Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders always had a plan for college football. As a visionary, Sanders knew he would be misunderstood and must withstand the doubters on every rung he planned to travel in the collegiate game. However, the Prime effect is intact after winning the first game of the season as the new coach of the Colorado Buffaloes against the highly favored TCU.
Sanders donned a white cowboy hat and outfitted his team in a crisp, new, all-white uniform with gold numbers and trim. The drip is just part of the package of unapologetic confidence from a cultural juggernaut unlike the NCAA football spectrum has ever seen.
When attached to a more extensive program like Colorado, it only elevates Sanders’ ethos as he continues his crusade to change the game for coaches in college football.
“We’re doing things that have never been done, and that makes people uncomfortable,” Sanders said in the postgame press conference after the 45-42 win over the TCU Horned Frogs. “When you see a confident Black man sitting up here talking his talk and walking his walk, coaching 75 percent African-Americans in the locker room, that’s kind of threatening.
“Oh, they don’t like that…but guess what, we’re going to consistently do what we do, becomes I’m here and I ain’t going nowhere, and I’m about to get comfortable in a minute.”
Sanders gave more visibility to the HBCU ranks when he brought his son, rising star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and highly recruited cornerback Travis Hunter to Jackson State University. Sanders led Jackson State football to two straight SWAC Championship wins before departing for Boulder.
Although he was criticized for leaving the HBCU system, he only raised its profile and forced the NFL and more to pay attention to HBCU players. Now at Colorado, his latest challenge is to disrupt how coaching is done and perceived at the highest levels of college ball. The job won’t be easy, regardless of his talent-rich team and great start to the season.
However, Team Prime is everywhere and acting like watchdogs during Prime’s tenure. Media and culture personality Jemele Hill called out what she believed was potentially undercover critiques of Sanders by the commentators during Saturday’s game.
“Really interesting listening to some of the commentary around this Colorado-TCU game. Lot of coded stuff,” Hill posted. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt were the commentators. When one X user posted that Johnson “removed the dog whistle filter” on TV, Hill responded, “Sure did. I knew my brother from Detroit was going to hold it down.”
She also pointed out amid the shock and awe of the TCU upset win that his current path forged in Jackson, Mississippi, as coach of the JSU Tigers.
“Him leaving JSU was inevitable, but sometimes it’s about how you do things,” Hill posted. “Think he made some comments that rubbed folks the wrong way. Understand this: Colorado doesn’t happen without JSU. They gave him an opportunity that not a single Power 5 school was willing to give him, and he proved he knew what he was doing. His path to success happened because of a HBCU, and that can’t get lost in his story.”
Deion Sanders has always had a plan for college football. Now, the world is tasting what he’s been cooking.
The Houston Texans are in a rebuild under first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.
One of the mainstays on the Texans roster is left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who’s being counted on to help guide the young Texans team amidst this rebuild. Tunsil, has been selected for the Pro Bowl in three of the past four seasons, and in 2022 he was the only Texans player that receive the nod.
In fact, since his arrival in 2019, Tunsil is one of only three Texans to earn Pro Bowl selection, with the others being former quarterback Deshaun Watson and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who are no longer with the franchise.
With the loss of those all-world performers, securing Tunsil became a priority and the Texans dropped a big-money extension on him in March that made him the highest-paid left tackle in the NFL (three years, $75 million, with $50 million guaranteed).
Music Is Tunsil’s Other Passion
While Tunsil loves playing the game and making a bag doing so, the former Ole Miss product already has plans for when he retires from the NFL.
The 29-year-old fleet-footed blindside protector told “The Pivot” podcast that music is definitely in his future when he hangs up the cleats.
“I have this company called Devine Tree. It’s like a creative umbrella, like a central hub that powers our pursuits in sports, fashion, music, training, whatever you want to name it.
“And I actually want to invest in studios because my passion is music, so I’ll always want to be around music when I’m done playing. So I want to invest in studios.
Tunsil then mentions how he wants to help local artists pursue their dreams, like he did with football.
“I actually want to have like this vinyl shop and in the back is like this speakeasy, like, to have a bar speakeasy.
“They had these days where local artists can perform or we can have like a little speakeasy night. I want to start a record label maybe like, you know, I want to have my hands in a lot of pots as much as I can.”
Are These Tunsil’s Last Few Seasons?
Tunsil will play out the final year of his current deal, and the new one will kick in beginning next season. Meaning, he’ll be there to at least protect Stroud’s blindside through the signal caller’s first contract with the team.
Then, you could see the former Miami Dolphins first-round pick — who saw his draft stock drop on draft night when a video surfaced of him smoking marijuana in a gas mask — head off into the sunset. That video caused Tunsil, a projected top-five pick to slip to No 13.
Now, eight seasons later, and for the second-time in his career, Tunsil is the highest-paid in the league at his position.
Not too shabby for a guy that nearly had his career seriously derailed because of a 30-second video.
The 2023 college football season got off to a great start for the Alabama Crimson Tide with their 56-7 win over Middle Tennessee State. In the game starting quarterback Jalen Milroe set a school record, becoming the first quarterback to throw three touchdowns and run for two more in a game.
Milroe, the four-star product from Katy, Texas, by way of Tompkins High School, is one of four quarterbacks vying to replace Heisman Trophy-winning signal-caller Bryce Young, who was the No.1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers. Based on Milroe’s performance Saturday, and the fact that Saban gave him the first crack at it, one would believe it’s pretty much his job to lose. Or is it?
