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:

(Photo: NFLGridironGab.com)

The Detroit Lions just made Calvin Johnson the richest wide receiver in the NFL, signing him to an new eight-year contract worth up to $132 million, including $60 million guaranteed.  It’s one of the biggest deals in league history, surpassing the contract Arizona gave Larry Fitzgerald last year (8-year, $120 million), and ensures fans in Detroit will have the Johnson-Stafford connection to look forward to for the foreseeable future.

In case you were wondering why the Lions were willing to break the bank for Johnson (and were curious why we chose the headline we did for this post), this Megatron highlight video should give you an idea:

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Calvin Johnson = Beast

Was this the moment that changed Manning's career forever?

The two biggest stories in the NFL right now are Peyton Manning’s release from the Colts, and the bounty system run by Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams while with the Saints and Redskins before them.  And now it seems that those two stories might intersect in a most interesting way, as former colts head coach Tony Dungy has suggested that Manning’s neck issues could be traced back to an injury sustained while facing a Williams-coached Redskins defense in 2006. And if that’s the case, Williams’ little bounty program will have made a far bigger impact across the league than anyone could have imagined.

On the play in question [VIDEO HERE and below], Manning was hit by Redskins defenders Andre Carter and Phillip Daniels in a high-low combo, with Daniels holding on to Peyton’s helmet all the way to the ground, thus twisting the QB’s neck and body into an extremely awkward position. Manning’s helmet eventually popped right off of his head, and he immediately showed signs of being injured, shaking his right arm ”as if trying to get the feeling back in it.” The Colts called a timeout and Manning was able to return on the next play without any immediate ill-effects, but many believe that this was the beginning of the nerve damage that led to four neck surgeries and his current free agent status.

“The guy wouldn’t let go of my head,” Manning said after the game of Daniels, who was fined $5,000 by the NFL for the hit. “I looked at my helmet to see if my head was in it.”

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For his part, Phillips denies any intent to injure Manning on the play, and there havent yet been any reports of a specific bounty on the Colts quarterback for that particular game. But now that Williams’ pay-for-performance programs are being uncovered everywhere he’s coached around the NFL, one can’t help but wonder if there was a little extra motivation for the Redskins defense to take out the opposition’s star player.

And if it turns out anyone actually got paid to take out the league’s golden boy – in addition to the confirmed bounty placed on Brett Favre by the Saints, Roger Goodell is going to have a field day when he hands down punishment on Williams and anyone who was involved. This could get ugly.

Jacquian Williams entered Giants history with this forced fumble (Image via Sportsgrid.com)

Earlier this year, we posted a tremendous NY Giants 2011 regular season highlight reel from Youtube user gocolts123456789100, that stood head and shoulders above the average fan-made video. And ever since the Giants wrapped up Super Bowl XLVI, we have been anxiously awaiting his follow-up installment, prior to posting any post-season wrap-up videos.

Well, the new highlight reel of the Giants Super Bowl run is up, and once again our man didn’t disappoint, with another superbly-edited piece, set to perfectly apropos background music – this time, “NY NY” by B.o.B. It’s a great way for Giants fans to re-live the emotion of the team’s improbable yet impressive run through the NFC playoffs, with emotional wins over the Falcons, 49ers and Packers, and ultimately defeating the Patriots to hoist the Lombardi trophy.

And if you’re looking for something more in-depth, we also found this remarkable, 44-minute highlight package covering the entire playoff run in chronological order (starting with the Week 15 victory over the Cowboys) and with painstaking detail, which we’ve embedded below as well.

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The steroid-feuled Alzado was a nightmare for opponents

Wow … this one really brings us back.

It was 1984, and a young MTV was sweeping the nation. In an attempt to tap-in to the up-and-coming music video market, NBC put together a series of sports highlights set to some of the day’s hottest hits for an end-of-year special. To give you an idea of how old I am, our high school football coach actually used to play these videos to get us fired up before games … and believe it or not, it worked. You’ve got to understand, at the time, most sports highlights were set to the old-school, classical, NFL Films-style music.  So to see the game set to our favorite music – stuff that we actually listened to – was a revelation. Hell, “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits is a great song, but I remember watching the music video for it over and over and over again, simply because it was set to sports highlights.

