1. O’Connell on the development of the game

O’Connell is a big fan of the NFL and tries to nurture his fan base on an international level.

He appreciates the nuances of competition and the teamwork the sport requires.

“I grew up loving this game. Everything about it,” O’Connell said. “It has really defined who I am as a person, being in such a unique, dynamic team sport, where you can’t achieve anything without the other ten guys in the group doing their job, without the other phases of the team being complementary play football. There is nothing like it, as far as a game that requires such physical commitment and sacrifice, yet the mental aspect of every game, every game situation.”

There is no way to copy and paste the results. Every week, a million little things determine the winners, O’Connell said. It explains why matches are always close – and why a team can win on any given match day.

“Our rules are designed so that basically every training camp and every fan base has to feel like, ‘We have an opportunity to do something special this year.’ And the best part is we’ll roll it out 17 times and see what happens from there, so hopefully we continue to get more and more opportunities globally,” says O’Connell, while welcoming the interest from international fans. “I know how special this part of the world is, and the London Games have been so phenomenal, phenomenal for our competition.”