With No. 11 Texas heading to Tuscaloosa next weekend for another early season tilt, Milroe will have to prove himself against a much stiffer Longhorns team.
Milroe Looked The Part
From the jump, Milroe looked like a much more polished and confident passer, as he threw touchdown passes of 47, 48 and 29 yards to three different receivers. In total, Milroe went 13 of 18 for 194 yards and those touchdowns.
Milroe displayed playmaking ability with this legs that separate him from other elite college quarterbacks. He used his improvisational skills when he turned a disastrous snap into a 21-yard touchdown run on the Crimson Tide’s first possession.
The 6-foot-2 specimen finished the night with 48 yards rushing and two paydirt touches.
A normally mundane and stoic Nick Saban seemed excited about his QB, and told reporters this in his postgame interview.
“Jalen did a good job,” Saban said. “I think he’s had a good fall camp. I thought he played well in both scrimmages. I think he’s more confident and doing a good job in the passing game.”
“His athleticism helps him,” Saban added. “You know he’s a threat to pull the ball, which he scored a touchdown on that. And I thought he threw the ball effectively. So I thought he played well.”
But was it well enough to solidify his standing at QB1?
Saban Says He Can’t Predict Future
When asked how if he felt Saturday’s performance by Milroe would help him going forward, Saban sounded like someone who doesn’t know what to expect.
“You’re asking me to speculate and answer a question about how a guy is going to perform in the future?” he said. “I don’t really know. I love him. I think he’s doing well. I know he’s working hard to improve. He’s a good competitor. He’ll do everything he can to play his best.”
Demonstrating with a can of Coke that Saban never drinks during his pressers, the seven-time national championship-winning coach said this:
“This is a Coke bottle,” he said. “It’s not a crystal ball. It’s hard to know.”
As the Tide go forward, Milroe gives them the best chance to have success and a shot at winning another national title. While none of the four come close to what the aforementioned Young offered, Milroe offers a rare blend of speed, arm strength, power and elusive escapability from the QB position.
Dare we say it? A Cam Newton season like 2010 is very plausible in Tuscaloosa.
The dust has settled from Saturday’s huge Colorado win over No. 17 TCU. The significance of this win for a Buffaloes program looking to return to the days of yesteryear can’t be understated.
And, when you consider the roster overhaul by first-year head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders this didn’t seem possible until it happened. The CU Buffs’ surprising 45-42 win over the Horned Frogs, who are just eight months removed from a College Football Playoff national title loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, is a pretty big deal.
The win also highlighted Sanders’ arrival at Boulder as a success already, and it didn’t hurt that Sanders still makes his offseason home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a place he’s called home since he played for the Dallas Cowboys. Another interesting tidbit is the Horned Frogs spurned Sanders in 2021 to hire current head coach Sonny Dykes. While Sanders led the troops, it was the play of his two brightest stars that shined brightest.
Coach Prime told reporters this in his postgame interview:
“We had some guys that singled themselves out with their playing and playing ability. A lot of you guys doubted — one of them from an HBCU — I think he had 510 yards passing in a Power Five football game. And he happens to be my son, and I’m proud of him, tremendously.”
In Saturday’s game, which happened to the first Power Five game for both QB Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, both went out and had themselves a day. Sanders, the 2021 four-star signal-caller who followed his dad to both JSU and Colorado, passed for a school record 510 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Sanders playing this well at this level shouldn’t be that big of a surprise. He did have 26 offers coming out of high school, and those included Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oregon, Florida FSU, and many others.
His good friend and two-way star Travis Hunter, who was the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit in 2022, showed why he’s a projected top-five pick in 2025 if he chooses to leave. The dynamic Hunter played 129 snaps in 103-degree heat, tallying 11 receptions for 119 yards on offense. On defense, Hunter had three tackles, three passes defensed and one of the best and most instinctive interceptions you’ll see at any level of football.
Both saw their Heisman odds jump significantly with Saturday’s performance. Sanders went from +15000 to +4000. Hunter went from +10000 to +4000).
In wake of his team’s stunning performance, Coach Prime didn’t miss the opportunity to push his two stars’ Heisman bids.
“We had a couple guys who should be a front-runner for the Heisman right now,” he said. “Who did that? Who did what they did today?”
As for Hunter, who told us during Pac-12 media days that nothing the Buffaloes do should be considered unexpected, he channeled those same feelings following Saturday’s big win.
Next up is the Buffaloes’ home opener against archrival Nebraska.
The 2022 Dallas Cowboys went 12-5 and even won a wild card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The win ended the illustrious 23-year career of future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. The following week, for the second consecutive season the Cowboys saw their season come to an end at the hands of the rival San Francisco 49ers.
A big reason for their loss was the play of quarterback Dak Prescott, who tossed two backbreaking interceptions which halted scoring drives.
Unfortunately, for Prescott and the Cowboys, that is who he was in 2022, as the former Mississippi State Bulldogs star tossed a career-high 15 interceptions. Based on Prescott’s career prior to last season, most would call the high amount of turnovers an anomaly, and that it isn’t something they’d expect to see happen again.
The Cowboys have Super Bowl aspirations, and if they hope to make those aspirations come true it begins with Dak not turning the ball over, and getting the football to his playmakers.
With head coach Mike McCarthy taking over playcalling duties this season, one should expect more of the running game and more high percentage passes from Prescott. This should help limit the turnovers that uncharacteristically plagued him last season. Prescott also won’t have a shortage of weaponry at his disposal, and he knows it’s his job to get them the football.
“Yeah, a lot of speed. You can name a lot of guys,” Prescott said of the offense via the team website. “We have a few guys that have speed but are playmakers. Speed is one thing, but to be a playmaker is another thing.
“For me it’s about getting these guys the ball,” Prescott said. “Whether it’s in the run game or the pass game, or just out in space to allow them to do what they do best — break tackles, make people miss and show off their speed. We’ve got a a handful of guys that’s going to make my job easier.”
The Cowboys offense boasts the aforementioned Prescott under center, plus explosive running back Tony Pollard toting the mail. The wide receiver room has 2022 All-Pro CeeDee Lamb, as well as Michael Gallup, who’s looking for a bounce-back season. In free agency they added the speedy Brandin Cooks, who’s posted six 1000-yard receiving seasons while playing for four different franchises.
The team is also expecting a huge jump from second-year receiver Jalen Tolbert.
With one of the best defenses in the league led by back-to-back DPOY runner-up Micah Parsons, the Cowboys believe they’re primed to make a run. But it’ll all come down to Prescott avoiding mistakes while dialing up the big plays to his weapons.
The Dallas Cowboys have received a ton of hate from many football fans. This is nothing new, but after hearing how America’s Team gathered around one of their injured players during his journey back to the gridiron, it would be hard to disdain this team as they’re looking to start their season.
Cowboys corner Jourdan Lewis has been removed from football for nearly a year because of the devastating foot injury he suffered when catching an interception against the Detroit Lions. It was a dark time for him, and while getting ready for his return, he fell into a slump that saw him block his friends and teammates out.
The cornerback was activated from the PUP list and would not respond to his teammates or coaches’ text messages, DallasCowboys.com reports. Instead of assuming that Lewis quit on himself and the team, they figured he needed some motivation.
Lewis said the coaching staff and a few others visited him at his home to show support for him while he was down and out.
“It made all the difference, honestly,” he admitted. “When I was down, all of the coaches came to see me — [Dan Quinn], coach Al [Harris], coach [Joe] Whitt — those guys came to see me and it just made all the difference. To see they were fighting for me made it easier to go out there and perform.”
That support that he got from his coaches and his peers allowed him to push through his struggles to return to the field. Now his next challenge is if he can pick back up on his movement and instincts against real players on the field.
It’s one thing to get your cuts and footwork back against training dummies, but when someone is in front of you running elite routes at game speed, things can come at you pretty quickly, and Jourdan Lewis wants to make sure he’s prepared for that.
“I wanted to be ready for training camp,” he said, per the Dallas Cowboys website. “To get rocking and rolling so I could get some experience against my team. Going into the game week, it’s about trying to get in the fold of things [now and] next week.”
Lewis participated in six games and recorded one interception, one pass defended, and 26 total tackles in the 2022 season. He hopefully looks to play a full season with a loaded Cowboys defense this year.
When Aaron Rodgers made the decision to leave Green Bay after 17 seasons, many believed he’d probably retire. But, still playing at a high level the four-time NFL MVP was more than fine with a trade to the rising New York Jets. In fact, Rodgers even helped orchestrate the move, giving him and the Packers fresh starts.
Since his arrival in late April, Rodgers has said all the right things as he looks to lead a Jets franchise that hasn’t been to a Super Bowl in 55 seasons. As the 2023 season approaches, Rodgers recently met with the media to detail his experience thus far in the “City That Never Sleeps.”
According to Rodgers, who didn’t look to happy in his last couple seasons in Green Bay, the change of scenery has done the 39-year-old some good.
“I told a friend this has felt like waking up inside of a dream, this whole experience — a beautiful dream.”
“So many times you have a dream and you wake up and you’re like, I just want to get back into this thing and you can’t quite get back into that dream. I’ve woken up inside of that dream it feels like. That’s been really, really special.”
To hear Rodgers say that proves that he made the right decision in allowing the Packers to trade him to the Jets, who have real Super Bowl aspirations.
The insertion of a future first-ballot Hall of Famer into a Jets team that was once 7-3, but finished 7-10 because of it’s anemic offense, gives the entire Jets franchise and fan base some serious HOPE.
Rodgers has no shortage of talent at his disposal with the two-headed monster at running back in Dalvin Cook and Breece Hall. At receiver Rodgers has the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson and a couple of former Packers in Allan Lazard and Randall Cobb.
The wild card to the offense could be former Kansas City Chiefs speedster Mecole Hardman, who should get ample opportunities to make plays in multiple ways. His speed will stretch defenses, opening up things underneath for the others.
Defensively the Jets are one of the most menacing units in the league, led by reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner and dominant interior defensive lineman Quinnen Williams.
Will Rodgers add that elusive second Super Bowl ring to his already stacked trophy case?
Track star Noah Lyles is doubling down on his strong opinions of the definition of a “world champion.” After torching the NBA with his literal interpretation of global competitions being the only standard for a world champion title, Lyles is reveling in his newfound agitator status.
“To be honest, I’m just glad we’re having the conversation,” Lyles said during an interview with FloTrack. “It’s been underlying for so long but no one really wanted to talk about it. With everybody actually saying things about it, now you have dialogue. Of course, maybe there will be opinions that will change and maybe there won’t, but at least we’re having the conversation.”
