NFL in London

National Football League in London

Pittsburgh Steelers

Barrel Scraping

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July is the last month of ‘NO NFL’ until March 2024! All this and more silly news in our latest Barrel Scraping podcast from Wade and Ryan.

Slow News

It’s July, so we’re all hoping for any little nugget of NFL news, from trades, moves to arrests, and even more off-season arrests. More on that later.

We’re always trying to put together a little feast of a podcast for you every episode, and since this is episode 250 of our NFL in London podcast, we tried not to disappoint here.

Here’s a link to the podcast so that you can listen in yourselves.

Among some of the other news that the guys talk about in this podcast includes:

USFL Finale

Did anyone watch the thrilling finale of the USFL this year? Us neither.
But it did turn into a big thrill for the Birmingham Stallions, who notched up back-to-back championships in their trophy hoist.
Given the amount of teams in the USFL (8), it’s not that hard to repeat as you would think.
Congrats to QB Alex McGough, who will once again find himself in the gauntlet of NFL tryouts before returning to the USFL next season.

The Match

‘The Match’ is a US tv series in which pro athletes  & celebs battle each other in a novelty golf-off.
Usually it features some big veterans or top talkers, but this year we got Kelce, Mahomes, and a couple of NBA jerks.
Not as thrilling in this 12 hole round, but at least it featured some modicum of NFL, so always worth watching if not just for Patrick’s Kermit like peeping throughout.

Swimming with Chiefs

Brittney Mahomes was also in hot water this week, after she posted pictures of herself on Insta swimming with dolphins in the tropics.
Animal lovers know that captive dolphins are a touchy issue, especially for someone who needs to display a bit of social foresight.
Worst of all were the rumours that Jackson Mahomes sexually assaulted the dolphin later.

Super Soaker

The Super Bowl still has some lingering blame as to the field conditions, and the NFL is finally ready to pass judgment.
It was the Eagles fault, they should have changed shoes.
While we can all remember how wet and wild the conditions were, with the Philly D struggling to gain traction on the soggy turf. But should they have changed shoes?
It’s all he said, they said at this point.
You lost.

ESPN on Fire

Sorry, they have been firing. Loads of top talent at the House of Mouse are gone, which won’t mean much for UK NFL fans who rarely see these pundits. For US viewers it’s signs of the times that they are moving on from pricey veterans, and throwing cash at new talent, as well as Pat McAfee.
Maybe he can finally afford to buy a shirt.

Jonesy

Jerry Jones is also dipping his story into the media, after reportedly seeking upwards of $50 million for the rights to his video life story.
Word on the media streets is that Netflix has snapped it up, and will look to rebound from all the horrible woke shows they invested in, and get back to the most watched program on the planet.
Even if it is Jerry Jones.
Think how much the Tom Brady story would get.

Kap’r

Colin Kaepernick wants to let us all know that he is still ready to get that NFL call, at the ripe young age of 35. Despite not playing in a decade, and living more off the meme’s of life, Colin is ready to give it another shot.
How about we team him up with Antonio Brown and make a new reality series? ‘AB & KP on the Road’. We’d all watch it.
Good news for Colin ahead is that he will be the ‘face’ of a new 7 on 7  NFL game coming to most devices this fall. He can finally play again, if only in a Meta way.

London Games

We will have more news on our London game party tickets as well soon.
Watch this space.
We will also be looking for people to join a Fantasy League this year with us! Get in touch if you want to play.

London Ballin’

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Normally we would be gushing about all things NFL in London, but after taking a trip to the MLB games at WestHam stadium this past weekend, we thought we would touch on baseball with a little London Ballin’ news.

Baseball was back in London after taking a Covid break following their first games in 2019.
Back then, we were treated to the Yankees and BoSox blasting so many homers, they actually scored more runs than the first NFL game here.

The 2023 series featured two teams at the bottom of their division, as the St Louis Cardinals hosted the Chicago Cubs in an NL Central dumpster fire across the pond.
Sure the teams might be struggling to make the post season, but that should be nothing new to NFLUK fans who have witnessed some truly dire games.

Despite the premonition that this might be a ‘sucky series’, the games delivered, and all of the fans seemed to thoroughly enjoying the novelty of having baseball in London, with the weather helping to make the whole weekend magical.

That being said, we did have a few thoughts on how the games went down.

The Good

MLB Europe

Wow, they really can put on a show! From the games themselves, to the craziness of Trafalgar Square takeover, London really went big baseball for the weekend.

Having the benefit of the NFL hosting games for a few decades is obviously going to help, but the MLB seemed to go above and beyond in putting it all together.

Unlike early NFL games which seemed a bit chaotic when Wembley was still growing,  the MLB seemed to have a finger on all of the action, making everything feel quite seamless.
As a fan, it’s nice to have consistency from North America, and for European fans to get the real deal experience.

The Games

It was quite the dinger fest on Saturday, as the Cubs took advantage of the short wall, to pop a few over the fence.

