Three-time Super Bowl champ Dont’a Hightower returning to Patriots as linebackers coach
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Former New England Patriots linebacker and three-time Super Bowl champion Dont’a Hightower is joining new coach Jerod Mayo’s staff as an assistant. Hightower and his agency confirmed Friday he would be joining the Patriots to coach his old position. Hightower began a decade-long run in New England...
Chiefs rule out All-Pro LG Joe Thuney for Super Bowl
LAS VEGAS — The Kansas City Chiefs ruled out All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney for the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday because of a pectoral injury. Wide receiver Rashee Rice and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, though, appear ready to go. Rice was a full participant in...
Analysis: Why will Chiefs win Super Bowl? Their vast experience
LAS VEGAS — The Kansas City Chiefs have been here before. They’ve won here before. In fact, they’ve beaten the San Francisco 49ers here before. Of all the reasons why the Chiefs will raise their third Lombardi Trophy in four trips to the Super Bowl over the past five years...
Here’s what you can expect from Super Bowl commercials this Sunday
NEW YORK — Big name advertisers will be pulling out all the stops on Super Bowl Sunday — enlisting high-profile actors, investing in dazzling special effects and, they hope, going for laughs as they seek to win over viewers during game breaks. Marketers will use Sunday’s game, which will air...
NFL will host its 1st regular-season game in Spain in 2025 at Real Madrid’s stadium
LAS VEGAS — The NFL is headed to Spain in 2025 for the first regular-season game in that country. The league announced Friday at the Super Bowl that its international slate of games for the 2025 season will feature a game at Real Madrid’s iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. “We could...
X is selling million-dollar ad packages for Super Bowl Sunday
X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, has been selling special ad packages tied to the National Football League playoffs and Super Bowl, which include video ads that run before NFL highlight videos, an effort to use the US’s most popular sporting event to lure back major advertisers. The...
Damar Hamlin on a lesson of the past year: ‘Trust what you know and trust what got you here’
LAS VEGAS — Damar Hamlin learned a lot about himself over the past year. That’s no surprise after his near-death experience on the field about 13 months ago. Hamlin spoke for a few minutes Thursday on a platform overlooking radio row at this year’s Super Bowl. It was easy to...
49ers’ Javon Hargrave recalls when Patrick Mahomes shined vs. Steelers in 3rd career start
Sunday’s Super Bowl will be the fourth time Javon Hargrave has faced Patrick Mahomes. By now, Hargrave joins the rest of the NFL world in recognizing Mahomes’ future Hall of Fame bona fides. Things were quite different the first time Hargrave played against Mahomes — and not just because at...
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson near-unanimous pick for 2nd AP NFL MVP
LAS VEGAS — Lamar Jackson was a near-unanimous choice for his second AP NFL MVP award announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night. Baltimore’s All-Pro quarterback received 49 of 50 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of voters that includes media members who regularly cover the NFL, former players and...
Julius Peppers headlines defensive-focused Pro Football Hall of Fame class
LAS VEGAS — First-time candidate Julius Peppers headlines a 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame class that has a distinctive defensive feel. The star defensive end was joined by another elite pass rusher in Dwight Freeney and do-everything linebacker Patrick Willis in the modern era category announced Thursday night. Prolific...
Chiefs still feel void after death of their matriarch, Norma Hunt
HENDERSON, Nev. — There is much that Clark Hunt will never forget about that night four years ago in Miami, when five decades of futility had finally ended, and the Kansas City Chiefs — the team his late father Lamar Hunt had founded — raised another Lombardi Trophy. The most...
Chiefs, 49ers should provide heavy dose of pre-snap motion in Super Bowl
LAS VEGAS — When the Super Bowl was in the balance in the fourth quarter a year ago, coach Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs put a twist on their frequent pre-snap motion. The result? Two wide-open touchdown passes that helped the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, for a Super...
Browns looking to buy land as potential future site for new stadium as talks with Cleveland continueVideo
CLEVELAND — Other than a few years after they moved to Baltimore, the Cleveland Browns have always played their games on the shores of Lake Erie. That could change in the future. The team reportedly is nearing a deal to buy 176 acres in a suburb south of Cleveland, a...
