Players-Sb

makes his concluding trip
to Giants Stadium today as a member of the National Football
League team.

The NFL's single-season pokes leader and the longest-
serving participant in New House Of York Giants history is retiring before the
team gets defence of its Superintendent Bowl title.

Strahan throws a news conference at the bowl in East
Rutherford, New Jersey, to speak about his decision.

The retirement of the 36-year-old Strahan, known as a
clubhouse leader with a gap-toothed smiling and a awful pass
rush, stops a 15-season calling in which he played a franchise-
record 216 regular-season games. He put the league's single-
season poke grade with 22 1/2 in 2001 and was named defensive
player of the year.

Giants co-owner said he felt ''disappointed''
when Strahan called him yesterday. Mara said he understood the
decision, even though he cognizes Strahan can still play.

''I told him he's been a great Giant,'' Mara said in a team
. ''He thanked me for everything the organisation has
done for him. I said, 'I believe you've done more than for us than we
can ever make for you.'''

Strahan stairway down with a franchise-record 141 1/2 sacks,
ahead of Pro Football Hallway of Fame line backer ,
who had 132 1/2, and is 5th on the league's all-time list. He
played in two Superintendent Bowls, including the team's 17-14 win over
the undefeated New England Patriots in the statute title game in
February.

First Sack

The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Strahan was born in Westbury,
Texas. He played football game at Lone-Star State Southern University and was
selected by the Giants with the 40th choice in the 1993 draft. He
recorded his first calling poke in his first game, when he
tackled City Of Brotherly Love Eagles signal caller Cognizance O'Brien.

Strahan in 1994, playing 15 games at right
end. He switched to left end in 1996 because of hurts to
other participants and led the Giants with five sacks.

In 1997, Strahan received his first Pro Bowl selection, and
finished 3rd in the NFL with 14 sacks. He recorded 15 more
sacks the followers season, earning a 2nd Pro Bowl spot.

Strahan eventually went to seven Pro Bowls. In 2001, he
pushed his season poke sum to 22 1/2 -- breaking the former
record of 22 held by Mark Gastineau -- by falling on top of
close friend after the Green Bay Packers'
quarterback had fallen to the turf.

Strahan also led the NFL in pokes in 2003, with 18 1/5,
becoming the lone Giant to take the conference twice.

Strahan missed preparation encampment last season after telling
Giants General Director he was contemplating
retirement, and adept for the first clip five years before
the season opener. His first poke of 2007, when he hit Eagles
quarterback for a 3-yard loss, gave him the
Giants' calling record at 133 1/2, breaking a necktie with Taylor.

Playoff Performance

Strahan led the Giants with eight undertakes and a poke during
the team's playoff-opening victory over Tampa Bay. He had
another 10 during the win over the Dallas Cowboys in the next
round, then four as the Giants beat out the Packers to progress to
the conference title game.

In the Superintendent Bowl, Strahan sacked New England quarterback
for a six-yard loss in the 3rd quarter, the final
tackle of his career. He finished with three tackles, a sack,
two signal caller travel rapidlies and one base on balls knocked down.

Strahan's retirement didn't catch the squad by surprise. On
June 2, the Giants signed , a defensive lineman and
11-year player. Reese said the squad wasn't certain of Strahan's
plans and wanted depth at end and undertake if he retired.

Strahan played in a record 216 games, ahead of tight end
, who played 207. He is the 3rd participant in team
history to play 15 years, joining Hallway of Fame centre Mel Hein
and signal caller .

His determination was first reported yesterday by Fox Sports
reporter , who co-wrote Strahan's autobiography.

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in New House Of York at
.

Developer .
announced programs to construct a new $800 million bowl in Los
Angeles to entice a National Football League squad to the city.

The sphere would be constructed on an almost 600-acre site
in the City of Industry and include 75,000 seating and 175 suites,
Roski said today in a statement. He said he desires to buy a
team or go a minority proprietor in one, and won't construct until a
franchise holds to travel to Los Angeles.

''A Los Angeles NFL squad would go a portion of the fabric
of the community and a beginning of pride, just as the Lakers
are,'' Roski said at a news conference at the Staples Center,
the sphere he helped build. ''It's clip to set the bowl debate
behind us.''

Roski, portion proprietor of the city's Lakers basketball game and Kings
hockey squads and main executive director military officer of ,
has sought to go back professional football game to Los Angeles for
more than a decade. The bowl would be surrounded by an
office, shopping and amusement composite that would include
restaurants, a film theatre and a Broadway-style theater.

