Football Fantasy Scouting

When scouting for football players, it may be difficult to discern which players to get. Oftentimes, football commentators exaggerate how good or bad certain players are. All too often, NFL quarterbacks are described by TV commentators as having "rocket arms" when their arms are actually mediocre. Some commentators exaggerate the speed of certain football players by describing them as being "blazing fast" when they are probably not any faster than Varsity football players on your son's high school football team.

One of the ways to get a more objective idea of who is really fast, explosive, strong, etc. is to look at their combine numbers. There are several metrics including the 40 yard dash, the vertical leap, the broad jump, bench press, etc. that can give you some indication of the relative athletic abilities of those players. And the key to those combine numbers is to give all the players a uniform condition or venue so that the numbers are more meaningful. For instance, the 40 time can vary greatly if they are timed indoors or outdoors. They can also vary greatly if they are hand timed or electronically timed. For this reason, NFL draft prospects are usually tested in the same venue at the same time.

Now, it is true that the numbers can be deceptive. Some players may run fast without pads and a helmet, yet appear pedestrianly slow on grass in game time conditions. And some players may run faster between 30-60 yards which is sometimes referred to as "deep speed". However, these numbers can at least give a discerning football fan some objective numbers to take into account when he or she is choosing the players in their fantasy sports league.

My name is Andrew Y. Schroeder, Esq., US Patent Attorney based in Los Angeles. Licensed to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office and the State Bar of California.

http://www.40-yard-dash-times.com/

NFL Marketing Misfire?

As the latter end of the year approaches, the NFL season starts, and it's a good time to look at the niche marketing potential of football, and an opportunity missed by the NFL...?

I remember when I first started in affiliate marketing, one of the first big successes I had came with NFL gear. I found that people searched in big numbers for specific team merchandise, and it was possible to market to just those people, and provide them what they wanted.

For example, I found a site selling replica helmets that had an affiliate programme.
I joined it and set up links to specific products, maybe a Dallas Cowboy helmet.
Then I used pay per click advertising, so the ad was only shown to people who typed 'Dallas Cowboy helmet' into Google.

This is classic niche marketing, I didn't even have my own website, and the model can be followed today, just as it can in many other niches.

What I find a bit surprising though, is that in all the years I've been following football from over here in Britain, I don't see that many changes in the jersey or helmet designs.

If you look at soccer in Britain, the teams have 3 different new shirts every season, which is nothing other than getting the fans to buy over.
Of course they do, so as not to look out of date, the sales justify doing it and so it happens the next year and the next.

The basic traditions of the shirt stay the same, but there are noticeable differences.

Why don't the NFL do this?
With a soccer shirt costing around $100, it's big money for the clubs.

In the NFL the difference is that the teams are a franchise of the NFL, and it's the NFL that holds the rights.

That still doesn't explain why the NFL doesn't do it.

Then of course you have the helmets as well.
I reckon it's a glaring miss by the NFL, a drop in the end zone.

I'll still be making money from niches like NFL merchandise, but every time I see the jerseys I'd love to see something new.

Gordon Bryan is an internet marketer from the UK, and NFL fan! To find out more about cashing in with niche marketing go to: http://www.gordonbryan.com/nicheriches.html

The History of the Denver Broncos Uniform

The Denver Broncos debuted in 1960 with uniforms which were criticized largely by the public. This could be caused by the fact that they were really ugly uniforms which consisted of brown helmets, brown pants, jerseys with a white and mustard yellow color, and the infamous vertically striped socks. Two years after endless criticism, the club decided to get rid of their uniforms at a public occasion where they burned their uniforms together in a huge bonfire.

Together with this, the team revealed a new logo in the form of a bucking horse. Likewise, they changed their colors to orange, blue, and white. The team's uniform in the early 60's were designed by Laura North-Allen and consisted of white pants, orange or white jerseys, and orange helmets and were way better than their first uniforms.

1968 was the year that the Broncos became popular for their Orange Crush design. The team's logo was redesigned to show a horse coming out of the D. The helmets were also change to blue and other minor modifications were done including thin stripes that were put onto the uniform's sleeves. In the following years, the team wore orange pants with their white jerseys.

Then in 1997, the team change their logo and uniforms to the design that is being used today. The current logo of the Denver Broncos is a profile of a horse's head. Now, they wear navy blue jerseys instead of the usual orange ones. This new uniform also features a streak that runs down the sides of the jersey and the pants. The streak is color orange on the blue jerseys and blue on white ones. Despite the change, these uniforms were still unacceptable to the fans and critics. These uniforms were only accepted by the public when the Broncos won their first ever Super Bowl sporting the said design.

For prime-time home games, the team also introduced blue pants with orange stripes and are worn with blue jerseys. Something odd about their pans is that their home white pants have the orange stripe but the road white ones sport the navy blue stripe.

The blue pants that the team can be seen wearing to day was introduced in the mid-2000. Although it has been included in the initial uniform change of 2007, one player vetoed wearing them and thus delaying the introduction of the uniforms to the public. Further, the team also has an alternate orange jersey with a navy blue stripe in the side. These jerseys were first seen during the game against the Indianapolis Colts in 2002 and was last used against the New Orleans Saints in a 2008 game.

Denver Broncos' head coach is not really a big fan of the orange jerseys which explains why this particular uniform is not used most of the time. Nevertheless, uniforms only make one part of the team. It can make a difference one way or another but what is important is the teamwork that is needed to win a game.

Rick Grantham is an avid NFL fan. Most of Rick's articles focus on Denver Broncos Merchandise. Many articles are related to NFL Football Helmets and other sports related topics. Rick is a contributing author to BooYah Village