Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand pulled out of his chance to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out at Wembley on Sunday night for their NFL match against the Chicago Bears.

Ferdinand had been lined up to act as the Buccaneers' honorary captain for the evening, but he instead chose to stay at home after his side's 6-1 defeat to local rivals Manchester City earlier in the day.

United owners the Glazer family also own the Buccs and had organised for the England centre-back to fly down to Wembley via helicopter after the Manchester derby.

The Glazers' weekend was made worse as they saw their NFL side lose 24-18 to the Bears.

Written by
Jack Prescott