St. Louis rebounded in true form on the Sunday, given midwest fans a chance to salivate in the fact that they were able to snag a win abroad.

While there might have been more pomp and circumstance poured into the trip than the games itself, they certainly didn’t disappoint.

Celebrities

The NFL usually brings over their usual slug of ex-players and hangers on, but with baseball, everything is a little different.

The Cubs have a legacy of some great celeb fans, so when Bill Murray and Nick Offerman showed up to offer support to battle the heavyweight status of John Goodman and his Cards, it all started to feel quite Hollywoody.

Add to this was Bill Murray’s hilarious and rambling appearance on BT Sport during the game. Not only was Bill too quick-witted for the hosts, when he finally had enough, he just walked away.
Classic Bill.

The Bad

It’s never fun to crap on someone who goes out of their way to host you, but sometimes you need to address the mighty elephants in the room.

Atmosphere

While it certainly looked like a baseball game, in no way did it feel like one inside the stadium.
A lack of home field announcer, walk on music, or any vibe was quite shocking, as it just felt silent and awkward.

Maybe other people could hear, but where we seated up by the Cardinals Wags, it was shockingly quiet.

To that, it did seem that there was a caste system of enjoyment for MLB fans on the night.
Those seated near the first base line were treated to t-shirts, appearances and engagement, while the rest of the stadium looked on in a ‘what’s going on here’?

There was also a ‘house band’ which not only no one could see, but barely hear. The might have been there to pump up the crowd, but no one could hear or care.

Food

For all the talk of bringing the baseball to Britain, maybe they should have left the food at home.

A much touted ‘2 foot hot dog’ with all the toppings seemed a bit much, and they were, as people littered them all over the stadium. You didn’t need to walk far to spot lost weiners all over the place, and needed to address you walk to avoid stepping on them.

All of the food sampled by our group was cringe enough to add plans of ‘stopping at McDonald’s’ on the way home.

Don’t even get us started on the Dorito Nachos…they were everywhere too!

Dirty Dirty

Unlike other stadiums, it seems like the staff at WestHam stadium don’t clean up during the games.

In fact one toilet near our gate was NEVER cleaned the entire game. By the 7th inning they might as well have locked the doors, as the bins were over-filling, plastic cups and food littered the floor, and just so much piss everywhere.

It could be that there were staffing issues, as we encountered some of the rudest stadium employees ever.
Turns out you can’t ask questions of staff manning the doors to the numerous private rooms on the upper decks.
Asking something like ‘are there bars on this floor’ were responded with such venom, one would think we asked if Ted Lasso was here.

All in all, it was a great series of games, and an enjoyable weekend of baseball in the capital.

But like anything, there is still a learning curve here to climb.

 

 

London Games 2023

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Alright NFL fans, the Draft is done, the season schedule is about to be released on May 11th, and we are due to know who is playing in the London Games 2023 on May 4th.

Prior to that date of course, we like to make our own predictions on who is going to play in London, and when.
It’s an annual fun tradition for us, and in no way is meant to confuse, or claim that these are the real games.
Although we have benefited from some great press from US media personalities reporting our news as gospel. (which it ain’t!)

Much like the Pro Bowl, this is just for fun, not to be taken too seriously, and forged under the influence of alcohol.
Funny enough we have gotten a few right in the past, let’s see how we do this year.

Methodology

No, we didn’t smoke ‘meth’ to come up with these, but we did look at schedule, past London appearances, recent team changes, and potential strength of travel schedule to determine who we think will be making it to the UK in the fall.

The London games have been moving steadily towards a two-chunk set at Tottenham early in the month, and a late October Wembley game in between the time changes.
This time change is a big part of the UK games, as it represents a 4 hour time difference between the east coast, and more appetising for networks schedulers.

We also asked ChatGPT but it got all weird and porny, so we just went back to our old faithful methods.

Again, no real science behind it.

If you want to listen to our DraftOver podcast, and our NFL London picks, listen here:

London Games 2023?

Raiders vs Bills-Oct 8, 2023

First up at Tottenham stadium this year will be the Buffalo Bills hosting the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct 8, 2023 at 2:30pm. There are no tickets, because this is a guess.

The Bills are set to host the following teams in 2023, with their previous London visits in brackets:
Broncos (’22), Jaguars (’22), Giants (’22), Cowboys (’14), Bucs (’22*), Raiders (’19), Jets, Dolphins, Patriots.

Given the toughness and ticket sales of the AFC East this season, it is very unlikely that NFL would schedule a divisional game abroad in 2023.
Each one of these games is going to be very important, and not one they want to lose out on big rivalry matches.

Given that the Broncos & Bucs were in Europe recently, that leaves the Jags, Raiders and Cowboys as top targets. The league could surprise us by having the Jags play twice in London this year, but it feels like a bit of an odd bunching.

With Jerry Jones and America’s team commanding such presence, it would seem unlikely that they would travel from Texas to London as visitors. Jones has a lot of pull with the league, and he would probably poo-poo this quickly.

