Latest in sports — Last Night's Game

Giselle Bundchen

The Rundown: Oh What A Night

The Super Bowl lived up to its name last night. The quick recap – commercials were just okay, Lady Gaga killed it and the Patriots won maybe one of the greatest games of all time. 

 

Here’s to a shiny new week with a new champion,

The Last Night’s Game Team


NFL (National Football League)

  • Hot-lanta iced. The Atlanta Falcons started off the game on fire but couldn’t keep it going until the end. The New England Patriots came back from a 25-point deficit to force the first ever overtime in Super Bowl history. In overtime, the Patriots scored the game winning touchdown. 
  • One for the books. If you watched the game, you witnessed history in the making. Not only was this game one of the best comebacks in Super Bowl history but quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick won their record fifth Super Bowl. Although Mrs. Brady, Gisele, was the most excited one of the three.
  • Instant gratification. Fanatics apparel and Uber teamed up to deliver Patriots championship gear to fans at home last night. In an unrelated apparel incident, Tom Brady’s game worn jersey went missing after the game. They should stop searching the locker room and look on eBay.

PGA (Professional Golfers Association)

  • The Super Bowl wasn’t the only sport to head into overtime yesterday. Hideki Matsuyama survived record breaking crowds at the Waste Management Open in Scottsdale, AZ to win in a playoff for the second straight year.

Overtime

  • Team Fluff beat Team Ruff to take home the Lombarki Trophy in this year’s Animal Planet Puppy Bowl. (The Super Bowl trophy is called the Lombardi Trophy…clever right)? The MVP was 17-week-old Rory, but everyone wins because all of the pups in the game are rescue dogs from shelters and are available for adoption.

Sideline stat

  • The title of “G.O.A.T. - Greatest Of All Time” was rightfully being thrown around last night as Tom Brady won his record fourth Super Bowl MVP. The icing on the cake was that his mom, who has been battling an undisclosed illness, was able to attend a game for the first time this season.  

Coaches’ corner

  • If you watched the game you heard the broadcasters use the term “pick six” quite a bit, but what does that mean? A pick six is when the defense runs back an interception for a touchdown. So they get a “pick,” the opposing team’s defense catches a forward pass thrown by the offense, and run it back for “six” points, a touchdown.

The Rundown: 5 Things to Know about the NFL

Are you ready for some football? The NFL regular season starts tomorrow night and we can see the excitement written all over your face. Don’t worry, even if you’re not planning to watch one game, we have you covered so you can still talk shop with the best of them. 

Huddle up,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS – We are working on a football FAQ to answer all of your curious football questions. Stay tuned! Have one you want us to answer? Email us!


Five things to know about the 2016 NFL season

  1. The season is longer than Taylor Swift’s last relationship - it starts in September and ends with the Super Bowl, which is typically the first Sunday in February. Over 17.6 million fans saw a game in person last season.   
  2. This year, four regular season NFL games will be played outside of the U.S. with three games in Europe and and one in Mexico City. There’s an agreement in place to play a game in China in 2018.  
  3. NFL does not have fully guaranteed contracts like the NBA and MLB where a player’s contracts states they will receive the full amount no matter what. Football players play one of the most demanding sports but they can face a career ending injury and not be paid out the contract balance. Although some players have been able to negotiate in a cushion. For example, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck signed a six-year, $120 million deal; of that $87 million guaranteed. 
  4. The NFL was a tax exempt organization from 1942-2015 despite the fact that television rights fees, licensing agreements, sponsorships, ticket sales and other revenue earned by the 32 teams were all taxed. Dropping this status means that the NFL will no longer have to disclose important financial information such as Commissioner Roger Goodell’s $44 million salary. 
  5. According to Vegas Insider, these teams are the favorites to win Super Bowl 51 :
    1. New England Patriots
    2. Green Bay Packers
    3. Seattle Seahawks
    4. Pittsburgh Steelers
    5. Carolina Panthers

NFL (National Football League)

  • Here we go! The NFL season will kick off tomorrow night with a rematch of Super Bowl 50. The Carolina Panthers will take on Denver Broncos in Denver. Tune in to see if Cam Newton will be giving away footballs to kids or if Super Bowl MVP Von Miller will be dancing his way to victory.  
  • Slap in the face. Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman has been an analyst for FOX NFL since 2001. Despite his tenure, FOX signed Aikman’s nemesis Skip Bayless for his own show this fall. Aikman and Bayless have a history of bad blood stemming from the time Bayless claimed in his book that Aikman was gay - without any proof. "To say I’m disappointed in the hiring of Skip Bayless would be an enormous understatement,” Aikman said. 
  • Quick recovery. Houston Texans standout defensive player JJ Watt has been cleared to play in week one after undergoing back surgery in July.

Overtime

  • UFC’s Miesha Tate flexed her muscles for good over the weekend. She was hiking Nevada’s Mt. Charleston when she came across a little girl, Kai, who had broken her arm while hiking with her mom. Mom was struggling to get Kai down the mountain so Tate picked her up and carried her down the rest of the two-mile trail. Afterward, there was no shortage of mutual love going on between the two on social media.   

Sideline stat

Coaches’ corner

  • It takes a strong woman to be the head coach of the house during football season and the NFL has its fair share of celebrity power couples who do just that.
    • Singer Ciara and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson
    • New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and model Giselle Bündchen
    • TV star and designer Kristin (Cavallari) Cutler and Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler
    • New York Jets receiver Eric Decker and singer Jessie James Decker
    • Actress Olivia Munn and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers