The Green Bay Packers will be looking for a big game from DB Charles Woodson when they host the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field in the 2011 NFL Regular Season Opener
The road to Super Bowl XLVI (February 5 in Indianapolis, IN) will begin tonight as the 92nd Season of the National Football League will officially kickoff at historic Lambeau Field. For the eighth consecutive season, the Super Bowl champion will open the slate as the Green Bay Packers will host the 2009 NFL Champion New Orleans Saints (Sept. 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC). The regular season start of America’s favorite sport will also include a concert by Grammy Winners and fireworks.
All the hoopla will signal a new beginning for the sport that everyone is watching — according to Nielsen Media Research, the NFL reached 207.7 million unique viewers in 2010, the most in history. Week 1 in the NFL season is almost at the holiday level as football fans everywhere finally quench their thirst for “real” NFL game action. Especially after the 136-Day NFL Lockout dominated league news rather than mini-camps, OTA’s, and the many other events on the NFL Calendar.
I am not sure if it is the quick five-month schedule where the games come and go before we know it, the long arduous 7-month wait for real games after the Super Bowl, the once-a-week high, the “every game counts” subplots, the talented players that always amaze you with their toughness and ability to perform under mental and physical stress, the autumn weather, team allegiance, trash-talking, the dreaded g-word (gambling), fantasy football, or any other thing. But we all know that the NFL is everyone’s sports obsession like none other.
Football brings people together from all walks of life and gives commonality where almost everyone has a team and a rooting interest from the guy working at the local convenience store to President Barack Obama — supporter of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The NFL has even infiltrated sometimes stuffy Corporate America as Fridays are now, “Wear your NFL team’s colors to work day”. Co-workers during lunch or coffee breaks will be talking fantasy football line-ups, poking fun at each other’s team, and comparing the best venues to watch the game each weekend until February brings the curtain down on the season.
Football fans everywhere can now shout “Hallelujah” as their lengthy wait for “real” NFL game action since the Super Bowl in February is finally over. Continue reading “2011 NFL Season Week 1 Preview: Saints-Packers by Lloyd Vance”
Taking it to the House 