nf Page 253 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

NFL decides pandemic is over, there’s money to be made
The average daily death toll from COVID-19 in the United States has been more than 2,000 over the past week, bringing the total number of people lost in this country to the pandemic to more than 864,000....

Sure, Mike McDaniel seems cool, but he’s not worthy of a head coaching gig yet
Editors’ note: We learned after the publication of this article that 49ers OC Mike McDaniel, whom we describe as a “white guy,” is in fact biracial. The article’s original text remains below. We regret the error....

Dick Butkus' Twitter feed taking on all mutts
Don’t fret when you see Dick Butkus trending on Twitter — the legendary linebacker is still alive and kicking, with the emphasis heavy on “kicking.”...

In the win-now bowl, the loser faces a fast-approaching, not-so-bright future
For the past two years, the Rams and Bucs have been operating like they’re LeBron James and they just got to L.A. While the Bucs signed their big-name QB, the Rams took out another mortgage on their future, trading quite a bit for Matthew Stafford....

Hamilton vs. Hutchinson/Thibodeaux is this year’s Chase vs. Sewell
When a team has as many holes as the Jacksonville Jaguars and is in rebuild mode, it can be difficult to determine who to take, not because of talent level, but because certain positions are more vital to a rebuild than others. Obviously, the most important position for a successful rebuild is quart...

Here we go again
The Houston Texans confirmed Thursday that they interviewed former journeyman QB Josh McCown for their recently vacated head coaching role, and the word around the NFL rumor mill is that they really want to hire him....

Welcome to A.B.B.
Strange as it may seem, you get the feeling that many this weekend will be rooting for a certified underachiever over the most accomplished quarterback in NFL history....

Three years later and nothing has changed, the Lakers are still a mess
Looking back at the Russell Westbrook trade, it makes sense what they were trying to do. The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020-21 season was cut at the kneecaps by injury. It was the second time that had happened in three seasons. They needed a third star so that if they lost LeBron James or Anthony Davis or...

Difficult Super Bowl Trivia: Part 2
Records are made to be broken, the old saying goes, but that’s not always true. Some records, in fact, cannot be broken. There’s no way, for example, to score a touchdown in the NFL longer than 99 yards. ...

Aaron Rodgers is about to give it one more try against the team that owns <em>him</em>, the 49ers
The Green Bay Packers have advanced to the playoffs 11 times since Aaron Rodgers became their starting quarterback. The only years that they didn’t make the playoffs were his first year as a starter in 2008, 2017 when injury cost him more than half the season, and in 2018 when he battled through a k...

A Ray of nope
And now a quick bit of baseball news before we get back to our regularly scheduled lockout. The MLB shut down Tampa’s proposal to alienate their current fanbase and play half of their home series in Montreal. It was a move so stupid that whoever came up with it should’ve been fired immediately....

Who Dey think you can keep Bengals fans out?
Bengals fans are some of the most loyal fans in American sports. ‘Dey’ are willing to go to great lengths to defend their favorite team. I know this, because after I wrote an article months ago criticizing the Bengals for selecting Ja’Marr Chase over Penei Sewell, my inbox was flooded with Bengal fa...

Want to know who’s going to win this weekend? Just look at each team’s last game against the Bears
Sports betting is becoming more and more prevalent in the average sports fan’s life. In 2021, DraftKings saw a 60 percent increase in third-quarter revenue from a year prior. Compared to other countries with more mature gambling systems already in place like the UK, only four percent of gross gaming...

The Super Bowl halftime show trailer almost makes you want to see it at a movie theater
For everything that the NFL did wrong with the Atlanta halftime show three years ago, they are trying to make up for it in a big way. When it first announced the Super LVI halftime show lineup of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem, it was clear what the league is going fo...

Three possible trade scenarios for John Collins
What the hell is happening in Atlanta? They went on a Cinderella-esque run in last season’s playoffs, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. This year? They currently sit 12th in the East, out of the Play-In Tournament, and 22nd in the entire NBA. During the summer of 2020-21, the Hawks happily wen...

The NCAA is being dragged closer to doing the right thing
After a quarter century under their current bylaws, the NCAA will vote on a new constitution tomorrow at their convention that will peel their grip, knuckle by desperately grasping knuckle, off of the reins of college athletics regulation. Could it be that the NCAA is actually doing the right thing ...

The 49ers are asking Trey Lance to play like Aaron Rodgers in order to prep for the Packers
Despite trading three first-round draft picks in order to move up to draft him, Trey Lance’s most important job with the 49ers this week will be trying to emulate Aaron Rodgers in practice. Will he get the opportunity to play like Aaron Rodgers during the Niners’ divisional round matchup against the...

Dak Prescott is sorry for praising fans who threw trash at refs
The Dallas Cowboys exited the postseason early, yet again, during “super” wildcard weekend — it wasn’t all that super, honestly — losing at home to longtime rival San Francisco, 23-17. Of course, like any other NFL game, there were times throughout that Cowboys players wish they could have back, but...

So this Romelu Lukaku thing is a problem, just not in the way we thought
Back in August, I wrote this. And it sure seemed that way, as Chelsea utterly destroyed Arsenal, spearheaded by Romelu Lukaku. These were the defending European champions, who had just added the best striker from Italy in Lukaku the previous season, and he seemed like the final piece for Chelsea to ...

Nick Saban speaks up for the right to vote (kinda)
There is no shortage of examples of athletes using their public platforms to elevate social justice causes, from the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics to the Black Lives Matter marches led by collegiate athletes in the summer of 2020, and the countless moments in between. Multiple athletes in ...