As we embark on another NFL season, I can't help but think of Ray Antil.
Antil arrived in Aberdeen in 1937 to coach the Golden Eagles football team as a 22-year-old. He helped coach Bernie Bierman's University of Minnesota Golden Gophers win national championships in 1934, 1935 and 1936.
In his five years at Central, the Golden Eagles won two state titles in 1937 and 1939. The Golden Eagles won the Eastern South Dakota Conference titles those two years, as well.
Antil, a 10th round draft pick of Philadelphia in 1937, later moved to Green Bay, where he would become good friends with his neighbor and Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.
Over the years, several readers have told me that Antil helped come up with the design of the football-shaped G logo the Packers have used since 1961.
Here are my picks (in bold) for the 2012 NFL season:
Wednesday, Sept. 5
Dallas at N.Y. Giants, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 9
Indianapolis at Chicago, noon
Philadelphia at Cleveland, noon
St. Louis at Detroit, noon
Miami at Houston, noon
Atlanta at Kansas City, noon
Jacksonville at Minnesota, noon
Washington at New Orleans, noon
Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, noon
New England at Tennessee, noon
Seattle at Arizona, 3:25 p.m.
San Francisco at Green Bay, 3:25 p.m.
