As we leave 2024 there are a ton of stories that shaped the year in sports. And as we enter 2025 the question has to be can any of these stories equal the drama from 2024?
Kanas City Chiefs Repeat As Super Bowl Champs
The year began with the Kansas City Chiefs becoming the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since the 2003-2004 New England Patriots. As we head into 2025, K.C. under the leadership of Andy Reid and all-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes is 15-1 and looking to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to three-peat.
The growing belief around the league is it’s highly plausible that they’ll make more history and get it done. Further cementing the legacies of the aforementioned Reid and Mahomes and putting both in rarified air among the greatest ever at their respective jobs.
But don’t tell that to former four-time Super Bowl champion-winning quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who isn’t in the majority.
Terry Bradshaw Hating On Chiefs
During Sunday’s Fox NFL Sunday, the outspoken Bradshaw said, “Why am I upsetting everyone?”
“You see how quick they get rid of the ball now?” he added. “See that quick, quick, quick, quick, quick? I just think they’re gonna load up against a team like Buffalo. They’re gonna load up against a team like Baltimore. And those are the two teams that can beat them, and I think that’s gonna happen. I think one of them is gonna [take them out], even though it would be in Kansas City.”
The odds are in their favor, and especially with the brain trust of Reid, Mahomes and Steve Spagnuolo, who’s the only defensive coordinator to win four Super Bowls.
What’s Next For Caitlin Clark?
After having her illustrious college career at Iowa end as the all-time leading scorer in women’s or men’s NCAA history with 3,951 points, she also became the first Division 1 player to reach 3,000 points, 1,000 assists and 800 rebounds. Clark went on to win Rookie of the Year in the WNBA after being the No. 1 overall pick. Clark’s arrival helped the once dormant Indiana Fever reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
In a league that’s struggled with viewership, interest, endorsement deals, revenue, team sponsorships amongst many other things, Clark’s arrival helped elevate the league in all of those areas.
Perhaps the biggest story of Clark’s first season came about three weeks ago when she put the elephant in the room to rest and acknowledged her privilege being Caucasian while giving credit to Black players that have come before her.
“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” she said. “A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them.”
Dawn Staley, JuJu Or The Field In 2025?
The Caitlin Clark effect has eyes all on women’s college basketball. With the South Carolina Gamecocks going undefeated last season in capturing Dawn Staley’s third national title since 2017, the belief is they could repeat after losing just center Kamilla Cardoso to the pros from that team.
But, it won’t be easy with players like UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame’s Hanna Hidalgo, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, and last but definitely not least USC’s JuJu Watkins, who’s been compared to former UConn great Maya Moore.
Watkins is the next big thing in women’s college basketball, and she’s even been dubbed the Michael Jordan of the Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird analogy to Clark versus Angel Reese.
READ MORE: “Black Racism at Its Finest’: Caitlin Clark Will Never Get White Savior Treatment In A Black League
These are just three of the big stories from 2024 that played out right in front of us daily, and as we enter 2025 they’ll be some of the biggest stories going forward.