Lyles generated a mixed bag of opinions and commentary from his statement. Some active NBA players took offense with Lyles’s perspective and were vocal with their distaste of the suggestion of their league’s prize not being a global one. Kevin Durant posted on social media, “Somebody help this brother,” with his Phoenix Suns teammate Devin Booker adding a face-palming emoji to express his sentiments.
Aaron Gordon from the 2023 NBA World Champion Denver Nuggets posted, “Whatever… I’m smoking buddy in the 200m,” as a playful challenge to the comments. Lyles added during the FloTrack interview, “everybody wants to take a shot at the champ but you have to handle the high schoolers before you get to me.”
Lyles feels that he has checked the temperature globally and found that while most of the world understands his perspective, the U.S. rejection is a testament to Americans’ singular view of themselves.
“It’s funny, you look at my comments, you’ll have people in the U.S. versus the world,” Lyles continued. “Everyone in the world is very much on my side and the U.S. is usually leaning towards the opinion of the NBA. But that just goes to show how we view ourselves in the U.S. and I’m just glad we’re having the conversation.”
Ironically, not all in the NBA feel like the players, and the topic was brought up years before Noah Lyles from one of the NBA’s most respected minds.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said something eerily similar close to 13 years ago. Popovich coached the national team from 2015-2021, capturing gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“It doesn’t make sense for an NBA team to call themselves world champions,” Popovich said during a 2010 interview with The Boston Herald. “I don’t remember anybody playing anybody outside our borders to get that tag. Isn’t that true? I keep waiting for somebody to tell me I’ve missed something.”
Noah Lyles put a spotlight on the NBA’s branding of its titles, but will it effect any change is the real question.
On Saturday afternoon the Colorado Buffaloes under the direction of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders went into Fort Worth, Texas, and upset the reigning national runner-up TCU Horned Frogs 45-42. There was no shortage of stars for the Buffs, who were recently called arguably the worst roster in college football by ESPN college football analyst Tom Luginbill.
The Buffaloes were led by junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who in his first Power Five game passed for a school record 510 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Sanders had plenty of help on a hot, steamy day down in Fort Worth with four receivers going over 100 yards receiving led by freshman running back Dylan Edwards who tallied 159 yards and four total touchdowns.
But, it was the play of 2022 No. 1 overall recruit Travis Hunter that truly amazed that masses.
The dynamic two-way star channeled his inner Deion Sanders by playing over 100 snaps, while also tallying 11 receptions for over 100 yards and one of the most sensational interceptions you’ll ever see to halt a TCU scoring opportunity.
Ever since Deion arrived in December there have been questions about how he was rebuilding the roster.
According to The Athletic, as many as 68 new players donned the black and gold on Saturday, with only 10 remaining scholarship players from the previous regime.
Following the win, an elated Sanders unleashed on all the naysayers.
“I got receipts. I know who they are,” Sanders said. “I tried to tell you about Travis Hunter but you didn’t want to believe me, because I’m just a lofty old, young coach. I don’t know nothing about football. I just played in the NFL for 14. Played at a high level in college for four. And been coaching youth all the way up for a long time. How do you think we got Dylan Edwards? I coached him when he was 4-7 years old. That’s why we got Dylan Edwards.”
The Buffaloes entered the game as 20.5 point underdogs but somehow found a way to block out all the naysayers for a huge opening-day win on the road.
Following Sanders’ departure from Jackson State in December, he caught a lot of blowback for leaving the HBCU for a Power Five opportunity. Hill at the time said it was the right move for his career, but it hurt because it was an HBCU that he was leaving.
Following Saturday’s huge win, which tied the Buffaloes’ win total from last season, Hill took to Twitter to say that without JSU Colorado doesn’t happen for Coach Prime.
Is she correct?
Probably so, because prior to landing the JSU gig Coach Prime had never coached beyond the high school level. And without that historical three-year run at JSU l, he doesn’t gain the necessary experience to become a Power Five head coach.
20-year-old American tennis player Ben Shelton is learning on the job and so far the results are good. Shelton advanced to the fourth round of the US Open on Friday with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Aslan Karatsev. He is the youngest American men’s player ranked inside the top-50 and a run in NYC will loom large in his young career.
Shelton started the year off hot advancing to the quarterfinals in his first appearance at the Australian Open, where he lost to fellow American Tommy Paul in four sets. Paul will be Shelton’s opponent in Sunday’s fourth-round match.
“I’m really happy to be into the next round obviously. Ecstatic. Glad that I had a chance to be in a position similar to this earlier in the year,” Shelton said after winning his singles and mixed doubles matches on Friday.
“So I feel kind of prepared what’s to come mentally and physically, being able to play on a big stage at a Grand Slam against the exact same guy I’m going to be playing next round. Feel fortunate I got that experience.”
At 6 feet 4 and 195 pounds Shelton is a big strong athlete with a booming serve that routinely touches 140 mph-plus. His second serve has a lot of kick, and he is powerful off both the forehand and backhand wings. He is quick and has good hands, so he is comfortable at net as well.
The would be college junior is just getting started and should be able to add more spin and touch to his game as he matures.
Despite having two parents that were accomplished tennis players — mom Lisa Witsken Shelton was a highly ranked junior player and dad Bryan was a pro player and head coach of the University of Florida men’s team — Ben didn’t start playing tennis until he was 12.
