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Agony of Defeat

If anybody knows how precious it is to embrace every moment in an NFL career, it's Champ Bailey. So losing in his first Super Bowl could not possibly have been more disappointing for this 35-year old...

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Marathon Man

After Alan Faneca ended his 13-year career as an NFL lineman, he decided he didn't want to run into many of the same health problems as his peers. How now weighs 210 and feels like a new man -- one...

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GM For A Day: Detroit Lions

The Lions are hardly lacking talent, yet they can't stop falling flat on their face. With the calmer Jim Caldwell in charge, now the Lions have to reinvent their personality while figuring out the...

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GM For A Day: Chicago Bears

For generations, the Chicago Bears have built their identity around a suffocating defense, but the team's current defensive stars are beginning to show their age, and there's little in-house to replace...

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Solid On The Line

Auburn tackle Greg Robinson didn't let the combine get him flustered. He didn't give in to fatigue or stress, not even when he was diagnosed with pinkeye, went through four hours of MRIs and had 33...

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GM For A Day: Green Bay Packers

That Green Bay managed to make it to the playoffs in 2013 despite injuries to Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews counts as an accomplishment. With some better health, this is still a good team, with only...

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The Best Defenses in NFL History

The Seahawks' dominant performance in the Super Bowl has their defense in the conversation for the best ever. Where do they rank? With help from those who played and coached for and against these...

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Ford: A Man Of The People

History will remember William Clay Ford as the NFL owner who could not win. But instead, we should remember Ford, who passed away on Sunday, as the man who ran the Detroit Lions the way his employees...

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Moving Up The Finish Line

Time has always been the fiercest opponent for NFL players, and they continue to age even more quickly. But Rashard Mendenhall is the latest to see his career as a sprint, moving up the finish line to...

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Shopping Spree

Free agency in the NFL has become a massive event, one in which there is a lot of outside pressure on NFL teams to act immediately. Not only does that mean paying big money for new players, but it also...

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A Historical Perspective

Use of the n-word on an NFL field next season will result in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The game's African-American trailblazers will be glad to see the n-word go, though most of...

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Can This Man Help Save the NFL's Soul?

For this year's keynote address at the NFL meetings, Goodell tabbed Dov Seidman, author of "How: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything," who is an expert at fostering ethical cultures. Did his words...

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Play It Again

Starting this season, NFL referees will be able to communicate with an officiating command center during replay reviews. Some worry that will make the games even longer -- but isn't it time that...

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Age Is Just A Number

On his third try at being an NFL head coach, Pete Carroll has finally found success and stability in Seattle. He's also found what many coaches never seem to get right -- that to relate to players...

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Numbers In Safeties

For years, safety was considered a second-class position, the place where teams would stash failed cornerbacks who couldn't run well enough. With the NFL evolving into a pass-happy league, suddenly...

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The Second Act of Elway

Few star players make the jump to successful top-level executives in the NFL, but John Elway is breaking the mold. By committing himself to all aspects of the job, Elway is helping to take the Broncos...

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The Final Mock Draft

The big issues of the 2014 draft that we began discussing months ago remain big issues in the hours before the opening pick. But with a final round of phone calls to NFL teams, we're ready for one last...

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On Second Thought

Richard Sherman isn't one to bite his tongue -- and true to form, he recently suggested that the NFL wouldn't have cracked down on Donald Sterling like the NBA did. Here's why it's an unfair assumption...

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Jacksonville's Deep Pick

Perhaps the most fascinating pick of the NFL draft was the third. More fascinating was the process that led to the pick. Blake Bortles hovered at the top of Dave Caldwell's list for more than six...

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Finding Comfort

Teddy Bridgewater went from being the quarterback who had won at every level to the draft prospect who couldn't win. One by one NFL teams jumped off the Bridgewater train. So how'd Bridgewater end up...

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The Future of the NFL Draft

The issue is not whether the NFL draft should change. It's how much it will change. As the site and date are debated, it's clear that the NFL would be wise to do what it can to maximize the value of an...

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Behind The Scenes On Draft Day

Coming off three straight playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl trip, the 49ers are rightfully considered to have one of the deepest rosters in the NFL. But even the great teams have to reload,...

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The Unbreakable Madden

Head coach. Broadcaster. Face of the iconic video game. And now co-chairman of the NFL player safety advisory panel. There really isn't another person who has influenced the NFL in the Super Bowl era...

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Finished Hibernating

The Bears missed the playoffs for the third year in a row, though not by much. In order to reload, they made some moves that made sense, blowing up an underachieving defensive line, and others that...

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Full Speed Ahead

Bears wideout Brandon Marshall has had his problems in the past, but he's not letting them get in his way going forward. As he enters his thirties, Marshall's focus is only on football success -- and...

