Earlier this week, Pennsylvania’s resident rodent Punxatawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.  According to my calendar, we were already slated for six more weeks of winter prior to the official arrival of spring!

For sports fans, there are just a few days left until the end of traditional football season.  We’ll discuss the big game coming up on Sunday in just a bit.

Pro football (like the other major sports) has slowly stretched-out its regular season.  The NFL went from 14 games to 16 back in 1978.  A 17th regular season game became a reality after the franchise owners wisely trimmed the pre-season from a ludicrously long four games down to three in 2021.

It isn’t a secret that the NFL owners now want to expand to an 18th regular season game in a few years.

They are reportedly offering to cut the preseason from three meaningless games to two.  However, the NFL has telegraphed a desire to have each of the league’s 32 teams play one international game per year after expanding to 18 games.

The NFL doesn’t do anything without a keen eye on profits.  They have calculated the value of international television rights and global merchandising.  It apparently makes financial sense.

On Thursday, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees named to the NFL Hall-of-Fame!

Saints fans are rejoicing today knowing that the greatest player in franchise history was voted into the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame Thursday in his first year of eligibility.

Drew Brees received only two major college scholarship offers coming out of high school in Austin, Texas.  After three terrific seasons as the starting quarterback at Purdue, Brees also excelled in the classroom by earning a degree in Industrial Management.

It’s hard to believe that the (cough) 6′ Drew Brees was not a first round NFL selection in 2001.  He was drafted on the first pick of the second round by the San Diego Chargers.

Did you know that Drew Brees spent his first five NFL seasons playing for the Chargers?

Fortunately for New Orleans Saints fans, Drew Brees was acquired by Louisiana’s Black and Gold team in 2006.  His arrival in the Crescent City coincided with the hiring of offensive-minded first-year head coach Sean Payton.

The Saints’ new dynamic duo provided a much-needed shot of optimism into the region following the devastation caused by 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints eventually won the Saints’ first and only Super Bowl title on February 7, 2010 with a 31-17 win over Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts.

Has it really been 16 years since that game was played?

Brees and the Saints should have earned a second Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2018 season.  The NFC Championship game played in New Orleans featured the all-time worst “non-call” by NFL referees on a quite obvious pass interference penalty late in overtime. 

The visiting Los Angeles Rams won 26-23 but lost to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots two weeks later in the NFL title game.

After a 21-year NFL career, Drew Brees retired at the end of the 2020 season.  The Saints legend set numerous NFL passing records including his incredible 54-game streak of throwing at least one touchdown pass.

Drew Brees was an intense leader on the football field, an inspiring community leader off the field and is a proud father of four children. He has invested in several business ventures following his retirement from pro football.  Brees also returned to television in 2025 to cover regional NFL games for FOX Sports.

Only 1.5% of NFL players will ever be inducted into the Hall-of-Fame.   Drew Brees deserved this honor and was voted-in during his first year of eligibility!

Why is there even Pro Bowl game anymore?

I don’t know.

The NFL’s Pro Bowl game was played on Tuesday night. If I had known about it, it wouldn’t have mattered. My wife and I were fixated on the final night of the Westminster Dog Show (won by Penny the incredlble Doberman Pinscher).

The top canines provided more compelling viewing than the NFL’s cringeworthy post-season fare.

Tuesday night’s NFL Pro Bowl drew an embarrassing 1.9 million viewers.  That is down from last year’s slightly-less embarrassing 4.7 million Pro Bowl viewers.

Historically, the Pro Bowl game would pit the NFL’s most talented players from the teams which had been eliminated from playoff competition.  The game (played in full pads and helmets) was held from 1980 and for more than three decades in lovely Honolulu, Hawaii on the weekend prior to the NFL’s title game.

That tropical setting was once considered a big enticement for players to participate and bring their families along for a week-long vacation.  Those of us watching on television at home could enjoy a mental warm-up watching football being played in the toasty sunshine featuring nearby beaches.

Not anymore.  Football players who are making millions of dollars per year don’t seem to value a fully-paid vacation week in Hawaii like they once did.

In 2023, the Pro Bowl morphed into today’s goofy assortment of skills challenges and a 7-on-7 flag football game.  The venue was also scaled down.  This year’s game was played on Tuesday night in a 4,000-seat convention center arena in San Francisco.

