NFL in London

National Football League in London

2022 NFL London

Due Date

by

Deshaun gets his back to work date, TB12 takes time off work, and our man Ryan is having another baby!
All this and more in our Due Date podcast.

 Goes to 11

So the NFL has finally finagled the Deshaun Watson situation, and the ruling is…11 games!

How weird that his first game back is facing his old team the Texans? You sure know how to write a script NFL!

Despite howls of ‘Boos’ and ‘Boo-Urns’, Watson has been rather oblivious to the whole shit-suation surrounding him.

With the league finally nailing down a return to work date, we can all get back to what’s most important in this league…making fun of the Cowboys.

TB Time

TB12 checked into training camp, then promptly checked out having declared a need for personal time.

This sent internet sleuths into a tizzy, who quickly claimed that the reason Tommy Boy was taking time off, was to appear on FOX’s ‘The Masked Singer.’

Like the Korean dish kimchi, ‘The Masked Singer’ has invaded our shores with ear-shredding celebrities surprising C-list celebs with their singing skills (or lack thereof.)

If Brady did sign up for this show, it would surely signal his shark-jump of cool, going from the goofy drunk guy who tossed the Lombardi into the drink, into…Rudi Guliani.

Hopefully this is all a horrible nightmare, like Marvels ‘Eternals.’

AB Me Me

Have you forgotten about Antonio Brown yet? Well, you should.

AB is desperately trying to get anyone to listen to him, as he makes his case for the Dallas Cowboys to take a chance on him.

Despite signs of dementia and poor decision making in the past, owner Jerry Jones was quick to poo-poo any chance of AB becoming one of ‘Dem Boyz’.

Maybe AB could appear on ‘The Masked Singer”? Oh, that’s right, he already did in 2019 when he skipped Steelers practices.

Catfish

Who wants catfish for dinner?

Certainly not Manti Te’o, who is the subject of a new Netflix documentary about the nut-bar situation he was placed in when catfished during his college career.

At the time, Manti became fodder for the late night talk shows, who were quick to trash this kid who got suckered in by a catfisher, instead blaming Te’o for ‘making her up.’

Nice to see that despite a country accusing him of lying, trashing his mental health, and not even investigating the truth at the time, Manti was able to come out with his sanity.

Injuries

It wouldn’t be the preseason without a slew of injuries to kick it all off, and the NFL preseason did not disappoint!

Zac Wilson broke a boner on his moms’ friend-is what the trash rags like the NY Post will have you believe.
Wilson will be out for 2-4 weeks after a bone bruise during PS-hopefully the press can be a bit more forgiving with this young man.

The Bucs lost a big chunk of their O-line after losing several key members to injury in training camp.

Browns centre Nick Harris tore his ACL, and will be out for the season.

This goes to show you why you NEVER run your fantasy draft until the season starts.

Favre KO

Anyone who has heard Brett Favre talk, knows that he has spent a career taking hits to the head.

It’s a bit of a surprise however when Brett revealed the extent of his head hits, reckoning that he has had ‘thousands’ of concussions throughout his playing daze.

From bight white lights, loss of sound and vision, to being front row at a Nickleback concert, these hits have made a mess out of Favre’s head.

You only have to watch highlight of Brett’s career to realise that he wasn’t exaggerating…much.

Fantasy

What kind of fantasy do you guys like to play?

Straight-up season? Daily? Pick’em pools?

Well, we’re going to offer you the chance to join in some of our pools for the 2022 season.

All will be revealed next week!

 

 

August Headlines

by

It’s official, there will be NFL games played this month.
Sure, they will be preseason, but football is back baby!

It wouldn’t be an off-season, without a bit of drama-and boy did the 2022 soft months provide a lot of entertainment!

Let’s take a look at some of the big news in our August Headlines!

Deshaun

The league has finally laid down it’s iron-fist ruling in the NFL vs Deshaun Watson, and the league has ruled…6 games!

Six? Only six Why not more? What not less? What about Calvin Ridley? What if he blew pot smoke in their faces instead? Would be get a season?

The judge ruled that Watson wasn’t violent, but did still must miss 6 games in penance for his groping actions.

