In the last podcast we spoke about American football movies. I love American football movies... It's the drama of the sport, the whole other world of the professional game, the humour that can be involved and the history of the united states reflected in the game.

It's 03:51 in the morning and my son's finally asleep. I'm watching coach bumbag's number one American football movie: the express. It's a film based on the true story of Ernie Davis, the first black college player to win the heismann trophy. The heismann is a trophy awarded to the outstanding college player of the year.

The issues of race in America is something I can never truly understand or appreciate. This is something I never lived through, it's something I can only learn about. Sporting movies form a major staple of this. A truly inspirational story like that of an extraordinary man like Ernie Davis leads me to find out more. I don't want to say too much and spoil the film so it might well be worth going and watching it now!

Fair warning! As well as being the first black man to win the heismann he was the first black man to be drafted by the redskins and even this was under duress as the owner, George Preston Marshall was threatened with having his tenure revoked. Davis was immediately traded to Cleveland where he tragically never played a game.

Aspects of the film have been altered and the story is more interesting with a bit of research... Take the time to Wikipedia it. It's worth it.

My top film is another based on a true story and I may well watch that again after this movie ends. Remember the titans is a film based around the time of intergration in America. Exclusively white schools forced to accept black students... The film doesn't focus too much on the scenes in the school during the troubles but the few scenes they do have are thought provoking.

American football movies are one of my favourite viewing pleasures and whenever a new film is announced its high up on my to do list. If you're reading this blog then chances are you'll have watched your fair share... You would be doing me a great favour if you hit me on twitter with suggestions for films!

What do I mean kind of? Well I've been watching the NFL off and on for about twenty years but I could never call myself an expert. It's hard for fans in the uk to get old footage or historical tv. So this team is based solely on what I've seen and the players that have caught my attention for one reason or another. Feel free to disagree, discuss, outright insult but give me other options, stand up for your choice as I am with mine... And don't hurt my feelings!!!

Quarterback: Steve Young

I'm a niners fan and I started watching the NFL during Joe Montana's last season before moving to the chiefs. Young could scare the bejesus out of a team when he tucked the ball but he could be a deadly passer as well. Granted he had weapons galore to throw too but check out the 94 Super Bowl if you need proof!!

Backup: Dan Marino
Completely unflappable, the ultimate pocket passer. Cliche but the best qb never to win the super bowl.

Running back: Barry Sanders

What a player! This guy was electrifying. He performed miracles on a pitch nightly and he was the only player you would back when confronted with three linebackers!! Despite spending ten seasons in the league he still retired shockingly early and whilst players like Emmitt Smith became all about the records this humble player was never so selfish. In his rookie year needing ten yards to take the rushing season record he declined to go back in... Hunt up some highlights trust me it's worth it!!

Back up: Jerome Bettis
Yeah of course there have been better but I loved watching this guy run over people.

Wide receivers: Jerry Rice, Michael Irving and Calvin Harris

Yeah I'm a niners fan but surely no one has an issue with Rice as my number one? A driven, focused competitor who never went in for the trash talking. One of the most famous players to come out of a small college and owns just about every record going!

For Irving, I was on the receiving end of his ability for a long time as the cowboys consistently beat the 9ers in the divisional play offs in the early nineties. Strong, fast and a true hall of fame competitive attitude.

Megatron has done things I've never seen before on a football pitch. Granted my viewing age is young but this guy is ludicrously talented! Big season this year, will be still perform after such a huge contract?

Tight End: Rob Gronkowski

I know he's only had two seasons but good grief what a pair of seasons!!! This guy seems to be redifining this position or at least doing everything to a standard no one has ever done it before!

Back up: Vernon Davies
Yeah another homer but he's been a pretty solitary bright spark for my team for so long I had to have him somewhere!!!

Full back: Mike Alstott

The most brushing runner I have ever seen, but still able to catch out o the backfield.

Offensive line.... Sorry no idea!!!

So that's my offense. Who'd I miss, (to use a quote quickly becoming a favorite) who's got it better... Defense will follow later!

This is a fair question to most of the people I talk too.  I hear a lot of complaints about the NFL:  "It's too complicated... It's too stop/start... the players are too padded..."

All this and more and I'm sure any NFL fans in the UK have encountered the same sort of thing when trying to discuss the game with new comers...

