Will there ever be another Kyler Murray in specialization era?
Kyler Murray has chosen football over baseball, at least for now. It is anyone’s guess when the world will see another athlete with the skills and opportunity to have such a choice. The Oakland Athletics selected Murray ninth overall in the MLB Draft last June. He then went out and...
Troubled running back Kareem Hunt signs with Browns
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns’ signing of Kareem Hunt once again shines a spotlight somewhere other than the team’s on-field performance. Hunt, who was released 2½ months ago by Kansas City after a video surfaced showing the star running back pushing and kicking a woman, signed with Cleveland on Monday....
Kyler Murray chooses NFL over baseball and Athletics
MESA, Ariz. — When Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy, the Oakland Athletics knew there was a chance he might choose football over baseball. That is exactly what happened. On the day the A’s started spring training workouts, Murray said he will pursue a career in the NFL. “We took...
Quarterback gets rocked in first highlight of new AAF league
Alliance of American Football league kicked off Saturday night — yes, there’s another football league — and they produced their first highlight of the season. The play came early in the first quarter when San Diego Fleet quarterback Mike Bercovici was blown up by San Antonio Commanders linebacker Shaan Washington....
Steve Spurrier returns to sideline, wins AAF opener
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Head Ball Coach is back, lighting up the scoreboard and selling the Alliance of American Football. And fans — at least those in Orlando, Florida, who showed up in the rain for Steve Spurrier’s debut in the new league Saturday night — are eager to buy....
Chiefs tell Patrick Mahomes to quit playing hoops after video emerges
Like many Chiefs fans, general manager Brett Veach saw the viral video of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ pickup basketball moves and was concerned. The fear of an injury to the NFL’s MVP led Veach to place a call to Mahomes’ agent, Leigh Steinberg. “As soon as I saw it, it probably...
Curtis Martin, Jim Leyland to be honored by Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation
The 15th annual Aspire Gala in Baltimore will have a decided Pittsburgh flavor later when the noted charity event is held later this month. Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin and former Pirates manager Jim Leyland are two of the three honorees by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation’s gala...
Rob Gronkowski hit by beer can during Patriots’ Super Bowl parade
BOSTON — Gronk got bonked. Rob Gronkowski, the New England Patriots’ star tight end, says he got hit in the face by a can of beer thrown during Tuesday’s Super Bowl victory parade in Boston. Gronkowski told “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” the can drew blood, and he showed...
Column: Where, oh where, should the Raiders play?
The Raiders thought they finally found a place to play next season, only to find out they’re not wanted in San Francisco. Not by the mayor, and certainly not by the team that still calls itself the San Francisco 49ers — even while it plays its games in a stadium...
Browns’ Baker Mayfield will use NFL rookie runner-up as motivatorVideo
CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield stepped onto the stage and took a handoff from former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar. At least he got one postseason trophy. Mayfield, who finished second to New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley in voting for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, was named Cleveland’s...
Column: Carson Wentz isn’t perfect? Neither is that Tom Brady guy
PHILADELPHIA — Man, if there were a BostonVoice website, a New England version of PhillyVoice, the local boutique media outlet, would it ever have a field day with that Tom Brady. You know, the quarterback who just won his sixth Super Bowl on Sunday night. Selfish? Oh boy. The guy...
Sean McVay, Jared Goff begin shaking off Rams’ loss, focusing on futureVideo
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams have plenty of offseason work to do. Thanks to their run to the Super Bowl, they have a relatively short amount of time to do it. Sean McVay professes to love few things more than his next challenge, and the coach already...
Can Zac Taylor take long-suffering Bengals the next step?
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals liked Zac Taylor the first time they talked to him, but there was one overriding concern when they discussed offering him their head coaching job. He’s 35 with only a few games as a coordinator on his NFL resume. Would it be too much, too...
Super Bowl reaches 100.7 million viewers, the least-watched title game in a decade
PASADENA, Calif. — The New England Patriots’ competitive but action-starved Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams was seen by 100.7 million people on television and streaming services, the smallest audience for football’s annual spectacle in a decade. A boycott by disgruntled New Orleans Saints fans, a campaign by...
With wait over, Bengals free to hire Zac Taylor as coach
CINCINNATI — The Bengals went more than a month without a coach after firing Marvin Lewis. The Super Bowl’s over, and so is their long wait to bring Zac Taylor to town to size him up as the successor. They’ve targeted the Rams quarterbacks coach as Lewis’ replacement, but they...
Patriots’ ‘Reagan’ audible probably means run to the right
Did the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady bring politics onto the football field during Super Bowl XLIII? During the third quarter with the ball deep in their own territory, the broadcast caught Brady calling: “Reagan. Reagan.” The audible was apparently a run to the right: Brady handed off...
Rob Gronkowski makes 2 key catches for Patriots in what could be last game
ATLANTA — Rob Gronkowski rumbled down the field, got past two defenders and hauled in the football to set up New England’s go-ahead touchdown. If this was the farewell performance for the Patriots tight end, he went out in playmaking style. Was it his biggest catch ever? “You tell me,”...
Jared Goff, Rams offense falls flat in Super Bowl defeatVideo
ATLANTA — Jared Goff trudged to the Los Angeles Rams bench, his face a mask of confusion and despair while the Patriots celebrated their interception behind him. Sean McVay left the sideline and leaned into his ear. The coach didn’t say much, but he encouraged his quarterback to learn from...
Super Bowl LIII: Six things you’ll remember from the Patriots’ win over the RamsVideo
The Patriots’ 13-3 win over the Rams may have been among the least memorable Super Bowls. It was the lowest-scoring title game in NFL history, the first Super Bowl without a touchdown through three quarters, and the first Super Bowl of the nine featuring Tom Brady and Bill Belichick decided...
Patriots smother Rams, tie Steelers with 6th Super Bowl titleVideo
ATLANTA — That super shootout everyone expected turned into a defensive standoff. The New England Patriots showed they can win that type of championship game, too. So after Tom Brady led one classic drive to win the Patriots their record-tying sixth Super Bowl, he perfectly summed up the 13-3 victory...
Peter Schmuck: Hall of Famer Ed Reed a study in contrasts with Ravens
BALTIMORE — Longtime Ravens safety Ed Reed has always been something of a contradiction, but that’s what made him the player who Saturday was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He was the guy who pulled off a pick-6 from 7 yards...
Paul Newberry: Patriots prevail in instantly forgettable Super stinkerVideo
ATLANTA The NFL should’ve ended the season two weeks ago. This Super Bowl was a hot mess, really no better than a sloppy preseason game. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots captured their sixth championship Sunday night, an amazing accomplishment that was overshadowed by the ugly way they won...
Super Bowl a homecoming for Rams’ Sean McVay
ATLANTA — They still talk about that play at the Marist School. Wham Naked. If there was ever any doubt that Sean McVay was a coach-in-the-making, it should’ve ended that night in 2003. “He was special,” said Alan Chadwick, who was McVay’s high school coach at Marist. “He had a...
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes wins MVP, Rams’ Aaron Donald repeats as top defensive player
ATLANTA — Patrick Mahomes’ breathtaking breakthrough season earned him the NFL’s MVP award. The Chiefs quarterback landed a pair of honors at NFL Honors on Saturday night, taking the Associated Press 2018 MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards. In his second pro season, Mahomes led Kansas City to...
Youth meets experience as Rams, Patriots clash in Super Bowl
ATLANTA — Hey, have you guys been here before? If you’re a New England Patriot, the answer pretty much is “all the time.” If you play for the Rams, the reply basically is “never in my life.” So if experience is a factor in Sunday’s Super Bowl, the overwhelming edge...
