The 2009 NFL Schedule Released

The 2009 NFL Schedule was released on Tuesday and I couldn't be more excited about the prospects of this year's installment of the Quest for 31. As many of you know, the challenge for this year is to attack and conquer the remaining five stadiums I have yet to see an NFL football game in, which I'm calling "The Final Five". So as I scanned through the 2009 NFL schedule I paid close attention to the availablility of home games in Denver, New Orleans, Baltimore, Washington, and New York to see how best to fit in visits to these staiums along with some favorite venues I'd like to revisit in 09. I also tend to look for those combo weekends allowing the more motivated questor to see multiple games in a single NFL weekend. I like to look for the Sunday/Monday combination weekends, where home games are located geograhically near each other, allowing you to hit each one but still have time enough time in each city to really enjoy gameday tailgating and night life provided therein.

For this year, I wanted to specifically target a combo weekend in Washington and Baltimore (both being Final Five Cities) and a Minnesota/Green Bay combination trip (becasue they're kick -ass tailgating towns). As it turns out there are several combo weekends scattered throughout the 2009 season that would make sense for the vested, single season Questor including a week fifteen Baltimore/Washington combo. I like the Houston/Dallas combo too. Dallas has that great new stadium and Houston has the best barbecue in the league bar-none. This combo actually appears on the NFL Schedule twice in 2009 on weeks three and eleven. I'm also a big fan of the Bay Area Combo. Historic Candlestick Park won't be around forever and a short jaunt across the Bay Bridge takes you into Raider territory. Weeks ten and fourteen afford a couple of opportuinities to make the bay area shift and see games in each west coast venue. Rounding out the 2009 NFl Schedule, there's a Pittsburgh/Cleveland combo weekend week one, Jacksonville/Miami week two , and Green Bay/Chicago week sixteen that are all worth checking out. I really enjoy this time of the year. If you're looking to plan out your NFL season, you might check out some of the tools I've created on my website that help me structure my multi-stadium tour for the year. I've posted a great week to week 2009 NFL Schedule that broken down by each week and by NFL team. I've also included an excellent city to city mileage chart that shows the distance and time to each NFL city from any other NFL city (I use that one a lot), and feel free to write to me about your own Quest for 31.

Stadium #9 - Georgia Dome, Atlanta Falcons

Stadium #9 was to be the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. Myself and Jeremy as part of a three city, eleven day stadium tour, would round out our third game with the hometown Atlanta Falcons taking on the visiting Dallas Cowboys. The incomparable Mike Vick was in his prime and scandal free as he led the NFL’s most prolific ground attack against a surging Tony Romo led Dallas Cowboys offense. It was December 2006 and the weather was fantastic. The Falcons would lose the game, but not without some exceptional offensive maneuvering by the human highlight reel himself, Michael Vick.

Stadium #11 - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia Eagles

Getting into Stadium #11, Lincoln Financial Field proved to be a bit more challenging than my trip to Foxboro. I arrived in Philadelphia about thirty minutes before gametime. I was able to locate seats for the game through one of the local roadside ticket vendors - rather pricey, but convenient. The parking lots were already full and it appeared that Philadelphia Eagles fans were just parking on the streets that surround the stadium. Fearing Police action, but answering the call of necessity that loomed with the pending kickoff, I parked on the street and hoped for the best. As it turns out, my vehicle was left unticketed, but the Philadelphia Eagles were not as lucky. Under the guide of one Donovan McNabb, the Philadelphia Eagles lost 12 to 20 to the surprisingly surging Washington Redskins. McNabb did not look too impressive as he consistently misfired to open receivers and the offense struggled most of the night. Eagles fans were less than enthused but I had a fantastic time cheering on the Eagles even in a losing effort.

Stadium #10 - Gillette Stadium, New England Patriots

On the east coast for a couple of days, I found out that there would be a Sunday night home game in Foxboro, MA and a Monday night home game in Philadelphia, PA. Intrigued by the prospect of a Revolutionary War era double header, I thought I had to make it to both games ... even though I showed up at each stadium without tickets for either contest. When I arrived at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, I found the party to already be in full swing as loyal Patriots fans had been tailgating since 11AM that morning in preparation for a Sunday evening 8:15pm kickoff. I was impressed by the array of full sized tents, full sized barbecue grills, and full sized flat screen TV's that were erected all over the parking lot. I ended up with tickets in Row 2 of section 130 as I met up with three of New England's finest - Clint, Tawd , and Cah-mine. These three fine gentlemen affably welcomed me to Gillette Stadium by providing one of the best seats in the house from which to watch the game. I had a front row seat to watch Tom Brady and the newly retooled Patriot offense carve up the hapless defensive front of the not-so super San Diego Chargers. One the heels of the Bill Belichick video camera scandal, the Patriots must have been out to send a message to the league because they embarrassed the Chargers 38-14 in a rout.

