NFL wants to bring fantasy world into classrooms

THE NFL wants teachers to use fantasy football to educate young students, according to a recent report.

The knee-jerk reaction, of course, is to scoff at what is surely a marketing ploy.

But upon further review, the idea has merit.

Mark Waller, the chief marketing officer of the NFL, told the Wall Street Journal that the league is interested in helping improving students' math skills.

"It's a complex game, fantasy," said Waller. "You should be able to learn a lot, particularly around math. How many points do I need? How many points does this player get? We're also trying to work with groups to get the concept of fantasy based into the curriculum of elementary schools. If you love football and you teach them math through football, the chances are you may teach them better math and more quickly."

The idea is sound and could be expanded to other subjects. Names of cities and states with NFL teams could be incorporated into geography. Which states, for example, have the most NFL teams? Answer: California, New York and Florida, with three each.

Doing reports on the origins of teams and their nicknames, and on injuries and concussions could be integrated into history, English, writing and health.

The bottom line is the kids get would get smarter and the NFL would get more fans.

Sounds like a win-win situation.

Temple is honoring the late Lewis Katz, an esteemed alum and longtime board of trustees member, by having its football players wear commemorative "Lew" patches on their helmets this season.

The team debuted the patches in last night's season opener against Vanderbilt.

Katz, a 1963 graduate of the university who was co-owner of the Daily News, was killed May 31 in a plane crash. He was 72.