The 12 NFL Days of Christmas

For the holiday season I have prepared for you Grid-X’s version of a true holiday classic, 12 memorable headlines and events of the 2009 season.

• 12. A feature Hollywood film about the life of a talented young tackle. It is a touching story detailing the difficulties of Michael Oher’s journey to the NFL; The Blindside.

• 11. The OCNN – Ocho Cinco News Network – was  launched a short while ago in an effort to keep the ever growing follower list of “Eight-Five” completely up to date on Ocho’s perception of the NFL.

• 10. A Larry Johnson sighting. Larry Johnson’s arrival in Cincinnati is a definite gift, both to L.J. himself, and the city of Cincy.

• 9. Almost having two 16-0 teams was an excellent present for fans this year; whether you were cheering for or against them you can’t say it wasn’t exciting.

• 8. Merry Christmas Cowboy fans, your early gift: Miles Austin. Seriously where did this guy come from? As an avid follower of the NFC East I knew who Austin was going into this season, but I couldn’t have predicted his success; hope he keeps it up.

• 7. Ladainian Tomlinson passes Marcus Allen for 2nd all time on the NFL’s rushing touchdown list. With 10 TD’s this season L.T. is proving that he still has some gas left in the tank, although fantasy fanatics don’t forget to check the mileage before you purchase this lemon.

• 6. This one is for Buffalo: having to struggle through another season of mediocrity one thing that has kept fans coming back to games and in their seats is Jarius Byrd. The rookie’s 9 INT’s lead the league; it’s unfortunate those turnovers couldn’t be turned into wins however.

• 5. No one in their right mind enjoys a dynasty unless you are a fan of said team. So the lack of success of the Steelers has put nothing but smiles on the faces of their opponents, while the triumphant success of the Bengals is striking fear into the hearts of NFL teams and fans.

• 4.The Broncos/Elvis Dumervil/ 3-4 Defense led by Mike Nolan. Although they have slowed down a bit in recent weeks the Broncos are definitely one of the NFL’s most surprising gifts. The defense is “impregnable” (to borrow a line from Ali) and Kyle Orton is well… “The Man!”

• 3. Chris Johnson the NFL’s “New Best RB”. Johnson is pushing dangerously close to reaching 2,000 yards this season with an eye-popping 5.7 ypc. O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, and Jamal Lewis are the only RB’s in NFL history to accomplish this. Eat your heart out AP.

• 2. Merry Everything Raiders fans, with wins vs. the Eagles, Bengals and @ the Steelers you should be celebrating everything under the sun. My early season (7-9) prediction for this team doesn’t seem so terrible anymore.

• 1. An undeniable present for all fans of the NFL was the inevitable return of Brett Favre. We all knew it would happen, just weren’t sure about when and where. In purple and gold Brett is playing one of his best seasons ever and also may be dwindling stock in “Just for Men Hair Rejuvenator Gel”  as he is making grey look good, real good.

Happy Holidays Football Fans!