(Sept. 3, 2002) -- On college campuses and in the NFL, September is synonymous with the kickoff of the football season ... and for college students that also means the start of intramural football. This year, on 32 college campuses, a new brand of football -- "NFL College Flag Football" -- will debut, the NFL announced.

A joint venture between the NFL and the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA), NFL College Flag Football will work with each college's intramural program. A majority of the 32 participating schools are located in or in close proximity to NFL team markets and range in size from small colleges to large state universities. The NFL will provide each school with footballs and other equipment needed to run the leagues.

Students participating in NFL College Flag Football will receive an official NFL gift bag with merchandise from the NFL and NFL College Flag Football sponsors Sony PlayStation, AT&T, Edge/Pro Gel and Reebok-Finish Line.

The College Flag season will kick off in mid-September and runs from 6-to-8 weeks. More than 50,000 students will take part in NFL College Flag Football, which will include male, female and co-ed divisions. At the end of the intramural season, there will be a championship event at each school featuring NFL and sponsor involvement. Clear Channel Radio affiliates will broadcast from the championships locally. NFL Films will cover selected championship events. The NFL hired CMI, a division of Clear Channel Entertainment, to implement and execute the program on college campuses.

Two college co-ed teams will win a trip to San Diego to participate in a Super Bowl NFL College Flag Football Exhibition at the NFL Experience. Those squads will also be featured on NFL Under the Helmet Super Bowl edition on FOX.

Across all campuses, 500,000 NFL sponsor-branded web decoder cards will be distributed. Each decoder card features a code that must be activated on NFL.com/CollegeFlag. The card will be used in a season-long promotion on ABC's NFL Monday Night Football and gives students a 10 percent discount on merchandise purchased on NFLShop.com. Following the MNF game, students will log on to NFL.com and be asked a trivia question relating to the game. Students answering correctly can redeem the decoder for chance to win NFL and sponsor prizes each week. A grand prize will send two fans to Hawaii for the 2003 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl.

Following are the 32 NIRSA-member schools participating in NFL College Flag Football:

• Alabama, University of
• Arizona, University of
• Barry University
• Boston University
• California, University of (Davis)
• California State University, Northridge
• Connecticut, University of
• Cornell University
• George Washington University
• Georgia State University
• Hofstra University
• Illinois, University of (Urbana/Champaign)
• Marquette University
• McDaniel College (Formerly Western Maryland)
• Minnesota, University of
• North Carolina, University of (Charlotte)
• North Texas, University of
• Northern Colorado, University of
• Ohio University (Athens)
• Purdue University (West Lafayette)
• Robert Morris University
• Rutgers University
• St. Cloud State University
• St. Joseph's University
• San Jose State University
• Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville)
• Southern Mississippi, University of
• Tennessee, University of
• Texas, University of (HSC Houston)
• Toledo, University of
• Vanderbilt University
• Western Michigan