It’s been a long road for Watson, the League, fans and of course all of the women who have made the accusations.
Let’s not forget it all started with Watson demanding a trade from the Texans, and the owner and many fans reminding Deshaun not to ‘mess with Texas’.

You wrestle the bull, you get the horns.

No one will be happy with this outcome because it’s been such a stain over the past year.

Hopefully we can all get on with some football, and the Browns can get back doing what they do best…disappoint their fans.

London Tickets

Tickets for the London games went on sale and flew off the digital shelves.

Did you get tickets, or were you beaten to the punch by digital ticket touts?

While we have heard some truly horrific ticketing stories, experience teaches us it all works out in the end.

With a few months to go until the London games, there will likely be more tickets released, as well as circumstances in which fans can’t make it, making their tickets available.

Be patient, watch the Facebook pages and fan groups, and don’t buy from scalpers. You will definitely be sad if you do.

Fantasy 2022

It’s time for another NFL Fantasy season, which means it’s time to start doing your research.

Some fans like to do their NFL Fantasy Draft now, which makes you quite the silly sausage.

Sure, it’s exciting to be able to start making up your line-ups, but preseason hasn’t even begin yet!
There is still plenty of time for injuries, insight and idiocy to see players burn and turn themselves out of the season before it even begins.

Be patient young grasshopper, the season is long.

Buc’ing Knee

Sad news for the TB Bucs, as starting centre for Ryan Jensen blew out his knee in epic preseason form, making Tommy B vulnerable to start the 2022 season.

As mentioned above (preseason injuries) can wreck havoc on a lockeroom, as the guys you thought would be your pillars, are instead relegated to the bench.

Robert Hainsey will try to jump into the role despite only being in his second year.

Will the Bucs be using bondo and duct tape to make a 2023 playoff run?

It’s starting to look that way.

Pay Deebo

Despite being used in a utility role by the 49ers last season, Deebo wasn’t paid for his jack of all trades-ness.

After complaining to San Fran that he wanted to get paid, and not crippled-they 49ers threw a load of cash at Deebo in a 3 year deal with $58 mil guaranteed and up to $73m in specialness.

Injuries forced San Fran to use Deebo in a more ‘help us’ role last season as the team got snaked by injuries, will they be looking to use him in this capacity this year?

Not if they want to keep him alive.

There’s lots of cash being thrown around the league at speedsters teams hope will lead their teams. Is Deebo going to be too much cash to splash?

Boz Man

Chris Boswell put it through the uprights this week, inking a massive 4 year, $20.5m deal that will see him guaranteed $12.5m, and tying him with Justin Tucker as the highest paid kicker in the NFL.

It’s a far cry from 2015, when Boswell had already been cut by the Steelers three times, and was slotted as fourth on Pittsburgh’s kicking roster.

The 31 year old Boswell has ‘no pressure’ on him this year.

Would you rather have Boswell or Tucker on your fantasy team?
Exactly.

Watch this space, as we will have some NFL Fantasy news for you to make your season fun!

 

 

July News

by

Well NFL fans, this is the last month until March 2023 that we will have ZERO NFL action. That means the NFL is only a few weeks away!
Getting excited yet?

To kick off all that is July, we offer up some til bits of NFL-July news to get you through the weekend.

Among some of the things we are paying attention to this week.

London Games

Tickets have already gone on sale for the London games, and given the frustration we have seen and heard online, most of the tickets seemed to have already been scooped up.

The Tottenham games have gone fast, nit not to worry-there always seem to be a stream of tickets that come out and become available to fans who are regular season ticket holders.

New season ticket holders got a chance to snag tickets on June 30th, while anyone looking to grab single tickets for Tottenham stadium will have to wait until Tuesday July 26th.

We will let you know about tickets as we hear about them, and remember to not buy tickets from scalpers, or you could be in for a nightmare.

Deshaun Deshaun

The drama in Ohio continues to thunder on, as the wet spots of Watson’s legacy continue to seep through onto the massage table.

With more accusations (and dismissals) the headaches for the Browns should be over soon-as it looks like the NFL is targeting Watson to miss the whole season.

