Flag Football

Strip away the helmet, the jockstrap, the shoulder and knee pads, and what do you have? No, not a naked football player, but the pigskin sport in arguably its most graceful form. In this world, the end comes not with a thud, but a whoosh. It's women's flag football, and it's running amok in the Northeast. The Northeast Woman's Football League has grown from its original incarnation of four teams in 1973 to its present 34. At an average of 15 to 20 players a team, that's a lot of interest.

When John Madden's tour bus arrived at Eagles training camp Tuesday, the retired broadcaster went directly to a little-known Eagles staffer standing on the sideline. The two engaged in a long discussion, leading many to wonder what connection Madden could have to Eagles scout Ahmad Russell. Team spokesman Derek Boyko had the story. Years ago, when Madden was still hosting Sunday Night Football , his staff would compete in flag football games against staffers from the home teams.

Suspended San Diego Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf played flag football at a local park during the weekend, disappointing team officials and raising questions about whether he violated his contract. Coach Mike Riley said he spoke with Leaf yesterday, and the second-year pro admitted that he had played flag football on Saturday. According to reports, Leaf sprained an ankle and had to be helped off the field. "I asked him if he played and he did play," Riley said. "I asked him if he was hurt and he was not hurt.

Ask these women a simple question, like: "Why do you play football?" And you will get a simple answer, like: "Why not?" After all, they're football fans. Every Sunday afternoon and Monday night they're cheering on their favorite pro teams. So why shouldn't they spend every Saturday and Sunday morning for the next five weeks cheering one another? For the record, Lindenwold's Cherrywood Lounge crushed the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Cumberland County, 33-6, in the season-opener for the South Jersey Women's Flag Football League on Sunday at Cumberland County College.

South Jersey's best youth flag football team, the Runnemede Eagles, boarded a plane yesterday for Orlando, Fla., where it will compete this weekend in the NFL's first national flag football tournament. The Runnemede team is one of six flag football teams that qualified for the national tournament in the 12-to-14-year-old boys' division. The team qualified by winning a regional tournament in Washington. "Then we went back last weekend and played another tournament in Maryland," Eagles coach Jim Barel said.

All that was left was to beat the world, joked the boys on the Runnemede Eagles flag football team after they won the NFL National Flag Championship in Orlando, Fla., in December. They never thought they would really have a chance to do it. But this week, they will be in Berlin, Germany, to represent the United States in the second NFL Flag Football World Championship. The team from Camden County had not practiced together since December, and several players were practicing with their high school football team when coach Jim Barel received a call from the NFL. The team reassembled quickly, finding two new players to replace two boys who were too old by July to compete in Berlin.

Spending two days at Walt Disney World was fun. Being on TV was a thrill. Visiting Disney's Wide World of Sports complex was awesome. But for the six-member flag football team from Runnemede, the best part of traveling to the NFL's first national flag football tournament last weekend in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., was winning the championship. "We just kept talking about beating people deep and scoring and good defensive plays," said Mario Barel, 13, the team's quarterback. It was a key defensive play that catapulted Runnemede into the final.

They have no home field. They have to practice at a local park. They have only two coaches. Those aren't exactly ideal conditions for launching a football program. But at the Faith Christian School in Glassboro, it's a start. And to the players, it's better than the two years spent playing nine-man flag football in New York. Despite the obstacles, the team that represents a student body of 90 actually won its first 11-man football game in school history last month, a 6-0 decision over Archbishop Curley of Baltimore, an all-boys school with an enrollment of 500. The Defenders haven't won since that game - losing to the Princeton School, Wardlaw School and Germantown Academy - and they've had to drop games from their schedule because of personnel problems.

If football is an art, then flag football is a trained artist's nightmare and a Bohemian's delight. To some, the sight of a hulking, 6-foot, 4-inch, 270-pound former major- college football player straining not to do what comes instinctively after years of practice - tackle a ballcarrier - might be agonizing. And the running backs, after years of fending off defenders with a stern stiff arm that's taboo in flag football, become Venus de Milo-esque, able to dodge defenders using only a belly-dancer's wiggle of their hips.

EAGLES CAREER: He was drafted in the 10th round in 1992, falling on the Eagles list between Ephesians Bartley and Pumpy Tudors. He joined a defense that the year before had allowed fewer than 15 points a game. "There I was a couple of weeks before watching these guys on Monday night and all of a sudden I was walking in the locker room with these guys," McMillian said, not likely to turn heads at 5-7. "It was definitely a thrill for me. I remember when I first walked into the locker room.