It would seem likely then, that the struggling Las Vegas Raiders would be the most likely candidate to play the Buffalo Bills in October 2023.

Panthers vs Titans-Oct 15, 2023

We know that the Titans are in a building year (again), so while this might not be a HUGE loss to Tennessee home fans, they will want to see a good game out of it.

The Titans have the following Home opponents for 2023:
Chargers (’18); Seahawks (’18); Bengals (’19); Ravens (’17); Panthers (’19); Falcons (’21); as well as the Texans, Colts and Jags.

Again, while a divisional game sounds appetising, and their division truly sucks, it would seem unlikely that owners would offer that up, as the Jags played the Texans in 2019 in a craptastic result.

The Bengals, Falcons and Seahawks will be looking to tap into their heat, and would probably push back to a Europe trip after having been here only a few short years ago.

Carolina has been making massive changes to the team, which always doesn’t translate that well into fan support, which is why we think that they will be the ones making the trek to London town in 2023.

Ravens vs Jaguars-Oct 29, 2023

The Jags ended the 2022 season quite respectably after stagnating under Urban decay. With Dougie P leading the way, and Lawrence finding his form, Jacksonville might not be a chore to trek to Wembley to.

Jacksonville has some tough teams on tap in 2023 with: Chiefs (22*); Bengals (19), 49ers, Falcons, Panthers, and their division tripe as well.

The one team that does stick out here are the Baltimore Ravens, who haven’t been to the UK since 2017.
With Lamar firmly in control, and the team now ready to rock to the playoffs, it seems tempting to think that the Ravens will be facing the Jags in north London under a harvest moon.

That’s it for our predictions for the London Games 2023.
Who do you think will be coming to the UK?
Let’s see how we do!

 

 

 

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?

 

London Franchise

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Will the NFL be looking to add a London franchise? What’s involved in making a team work over here?

The National Football League (NFL) is a massive American sports league with a global reach, and there has been much speculation about the possibility of a franchise in London. While this idea may sound exciting, there are several reasons why it would be difficult for the NFL to establish a successful franchise in London.

NFL Europe

One of the primary reasons is the failure of NFL Europe, a developmental league that operated from 1991 to 2007. Despite the NFL’s efforts to promote American football in Europe, the league was never able to gain the same level of popularity as it did in the United States. The lack of success of NFL Europe suggests that there may not be enough interest in American football in London to support a full-fledged franchise.

Playoffs

Another reason why a London-based NFL franchise may not work is the unpredictability of wild card game hosting. The NFL currently holds a series of wild card games at various locations throughout the United States. While these games are hugely popular and attract large crowds, it is uncertain whether London would be a suitable location for such events. The logistical challenges of transporting players, equipment, and staff across the Atlantic would be significant, and there is no guarantee that London would be able to provide a suitable venue for these games.

Differences

Another obstacle that the NFL would face in London is the UK tax laws. The NFL would have to pay taxes on all of its earnings in the UK, which could significantly reduce the profitability of a London-based franchise. The NFL would also have to navigate the complexities of UK tax law, which can be challenging for businesses not familiar with the system.

There are also several cultural differences between the US and the UK that could make it difficult for the NFL to establish a successful franchise in London. American football is a relatively niche sport in the UK, and there is already a well-established football (soccer) culture in the country. The NFL would have to compete with this established culture to attract fans and sponsors.

Time Zones

Furthermore, the differences in time zones between the US and the UK could also pose a problem. Many NFL games are played on Sundays, which would mean that games in London would be taking place in the early afternoon in the US. This could be problematic for American fans who are used to watching games in the evening.

Costs

In addition to these challenges, the NFL would also have to contend with the cost of operating a franchise in London. The cost of living in London is much higher than in many US cities, and the cost of renting or buying a stadium in the city could be prohibitively expensive. The NFL would also have to cover the cost of transporting players and staff to and from London for games and other events.

Recruitment

Finally, there is the issue of player recruitment. American football is a sport that is primarily played in the United States, and the vast majority of NFL players are American. If the NFL were to establish a franchise in London, it would need to recruit players from the UK and Europe. While there are talented players in these regions, the level of competition is not as high as it is in the US. This could make it difficult for a London-based franchise to compete with established NFL teams.

In conclusion, while the idea of a London-based NFL franchise may sound exciting, there are several reasons why it would be difficult for the NFL to establish a successful franchise in the city. The failure of NFL Europe, the unpredictability of wild card game hosting, UK tax laws, cultural differences, time zone differences, operating costs, and player recruitment are all significant obstacles that the NFL would have to overcome. While it is not impossible for the NFL to establish a franchise in London, it would require a significant investment of time, money, and effort, and there is no guarantee of success. Ultimately, the NFL will need to carefully consider these challenges before making a decision about whether to pursue a team in the United Kingdom as it looks to expand its foothold on the game worldwide. 

This was a guest article from one of our partners