This could be a real pain in the butt for the Browns, who have pissed off Baker Mayfield to an almighty ‘Karen’ status.

Remember a few years ago when Cleveland was touted as one of the top faves in the AFC? Oh how the mighty have been rubbed and tugged down.

Bonilla Bonanza

All NFL players (& other athletes) must love July 1st-aka Bobby Bonilla Day.

If you’re not aware, MLB player Bobby Bonilla and his savvy agent signed a deal to pay off the $5.9 million owed to Bonilla in instalments tagged with interest.
The NY Mets had wanted him to retire, but he said ‘no dice-pay me bitches.’

Despite only owing Bobby close to $6 million, the Mets have now paid Bonilla $14.3m, with another $15.5m owed over 15 more years.

In the end Bonilla will rake in close to $30m since 2000.

Happy July indeed!

Big T

Sad news from the world of the NFL, as former Colts & Ravens player Tony Siragusa aka ‘The Goose’ died at the age of 55.

Siragusa was not only a big personality on the field, but off as well-participating in many NFL sideline antics for TV, as well as hosting some notable TV series as well.

Big T also ‘made it’, when he appeared as Frank Cortese on the HBO series ‘The Sopranos.’

Jaylon

More sad news from Baltimore, as another Raven is to be seen nevermore.

Ravens OLB Jaylon Ferguson died of an accidental drug overdose.

‘Sack Daddy’ as he was known in college fell victim to the scary, and increasingly tragic fentanyl/cocaine overdose.

Experts are warning for a onslaught on fentanyl deaths in the future, as most cocaine on the west coast of America is thought to contain some traces of the drug.

Sadly, these kind of horrific deaths are going to become more popular with the inclusion of this drug in the mix.

Ferguson was only 26 ,and leaves behind 3 kids.

 

Cube It

Rapper/ Actor/ Advocate-Ice Cube is partnering with the NFL to promote and develop more initiatives for the NFL to invest in black owned businesses across America.

NFL VP of Operations head Troy Vincent has been working with the Cube to help invest NFL funding into local and national business of colour that could use a step up.

About damn time.

Make sure that you watch this space for all the NFL in London news, plus some great new betting options to hit later this year!

 

 

June Memes

by

It’s June already! Yea ha! That means that training camp is only a few warm months away.

If you’re like us, you have been trying to suck the NFL juices out of everything in the news-whether it was the Amber-Depp drama, end of the Premier League, or even the Queens Jubilee.
‘Will AB show up?’

To celebrate some of the funny situations going on in the league, we have some funny June Memes to get your NFL going on.

Among some of the fun news shaking in the League right now:

The Match

Did you watch this epic match-up between Brady-Rodgers vs Allen-Mahomes?
It was a fantastic trash-talking golf match, that saw all 4 QBs dropping golf balls on the fans in a hilarious ‘Fore!’ off in Vegas.

Brady and Rodgers not only won the match, but also the trash talking-as Brady finds his funny on his march to retirement.

Aaron was also quick to slip in that he thinks about retirement ‘every day’, which should come as a shock to many Packers fans.

Fitz Out

Sad news for Fitzy fans, as the bearded one-Ryan Fitzpatrick finally calls in quits in the NFL.

Despite having to play for only a few more teams to have led them all, Fitzy used Washington as his last pit stop before taking his bushy self to woodshed.

Mr Harvard will be sadly missed in the league, but it would be stupid of all the networks to not recognise the gold that Fitz would bring to the broadcast booth.

We would rather have Fitz in the box for $10 million, than old TB12 shucking it out for $175m.

Madden

The new Madden will feature the OG himself, John Madden to commemorate his passing.

Hopefully the game will feature some old school functions itself-as the original game was often more fun to play than the button mashing madness of the newer versions.

Here are the memes you filthy animals!

 

 

London 2022 Games

by

Smell that in the air?
That’s freedom…a bit of petrol…and the return of the NFL.
It’s coming back to London again soon, and boy are we tickled.

So here are our predictions for the London 2022 Games.

Draft Days

The NFL Draft is now done and dusted, as teams watch the offseason to witness which one of these prospects burns and turns their own future after Las Vegas, making bad lifestyle choices that ultimately leads to leaving the game.