That’s late by top pro standards.
But he’s taken to the family business so to speak and within just a year on the professional tour he’s cracked the top 50. He was in the top 40 after his run in Australia.
Shelton struggled after the early season success in Australia. Until this week he hadn’t put together consecutive match wins since the year’s first major. Maybe some of that had to do with the clay court season, which is a surface he hasn’t played a ton on in his young career.
Maybe it was the reality that everyone on tour is good, so it’s going to take more than talent to win. Something he discussed on Friday.
“Yeah, I think it’s not about always hitting through the guy that you’re playing. I’ve kind of found being out here on tour, everyone is really good at hitting the ball. You hit it hard, hit it the same speed, guys can play and they can play really well. I think having some variety and mixing things up is something that’s important for me and my game style.”
Sunday’s match against Paul will be another test for Shelton to see what he’s learned since the last time they played and how quickly he can assess a situation and make changes in a match.
“Yeah, I think that was a match where I was a little unsure of what to expect. I hadn’t really been in that situation before, quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, on Rod Laver, packed stadium,” Shelton said when asked about playing Paul in Australia.
“I think I panicked a little bit, pressed early in the match, and he kind of got on top of me and was the frontrunner from there. I hope to do a little bit better job of that this time around.”
That tough loss is part of the education and journey for young Shelton. When you play the top-10 and top-20 in the world you cannot afford to have your level dip. If it does, you have to find a way to mentally hang tough until you get your game back.
These are all lessons you learn over time and with years of match experience. It continues for Shelton on Sunday and we will see what he’s learned so far.
The holdout of Kansas City Chiefs superstar defensive lineman doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. With the season opener for the defending champions taking place Thursday versus the Detroit Lions, Chris Jones seems content to hold out until his contract demands are met.
The four-time All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection has even mentioned that he might sit out until Week 8 of the season, only reporting so he can get credit for the season.
The inability to come to an agreement between K.C. and their second-most important player has All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce a bit confused and a tad stressed. During a recent episode of his “New Heights” podcast with his brother Jason of the Philadelphia Eagles, Travis said this about Jones’ holdout:
“I just don’t get it.”
Kelce knows one thing you don’t do is comment on another man’s money or contract situation with the team. So, what he’s not getting maybe he isn’t supposed to get.
“Chris, can you come back?” Kelce said on the “New Heights” podcast. “You’re really scaring me man. I don’t get it. You must know something I don’t know, because I just don’t get it. I really want to win another Super Bowl ring with you, brother. This is me bargaining you to just come back and play football for the Chiefs. Please, we need you. We need you bad, and I don’t know what the situation is.”
“He’s just the best defensive player in the league right now,” Kelce added. “He’s deserving of all the money in the world. Chris, I love you. Please come back now.”
Kelce knows the importance of Jones to the Chiefs defense and team. With Jones the defense can do things to really affect the opponent. Without him they’ll likely be forced to score more points weekly, and with Patrick Mahomes at the helm it’s definitely doable but probably not sustainable.
Over the past five seasons with Jones on the field K.C. ranks No. 1 in QB pressure percentage.
Without him, that key stat dips to 28th. For a team use to playing with leads because of its high-scoring offense, that’s huge, considering how often they’re able to bring pressure with a lead.
On Friday, the usually reserved Chiefs head coach Andy Reid sounded as if he’s grown tired of the back-and-forth.
“Chris has chosen to go this route. Some other guys have chosen to get their deals done and come in and play. I’m not here to criticize one way or the other. We’ve had a lot of success with the guys that we have, and we go with it,” Reid said.
“Other than that, I take the distractions and throw them out the door and let’s get on with the real.”
Jones reportedly wants to be highest-paid defensive player in the league or at least in the neighborhood. Somewhere in the $30 million per season range, right behind Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald, whose $31.7 million per year contract is the highest for defensive players in the league.
This past week FS‘1s sports debate show, ‘Undisputed’ returned to the airwaves with a whole new cast. The show, which had been off the radar since former co-host Shannon Sharpe left in mid-June, returned with a star-studded cast of former NFL stars, including Michael Irvin, Keyshawn Johnson and Richard Sherman.
Skip Bayless, the show’s host, also added his good friend and legendary rapper Lil Wayne to the mix. Former longtime ESPN NBA analyst Rachel Nichols also joined the cast as well.
But none of that seemed to help the show’s floundering ratings, in comparison to its rival show ESPN’s “First Take.” In many ways “Undisputed,” looked like a circus with the newbies consistently yelling over a hopeless-looking Bayless for a good portion of Monday’s first show. While, things got a little better during the week, sources told Front Office Sports that having all three on there Monday wasn’t a smart move.
“It was a panicked producer’s decision to put everyone on Day 1. That is what desperation looks like,” the unidentified insider told Front Office Sports. “What did they think would happen with four Type A talkers? In an effort to do a show where [Skip] took on everyone, he ended up as a host.”
Per Front Office Sports, if the ratings throughout the first week are any indication this new revamped version of “Undisputed,” could be in some major trouble.
Through Wednesday’s numbers, “Undisputed” had just 329,000 viewers to 1.345 million viewers for “First Take.” That’s over 1 million more folks tuning in to ESPN, which is roughly 372,000 more viewers per day.
The aforementioned Sharpe’s final shows in mid-June did better with a daily average of 154,000 viewers.