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Remembering Chuck Noll, Teacher

Chuck Noll, who passed away Friday, will be remembered as one of the greatest football teachers of all time. Winning four Super Bowls, more than any coach in history, merely was a byproduct of teaching...

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New-Look Lions

This season in Detroit, the seemingly inevitable collapse may be coming. But it may be more difficult to foresee because of the team's fresh faces and ideas. The hardened pessimists of Michigan should...

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Staying The Course

The Packers rarely make a splash in free agency, but they did sign Julius Peppers. Much of the team that keeps winning the NFC North is back too, and there's nothing they could do that would have as...

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Surrendering To The Journey

As much as anyone in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers understands what it's like to wait for one's turn.. He spent three years as Brett Favre's backup before developing into one of the league's best. Now, the...

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Fresh Start

Few teams in the NFL changed their image this offseason so much as the Minnesota Vikings, who have replaced their coach, quarterback and even their stadium. It's a time of transition for the Vikings,...

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Verging on Invinciblity

If you were Adrian Peterson, you might feel invincible. After all, you regularly make some of the fiercest athletes in North America crumble to the their knees. If you were Adrian Peterson, you might...

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Living on the Edge

The 49ers can destroy a lot of teams this fall, assuming they don't destroy themselves first. They are well-coached and well-stocked. But in some ways they have been a team on the edge, with rumors of...

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Those Were the Days

The concept of NFL training camp has changed so much. It used to be a means for players to get in shape, to get accustomed to hitting and to learn about one another. Now it's more about memorization...

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Confidence Game

After a nightmare 2013 with the Texans, Matt Schaub has found a new home in Oakland, encouraging Schaub to take control. The way he's been embraced by his new coaches and teammates is certainly...

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Party Down

The way Johnny Manziel parties will prevent him from doing his job as well as he must, because it's difficult to achieve consistency with bloodshot eyes. Joe Namath did it, the argument goes, but there...

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On The Shoulders of Giants

Redskins head coach Jay Gruden and offensive coordinator Sean McVay are using techniques to cultivate their most precious gem -- Robert Griffin III -- with quarterbacking theories that have been passed...

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Still Hanging On

Chargers wide receiver Malcom Floyd is passionate about the game he loves. That's just one of the reasons why he is running over the middle again, just ten months after a devastating injury made him...

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Hungry Hearts

For a while in the offseason it looked like the 49ers might become the NFL's dropped watermelon of 2014, with rumors of Jim Harbaugh and management not being on the same page. But now the Niners are...

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Back in the Saddle

Brandon Lloyd made a clean break when he retired from the NFL last year: He turned down at least six teams, stopped watching games and started working in sales. But the chance to play for his dream...

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Leading the Charge

At 32, 11 years into his NFL career, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is in rare air in terms of his understanding of the game. But what stands out most to offensive coordinator Frank Reich...

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The Seahawks Way

The Seahawks just won the Super Bowl, but they aren't worried about getting complacent. Nearly all of the team's 2014 draftees had to overcome adversity of some sort, whether it was injuries,...

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Dynamic Duo

The beauty of pairing DeMarcus Ware with Von Miller is the Broncos will increase their defensive options while reducing their opponents' offensive choices. Though Denver's plan isn't entirely clear...

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Bernie Kosar Unmasked

Football has given so much to Bernie Kosar, enriching his life and preparing him for extraordinary challenges. But the NFL has also taken a toll on the Ohio native. He has suffered from changes in his...

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Tom Moore, Cardinals Consigliere

At 75 years old, the Cardinals assistant coach Tom Moore has seen it all, winning two Super Bowls with the Chuck Noll Steelers and helping mentor Peyton Manning. Does he regret never being a head...

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Scenes From the NFC West

From Renton, Wash., to Santa Clara, Calif., to Glendale, Ariz., and Earth City, Mo., football's best division keeps getting better; only a fool would discount a NFC West team as a contender, including...

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What I Learned As A Ball Boy

From NFL coaches to executives, from current stars to hall-of-famers, many a pro football career began on the sidelines as a ball boy -- and many of those who were lucky enough to have this glamorous...

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Inside Manning

To understand Peyton Manning, one has to know where he came from. Why would a 38-year-old quarterback, already one of the most celebrated in history, run plays after practice with young receivers?...

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Wisdom beyond his years

Wise, unfailingly professional, and almost too smart for football, that is Andrew Luck. In his first two NFL seasons, he took the Colts to the playoffs and was invited to the Pro Bowl; even his beard...

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Kurt Warner's Unlikely Revival

Seven years ago, Ken Whisenhunt and Kurt Warner began a journey together, and as destiny and resolve would have it, that journey will culminate in a halftime ceremony during the Arizona Cardinals'...

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The Education of a Rookie

After being chosen in the fourth round of the NFL draft, Brock Vereen reported to Chicago Bears rookie minicamp on May 15. From there, we tracked every step he made, from OTAs to charging out of the...

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