Football - How To Know If You're A Football Fanatic

Everyone knows that NFL football is the most popular sport in America. For that matter one could argue a case that football is the most popular sport in the world. It makes no difference what time of year it is to any football fan. True football fans live for any news on the NFL year round. Here is an amusing list of how to know if you're really a true football fanatic or not.

NFL Pre-Season Football

You know you're a real football fanatic if you watch every minute of televised NFL pre-season football. It doesn't matter to you if the games don't count in the standings. This is football! How else will you ever know if that street free agent quarterback from Southwest Montana State will become the next Joe Montana?

NFL Regular Season

This is what it's all about for the football fanatics. No one should plan anything that would interrupt you from watching the big games. With the remote in one hand and plenty of food and drink in the other, it's game time!

Clothing and Apparel

Any real NFL fan is going to have their favorite teams clothing on. This must have list includes hats, shirts, ties, socks, shorts, sweatshirts, winter parkas and pajamas.

Souvenirs

This is where football fans get really serious about their teams. You must have an autographed team football on display. You will also need to have an autographed authentic NFL football jersey of your favorite player hanging on the wall in a frame. Other popular souvenir items include glasses and cups with your team's logo on them. Optional items that most football fans have may include trash-cans, clocks, lamps, outdoor displays, shot glasses, posters, golf balls and bag, bumper decals, grill covers and license plate frames, all with your team logo on them.

Fantasy Football

When you're not spending time in front of the TV or computer watching an NFL football game, then you're playing fantasy football in local league. You constantly go over the stats and try to make trades to help your team win.

Computer

Don't forget to have your favorite football team's logo on your computer screen saver.

TV

You know you're a true NFL football fanatic when you go out and buy a new TV for the Super Bowl. You want to be sure you can have a new big screen for your party before the big game.

Super Bowl

The best day of the year! It's finally come time for the biggest football event of the year. You know you're a true fan if you sit and watch all 12 hours of the pre-game show. Nothing short of a medical emergency will keep you from missing a minute of the action, no matter whether your favorite team is involved or not.

Others know you're a football fanatic by the size of the Super Bowl party you have every year. This is your big moment and you're not going to blow it. Even after the big game is over, all is not lost. The season is not over just because the Super Bowl ended. You know that in a week the Pro-Bowl game will be on!

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Football [http://football-guides.com]

Steve Young - USFL Pro Football Career & Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars Football Career

Steve Young is a very accomplished athlete who has extended his relevance in the game football by making a career out of being a popular on air television personality for the ESPN network. While a younger generation of football fans may be most familiar with Young for his current work as a commentator on ESPN Monday Night Football post game shows fans old enough to remember his playing days know that he was truly something special on the gridiron. Long before Steve Young became a Super Bowl MVP in 1995 with the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL he was a prominent player for the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars and later a poster boy for the upstart USFL spearheaded by Donald Trump to compete with the NFL.

After being dubbed a high school athletic prodigy out of Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut Steve Young, a three sport star in high school (football, basketball, and baseball), moved across the country to continue his football career at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Young who was initially considered a run first and throw second type of quarterback worked hard to overcome his shortcomings at passing the ball. Young, who played quarterback for an option run style offense in high school, eventually made his weakness his strength to the point that by his senior season he set an NCAA single season record by completing 71.3% of his throws.

The First Team All-American quarterback at BYU led an explosive offense that thanks to efficient quarterback play established a new NCAA record for total offense as the squad averaged 584.2 yards per game while racking up an 11-1 record. Despite finishing second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy to running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska Steve Young did receive other noteworthy accolades including the Davey O'Brien Award given annually to the best quarterback. Young completed his college career in style by tossing the game winning touchdown in a Holiday Bowl win against the University of Missouri in 1983. The pass that gave BYU the 21-17 win was the tail end of a trick flea flicker play. Young would later be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

The upstart USFL (United States Football League) was just getting off the ground when Young was prepared to turn pro in 1984. While the established NFL still seemed like the direction the game would head for the long term the USFL was successfully picking off star players to join their league and Steve Young was amongst the young talent that was lured by lucrative contracts to suit up for the less established brand. Young signed what was at the time considered an extremely lucrative deal in the form of a $40 million annuity contract in exchange for agreeing to play for the Los Angeles Express for ten years.

The career Steve Young had in the USFL was shorter than scheduled as a result of the owner of the team he played for going bankrupt in Young's second season. Financial debacles caused embarrassing lapses in the integrity of the league including bus drivers refusing to drive teams to games after paychecks bounced and players simply not showing up. Interestingly, due to the structure of the original contract that Steve Young agreed to he is still being paid from that original contract and will continue to be every year through 2027. Due to the annuity nature of the original $40 million contract Young was scheduled to be paid $1 million a year for 40 years. Even though the now defunct league officially shut down in 1986 litigation proved successful in eventually guaranteeing that Young be paid the annuity value he was promised.

