Football Page 877 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Former Heisman Winner Rashaan Salaam Dead At 42
Rashaan Salaam, winner of the 1994 Heisman Trophy and former Chicago Bears running back, was found dead outside a Boulder, Colo. park Monday night. He was 42....

Baylor Hires Temple's Matt Rhule As New Head Coach
After reports trickled in all morning, Baylor made the announcement of their new football head coach official. God speed, Matt Rhule....

Pat McAfee, The Other Fun Punter, Channels Scott Hall
Raiders punter Marquette King has gotten a lot of attention this year for having a great time on the field, but let us not forget that Colts punter Pat McAfee, the original Fun Punter, is still out there doing his thing....

Khalil Mack Is A One-Man Wrecking Crew
The Raiders have one of the NFL’s worst defenses, but they might have the league’s best defensive player. No one carries a unit singlehandedly, but defensive end/outside linebacker Khalil Mack comes the closest in the league....

It's Bryce Petty Time
The New York Jets still have four games left to play, but last night’s no-show against the Colts was an effective and fitting end to their season. The Jets are 3-9 now, and whatever combination of luck and competence that got them to a 10-6 record last season is nowhere to be found....
![Man Who Shot And Killed Joe McKnight Arrested On Manslaughter Charge [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/akkdconpz0gv2smguzrm.jpg)
Man Who Shot And Killed Joe McKnight Arrested On Manslaughter Charge [Update]
Ronald Gasser, the man who admitted to shooting and killing former NFL player Joe McKnight in an apparent road rage incident, has been arrested on a count of manslaughter. He is being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, according to the online inmate search....

Bomani Jones Treats Us To A Litany Of Atlanta Falcons Failure<em></em>
The Falcons lost to the Chiefs yesterday thanks to a rock-dumb two-point play that they had no need to take. Falcons fan Bomani Jones went off on the team this afternoon on Highly Questionable and made a pretty convincing case that the Falcons are cursed losers who exist to torture their fans. In ca...
![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....