www.ThomasCapone.com: Football is Family

Me and my Son Tommy at GIANTS Stadium

My Dad played Professional Football. "Two Ton Tony Capone" was a plugging fullback. He was also friends with Leon Hess, founder of the Hess Corporation, an oil company. Leon also owned the New York Jets. I remember asking my Mom "Who is that man in our kitchen with Mr. Hess? The guy with the big nose?" Oh, that is Joe Namath, he works for Mr. Hess. My Dad went to Super Bowl III in 1969 at the Orange Bowl. At 9 years old, I really did not understand how big a deal this was.

The first time that I wore a suit and tie was for Vince Lombardi’s funeral on September 7, 1970, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. It was a massive, high-profile event attended by 3,000 mourners, with another 1,000 on Fifth Avenue, marking it as the largest at the cathedral since Robert F. Kennedy's in 1968. Following his death from cancer at age 57, he was laid to rest at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown, N.J.

I was living in Boca Raton, Florida when the Miami Dolphins went 17-0. My favorite player was Larry Csonka, fullback. Like my Dad. I wore my '39' CSONKA jersey everywhere. Back to Back Super Bowl winners. Super Bowl MVP in 1973. When he wrote his memoir "Head On" in 2022, I was able to interview Larry for a CoffeeInTheClouds.com fireside chat.

When I took over running the New York METRO Distance Learning Association our first event was at RUTGERS School of Business in Newark, NJ. We then all went to GIANTS Stadium to attend an event with the NFL Alumni Association. One of our topics of conversation was about how distance learning technologies were used in the NFL, especially during training camp. The NFL and their Alumni network helped me to 'reboot' the NYDLA.org (the association was nearly bankrupt at the time - struggling in the recession) and we never looked back. I would say that if it were not for RUTGERS and for the NFL there would be no NYDLA.org today.

In 2009 I gave my son Tommy an autographed framed photo of 'The Helmet Catch' which hung on the wall of his bedroom at our home - 39 Oak Road for years. {39...again}

The Helmet Catch was an American football play involving New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver David Tyree in the final two minutes of Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008. It featured Manning narrowly escaping a sack from three New England Patriots defensive players and throwing a forward pass, followed by Tyree making a leaping catch by pressing the ball against his helmet. The play, a 32-yard gain during a drive on which the Giants scored the game-winning touchdown, was instrumental in the Giants' 17–14 upset victory over the Patriots, who were on the verge of becoming the first National Football League (NFL) team to finish a season undefeated and untied since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the first since the NFL adopted a 16-game regular season in 1978. NFL Films' Steve Sabol called it "the greatest play the Super Bowl has ever produced". The play was also named by NFL Films as "The Play of the Decade (2000s)". It was also the final catch of Tyree's NFL career.

The Helmet Catch is on the wall at NFL HQ in New York City. It's on the wall (just on the other side of my son Tommy's desk). At NFL HQ. Where my son works. For the NFL. Tommy is an Adobe Champion, and my son helps the NFL to manage their 273M+ domestic fans via the Adobe for Business platform. And now: the GLOBAL NFL community.

The NFL has over 410 million fans worldwide, with a significant portion of its growth coming from international markets, particularly Mexico and Brazil. While heavily centered in the U.S., where over half the population are fans, the league's global, direct-to-consumer engagement has seen rapid expansion, with over 180 million fans in nine key international markets.

Ah yes, the NFL is powered by Adobe.

Key details regarding the NFL's global fanbase:

Top International Markets: Mexico leads with over 23 million to 39 million fans, followed closely by Brazil with 20 million to 36 million.

Other Key Markets: The United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada are also major international fanbases, with Germany having roughly 6.5 million, the UK around 6 million, and Canada over 7 million.

Growth Drivers: The league reaches over 195 countries, and international interest is driven by initiatives like the NFL's international games and increased engagement on social media, with over half of the league's, content engagement coming from outside the U.S..

Demographics: Latino communities represent the fastest-growing fan demographic, with Spanish-language broadcast viewership rising significantly.

Gee, I wonder if we should be using Adobe for Business to help us to service the 174K+ K-20 schools (AND all of their ALUMNI) of the NADLA.org and now, the GlobalDLA.org

"Yes, Dad, you should. You most certainly should be using Adobe for Business for the now GLOBAL DLA Community."