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Saturday April 26 brings us the 2008 NFL Draft. Over two days - Saturday and Sunday, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. First round begins at 3 pm. Round 3 of the Draft begins at 10 am on Sunday.

The 2007 NFL Draft saw JaMarcus Russell as the No. 1 overall draft. Who will it be in 2008?

Teams have 10 minutes per pick in Round 1. They then have seven minutes in Round 2 and just five minutes in Rounds 3-7.

Our Top 5 Picks for the 2008 Draft are:

1. Darren McFadden     RB     Arkansas
2. Chris Long         DE     Virginia
3. Jake Long         OT     Michigan
4. Glenn Dorsey     DT     LSU
5. Matt Ryan         QB     Boston Coll.

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Favre’s number four shirt will be retired.
The Green Bay Packers are going to retire Brett Favre’s No. 4 shirt during their season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on September 8.

Former quarterback Favre, who is 38, holds almost every NFL passing record. He announced his retirement after 17 seasons in the NFL.

Favre is now the sixth player in Packers’ history to have his shirt number retired.

The others players are: wide receiver Don Hutson (No. 14, 1951), fullback Tony Canadeo (No. 3, 1952), quarterback Bart Starr (No. 15, 1973), linebacker Ray Nitschke (No. 66, 1983) and defensive end Reggie White (No. 92, 2005).

All five of those players are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There were rumors that Favre was having second thoughts but these proved to be groundless. “I have made the right decision” Favre said earlier this month.

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Some weird news on the NFL front - Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall has suffered an arm injury after slipping on a McDonald’s cheese burger wrapper. It was stated NFL.com stated that Marshall put out his hand to brace his fall, and it went through a TV entertainment centre. He then fell back on a table, where a family were having a meal, and ended up on the floor covered in chocolate milkshake.

The security footage was later seized by Marshall’s entourage.

Marshall is coming off a breakout 2007 season in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, when he hauled in a career-high 102 receptions for 1,325 yards and seven touchdowns. It is reported that he may be out for up to 3 months.

Here is a link to the full story. NFL Brandon Marshall Story

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Some breaking NFL news on the Miami Dolphins. It was announced on Friday that Wayne Huizenga has agreed to sell 50% of the Miami Dolphins to real estate developer Stephen Ross.

The deal is subject to NFL approval. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the deal, Ross will be an active partner with the possibility of becoming a managing general partner in the future, but Huizenga will continue to run the franchise as managing general partner.

The sale continued months of chaos and upheaval within the Miami Dolphins franchise.

Ending of a miserable 1-15 season in 2007, coach Cam Cameron and general manager Randy Mueller were dismissed.

Huizenga hired Parcells as executive vice-president of football operations; he has overseen a complete rebuilding project, hiring Jeff Ireland as GM and also installing Tony Sparano as head coach.

Lots of other changes have taken place throughout the franchise, and Parcells has most recently wanted to rebuild the roster by releasing seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Thomas.

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The NY Giants ended the New England Patriot’s quest for perfection in one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history at Super Bowl 42.

Eli Manning threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with just 35 seconds left on the clock to give the Giants an amazing 3 point victory. The final score was NY 17 - 14 NE.

The Giants’ win ended the Patriots’ hopes of becoming the first NFL team ever to complete a perfect 19-0 season.

And it also handed the Giants an amazing 11th straight win on the road as they became SB champions for the first time since 1991.

Eli Manning was named MVP, just 12 months after his older brother Peyton picked up the same award. He passed 255 yards and two crucial fourth-quarter scores.

The final score was NY 17 - 14 NE. Well done to the Giants.

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Undefeated New England advanced to the brink of a historic championship run but a difficult rematch and a Giant obstacle to a perfect season await the Patriots in Super Bowl 42.New England downed the visiting San Diego Chargers 21-12 while the New York Giants edged host Green Bay 23-20 in over-time to reach the National Football League title spectacular on February 3 at Glendale, Arizona.

New England has an 18-0 record, including a 38-35 win over the Giants to end the regular season, and outscored its opponents by an average of 18.6 points. The Giants are 13-6 and won their three playoff games on the road as underdogs.

And the New England Patriots are favored by two touchdowns over the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, the fourth-highest opening point spread in the 42-year history of the National Football League’s championship game.

The Patriots could win their fourth title in seven seasons and become only the second team in NFL history to make a perfect run to the crown after the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

The final will be a rematch of each team’s final regular-season game. New England edged the Giants 38-35 to complete a perfect 16-0 season but a valiant effort in defeat sparked New York to three playoff victories on the road.

The biggest point spread for the Super Bowl was 18 points in 1969, when New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath guaranteed a victory and then led his underdog team to a 16-7 upset over the Baltimore Colts in Miami.