In case you cared, the NFC All-Stars rallied for a (cough) thrilling 66-52 flag football win over the AFC All-Stars.

Zzz.

The NFL’s championship game kicks-off Sunday at 5:30 PM CST on NBC

This year’s season finale pits the AFC’s New England Patriots against the NFC Seattle Seahawks.

Before the 2025 NFL season kicked-off, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas had last year’s champion Philadelphia Eagles plus the AFC’s Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills as the most likely teams to reach the championship game.

Seattle and New England were significantly further down that list. Both teams missed the playoffs after the 2024 season.  The Seahawks at least finished 10-7, but New England was a dismal 4-13 just one year ago.

Only the 1999 St. Louis Rams had won just four games in a season (going 4-12) prior to returning the following year to win the NFL title.  Rams’ quarterback Kurt Warner’s led the “Greatest Show on Turf” to an NFL championship.  

What caused such a terrific turnaround for this year’s New England Patriots?

Last season’s 4-13 record by New England resulted in the team firing head coach Jerod Mayo.  Former Patriots’ linebacker Mike Vrabel was given the chance to coach his former team beginning this season.

Adding a talented coach like Vrabel certainly helped, but it doesn’t fully explain the Patriots’ turnaround story this season.

The coach would replace 13 of the 22 starting players from last season.  Every one of New England’s 11 NFL draft selections last spring made the cut and is still playing on the team as of this week.  Add several financially prudent free agent signings, and the New England Patriots entered this season with a new team and a winning attitude.

Coach Vrabel wanted “tough” minded players as he evaluate players being drafted or signed via free agency.

A three-time NFL champion as a linebacker, Mike Vrabel played for legendary coach Bill Belichick and alongside quarterback Tom Brady for several years.  He saw what type of mindset won titles in New England over the past quarter century.

The Patriots steamrolled to a 14-3 record and won the AFC East title during the regular season.  They beat the Houston Texans 28-16 in the divisional round and downed the #1 playoff seed Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC championship to earn a title shot this week.

Seattle Seahawks traded their Pro Bowl quarterback and still improved in 2025

Gino Smith had been Seattle’s starting quarterback for two seasons through the end of the 2024 campaign.  Smith had been named to the NFL’s Pro Bowl for two consecutive years.

Surprisingly, the Seahawks traded Gino Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders during the offseason and were left without a starting quarterback.

Seattle then hit the free agent jackpot by signing journeyman Sam Darnold to a three-year contract.  Darnold is playing for his fifth NFL team in eight seasons and struggled for his first six years in the league.  His breakout 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings helped Sam Darnold gain a more permanent home in Seattle.

The Seahawks’ stingy defense was rated #1 in the NFL allowing just 17 points per game in leading Seattle to a sterling 14-3 regular season.  The Seattle offense also scored 28 points per game which was eighth best in the league.

Coach Mike MacDonald was a successful high school football player who suffered a serious injury in his final game.  He attended the University of Georgia and didn’t play football. However, he started coaching a high school football team while still in college.

A summa cum laude graduate in Finance, Mike MacDonald jumped into coaching upon graduating from college.  He would eventually become the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.  The youthful 38-year old coach then accepted the head coaching job in Seattle two years ago.

The Seahawks, like their head coach, play fundamentally sound football and rely on their top-rated defense to win games.

You won’t find many familiar stars in this Sunday’s NFL title game

Can you name the starting running backs for either Seattle or New England?  I can’t.

America is going to get a chance to learn a lot about these two unheralded competitors and their coaches on Sunday night in Santa Clara, California.

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots quietly did the weekly work to climb the standings and finish with identical 14-3 regular season marks.

The two starting quarterbacks aren’t flashy but both passed for more than 4,000 yards in the regular season.  New England’s Drake Maye tossed 31 touchdowns but only had eight intercepted.  Seattle’s Sam Darnold had 25 touchdowns but was picked-off 14 times (third highest in the NFL this year).

These two teams have identical season records, great defenses, and effective quarterbacks.  The biggest surprise to me is that New England is considered a 4 ½ point underdog in Sunday’s game.

Enjoy watching those very expensive $8 million per 30-second commercials and, perhaps, the game itself!

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