Stadium 5 - Bank of America Stadium - Charlotte, NC

I have been visiting my friend Jermain in Charlotte, NC for years. Each spring I 'd take about a week and play golf down there, usually stopping at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the way down. During all of those visits, Bank of America Stadium loomed in the background mocking me as it beckoned for me to see a game. This fairly new facility, built in 1996, was Stadium #5 in my Quest. Last Spring, when I was in Charlotte, we noticed the Dallas Cowboys were coming to town to face the Carolina Panthers on Halloween weekend. Jermain is a huge Cowboys fan and has never seen them live. I thought it was my duty as his best friend to make sure he got there. I bought a ticket on priceline,com to fly into Charlotte for the weekend well before we got game tickets because I was on my way to Germany. Tickets to see the Cowboys were harder to come by than we expected. In the end, E-bay was our salvation as we scored seats in section 543 the week of the game. The Cowboys were victorious as Tony Romo debuted on national TV. Check out my experience at http://www.nflfootballstadiums.com/BankofAmerica.htm.

Stadium 2 - Raymond James Stadium - Tampa Bay, FL

Raymond James Stadium is easily my favorite stadium. The weather is always fantastic, the faciliy is top notch, and having family in the area always makes a trip down there better. The pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium in probably the most attractive fan feature in the NFL. Looking from the stands, it almost looks as though the ship is sailing through an ocean of fans. The best thing about the stadium is how the pirate theme is carried throughout the facility ... there are pirates walking around the stadium, all the concessions stands are pirate themed, and the fans a phenomenal.

I visited Raymond James Stadium on December 10, 2006 and watched as the hapless Bucs were crushed by the incomparable Mike Vick and the visiting Atlanta Falcons, a summary of my experience can be found at http://www.nflfootballstadiums.com/RaymondJames.htm.

The day was still fantastic. We tailgated in the parking area, grilliing up some local stone crab claws and acorn squash along with some chili dogs (Hormel makes a great canned turkey chili that is 99% fat free). The stone crab claws prived to be a bit more challenging to open that I expected. Instead of cracking them open with a nutcracker ... I ended up swing that nut cracker in an attempt the smash the claws open.

Stadium 1 - Ralph Wilson Stadium - Buffalo, NY

Ralph Wilson Stadium, "The Ralph", my home stadium and stadium #1 on my quest. I grew up watching the Buffalo Bills play ... watching the cannon arm of "machine gun" Kelly, the shiftyness of "the Thurmanator", the game speed of Andre Reed. I reveled in the success of the Super Bowl Years .... Project: Pasadena, Mission: Minneapolis, Assignment: Atlanta and in the abysmal state that the franchse is in now. But through it all I remain a Bills fan.

I watched the Buffalo Bills take on the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 26, 2006 and I watched my Bills overachieved to defeat what many considered a better Jacksonville team. On my website, I summarized my experience on my website. The weather for a game in November was fantastic. Blame global warming, but a mild winter in Buffalo ain't so bad.

Why the Quest for 31?

Why not???? I am a huge fan of the National Football League. I have a room in my apartment, dubbed the "Football Room". It's filled with football memorabilia, jerseys, a large screen projection TV, and a set of goalposts (to kick the extra point of course). It is the premiere venue within which to view professional football contests. I've been playing fantasy football since 1995, back before the internet made it into the premiere workplace distraction that it has become today. I'm a big fan of the Buffalo Bills ... I think it all started in 1988. The Buffalo Bills were beginning to turn around an abysmal record of football ineptitude. Marquis names and legends were being created. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Darryl Talley, Shane Conlan, Cornelius Bennett, Kent Hull ... the names of my youth.

So why the Quest? I am fascinated by the thirty-two teams in the NFL and what it means to be a fan of each. Visiting each home stadium in which they play, meeting local fans, wearing foreign colors, eating local delicacies, tailgating in each area ... that's what football is all about. If you're interested in monitoring my journey feel free to check out my site at www.nflfootballstadiums.com.