2012-2013 NFL Season-Opener To Be Held Wednesday, September 5th

By National Football League

The 2012 season-opening NFL Kickoff game will be played on Wednesday, September 5 (NBC, 8:30 PM ET), Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Tuesday.

The game will be played on Wednesday to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama’s Thursday night speech at the Democratic National Convention.

The Super Bowl XLVI-champion New York Giants will host the regular-season opener at MetLife Stadium. NBC will televise the game at 8:30 p.m. ET, with "NFL Kickoff 2012" beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET

Cam Newton Voted Associated Press Offensive Rookie Of The Year

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

NFL.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has won the 2011 Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Newton is the second straight No. 1 overall draft pick to take the honor in voting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Rams QB Sam Bradford won it last year.

The first Panther to take the award, Newton received 47 votes to three for Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton. CONTINUE....

Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Named 2011 AP Male Athlete Of Year

Image by elviskennedy via Flickr

By CHRIS JENKINS
AP Sports Writer

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Aaron Rodgers is the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year chosen by members of The Associated Press after his MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers' Super Bowl victory in February and his stellar play during the team's long unbeaten run this season.

Rodgers received 112 votes out of the 212 ballots submitted from U.S. news organizations that make up the AP's membership. Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander finished second with 50 votes, followed by tennis standout Novak Djokovic, Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton and NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. READ ON....