In case you’re like us and are starting to go into football withdrawls, the good people at NFL Films put together this nice little walk down memory lane to help you re-live this past season, and remind us once again how awesome the sport is.  It isn’t exactly new, but we were saving it up for a time when we thought you might need it most … enjoy:

Thanks to the wonders of technology, I was able to watch the show on DVR, and I mean, it wasn’t like Eli was the funniest host the show has ever seen, but it was definitely one of the better episodes of the season (for whatever that’s worth).  He was relatively loose and self-effacing, and pulled off quite a few genuine laughs throughout the night … particularly once he managed to relax and slow down a little bit. It certainly wasn’t the train wreck I was expecting it could turn into, and once again Eli did alright following in the footsteps of his older brother.

One of the better moments came during a fake motion capture session at EA Sports for their Madden franchise, where Manning is asked to perform a touchdown celebration for the game. Eli responds with a series of bizarre maneuvers, ranging from hugging himself to drinking water to girlishly throwing a grenade – the last of which was hilarious in its execution. Ultimately, Eli decides on his ideal signature celebration: making a sandwich, dropping it on the ground and looking around sheepishly before picking it up and eating it.

Well, someone over at EA Sports apparently enjoyed getting the SNL treatment, and decided to animate Eli’s sandwich celebration for real, posting it to Youtube on Tuesday. And aside from the fact that he’s wearing a Patriots uniform, it’s pretty excellent:

SNL writer Sarah Schneider was apparently thrilled at the tribute to her sketch. We can only hope that the gang at EA Sports actually includes this celebration in the game, if only as an easter egg of some sort.

WATCH THE SNL MOTION CAPTURE SKETCH, PLUS A BONUS SNL DIGITAL SHORT AFTER THE JUMP

For my money, the funniest bit of the night was (as expected) a pre-taped SNL Digital Short featuring Eli as the ambassador for the “Little Brothers” program, which offers to help younger siblings overcome adversity … “especially when that adversity is an older sibling”:

As a younger sibling myself, this somehow delighted me to no end.

That’s right, I’m gone … but no, not for good.  Tomorrow I’m leaving the continent for a much-needed vacation, where I will have limited access to the interwebs. As such, you won’t be seeing the same volume of posts that you’ve grown accustomed to around these parts.

So for the next two weeks, you’ll just have to find your biting NFL commentary elsewhere (which I’m sure will be quite difficult) … see you on the flip flop!

(Photo via SBNation.com)

Toward the end of the first round, the Rutgers WR – who was projected to be taken in the 2nd or 3rd round - received a call from someone pretending to be a member of the Cincinnati Bengals organization.

The caller told Sanu the Bengals were planning to take him with the 27th overall pick. Sanu and his family celebrated, and his agent even prematurely tweeted out the news, before learning that the Bengals had actually chosen Wisconsin OL Kevin Zeitler.  They had been pranked, and the call apparently came from a Rutgers student playing a misguided joke.

Ouch. So Sanu was forced to sit and wait.

After hearing the news, the Marvin Lewis and the Bengals reached out to console Sanu prior to the draft resuming on Friday. And when the bottom half of the third round rolled around, Cincinnati selected Sanu – for real this time – with the 83rd overall pick.

“Thank God,” when asked about his feelings about really joining the Bengals. “I got a voice mail with a 513 area code and then Coach Urban called me and I had the number in his phone and he asked me ‘Are you ready to be a Bengal for real this time?’ and I said of course, I’m ready to go.”

Sanu – who set a single-season Big East record with 115 receptions – said that he wouldn’t wish the previous 24 hours on anyone:

“I’m just glad it’s over and dreams came true this time.”

This awesome video of ESPN’s 1981 draft coverage does just that, showing us a loosely organized get together inside a hotel ballroom, struggling with technical difficulties … as opposed to the multi-million dollar Radio City Music Hall spectacle it is today.

Watch as Pete Rozelle kicks things off with the selection of George Rogers and Lawrence Taylor, while a young Dr. Z (SI’s Paul Zimmerman) provides the pre-Kiper-era draft analysis:

Watch Part 2 after the jump:

PART 3 | PART 4

[H/T Adam Schefter]

(AP Photo/Dave Martin via CBSNews.com))

After saying goodbye to Brandon Jacobs after the season, and with Ahmad Bradshaw‘s nagging foot problems, GM Jerry Reese said it was “a pretty easy pick for us” in selecting Wilson:

“He’s a terrific football player,’’ Reese said. “This guy loves to play football. He can do anything you want him to do. He’s a good piece to add to our running back stable.’’

