NFL category, Page 251

ATLANTA — As Bum Phillips once said, “There’s two kinds of coaches: them that’s fired and them that’s gonna be fired.” His son, Wade Phillips, has been fired enough times to know how true that is: He has walked a broken line through the NFL with nine teams in 41...

ATLANTA — Teammates have called their relationship a “bromance.” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady himself openly uses the word love to describe his bond with Julian Edelman, a receiver he has come to depend on during his career. As the duo prepares to play in a fourth Super Bowl together, each...

ATLANTA — Super Bowl Media Night is the NFL’s version of a rock concert, with player interviews rather than music. It’s a Mardi Gras party, complete with the costumes. It’s a slow-motion stampede conducted mostly by quasi-media members or outright impostors. Some Los Angeles Rams players and coach Sean McVay...

INDIANAPOLIS — Kicker Adam Vinatieri has signed a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts. General manager Chris Ballard announced Friday the two sides had agreed to terms on a new deal. Vinatieri made it official with his signature Monday, then told reporters he was glad the process went smoothly and...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Pro Bowl center Alex Mack rattled off all he does before the snap: Checks for blitzes, keeps an eye on the play clock, makes blocking adjustments and communicates all the changes to everyone else. All that happens in seconds — with 300-pound defenders a few inches away...

ATLANTA — The Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots are bringing two of the top scoring offenses in the NFL to the Super Bowl. The reason they have played so well has a lot to do with the big guys playing up front. Los Angeles had the same offensive...

By the time NFL players reach their third and fourth years in the league, the vast majority are struggling just to hang on because of injuries or younger, faster and often cheaper rookies out for their jobs. In 2006 and 2011, the players union and the NFL tried to do...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Seventeen years ago, Tom Brady was 24 years old and in his second NFL season when he led the Patriots to a last-second victory over the St. Louis Rams for New England’s first Super Bowl title. Four rings later, Brady will arrive in Atlanta for the Patriots’...

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Todd Gurley is a serious sports fan who loves going to the Super Bowl each winter, attending all of the decadent parties and soaking up the game-day atmosphere. The Los Angeles Rams superstar running back will miss out on most of those wild parties this year...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Chicago Bears safety and Pro Bowl newcomer Eddie Jackson posed the same question to several veterans this week: What’s the tempo of practices and the game? “They told me, ‘If you go out there and pull a hamstring, you’re going too hard,’” Jackson said. It wasn’t exactly...

NEW ORLEANS — “They reffed up” billboards, referee voodoo dolls and posters of blindfolded referees can be seen around the city of New Orleans. The city’s Saints fans are unhappy about the infamous “no-call” during the Saints-Rams championship game and have come up with some pretty creative ways to express...

Anyone willing to wager that the high-scoring Patriots or Rams will get shut out in the Super Bowl can count on a big payday if that unlikely scenario occurs. William Hill, the nation’s largest sports book operator, released Thursday its list of more than 900 prop bets for Super Bowl...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Throughout the Patriots’ run of playoff success under Bill Belichick, one of his best-known attributes has been his ability to craft game plans that have stumped their opponents. He’s at it again. This postseason, New England’s best offensive weapon has been finding ways to keep the ball...

Ever since Penn Hills’ Treyvon Hester entered the NFL, he has worked hard to earn every snap. Hester also has made sure the Philadelphia Eagles fan base never will forget his name. He forever will be known as the player who got his fingertips on Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey’s...

Gene Steratore is heading to the Super Bowl for the second straight season, this time in a very different capacity. Steratore wraps up his first year as CBS rules analyst at Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta on Feb. 3. He will be in the booth with Jim Nantz and Tony...

ATLANTA — Once again, Ray Lewis and the Super Bowl intersect in Atlanta. Lewis isn’t ducking from the bad memories of his career low point in 2000, when he and a pair of friends were charged for the stabbing deaths of two men outside a nightclub hours after the last...

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens coach John Harbaugh received a new four-year contract after a season in which he guided Baltimore to the AFC North title. The new deal is designed to keep the winningest coach in Ravens history under contract through the 2022 season. It replaces a pact that...

The level of our NFL discourse has deteriorated to such mind-numbing depths that three days after an historic Championship Weekend, all anyone wants to talk about are the referees, overtime rules, competition committee meetings and some hurt feelings. Well, I’ve had about enough. Message for everyone: Stop whining. And maybe...

Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay is enjoying the spoils of his phenomenal rookie season even though the cast on his right wrist will keep him out of the Pro Bowl this weekend. Lindsay is serving as a social media correspondent for the NFL at the league’s annual all-star game...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It took an entire regular season and some tough losses, but the Patriots defense finally likes where it is at heading into its Super Bowl matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. It hasn’t been perfect, but after a slow start to 2018 and fighting to find an...