One of the more memorable clips from the special was this video about the bad boy-era Los Angeles Raiders, set to Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys”. As the defending Super Bowl champions, the 1984 Raiders were on top of the world, and they weren’t afraid to let people know it. With colorful personalities like Lyle Alzado, Todd Christiensen, Matt Millen and Marcus Allen, these Raiders mirrored to personality of their owner Al Davis and played with a chip on their shoulder. That same year, the US Supreme Court also upheld the Raiders victory in Davis’ antitrust case against the NFL, making the franchise the very definition of rebellion in professional sports. Unfortunately, they also seem to have gotten caught up in some of the LA hype, as evidenced by this video’s fashion show, and their wild card round exit from that year’s playoffs.

But this video still remains a treasured piece of NFL & pop culture history, and we’ll do our best to try and track down some of the other clips from that NBC special …

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Manning makes the throw of his life (Photo: NFL.com)

As always, the NFL Films crew was in full force at Super Bowl XLVI, capturing all the sights and sounds of the world’s biggest game as only they can. For this game, the Sound FX team had WR Victor Cruz and LB Michael Boley mic’d up for the Giants, and QB Tom Brady and DT Vince Wilfork wired for the Pats. And the result is every bight as insightful and exciting as you’d expect it to be.

Here are the links to watch the entire Sound FX program on NFL.com: PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

A few of the more interesting moments from the broadcast:

• Justin Tuck’s pre-game speech inspiring his teammates who have yet to win a Super Bowl to reach for their ring (which possibly inspired the team’s now-famous post-game “I got a ring” celebration)
• Patriots owner Robert Kraft asking to look into Tom Brady’s eyes before the game to see if he has “the look”, and Brady responding “I got it today. I’ve had it for three days”
• Victor Cruz pre-game: “Super Bowl 46 … I used to think it was all about me, and what I could do. It’s all about this team, man.”
• Wes Welker: “I’m open on every play.” Brady: “I know you are, man. I know you are.”
• Brady, following the intentional grounding call that resulted in a safety on the first offensive play of the game

“I looked at Gronk, I looked to Wes, he dropped, then I felt him, I had no place to throw it away. I threw it over his head. I didn’t want to throw an interception.”

• On Cruz’ fumble/non-fumble in the first quarter, when the Patriots were flagged for 12 men on the field, the Giants saw it all the way, urging Manning to snap the ball to catch New England for a free play
• After Jason Pierre-Paul knocks down a Brady pass, the QB says to Welker on the sideline: “It’s like throwing in a forest, dude, those f*ing guys arms are like…”
• When Giants Kevin Boothe was called for holding Vince Wilfork in the 2nd quarter, nullifying a big first down and ultimately killing the drive. Immediately, the referee asks the official who thew the flag “You’re good with it? I thought he spun off of it”, which Wilfork later confirms, saying “That was a bad call”.

• 

  (Photo: NFL.com)

  In the 3rd quarter, Boley to his teammates on the injured Rob Gronkowski: “Hey, 87’s a f*ing decoy, he’s a decoy … He’s about to be outta here.” A short time later, Gronkowski was outjumped by Chase Blackburn for a critical interception.

• Following Welker’s critical 4th quarter drop, the referee says to another official, “That was the game”.
• Just before the Giants took the field for their game-winning drive, Belichick ominously says this to his defense:

“This is still a Cruz and Nicks game. I know we’re right on them, it’s tight but those are still the guys. Make them go to Manningham, make them go to Pascoe. Let’s make sure we get Cruz and Nicks.”

On the first play of that drive, Manning hit Manningham for a 38-yard reception, and the play of the game.  Manningham had 3 catches for 56 yards on the drive.

• Prior to Bradshaw’s awkward final touchdown, the Patriots can be heard telling each other: “We gotta let them score … let them score.”

So it seems that the trend of fans recording themselves while watching the final moments of a championship game continued on Sunday, with Giants fans everywhere looking to preserve their viewing memories of Super Bowl XLVI – good or bad – for all the internet to see.  Fortunately for these fans, Brady’s last-second hail mary fell harmlessly to the turf, sealing New York’s fourth Super Bowl championship in franchise history, and sending legions of Giants fans around the world into fits of hysterical joy.

