-high ninth interception, tying his own team record.
BUFFALO BILLS
· Won their 200th home game. (Week 7)
· LEODIS MC KELVIN surpassed ERIC MOULDS for the most kickoff return yards by a Buffalo rookie (1,468).
· BRIAN MOORMAN became the first Bills punter to throw a touchdown pass.
CAROLINA PANTHERS
· Reached 100 regular-season victories.
· Had two running backs with 100 yards in the same game for the first time in team history (JONATHAN STEWART and DE ANGELO WILLIAMS on 11/16.
· JONATHAN STEWART's 836 yards rushing set a season rookie mark for the Panthers.
· DE ANGELO WILLIAMS ended the season with a franchise-record 1,515 rushing yards. Williams scored a Panthers' season record 20 touchdowns. He also set a club record by scoring a touchdown in five consecutive games.
CHICAGO BEARS
· Became the first team in NFL history with 700 total victories.
· KYLE ORTON threw a franchise-record 206 consecutive passes without an interception.
· MAT FORTÉ rushed for 1,238 yards and caught 63 passes – both Bears rookie season records.
CINCINNATI BENGALS
· CHAD JOHNSON has at least one catch in 93 consecutive games, tying the team record set by CARL PICKENS.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
· JAMAL LEWIS became the first Browns running back since MIKE PRUITT in 1980-81 to gain 1,000 yards in successive seasons.
DALLAS COWBOYS
· Achieved 450 total victories (Week 5).
· TONY ROMO became the sixth Cowboys quarterback to surpass 10,000 career yards. Romo had his 16th career 300-yard passing game, surpassing TROY AIKMAN for the most in club history. He also became the first Cowboys QB with consecutive 3,000-yard seasons since Aikman did it in three consecutive years from 1995-97.
DENVER BRONCOS
· Tallied their 400th victory.
· JAY CUTLER tied JOHN ELWAY (1987) for the fewest games (11) in team history to reach 3,000 passing yards (11/23). Cutler broke JAKE PLUMMER's franchise record with 4,210 yards for the season.
· Rookie SPENCER LARSEN became the first player in club history to start on offense and defense (11/16). Larsen lined up at fullback and middle linebacker and also contributed on special teams.
· EDDIE ROYAL set Broncos rookie records with five touchdown receptions and yards receiving for a single season (980).
DETROIT LIONS
· CALVIN JOHNSON became the second receiver in team history to record 70 receptions; 1,200 yards; and 10 touchdowns in a single season (HERMAN MOORE in 1995).
· JASON HANSON surpassed MORTEN ANDERSEN's record for most career 50-yard field goals, hitting his 41st on 12/14.
GREEN BAY PACKERS
· DONALD DRIVER established a franchise record with a reception in his 104th consecutive game (11/9), besting the mark set by Sterling Sharpe from 1988-94.
· DRIVER and GREG JENNINGS each had 100 receiving yards in Week 17. Combined with RYAN GRANT and DE SHAWN WYNN's 100-yard rushing days, it was the first time in league history that a team has had two 100-yard rushers and 100-yard receivers in the same game.
HOUSTON TEXANS
· Scored touchdowns on their first three possessions for the first time in team history. (Week 7)
· Won four consecutive games in a season for the first time in franchise history.
· ANDRE JOHNSON extended his franchise record by having at least one catch in his 100th consecutive game.
· DUNTA ROBINSON set a Texans record with his 12th career interception.
· STEVE SLATON set the franchise record for yards rushing by a rookie with 1,282 and scored a team rookie-record nine rushing touchdowns.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
· Extended their NFL-record club streak to six seasons in a row with 12 or more wins.
· DALLAS CLARK broke his club season record for receptions by a tight end with 77. Clark also broke the Colts' franchise record for season receiving yards by a tight end with 848, surpassing Hall of Famer JOHN MACKEY's 829 in 1966.
· Head coach TONY DUNGY's teams have gone to the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons, dating back to 1999 when he was the head coach at Tampa Bay. It is the best run by a coach in NFL history, topping TOM LANDRY's run with the Cowboys from 1975-83 (9 seasons).
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
· Jaguars coach JACK DEL RIO posted his 50th regular-season victory.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
· LARRY JOHNSON (5.638) passed Christian Okoye (4,897) for second place on the Chiefs' all-time rushing list.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
· With an 11-5 record after a 1-15 mark in 2007, tied the 1999 Colts (13-3 after 3-13 the previous season) for the biggest turnaround in NFL history – 10 wins.
