Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

As sport seasons go, the NFL season is a short one. 16 games is not very many. So it always seems as though it takes a long time for the next season to roll around. But now, the 09-10 NFL season is here. And there is quite a lot going on in preparation for kickoff night tonight. Well, tonight for me – 1 am, to be precise. Such is the pain of being an overseas follower of American football.

The NFL.com website has all sorts of features up for the start of the action; from players roundtables on various topics, to fantasy football, and who you should be starting in your team. The new Madden game has come out. And even Nike football is getting in on the action, with these entertaining mini-game things on their website.

It’s quite interesting in that it gives you something of a sneak peek into Adrian Peterson, LT, and Calvin Johnson’s pre-game rituals, the types of gloves and shoes they like, and that sort of thing. It’s quite good fun, even if it is aimed at selling you a load of Nike merchandise and products.

Of course, my trusty St. Louis Rams are not looking to be in very good shape – and this after a poor season, too. We’re in something of a “rebuilding” phase … which means it will more than likely be a number of years before we can begin to properly contend for anything again. So I have become something of a player supporter, rather than a team supporter at the moment.

Chris Johnson is one such player; the fastest man in the league, and very exciting to watch. It will be interesting to see if he can rip open defences with as much ease as he did last year, where, as a rookie, he would have been slightly overlooked and underestimated.