The NFL season begins tonight as the defending Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, host the Atlanta Falcons, writes Jack Anderson.

Here's your morning bulletin.

The NFL have announced new guidelines for teams surrounding the playing of their national anthem before games.

NFL owners are considering slapping penalties on teams with players protesting during the American national anthem, reports say.

Some sports, or some expressions of values within some sports, can still move, inspire, or challenge. 

President Donald Trump has accused the NFL of showing "total disrespect" for the United States by not forcing players to stand during the national anthem.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has warned that any of his players who disrespect the US flag will not play.

Ongoing across the pond: the controversy over US footballers taking a knee during the national anthem as a protest against police brutality and racial inequality.

President Donald Trump has ahain tweeted that NFL players should remain standing out of respect for the nation and its flag.

SPORT is political, sometimes deeply so. It is a conduit to our higher ambitions. It gives voice to our better angels and, unless corrupted, can distil principle more powerfully than any policy document drowning in caveats or derogations.

US president Donald Trump's criticism of American football players who kneel during the national anthem has sparked a mass increase in such protests around the NFL, as about 200 players sat, knelt or raised their fists in defiance.

United States president Donald Trump followed up his scathing comments about protesting NFL players by withdrawing an invitation to NBA champions the Golden State Warriors to attend the White House.

Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett has claimed police threatened to shoot him last month in Las Vegas for "being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time".

You know the drill. The music cranks up, you shake off the rust from your joints and you climb to your feet.

Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin has been sacked in the aftermath of their Wembley loss to AFC East rivals the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon.

The Dallas Cowboys blew a 21-0 lead before rallying to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-27 and move to 10-4, one game ahead of Philadelphia at the top of the NFC East standings.

US federal agents conducted surprise inspections of National Football League team doctors and trainers on Sunday as part of an ongoing probe into painkiller drug abuse, the US media reported on Sunday.

Tom Brady won the battle of the marquee quarterbacks over Peyton Manning, while the Arizona Cardinals knocked off the Dallas Cowboys to claim the NFC’s best record.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he has been fined $10,000 (€7,927) by the NFL for the pink "Beats by Dre" brand name headphones he wore around his neck after Sunday’s game.

Baltimore Ravens have released running back Ray Rice hours after a shocking video surfaced showing the NFL star punching his then-fiancee.

It’s rare that the two best teams in the NFL make it through to the Super Bowl.

I know how galling this all must be, hearing about the big North American freeze and the tremors of polar madness it’s firing across the ocean to stir things up around your way.

The Patriots, Saints and Dolphins joined the Kansas Chiefs with their third straight victories of the new season while the New York Giants and Washington Redskins were left wondering where their first wins will come from after embarrassing defeats.

The New England Patriots claimed their 10th consecutive NFL season-opening win when Stephen Gostkowski hit a 35-yard field goal with five seconds left to beat the Buffalo Bills 23-21.

He may be 77 but legendary South African golfer Gary Player wasn’t afraid to reveal all for the 2013 ESPN Body Issue which hit newsstands in the US yesterday.

The 'Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' leads the nominations for this year's Teen Choice Awards.

Whether or not Beyonce’s elaborate half-time show caused the subsequent power outage in New Orleans’ Superdome on Sunday night, the Baltimore Ravens’ second Super Bowl title was achieved in an electrifying manner that confirms this current era as a golden one for the sport.

Baltimore 34 San Francisco 31

Superbowl XLVII:

Now that the US President is safely returned to office, attention has quickly turned to that other ultra-magnified bastion of American culture: the Super Bowl.

The long-awaited Harbaugh Bowl is suddenly a reality in the NFL.

The NFL play-offs continue tomorrow with four teams left vying for a spot in next month’s Super Bowl XLVII.

The Atlanta Falcons survived one of the most outstanding comebacks in recent NFL memory, ending the Seattle Seahawks’ incredible season with a 30-28 victory that sets up an NFC Championship showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.