Submissions for nfl bars set to start

Football players? Sonny, the football players we knew could run circles around those wimps who play today and then chew ’em up and spit ’em out before they even crossed the finish line.

Nitschke and Lambert, Tatum and Youngblood. Butkus and Unitas. The Fearsome Foursome and the Purple People Eaters. Now those were football players.

We bring that curmudgeonly rant to you as a reminder that the Review-Journal has been publishing its annual listing of NFL bars for a good many seasons now. And seeing as how we’re a tad superstitious about streaks — you don’t even want to know how we helped the Miami Dolphins keep their 1972 streak alive — we’re not going to stop now.

So, this year’s edition of the R-J NFL Bars directory will run in the newspaper’s Living section on Sept. 1, four days before the 2013 NFL season kicks off with a Thursday night game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos.

As always, we remain stubbornly wedded to our idiosyncratic, nay quixotic (from Don Quixote, a journeyman fullback who played in the semipro Iberian League during the ’30s) mission: giving fans of specific NFL teams places where they can watch their favorite teams play while surrounded only by fellow fans of their teams, ultimately re-creating the feel of watching a game back home.

And for fans who prefer to watch other games while their team is playing: Rumor has it there are one or two sports bars and sports books around town where just such a thing can be done. Check ’em out and tell ’em we said hey.

Of course, this means that there are rules. To wit:

■ The bars on our list can show only its team’s games while that team is playing. We don’t include sports bars, sports books, casinos, bars or rooms inside casinos or anyplace else where other games are being shown while the hometown team’s game is being broadcast.

■ The bars on our list have to show every single game its team plays. Right now, the only way bars can do that is to subscribe to the NFL Sunday Ticket satellite game package.

■ We love food and drink specials and will include food and/or drink specials (with prices) that bars will run during their teams’ games.

■ We also love prizes and will be happy to list giveaways bars will have during their teams’ games — drawings for footballs and caps and key chains, for instance — but we don’t list gaming-related promotions.

In addition, bar owners or managers must call us directly to give us all of this info. We’ll accept calls only from a bar’s owner or manager and we’ll take the info only via a phone call. We will not accept voice-mail messages, emails, press releases, letters or faxes.

The number to call is 702-383-0280 — if we don’t answer immediately, just leave a phone number and we’ll get back to you ASAP — and we’ll take calls between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through Aug. 16. No calls will be accepted after the Aug. 16 deadline.

So give us a call, may the gridiron gods be with your team, and let the most wonderful time of the year commence.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.