Hogs Haven
The Athletic (paywall)
The NFL’s field director Nick Pappas told AP last month that changes would have to be made to the Bernabeu pitch, as “the needs of the surface drastically increase when compared to soccer (in terms of) traction and stabilisation”.
The pitch’s dimensions, 105 x 68 metres, also needed to be extended to meet the NFL specifications of 109.7 x 48.8 metres. This was not a problem because the front rows of seats all around the pitch can be removed following the recent stadium renovations.
Another challenge is that NFL squads — with a 53-man active roster and dozens of coaches, medical and support staff — add up to well over double the numbers in soccer. The Bernabeu bench areas have been expanded, but a bigger issue was the size of the locker rooms. That was eventually resolved by extending the existing changing areas into adjacent VIP zones.
“The folks at Real Madrid have been great partners throughout,” NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly told reporters in a virtual call last week.
Sonia Cea Quintana, director of sports for Madrid city hall, told The Athletic that tickets “all sold out on the first day, which shows the excitement that is felt”.
Although it may be hard to believe that some young people in Madrid followed Tom Brady more closely than Cristiano Ronaldo, local American football fans see the game as a great opportunity to grow the sport further in Spain — especially European League of Football players who, when they were children, preferred a ball that wasn’t round.
Yago Rivero, defensive end for the Madrid Bravos, explains to The Athletic that American football in Spain has semi-professional and professional paths, and that many young people like him are motivated from a very early age to perhaps one day reach the NFL through scholarships and academies such as the one established in the United Kingdom, at Loughborough University.
Rivero’s Madrid Bravos team-mate Pablo Araya adds: “It is very interesting that they have done it in the Bernabeu, because it is known across the whole world. A stadium so symbolic, hosting an American football game, it gives it that extra importance. It can inspire many boys and girls to try the sport.”
Washington Post (paywall)
The question posed to offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury on Thursday was about the Washington Commanders’ use of pistol and shotgun formations. In a booth adjacent to the news conference room, Luis Daniel Guerrero heard the question and had a split second of panic.
Guerrero has been an interpreter in Spain for more than 20 years, but he had never interpreted comments about football — or, as he knows it, American football. Hours of preparation had given him a general sense of...
