Kritik und Lob » French and German leagues, spent training

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- With Eli Manning running the show and Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks on the outside, the New York Giants passing game is potent. Without Ahmad Bradshaw, the running game has become a big question mark. The Giants took a major gamble after last season, releasing the injury-plagued Bradshaw and handing the halfback job to David Wilson and Andre Brown. New Yorks 2012 first-round draft pick, Wilson showed a burst of speed out of the backfield last season. He gained 358 yards on 71 carries and scored four touchdowns. Brown, a journeyman, had his best season, rushing for 385 yards. He scored eight touchdowns on 73 carries before breaking his right leg in late November. "Obviously, Andre has been here a number of years and knows the system well and played well last year before he got injured," Manning said Monday before practice. "David is a different style of back than weve ever really had here at the Giants over the years. A lot of speed and explosiveness. Weve got to see whats the best way to use him. "It will be interesting to see how things change up a little bit." Wilson, who played at Virginia Tech, is exciting. He is the kind of back who can get through a hole and score for a touchdown in seconds. Bradshaw, who led the team in rushing the past three seasons, was more of a power back. He gained 1,015 yards last season with his longest run being 37 yards. Brown is more in the Bradshaw mould, and has shown tremendous effectiveness near the goal line. It would not be surprising for the Giants to play both. In recent years, the team has shared the running back responsibility with a couple of backs. For now, Wilson is sharing carries with Brown in training camp but it would seem that he is destined to be the starter. "Its a great opportunity and Im stepping in, trying to do all of the right things that I need to do to help this team to win," Wilson said. "I know what I have to do this training camp in order to get the maximum playing time. Were working together. We bring two different things and a lot of the same things. When were out there on the field, were just trying to make each other better, so when we go out there on game day, the defence doesnt have to worry about just one of us." Wilson, however, needs to prove himself to Tom Coughlin. The veteran coach demands that his running backs protect the ball and pick up blitzes. Wilson fumbled in his first game against Dallas last season and had trouble blocking for Manning, as well. With a year under his belt, Wilson believes he will improve. He has the cockiness to think he can gain 1,000 yards. "Well see. Weve got 16 games," he said. "I think a 1,000 yards is definitely the mark for every running back in the league. I set high goals for myself, not something that is easy to reach." Fully recovered from his broken leg, Brown is optimistic about the run game, which averaged 116.4 yards last season. "The sky is the limit. It all starts with our attention to detail and our willingness to be a proven entity in this league," Brown said. "As far as we work, hard work pays off. As long as we continue out here with a humble mindset and go out there and be a spark to this team, the sky is the limit. Youre only going to get out what you put into it and I feel like weve put a lot of work, extra film study, reading defences, helping each other out. "We know what were capable of." So does All-Pro guard Chris Snee. "We made tremendous strides since 2011 into last year," he said, "and if we continue to do that well get back into being a top 10, top five rushing team." ------ NOTES: The defence picked off five passes in practice. Safety Tyler Sash had one, and provided momentary comic relief in turning to run the wrong way after his catch. ... Rookie QB Ryan Nassib and veteran Curtis Painter threw two picks apiece, and David Carr had the other. ... LB Jacquian Williams had two tipped passes. ... Second-year receiver Rueben Randle had an excellent afternoon, getting more reps with the first team because Hakeem Nicks was again limited by a groin injury ... OL coach Pat Flaherty said David Diehl is his right tackle with first-round pick Justin Pugh working with the second team. ... Giants GM Jerry Reese made a feeble attempt to catch an overthrown pass by Carr on the sideline. He showed little vertical prowess. USWNT Gear . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. USWNT Store . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. https://www.cheapuswnt.com/ . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Fake USWNT Jerseys .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Stitched USWNT Jerseys . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. The NFLs International Series shifts to Mexico City this week, and coverage will focus on the enormous support from local fans. Estadio Azteca will be sold out on Monday night as the?Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders?face off, a confirmation of the continued interest in American football outside United States borders. Less visible, but no less interesting, is the rise in player participation around the globe. A new adult league debuted in Mexico City this spring, joining dozens of semi-professional and club-level leagues in every corner of the planet -- from Europe to Asia to Australia.The worldwide action is tracked daily by American Football International (AFI), a website and advocacy group run by Roger Kelly and John McKeon. Kelly is a former Canadian Football League executive, now living in Sweden. McKeon, a former player in a French league, is based in New York.ESPN.com teamed with AFI to assess the quality and scope of Planet Football. What follows is a subjective ranking of the top countries from a standpoint of participation and local interest.1. CanadaKey stat: Canadians play with 12 rather than 11 players on each side, helping to fill up a field that is both longer (110 yards) and wider (65 yards) than traditional American football.Fun fact: The first documented American football game in Canada took place in 1861, a full eight years before the first documented American football game in the United States.Who is playing: The nine-team CFL offers a unique spin on the game, and it plays at a high enough level that a handful of players move on to the NFL after each season. Each team is allowed 19 international -- i.e. American -- players. The rest come from Canadas extensive CIS college system, which features 27 schools from four regions that play at its highest level. The CFL once felt comfortable enough to expand into the United States, an experiment that ended in 1995 but led to a firmer vision for a regionally focused league.2. GermanyKey stat:?There are 54,000 federation members among 450 club teams.Fun fact: Former Duke and Fresno State quarterback Brandon Connette was Germanys top quarterback in 2016. He threw for 4,747 yards in 17 games for the Dresden Monarchs.Who is playing: Germany proved to be the most fertile ground for NFL Europe, and eventually five of the leagues six teams migrated within its borders. That popularity carried on even after the 2007 shuttering, and the best club teams in Germany now play at a level equivalent to a Division II college team in the United States. This spring, Germany produced its first NFL draft pick: wide receiver Moritz Bohringer, who has spent the season on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad. Bohringer was the first international player to move directly from a European league to the NFL.3. Great BritainKey stat: British American Football Federation has nearly 12,000 members.Fun fact: There is a five-on-five womens tackle league in Great Britain that has a tradition known as the Sapphire Series, which is now taking applicants for the 2017 tournament.Who is playing: NFL interest has soared in London and the surrounding areas since the start of the International Series in 2007. This year, a total of 242,373 fans attended three games held at two different stadiums. College football has grown dramatically throughout the United Kingdom, an important development. The UKs National League is fully amateur, meaning no paid American imports are allowed. So for the league to thrive at a post-college level, it needs native talent to surface. University teams are poised to provide that talent pool.4. MexicoKey stat: The first organized American football game in Mexico took place in 1896.Fun fact: Americas Team was once Mexicos Team as well. Perhaps thats still the case. The Dallas Cowboys, also known as Vaqueros de Dallas, began appearing on Mexican television in the 1960s. Hispanic place-kicker Danny Villanueva, a New Mexico native, was a big draw.Who is playing: American Football has a long history in Mexico. The first games were played there at the collegiate level in the 1920s, and Mexico is now one of two countries outside of the United States to support a fully professional league. (Canada is the other.) The Liga Futbol Americano debuted in the spring of 2016 with four teams and recently announced expansion into a six-team league for 2017. Most of the league is based in Mexico City. Geographical proximity to the NFL makes it a more natural transition for fans. A then-record 103,467 filled Estadio Azteca for the 2005 game between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers. Two preseason games there in the 1990s drew a combined 218,800 fans, and this seasons game -- with a reduced capacity of around 87,000 following renovations -- sold out within minutes.5. AustriaKey stat: Approximately 4,000 people in Austria are licensed to play either flag or tackle football.Fun fact: The Vienna Vikings played in five consecutive Eurobowls, winning four of them, from 2003-07. Thats four more championships than their American counterparts, another Vikings franchise with whom they share an almost identical logo.Who is playing: The Austrian Football League rivals GGermany for the