NFL in London

National Football League in London

Minnesota Vikings

Top 10 Foreign Born NFL Players

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The National Football League (NFL) has grown in popularity all over the world in recent years, and as a result, players from many countries are now playing at the highest level of American football.
So who are some of the Top 10 Foreign Born NFL Players?
While the majority of NFL players are still born in the United States, there have been a number of talented players who have come from other countries and made an impact in the league.
In this article, we will be looking at the top 10 NFL players born outside of the USA, and those who have enhanced the game through their global interest in the sport.

  1. Sebastian Janikowski

    Sebastian Janikowski was born in Poland and went on to become one of the most successful kickers in NFL history. He played for the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks during his career and was known for his incredible leg strength and accuracy.

  2. Lawrence Okoye

    Lawrence Okoye was born in the United Kingdom and played college football at the University of Missouri before being signed by the San Francisco 49ers in 2013. He played defensive tackle for the team and was known for his incredible athleticism and strength.

  3. Menelik Watson

    Menelik Watson was born in Manchester, England and played college football at Florida State University before being drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played offensive tackle for the team and was known for his strength and athleticism.

  4. Markus Kuhn

    Markus Kuhn was born in Germany and played college football at North Carolina State University before being drafted by the New York Giants in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played defensive tackle for the team and was known for his strength and ability to disrupt opposing offenses.

  5. Moritz Böhringer

    Moritz Böhringer was born in Germany and was the first player to be drafted directly from a European football league. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft and played wide receiver for the team.

  6. Efe Obada

    Efe Obada was born in Nigeria and played college football in London before being signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He played defensive end for the Carolina Panthers and was known for his strength and ability to rush the passer.

  7. Jermaine Eluemunor

    Jermaine Eluemunor was born in London and played college football at Texas A&M University before being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He has played offensive guard and tackle for the Ravens and New England Patriots and is known for his strength and versatility.

  8. Christian Scotland-Williamson

    Christian Scotland-Williamson was born in England and played rugby before being signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018 as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. He has played tight end for the team and is known for his size and athleticism.

  9. Joel Bitonio

    Joel Bitonio was born in California but is of Lebanese descent and holds dual citizenship in the United States and Lebanon. He has played offensive guard for the Cleveland Browns since being drafted by the team in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

  10. Bjoern Werner

    Bjoern Werner was born in Germany and played college football at Florida State University before being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played defensive end for the team and was known for his ability to rush the passer.

These players have all made significant contributions to the NFL despite coming from outside of the United States. They have proven that talent can come from anywhere in the world and that the NFL truly is a global sport. As the league continues to grow in popularity around the world, we can expect to see more and more players from outside of the USA continue to make their mark on the league.

And no, we didn’t forget about Danish great Morten Anderson, we just need to devote a whole article to him!

Top 10 NFL Drafts of the Past 30 Years

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With the NFL draft looming on the horizon, it’s time to look at some of the best NFL Drafts from the past thirty years.
The Draft is an exciting time for football fans as they eagerly await to see which players their favourite teams will select. Over the past 3 decades, there have been some remarkable drafts that have produced many stars and legends of the game.
Here we will take a look at the top 10 NFL drafts of the past 30 years, as this one isn’t going to crack any ‘top lists.’

  1. 1996 NFL Draft

    This draft produced some of the greatest players in NFL history. The top three picks in this draft were all future Hall of Famers: Keyshawn Johnson, Kevin Hardy, and Jonathan Ogden. Other notable players in this draft include Ray Lewis, Eddie George, Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens, and Zach Thomas. The 1996 Draft had some of the top players across every position. Those were the days.

  2. 2011 NFL Draft

    The 2011 draft was one of the deepest in NFL history, producing many future stars who are still playing today. Cam Newton was the first overall pick, and he went on to win the NFL MVP award in 2015. Other notable players in this draft include Von Miller, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, J.J. Watt, Richard Sherman, and Colin Kaepernick.

  3. 1989 NFL Draft

    The 1989 draft produced three players who would go on to win the NFL MVP award: Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, and Deion Sanders. Other notable players in this draft include Derrick Thomas, Steve Atwater, and Mark Carrier. Check out some of the pictures of the 1989 Draft, and the fashion choices alone should let you know that it was totally different era.

  4. 1991 NFL Draft

    The 1991 draft produced many future Hall of Famers, including Brett Favre, Aeneas Williams, and Herman Moore. Other notable players in this draft include Ricky Watters, Ted Washington, and Mike Croel. Hard to believe that this draft was over 32 years ago.

