The NFL Is Back! Sunday Night! Hall of Fame Game!

It seems it’s been a longer wait than normal for the return of the NFL, but I know that’s not true, it’s just relative. Anyway, the first game of the NFL preseason is this Sunday with the Hall of Fame game live from Canton, OH between the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals on NBC. We’ll hear from the usual Sunday Night Football crew of Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Andrea Kremer. And before the game, NBC has the Madden 11 Pigskin Pro-Am touch football game which was previously taped last month.

“NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” KICKS OFF 2010 SEASON WITH HALL OF FAME GAME, COWBOYS VS. BENGALS, SUNDAY AT 8 PM ET

Bengals WR Terrell Owens Faces the Cowboys, His Former Team, For the First Time

EA SPORTS Madden NFL 11 Pigskin Pro-Am: Flag Football Game Featuring NFL Legends & Hollywood Stars to Air Sunday on NBC at 7 PM ET Preceding Hall of Fame Game

NEW YORK – August 4, 2010 – “NBC Sunday Night Football” will make its 2010 season debut with the Hall of Fame Game between the defending NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys and the AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals from Canton, Ohio, Sunday at 8 pm. ET.  Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will have the call from Canton with Andrea Kremer handling the reporting duties.

The NFL will open this season on NBC, Thursday, Sept. 9, with the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints hosting the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings, who the Saints defeated in the NFC Championship game last season, 31-28. The first “NBC Sunday Night Football” contest of the season is a classic NFC East rivalry as the Washington Redskins with their new QB Donovan McNabb and head coach Mike Shanahan host Tony Romo and the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys.

NBC’s second “Sunday Night Football” preseason tilt has the San Francisco 49ers hosting the defending NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Aug. 22.

HALFTIME FROM CANTON:  At halftime from Canton, Al Michaels will interview Hall-of-Fame inductee Emmitt Smith while Collinsworth interviews Hall-of-Fame inductee Jerry Rice.

BENGALS AND COWBOYS IN HALL OF FAME GAME: The Cowboys are a career 0-3 in the Hall of Fame Game with losses to the Browns in 1999, the Raiders in 1979 and the Bears back in 1968.  This is just the third appearance for the Bengals in the Hall of Fame Game and the first since 1988 when they beat the Los Angeles Rams.  The Bengals are 1-1 all-time in the Hall of Fame Game having lost to the Redskins back in 1975.

This game marks the first time that new Bengals WR Terrell Owens will face the Cowboys, the team he played for from 2006-2008.  Owens surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in each of his seasons with Dallas.

MADDEN NFL 11 PIGSKIN PRO-AM, SUNDAY AT 7 PM, ET:

Before the Cowboys and Bengals meet in the Hall of Fame game, EA SPORTS, NFL and NBC Sports get fans back to football with the second annual Madden NFL 11 Pigskin Pro-Am on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC. 

NFL legends join forces with Hollywood celebrities in this exciting, action-packed, high-scoring flag football game, complete with last-second drama. The Pigskin Pro-Am took place in Malibu, California on Thursday, July 22. 

Fans can tune in to see “Montana-To-Rice” one more time, when Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana leads The Gamers with member of the Hall of Fame class of 2010 Jerry Rice as well as “Access Hollywood’s” correspondent Maria Menounos as she takes home the game’s coveted Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. On the other side of the ball, Super Bowl XXXIV MVP Kurt Warner, Hall of Fame DB Rod Woodson and host of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” Craig Robinson are a few of the stars that make up The Famers squad.

“SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” 2010 SEASON:

Three appearances each by six marquee NFL teams, the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers; a rematch of the NFC Championship Game as the Super Bowl XLIV champion New Orleans Saints host the Minnesota Vikings in the opening Thursday night game; the “Manning Bowl” rematch in Week 2; and storied rivalries including three NFC East games, Chargers-Colts, Vikings-Packers at Lambeau, Steelers-Ravens and Jets-Dolphins highlight the “NBC Sunday Night Football” schedule.

Highlights of “NBC Sunday Night Football” schedule:

• Sixteen of NBC’s 17 scheduled games involve at least one playoff team from last season; eight of 17 include two playoff teams.

• Fourteen of the 17 teams playing on “Sunday Night Football” had .500 or better records.

• Three appearances from six marquee teams: Colts (vs. Giants, Redskins, Chargers), Cowboys (Redskins, Packers, Eagles), Eagles (49ers, Giants, Cowboys), Giants (Colts, Bears, Eagles), Packers (Vikings, Cowboys, Patriots) and Steelers (Saints, Patriots, Ravens).

• A rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Saints to kickoff the NFL season on Thursday night, Sept. 9.

• Peyton and Eli meet in the anticipated rematch of the “Manning Bowl” when the Giants and Colts face off in Week 2.  They last met in the network debut of “Sunday Night Football” in 2006 in a game that was seen by 22.6 million viewers, the third-most ever in the history of “Sunday Night Football.” Six SNF games involve one of the Manning brothers.

• A matchup of two of the oldest NFL teams when the Bears and Giants meet in Week 4 in the New Meadowlands Stadium. The Bears-Giants rivalry dates back to 1925.

• Three matchups among bitter NFC East rivals: Cowboys-Redskins, Giants-Eagles, and Eagles-Cowboys.

• The first “NBC Sunday Night Football” trips to New Orleans, Cincinnati, San Francisco and Miami.

2010 “NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” SCHEDULE

Pre Season

Sun. Aug. 8 – Hall of Fame Game: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Dallas Cowboys, Canton, Ohio, 8 p.m.

Sun. Aug. 22 – Minnesota Vikings at San Francisco 49ers, 8 p.m.

Regular Season – Football Night in America begins every Sunday at 7 p.m. ET

Thurs. Sept. 9               NFL Kickoff  Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints

Sun. Sept. 12               Week 1         Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins

Sun. Sept. 19               Week 2         New York Giants at Indianapolis Colts

Sun. Sept. 26               Week 3         New York Jets at Miami Dolphins

Sun. Oct. 3                   Week 4         Chicago Bears at New York Giants

Sun. Oct. 10                 Week 5         Philadelphia Eagles at San Francisco 49ers

Sun. Oct. 17                 Week 6         Indianapolis Colts at Washington Redskins

Sun. Oct. 24                 Week 7         Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers

Sun. Oct. 31                 Week 8         Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints

Sun. Nov. 7                  Week 9         Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers

Sun. Nov. 14                Week 10       New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers

Sun. Nov. 21                *Week 11      New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Sun. Nov. 28                *Week 12      San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts

Sun. Dec. 5                  *Week 13      Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens

Sun. Dec. 12                *Week 14      Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

Sun. Dec. 19                *Week 15      Green Bay Packers at New England Patriots

Sun. Dec. 26                *Week 16      San Diego Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals

Sun. Jan. 2                   *Week 17     TBA

*Flex Week

Nice to have football back on the airwaves.