the-u Page 21 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Josh Gordon bouncing back (again) in the XFL
Josh Gordon is thriving again, and this time it’s for the XFL. The league created by Vincent Kennedy McMahon, now run by The Rock, is back, providing an alternative for fans and another opportunity for NFL hopefuls and former players to grab a check for playing the game they love. While some XFLers ...

XFL reinstates Quinten Dormady one day after being cut for giving team’s plays away
Through two weeks in the XFL season, the Orlando Guardians are 0-2, in last place in the XFL South. Their offense has been particularly inept, scoring just twelve points in each game and absolutely zero points in the second or third quarters of each game. Quarterback Paxton Lynch has been clowned on...

These are the athletes that could reasonably fight in the next <i>Creed</i> movie
The Creed and Rocky franchises have not only felt like an expanding cloth weaving through the sports zeitgeist for nearly 50 years. Beyond its cultural footprint, its nine installments have launched or sunk the burgeoning acting careers of several retired and active athletes. From former Raiders lin...

Odds are Carson Wentz goes back to being a backup — but where might surprise you
The days of seeing Carson Wentz suit up as an NFL team’s starting quarterback are likely long gone. After a series of years underperforming for three different teams, Wentz was released by the Washington Commanders. Yes, Wentz’s time in the spotlight may be closed, but his time in someone else’s sha...

In a post-Donald Sterling, Robert Sarver world Jimmy Haslam is the last thing the NBA needed
The expression “two steps forward, one step back,” isn’t just the realization that progress is being hindered — it also describes a situation the NBA could potentially be in. After ridding itself of degenerate former governors (owners) who did heinous acts during their tenures in Los Angeles (Donald...

NFLPA's team report cards a bit of an eye-opener
With the release of the NFL Players Association’s first-ever Club Report Cards, players have more power than ever before. Of course, not everything that came from these reports was shocking. No one’s jaw hit the floor when it was revealed that the Los Angeles Chargers’ medical staff was voted one of...

The NFL combine isn’t intrusive enough
Welcome to Deadspin’s The Sports Nihilist, where all is for naught and we are but accidental jolts of electrified meat stuck to the surface of a rock in an indifferent universe. Fuck you....

Did Ryan Leaf just offer the best explanation for Russell Wilson's precipitous decline?
One of the biggest mysteries from the 2022 NFL season was “What the hell happened to Russell Wilson?” This was a conundrum that not even the Scooby Doo gang could solve. Danger-Russ was supposed to help the Denver Broncos compete with the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West, ...

Will Levis has every chance to be the star of this year’s NFL Combine
Quarterbacks are always under the biggest microscope in football, that’s a given. And there’s not a more unnecessary magnifying glass on signal callers than the NFL Combine. Going through all the scouting drills appears important for about five minutes. How many analysts quoted Tom Brady or Peyton M...

Kevin Durant was everything, everywhere, all at once in his Phoenix Suns debut
Kevin Durant is a master of disguise who is already blending in seamlessly with the Phoenix Suns. Not many teams can do the DMX Challenge and present as many looks as the Suns can with their new wing roaming the floor. Most guys take a second to re-integrate into an offense or to heal from an MCL sp...

Please let the NFL and its owners be dumb enough not to settle with Brian Flores
Less than a month after Brian Flores’ class-action lawsuit against the league and multiple teams for their alleged racist hiring practices wasn’t mentioned at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual press conference at the Super Bowl — where he was pressed again about the lack of diversity in the NF...

Things you wouldn’t have believed in 2018: The Ball bros will be sympathetic figures
If Lavar Ball was to be believed, NBA fans should be nearing phase two of the Ball-aissance. Lonzo is in his sixth year, LaMelo is in his third, and LiAngelo, well, if things had panned out, he’d be somewhere in between. But LiAngelo currently has no entries on his Basketball Reference page, Lonzo i...

Yeah, I’d be worried if I were a Titans fan
With NFL combine workouts slated to start tomorrow with D-linemen and linebackers taking the field, many of this upcoming draft’s top prospects had the opportunity to speak with the media about the opportunity and what they expected moving forward. It wasn’t just prospects though. Many general manag...

Commanders minority owners are alleging that Dan Snyder used the franchise as a personal 'piggy bank'
The Dan Snyder era has had a dumpster-grade stench from the beginning. But just when it seemed like he’d leave peacefully, his destructive personality kicked back in. Snyder is finally leaning towards selling the team on his own, but not without kicking and screaming. ...

IDIOT OF THE MONTH: A journey through the swamp that was Super Bowl February
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH, our world-renowned celebration of stupidity in and around the world of collegiate and professional sports. Now with 50 percent more slideshow to placate the bosses! The Industrial Revolution was a mistake!...

The NBA old heads have spoken — and they think LeBron is currently the Association's best player
It’s official, the old heads of the NBA heads have welcomed LeBron James as one of their own. The Athletic recently polled 101 former NBA players, asking which current player is the best player in the Association. In a league that has an abundance of under-30-year-old talent that it is bursting out ...

Best landing spots for Jalen Ramsey, should the Rams decide to move him
NFL free agency is about two weeks away, and along with that comes the opportunity for potential trades across the league. Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey is expected to be a name that could be moving to another team via the trade block. While every team would welcome a six-time Pro Bowl se...

LIV Golf’s CW premiere was so bad it couldn't even beat out <i>World's Funniest Animals</i>
Last week, sports outlets spent an inordinate amount of words on the NBA All-Star Game’s poor ratings. The telecast came in with 4.39 million viewers, a sizable drop from 2022 when 6.28 million people tuned in. Well, LIV Golf’s TV debut on the CW drew 291,000 fans on Sunday, which was 5,000 better t...

Charles Barkley bashes players (again) but he isn’t completely wrong
TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley appeared on First Take Tuesday morning and said something wild. Shocker. While some might take offense to what Sir Charles said, he did have a point. Barkley hasn’t been shy in sharing his thoughts on load management over the years. While on First Take w...

If you’re in Indianapolis for the combine and see someone who looks like Derek Carr, that’s because it’s him
If there is a general manager currently in Indianapolis in need of a quarterback and someone to share a shrimp cocktail with at St. Elmo’s, Derek Carr is your guy. There will be more than 300 NFL prospects in town for the NFL Scouting Combine, and also one free agent veteran quarterback roaming arou...