Despite holding the hammer in the first end, the team gave up six points in an eventual 9-2 loss after seven ends. "We thought it was a win-win. Four former NFL players, including five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen, have taken up a new goal now that their football days are over -- making the Olympics in curling. But at the end of the day, I've seen thousands of curling shots and situations and that is ultimately going to win us more games. Jared Allen is likely a Pro Football Hall of Fame candidate when he becomes eligible in 2021. "We wanted the reaction when we got on the ice to be 'Oh, how long have you guys been doing this?" Their first opponent: The gold medal-winning team from Pyeongchang led by four-time Olympian John Shuster. The 42-year-old made the Pro Bowl in 2003 and 2006."We're curling our best right now, except for this crap," Allen said. You don't make your shots and give up six in the first, that's a little tough."Bulger threw for 22,814 yards in his 10-year NFL career, which was spent primarily with the St. Louis Rams. But, by hopping into the sport early in the Olympic cycle, they have almost three more years before the team for the 2022 Games is chosen. We didn't want it to seem like it was just some media hype, or just trying to stay relevant. "He rounded up former Rams quarterback Marc Bulger and Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck and tackle Michael Roos to form a team; all were Pro Bowl selections during their NFL career, and living near Nashville, Tennessee.Although curling matches are often conceded when they are out of reach, the Olympians kept playing through the eighth (of 10) ends, to help the football players gain the experience they'll need if they are going to be more competitive. In their match against the Olympians, there was trash-talking — or banter, depending on whom you ask — and Hamilton even gave them some of his old curling gear.But their NFL experience did help in other ways, priming them with not just physical fitness but also good practice habits, making decisions on the fly and improving through film study and coaching.When he first started watching, Bulger said, he would see curlers setting up protective stones called guards and thought they were missing their shots. We got smoked in this one, but we have another one at (4 p.m.). It was chill, and the winners have to buy the losers beer," he said. We just have some extremely athletic individuals who respect sport but have a need to compete in their blood. "Like many of those who only experience curling every four years on TV, the football players saw the sweeping and the shouting and underestimated how hard it is. "It's like a novice chess player going against" a grandmaster.They got off to a rough start in their first match, falling 10-1 to Steve Birklid's Seattle-based rink on Thursday night. ""Like any other sport, you have to learn, try to figure out how to get better," Bulluck said. The problem: He didn't compete in any Olympic sports.A 12-year NFL veteran who spent most of his career with the Chiefs and Vikings, Allen was lamenting the end of his playing days when a friend dared him to try an Olympic sport.