• NFL.com put together best of videos for Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson that feature their top moments from 2011.
• The NFL said earlier this week that Nike isn't going to come in and dramatically change the look of logos and jerseys. Rather, any changes will be made with the approval of teams and the league. In all likelihood, the biggest changes will be with the equipment rather than the logos or colors or even the uniforms.
• We are going to get our first look at some Nike equipment at the Pro Bowl this week. They are apparently testing out some gloves and shoes, and Charles Tillman provided a look at his gloves, which form the Bears logo when he puts his hands together. They actually look pretty cool.
• The ratings were quite large for the NFC and AFC championship games.
• Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano was named the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts earlier this week.
• The Oakland Raiders hired Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen earlier this week. Amazingly, he is the first defensive-minded head coach to be hired by the Raiders since John Madden.
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly hired Oregon head coach Chip Kelly for their head coaching job, but he decided to stay with the Ducks after reportedly initially accepting Tampa Bay's offer. With the job still open, the Bucs looked back at the college ranks and decided to hire Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano in what was really a puzzling move.
  

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but professional football is the biggest sport in the United States. Not only are ratings and revenues going up quite a bit, but so is the percentage of people who consider professional football to be their favorite sport. According to a poll done by Harris Interactive, pro football jumped from 31 to 36 percent from 2010 to 2011 in terms of how many Americans consider it their favorite sport. This is as high as the number has ever been for the polling data that goes back to 1985.

Perhaps just as notable is that pro football's lead over baseball is growing quite a bit. In 2010, pro football had a lead of 14 percentage points over baseball, then the second most popular sport in America. In 2011, the lead jumped to 23 percentage points. Also, baseball is no longer in sole possession of second place. College football jumped from 12 to 13 percent as baseball fell from 17 to 13 percent, meaning another form of football has entered the top two.

After pro football, baseball and college football, the next four most popular sports are auto racing (!) at eight percent and men's pro basketball, men's college basketball and hockey all at five percent.

To say the least, in today's world football is the clear national pastime of the United States -- both on a professional and collegiate level.

In his first two seasons as head coach of the Detroit Lions, Jim Schwartz's offseason began around the start of the New Year. There were no playoff games to prepare for, so the Lions' focus turned to scouting for the NFL Draft rather quickly.

This year, Schwartz's offseason began a bit later than usual since the Lions did make the playoffs. As a result, he is a bit behind in terms of scouting. Although I'm sure he would rather be getting ready for the Super Bowl, he realizes the importance of being down at the Senior Bowl this week to get an up-close look at players who could potentially be picked by the Lions come April.

"It's obviously important to watch college players," Schwartz said. "You can watch them on film and tell a lot about them on film, but as coaches, we don't get the opportunity to visit college campuses in the fall where the scouts can see a guy practice. They can get a different perspective on those guys.

"Being able to come to the Senior Bowl and being able not only to see them play, but practice, is important."

Martin Mayhew echoed Schwartz's thoughts and also stressed the importance of seeing players in person to make sure they pass the "eye test."

Detroit Lions scouts, coaches and front office personnel have been down in Mobile this week for the 2012 Senior Bowl. The game isn't until Saturday, but the Lions have had a chance to observe practices and get to know some of the players they may consider drafting in April.

MLive's Anwar Richardson has spoken with several players who have interviewed with the Lions this week. Just like official visits, who is interviewed doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it's always interesting to get a look at which players the Lions are talking to. Here is a list of players who have interviewed with the Lions so far:

• RB Dan Herron (Ohio State)
• RB Doug Martin (Boise State)
• OT Zebrie Sanders (Florida State)
• OT Cordy Glenn (Georgia)
• C Ben Jones (Georgia)
• LB Zach Brown (North Carolina)
• DB Trenton Robinson (Michigan State)

This is by no means a complete list of players the Lions have talked to this week, but rather a small sample size of who has interviewed with the team.

With the Miami Heat in town on Wednesday night, quite a few big names were at the Palace to watch them take on the Detroit Pistons. In addition to Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, who grew up less than an hour from Miami, Lions center Dominic Raiola and quarterback Matthew Stafford attended the game. Actually, Stafford didn't just attend the game. He got involved with the festivities during a timeout, as did Robinson.

Denard Robinson, Matthew Stafford spent the timeout sailing footballs into the crowd. Pretty cool. #Pistons

— Keith Langlois (@Keith_Langlois) January 26, 2012

I think catching passes from Stafford would have been much more fun than watching the Pistons. Then again, Detroit actually did put up a fight for a change and nearly pulled off the upset against the Heat. In the end, Miami won 101-98, but it was a pretty entertaining game.

It also would have been entertaining to see in person just how differently Stafford and Robinson throw the ball. While Stafford is known for his powerful, highly accurate arm, Robinson's known more for his legs than anything else.

In any case, it sounds like it was a pretty cool experience at the Palace with two of the state's quarterbacks getting involved during a break in the game.

The Detroit Lions have not yet made any announcements about which assistant coaches have re-signed with the team (beyond the coordinators, anyway). However, MLive's Anwar Richardson got word on Tuesday that the "majority" of the assistants had already re-signed and the Lions were just waiting to hear back from secondary coach Tim Walton and wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. On Wednesday, it came out that Walton did in fact decide to stay with the Lions, which is something defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham was very pleased to find out.

"I almost died the other day," Cunningham said. "I wanted to just sleep for a while and Tim Walton is getting ready to go to St. Louis. I'm going to be real honest with you about this, and I always am. I don't know how much money he was offered, but it was a lot. He didn't go. Think about that. He did not go. That says a lot.

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Detroit Lions offensive tackle Johnny Culbreath was arrested on Monday, according to The Times and Democrat. Culbreath's arrest stemmed from a charge of simple possession of marijuana after officers were called to a hotel where he was staying in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Here are the details of the arrest, as summarized by Pro Football Talk:

According to the report, Culbreath was staying at the Country Inn and Suites, where a hotel clerk called the police to report that a guest was using marijuana. Surveillance videos had shown Culbreath putting something in a hallway drawer, and when the police asked him what he put in there, he answered, "two blunts." Police then found what they described as "a small plastic bag with plant material" in the table.

Culbreath, who declined to comment about the arrest when contacted on Tuesday, paid a fine of $412 on Monday following the arrest. According to the report, the paying of the fine closed the case.

Culbreath was selected in the seventh round of last year's NFL Draft but didn't appear in a single game for the Lions in 2011. He was placed on injured reserve prior to the start of the season with a medical condition that was never disclosed.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson isn't playing in the 2012 Pro Bowl because of an injury, but that doesn't mean he is skipping the trip to Hawaii. In fact, Johnson is not only going to Hawaii, but he is making the trip with some of his fellow wide receivers. According to Dave Birkett, in honor of the season he had and as a way to thank them for their support, Johnson extended invites for the trip to the other Lions receivers on the team.

The group includes regulars Nate Burleson, Stefan Logan and Maurice Stovall and practice-squad receivers Marcus Harris and Nate Hughes, among others. Logan tweeted that the group was flying out of Los Angeles via private jet today.

Last year, Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh made the trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl even though an injury kept him out of the game. Part of the reason he still went was to support Johnson, so it's nice that this year Johnson is saying thanks to his fellow receivers by extending them an invite to Hawaii.