  5. 2012 NFL Draft

    The 2012 draft produced many top QB stars of the future, including Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson. Other notable players in this draft include Luke Kuechly, Fletcher Cox, and Bobby Wagner. Despite being 10 years ago, there are still a few players from this draft playing in the league.

  6. 1998 NFL Draft

    The 1998 draft produced two future Hall of Famers in Peyton Manning and Randy Moss. Other notable players in this draft include Charles Woodson, Fred Taylor, and Hines Ward. This was more of the ‘grit-iron’ generation of tough as nails players.

  7. 2017 NFL Draft

    The 2017 draft produced many impact players, including the first overall pick, Myles Garrett. Other notable players in this draft include Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, and Alvin Kamara. This Draft is also known as the ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda,’, as many pundits and fans lament of what could have been had players signed elsewhere.

  8. 2001 NFL Draft

    The 2001 draft produced many Pro Bowl players, including LaDainian Tomlinson, Steve Hutchinson, and Richard Seymour. Other notable players in this draft include Michael Vick, Drew Brees, and Reggie Wayne. This could have been known as the HOF class, as many of the players in this group were record-setters.

  9. 2004 NFL Draft

    The 2004 draft produced three future Hall of Famers in Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger. Other notable players in this draft include Larry Fitzgerald, Vince Wilfork, and Jared Allen. 2004 brought us a whack load of great QBs, which beckons when another draft like this could happen?

  10. 1999 NFL Draft

    The 1999 draft produced five future Hall of Famers, including Edgerrin James, Champ Bailey, and Torry Holt. Other notable players in this draft include Ricky Williams, Donovan McNabb, and Jevon Kearse.

The NFL draft is a significant event in the April calendar of football, and it has produced many great players over the years. The drafts listed above were some of the best of the past 30 years, producing numerous stars and legends of the game. As football fans, we look forward to seeing what the future holds for the NFL draft and the next generation of players who will make their mark on the league.

Who will be the star of the future in the 2023 NFL Draft?

 

Feb Football News

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Holy crap, is football really over? Has anyone started to go through withdrawal yet, or get a massive case of the shakes?
Well, we can help you out with a round up of some of the latest Feb Football news.

If you are suffering from some of these symptoms, try to digest the following, and make sure you watch plenty of old games.
The XFL is also on, but ughhh…so let’s start there.

XFL

Can you smell what the Rock is cooking? ‘Cause it’s smells a bit undercooked, as the XFL kicked off its third incarnation in mid Feb 2023.

When Vince McMahon first birthed the XFL in 2001, many had hoped that the league might remain and offer a building block of rosters for the NFL.
Sadly it collapsed just like his WWE dreams, before it was saved by one of his former employees.

The Rock had tried to revive the league, partner it with the CFL, then took a safety in 2021 when the then ‘coronavirus’ punched any hopes of the league restarting right in the throat.

So how did it do on its return to the airwaves in 2023?
Meh.
Ratings are down huge from 3.3 million in 2020, to well under 1.6 million for the new games.

To put that in perspective, that’s LESS than both the launch of the AAF and the 2022 debut of the USFL, which brought in over 3 million viewers.

The XFL does benefit from being on both ABC and ESPN, so there is hope for the league if they continue blasting it to bored fans.

Not so easy for us to watch in the UK though, with games not starting til roughly 1am.

Some clever clog on Reddit made a concept for an XFL expansion. We’ll just leave that here for you.

Chad Ocho

NFL legend Chad Ochocinco has dropped a big bomb on fans that he actually lived at the Cincinnati stadium during his first two years in the league.

Ever clever and good for sound bites, Ocho revealed on a recent podcast that given the Bengals stadium had showers, food, video games and more, it made sense for him to live there to save some dosh.

While no one can officially confirm that Ocho did actually live there for 2 seasons, it would be on par with the behaviour of a celebrated bon vivant of the league.

How cool would it be to play Madden on the Jumbotron when you had the stadium to yourself?

Pay Brady

Tom Brady needs money y’all, so someone else has just dumped a truck load of cash to his Florida bachelor pad.

SiriusXM has renewed Tommy’s ‘Let’s Go’ podcast with former NFL’er Larry Fitzgerald and broadcaster Jim Gray, for more cashola.

TB12 isn’t required for his 10 year broadcasting deal with FOX, in which he will make another $375 million.

Of course that won’t mean anything, if the Dolphins or 49ers get to that point in the season where they just need one top QB to get them to the promised land.

