Aikman Divides America Over Patriotism

Faced with a tough board at pick No. 12, the Cowboys trade back to add more value to their struggling defense. The move pays off as they land both a new pass rusher and a starting cornerback to help rebuild the unit. Here’s more…

Despite George Pickens’ Pro Bowl season, his contract standoff is creating a financial headache for the front office. The team must decide if they can afford two elite receiver salaries while balancing a looming cap crunch. Here’s more to the story…

For nearly 30 years, the complex puzzle of the NFL schedule wasn't solved by a supercomputer; it was solved by a man named Val Pinchbeck using a massive corkboard, colored thumbtacks, and a legal pad.

​Pinchbeck, who served as the NFL’s senior VP of broadcasting, famously handcrafted every schedule from 1971 until his retirement in the late 90s. The process was so grueling that he was known to lock himself in a room for months, obsessing over stadium availability, network requests, and travel logistics.

​Today, the NFL uses thousands of cloud-based computers to generate over 100,000 possible schedules before picking one. Back then, it was just Val and his board. The room where the schedule is now made at NFL headquarters is officially named the Valjean A. Pinchbeck Jr. Room in his honor.