We are now eight days away from the Super Bowl. And while we could pay homage to the No. 8 worn by three-time Super Bowl champion Troy Aikman (the best quarterback of the 1990s), we instead shall honor legendary Jerry Rice, who had eight career touchdown receptions in the Super Bowl.

Couple of interesting notes about Cam Newton‘s record-setting NFL debut. His 422 yards Sunday against the Cardinals ties him for the best single-game yardage total by a rookie. And it’s worth noting that of the six best yardage totals by a rookie, four of those games have involved the Cardinals — two for and two against.

QB drama in Indianapolis and Denver have been running subplots of the preseason, and the stories will continue to unfold tonight on NFL Network. Kerry Collins gets his first preseason start in a possible dress rehearsal for Week 1 when the Colts take on the Bengals at 8 p.m. Later, we have live coverage of the Broncos’ preseason finale against the Cardinals, where Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn will get a final audition for the No. 2 spot behind Kyle Orton. Here’s what else is on tap for Thursday: In agreeing Wednesday to reschedule his planned address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama might have placated House Speaker John Boehner at the expense of the nation’s football fans. […]

After all the tributes and tears, it was Snoop Dogg who tied a bow on things (no disrespect to Deion Sanders tying his do-rag around his bronze bust).

Welcome to episode number eight of the Dave Dameshek Football Program. The fellas discuss who the greatest number eight in NFL history, and conclude that it is Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman

Eight is Enough. As bad as that ‘70s TV show was, it can’t be any worse than having to wait any longer for the start of the 2011 NFL Draft. And eight just happens to be the number of days until the draft begins.

It’s 22 days until go-time for clubs looking to fill holes in their roster… 22 days as we count down the Path to Primetime. So what does the number 22 signify in our NFL draft conscious?

NFL.com senior analyst Pat Kirwan offered up his two-round mock draft, and one name that stood out was Nebraska CB Prince Amakamara going to the Cowboys. Interesting choice, and when you think of the Cowboys drafting a defensive back you can’t help by think of the famed Rod Hill pick in 1982.

DALLAS — As VP of Officiating at the NFL for nine years, Mike Pereira was not exactly in position to be predicting the outcome of the games. Influencing the outcome, perhaps (just kidding, folks), but not predicting.

“Survivor Nicaragua,” which begins Wednesday, is not a celebrity “Survivor” — but there is one celeb in the bunch of bug-eating contestants: former Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson.

Very few topics get the chatter going like a little Tim Tebow, who we should see a lot of on Thursday night. After a storied career at Florida, Tebow’s overwhelming popularity followed him to the NFL, where few rookies in recent memory have garnered as much interest. Fair or not, along with that notoriety comes an equally heavy dose of expectations. Talking about those expectations, there might be no better source to discuss the pressure of being a rookie NFL quarterback than John Elway, the first overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. There’s a growing list of quarterbacks who entered the league under enormous expectations and didn’t come out the other side. Even Elway, who faced tremendous media scruitiny […]

Apparently Falcons coach Mike Smith did not run Michael Turner enough in 2008, now he is determined to get Turner involved into the passing game, too.

Replacing a Hall of Fame quarterback is never easy. For every Aaron Rodgers or Steve Young, there is a dubious list of guys that include Cliff Stoudt (Terry Bradshaw), Quincy Carter (Troy Aikman) and Babe Laufenberg (Dan Fouts).

The fans had waited for it, and the Cowboys fans gave Emmitt Smith a thunderous ovation when he gave his induction speech. And those flash bulbs in the crowd never seemed to dim, constantly flashing brightly for the entire speech.

Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin may be hobbled (turns out he was injured during the EA Sports flag football game) but he remains larger than life.