Tampa Bay had jumped ahead of NY to snag Boise State RB Doug Martin with the 31st pick (who many had projected as going to NY), but Reese said Wilson was the number two running back on their board, behind only #3 overall pick Trent Richardson.

Wilson – who rushed for a school record 1,709 yards last season – brings tremendous speed and game-breaking ability to New York.  He is expected to contribute right away as a kick returner, and split time with Bradshaw in the backfield, where he sees himself as a “mix of Ray Rice and Arian Foster”.

DAVID WILSON 2011-12 HIGHLIGHTS AND BACKFLIP CONTEST AFTER THE JUMP

The last time the Giants used a first-round pick on a RB was on Ron Dayne in 2000. Giants fans hope Wilson will make more of an impact than Dayne did … and after winning two championships in five seasons, Reese and his staff have earned more than a little benefit of the doubt in their talent evaluation skills.

And if you have any doubt, perhaps this highlight reel of Wilson – including an impassioned pre-game speech as part of team USA – might just help convince you that he’s the real deal:

BONUS VIDEO: Wilson posted this video of himself earlier this week, executing 21 backflips, in an attempt to lay claim to “best acrobat in the NFL”. The display was in response to Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul’s similar 2009 video, in which he did 13 backflips.  So Wilson beat his new teammate based on sheer numbers, but since JPP is a much bigger/taller athlete, you have to give him extra points for difficulty:

(Photo via Reddit.com/r/nfl)

Cleveland started things off Thursday night by making a big move to trade up one slot to select RB Trent Richardson with the #3 pick, much to the delight of the Dog Pound. But when their second pick of the first round came up, and when WR Kendall Wright - who they had been targeting - was snatched out from under them by the Titans at pick #20, the Browns were left with Weeden as the best available player on their board.

GM Tom Heckert says “there wasn’t really an afterthought”, but perhaps they should have given a bit more consideration as to how it would effect their incumbent QB. Because now, the Browns are apparently considering trading McCoy, and the Cleveland offense is looking like it will be totally re-vamped for the 2012 campaign.

BONUS LINK: Browns superfan Mike Polk (of “factory of sadness” fame) posted this video welcoming Weeden to Cleveland.

As you pore over Mike Mayock‘s one and only mock draft in preparation for this weekend’s festivities, keep in mind that pretty much none of these so-called “experts” have a clue as to how this draft, nor the players selected in it, are actually going to pan out.  For all the scouting and testing and poking and prodding, the draft process is really all just a high-budget guessing game, and we won’t truly know the winners and losers for at least another three years.

Case in point … after JaMarcus Russell was selected #1 overall in the 2007 draft, virtually everyone whiffed on the kid, including Mel Kiper who declared that Russell would be the next John Elway.  Enough said.

Meanwhile, the folks up in Bristol are all having a little fun and “Kiperizing” some of the ESPN anchors, like Trey Wingo, Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser:

PHOTOS AND VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo via Twitter)

(Photo via Twitter)

(Photo via Twitter)

(Photo: NYDailyNews.com)

The period in question was 2002-2004, and now state and federal officials have opened up a wiretapping investigation on Loomis, to see if he violated any eavesdropping laws in the process.

For their part, and not surprisingly, the Saints vehemently deny these allegations. On Monday, Greg Bensel, Saints VP of Communications, had this to say on behalf of Loomis and the organization:

“This is 1,000 percent false. This is 1,000 percent inaccurate.”

Loomis himself flatly denied to the charges on Tuesday via an email sent out by the team:

“This report on ESPN is absolutely false. I have a monitor in front of me in my booth that provides the league issued stats for the game. I have a small TV with the network broadcast and I have an earpiece to listen to the WWL-AM radio (flagship broadcaster) game broadcast. To think I am sitting in there listening … and or doing something with the offensive and defensive play calls of the opposing teams makes this story and the unnamed sources that provided the false information that much more less credible … it just didn’t happen.”

Regardless of how this all shakes out, another scandal is not a good look for the Saints, whose image is already tarnished by the recent bounty scandal, nor Loomis, who is currently serving out an eight-game suspension for his part in that whole debacle.

Woof.  When it rains it pours in New Orleans (bad Katrina humor not intended).

(Photo via Reddit.com/r/nfl)

Basic math tells us the picture was taken in approximately 1958, and in it we find young William, pre-hoodie, sitting and smiling in the front of the stands at what was likely the U.S. Naval Acadamy, where his father was an assistant football coach.

If you look closely in his eyes, behind that innocent grin, you can tell little Bill is already putting together defensive schemes in his head.

[H/T Reddit.com/r/nfl]