highest-level football played outside North America.dddddddddddd AFI currently ranks the Swarco Raiders as the top team in Europe. The Raiders origin goes back to the 1980s, dating to the earliest days of NFLs excursion into Europe. For a long stretch, Austrian teams dominated international competitions. During the Vikings run in the mid-2000s, their championship games were televised. Their games were played in front of crowds that were as large as 10,000 fans, and the entire league continues to draw well.6. JapanKey stat: There are 18 teams in Japans X-League.Fun fact: American football was first introduced to Japan in 1934 by the legendary missionary Paul Rusch.Who is playing: The highest levels of football in Japan are organized through corporations that sponsor the teams and staff them with their own employees. Companies that field teams include IBM, Fujitsu, Panasonic and Mitsubishi. A handful have developed into semi-pro-level teams, and the Japan Bowl will be played in December in the Tokyo Dome. Japanese teams have grown increasingly aggressive in recruiting American-born players. The IBM BigBlue roster, for example, includes quarterback Kevin Craft (San Diego State/UCLA) and receiver/tight end John Stanton (St. Johns of Minnesota).7. BrazilKey stat: Brazilians have played tackle football in an organized way for only eight years, but there are already 105 teams and approximately 8,500 members of its federation.Fun fact: Team names in Brazil are fantastic, as long as you are not prone to phobias. There are clubs known as the Rednecks, Tsunami, Crocodiles, Vipers, Black Sharks and Brown Spiders.Who is playing: Although the level of play is not high relative to other countries, fan support is wild for teams in the CBFA Superliga -- a structure devised this year to pit the top 31 teams in the country for a regular rotation. As many as 15,000 fans show up for games, rivaling soccer events in some cases. The Corinthian Steamrollers have 1.4 million fans on their public Facebook page. As a result, Brazil is viewed as perhaps the most fertile ground for grassroots expansion in the world.8. ChinaKey stat: The game was introduced about five years ago on a significant scale, and as of last summer, about 5,000 men and women were playing in some form. That includes the inaugural Chinese Arena Football League, backed in part by the owners of the Philadelphia Soul.Fun fact: Former Arizona State defensive lineman Zach Brown, living in China for work, started a semi-pro league by handing out business cards to people he met on the street. The cards said, I play American football. You look like a dude who could play. Contact us here. Runner-up: The Shanghai Skywalkers are a real thing. Enough said.Who is playing: Ken Li, the founder of the American Football Union, said China is more interested in the NFL than playing the game itself. The level of play here is no comparison to the NFL at all, Li said. He added: I always say that if we put the best players in China on an all-star team, the level might be similar to a Division III in the NCAA. That gives you the best-case scenario of what were seeing here.9. FranceKey stat: France has a huge if moderately competitive federation, counting 215 registered clubs and 22,136 members.Fun fact: Defensive end Micah Robinson, a former Syracuse star, had 18 sacks last season for Saint-Ouen-lAum?ne Cougars, the top team in France based on AFIs rankings.Who is playing: Soccer and rugby dominate the French sports terrain, so support is mixed even while participation and skill level is high. Most football teams have American imports playing quarterback, including many with experience at Division I schools. There have also been occasional instances of French-born players piquing interest of NFL teams. Receiver Anthony Dable, who like Bohringer discovered football on YouTube and went on to play in the French and German leagues, spent training camp with the New York Giants and had a September tryout with the New England Patriots.10. AustraliaKey stat: There are approximately 4,000 members in the Australian federation.Fun fact: The first season of American football in Australia was 1984. Players used boxing head gear instead of helmets and played on what Gridiron Australias official history called a disused rubbish tip. In other words, it was an abandoned garbage dump.Who is playing: American football has plenty of team-sport competition in Australia, from rugby to Australian rules football to soccer. But there is a growing list of Australian-born players working their way into the NFL. Former rugby star Jarryd Hayne is the most notable, having played last season as a running back/returner for the San Francisco 49ers. Most of them have been specialists, however, including current New York Giants punter Brad Wing. Sav Rocca had a seven-year career with three teams, and Mat McBriar punted for 11 years, mostly with the Dallas Cowboys. And Darren Bennett, the San Diego Chargers punter from 1995-03, introduced rugby-style kicking to the NFL. ' ' '