Are you ready for some free football Android apps?

The official season hasnt started yet, but the drama and excitement of football season has already begun. Football may have the shortest schedules of all professional sports leagues, but its the most action-packed, across college and professional games. With the right Android apps, you dont have to miss a single play, pass or touchdown. There are several options for streaming games directly to your handset, and other apps that update scores and news in real-time. Lets not forget about the fantasy sports leagues, which can be a world in its own. Here are the best of the best football Android apps, no matter your team loyalty.

NFL 12 (Free)

The official NFL app delivers live scores and stats, along with the latest NFL.com content, including news and updates. You can customize the app to follow your favorite team. Theres also an option to customize alerts for individual games, or the entire NFL season, depending on your needs. Already updated for 2012, the official NFL app includes pre-season content as well.

ESPN ScoreCenter (Free)

ESPN is the ultimate authority on sports and has an Android app devoted to hundreds of sports leagues around the world. Its great for following college and pro football, as the app delivers the ESPN experience youve come to know and love. Get scores, news and standings for your favorite teams, following every game throughout the season, with options to personalize the app for teams and games that matter to you. Of course, you also get deep news and analysis from ESPNs always-on editorial staff, a collection of the industrys best personalities that know sports better than anyone.

NFL Sunday Ticket (Free)

The most avid football fans likely have a DirecTV account for Sunday Ticket access, which has been extended to mobile devices. With the NFL Sunday Ticket app for Android youll get live streams of every supported game including the Red Zone Channel, along with player and team stats, scores, standings, schedules and game highlights. The app works for existing subscribers, and is only available in the U.S. for now.

Download the Appolicious Android app

WatchESPN (Free)

While DirecTV offers NFL games for streaming, WatchESPN plays college games as well. The app provides live streaming from the bulk of ESPNs family of networks, along with news, highlights and analysis. That means youll also be able to watch feature programming, like SportsCenter, Pardon The Interruption, Mike & Mike In The Morning, SportsNation and other original shows. Just search for your favorite team or program to view the schedule of upcoming feeds and archives. Youll need to be a cable subscriber with Bright House, Comcast or Time Warner to gain access to WatchESPN, or a Verizon FiOS user. ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU are also available to subscribers with certain packages.

Yahoo! Sportacular (Free)

Yahoos always been a great hub for sports scores, and their updated Sportacular app makes it easy to follow your favorite pro and college teams. Youll get live play-by-play stats, standings and news, all powered by Yahoo! Sports, one of the webs top sports sources. Best of all, for Android users, theres a widget for your home screen for quick access to the latest scores for the teams youre following. Click through for deep stats and data breakdowns across any sport you follow in the app, and create adjustable alerts for when a game starts and ends, score changes,and more.

StubHub (Free)

As amazing as it is to view live games on your Android device, theres nothing like seeing the game live from the stadium. If you want to buy or sell tickets to a football game, StubHub is the app to do it. Its perhaps the largest fan-to-fan marketplace for event tickets, including sporting events. You can search by event or location, see your seats on the stadium chart, and purchase a ticket right from your phone. If youd like to be alerted of available tickets for your favorite team, set up a tracker. You can also manage your listings from the StubHub Android app, adjusting ticket prices and more.

Yahoo! Fantasy Football 12 (Free)

Im not sure Yahoos ever as busy as it is during football season, when millions head to Yahoo! Fantasy Football. Follow your team, league and player stats during the game in real-time, and manage your roster directly from the app. You can set and view your lineup for days and upcoming weeks, and track your past, present and future matchups as well. The app is also a good game companion, delivering real-time live scoring and stats to keep track of the real world circumstances that can change the entire outlook of a teams season.