With Sharpe set to join Bayless’ close friend Stephen A. Smith and “First Take” on Monday, producers at FS1 have to be searching for a way to increase ratings to stay competitive.
That may be very hard with the Pro Football Hall of Famer scheduled to appear on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout the NFL season. That move should boost the viewership of “First Take,” even more, adding to their already decisive advantage in morning television sports talk ratings.
Russell Westbrook has endured the fan-generated moniker of “Westbrick” during his two-season stint as a guard on the Los Angeles Lakers. Former teammate Pat Beverley is speaking out about what he considers an unfair nickname and treatment of Westbrook, who he feels was an integral part of that Lakers team.
“I thought it was bad for Russ,” Beverley said on “Gil’s Arena” podcast with Gilbert Arenas. “He was the heartbeat of the team. We not even talking [about how] he broke the record for triple-doubles off the bench [in] half a season.”
“No one’s even talking about it. It’s the craziest thing in the world. The man has broke every f**king record … He shot 41, 40 percent from three [and] people call him ‘Westbrick.’ How? How?”
Ironically, Beverley and Westbrook have been at odds for years. Their feud began in 2013 when Westbrook, then an Oklahoma City Thunder phenom, tore his meniscus after colliding with Beverley on the Houston Rockets.
Fast-forward to the 2021-2022 season, Beverley and Westbrook were at odds when he was a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. During a 124-104 Lakers loss to the Timberwolves in Minnesota in 2022, Westbrook air-balled a three-point, sparking a Karl-Anthony Towns dumbfounded look and Beverley trolling Westbrook.
In return, during the postgame press conference, Westbrook disrespected both Beverley and Towns by saying, “I don’t think they were talking to me. … They haven’t done nothing in this league for me to pay attention.”
Now Beverley, with his new position as a guard on the Philadelphia 76ers and Westbrook on the Los Angeles Clippers, wants it known that he respects Westbrook and the world should too.
“In this world you get out what you put in,” Beverley continued. “If he didn’t have his triple-double Russ phase, they wouldn’t critique him as much.”
Earlier this year, Westbrook agreed on a new two-year, $7.8 million deal to stay with the L.A. Clippers. The nine-time All-Star and former MVP was a triple-double king during his time on the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he almost normalized the feat. Last season, Westbrook shot 35.6 percent from distance, which is a respectable performance by any standard.
From Skip Bayless, who terrorized Westbrook with the slanderous name, to his kids even hearing it, Russell Westbrook deserves respect, and Pat Beverley is here to demand it.
Errol Spence, Jr. knows that Terence Crawford beat him badly, but that is not stopping him from taking another crack at getting his titles back. Spence’s trainer, Derrick James, announced on Thursday that his fighter has activated his rematch clause to face “Bud” again.
The next iteration of their matchup will probably happen at the 154-pound limit of junior middleweight — which Spence has always said he would go up to after his first fight against Crawford — the higher-weight class benefits Spence, the naturally larger man. However, Crawford’s dominant performance against Spence has many questioning whether he should make a second attempt.
In front of a sold-out crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 29, Crawford knocked down Spence three times throughout the fight that only took nine rounds of a planned twelve. Crawford outclassed “The Big Fish” and battered him bloody, proving he was the top fighter at welterweight.
The win made Crawford the first undisputed welterweight champion in the four-belt era, a feat neither Floyd Mayweather, Jr. nor Manny Pacquiao could accomplish during their time as welterweight kings.
Before the win, Crawford, already undisputed at light welterweight, was popularly considered the underdog regarding revenue and draw. The Vegas oddsmakers had him as the favorite to win before the fight, but many believed Spence to be the people’s favorite. After the win, Crawford has become the man in boxing, letting the world know that his ambitions have no bounds.
From talking trash immediately after the win in the ring to Spence’s stablemate, Jermell Charlo, to announcing his desire to face fellow undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez, “Bud” is owning his moment.
However, Spence holds all the chips for Crawford’s next bout, as they negotiated a rematch clause to be automatically Crawford’s next fight at the discretion of Spence if he lost. After the fight, Crawford received a parade in his native city of Omaha, Nebraska, and went on a media blitz.
Spence went on vacation to lick his wounds. After all, after the fight his stock went down, with even celebrity athletes like Paul Pierce taking potshots, saying the boxer can’t have the nickname “The Truth” that they share anymore because the beating Spence took “goes to show you there’s only one.”
Spence’s trainer James took a beating in the court of public opinion until his latest star pupil, Anthony Joshua, won his heavyweight match against Robert Helenius in the U.K. Now the pair want to regain the belts that made Spence one of the top draws in boxing, but does Terence Crawford have Errol Spence’s number in yet another weight class?
Spence had better hope not, because it would tarnish his boxing brand, possibly irreparably, if Crawford does.
Although more states are enacting recreational cannabis laws, Texas is not one of them, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is not with the smoke. With more NBA players being honest about their usage of the plant, Cuban is not a fan of use while an active player, and there have been consequences when he finds out, namely the loss of a job on his team.
“I’ve traded guys because they smoke too much,” Cuban said on the Pat Bev podcast. “Teams have their own culture, right? If you get some young dudes on there who are just figuring out what the team or NBA culture is, and you’ve got one dude that you walk down the hall in the hotel and you know he’s on that floor and there’s no doubt about it, and then all of a sudden these other kids start picking up on it.”
