football Page 313 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Browns Have Turned Yet Another First-Round Pick Into A Bag Of Shit
American sports are set up to all but guarantee that a franchise as putrid as the Cleveland Browns cannot remain putrid for eternity. All those losing seasons just add up to higher first-round draft picks, which should eventually add up to winning seasons. It take some real work to waste free ticket...
Terrell Owens Is Right To Feel Insulted
Terrell Owens has a point. In his Hall of Fame speech, given at the University of Chattanooga, during his own, unprecedented off-site ceremony, Owens described the process that delayed his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame like this:...
Randy Moss Wore A Good Tie To The Hall Of Fame Ceremony
Randy Moss wore a tie to Saturday’s Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies showing the names of black men and women and children who were either killed by police or died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody. Moss didn’t bring it up during his animated 17-minute speech, but he had an ...
Ray Lewis's Hall Of Fame Speech Was Actual Frothing Madness
Ray Lewis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. He gave a speech. It was an exhausting performance, and not just because Lewis was stomping around the stage and holding poses with all the staccato swagger of the lead singer of an ‘80s hair metal band, mid-ballad. It was also a...
And Now, James Franklin's Dark Purple Butt
Penn State head coach James Franklin spoke at Penn State Media Day about, among other things, the experience of taking all his players paintballing for a recent team outing. This may not have been a great idea for a person whose job it is to push these competitive young men to endure exhaustion and ...
Johnny Manziel's First CFL Start Did Not Go Well
Johnny Manziel started for the Montreal Alouettes Friday night, against his former team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This was always going to be a tough assignment—Manziel was traded to Montreal just 14 days ago, and had only practiced with his Alouettes teammates four times before taking the field as ...
Urban Meyer And Zach Smith Are Defending Themselves, Even If Their Answers Don’t Quite Make Sense
In a statement posted on his Twitter account, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer admitted Friday afternoon that he knew about a 2015 incident in which former assistant coach Zach Smith allegedly strangled his ex-wife, Courtney. After initially claiming ignorance at Big Ten media day—saying, “I know nothin...
How ESPN Ended Up Paying Brett McMurphy To Post The Year's Biggest College Football Story On Facebook
Brett McMurphy, who is about as plugged in as any college football reporter can be, was always going to scoop ESPN on the Urban Meyer-Zach Smith story. But that the Worldwide Leader paid him to not publish the scoop on their own website, well, that’s the result of a very particular kind of corporate...
Vikings Safety Andrew Sendejo Has A Not-So-Subtle Message For The NFL
The NFL rulebook is absolutely riddled with confounding and indecipherable rules, but I can’t remember one eliciting such strong reactions from players as the league’s doomed new helmet rule. Players have essentially been told that they can no longer tackle the same way they’ve been tackling through...
The Helmet Rule's Debut Was Really Messy
Football is back! With a game that didn’t count. And was mostly played by guys who will barely or not at all play meaningful snaps in the games that do count. And you probably didn’t even realize the first preseason game was even happening, until now. Feel the excitement!!! But, anyway, some stuff t...
Dan Mullen's "No-Weapons" Policy Allows Florida Players To Carry Loaded AR-15s, Duh
Dan Mullen has what he describes as a “no-weapons” policy. No weapons! Simple enough. Certain of his players at Florida have certainly understood this “no-weapons” policy to mean no weapons, as would seem to be implied by it being a no-weapons policy:...
![Why Did EA Censor A Lyric About Colin Kaepernick In <i>Madden 19</i>? [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/yuozvh0yrcitx5es0zbc.png)
Why Did EA Censor A Lyric About Colin Kaepernick In <i>Madden 19</i>? [Update]
Colin Kaepernick is already being kept out the NFL by 32 owners terrified of his protests against police brutality and racial discrimination. It looks like he might also have been completely erased from the upcoming edition of Madden NFL, too....
Phil Knight's Money Couldn't Keep Oregon Out Of College Football's Middle Class
Welcome to the Deadspin 25, a college football poll that strives to be more democratic and less useless than every other preseason poll. Leading up to the college football season kickoff, we will give you previews of the 25 teams that you, the readers, voted to be most worthy of writing about. Now, ...
Art Briles Got A New Job Coaching Football In Italy
Disgraced former Baylor head coach Art Briles has a new job. After a botched stint in the CFL and a pair of aborted college consulting gigs, Briles has accepted the head coaching job with Florence’s Italian Football League team, Guelfi Firenze....
Why Sam Darnold's Holdout Was Bigger Than The Jets
Monday morning, as Sam Darnold’s holdout from Jets training camp was entering its fourth day, the view from two of the country’s top football writers was that a deal simply needed to get done ASAP....
If You Think Urban Meyer's Career Is Over, You Underestimate The Power Of Winning<em></em>
Would it be too much to say that winning feels like great sex? The rush of adrenaline, the euphoria, the permission to scream and yell and do whatever you want in the dark of night. The sense that you are invincible and, better yet, unique and special. The scientific term for feeling as if your team...
Ohio State Puts Urban Meyer On Paid Leave Amid School's Investigation Of Zach Smith
As part of its investigation into reports of domestic violence committed by former assistant football coach Zach Smith, Ohio State has placed head football coach Urban Meyer on paid administrative leave. Offensive coordinator Ryan Day will take over in Meyer’s absence....
There Are Even More Reports Of Zach Smith Allegedly Abusing His Ex-Wife While At Ohio State
This morning, Brett McMurphy reported on text messages sent from Zach Smith’s ex-wife, Courtney, to Urban Meyer’s wife, Shelley, discussing if Courtney Smith should get a restraining order after Zach allegedly abused her. This afternoon, Cleveland.com published several more police reports in which C...
Well Look At That, Virginia Is Starting To Resemble A Football Team
Welcome to the Deadspin 25, a college football poll that strives to be more democratic and less useless than every other preseason poll. Leading up to the college football season kickoff, we will give you previews of the 25 teams that you, the readers, voted to be most worthy of writing about. Now, ...
Zach Smith's Ex-Wife Says Urban Meyer Knew About Abuse Allegations In 2015
Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith was fired by the university after his history of alleged domestic violence became public. After Smith was fired, head coach Urban Meyer admitted to reporters that he had been aware of Smith’s 2009 domestic violence arrest, but made it clear that he had no i...