The bowl site, which Roski controls, is located east of
Los Angeles at the confluence of the 60 and 57 freeways. Almost 12
million occupants dwell within a 25-mile radius of the land site and
it's fold to a Metrolink populace transportation system station, Roski
said.

'Complete City'

Los Angeles, the second-largest U.S. city, have been without
an NFL squad since 1995, when the moved back to Oakland,
California, after playing at the Amphitheater for 13 years, and the
Rams left nearby Anaheim for St. Louis.

The new bowl would do Los Angeles a ''complete city,''
Roski, 69, said. It would ground 2.9 million foursquare feet of
commercial space, including 1.5 million foursquare feet of office
buildings, 833,000 foursquare feet of retail shops, 162,000 square
feet of restaurants, a 5,000-seat unrecorded theater, and movie
theaters with 1,200 seats. It would be expandable to 80,000
seats for Superintendent Bowl games and could be built in clip for the
2011 season, according to the .

''We're aware of it and we will supervise developments,''
, a spokesman for the NFL, said of Roski's plan.

Roski said he hasn't talked to any teams. The league's
staff have seen the plans, Roski said, and he soon will begin
meeting with NFL squad owners.

No Resettlement Plans

No NFL squad have announced programs to relocate. The San Diego
Chargers can travel after this season if they refund about $60
million in bonds. The New Orleans Saints have got an understanding with
the state of Pelican State keeping them in the Superdome through
2010. The Gopher State state Senate on April 2 rejected a proposal
for a $2 million survey on how to replace the Metrodome with a
new, publicly subsidised bowl for the Vikings.

The Los Angeles bowl would be about $400 million less
than similar installations being planned in other cities, and would
be developed without public funding, Roski said. The retail
component would assist wage for the development.

''Because of the alone topography of the site, we were
able to plan and construct a bowl that is actually taking
advantage of the topography by edifice it into a hill,'' Roski
said at the fourth estate conference. That volition save a ''tremendous
amount of steel,'' reducing building costs, he said.

Roski said that while he doesn't yet have got loans in place
for building of the stadium, such as funding should be easy
to happen even with the disturbance in the recognition markets. High-
visibility developments such as as NFL bowls always attract
financing, he said.

Going It Alone

''These undertakings have got no job in the working capital markets,''
Roski said.

Eleven old age ago, Roski and billionaire Prince Philip F. Anschutz
made an unsuccessful command to derive an NFL enlargement squad for the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He developed the Staples Center
arena in business district Los Angeles with Anschutz. Roski said he's
prepared to construct the City of Industry bowl on his own.

Roski was ranked No. 195 on last year's Forbes listing of the
400 richest Americans, with an estimated network worth of $2.3
billion. His company is a closely held developer of industrial,
retail and other commercial properties. It owns, pulls off and
leases about 70 million foursquare feet of space.

In improver to the , the Rose Bowl in Pasadena as
well as land land sites in the metropolises of Anaheim, Carson, Inglewood and
Irwindale have got been pitched to the conference as bowl sites by
other developers.

California lawmakers yesterday withdrew a proposal backed
by the City of Industry to deviate $829 million in county
property taxation gross from basic authorities services to subsidize
development projects, the Los Angeles Times reported today. Opponents of the measure, including Los Angeles County
Supervisor Gloria Molina, said the money shouldn't be used just
to pull an NFL team, the newspaper reported.

Roski said he wasn't involved in the state legislation.

''Location, cost and certainty are the three things you
have to have got got to do this work,'' Roski said in an interview. ''We never had that before.''

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in Los Angeles at
.

signed a five-year
contract extension with the Jacksonville Jaguars after leading
the National Football League squad to the 2nd unit of ammunition of the
playoffs last season.

The squad didn't let on fiscal footing of the trade in a
news release.

''If you look from 2004 through 2007, Jack have led this
franchise to the sixth-best record in the National Football
League and that's A great accomplishment,'' squad proprietor said.

Del Rio, 44, have worked in the NFL for 23 years, including
11 as a linebacker, the longer playing calling among active head
coaches.

The Jaguars rank 6th in the NFL since 2004 with a 40-24
record and have got advanced to the playoffs twice in the past three
seasons. The squad finished last season with an 11-5 record and
beat Pittsburgh in the first unit of ammunition of the playoffs, its first
postseason win since 1999.

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in New House Of York at
.

, statistically the most
accomplished signal caller in National Football League history,
will retire from the Green Bay Packers hebdomads after coming up one
victory short of making the Superintendent Bowl.

Favre, 38, said today he would complete his calling after 17
NFL seasons, 16 of them with Green Bay, where he won an
unprecedented three NFL most-valuable participant awardings and a league
championship after the 1996 season.