Isiah Pacheco’s ‘angry’ running style could help lift Chiefs past 49ers in the Super Bowl
HENDERSON, Nev. — Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco was relaxed Wednesday as reporters peppered him with questions, the opposite of his running style that has commonly been described as angry. When asked how he would describe his style, Pacheco deferred to the experts, or in this case the media. Kansas...
NFLPA’s Lloyd Howell tackles field issues, gambling and more in 1st state of the union address
LAS VEGAS — The San Francisco 49ers’ issues with their practice fields at the Super Bowl gave the NFL Players Association an opportunity to highlight players’ desire for grass fields across the league. NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell emphasized the importance of installing grass fields, discussed modifications to the league’s...
49ers tackle Trent Williams savors 1st Super Bowl trip in 14th season
HENDERSON, Nev. — Trent Williams’ accomplishments are already worthy of a Hall of Fame career with 11 Pro Bowl bids, three first-team All-Pro selections and near universal recognition as the best left tackle of his generation. All that was missing for the San Francisco 49ers star was something he never...
Ignitable cakes, sweatshirts and more. Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift gear flies off store shelves
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An ignitable cake burns away a Kansas City Chiefs logo to reveal pop superstar Taylor Swift ‘s image underneath. Prayer candles feature the Grammy winner and her star tight end boyfriend Travis Kelce. Sweatshirts are emblazoned with “Kelce’s Best Catch” and “Go Kansas City Swiftie.” With...
NFL’s 1st Super Bowl in Las Vegas has plenty of storylines plus an interesting football matchup
LAS VEGAS — The first Super Bowl in Las Vegas has everything the imaginary NFL scriptwriters could’ve wanted. There’s Patrick Mahomes and the underdog Kansas City Chiefs (14-6) aiming to become the first repeat champions in 19 years and trying to solidify their claim to a dynasty with a third...
Pro Picks: Purdy will lead the 49ers to another comeback win, ruining Chiefs’ repeat bid
LAS VEGAS — The underdog Kansas City Chiefs are playing for history against the San Francisco 49ers. No team has been the underdog in consecutive Super Bowls and won both games. The two previous defending champions to return as an underdog both lost. But the Chiefs (14-6) have been defying...
Chiefs will likely be short-handed when they play 49ers in the Super BowlVideo
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Kansas City Chiefs could be without three key players when they play the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney appeared to get into dispute with Chiefs management about a hip injury that sidelined him for six games, going on Instagram to...
Raiders hire Steel Valley graduate Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders hired former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on Tuesday, going to their second option after Kliff Kingsbury withdrew from consideration Saturday. Getsy is a Steel Valley graduate who played two years at Pitt before transferring to Akron. New Raiders coach Antonio Pierce...
Chiefs like role as Super Bowl underdogs against 49ers
LAS VEGAS — For most of the past six years, Patrick Mahomes has had to manufacture the chip that he carries on his shoulder, because the Kansas City Chiefs have been so good for so long that they were almost always expected to win. That is no longer the case....
49ers’ Brock Purdy remains unfazed by rise from last pick in draft to Super Bowl QB
LAS VEGAS — Minutes after the San Francisco 49ers finished off a stunning comeback to win the NFC championship, star defender Nick Bosa pulled aside quarterback Brock Purdy and marveled at his journey. Purdy has undergone a meteoric rise from “Mr. Irrelevant” as the final pick of the 2022 draft...
Everyone hopes Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl won’t come down to officiating call
San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York was asked the other day what comes to mind when he thinks back to his team’s Super Bowl loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs four years ago, and he quipped: “I mean, I remember Nick Bosa getting held on third-and-long —...
Who will referee this year’s Super Bowl? How do NFL officials prepare?
Some folks who could get plenty of TV time during Super Bowl 58 between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers are household names, of course, from Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Christian McCaffrey on the field to a certain pop star — Taylor Swift — expected to cheer...
