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over the summer both sporting legends agreed that being a great player did not automatically lead to success on the sidelines.

It was fascinating to see Singletary - a Hall of Fame linebacker with the Chicago Bears from 1981 to 1992 - and Johnson swapping coaching notes and ideas.

Both men were truly great, inspirational leaders on hugely successful teams. Singletary led the Bears to victory in during the 1985 season, while Johnson led the Leicester Tigers to much silverware in the 1990s and guided .

Both were intense men on the field and thoughtful people off it. And both, as relatively inexperienced head coaches, have found themselves under pressure early on in their coaching careers.

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There is an old saying in the that a player should never lose his starting job through injury and that he should be inserted back into the line-up as soon as he is healthy.

While that is a nice sentimental thought, I don't think the issue is very clear cut in today's ruthless, win-now NFL. If a player comes off the bench, seizes his opportunity and plays considerably better than the incumbent, surely he deserves an extended run of games?

obviously agrees - but only just.

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As exciting as the opening weekend was in the - with the usual mix of dazzling performances, upsets and controversy - we should try not to read too much into the first round of games.

If the Week One action was truly indicative of what is going to happen for the rest of the season, we would likely see the Super Bowl playoffs take place in January without fancied teams such as the , , and .

I do not think that will be the case.

Sure, all those clubs lost in Week One and were disappointing, but they have more than enough talent on their rosters to turn things around and they certainly won't be hitting the panic button just yet.

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The long NFL off-season is finally over and, while the past seven months have not lacked in terms of headlines and intrigue, I cannot wait for the real action to begin on the pitch.

It has been an off-season full of high-profile moves. Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall was traded from the Denver Broncos to the Miami Dolphins, star quarterback Donovan McNabb joined the Washington Redskins after 11 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, and a whole host of club gearing up for a Super Bowl run.

But, as has been the case for the previous three years, one man dominated the off-season news and .

underwent tricky ankle surgery in May and will turn 41 in October, Vikings fans could have been forgiven for thinking the man who threw for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns in 2009 was not coming back.

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