Angus
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The British Are Coming!
July 2, 2007 7:12 PM
For many years, the NFL has ignored the United Kingdom as a source of talent, in part, because of a classified study suggesting that 95 percent of British men throw like girls.
But now that they've loaned us a fading superstar to help remind us why soccer after sixth grade seems so hard to grasp, it appears we're going to build them some sort of American football academy.
Now I don't want to come across as selfish, but is this truly the best use of the league's resources?
The story in the London Times said the academy would be similar to American college programs - especially the ones which incorporate afternoon tea.
"We don't have an iconic British player," David Tossell, NFL International's director of public affairs, said. "There are two ways you can do it, a short-term fix, importing someone like a Jonny Wilkinson, or a long-term plan, developing players. The NFL is not indigenous to anywhere apart from America, so we don't have a supply of international players going into the league."
Tossell's comments had NFL officials scrambling to figure out who the hell Jonny Wilkinson was, and whether it had the authority to correct the spelling of his first name.
Prepare yourself for a lot of these stories leading up to the Dolphins-Giants game at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 28.
I think the league would be wise not to interpret the large amount of local interest in the game as a mandate for opening up football factories across the UK.
NFL Europa never took off because fans know when they're watching an inferior product, and the league never had much success finding foreign media partners.
Germany had five of the league's six teams, but its citizens had to watch the game on tape delay.
New commissioner Roger Goodell knew he had a bad model and wisely shut it down. But before the league pours more money into the foreign markets, it should take a long look at its strategy.
The sports hasn't translated well outside of North America, and the league has to figure out why. One hint: focus on the kicking game.
http://myespn.go.com/profile/hashmarks
July 2, 2007 7:12 PM
For many years, the NFL has ignored the United Kingdom as a source of talent, in part, because of a classified study suggesting that 95 percent of British men throw like girls.
But now that they've loaned us a fading superstar to help remind us why soccer after sixth grade seems so hard to grasp, it appears we're going to build them some sort of American football academy.
Now I don't want to come across as selfish, but is this truly the best use of the league's resources?
The story in the London Times said the academy would be similar to American college programs - especially the ones which incorporate afternoon tea.
"We don't have an iconic British player," David Tossell, NFL International's director of public affairs, said. "There are two ways you can do it, a short-term fix, importing someone like a Jonny Wilkinson, or a long-term plan, developing players. The NFL is not indigenous to anywhere apart from America, so we don't have a supply of international players going into the league."
Tossell's comments had NFL officials scrambling to figure out who the hell Jonny Wilkinson was, and whether it had the authority to correct the spelling of his first name.
Prepare yourself for a lot of these stories leading up to the Dolphins-Giants game at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 28.
I think the league would be wise not to interpret the large amount of local interest in the game as a mandate for opening up football factories across the UK.
NFL Europa never took off because fans know when they're watching an inferior product, and the league never had much success finding foreign media partners.
Germany had five of the league's six teams, but its citizens had to watch the game on tape delay.
New commissioner Roger Goodell knew he had a bad model and wisely shut it down. But before the league pours more money into the foreign markets, it should take a long look at its strategy.
The sports hasn't translated well outside of North America, and the league has to figure out why. One hint: focus on the kicking game.
http://myespn.go.com/profile/hashmarks
