Browns’ Baker Mayfield ‘absolutely’ will kneel during national anthemVideo
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield plans to kneel during the national anthem this upcoming season to support protests of social injustice, police brutality and racism. In answering a post from a fan on his Instagram account Saturday that pleaded with him not to kneel, Mayfield responded: “Pull your...
TV money gives NFL leg up if fans can’t fill team’s coffersVideo
DALLAS — Timing favored the NFL over other major pro sports leagues in trying to figure out how to keep the coronavirus pandemic from wrecking the 2020 season. America’s most popular sport has another big advantage if the games are played: TV money. While NFL owners could lose billions collectively...
Carlynton grad Angela Baker gets chance to coach with Cleveland Browns
Angela Baker’s journey through football has provided her with a lot of exciting experiences, but her most recent one might be the best yet. On Monday, Baker, a Carlynton alum and Pittsburgh Passion quarterback, started working with the Cleveland Browns through the Bill Walsh Diversity Coach Fellowship, a program that...
Fantasy Sports podcast: MLB frustrations, running back contract woes, Ryder Cup
We bust out the time machine for this week’s fantasy sports podcast with Jeff Erickson of RotoWire. First, we go into the future, forecasting what fantasy strategies may be like in a baseball season that lasts between 48 to 80-plus games. The big variable seems to be pitchers. With the...
Bills QB Josh Allen stays busy despite pandemic restrictionsVideo
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Josh Allen has hardly spent this coronavirus pandemic-altered offseason in self-isolation. The Buffalo Bills quarterback, instead, kept himself busy in seeking advice from Peyton Manning and Brett Favre on Zoom calls, to gathering his teammates together for workouts on both coasts. It all has been done with...
Despite far more support, kneeling might not be widespread in NFLVideo
NFL players who want to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism have far more support than Colin Kaepernick did four years ago. Still, it might not be widespread for a few reasons. If organizations insist on unity, as some coaches and front-office executives have mentioned,...
Browns executive Adofo-Mensah proud to be part of diverse front officeVideo
CLEVELAND — The messages of congratulations came from strangers. They caught Kwesi Adofo-Mensah off guard. Hired last month as the new vice president of football operations for the Cleveland Browns after seven seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Adofo-Mensah was inundated with unexpected notes from people he didn’t know. “A...
NFL extends virtual offseason until June 26Video
The NFL extended virtual offseason programs for teams through June 26 but no further. Although team facilities have opened for key personnel, coaches and players rehabilitating injuries, healthy players have been barred from those complexes because of the covid-19 pandemic. The remote programs have taken the place of on-site work,...
Mark Madden: Signing Colin Kaepernick now would put NFL teams in difficult position
Colin Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016. While he hardly sparkled then, Kaepernick wasn’t as useless as his 1-10 record quarterbacking San Francisco might indicate. It was a reflection of his team. His other numbers were solid: 16 touchdowns against four interceptions, for example. Kaepernick’s passer rating of...
DeAndre Hopkins, Deshaun Watson join petition calling for name change at ClemsonVideo
There’s a reason DeAndre Hopkins never says Clemson when being introduced before NFL games. Hopkins and fellow Clemson alum Deshaun Watson, like many other Tigers past and present, are ashamed of the school’s history — specifically of notorious slave owner and former U.S. vice president John C. Calhoun. They’ve joined...
Analysis: Colin Kaepernick has stronger platform outside footballVideo
It certainly would be a difficult decision for Colin Kaepernick to make. Yet if he comes to the realization his platform of advocacy is now stronger than ever, attempting a return to the NFL might be unwise. Kaepernick has been a leader in the fight for social justice by people...
Pro Football Hall of Fame to reopen on Wednesday
CANTON, Ohio — The Pro Football Hall of Fame will reopen Wednesday after nearly a three-month closure caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The hall closed on March 16, but permission has been granted by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for museums, science centers and zoos to open. “Since its grand opening...
First Call: A dilemma for some players to consider before kneeling at NFL games
For “First Call” on Tuesday, I simply wanted to respond to a question I got in my email inbox from a reader. Albert — who emailed under the pseudonym “ALB” — posed the following conundrum for NFL players who may be planning on kneeling during the national anthem to start...
Column: Roger Goodell’s mea culpa is a good start — and no moreVideo
Never thought we’d see the day when typing the words “Roger Goodell” and “daring” in the same sentence wasn’t the set-up for a punchline. But here we are. Four years after piling on a few dozen men who were already down — on one knee — the NFL commissioner posed...
NFL gives teams planner for total reopening of facilitiesVideo
The NFL and the players’ union sent a planner to the 32 teams Monday outlining procedures for the full reopening of their practice facilities, which were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a lengthy four-part memo to the clubs written by commissioner Roger Goodell and approved by the NFL...
First Call: Will NBC dump Drew Brees? Or maybe vice versa?
Drew Brees just got a valuable lesson in his new career. Before his first career even ended. The New Orleans Saints quarterback is reportedly slated to become an NFL analyst with NBC when he retires. It’s presumed Brees will be hanging up his cleats after the upcoming season. After what...
Former Patriots, Chargers WR Reche Caldwell shot, killedVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — Reche Caldwell, the former University of Florida and NFL receiver, was shot fatally Saturday night in his hometown. Caldwell’s mother, Deborah, did not return phone messages left by the Associated Press on Sunday but confirmed her son’s death to the Tampa Bay Times. She said police told...
John Steigerwald: Stop playing national anthem before games
Drew Brees was right the first time. When the New Orleans Saints quarterback was asked by Yahoo! Finance about the possibility of more NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, he said this: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our...
Former Bengals star Ken Riley dies at 72
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Former Cincinnati Bengals standout Ken Riley, who was later a head coach and athletic director at his alma mater Florida A&M, died Sunday, the university announced. He was 72. Riley played 15 seasons for the Bengals as a defensive back, with 65 career interceptions for 596...
Colin Kaepernick: Timeline of a gesture and its echoesVideo
Colin Kaepernick was a second-round draft pick in 2011. The next year he led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. By 2016, he had begun kneeling on the sideline at games during the national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality. Soon after, he was gone from...
NFL commissioner Goodell says league was wrong for not listening to players on racial issuesVideo
NEW YORK — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was wrong for not listening to players fighting for racial equality and encouraged them to peacefully protest. One day after 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and several of his peers released a video demanding the league condemn racism, Goodell made...
Colin Kaepernick has more support now, still long way to goVideo
When Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to take a stand against police brutality and racial injustice in 2016, he was mostly alone. Politicians, team owners and fellow players criticized him, fans burned his jersey, and he was booed even at home. Four years later, his protest...
Mark Madden: Drew Brees’ apology should be used as example of change
More than anything, Drew Brees hurt himself. Brees’ words cut deeply in these troubled times. Saying he will “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America” as regards a football player taking a knee during the national anthem was regrettable and tone-deaf. Brees made the...
Bills rookie Jake Fromm apologizes for racially insensitive comment
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Jake Fromm apologized for using the phrase “elite white people” in a text conversation from more than a year ago, and posted on social media early Thursday morning. The former Georgia starter posted his apology on his Twitter account, in which he wrote:...
Saints’ Drew Brees takes first step toward mending relationships
NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees now realizes he had fallen out of touch. His contemporaries drove that home when they pilloried him this week for repeating a long-held conviction he had always felt comfortable expressing. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Brees repeated his opposition to...