Cuban believes that peer pressure is alive and well and when it comes to cannabis, he thinks that if one gets away with it, then the rest will follow.
“You see them coming out of their room. You see them a little bit red-eyed coming to practice all of a sudden,” Cuban continued. “You don’t want them going down that road.”
Recently, Kevin Durant was caught trying to be low-key smoking weed at a Drake concert, which is hard to do if you’re a 6-foot-10 superstar. On an episode of “Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” Durant told David Letterman, “it clears the distractions out of your brain a little bit.”
Before the 2020 NBA bubble season, the league announced that there would be no recreational drug testing. When that extended to the bubble, players indulged in cannabis. The assumption is that they are not playing under the influence. However, former Cleveland Cavaliers player JR Smith shed light on the player perspective.
“We was blowing it down in there,” Smith said on the “All the Smoke” podcast. “I’m glad it happened because it finally broke that barrier and that stigma that you couldn’t play and all of this, it was a drug, it was this and that.
“When you go to the bubble basketball, some of the dudes was playing, it was like practice games, kind of situations, so some of them really can’t play that well in front of 30,000,” Smith continued. “But at this same time, you see some of the best levels of basketball, you seen these dudes still doing what they was doing, kicking, killing.”
Cuban knows that players smoke. He doesn’t want it excessively on his team. His perspective treats it like an infection that will make the whole team sick.
“Everybody smokes, right?” Cuban continued on the “Pat Bev Podcast.” “It’s not about that, but there’s smoking, there’s how powerful the s*** you’re doing is, and then there’s how much you do. If you get past that level and there’s a chance you might drag somebody with you, you got to look at the bigger picture.”
In the bigger picture, cannabis does not make sense for the Dallas Mavericks to Mark Cuban.
Deion Sanders begins his tenure as head football coach at Colorado on Saturday against TCU. While Prime was giving his thoughts on the season opener he couldn’t help but look forward to all the future success of his team. Prime believes the football team will be so dominant and make so much money that the school will add a baseball team.
“I want to be so dominating. We’re going to be so dominant that we’re going to pack the stadium, sell out all our apparel, we’re going to do this, we’re going to be on television. We’re gonna command so much revenue for this university that we’re gonna add a baseball team,” Sanders said this week. “That’s the dream. That’s the goal.”
First, slight point of contention. If Prime is successful, the university won’t be adding a new program. It would be bringing baseball back after it was cut as a varsity sport in 1980.
That’s a wild statement for Sanders to make. But he’s been doing that for more than 30 years.
Prime takes over a program that has won at least six games in a season only four times in the last 20 years. That’s abysmal.
The idea that the soon to be Big-12 members will become conference juggernauts and big bowl contenders seems like it’s a long way away. Assuming Prime is in it for the long haul, he and his staff are committed to being relentless recruiters and coaching up the talent they bring in.
But Prime making a bold proclamation is par for the course. He’s been doing that for more than 30 years.
It’s all well and good to talk a good game, but the team has to back it up. Prime, a two-sport professional athlete, will not be on the field performing any feats of dominance for Colorado. We’ll see if his teams will be good enough going forward.
Prime might be a little nostalgic for baseball as he played both collegiately and in the major leagues. Maybe he’ll have a recruit that can play both and he can serve as a mentor.
We have been blessed to be able to live during an era where we witnessed some of sports’ greatest, and most dominant female athletes.
Women such as Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Sue Bird, and many more have dominated at their sports for so long but still have to fight tooth and nail to get the recognition and pay that they deserve.
There’s been countless incidences of women athletes from the wildly successful US women’s soccer team to golfers and WNBA players who have advocated for equal pay, participation and opportunity for women in sports at every level.
Rising tennis star Coco Gauff, along with former tennis player and commentator Mary Carillo, spoke on this disparity at the 50th annual World Tennis Association gala on Friday, Aug. 25.
“I think that for me, using my platform is something that’s always been important to me, whether it’s social justice or such things as equal pay,” Gauff said.
“I’m sure they had no clue what the future was going to look like after starting the WTA, but it takes people like that to start change,” she continued. “And I think that’s what inspires me to speak out. I don’t think I’ll ever do anything that monumental, but I think every little bit, every voice matters.”
This is a discussion that many of us are tired of having, and there are many who are very critical of women’s sports because they believe it doesn’t stack up against men’s sports, refusing to appreciate women’s hoops for its own qualities.
But with the level of influence that some of these athletes hold, there’s no question that they’re turning the tide on that opinion.
This isn’t the first time Gauff has spoken out on these issues.
College basketball players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are adding excitement to the game and increasing ratings and social media interest for women’s sports.
And with rising tennis stars such as Gauff and Naomi Osaka bringing a socially conscious culture to tennis, there is tons of star power for years to come that will keep the game exciting for fans as well as elevating the game, changing the cultural dynamics and adding new elements that make it interesting.
Gauff recognizes her star power, and the amount of potential she has moving forward to influence the next generation in making the pay and respect for women’s sports equal and fair.
“I think that for the WTA to come this far in 50 years means a lot, and I know that I’m ‘the future,’ so hopefully I can lead that kind of movement,” Gauff added. “And hopefully tennis can continue to be the leader throughout that movement.”
This was a powerful moment for women’s sports, and Gauff represents a fresh, new generation of women athletes who will refuse to be silenced in their fight to even out the gender playing field.