He’ll be back…

Free Agents

As we all patiently wait for the 2023 NFL Draft, eyes are on some of the top prizes in the game, and where they might end up next season.

Some of the big guys everyone will be watching includes:

Lamar Jackson

Will the Ravens be foolish enough to part with Lamar, or are they planning on building a team around him?
The ‘will they’ or ‘won’t they’ has become so infuriating with Baltimore, it feels like the romantic twist in a bad sitcom.
We predict that he will stay in Baltimore for next year and beyond.

Geno Smith

Geno was initially seen as a stop gap solution when he beat out Drew Lock to captain the Seahawks last season. Then Geno went off, and the whispers of ‘MVP’ started circling given the way he was able to sling some Seattle wins together.

So will the Seahawks pony up and pay the man?
Seems pretty bloody likely given how well he played for what he was paid.
Had their running game not gone to crap, maybe they could have made the post season.

Derek Carr

This Carr cracker crumbled in 2023, after his much hyped Las Vegas Raiders ate a big turd-burger despite some pretty marquee talent.

Carr is gone from Vegas despite promising fans that the Raiders would be the last team he would play for. He can still sling the pig skin, so it makes sense that he plays a few more years, before taking his fugly-jug to the broadcast booth next to his gorgeous bro.

We see Derek Carr heading down to New Orleans next year to lead the Saints to a losing record.

London Games

Are you ready for the Bills, Titans and Jaguars to come to London this year?

Us too, and we’ll let you know more as soon as we hear about it.

Make sure you check here for all the latest news, and thanks for reading our Feb Football News.

https://www.nfl.com/uk/international-games

 

 

Week 11 Picks

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We’re over halfway through the NFL season as the league hosts its final international game in Mexico, the World Cup is almost here, and the Green Bay Packers eat another ‘L’.
It’s time for our Week 11 Picks!

Wade and Ryan are back again, using their medium sized brains to crank out their nuggets of wisdom as we make our way to Thanksgiving.

Ryan had a bit of turkey in week 10, going 5-8 in his picks, while Wade had a bit more stuffing with a 9-4 record ATS.
How will the boys do this week?

The show is all snow in Buffalo, the Patriots tee up the Jets for another potential beating, the Bears are underdogs to Mariota, and the Rams well and truly suck this year.

Who do the guys have for Week 11?

You can listen to the whole podcast here, and get all of the Picks you’re looking for!

Here are some of the betting picks the guys are looking at for Week 11.

Browns (3-6) vs -8 Bills (6-3) +50.5

As much as we laud Buffalo for staying strong during their snowy winters, when you look at the white covered city, you can see why it had to be moved to Detroit.
The Bills and Browns are both in the dome, in a game that could signal the beginning of the Deshaun era, and Josh Allen looking to shake off recent picks.

Buffalo is starting to lose grip on the top spot in the AFC east, with the rise of the Jets Dolphins and Patriots to playoff potential.
Josh Allen’s last minute picks have put the Bills in a tricky spot, after taking that sore L from the Vikings.

The Browns have limped their way into this season, hoping that Watson will rub out the past deeds, and tug them into a brighter future.
The running game and ascent of Peoples-Jones could help the Browns keep this one closer than the line Vegas has provided.

Ryan likes his Bills to win, but doesn’t like that 8 point spread.
He thinks that the Browns will keep in closer than that.

Wade agrees, and thinks that the tight week, and with Buffalo due to play in 4 days for Gobble Gobble, they might not be focused on laying a beating.

Ryan-Bills 27  Browns 20
Wade Bills 28 Browns 21

-6.5 Eagles (8-1) vs Colts (4-5-1) +43.5

The Eagles have gotten that first loss out of the way, now it’s time to focus!
Philly not only made a load of mistakes against Washington in week 10, they also got gashed by the running game, something that future teams will look to as a template.

Indy is shaking off the hangover, and trying to string something together after the Matt Ryan awkwardness of a few weeks ago. Is he back? Does Jim still like him?
Whatever it is, they still have Jonathan Taylor, who like Stella-seems to have finally gotten his groove back.

Ryan likes the Eagles to continue to dominate, learning from their Week 10 loss, and ready to rebound all over the faces of Jeff Saturday and his boys.

Wade thinks the Colts are on the rise, and this could potentially be another chance to draw blood and put themselves on the playoffs path. The could win, but should cover.

Ryan-Eagles 30 Colts 17
Wade-Eagles 28 Colts 22

Bears (3-7) vs -3 Falcons (4-6)  +49

It only took 5 weeks, but the Bears have finally figured out what to do with Fields and a weak Bears O-line.
Justin has been on fire, ripping up Fantasy numbers, and having Bears worry that he could get broken with the amount he’s running, leaving them with no toys at all.