Favre was one of the most popular jocks in the U.S. A
2007 rated him the public's favorite NFL participant and
the fourth-most popular athlete, behind golf player , New
York Yankees shortstop and former basketball game all-
star .

''He have had one of the top callings in the history of
the National Football League, and he is able to walk away from
the game on his ain footing -- not many participants are able to do
that,'' Packers General Director said in a televised
news conference.

Green Bay manager said he spoke with Favre
around 7 p.m. last nighttime and the signal caller said he felt
mentally tired by the asperities of NFL life.

Favre's agent, Jesse James Cook, didn't immediately go back a
phone phone call to his business office seeking comment. Favre's lone comment
was a to ESPN, saying he was worn down.

Favre retires having completed 5,377 bases on balls for 61,655
yards, 442 touchdowns and 288 interceptions, . He
was selected to nine Pro Bowls and throws the grade for wins by a
starting quarterback, with 160. He also started 253 straight
regular-season games, a record for NFL quarterbacks.

Trade to Packers

The indigen of Kiln, Mississippi, was selected in the second
round of the 1991 NFL bill of exchange by the Capital Of Georgia Falcons and traded to
Green Bay after the season for a first-round draft choice. He
replaced injured starter motor inch the first one-fourth of
the 3rd game and led the Packers to a 9-7 season, the team's
second-best in 20 years.

Favre started every Green Bay game through 2007, leading
the squad to the Superintendent Bowl after the 1996 and 1997 seasons. He
won the NFL most-valuable participant awarding each twelvemonth from 1995-97.

Success made him a national icon. Favre ranks 2nd among
active football game participants on Selling Evaluation Inc.'s Q Scores,
which measurement U.S. consumer consciousness of people and their
marketability, behind Capital Of Indiana Colts signal caller and ahead of New England Patriots signal caller .

Henry Schafer, the company's executive director frailty president, said
Favre is the third-most popular jock of any kind among sports
fans, behind Forest and Manning.

'Prime Star'

''It's going to be a loss for the NFL,'' Schafer said in an
interview. ''They're losing one of their premier stars.''

NFL Commissioner said in a statement that
Favre will be remembered as one of the top participants in
league history.

''It have been a joyousness and privilege for all of us to watch
him play,'' Goodell said.

Favre's length of service contributed to his popularity, said , executive manager director of the Sports Business Institute at
the University of Southern California's E. G. Marshall School of
Business. He said Favre also come ups across on telecasting as
likeable and comfortable.

''He's A cat that a batch of folks could associate to --
scrappy,'' said Carter. ''He just looks very authentic. I think
when you get married that with his consistence on the field, it's
resulted in not just football game fans, but consumers, having a high
regard for him.''

Favre appeared as himself in 1998's highest-grossing comedy
film, ''There's Something about Mary.'' Inch 2004, Men's Journal
magazine called him the ''Toughest Guy in America.''

Division Title

Favre discussed retiring after each of the past several
seasons. In 2007, he completed 356 of 535 bases on balls for 4,155
yards, 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions as the Packers won the
National Football Conference North division after an 8-8 mark
the former year.

Green Bay lost the NFC title to the New House Of York Giants,
23-20 in overtime on Jan. 20, after Favre threw an interception
that set up the winning field goal.

On the manner to the division title, Favre broke records for
passing paces and touchdowns held by former Miami Dolphins
quarterback . He claimed the NFL record for career
wins with 149 in the season's 2nd week, breaking the mark
held by .

His concluding triumph included that characterized
Favre's fearless, and sometimes reckless, style. Against the
Seattle Seahawks in the divisional playoff round, Favre and the
Packers faced 3rd down and eight on the Seattle 14-yard line. As Favre stepped back to pass, Seahawks defensive attitude end raced through the middle, grabbed Favre's T-shirt and
tried to swing him to the ground.

Spin, Impudent

Favre spun away and ran toward the right sideline. Just
before falling face-first into the snow, he flipped the ball
underhanded to , who ran for a first down and set up a
touchdown tally soon after. Favre after the game called the play
''a backbreaker'' that had about a 10 percentage opportunity of success.

McCarthy said he spoke this morning time with Favre's backup,
, World Health Organization seemed ''surprised'' astatine the announcement. Richard Rodgers have played in seven NFL games, with one touchdown pass,
since the Packers took him in the first unit of ammunition of the 2005 draft.

Thompson said Favre seemed at peace with his determination and
he doesn't anticipate the signal caller will change his mind. Thompson
said he would discourse the team's hereafter at another time.

