The first ever NFL game outside of North America has started. It's between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants. The game is being played at the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium in London and is being played there to try and raise the profile of a sport in which hardly anybody outside of North America watches. For those non-North Americans who don't know, American football is similar to rugby but the players wear over-the-top body armour and girly leggings despite not being as physical as rugby and the game stops every 30 seconds. But Britain is a country in which the world's biggest team sport is its national sport, so trying to sell Gridiron to the British or Europeans may be a tall order..
Dolphins all at sea, but Miami hope to stop the rot at Wembley
By IVAN SPECK
27th October 2007
Daily Mail
Wembley Stadium
Cheerleaders, hot dogs, tailgaters. It's time to haul the protective pads over heads, suit up and squeeze into helmets. Gridiron is back in Britain and this time it means something.
The Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants will batter each other into next week at Wembley.
Defensive frailties: the Miami Dolphins struggle to stop Laurence Maroney during their heavy defeat by the New England Patriots
The first regular season NFL game to take place outside North America will enthral a capacity 90,000 fans — devotees and curious observers alike. At stake, bragging rights as the first team to win a game that matters overseas.
For British thirtysomethings whose knowledge of the game was born in 1982 when Channel 4 burst on to our television screens and brought us the rough-and-tumble sport from across the pond, it is a chance to renew acquaintance with the green and orange of the Dolphins — the team of Dan Marino, the Hail Mary-throwing quarterback who is still revered as one of the game's greatest.
"These are professionals, the best of the best," Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron insisted last week by way of illustration of the significance of tomorrow's occasion.
OK, stop the chest-beating right there.
Best of the best? Try worst of the best. The Dolphins arrive in London with a 0-7 record this season.
They are the NFL's equivalent of Derby County. A club with an illustrious history, two championships and a legendary coach to their name — for Brian Clough, read Don Shula — but their current vintage is a pale imitation of the past.
Only the unwritten code of no-blowout conduct that exists in the NFL — the worst-picks-first drafting of college players means that weak teams can become strong and vice-versa, so thrashing an opponent now could return to haunt you — saved Miami from utter humiliation when they trailed the New England Patriots 42-7 at half-time last week.
The final score was a more respectable-looking 49-28, but there was no fooling Dolphins fans about the lesson in football their team received at the hands of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Giant problem: Tight end Jeremy Shockey will enjoy feasting on a suspect Miami defense
The local media were scathing. As the host team at Wembley, Miami are giving up one of their eight home games this season. A blessing in disguise, according to Florida's Sun Sentinel newspaper: "At least native Dolphins fans get a break from watching them lose here. They're all yours, London."
Two games have been lost to last-minute field goals, while the inevitable injuries in a league in which the average career is less than four years have been sustained by the players who matter most.
First-choice quarterback Trent Green will not play again this season, while running back Ronnie Brown and star linebacker Zach Thomas are also sidelined.
Oh, and the team's best wide receiver, Chris Chambers, was traded to San Diego for a secondround draft pick — a sure sign that the Dolphins have already given up on this season. How Derby must wish they could do the same. Unlike the NFL, however, there is relegation from the Premier League.
At least tomorrow's game offers the Dolphins an opportunity for a first victory of the season in front of an audience who will mostly care only about the spectacle, not the result.
The Giants, on the other hand, are chasing a play-off berth. And they have two players who are making homecomings.
Kicker Lawrence Tynes grew up in Scotland and defensive end Osi Umenyiora was born and brought up in Golders Green until his family moved back to Nigeria when he was seven.
Wembley, therefore, holds a mystique for him that is lost on his teammates, so there is no one better placed to offer an assessment of what the fans can expect from a game called football that is largely played out of the hand with an oval ball.
Umenyiora said: "I would say maybe half of the fans in the stadium will understand what is going on. I know the English are familiar with rugby. It's kind of similar, but we have more equipment on. It's organised confusion with a lot of violent collisions."
Bring it on.
-----------------------------------------------------
TV: Sky Sports 2, 3pm (kick-off 5.0).
dailymail.co.uk
Dolphins all at sea, but Miami hope to stop the rot at Wembley
By IVAN SPECK
27th October 2007
Daily Mail
Wembley Stadium
Cheerleaders, hot dogs, tailgaters. It's time to haul the protective pads over heads, suit up and squeeze into helmets. Gridiron is back in Britain and this time it means something.
The Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants will batter each other into next week at Wembley.
Defensive frailties: the Miami Dolphins struggle to stop Laurence Maroney during their heavy defeat by the New England Patriots
The first regular season NFL game to take place outside North America will enthral a capacity 90,000 fans — devotees and curious observers alike. At stake, bragging rights as the first team to win a game that matters overseas.
For British thirtysomethings whose knowledge of the game was born in 1982 when Channel 4 burst on to our television screens and brought us the rough-and-tumble sport from across the pond, it is a chance to renew acquaintance with the green and orange of the Dolphins — the team of Dan Marino, the Hail Mary-throwing quarterback who is still revered as one of the game's greatest.
"These are professionals, the best of the best," Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron insisted last week by way of illustration of the significance of tomorrow's occasion.
OK, stop the chest-beating right there.
Best of the best? Try worst of the best. The Dolphins arrive in London with a 0-7 record this season.
They are the NFL's equivalent of Derby County. A club with an illustrious history, two championships and a legendary coach to their name — for Brian Clough, read Don Shula — but their current vintage is a pale imitation of the past.
Only the unwritten code of no-blowout conduct that exists in the NFL — the worst-picks-first drafting of college players means that weak teams can become strong and vice-versa, so thrashing an opponent now could return to haunt you — saved Miami from utter humiliation when they trailed the New England Patriots 42-7 at half-time last week.
The final score was a more respectable-looking 49-28, but there was no fooling Dolphins fans about the lesson in football their team received at the hands of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Giant problem: Tight end Jeremy Shockey will enjoy feasting on a suspect Miami defense
The local media were scathing. As the host team at Wembley, Miami are giving up one of their eight home games this season. A blessing in disguise, according to Florida's Sun Sentinel newspaper: "At least native Dolphins fans get a break from watching them lose here. They're all yours, London."
Two games have been lost to last-minute field goals, while the inevitable injuries in a league in which the average career is less than four years have been sustained by the players who matter most.
First-choice quarterback Trent Green will not play again this season, while running back Ronnie Brown and star linebacker Zach Thomas are also sidelined.
Oh, and the team's best wide receiver, Chris Chambers, was traded to San Diego for a secondround draft pick — a sure sign that the Dolphins have already given up on this season. How Derby must wish they could do the same. Unlike the NFL, however, there is relegation from the Premier League.
At least tomorrow's game offers the Dolphins an opportunity for a first victory of the season in front of an audience who will mostly care only about the spectacle, not the result.
The Giants, on the other hand, are chasing a play-off berth. And they have two players who are making homecomings.
Kicker Lawrence Tynes grew up in Scotland and defensive end Osi Umenyiora was born and brought up in Golders Green until his family moved back to Nigeria when he was seven.
Wembley, therefore, holds a mystique for him that is lost on his teammates, so there is no one better placed to offer an assessment of what the fans can expect from a game called football that is largely played out of the hand with an oval ball.
Umenyiora said: "I would say maybe half of the fans in the stadium will understand what is going on. I know the English are familiar with rugby. It's kind of similar, but we have more equipment on. It's organised confusion with a lot of violent collisions."
Bring it on.
-----------------------------------------------------
TV: Sky Sports 2, 3pm (kick-off 5.0).
dailymail.co.uk
