Linebacker looks back on NFL season

As the world watched the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints contest the Superbowl last Sunday in the Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, closer to home American Football fans gathered in throngs to watch the closing act of the NFL season.

Among the gatherings of fans in Dublin was the one held in the Russell Court Hotel, organised by the DCU Saints club.

Eoin Fox is a defensive linebacker with the Saints and a postgraduate student in DCU. The Oakland Raiders fan says: “They have not been been very sucessful over the last 7 years… They were so bad, they have been referred to football purgatory.”

Asked to comment on this year’s Superbowl pairing, Eoin said; “Two of the best in the NFL meet this year in the Superbowl. They are both top seeds in their conferences - the last time the top seeds met in the Superbowl was in 1993.”

This year saw some teams like the New England Patriots (Pats) and Pittsburgh Steelers, who regularly contest the Superbowl, fail to make their divisional playoff games. “The Pats have always been in or around the top of the league; this was down to some excellent players. The team of late has been on the older side of old, they had one of the highest average ages in the league, but recently the Pats have been trying to develop some young players and bring in some youth into the team.

“The Steelers had everything going for them. They had one of the easiest schedules, they retained the majority of their starters from last year, and lost little to free agency. They even had a good draft. Their defence let them down this year. Troy Polamalu, their star safety, was out for most of the season with a knee injury and this certainly affected them. Last year they had one of the best defences, but this year they struggled. In many of the games they lost, they had a lead in the final quarter, but their opponents rallied to beat them late in games.”

Citing Jared Allen, Darrelle Revis, Brett Favre and Chris Johnson as having good seasons, Eoin’s player of the season accolade belongs to a familiar face. “I think that Payton Manning deserved the league MVP this year. He was instrumental - the heart of the Colts attack.”

Interestingly, Eoin’s pick for NFL team of the season is not either of the teams which contested the Superbowl. “My team of the year has to be the Cincinnati Bengals. Last season they played terribly. They only won four games and finished near the bottom of the league. This year they won their division and played some great football, beating the Steelers (last years Champions) twice.”

Shifting his focus back to the Irish domestic game, Eoin says the DCU Saints are brimming with confidence in anticipation of their season opener on March 14, where they will face Trinity College Dublin. “We are extremely confident. We are only in the league four years, and every year we have improved on the previous year’s perfomance. We have an ever- expanding core of players which we build on every year.”

The linebacker goes on to say that the sights of the Saints are firmly on the Shamrock Bowl (the Irish equivalent of the Superbowl). “We are in an excellent position to make a run at the Shamrock Bowl this year. We made the semi-finals last year, we have improved our coaching staff and have made improvements in the playing squad through recruitment in the college.

“American Football is on the rise in ireland. This is due to a combination of reasons. The games are more available than before; they are broadcast on Sky Sports, and some of the larger games are broadcast on traditional stations. TV3 aired the superbowl before and BBC are showing it this year. Also with more Irish students going on J1s, people are coming back after being exposed to the game.”