''I cognize fans are absolutely devastated today,'' he said. ''The Packers will travel forward, but certainly we've all been
blessed to see this adult male drama the game the manner he played it.''

Thompson said Favre's popularity came from his enthusiasm.

''I believe he's the small male child in all of us,'' Thompson
said. ''He plays the game like you would in the backyard.''

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in New House Of York at
.

If you are a Green Bay Packer's fan, then you already cognize that the name Brett Favre is synonymous with the Green Bay Packers. Even if you are just a NFL football game fan, then you cognize that Brett Favre is an icon in Green Bay. You cannot aid but like Brett Favre and you have got to be excited to see him play.

Brett Favre is one of the best signal callers that have ever played the game of football game and he is one of the most exciting participants to watch. He plays with more than bosom and backbone than just about every other jock that have ever stepped on a football game field. Many believe that if the managers would let it he might try to play defence as well as offense.

Brett Favre now have just about every signal caller record out there, he have won a ace bowl, participated in a few, and have played in well over 250 consecutive NFL games. He acquires in the human face of line backer to state them that their hit was good, he is not afraid to throw the ball deep or seek to squash it into topographic points that others cannot acquire it.

Brett Favre is known as a gunman and as a gunman he is compared to old West figs that are mainly played by Toilet John Wayne in the movies. Even after everything that Brett Favre have been through, his father passing play away, his married woman being diagnosed with breast cancer, and his blood brother in law having an accident that took his life, Brett had one of the best seasons of his calling and for a 38 twelvemonth old he had one of the best seasons possible.

Mr. Favre had always had merriment playing the game and he plays it the manner all jocks should play. He plays like a kid would play the game and you can state by the smiling on his human face that he basks it the same manner a immature kid basks the sport. This is bracing and unbelievable to watch. If all jocks played with the energy and merriment that Brett plays with just believe of how exciting sporting events would be.

It is urged that all jocks watch Brett drama this adjacent season in order to be reminded of how they used to play the games they are now being paid to play. Brett will have got a great season and with all the immature stars surrounding him it should be exciting to see some of the fantastic dramas that he come ups up with. We can only trust to see more than than overtime touchdown go throughs on Monday nighttime football game and more underhand flips as Brett lurches away from a guardian in the playoffs. We can only hope.

With the Superintendent Bowl come up the Superintendent Bowl rings. However, what are they and how can you acquire one?

Super Bowls rings are given as awardings to all the members of the winning squad in the title game of the league, which is the Superintendent Bowl. They are awarded to them in memorialization of their victory. These valuable rings are usually made with achromatic or yellowish studded with diamonds. They would have got got got the Superintendent Bowl number, the squad name and the squad logotype engraved on each ring.

The rings could also have larger diamonds, as well as diamonds that have been designed to constitute a trophy. It stands for how many Superintendent Bowls the peculiar franchise have won. For instance, the 2005 Superintendent Bowl ring of Pittsburgh have got five trophies, which would stand for the five title games, or Superintendent Bowls, that they have won.

A batch of people may not cognize that the NFL actually passes almost $5,000 for each ring, and usually gives almost 150 rings for each team. And the policy was if the cost of the rings travels over the bounds of $5,000, then the squad proprietor would be the 1 paying for the difference. A batch of the more than recent rings have got got been appraised to have a value of over $20,000 but most makers make not directly give this information.

The Superintendent Bowl rings are usually made by the chosen company of the winning team. A batch of the Superintendent Bowl rings are manufactured by a company named Josten's placed in Denton. Texas.

Drew Brees passed for 328 paces and
three touchdowns as the New Orleans Saints beat out the Atlanta
Falcons 34-14 last nighttime to remain in contention for a National
Football League playoff spot.

Marques Colston had two touchdown responses at the Georgia
Dome in Capital Of Georgia and Saint David Clog had one for the Saints, who
improved their record to 6-7.

New Orleans is a game behind the Gopher State Vikings (7-6)
for the 2nd of the National Football Conference's two wild
card playoff berths. The American Capital Redskins, Motor City Lions and
Arizona Cardinals are also 6-7 with three games left in the
regular season.

The Saints, who had lost three of their former four
games, have got got the best conference record among the NFC squads that
have 6-7 records. They host Grand Canyon State on Dec. 16.

The Falcons lost their 4th consecutive game to fall to 3-10
on the season. Former third-string signal caller Chris Redman,
making his first NFL start since 2002, passed for 298 paces and
two touchdowns. He also threw one interception and lost a fumble
on a twenty-four hours when Michael Vick, the Falcons' starting quarterback
from 2001-06, was sentenced to 23 calendar months in prison house for plotting
to run an interstate dogfighting ring.

