XFL reaches multiyear agreement with ESPN and Fox
The XFL reached multiyear agreements with ESPN and Fox Sports on Monday to broadcast its games beginning in 2020. The league also announced its season will start Feb. 8, the weekend after the NFL season ends with the Super Bowl. This is the second time Vince McMahon has launched a...
First Call: Duquesne lineman gets a kick out of Seahawks minicamp, RMU & PSU in lacrosse tourney
In Monday’s “First Call,” a Duquesne Duke has a memorable moment at Seahawks camp. Also: the NCAA Lacrosse tournament will have a local flavor, a NHL game seven, and rumors about the NFL taking the combine on the road. The more you can do When you’re a rookie free agent...
In letter to NFL, lawyer for Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill disputes abuse
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The attorney for Tyreek Hill sent a letter to the NFL on Thursday disputing child-abuse claims made by the wide receiver’s fiancee, offering a point-by-point response to a secret recording of the couple that was made public last week. In the four-page letter, a copy of...
Pat McAfee calls out ‘yuppies’ after not getting ‘Monday Night Football’ job
Pat McAfee really wanted a job in the announcing booth with ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Alas, he didn’t get it. “MNF” went in another direction, as they say. McAfee responded to the decision on Wednesday calling out “yuppies” in a statement on Twitter, “My entire life, the yuppies of the...
Fantasy Sports podcast: Melky Cabrera’s hot start, NFL Draft impact
It’s our weekly fantasy sports podcast with Jeff Erickson of Rotowire. This week, we look at which draft choices could impact the fantasy football world. Kyler Murray leads the way. Josh Jacobs should help the Oakland Raiders. Those tight ends from Iowa could be worth a pick. And the New...
Booger McFarland to be lone ‘Monday Night Football’ color analyst
ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” will return to a two-man booth when it kicks off its 50th season later this year. The network announced Wednesday that Joe Tessitore will be back doing play-by-play, and Booger McFarland will move up to the booth after being a field-level analyst. ESPN also announced Lisa...
Hall of Fame defensive lineman Gino Marchetti dies
BALTIMORE — Gino Marchetti, a Hall of Fame defensive end who helped the Baltimore Colts win consecutive NFL championships in the late 1950s, died. The Pro Football Hall of Fame said Marchetti was 93. He died Monday at Paoli Hospital in Paoli, Pa., hospital spokeswoman Mary Kate Coghlan said. Marchetti...
Clay Matthews reacts to Packers giving his old number to a rookie
Newly-acquired Los Angeles Rams linebacker Clay Matthews seemed a little miffed about his old team giving his jersey number to a rookie. Matthews made a name for himself for 10 season playing defense for the Green Bay Packer. On Monday, his number, 52, was given to Michigan linebacker Rashan Gary,...
Atlanta Falcons release Seneca Valley, Slippery Rock graduate Fusco
The Atlanta Falcons on Monday released offensive lineman Brandon Fusco, a Seneca Valley and Slippery Rock graduate, after an injury-marred 2018 season. Fusco started the Falcons’ first seven games at right guard before suffering a season-ending injury in October. The team released him with the designation of a failed physical....
NFL, Twitter agree to multiyear extension, new features
NEW YORK — The NFL and Twitter announced a multiyear extension, including six new live shows for the league’s 100th season. The deal will feature live programming built around some of the NFL’s biggest events and more game highlights each week. The six shows will be focused on some of...
Dolphins’ Josh Rosen says he can be franchise QB
DAVIE, Fla. — As he embraced a fresh start Monday, Josh Rosen said all the right things, smiled a lot and even cracked a couple of jokes, such as when he noted the phalanx of photographers nearly drowning out his first news conference with the Miami Dolphins . “These clicks,”...
Police: Bad luck, not altercation, got football players shot
TOPEKA, Kan. — Two Washburn University football players who were shot outside of an off-campus house party hours after one of them was drafted by the New York Giants were “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” authorities said Monday. The shooting early Sunday killed defensive back Dwane Simmons...
