Football Page 1004 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
![NFL Says Titans And Browns Can Play In Their Cleats For A Cause In Week 14 [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/d9sjst1m63lug3uzbyul.jpg)
NFL Says Titans And Browns Can Play In Their Cleats For A Cause In Week 14 [Update]
The Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns were the only two NFL teams with byes this week, which meant that their players weren’t able to wear their customized cleats for the league’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign for Week 13. They won’t be able to participate next week, either....

The NFL Lets Players Be Creative Only When It Makes The League Look Good<em></em>
The NFL, the gracious institution that it is, relaxed its strict uniform code for Week 13 and permitted players to wear customized cleats during their games to support their preferred causes. This is because the league figured out how to control and benefit from their employees’ creativity on its te...

Chip Kelly Explains Why He Benched Colin Kaepernick
Blame it on the snow, but that was barely football....

Earl Thomas Considers Retirement After Breaking Leg
Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas left last night’s game in the second quarter after breaking his leg in a collision with teammate Kam Chancellor. Head coach Pete Carroll said after the game that Thomas will be out at least six weeks, and Thomas himself was considering retirement while the game wa...

Cam Newton Was Benched For Not Wearing A Tie
In what will, assuming God is merciful, be the dumbest NFL story of the week, it turns out that the reason why Cam Newton didn’t start for the Carolina Panthers last night against the Seattle Seahawks was that he wouldn’t dress like a clown....

Odell Beckham Jr. Is Complaining About The Refs Again
The Giants got downright bodied by the Steelers on Sunday, the 24-14 score barely reflecting Pittsburgh’s dominance—Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell outgained the entire Giants offense. The promised showdown between Brown and Odell Beckham Jr., never quite materialized, because though Eli Manning reli...

Jaguars Junction: Week 13
There’s no more annoying type of person than the sports obsessive. ...
![The Panthers Started Derek Anderson Over Cam Newton As A Coach's Decision [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/jyfiwplztlxdbkitonvr.jpg)
The Panthers Started Derek Anderson Over Cam Newton As A Coach's Decision [Update]
The Panthers’ offense lasted exactly one play in its first drive against the Seahawks tonight after Derek Anderson threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the game. For some reason, Cam Newton was benched, and it’s unclear why the much better QB wasn’t on the field....

Falcons Lose After Blowing Lead On Point-After "Pick-Two"
After trailing the Chiefs for most of the second half, the Falcons finally took a 28-27 lead on a touchdown with less than five minutes left in the game. Atlanta chose to go for a bigger cushion by trying a two-point conversion. That turned out to be disastrous, as Kansas City’s Eric Berry interce...

Jeff Fisher Tries To Challenge Play, Is Thwarted By His Own Coat
Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, who recently received a two-year contract extension and couldn’t correctly name his opponent’s players this week, was soundly defeated by his coat during today’s game against the Patriots....

49ers Get Flagged For Celebrating Touchdown That Didn't Happen
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears, they had to play each other today....

Rams Can't Even Fair Catch A Punt Without Incident
All the Los Angeles Rams’ special teams unit had to do was catch a punt. That’s it. Just wave for the fair catch so Jeff Fisher’s offense can figure out a new way to go three-and-out. Instead, Pharoh Cooper had to deal with his own teammate laying a hit on him....

Here Are Your College Football Playoff Matchups
ESPN has revealed the matchups for the third annual College Football Playoff. No. 1 Alabama will face No. 4 Washington, and No. 2 Clemson has No. 3 Ohio State. Both games will be played on December 31, with the final on January 9 in Tampa....

Stick To The Plan: Today's Guide To Ignoring The NFL
The challenge of looking away from the NFL has two parts....

Report: Jeff Fisher Somehow Got An Extension
Just when it looked like the jig was up for Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, he reminded everyone that for Jeff Fisher, the jig is never up....

Report: Kevin Wilson Mistreated Multiple Injured Players While At Indiana
Before being forced to resign this week, Indiana football coach Kevin Wilson had mistreated multiple injured players, according to new reporting from the Indianapolis Star and ESPN. ...

Houston Denies ESPN Report, <em></em>Wants Nothing To Do With Former Baylor Coach Art Briles
Less than a week after one of the Baylor officials directly involved in the sexual assault scandal landed a job, another seemed primed to possibly snag one of his own—until the school in question said “fuck that.”...

Oregon To Investigate Athletic Department For Response To Reports Of Violence By Football Player Pharaoh Brown
The University of Oregon’s president has called for an investigation of “free-speech policy violations” by the school’s athletic department—two weeks after department officials threatened to pull credentials from the student newspaper for an article on reported acts of violence by a football player....

Antonio Brown: "It's My New Name, Ronald... It's Top Secret. From Now On, Address Me As Ronald."
Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers leads the NFL in receptions and now, apparently, in identity crises. Some questions and non-answers from a conversation with reporters yesterday, as captured by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:...

NCAA Punishes Ex-Appalachian State Football Coach For Sending 416 Texts To Prospect's Mother
The NCAA has punished a former Appalachian State assistant football coach who violated bylaws by texting a prospect’s mother 416 times....