Minnesota Vikings All-Pro WR Justin Jefferson is on the eve of his fourth season, following an NFL Offensive Player of the Year award in 2022, and it looks as though he’s about to become a father. A woman with an Instagram account with the name Andrea Galea, who is reported to be a former college girlfriend of Jefferson’s, released a series of text messages between her and Jefferson about the alleged unborn child.
Here we are again. About nine months ago, Jefferson was caught in a similar situation where a woman he allegedly got pregnant leaked text messages of the All-Pro asking the woman to get an abortion.
In this latest incident, the messages that are alleged to be from Jefferson, there doesn’t seem to be any willingness on the receiver’s part to be involved in Galea’s life until the baby is born.
“U wanted the kid you can take care of it,” one of the alleged messages from Jefferson read. “Again u don’t know me for the last time u swear I know me. AND THIS IS A KID. A WHOLE CHILD. I tried to tell u this is how it was going to go u didn’t believe me. Call your mom and talk to her she the one that influenced you to go through with it. Tell her to come and help you.”
We don’t know what is true and what isn’t. What you can infer through the texts, if they are indeed from Jefferson, is that he does know this woman. He never denies a sexual encounter with her.
You can also infer that Jefferson wanted Galea to terminate the pregnancy when he mentions that her mother “influenced” her “to go through with it.”
Jefferson, 24, is entering the prime of his career. He will be looking for a lucrative contract extension in the next year; if he continues to perform at his All-Pro level he might become the highest-paid receiver in the league. His performance already suggests he’s the best.
We’ll see if the second alleged baby mama incident proves to be a distraction heading into the season.
The 2023 Baltimore Ravens come into the season with a lot of new pieces. Those pieces, and a much richer and healthy quarterback Lamar Jackson, are why the 2023 season is being labeled a Super Bowl-or-bust season for the Ravens. In fact, one analyst is saying anything less than a Super Bowl should be looked at as a failure.
Fox Sport NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, who was formerly of the NFL Network, spoke to this during Friday’s episode of “SPEAK” on FS1. Brooks, a known Jackson apologist, says the 2019 NFL MVP has no excuse, and hoisting a Lombardi Trophy should be the only acceptable outcome this season.
SB-Or-Bust In Charm City?
“My mom and dad use to say no excuses, no explanations. I don’t care what it looks like. I know when we tee it off in the middle of February, I better see the Baltimore Ravens representing the AFC. Because when you pay Lamar Jackson the kind of money that you paid him, that’s the expectation. Everyone in the building knows.”
“And so I would expect him to get to the Super Bowl, because otherwise it’s an abject failure. He has to take this team to the Super Bowl, given the money and all the transactions that have taken place. Otherwise, it all comes back on him.”
Jackson, who’s got some new weapons this offseason in wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr., and speedy and shifty first-round pick Zay Flowers out of Boston College, says he wants to use his arm more and less of his legs.
That’s probably smart, considering the elusive Jackson hasn’t finished either of the last two seasons, getting injured both times while using his legs.
Ravens And Jackson In Ultra-Tough AFC
It would be fine for Brooks to say this if the Ravens played in the now-watered down NFC. That conference has two viable Super Bowl contenders, the Eagles and Niners, with the Cowboys still lurking.
But, in the AFC that’s a Murderers’ Row with the Chiefs, Bengals, Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Chargers, Jaguars and others vying for postseason success there’s much tougher sledding to make a run, and especially all the way to fabulous Las Vegas and Super Sunday.
In May, Brooks, then employed by the NFL Network, mentioned that the Ravens and Niners Christmas Day regular season matchup could be a Super Bowl preview.
Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden wants to be traded. The former NBA MVP has gone on record multiple times saying Sixers president of basketball operations lied to him about receiving a long-term contract extension following the 2022-23 season.
Harden also says Morey promised him that if he took a team-friendly deal for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 season that he’d receive a lucrative deal. Well, that didn’t happen and Harden isn’t happy, even calling Morey a liar while on his Adidas tour in China.
But new reports say Harden isn’t really upset with Morey not paying him but peeved that reigning MVP Joel Embiid is the top guy in Philly and not him.
Per FS1’s Rachel Nichols, who made her debut on “Undisputed” on Thursday, that’s the real reason Harden wants out.
Nichols Says Harden Still Believes He’s No.1 Option Material
Over the past few seasons Harden has seen a decline in his offensive skill set. While still very good, he’s nowhere near the MVP-caliber weapon he once was. During her appearance Thursday, Nichols mentioned just that about Harden.
“He still thinks of himself as the guy from the Game 1 [in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals vs. the Celtics, where he scored 45 points in a victory] … he thinks he should be leading the show. The reason why he wants one of Philadelphia in the first place is that it’s Joel Embiid’s show right now.”
If this is true, Harden is insane to think he’d be the No. 1 option on a team with Embiid. In fact, Harden at this stage of his career might not be the first option on any of the current 30 NBA teams, and definitely not Philly, where Embiid just captured his league MVP.
Harden Wanted To Go To The Rockets Or Clippers?
When the offseason began it was believed that Harden would possibly head back to Houston. But the hiring of former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka killed that noise, as Udoka let it be known that the Rockets had no interest. Harden also tried to force his way to the Los Angeles Clippers, but the team refused to include rising swingman Terence Mann, whom the Sixes coveted, halting any deal.
Nichols‘ comments may not seem too far-fetched, because back in June we saw Harden at a club eating Trillburgers instead of attending Embiid’s wedding.
