Sometimes, life is a much harder game to play than professional football. ...more

January 31, 2009

Liduvina "Lucy" Nieves sat on a new sofa in her new house Friday morning, overwhelmed and nearly speechless. ...more

January 31, 2009

The call went out to eighth-graders interested in playing football the next season for Pensacola's Escambia High School. Dwight Thomas, the new coach, already had an idea just how big a job it was going to be. When the position opened, he was the only one who applied. ...more

January 30, 2009

People enjoy watching football in most places across this land, but Pittsburgh isn't like most places and Pennsylvania isn't like most states. Football isn't a diversion there, nor is it something to be lightly debated over the water cooler or simply enjoyed as one might enjoy a good dinner. ...more

January 30, 2009

Liduvina "Lucy" Nieves sat on a new sofa in her new house this morning, overwhelmed and nearly speechless. "The change is incredible," said Nieves, 66, who has lived on Union Street for 30 years. Nieves' home was one of 20 in her neighborhood rehabilitated and completed today as part of Kickoff to Rebuild, a project sponsored by the nonprofit Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay and the National Football League. ...more

January 30, 2009

TAMPA -- Willis McGahee of the Baltimore Ravens circled out of the backfield late in the AFC Championship Game earlier this month and sprinted downfield as a pass receiver. As the ball came toward him, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark read the play and rushed at full speed toward McGahee. Clark crushed helmet-to-helmet into McGahee, who then lay motionless while Clark rolled on the ground nearby in pain. Neither athlete suffered a serious injury, and Clark will be on the field Sunday for the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. But the same speed and ferocity that makes professional football the nation's top spectator sport has also raised concerns about player safety. ...more

January 30, 2009

There are about 1,500 active players in the National Football League. According to the organization Gridiron Greats, approximately 15 of them responded with money late in the regular season during a fundraising day for retired players battling medical and financial issues. The retirees took their case to the public Thursday at a news conference in the Super Bowl media center. ...more

January 30, 2009

A Tampa-based steel company commissioned a series of pro football-oriented sculptures using material recycled from Miami's Orange Bowl for an interactive Super Bowl display and online charity auction. ...more

January 30, 2009

Dan Rooney is in town this week, along with what might be the most successful professional football franchise in recent years. ...more

January 30, 2009

Fans of the National Football League remember Harry Carson as a ferocious linebacker for the New York Giants ...more

January 29, 2009