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Picks Schedule FREE NFL picks ATS are posted throughout the week, some earlier than others, and all no later than 24 hrs. prior to gametime. FREE NFL Pool picks AND Confidence Pool Picks are up on Wednesdays by 6:00pm ET or earlier if possible because of Thursday games. Guidelines to making your Picks: Handicapping Tips A good resource for making informed Picks NFL Facts & Trivia Mike Ditka, Tom Flores, & Tony Dungy are the only men to win a Super Bowl both as a player and a coach. Two point conversion was instituted prior to the 1994 season. Tommy Tupa scored the league's first two-point conversion, rushing for the score against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 4, 1994. The Chargers then made history with the Super Bowl's first two-point conversion (SB XXIV in 1995). How long is a field goal? Example: If an offensive play ends with the ball on the opponent's 20-yard line and your team is lining up for a field goal, add 17 yards and you know it is a 37-yard field goal attempt. Math: 7 yards from the ball to the holder + 20 yards to the goal line + 10 yards in the End Zone = 37. A SAFETY (2 pts) is scored when: (1) a player with the ball is tackled in his own End Zone, (2) a blocked punt goes out of kicking team's End Zone, (3) a returner touches but does not catch a punt (muffed) and then hits the ball which goes out of, or is recovered in the End Zone. (4) A safety is also scored if the offense commits a penalty in its own end zone, generally holding. What NFL player once pitched to Babe Ruth in the Major Leagues? Ans: Ernie Nevers (He pitched for the St. Louis Browns from 1926-1928, and gave up two home runs to Babe Ruth in 1927.) Jim Thorpe, Ernie Nevers, Ace Parker, and George Halas were the only NFL Hall of Famers who also played major league baseball. It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs. Instant Replay: Field officials have 90 seconds to view replay and make a decision. Each team may ask for 2 replays per game for sideline, possession or scoring calls. If call stands, team loses a time out. Only Pressbox Official can call for a replay in the last 2 minutes of each half. American football has its roots in British Association and Rugby football. The first game under Harvard Rules was in 1874 when Harvard University played McGill University of Montreal. When, in 1876, the Intercollegiate Football Association was formed. The Rules reduced the number of players from 15 to 11 per team. The Super Bowl is the year's biggest sporting event, with nearly one billion people from around the world tuning in to watch the NFL's Championship Game. A typical NFL team consumes somewhere around 2,500 pairs of shoes in a single season! Most teams donate used shoes to local high schools. A regulation NFL football is 11 inches (28 cm) long and about 28 inches (71 cm) in circumference at its widest point. According to the NFL Rules Digest, "The home club shall have 36 balls for outdoor games and 24 for indoor games available for testing with a pressure gauge by the referee two hours prior to the starting time of the game to meet with League requirements. Twelve (12) new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours prior to the starting time of the game. These balls are to be specially marked with the letter "k" and used exclusively for the kicking game." Offensive linemen have special rules: (1) Once they place a hand on the ground or get into a set position, they may not move until the Center snaps the ball and the play begins. (2) They are not allowed to catch or touch a pass unless it is first tipped by a Defensive player. The Quarterback's helmet has special one-way radio receivers. The QB can't speak to the Coach. He hears a decoded "Play Call" from the coach on the sideline between each Offensive play. The system is shut off when 15 seconds are left on the 40-second play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first. NFL changes since '61 1961 the NFL began a 14 games schedule, instead of 12 1978 the NFL began a 16 games schedule, instead of 14 1978 introduced a "Wild Card Game" for the first time. 1982 season was shortened to 9 regular season games by a players strike. 1982 the Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles 1984 the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis 1987 season was shortened to 15 regular season games by a players strike. Some "scab" games were played. 1988 the St Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix and became known as the Phoenix Cardinals 1990 the NFL expanded the "Wild Card" system from 2 teams to 3 in each Conference. 1994 the Phoenix Cardinals changed their name to the Arizona Cardinals 1995 the Los Angeles Raiders moved back to Oakland 1995 the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers became an expansion franchise 1996 the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and became known as the Baltimore Ravens 1997 the Houston Oilers moved to Tennesse and became known as the Tennessee Oilers 2002 the Houston Texans became an expansion team and the Seattle Seahawks moved from the AFC to the NFC. The entire league was realigned. The Wild Card system changed back from three teams to two, due to there being four division winners instead of three.		