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First Call: Martavis Bryant wants back in NFL; Aaron Donald wants goal line touches

Tim Benz
| Tuesday, June 23, 2020 6:36 a.m.
Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant looks a the big screen after coming off the field in the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos during the AFC Divisional Playoff game Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016 at Sports Authority Field.

Tuesday’s “First Call” looks at the idea of Martavis Bryant returning to the NFL. A former Penguins brawler is retiring. A difference of opinion in Baltimore. And Aaron Donald wants to be a two-way player.

Bryant back again?

Sirius Radio contributor Rudy Carpenter says that Martavis Bryant wants back in the league.

The former NFL quarterback tweets that Bryant has officially applied for reinstatement to the National Football League.

Former Raider & Steelers WR Martavis Bryant has officially applied for reinstatement....NFL is going to have some interesting decisions to make ??‍♂️

— Rudy Carpenter (@rudygcarp12) June 22, 2020

The former Steelers and Raiders wide receiver has been indefinitely suspended from the NFL since 2018. He had previously been suspended in 2015 for four games. In 2016, he was suspended for the entire season for repeated drug violations.

Josh Gordon and Randy Gregory are also applying for reinstatement.

Is he serious?

Aaron Donald has been lobbying to be a two-way player with the Los Angeles Rams for a few years now.

At the goal line anyway. The former defensive player of the year really wants a red zone touchdown.

The former Pitt Panther great is now ramping up his plea… by tweeting out pool videos?

View this post on Instagram

I need me a goal line TD this year. ??‍♂️ What’s good @rams?? #versatile #ad99 @prospectmedia_ - - - Subscribe to my YouTube!! LINK IN BIO ?

A post shared by Aaron Donald (@aarondonald99) on Jun 20, 2020 at 6:53pm PDT

Good stance off the line. He watched the ball all the way into the target zone. Good lookin’ catch radius.

But I was, at least, expecting — you know — a full-sized football.

Difference of opinion

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and head coach John Harbaugh aren’t exactly on the same page when it comes to why the team lost at home in the playoffs last year.

The 14-2 Ravens were infamously ousted by the Tennessee Titans in a big upset last January.

Jackson recently said his team “underestimated” the Titans.

“That’s what happened in the playoffs, and we end up losing to the team people had us favored over,” Jackson told Complex’s “Load Management” podcast. “It’s any given Sunday. You can’t underestimate (any) team, no opponent and that’s what we did. … They caught us by surprise. That’s all it was.”

Harbaugh has a different take.

“I don’t think we took them lightly, personally. We just didn’t play well,” Harbaugh said during a conference call Monday.

“I respect (Lamar’s) opinion on it,” Harbaugh said via ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley. “If he views it that way, that’s how he views it. That doesn’t bother me.”

Sure. Until he hears people constantly regurgitating this quote over and over again between now and next year’s playoffs.

‘Fare-thee-well,’ Thorby

Chris Thorburn wasn’t a Pittsburgh Penguin for very long.

Just one season worth of 39 games, five points and 69 penalty minutes.

But he was a fun guy and an entertaining interview.

After 13 seasons of fighting, grinding and forechecking, he is retiring.

“Thank you to everyone who supported me, believed in me, and influenced me throughout my hockey career,” Thorburn said in a statement via the NHL Players’ Association. “The Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues all took a chance on me and for that I am forever grateful.

“To finish my hockey career with the St. Louis Blues and finally get an opportunity to lift the Stanley Cup over my head, I could not have scripted a better way to go out.”

Thorburn totaled 968 penalty minutes and 134 points in 801 games. He was a part of the extended roster in the playoffs as the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019.


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