The Giants, who last reached a Super Bowl in 2001 and last won one in 1991, have won an NFL-record 10 games on the road, including playoff triumphs at Tampa Bay and Dallas before ousting the Packers.

In 1995, the San Francisco 49ers opened as 17 1/2-point favorites over the San Diego Chargers, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants. The line moved to 18 points and the 49ers covered the spread with a 49-26 rout.

When the Patriots won the first of their three Super Bowl titles in 2002, they opened as 15 1/2-point underdogs against the St. Louis Rams. The Patriots won 20-17 and then captured the NFL title again in 2004 and 2005.

And earlier in the year, the Patriots felt the sting of criticism — from the “Spygate” scandal. Coach Bill Belichick and the franchise were heavily fined by commissioner Roger Goodell for illegally filming sideline signals of opposing teams.

They responded by doing what they do best — playing American football at a high level, and winning games.

They’ll do it again in the Super Bowl — and write their place in history, or so most people say. The Giant, however, will look to pull off one of the biggest upsets in years.

Either way, Super Bowl XLII will be great.

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The NFL’s conference championship games next Sunday feature compelling characters and the Patriots’ continuing quest for the most perfect of all perfect seasons — 19-0 and their fourth Super Bowl win in seven years.
The winner of the Chargers-Patriots (3 p.m. ET) game moves on to face the winner of the New York Giants-Green Bay Packers game (6:30 p.m.) in Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3 in Glendale, Ariz.

The hype for the NFC title game will rate about a 6 on a 1-to-10 scale, and the AFC title game will generate a 1 or a 2. Even though the Chargers have won eight in a row, no one will give them a chance against the Patriots. Probably because they don’t have one. But as upsets go, no-one can be sure.

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Yet another outstanding performance by Tony Romo, who passed for three touchdowns and ran for another score, the Dallas Cowboys rolled to a 35-7 victory Sunday over the winless St Louis Rams.

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Bengals 13 Patriots 34
Giants 16 Eagles 3
Broncos 20 Colts 38
Chiefs 30 Chargers 16
Buccaneers 20 Panthers 7
Seahawks 23 49ers 3
Steelers 14 Cardinals 21
Packers 23 Vikings 16
Rams 7 Cowboys 35
Texans 16 Falcons 16
Raiders 35 Dolphins 17
Bears 27 Lions 37
Jets 14 Bills 17
Ravens 13 Browns 27

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A pair of teams separated by roughly 40 miles of I-95 interstate will meet in suburban D.C. on Saturday night, when the Washington Redskins play host to the Baltimore Ravens in the third preseason tune-up for each team.

Despite their geographical proximity, the Redskins and Ravens are currently in a much different place in terms of the current NFL hierarchy of quality.

Washington is looking to rebound from a 2006 season in which Joe Gibbs’ club finished 5-11 and in last place in the NFC East. The Redskins have just one playoff win in the current millennium and have not won a division title since 1999. The Skins have split a pair of preseason games in 2007, defeating Tennessee (14-6) in their opener before falling to Pittsburgh (12-10) last Saturday.

Baltimore, meanwhile, is seeking to build on a 13-3 season and AFC North title won a year ago. The Ravens have posted double-digit wins four times since 2000, including a ‘00 season that ended with a triumph in Super Bowl XXXV. The Ravens have elicited mixed results in the preseason, however, routing Philadelphia (29-3) before falling to the Giants (13-12) last Sunday night.

Both the Redskins and Ravens suffered significant injuries in their most recent outings.

Washington quarterback Jason Campbell left the Pittsburgh game with what was later determined to be a knee bruise following a low hit by Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel. Campbell’s status for Saturday’s contest has not been decided, and if the third-year-pro can’t play, backups Todd Collins and Mark Brunell will have to carry the load.

Defensively, the Skins will be without linebacker Marcus Washington, who suffered a dislocated elbow in the defeat.

Baltimore, meanwhile, is expected to be minus the services of starting wide receiver Mark Clayton and cornerback Samari Rolle, who both went out with ankle injuries in the loss to New York.

Among those that will be in uniform on Saturday are Redskins linebacker Randall Godfrey, obtained earlier this week when the club parted ways with former starter Lemar Marshall. The 34-year-old Godfrey has been a starter in Dallas (1996-99), Tennessee (2000-02), Seattle (2003), and San Diego (2004-06).

Ravens tight end Daniel Wilcox (ankle) is expected to see action on Saturday, but tackle Jonathan Ogden (toe) remains out along the trench unit.

Baltimore has a 2-1 edge in its all-time preseason series with Washington, including a 17-10 triumph at FedEx Field prior to last season.

The Ravens also have a 2-1 lead in the regular season series with their local rival.

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