It is fantasy football come true. Thirty-two teams picking future superstars live on TV. By Rupert Cornwell in Washington

It is fantasy football come true. Thirty-two teams picking future gridiron superstars live on prime-time television. What's not to like?

Roger Goodell is serious. In a bid to reinforce the NFL's hard line on player safety, the league's commissioner has severely punished the New Orleans Saints for their "pay-for-performance" bounty system over the past three seasons. The system awarded cash to defensive players for targeting and hitting certain opponents.

Injured Aston Villa defender Richard Dunne is linking up with NFL side the Cleveland Browns as he bids to return to action by the end of April.

Alex Webster, the star running back for the New York Giants who later coached the team for four years, died on 3 March aged 80. Webster played for New York from 1955-64 and was the head coach from 1969-1973. He is fifth on the Giants' all-time list, having rushed for with 4,638 yards.

Four-time NFL MVP quarterback Peyton Manning has been cut by the Indianapolis Colts. The 36-year-old will now become the most prized NFL free agent, and will have his choice as to where he would like to continue his historic career.

And the winner is... Yes, after the Oscars, who can doubt that the brothers Weinstein, Harvey and his younger sibling Bob, are back on top in Hollywood? The Weinstein Company distributed The Artist in the US, and orchestrated its campaign to win Best Picture, and that wasn't the only one of the firm's movies taking plaudits.

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish is to spend the next couple of days under the wing of Cleveland Browns head coach Pat Shurmur.

The broadcaster CNN has suspended a political analyst for "anti-gay" tweets made during the Super Bowl.

American exceptionalism at its best

You can learn a lot about a nation, good and bad, from its sporting obsessions. The quiet heroism and fussy cucumber sandwiches of cricket tell one story about Britain; the self-deprecating chants of a good football crowd, and the tendency to thuggishness of a bad one, tell another. I bet there are some lessons about the Afghan psyche to be gleaned from a game of buzkashi, or goat grabbing.

Manning the hero as New York win Super Bowl despite running in a late touchdown in error

Eli Manning engineered the last-minute touchdown to give New York the lead, then started celebrating as Tom Brady's desperation pass hit the ground in the last act of the Super Bowl.