Free Republic

The defending national champion Clemson Tigers start the season the way they finished in January -- atop the Amway Coaches Poll. The Tigers received 59 of 65 first-place votes in the poll, released Thursday, giving them the top spot in the preseason coaches ranking for the first time in school history. No. 2 Alabama received the other first-place votes. The 1-2 ranking for Clemson and Alabama comes as little surprise heading into the season, as both teams are favorites to make it back to the College Football Playoff, with the potential to meet for the fifth straight time in the...

Vontaze Burfict plans to appeal his suspension but this is clearly an illegal hit Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict once again finds himself on the wrong side of NFL discipline. The the oft-penalized defender is reportedly facing a five-game suspension for a hit on Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman during the second week of the preseason. The reported Burfict suspension is drawing plenty of attention on Monday morning, with folks wondering whether he actually hit Sherman illegally. In fact, it's a new NFL rule that's being used to penalize Burfict, one of the most penalized defenders in NFL history. This offseason,...

Shannon Eastin to Become First Female NFL Referee By Eliza Murphy | ABC News Blogs – Wed, Aug 8, 2012 6:43 AM EDT Shannon Eastin is making history this week as the first woman to referee a National Football League game and she acknowledges that she is a bit of a pioneer. "I would say probably most of the way, to some degree, yes. Even in my previous experience in judo, I did a lot of things that were first there," Eastin said in a news conference Tuesday. Eastin, 42, will serve as the line judge in Thursday's pre-season game...

It's time. Eight days until the first full squad (Pittsburgh) reports. Sixty days until opening night (New Orleans-Indianapolis). From the sounds of my Sirius satellite radio -- which somehow found programming every day of my vacation for the NFL Channel (how do you do it, Bob Papa?) -- all of you are ready, and have been ready for weeks. Not much has changed since the draft, though. With a couple of exceptions, there has been little movement in how I thought the teams stacked up since April. Here goes:1. Indianapolis: If the Colts are to win the title again, and...

Eagles beating Baltimore 3-0... Giants jump out early over Chiefs 7-0... WHO SHALL WIN?

PreSeason Games 7:30 pm EST NY Jets/ Tampa Bay Denver/ Detroit 8 pm EST NY Giants/ Baltimore New England/ Atlanta 10 pm EST Chicago/ San Francisco

Sen. John Edwards entered the hotel ballroom at 9:30 p.m. like a prizefighter, walking along a 30-foot catwalk in front of several hundred supporters while pumping his fists into the air and grabbing at outstretched hands as though they were religious offerings. The room had all the energy of a victory dance, never mind that Edwards didn't win. When you're expected to fail, coming close can be good enough. Edwards, who doggedly followed a strategy of disengagement from his Democratic rivals, reveled in his second-place victory at a celebration in a second-floor ballroom of the Renaissance Savery Hotel here. The...

(July 28, 2003) -- One-hundred-and-twenty players are coming home, and two teams are going overseas. That is the tally as the NFL kicks off its opening preseason weekend -- Saturday, Aug. 2 through Monday, Aug. 4 -- by going back to its roots in Canton, Ohio while continuing to nurture the game in Tokyo, Japan. In the Pro Football Hall of Fame 's 40th Anniversary year, all 144 living members of the Hall have been invited back to Canton, the birthplace of pro football in 1920, for an "NFL Homecoming" celebration. The final number of attendees is expected to reach...