Wonderful Stan Musial The Phillies have always been my favorite baseball team, but Stan "The Man" Musial, who died Saturday at age 92, was always one of my favorite players, and his recent death greatly saddens me ("For Cards and baseball fans, Stan was simply 'the Man,'" Sunday). Stan was, indeed, just the nicest, most affable athlete ever. He gave freely of his time and rarely left his admirers until all autograph requests were "signed and sealed. " He had a big, friendly disposition, and this was ever-present both on and especially off the field.

First in a series on concussions in sports. Regina Green had her young and fearless days back when she played field hockey at Haddonfield High and at Georgetown. Once, she got slammed with a hockey stick to the face and needed 20 stitches. She went to a dance that night at her high school, proud to show off her wounds. Now, she's a mother and a senior nursing administrator who deals extensively with acquired brain injuries, and phrases such as informed consent have entered her vocabulary.

Brea, who just celebrated her 18th birthday, is considering enlisting in the Army or becoming a mechanic when she graduates from high school. In the meantime, she keeps busy with a variety of activities. A smart, shy and creative young lady, she enjoys video games, swimming, and playing basketball, volleyball, and flag football. Although she loves to cook and try new foods, her favorite is Caribbean cuisine. Brea also is interested in fashion, dance, music, and dogs. Math and chemistry are her favorite subjects in school.

IT'S BEEN an eventful offseason for the Eagles — one of the most ever during the Andy Reid era. Through trades, free-agent signings and the draft, they addressed several needs. Contract extensions to wide receiver DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy solved their most pressing in-house concerns. The rookie minicamp and offseason training activities went smoothly and, on Thursday, the Birds completed their final mandatory minicamp practice before training camp opens at Lehigh University in July.

IN BRIAN DAWKINS' prime, the most rare part of his hybrid game might have been that amazing, shark-on-the-hunt deep-coverage skill, the way Dawk could adjust, arriving just in time to help a teammate, even if he'd been in another quadrant of the field when the ball left the quarterback's hands. But that isn't what Eagles fans will remember when they tell tales of No. 20 to their grandchildren on some far-off day, when Lincoln Financial Field is awaiting the wrecking ball and all the images from the Andy Reid era look impossibly dated and quaint.

SEVEN-TIME TOUR de France Lance Armstrong took a shot at Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after the Eagles routed Dallas, 34-7, on Sunday night. Armstrong, a Dallas native named after Lance Rentzel, a former receiver for the Cowboy, doesn't seem to like the direction Jones is taking the team. In a tweet on his Twitter account, Armstrong wrote: "If I had a few hundred million bucks I'd buy the Dallas Cowboys then get the hell outta the way. " It's not the first time Lance has tweeted about the team.

AFTER SPENDING his usual nonstop, six-day week as Philadelphia's unofficial Mayor of Recovery, Derrick Ford stretches out on a sofa in his Roxborough apartment, turns on the Eagles game and says, "Sunday is made for football - and rest. No phones ringing. No BlackBerries going off. I watch football all day. And the Phillies, of course. " But although he spends the afternoon cheering for breathtaking running back LeSean McCoy ("Way to keep your feet, baby boy!"), nakedly emotional defensive coordinator Juan Castillo ("This guy!

Brandon Kirsch has been living the dream of a professional athlete, but he hasn't had to quit his day job to achieve his goal. Kirsch signed with the Soul on May 20. He will earn his first start when the Soul (5-8) play host to the Tulsa Talons (5-7) in Friday's 7:05 p.m. Arena Football League game at the Wells Fargo Center. Kirsch takes over for fourth-year veteran quarterback Ryan Vena. In a league where the average salary is $400 a game, it is not unusual for players to be employed elsewhere during the week.

One of the first things any athlete learns is that he has to listen to what his body tells him. Nigerian-born Hakeem Olajuwon's favorite sport as a child was soccer, but as he continued to sprout, topping out at 7 feet, it became evident that maybe basketball was a better way to go. "The Dream" won two NBA championships with the Houston Rockets and in 2008 was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, so the switch was more...

When John Madden's tour bus arrived at Eagles training camp Tuesday, the retired broadcaster went directly to a little-known Eagles staffer standing on the sideline. The two engaged in a long discussion, leading many to wonder what connection Madden could have to Eagles scout Ahmad Russell. Team spokesman Derek Boyko had the story. Years ago, when Madden was still hosting Sunday Night Football , his staff would compete in flag football games against staffers from the home teams.