How is Marcus Mariota still a starting QB?
His passes are as awkward as an asexual at a porn awards, and he’s often putting the Falcons under pressure than leading them to victory.
So how are the Falcons 3 point faves? Is it all home field?

Ryan thinks that the Falcons are in the right, and that spotty Bears D will be open enough for Atlanta’s running game to create some opportunities.

Wade is all over his Bears, with the team averaging 28 points in the past 4 weeks, they will continue to score against a hapless Falcons D.

Ryan-Falcons 27 Bears 24
Wade-Bears 30 Falcons 24

That’s it for our Week 11 Picks, who do you have?

Make sure you follow us on social media and play along on DraftKings every week of all the fun!

 

Humpway There

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The final London game is done and dusted, trades have been made, and we push on to the second half of the NFL season, as we are officially Humpway There.

Anyone who says that they predicted this season needs a serious slap in the face, because no one foresaw the shiteshow demise of some of the biggest NFL franchises.

Rodgers, Brady, Stafford, Wilson and others have had a bad, bad season, while Geno Smith is looking to lock up the MVP award this season (seriously!)

Let’s look back at the week that was.

Week 8 Games

Panthers 34 Falcons 37

This game needed a bag over its head it was so ugly. From a kicker who warmed up so much, he missed, to D.J. Moore removing his helmet and getting the penalty that would put them out of field goal range.
A game that was truly tough to watch, but that’s the NFC South.
Mariota is not the solution, while the Panthers have to frustrated that they let this divisional game slip away due to stupid mistakes.

Raiders 0 Saints 24

What do you do when you have one of the worst defences in the NFL? Score ZERO points.
The Raiders have been sucking hard this season, with their D ranking at the bottom of everything.
So why didn’t Carr, Jacobs and Adams rip them a new one?
New Orleans snagged a much needed win when the Bucs and  Panthers both fell, but they still have a huge hill to climb ahead.

Bears 29 Cowboys 49

Dem boyz are back! Or did they just take advantage of a depleted and defeated Chicago squad?
Either Zeke is on a hunger strike, or Dallas is just refusing to feed him anymore, as it was the Pollard show all day.
Despite being shaken and stirred, Justin Fields and the boys were actually able to rally and put points on the board-something previous Bears teams have struggled to do.
Big win for the Cowboys, but not a horrible showing by the Bears.

Trade News

Well the trade deadline came and went, and this one did NOT disappoint!
Among some of the big trades that happened prior to the deadline.

Christian McCaffery to the 49ers was probably the biggest trade to kick off the action.
The Panthers continue to shed their previous incarnations, and San Francisco adds a breakable beast of a RB that will either take them to the promised land, or tear his ACL in week 10.

Jacksonville Jaguars started the season strong, which is probably why they made a few tweaks to secure wide receiver Calvin Ridley from the Falcons.
Having traded James Robinson to the Jets earlier, the Jags are looking to give Trevor Lawrence the speed and compliment to Christian Kirk.

Miami knows their D sucks, which is why they made the play for Bradley Chubb of the Denver Broncos.
The Dolphins have a serious playoff shot if they can plug in some holes in their backend, and Chubb certainly brings presence and play to the field.
Denver gets some picks, as well as RB Chase Edmonds who must be thrilled to go from contender to bender in a week.

Like sleeping with your sister, it’s generally not a good idea to pass players to teams in your division, but that didn’t stop the Lions from shipping off TE TJ Hockenson to the rival Minnesota Vikings.
By adding TJ, the Vikings get a nice compliment to Justin Jefferson, and another target for Kirk Cousins to overthrow.
Detroit knows that this season is over (again), and it’s time to build (again).

Chicago Bears were thought to be the bin bottom of the league this year, but looky-loo, they are tied with the Packers for second place.
The Bears starting shipping off the D early, shipping Roquan Smith to the Ravens in exchange for draft picks in 2023.
They pulled apart the D even further when they dealt Robert Quinn to the Eagles, who are looking to fulfil that perfect season.
Lastly, the Bears picked up Steelers WR Chase Claypool to give Fields that speed and height option that Mooney lacks.
The Bears might know that this season is over, but that hasn’t stopped them from looking towards next year.

Aaron Rodgers got nothing. No tools, no toys, no respect.
Maybe it’s because he took all that money?

Let’s see what Brady and Rodgers can do now?