Dept. of Incredible Rumors - are the Bears really so desperate that they are seriously considering phoning #4??
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ImmaculateKadence said:I have heard a few teams say they wouldn't go. The cowboys being one because they have to pay for the new stadium. Jerry Jones pretty much told the NFL absolutely not. The teams that are interested in going are from smaller markets that typically don't sell out anyway. The only way I could see it being fair to all teams is adding a game to the season and scheduling 8 home, 8 away, and one overseas game. I doubt the players would like an extra game per season.
I haven't been to Europe since they started playing games in London, so it's possible the interest has grown, but when I was over there, nobody cared about the NFL. I was actually asked a few times what was on my hat (it was a Bucs hat BTW). If some folks that live there can tell me otherwise, please do.
Before the Chargers and Saints were announced to be the two teams headed to London in 2008, the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks were identified as teams interested in playing a future game in Europe. In particular, Seattle, which had been slated to play the China Bowl before that game was cancelled, had shown a continued interest in playing a game abroad. Tampa Bay eventually got the 2009 and 2011 games. Both the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins have similarly expressed interest in returning to the UK in a rematch of 2007's international series. There have also been negotiations between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Croke Park in Dublin, Republic of Ireland for a potential International Series game there, possibly as early as 2012.
Goodell has proposed the use of certain regular teams in the International Series in an effort to build a fan base for those teams, raising the prospect of a permanent NFL team on the British Isles.
Amsterhammer said:Dept. of Incredible Rumors - are the Bears really so desperate that they are seriously considering phoning #4??
on3m@n@rmy said:I see what you mean. The number of games that could realistically be played overseas depends on how much interest there is abroad to host, and how many NFL team are willing to go. And you may be right that there may not be enough of either demand. Wiki actually has some interesting information about teams that might be willing to travel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_International_Series):
Just for the record though, I don't have any financial numbers for any of the 8 teams listed above, but most of those are not what I'd call small market teams. OFC compared to the financial Gorillas (e.g. Dallas etc) I suppose many of those are smaller market. The smallest market team in that list I would guess is Seattle, but they are always sold out, event in the most dismal of times (based wins/losses)... like this year and last year. Wait! Crap! I'm sorry. They made the playoffs last year and beat the Saints 41-36!
Tank Engine said:I'd certainly go to a one off game. I went to the Bears-Cowboys pre-season game at Wembley (I think in the late 80s?). A regular season game would be something else though, no testing out of rookies and second stringers. I do question what the long term aim of the NFL is though, as I can't see it developing beyond half a dozen matches at various European stadiums in the course of a season.
ChrisE said:Tebow! Tebow! Praise the Lord!
ChrisE said:Tebow! Tebow! Praise the Lord!
DENVER -- Tim Tebow led the Denver Broncos to another comeback victory, with Matt Prater's 51-yard field goal with 8:34 left in overtime giving the Denver Broncos a 13-10 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Prater's 59-yarder with 2 seconds left in regulation tied the score.
It was Denver's sixth straight win, and half of them have come in OT since Tebow was promoted to starter.
After failing to score on their first 11 possessions, the Broncos (8-5) erased a 10-0 deficit in the final 2:08 of regulation.
Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas with a 10-yard touchdown pass, then got the ball back with 58 seconds left and drove Denver downfield for Prater's kick.
The Bears (7-6) won the toss in overtime and were in field goal range when Marion Barber coughed up the football at the Broncos 34 and Elvis Dumervil recovered.
Amsterhammer said:I don't have time to be sick right now because I'm trying to talk a Bear friend out of putting a gun to his head.
Alpe d'Huez said:How about those Cowboys! About the 5th loss this year like that. Up by 12 with 3 mins left. I think they're trying to kill Jerry Jones.
Alpe d'Huez said:How about those Cowboys! About the 5th loss this year like that. Up by 12 with 3 mins left. I think they're trying to kill Jerry Jones.