To reach the newsman on this story:
Erik Matuszewski in New House Of York at

I was reading our local sports paper and saw that the game is over for "Pacman" Jones. I guess after so many of its players being arrested last year, the commissioner brought down the big hammer. Up to now, many of us probably never cared about that "bad" part of the athlete. We just compared them to the toy soldiers that we kept in the closet and took out when we were ready for them to entertain us.

Sure, we complain about levies that will raise our homeowner's insurance and we sure don't want to pay taxes for education. But we will pay thousands of dollars to see our favorite rock stars, athletes and movie stars. We don't care if they do drugs, get arrested for driving while intoxicated or that some of them are miserable human beings. We just want our entertainment!

You say your favorite athlete can throw a 200 mph fastball? He can throw a football 399 yards? He has a bionic arm and can hit 300 homeruns a season? Well, I won't tell you about the day he got intoxicated and ran over some innocent woman. Who cares if she died and left behind a husband and a son? Just throw 2 touchdowns on Sunday so I can beat the spread and collect my money.

I think you get the point, we forget that they are human and eat, drink and feel pain like the rest of us. I have been a sports fan my entire life. I love to see camaraderie and teamwork in action. When we saw the Buffalo Bills come back and win after being down 35-3 many years ago, we saw the impossible. We saw a team pull together and win. It's amazing what we can do when we work together. The philosophy of sports can be applied to everything we do in life.

I just want you to remember to not put these gifted athletes on a pedestal. If they commit crimes, they should be punished accordingly as we would. They are not better people, just better athletes. It will be exciting to see the NFL demand high quality character in their future players. Athletes also need to remember that pro sports is a privilege and not a right.

As a former NFL player, I spent a lot of my time in the locker room. As many people wonder what goes on inside an NFL locker room, here is a quick look.

As an NFL player, the locker room is our home away from home. This is where the team members become a family. This is where we bond and learn about each other's different cultures, personalities, and view on life.

On an NFL team, there are people from many different walks of life. People are from different races, different parts of the country, they grew up with different values, different religions, and different cultures. Being able to get to know these people and learn about their life is one of the things I enjoyed most about the NFL. It was such a great learning experience to interact with so many different people.

So what do NFL players talk about in the locker room? We talk about the same thing everybody else does. We talk a lot about our wives, girlfriends, families, children, movies, music, our problems, and of course, a lot of joking around and talking smack. On every team there are a couple of guys who love to play pranks and keep everyone guessing as to what is coming next. It is a lot of fun.

Another fun thing to do is haze the rookies. Giving rookies a hard time is always fun and it helps build camaraderie. How do we haze rookies? Well, we like to get several team members together and go out for dinner with a rookie and then make him pay the bill. We also like to make rookies carry our equipment. To really embarrass rookies, we'll make them get up in front of everybody and sing or dance. Sometimes we will give them a horrible haircut by shaving parts of their head. Sometimes we'll shave off their eyebrows too. Embarrassing rookies is always good fun.

What is inside the locker room? The locker room is setup just like home to help players relax. There are couches, big screen TV's, video games, and an attached cafeteria.

The locker room is also a place where we come together as a team to support each other, like when we lose a game or a player gets hurt or in trouble. The locker room is where a team's chemistry is created and it is that chemistry that makes a team great when they walk out onto the field.

Walter Payton was born on July 25, 1954 and passed away on November 1, 1999. But even though Payton is no longer living, one thing is for sure. Football fans from all over the world will always remember him as one of the greatest running backs of all time. Not only did he have all of the right moves on the field, but off the field Payton was also a joy to be around. It was this reputation that captivated fans and other players for many years.

Payton attended Columbia High School, and immediately established himself as one of the top running backs in the state. During his senior season he led his team to an 8-2 record while also earning a spot on the Mississippi all state team.

After high school Payton decided to take his game to Jackson State University. Although he was one of the best players in the state of Mississippi during high school, all of the big name colleges passed him by because of his race as well as his lack of experience. But with that being said, Payton would go on to prove everybody wrong during his days at Jackson State. While in college Payton racked up 3,500 yards, and also scored 65 touchdowns.

In the 1975 NFL Draft the Chicago Bears drafted Payton with the fourth overall pick in the first round. After a slow NFL start, he began to pick up the pace quite a bit during his second season. It was this year that he rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. During his time in the NFL Payton was selection to nine Pro Bowls, and also collected many other awards along the way.

Walter Payton will always be remembered as one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game of football. This holds true both at the college and NFL level!