When the former Falcons punter-kickoff specialist Michael Koenen signed a $19.5 million contract with Tampa Bay, it appeared that the league's general managers had grown a little lockout-loopy and wanted to spend big money on anyone, even a punter-kickoff specialist, just to get the tingle back.
Saying that he has better legs than Mr. Giuliani, whose gams have been likened to tree stumps, he challenged the former mayor to "a kickoff".
So does Leon Washington, the former Jet who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in one game this season for Seattle.
Dwayne Harris sped 100 yards with a kickoff return against his former Dallas teammates seconds after the Cowboys had tied the game, and New York moved atop the NFC East with a 27-20 victory.
The former vice president is preparing his 2020 kickoff, securing staff and alerting top Democrats he plans to run.
The recent decision not to run by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won the kickoff nominating contest in Iowa in 2008, opens the door for Bachmann in a state where social and religious conservatives play a big role.
Among the supporters at the kickoff were school board member Theresa O'Hare and Bill O'Hare, former Mayor Kathleen Blackburn, Old Potter Place owners Jane and Joe Hanauer, architects Kirk Saunders and Anders Lasater, and Laguna Community Foundation President Laura Tarbox.
Italy began as though inspired by the sight of nearly 400 of its former players, presented with commemorative caps before the kickoff, massed behind it during a rousing rendition of its national anthem.
Moments before kickoff at every home game, a former player or a local sports figure raises a 12th-man flag above the end zone as the crowd roars its approval.
"In sports, the audience builds from the kickoff to the last two minutes," Jim Bell, a former sports producer who is now "Today" 's executive producer, says.
In fact, the kickoff ceremony today will feature Alain Juppé, the former prime minister of France, who just happens to be the mayor of Bordeaux.
