New ESPN NFL Sunday Countdown analyst BILL PARCELLS, a two-time Super Bowl winner, and FOX-TV's CRIS COLLINSWORTH, who has moved from the FOX NFL Sunday studio show to game commentary, have signed on to write weekly analysis columns on NFL.com, the NFL announced today as part of its NFL.com re-launch for the 2002 season.
NFL.com has also added other analysts including Pro Football Hall of Famer ART SHELL, who first wrote for the site during the NFL Draft last April, and former NFL personnel executive PAT KIRWAN.
NFL.com's newest analysts join a roster of top experts which includes FOX Sports' TROY AIKMAN, who was MVP of Super Bowl XXVII for the Dallas Cowboys, CBS Sports' top game analyst PHIL SIMMS, MVP of Super Bowl XXI for the New York Giants, CBS NFL Today's BOOMER ESIASON, who led the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII, and Pro Football Hall of Fame coach MARV LEVY, who led the Buffalo Bills to an unprecedented four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990-93. Senior writer and editor VIC CARUCCI and former Dallas Cowboys personnel chief GIL BRANDT complete the lineup of NFL.com analysts.
"NFL.com is the richest source of expert NFL analysis on the internet," says the NFL's Senior Vice President of new media and publishing CHRIS RUSSO. "There is no other site that provides fans with the opinions of this many successful former NFL players, coaches and experts."
Many of the NFL.com analysts will participate in the "NFL Insider" Radio program, a two-hour radio show that will air live on NFL.com on Thursdays (Noon Eastern) and on 150 Westwood One stations throughout the U.S. At 11am on Thursdays, NFL Films TV on NFL.com will air its NFL Fantasy 2002 webcast live. This programming block, including the radio program and the fantasy webcast, will be called "Thursdays Live on NFL.com."
NFL.com will also feature a new celebrity column entitled "Passion for the Game." The first installment of this column was written by Jon Bon Jovi, who headlined the Sept. 5 "NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square" football and music festival. Each week, an entertainment or prominent personality will author a column on the NFL.
In addition to the increasingly popular NFL Fantasy 2002 - the free service which features an automated player draft and statistics - two new games have been added:
· NFL Home Team Challenge is a free game in which fans compete against others who have the same favorite NFL team. Players select eight players keeping them under a "salary cap" and compete for team-themed prizes.
· NFL Touchdown, also free, is a simpler fantasy game in which players select three players (a quarterback, a running back and a receiver) and compete for weekly prizes.
More than 1.5 million fans are expected to participate in fantasy football on NFL.com - an increase of 50 percent over last season.
To better highlight the new content, a new design has been created for NFL.com. The home page will now feature a prominent analysis area and additional promotion for fantasy football. In addition, NFL.com users can more easily follow their favorite teams this year. Once signed up, fans will have a team-specific box on the left side of NFL.com which will highlight content available on the official team sites.
NFL.com is part of the NFL Internet Network, and is produced and hosted in partnership by SportsLine.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLN), the leading global Internet sports media company and publisher of CBS SportsLine.com. NFL.com receives over four million visits on each Sunday.
