Mike Triplett reminded us earlier today that the first New Orleans Saints players will appear in tonight's episode of "The Top 100: Players of 2011", airing at 8:00 pm EST on the NFL Network.
Our very own Carl Nicks and Marques Colston will be slotted somewhere between the players ranked # 60 and # 51, and I, for one, am looking forward to watching this program and seeing what they show and say about our boys.
Make the jump to read a bit more about this NFL Network series...
I located this press release about the series on nfl.com, and will use it to brief you on the important points, but you can also go to that link for more info than what I quote and describe below.
The Top 100: Players of 2011 is a new annual series airing every offseason on NFL Network that gives current players the opportunity to vote for the top 100 playmakers today, counting down from 100 to 1. With 10 players featured in each episode, each player on the list is saluted by an individual close to the subject, from a coach to a rival on the field.
They don't explain the criteria given to the players for voting for their Top 100 "playmakers", nor do they explain the mechanics/scoring details of the voting process, so that will have to remain a mystery.
There is a commentary/reaction show that will be aired following tonight's broadcast, as well:
Immediately following each episode at 9:00 PM ET will be The Top 100: Players of 2011 - Reactions, a one-hour recap show that takes a closer look at the countdown with analysis and commentary from NFL Network analysts, special guests and fans. The show will spark live, interactive debate and discussions on the countdown through the use of NFL.com, Facebook and Twitter where viewers can pose questions to NFL Network analysts, participate in online discussions or simply comment on each episode. The Top 100: Players of 2011 - Reactions also features a viewer's comment ticker that continuously scrolls fan comments posted online throughout the show.
Those interested in web-based, somewhat-interactive content related to the series are in luck, as that has been created for your enjoyment by the webmeisters of nfl.com.
This page has videos, text and quotes for each player that has been voted into the Top 100, and sorting programs that allow you to filter them by team, player, position, and then also sort them by "random" and "featured", whatever those mean.
There's also a place where fans can vote on randomly generated "matchups" of the players voted in by their peers to create your own Top 10 list. I've been to the page, and here it is, but I didn't actually vote or even try to tinker with it, so I wouldn't mind hearing from someone who does try it out...
This concludes your introduction to "The Top 100: Players of 2011" series by NFL Network. The comment area of this story can serve as an Open Thread, so that those of us watching the broadcast can chat with each other to our hearts' content while the show is unfolding before our very eyes...