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When Robert Griffith ran out of the tunnel waving the Mexican flag (left), the roar of 103,467 fans was deafening. The moment captured the excitement of a history-making NFL game last Sunday night. Griffith's Cardinals took on the San Francisco 49ers at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City in the first NFL regular-season game played outside the United States. And 103,467 fans showed up - many right before game-time - to make it the biggest regular-season crowd in NFL history. There was raucous cheering, singing, whistling and performing of "La Ola" - the wave -- throughout the night as Mexico - with the largest NFL fan contingent outside of the U.S. - saluted "futbol Americano." "It was probably the best crowd I've ever been around," said Cardinals kicker NEIL RACKERS, who converted six field goals through the elevated 7,700-foot air in Arizona's 31-14 win. The game could open the way to annual NFL regular-season international games. And America's top-selling newspaper, USA Today, thinks that could be a smart move. "The NFL is widely seen as the best-run sports league in the USA," a USA Today editorial stated the morning after the game. "Perhaps the best evidence of this is its effort to go global and to spread its appeal beyond its current audience. In a world that is getting smaller and flatter each day, any sport that isn't everywhere is nowhere."
