Football Page 868 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Clemson's Offensive Line Turned Da'Ron Payne Into A Blocking Sled
For an interior defensive lineman, short fourth downs and goal-line stands seem like the most exciting situations a football game can offer the position—their shot to get low, blow through an aggressive wall of meat, and make the play in the backfield. But as Alabama’s Da’Ron Payne discovered, if y...

Dolphins Fan Barfs On His Pizza, Has A Generally Terrible Playoff Game Experience
Enduring a Pittsburgh winter in the open stands as your beloved Dolphins get their doors blown off in the playoffs is unpleasant enough, but barfing on top of your uneaten stadium pizza is, well, the puke on top of the uneaten stadium pizza that was this fan’s day....

College Athletic Directors Ready To Schmooze With Congress At Trump-Branded Hotel
Moving to Washington, D.C. and starting a PAC doesn’t make as many as waves as it used to. Luckily for college athletic directors, Donald Trump has his name on a hotel....

Boy, Ben Boulware Really Went To Town On That Thing
Clemson senior LB and Ben Boulware shared a moment—maybe a little longer than a moment—with the CFP trophy after Clemson’s thrilling win over Alabama. You can’t rush these things. Trophies need time to get warmed up, and it also helps if they’re relaxed, and comfortable, and are genuinely into you. ...

It's Deshaun Watson's Time
This National Championship game felt familiar, Clemson slogging early against a world-class Alabama defense before, gradually, luring them into exactly the Tigers’ type of game: a shootout. (The only difference being, maybe, that this year the clock ran out with the score in Clemson’s favor.) The co...

That Last Alabama Drive Was Terrifying
More than any other team in sports, Alabama football feels the most futile to root against. Over and over, they’ve stamped out nascent comebacks with two well-timed turnovers or turned a 14-10 game into a 28-10 game in two minutes of work. These are the sorts of ways you can win games when you’re bi...

Clemson Dethrones Alabama And Wins National Championship With Last-Second Touchdown
The National Championship rematch between Alabama and Clemson was just as fraught and close as 2016's all-time classic, but unlike last year, it ended with Alabama getting their hearts ripped out and Clemson wining their first title since 1981....

This Is Not Targeting, Somehow?
Mike Williams hung on and got the first down here, but it cost him a huge shot from Alabama DB Tony Brown. There was no penalty called on the play, even if it appeared to be a fairly clear targeting violation. The Tigers held him out for the rest of the drive, but ESPN reported that he was medically...

Jordy Nelson Reportedly Has "At Least Two" Broken Ribs
Packers receiver Jordy Nelson spent last night in the hospital, thanks to the wallop in the side that Giants CB Leon Hall gave him while he was juggling a pass. Nelson was taken into the locker room and ruled out shortly after, but Packers coach Mike McCarthy said it was possible that he’d still sui...

Report: The Packers Still Have A Hole In Their Wall
In terms of forced explanations of why the New York Giants—and specifically Odell Beckham Jr.— are out of the playoffs, boat trips are tired. A hole in the wall that serves as a visual representation of the receiver’s struggles with self-control is officially in....

Your National Championship Game <i>Tecmo Super Bowl</i> Simulation Is Live
Clemson. Alabama. Tecmo Super Bowl. The simulation is LIVE:...

Video Shows Joey Porter Arguing With Pittsburgh Police During Arrest
Following a Steelers playoff win on Sunday, assistant coach and former All-Pro linebacker Joey Porter was arrested outside a Pittsburgh bar. A criminal complaint has been filed against Porter, who was threatening a doorman at the bar and arguing with the arresting officer....

Clemson Director Of Sports Medicine Not Into Scientific Studies, Very Into Knee Braces
Tonight, millions will tune in to watch two very good college football teams play again for the national championship. There will be Ben “I Love Butts” Boulware, no Lane Kiffin, and lots of knee braces on uninjured fat guys. ...

Bill Belichick Seen Sleeping On Boat
The Patriots were off Friday through Sunday, so head coach Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Linda Holliday spent part of the team’s break snoozing and relaxing on what appears to be a ferry....

Odell Beckham Jr. Is Furious And Correct
You don’t need me to tell you that Odell Beckham Jr. spending last Monday on a boat with Justin Bieber and Trey Songz didn’t have anything to do with him dropping three passes in yesterday’s loss to the Packers. Even the New York tabloid press, to which a story like Beckham’s is red meat, hasn’t rea...

Aaron Rodgers Remains The King Of The Hail Mary
A Hail Mary seems like a weird thing to be good at, no? Even etymologically, it’s a prayer, a low-expectation play that has a much better chance of being picked off—to say nothing of being knocked down—than of being completed. And by definition, once that thing is up there, it’s anybody’s ball. And ...

Aaron Rodgers Sunk The Giants
For most of a half, the Giants looked they were cruising....
![Report: Joey Porter Arrested After Altercation Outside Pittsburgh Bar [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/ximneal0bniclhkzc1jm.jpg)
Report: Joey Porter Arrested After Altercation Outside Pittsburgh Bar [Update]
Steelers assistant coach and former All-Pro linebacker Joey Porter is in trouble with the law after being arrested outside a South Side Pittsburgh bar hours after his team’s playoff win over the Miami Dolphins, according to police....

Cal Football Players Only Found Out Via Twitter That Coach Sonny Dykes Had Been Fired
Berkeley let go of head football coach Sonny Dykes this morning, after four years and a 19-30 record. His firing comes with a buyout of nearly $6 million, thanks to a 2015 contract extension that was supposed to keep him at Cal through the 2019 season. Per Twitter, however, it looks as if players we...

The Abyss Also Gazes Into You: Today's Guide To Ignoring The NFL Playoffs
After Saturday’s top-notch, electrifying games, you are probably champing at the bit for more hot football action today. Fans of true underdogs got a real treat Saturday afternoon, and Saturday night was a checkdown-passing aficionado’s dream come true. I mean who could possibly look away after such...