· Finished the regular season with 13 turnovers, tying the 2008 New York Giants for the fewest ever in a 16-game season.
· CHAD PENNINGTON connected on his first six passes in Week 15, extending his two-game streak to 17 completions in a row to break DAN MARINO's team record of 15 set in 1992.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
· ADRIAN PETERSON rushed for a franchise-record 10 100-yard games. Peterson broke Minnesota's single-season rushing record with 1,760 yards.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
· Finished the regular season with 57 penalties, besting the record-low of 59 set by Seattle in 2007.
· STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI set a Patriots single-season record with 34 field goals, breaking the mark of 32 set by TONY FRANKLIN in 1986.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
· Set franchise records for scoring (461) and yards (6,571).
· DEUCE MC ALLISTER surpassed DALTON HILLIARD for first on New Orleans' career list with 54 touchdowns.
NEW YORK GIANTS
· DERRICK WARD and BRANDON JACOBS both rushed for 1,000 yards, making the Giants only the fourth team with two 1,000-yard running backs.
· Ended the season with 13 turnovers, tying the 2008 Miami Dolphins for the fewest ever in a 16-game season.
· Finished the season with 427 points and 338 first downs, both second highest in team history (448 points in 1963; 356 first downs in 1985).
NEW YORK JETS
· THOMAS JONES broke the team’s season rushing and total touchdowns record (13 rushing, 2 receiving) previously held by CURTIS MARTIN.
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OAKLAND RAIDERS
· SEBASTIAN JANIKOWSKI (905) broke GEORGE BLANDA's franchise record of 863 career-points.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
· Achieved 500 regular-season victories. Scored a franchise-record 416 points.
· ANDY REID won his 100th career game.
· REID and DONOVAN MC NABB earned their 76th career victory together, passing the Joe Montana-Bill Walsh combo for most all-time. (Week 7)
· MC NABB set a franchise record when he passed Ron Jaworski on the club's all-time passing yards list, finishing with 3,916.
· BRIAN WESTBROOK passed TIMMY BROWN for first place on the club's career list with 27 TD catches by a running back. Westbrook (9,330) surpassed HAROLD CARMICHAEL (9,042) as the Eagles career leader in yards.
· BRIAN DAWKINS made his 34th interception, tying the team record shared by ERIC ALLEN and BILL BRADLEY.
· DE SEAN JACKSON set a team rookie record with 912 receiving yards and also became the first rookie to lead the Eagles in catches (62) since 1942.
· DAVID AKERS kicked 33 field goals, setting a season team record.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
· MIKE TOMLIN became the first coach in Steelers history to win at least 10 games in each of his first two seasons. He became the sixth NFL coach to win a division title in his first two seasons as a head coach.
· JAMES HARRISON's 16th sack surpassed MIKE MERRIWEATHER's 1984 single-season Steelers record. Harrison and LA MARR WOODLEY set a club record (27.5) for most combined sacks by two players.
· HINES WARD set a team record with his 800 career receptions.
ST. LOUIS RAMS
· STEVEN JACKSON became the first Rams running back since ERIC DICKERSON (1983-86) to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons.
· DONNIE JONES established the highest gross punting average in team history – 50.0 yards. It ranks second in NFL history to SAMMY BAUGH’s 51.4 gross average in 1940.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
· Became the first team to make the NFL playoffs following a 4-8 start.
· PHILIP RIVERS threw 34 touchdown passes to break Hall of Famer DAN FOUTS' 1981 season team record. Rivers finished the season with 4,009 passing yards, joining Fouts as the only Chargers QBs with 4,000 in a season.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
· Notched their 250 regular-season victory.
· Head coach MIKE HOLMGREN earned his 160th career victory, most among active coaches.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
· Achieved 200 total victories.
· Started 5-0 at home this season for the first time in franchise history.
· Set team for most total yards in a season with 5,456.
· Tied team record with seven return touchdowns (2000).
TENNESSEE TITANS
· Set a club record with 12 wins in a row.
· CHRIS JOHNSON joined EARL CAMPBELL and EDDIE GEORGE as the only rookies in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards.
· LEN DALE WHITE scored 15 touchdowns for second place in team season annals behind EARL CAMPBELL (19, 1979).
WASHINGTON REDSKINS
· Compiled a streak of 370 consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
· JASON CAMPBELL’s interception percentage of 1.2 was a team record.
· CLINTON PORTIS tied club record with five consecutive 100-yard rushing games.