Steve Young would go on to sign with an abysmal Tampa Bay Buccaneers team in the NFL and suffer a 3-16 record as a starter over two seasons before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers were he was mentored by the great Joe Montana while serving as his backup. Young went on to have a prolific NFL career despite wasted time in the USFL and with the Buccaneers. Looking back on the NFL success of Steve Young the two-time MVP who has the record for highest passing rating to go along with a Super Bowl ring is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the history of the game. In 2005 Young was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Sam, the man who penned this piece, is admittedly jealous of Steve Young who with an abundance of time and money on his hands spends some time on the golf course when he's not with his family which is comprised of his former model wife Barbara and their four children (two sons and two daughters). The appropriate go to golf accessory for someone like Steve Young is a BYU golf bag. If anyone should be proud to play eighteen holes with a Brigham Young University golf bag it should be Steve Young who is the great-great-great grandson of Brigham Young himself.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2008

There is no greater individual honor in professional football than being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame located in Canton, Ohio. The greatest football players of all time have been so honored and memorabilia from the greatest games of all time reside inside the walls of the Hall of Fame. Each year there is a new class of hall of fame inductees that have been voted in based on the impact they have made on the game of pro football. The Hall of Fame class of 2008 included some of the great players from a variety of different eras.

Fred Dean

San Diego Chargers (1975-81)

San Francisco 49ers (1981-85)

After a stellar season at Louisiana Tech University, Fred Dean spent eleven seasons in the NFL, six and a half with the San Diego Chargers and five and a half with the San Francisco 49ers. Dean was a solid defensive tackle while with the Chargers but really came into his own with the 49ers. He would go on to rack up 93 sacks during his career and be named to four Pro Bowl teams. Winning two Super Bowl rings with San Francisco was the nice end to a great career.

Darrell Green

Washington Redskins (1983-02)

One of only two players ever to play twenty seasons with the same team, the other being fellow Hall of Famer Jackie Slater of the Rams, Darrell Green showed he was truly one of the best defensive backs to ever play the game. Known widely for his speed, having won the NFL's Fastest Man competition on numerous occasions, there were few quarterbacks that looked forward to going up against the Redskins and their start cornerback. He would be named to the Pro Bowl seven different times (1984, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997) and would win two Super Bowl rings. Darrell Green would retire from football in 2002 the holder of many records including: Most consecutive seasons with an interception (19), oldest NFL cornerback (42), oldest player to return an interception for a touchdown (37), most games played by a defensive player (295), and the fastest 40 yard dash time of any player in NFL history (4.09 seconds in 1986).

Art Monk

Washington Redskins (1980-93)

New York Jets (1994)

Philadelphia Eagles (1995)

Art Monk was noted for his amazing consistency over the course of his career as a wide receiver in the National Football League. He made his greatest impact with the Washington Redskins in the early 1980's catching passes from quarterback Joe Theismann. He would go on to win three Super Bowl rings and be named to the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team. Monk was the first player to catch a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive seasons, the first player to catch more than 900 career receptions, and at the time of his retirement was the all time pass receiving leader.

Emmitt Thomas

Kansas City Chiefs (1966-78)

Emmitt Thomas was a long shot to become an inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame considering he graduated from Bishop College in 1966 and was not drafted by any team in either the National Football League or the American Football League. Thomas would go on to be named to five Pro Bowl teams, win a Super Bowl championship, and retire as the Chiefs' team leader in career interceptions (58). He would go on to have a long career as an assistant coach in the NFL and two of the players he coached while with the Washington Redskins, Art Monk and Darrell Green, were also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.

Andre Tippett

New England Patriots (1982-93)

Ranked consistently as one of the best linebackers in the league during the 1980s, Andre Tippett was a true force to be reckoned with on the football field. He would finish his career with an even 100 quarterback sacks and had been voted onto the Pro Bowl team on five different occasions. He is a member of the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team and was named the 1985 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He has also been honored as a member of the Patriots' 35th Anniversary Team and was also inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame.

Gary Zimmerman

Los Angeles Express (1984-85)

Minnesota Vikings (1986-92)

Denver Broncos (1993-97)

Gary Zimmerman is in rare company as one of the few people to have been members of the now-defunct United States Football League to also be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (joining Reggie White, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Marv Levy, and Sid Gillman). Zimmerman was selected to be on the Pro Bowl team seven times during his career and named an All-Pro at his position on 9 different occasions. As an example of Gary Zimmerman's ability to play consistently at a very high level, he holds the distinction of having been named to both the 1980s NFL All-Decade Team and the 1990s NFL All-Decade Team.

Being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the highest individual honor a football player can achieve. Membership in this elite group means just that, that the player is truly elite in terms of their football ability and the impact they had on the game. These six members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted in 2008 have all shown that they are truly worthy of such an honor. Congratulations is indeed in order for Fred Dean, Darrell Green, Art Monk, Emmitt Thomas, Andre Tippett, and Gary Zimmerman.

Mark owns and maintains http://iqfb.com which contains a ton of football information about players, teams, and leagues that you just may not know. IQFB strives to provide a healthy dose of "hey, I didn't know that" type of football information on a regular basis. IQFB.com - Get Football Smart