This compilation of reaction shots goes on a bit long, but it’s still fun to re-live the final seconds (as well as the emotional post-game celebration) through the eyes of these passionate fans.

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I bet the Patriots version of this isn’t quite as light-hearted.

Eli = Elite (Photo: NY Giants Facebook)

The New York Giants are Super Bowl Champions once again, and Eli Manning has won his second Super Bowl MVP award after defeating the New England Patriots 21-17 in Indianapolis tonight. With the win, Eli officially steps out of the shadow of his brother Peyton, and cements himself in the annals of NFL history as one of the game’s greatest quarterbacks.

The biggest play of the game came in the fourth quarter, as the Giants attempted to drive the field for the game-winning score. Manning hit Mario Manningham for this incredible 38-yard sideline catch:

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As remarkable as Manningham’s catch was, Manning’s throw was equally as brilliant, delivering the ball on a rope in a very tight space where only Manningham could snare it. And the play will undoubtedly go down in Giants history as one of the greatest plays of all time.

Ahmad Bradshaw finished off the drive with a bizarre game-winning 6-yard touchdown run with just over a minute to go. New York was trying to run out some more clock before scoring the go-ahead points and giving the ball back to Tom Brady, but the Patriots called the patented “Red Sea” defense and left Bradshaw untouched … leading to perhaps the most awkward touchdown in Super Bowl history:

(via Reddit/r/nygiants)

The Giants defense was able to hold off a last-minute drive by Brady, which ended with a failed hail mary as the clock struck zero. And suddenly – after winning his second championship and defeating Bill Belichick head-to-head for the second consecutive time on the game’s biggest stage - Tom Coughlin has to be in the conversation as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.

(Image via SportsGrid.com)

Sunday’s 2012 Pro Bowl started out pretty much as expected, with defensive players giving minimal effort at little things like rushing the passer, covering and tackling, setting the stage for the offensive shootout that ensued. The AFC ultimately out-gunned the NFC 59-41, with Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall reeling in a Pro Bowl record 4 TDs and earning the MVP trophy.

And while this laissez-faire defensive attitude elicited boos from the crowd and groans from television viewers everywhere, the game did end up providing a few noteworthy moments. To be honest, we didn’t actually watch the whole thing, but we got a pretty good feel for things via the stats and game highlights … and with 100 total points scored, you get the general idea: defense (and running backs) took the day off in Honolulu today. For their part, the NFC had three players – Tony Gonzalez, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Smith - with more than 100 yards receiving, with Fitzgerald pulling in three scores of his own.

Marshall finished with 176 yards on six catches, but none of them were as memorable as this unbelievable (and wildly lucky) third quarter grab of a tipped Andy Dalton pass while laying on his back in the endzone:

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BONUS GIF: The other worthwhile highlight came Drew Brees attempted the rarely-seen drop kick extra point late in the 4th quarter, only to miss it badly [VIDEO here]

(via mocksession.com)

(Image via Youtube.com)

There has been a trend sweeping YouTube in recent years of fans recording themselves watching live sporting events unfold, and then uploading their reactions for all the world to see. This has provided us with all kinds of tremendous sporting moments caught on camera from the fan’s point of view, like this remarkable compilation of fans watching Landon Donovan’s game-winning goal in the 2010 World Cup.

And as you might guess, last week’s AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Ravens provided all kinds of fodder for superfans everywhere to freak the eff out, with their cameras rolling. Between both Lee Evans’ near-game-winning-TD that wasn’t and Billy Cundiff’s field goal shank that lost it for Baltimore, the final few minutes were an emotional roller coaster for fans of both teams.

So that’s what makes this compilation of fan reactions to the game (aptly titled “The Agony of Defeat and Thrill of Victory“) – which features both ebullient celebrations and soul-crushing collapses from Pats and Ravens fans alike –  just so fantastic. You really get to feel the win/loss from both perspectives, and get a sense of just how much this game means to people everywhere. And of course it includes this guy.

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