Touchdown Father Time!

The Official End of the Tecmo Super Bowl Era
By DAN STAMM/NBC New York

Former Eagle/Giant Jeff Feagles called it a career Friday after 22 years of punting balls in the NFL.

The two-time Pro Bowler holds most of the NFL’s punting records and never missed a game pooching in 352 straight regular season games for the Eagles, Giants, Seahawks and Patriots.

But his accomplishments on the field aren’t why many men in their late 20s and early 30s shed a tear. They won't remember the 44-year-old punter as much for his longevity but rather for how that longevity related to his appearance in an all-time great video game.

Feagles was the last remaining player featured in Tecmo Super Bowl -- the cult classic Nintendo game that was one of the first video games to feature both real players, real teams, real stats and real schedules when it was released in 1991.

Basically TSB was the precursor to the Madden revolution.

Even though hardcore TSBers never use the punter -- why would they when they can chuck a pass 95 yards (in the air) -- Feagles was the last remaining link to the non-realistic 8-bit fun of Tecmo.

Feagles signed a contract earlier this month to play another season with the G-Men, but he changed his mind in the past week or so after experiencing some physical problems while getting ready for next season.

At least in Tecmo Feagles will always be young.

With Feagles putting the punting leg on ice, Tecmo Super Bowlers from coast to coast are now playing a completely obsolete game. Tecmo greats like Joe Montana, John Elway, Warren Moon, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, Andre Rison and Mike Singletary hung up their cleats a long time ago but Feagles was still kicking.

No more.

It was a close call though for Feagles as TSBers Junior Seau and John Carney both played last season but Feagles was the only one signed for next season.

Well, this is a sad end for what might have been the greatest video game ever made. My favorite thing about Tecmo Bowl is that it captures the sad career of former Husker legend Mike Rozier in time. After rewriting the record books at Nebraska, Rozier was the starting running back for the Atlanta Falcons for about five minutes in the 80's. It just so happened that five minutes conincided perfectly with Tecmo Bowl. I think I'm just not ready for this era to be over. Get your ass on the field Morten Anderson. You owe me one more game.