Super Bowl XLVII Team Media Availability Schedule

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NFL Stars Take Center Stage as 2013 Pro Bowl Kicks Off Super Bowl Week

The NFL’s best will be in the spotlight on Sunday, January 27 (7:00 PM ET, NBC) as the 2013 Pro Bowl kicks off Super Bowl Week.

The NFL All-Star Game will take place once again at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii and will be the signature event to start the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans (Sunday, February 3, CBS).

“It’s a tremendous honor and I am very humbled to receive this recognition,” says Denver quarterback PEYTON MANNING, whose 12 All-Star selections are the most for a quarterback in AFC-NFC Pro Bowl history. “Being voted to the Pro Bowl by your opponents, their coaches and of course the fans means a great deal to me, especially when you consider how many other quarterbacks in the AFC had outstanding seasons. This recognition shows that our offensive line did a great job with protection. It shows that our wide receivers and tight ends made a lot of plays.”

For the fourth consecutive year, the Pro Bowl will be played the week before the Super Bowl. The 2012 Pro Bowl on NBC was watched by an average of 12.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched All-Star game of any sport for the third consecutive year.

Last year, the AFC set a single-game Pro Bowl scoring record by defeating the NFC, 59-41. Miami Dolphins wide receiver BRANDON MARSHALL, who had six catches for 176 yards with a Pro Bowl-record four touchdowns, was named the MVP of the 2012 Pro Bowl. The 2013 game is the 43rd between the AFC and NFC All-Stars with the all-time series tied, 21-21.

The 43-man teams are comprised of 21 offensive and 17 defensive players plus five specialists, including a long snapper.  The AFC All-Star team will be led by JOHN FOX and the coaches from the Denver Broncos while MIKE MC CARTHY and the Green Bay Packers’ coaching staff will guide the NFC Pro Bowl squad for the second consecutive year.

The NFL is the only professional sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players in determining its All-Star teams. The consensus vote of each group counts one-third towards the total. Each team submits two ballots – those of the coach and the players with no one permitted to vote for a player on his own team. This year, more than 100 million fan votes were cast on NFL.com and mobile devices.

Under terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each player on the winning Pro Bowl team receives $50,000, while each player on the losing squad earns $25,000.

The Pro Bowl was held consecutively from 1980 to 2009 at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium, moved to Sun Life Stadium in South Florida in 2010 and then returned to Hawaii in 2011.

Fans can purchase tickets to the 2013 Pro Bowl at www.NFL.com/probowl or www.ticketmaster.com. Fans may also call 1-800-745-3000 or visit the Aloha Stadium box office.

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AFC & NFC Championship Game What To Look For – A Look Back

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73 Players Granted Special Eligibility for 2013 NFL Draft

The National Football League announced today the names of 73 players who have been granted special eligibility for the 2013 NFL Draft on April 25-27 in New York.

Each of the 73 players has met the league’s three-year eligibility rule and each has submitted a written application in which he renounced his remaining college football eligibility.  The deadline for receiving applications was January 15.

The NFL Draft will kick off in primetime for the fourth consecutive year.  The first round will be held on Thursday, April 25.  The second and third rounds are set for Friday, April 26.  Rounds four through seven will be held on Saturday, April 27.

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The Harris Poll: NFL continues 47-year run as America’s most popular sport

Tops Next 3 Pro Sports Combined

Largest Increase of Any Sport over Past Decade

The NFL has been recognized as America’s most popular sport for the past 47 years, rated No. 1 by fans in The Harris Poll since 1965. In addition, more people named professional football (34 percent) as their favorite sport than the combined total of the next three professional sports – baseball (16), auto racing (eight) and men’s pro basketball (seven).

The number of fans choosing the NFL as their favorite sport has risen seven percent over the past 10 years (27 percent in 2002) – the largest increase of any sport over that span.

Pro football moved ahead of baseball as the fans’ favorite for the first time in 1965.  Following are the five most popular sports according The Harris Poll:

Source: The Harris Poll, January 2013 (poll taken Dec. 2012)

What to Look For — AFC & NFC Championship Game

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AFC & NFC Championship Game Capsules

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Championship Weekend Preview

NFL’S “FANTASTIC FOUR” READY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND

“This is playoff football,” says Baltimore Ravens linebacker RAY LEWIS. “Year after year, time after time, great competition. It really doesn’t get any better. That’s what playoff football is all about.”

For the second consecutive year, the final four teams are all division champions.

Last weekend was the highest scoring round in NFL postseason history (276 points), excluding an eight-game first round in 1982.

In the AFC Divisional Playoffs, the No. 4 seeded Ravens outlasted No. 1 Denver on the road in a double overtime marathon, earning a 38-35 win in the fourth-longest game in NFL history (76:42). Quarterback JOE FLACCO connected with wide receiver JACOBY JONES for a 70-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining to force OT, and rookie JUSTIN TUCKER kicked a 47-yard field goal 1:42 into the second overtime period.

Baltimore will travel to New England to face the No. 2 seeded Patriots, who scored 40+ points in a playoff game for the third time in team history in their 41-28 home victory over Houston on Sunday afternoon.

The top-seeded Falcons advanced to the NFC Championship Game as MATT BRYANT’s game-winning 49-yard field goal provided the winning points in Atlanta’s 30-28 win against Seattle. The Falcons, who have won eight of nine games at the Georgia Dome this season, will host the NFC Championship for the first time in club history.

San Francisco advanced to their second consecutive title game with a decisive 45-31 home victory against Green Bay, with quarterback COLIN KAEPERNICK leading the 49ers to 579 total net yards, the fourth-most by any team in a playoff game in NFL history.

With each of the four remaining playoff clubs looking to capitalize on the momentum built this past weekend in hopes of advancing to Super Bowl XLVII, they’ll have their work cut out for them on Championship Weekend.

A closer look at the AFC and NFC Championship Games:

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What To Look For – A Look Back

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What To Look For – Divisional Playoffs

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