Ex-Raiders, Seahawks kicker Sebastian Janikowski retiring
Former Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks kicker Sebastian Janikowski is set to retire after an 18-year career. Janikowski spent 17 seasons with Oakland before kicking last season with Seattle after signing a one-year deal. Janikowski’s agent, Paul Healy, confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday his client intends to retire....
Plum’s Pat McAfee steals the show at the NFL Draft in Nashville
Before Friday night, Bobby Okereke was known merely as a guy who had a sack against Pitt in the Sun Bowl while building a reputation as one of the top inside linebackers available in the NFL Draft. Then, former Plum, West Virginia and Indiananpolis Colts punter Pat McAfee showed up...
Former Pitt star Qadree Ollison stands out among Falcons RBsVideo
Qadree Ollison isn’t entering an especially crowded running back situation in Atlanta. In fact, physically, the former Pitt running back will stand out in the crowd at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds because the other backs are listed at 5-8 (Devonta Freeman and Marcus Green) and 5-9 (Ito Smith). No question, the...
NFL Draft draws record numbers in Nashville and on TV
The NFL Draft drew record numbers both on site and on television. The league said Monday that more than 600,000 attended over the three days in Nashville, easily eclipsing the 250,000 that came to watch two years ago in Philadelphia. Nielsen reports that the draft on ESPN, ABC and NFL...
Ex-Penn State RBs Miles Sanders, Saquon Barkley friendly rivals again
Miles Sanders patiently waited his turn behind Saquon Barkley for two years instead of transferring out of Penn State to a football program that could have used his considerable skills right away. That’s just the kind of player and person Sanders is. “Coming out of high school, I was a...
With stars in place, Cleveland Browns have rare stress-free draft
BEREA, Ohio — Freddie Kitchens emerged from the Browns’ draft room looking like a wide-eyed rookie. Things had been moving quickly for Cleveland’s first-year coach, who seemed a little dazed after spending three whirlwind days observing general manager John Dorsey and his staff relentlessly work the phones with other NFL...
Shooting kills college football player, injures Giants draft pick
TOPEKA, Kan. — Washburn University’s joy over one of its own going to the pros quickly shifted to grief this weekend after a shooting killed a current Washburn football player and wounded the former member of the team who was drafted by the New York Giants hours earlier. Police in...
Trump praises No. 2 pick Nick Bosa, not top pick Kyler Murray
The NFL Draft wasn’t far from President Trump’s mind Saturday night as he addressed a crowd in Green Bay, Wis., and his decision to laud the second overall pick, a white player who has expressed support for Trump, but not mention the No. 1 pick, who is black, has sparked...
Chase Winovich might be getting a haircut when joining the Patriots
Chase Winovich, Jefferson Hills native, is headed to the New England Patriots but he might be getting a haircut when he gets there. Winovich, a Thomas Jefferson graduate who was an outside linebacker at Michigan, was drafted by the Super Bowl champion Patriots in the third round (No. 77 overall)...
Ravens think Penn State’s Trace McSorley ‘could have a big role’
Penn State’s Trace McSorley sensed a quick kinship with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. They met two years ago at the Maxwell Awards, will be working together soon and have been similarly adamant about playing quarterback after college. The Ravens on Saturday drafted McSorley in the sixth round, specifically calling...
Final day of NFL Draft littered with potential backup QBs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Let’s talk quarterbacks. As in potential backup quarterbacks in the NFL, and maybe starters down the road. Eleven quarterbacks were chosen in the NFL Draft. The trio that went in the opening round — No. 1 overall Kyler Murray to Arizona, No. 16 Daniel Jones to the...
Ex-NFL QB Gus Frerotte, TribLive Podcast Network debut weekly program Monday
For 15 NFL seasons in eight major media markets, Gus Frerotte endured incessant questions from waves of reporters. Now, it’s his turn to fire back. In his new venture, he not only will ask the tough questions, he plans to inform and educate. Frerotte, who grew up in Ford City...
NFL Draft wreaks havoc on bachelorette parties in Nashville
Apparently it isn’t a good idea to host a bachelorette party at the same time and place as the NFL Draft. Who knew that Nashville is the destination spot for bachelorette parties in the country? What a lot of women who planned on making this a weekend to remember are...