"It's too complicated" Sorry, not buying it.  I was introduced to American football by watching on TV and then playing Video games.  My other half, a woman who hates sport for the most part, was able to pick it up in one Scottish Claymores game (how we miss you!).  Give it one game and you'll know enough to appreciate it.  Give it one season and you'll know enough to love it.

"It's too stop/start"  Yeah there's a lot of breaks: plays last on average about 4-5 seconds.  But the potential for explosive plays or brutal defence is there throughout.  Don't believe me?  Check out our video page here for an example of the type of plays you can get in the NFL.  You cannot keep up that level of intensity.

"Players are too padded"  OK, go to our video page, there's a video called NFL Hardest hits of 2011/2012.  Go watch it... Go on... I'll wait... You back, cool, still think they're too padded?  Didn't think so.

So barring the fact that it's a fast, skilful game interspersed with some truly delicious brutality, what else keeps me enthralled by this game...

It's a whole different world over there and the layers just keep unravelling the more I learn.  Want to know why the teams get sold out arenas of over 50000 people every week?  Imagine if Manchester Untied played only 16 games in a season, only 8 of which are at home.  Can you imagine how fervant the supporters of say, Newcastle United would be in that case.. and how expensive the tickets would be!!!

And the positions involved... imagine playing a game where you never see the ball... ever.  That's the linemen who will maybe see the ball 5 or 6 times in a good career and usually only well then fall on a dropped ball.  The Quarterback who is responsible for running the offence... there's no position like this in Soccer.  He is the difference most of the time between a win and a loss.  You can get by with bad players in other positions, not in QB.

Then there's aspects of the game outside of the NFL.  There are high school football teams that consistently play in front of 18-20,000 fans.  Can you imagine at 17 playing a sport in front of 20000 people!?  Then you get head hunted for a full scholarship to University (college).  Once there you play in front of tens of thousands of people... and it's televised for millions.

Then you have the draft where the 32 teams take it in turns to pick from the best 224 players at College level, potentially to be paid millions...  And this is all before you get to the elite level of the NFL...

Over the weeks and months I'm going to be having a leyman's look at all of these aspects and learning about them for the people who make the effort to read.  Would appreciate your feedback and questions, they will get answered on the podcast.

Stay with me folks, we going into, not the Twilight Zone... but the End zone!!

My first blog was due to be an essay on why I love the game of American Football so much.  It was witty, light and after yesterday completely misplaced.

The first season I can remember following week to week was the 94/95 season, the year the 49ers won the Superbowl… I would watch the highlights week in week out and if I went on mastermind that year I could probably name you the whole playing squad for every team in the NFL!  Channel 4 did a weekly highlight show on Saturday mornings and I was glued to the set…  I was already a 49ers fan and had suffered the previous seasons when the Cowboys appeared to be our constant bogey team, but this year it was all going well and for once we managed to put one over on “America’s Team”.

As I watched the whole Season I was also very aware of our eventual opponents, the “Cinderella” team, the San Diego Chargers.  Whereas the 49ers had the best record in our division and weapons all over the park, the Chargers were seen as the David to our Goliath.  They had a former back up quarterback in Stan Humphries (the 9ers had Steve Young who was the regular season MVP passer rating: 112.8), the seemingly unstoppable Natrone Means and a defence led by my favourite player not wearing red and gold… Junior Seau.

As I watched the highlights every week, it seemed he was always seemed to be featured (123 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 3 fumbles recovered, Pro Bowl for the forth consecutive season).  In the playoffs the Chargers outdid themselves, coming back from 21-6 down against Miami and 13-3 down against Pittsburgh.  Once again Junior was at the forefront, passionate, driven and all class.

The 49ers trounced them in the Superbowl, but even then Seau never stopped.  When Jerry Rice, Ricky Watters and Steve Young seemed to be scoring with ease there seemed to be one warrior blocking the bridge, one guy still willing to throw himself at the feet of the charging attackers and that was Junior Seau.  Despite my pleasure at the 9ers win, I did feel bad that such a player had to be on the end of such a score. 



Seau went on to play in the NFL for 20 seasons only retiring in 2010.  After his death on the 02-05-2012 the NFL has lost a huge servant to the game.  Our thoughts are with his family and friends.