More trivia...... How did Fantasy Football get it's start? Click here for an interesting story. Who kicked the most field goals in a single season? In 2005/06, Neil Rackers of the Arizona Cardinals kicked a record 40 field goals. Which teams played in the first televised pro football game? Where and when was it played? On October 12, 1939, the Philadelphia Eagles lost the first televised game 23-14 to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The game was played in Brooklyn's Ebbetts Field before 13,000 fans and broadcast to approx. 1,000 television sets in New York City without the knowledge of the players. What rookie tied the record for most TD's in one game (with six) in December 1965? Who had previously scored 6 TD's in one game before him? Hall-of-Famer Gale Sayers established a Chicago Bear scoring record for one game and also matched the single game NFL mark for touchdowns with 6, set by Ernie Nevers in 1929 and matched by Dub Jones in 1951. Before Doug Flutie did it in 2005/06, when was the last drop kick converted in the NFL, and by whom? According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, the league's last drop kick for points was on Dec. 21, 1941 - two weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when Ray "Scooter" McLean converted for the Chicago Bears to beat the NY Giants 37-9 in the NFL Championship game. Did you know...... The Green Bay Packers was the first Pro Football team who utilized corporate sponsorship. In 1919, the Indian Packing Company gave $500 for equipment and uniforms. From then on, they were called the Packers. The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. In February 1912, new U.S. football rules were put into motion. The playing field was shortened from 110 yards to 100 yards, a touchdown would count for six points instead of five, four downs were allowed instead of three, and the kick-off was moved from midfield to the 40-yard line. ABC-TV's Monday Night Football premiered in September 1970. Its three original commentators were Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell. Joe Namath signed a $400,000 contract with the New York Jets in January 1965, becoming the richest rookie in pro football at the time. For the 2000 Super Bowl, about a third of the TV commercial spots were purchased by dot-com companies. The following year, the numbers dropped to just 10 percent bought by 'Net companies. For the first time, the play-by-play of Super Bowl XXX in 1996 was broadcast in the Navajo language and NBC-TV offered a secondary, foreign-language audio feed to its affiliates. At greatest risk of injury to a professional football player's anatomy is the knee, which is involved in 58 percent of all major football injuries. What do Pittsburgh's pro baseball, football and hockey teams have in common that no other city's teams do? They make it easy for their fans to wear their team colors, that's what. The Pirates, Steelers and Penguins all sport the same combination — gold, black and white. No other city in the United States has this degree of unity in team colors. The going rate for 30-seconds of Super Bowl ad time is $2.3 milion -- about $77,000 a second. An NFL training staff uses about 71 miles of athletic tape per year. Oct. 22, 1939 - First Television Broadcast of a Pro Football Game-Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams were actually forced to suspend operations for a year during World War II, because both Rams co-owners and many of their players joined the Army. The Rams were the first team to place an emblem on the team helmet. George "Papa Bear" Halas played right field for the NY Yankees before Babe Ruth.. George Halas was not only a great man, he was also a great athlete. He played Pro Baseball, but his passion was football, being head coach for the Chicago Bears in the 60s and 70s. Was John Madden ever a football player in the NFL? No. In fact, he was drafted by the Eagles in 1958, but was injured in training camp, thus never played a regular season game. How many times did Joe Montana win a Super Bowl MVP award? 3 times. It could have been 4 times, but Jerry Rice was given the award, the year the 49ers made the last minute comeback against the Bengals. Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry played Defensive Back for the New York Giants before he retired as a player. He made a name for himself with the Giants as a thinking man's defensive player, studying his opponent's tendencies so he could decide the best way to play his man. Tom Landry also created the 4-3 defense. During the Landry years, the Cowboys posted 20 consecutive winning records. What was the most lopsided championship score? 73-0. Bears vs. Redskins, 1940. The San Francisco 49ers won all 5 Super Bowls they played in. Who invented the Nerf football? Fred Cox. For many years the reliable kicker for the Minnesota Vikings, Cox's claim to fame is inventing one of the most popular toys ever created.