Or…they have a bright and lustrous future, without any incidents.
That’s the hope anyway.

The NFL Draft also heralds the beginning of the international adventure, as the league announces who will be headed across the shores to bring the beautiful game to hungry global audiences.

London gets 3 games, Germany gets one, as does Mexico.

So how does it all play out?

London Schedule

The NFL announced that they will be releasing the full international schedule on May 4th, 2022 (evening).

We will then get to know who will be making a passport application for the first time, so that they come visit us at either Tottenham or Wembley stadium(s) for an autumn jaunt.

Who will it be?
Well, we make our yearly predictions prior to the NFL officially announcing the REAL teams that will be visiting.
It’s a fun little exercise that helps build hope to those of us who haven’t seen our teams hit the UK in years.

And so without further adieu, we present our predictions for the 2022 London International Games.

Baltimore Ravens vs Jacksonville Jaguars

Sunday September 25th-Week 3
Wembley Stadium

Jacksonville is back (again), as they shed their Urban skin, and have returned with fresh faces and feelings as the Trevor Lawrence era has finally sputtered out of the gate.

As for the Jags home opponents this season, they face the following: Colts, Texans, Titans, Broncos, Raiders, Ravens, Cowboys, Giants.

Given that many of these teams have been here in the past few years, the most obvious team to come would be the New York Giants, who haven’t played in London since they beat the Rams in 2016.

The Ravens however last played in London in 2017, where they took a 44-7 blowout to the face.

There are rumblings and rumours out of Poe-town, that the dirty birds would once again be flocking our way.
We’ll jump on this rumour!

Minnesota Vikings vs New Orleans Saints

Sunday October 2, 2022-Week 4
Tottenham Stadium

Of all the rumours that have been circling as to who would most likely be playing, this game is the most solid to bet on.

Minnesota and New Orleans are scheduled to play each other this year, and reports out of Minneapolis point to the fact that the team is preparing for an international adventure for the 2022 season.

The miracle moments between these two teams are many, and it seems to be the most likely scenario for both teams.

As per the date, Week 4 has been persistent in both reports from New Orleans and the Vikes, so we will also double down on the intel we are getting stateside.

This will be a great game for fans of both teams, who last appeared on our shores in 2017, beating the Dolphins and Browns respectively.

We’re quite confident in this one.

Tennessee Titans vs Green Bay Packers

Sunday October 9th-Week 5
Tottenham Stadium

The Pack is finally making a trek to London, as British fans finally get a whiff of the mane of Aaron Rodgers and company.

Green Bay is the ONLY team to have NEVER made the trip to London, so this will be a massive game for all the cheeseheads here who have missed out on NFL action in the past.

As for the Packers home opponents, they have the Bears, Lions, Vikings, Cowboys, Giants, Patriots, Jets, Titans, & Rams.

While the LA Rams are rumoured to be another team playing in an international game, they are more likely to play the Arizona Cardinals in the Mexico City contest.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots are also an interesting possibility for Rodgers and the boys to play-since they haven’t been here since 2012, but the Titan in the room keeps popping up its head.

We like Tannehill and Tennessee as they combatant in the Packers contest, making their way to north London for week 5, in an exciting match.

Considerations

There are some other factors that we looked at in determining not only the teams, but the dates of the London games.

Ukraine is most likely still going to be burning in the autumn of 2022, and many Americans are not likely to travel as they believe that anywhere in Europe is a war zone.

London & European visitors dropped by 8% during the Gulf War, and plummeted after the terror attacks here.  As long as Russia keeps acting like dicks, the situation in the area will be tenuous.

The World Cup will also play a factor in the scheduling of NFL games, as the league will want to avoid any clashes with ‘soccer’ for the end of the year.

Kicking off on November 21st in Qatar, the World Cup will overlap much of the NFL schedule, as many major games are happening on NFL Sundays.
Spain faces Germany on Sunday Nov 27th at 7pm GMT-running smack into the NFL for many fans who will be looking to catch the games.

Caveat

Once again, these are only guesses by our team.

We will all know the true teams heading our way when the NFL officially announces it next week.