Some recent information gives us an idea about how problematic the relationship between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers is.
We have known since the day of the NFL Draft that Rodgers wants out of Green Bay. The Packers have offered him money to try to get him to change his mind.
A recent report from The Athletic’s Bob McGinn said that the Packers offered to make Rodgers the highest-paid quarterback in the league.
There are no details about the terms of the offer. We don’t know how much money was guaranteed, nor the length of the contract offer, which is likely a chief concern for Rodgers. But McGinn uses the example as a way to point out how Rodgers’ issues with the team go beyond money.
One former teammate thinks that the relationship and issues are fixable. However, another reporter thinks that Rodgers will not be changing his mind.
Rodgers has three years left on his contract after signing a 4-year extension in 2018. He has a $37 million cap hit in 2021.
Among other issues, Rodgers probably also did not appreciate being blamed for the team’s lack of moves.
Tarik Cohen is trying to grieve following the death of his twin brother Tyrell, who died on Saturday at the age of 25.
Tyrell died over the weekend in North Carolina after being electrocuted. Officials believe he was fleeing from authorities following a car accident and tried climbing a fence at an electrical substation.
Cohen sought help on social media Saturday in locating his brother, whose body was found and identified on Sunday.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Chicago Bears running back sent tweets regarding his brother’s death. Tarik said he would take care of Tyrell’s two young daughters.
The Cohen brothers are from Bunn, North Carolina. Tarik has played for the Bears since being drafted in 2017.
Urban Meyer shared a story about how the Tim Tebow signing came about.
The Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday agreed to a 1-year deal with Tebow. The signing came despite Tebow not having played in the NFL since 2012.
Meyer, who is entering his first season as head coach of the Jaguars, was a guest on Cris Collinsworth’s podcast. He shared what led to Tebow’s signing.
“(Tebow) was in the best shape of his life, asked to work out with a couple of our coaches. I wasn’t even there,” Meyer said. “And they came back to me and said ‘wow, this guy is in incredible shape.’ Then I went another time and watched them try him out. They said go work on these things, he comes back later, they try him out again. I’m not there. They come back and said ‘wow, this guy’s ball skills … he’s a great athlete. He looks like he’s 18 years old.’ I said, ‘guys, you don’t understand how this guy is the most competitive maniac you’re ever going to talk to, and let’s give it a shot.'”
The Jags ended up deciding to give Tebow a shot. He played quarterback during his first NFL stint and resisted a move to other positions. Now 33, he will try to work as a tight end this time around.
The Jags’ signing of Tebow has been met with resistance from some around the NFL. Even some Jaguars coaches reportedly are in disagreement about the move.
Tebow signing does not mean he will be playing when the season begins. If he is incapable of helping the team, he will be cut.
Fernando Tatis Jr. has tested positive for COVID-19 but is asymptomatic.
The San Diego Padres on Tuesday announced the news about Tatis. Padres manager Jayce Tingler said that Tatis does not have any symptoms for now. Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo were also placed on the injured list due to being close contacts.
Tatis, who missed time earlier this season due to his shoulder, is batting .240 in 26 games. However, the shortstop has hit nine home runs and stolen seven bases. He has a .552 on-base percentage and .867 OPS.
This has been a rough start to the season for Tatis between his shoulder injury and positive COVID-19 test.
The Padres had Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop for their game on Tuesday at Colorado in place of Tatis.
The New York Yankees experienced an oddity that has caused some adjustments to their coaching staff.
Third base coach Phil Nevin tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced on Tuesday. The positive test occurred despite Nevin being fully vaccinated.
Nevin, 50, received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in spring training. The Yankees as a team reached MLB’s 85 percent vaccination threshold a few weeks ago, which allows more freedom in their virus-mitigating behavior.
Nevin will be replaced as third base coach by bench coach Carlos Mendoza.
In addition to Nevin, first base coach Reggie Willits will not coach on Tuesday. Mario Garza will serve as the first base coach for the team’s game against Tampa Bay.
Nevin was an All-Star for the Padres in 2001 as a player. He has been a coach with the Yankees since 2018.
There has been a lot of skepticism expressed across the NFL community over the Jacksonville Jaguars’ decision to sign Tim Tebow, and apparently some of that is shared by members of the team’s coaching staff.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington said on Tuesday’s edition of “Get Up!” that there is “serious disagreement” within the Jaguars organization about signing Tebow. Some of the members of Urban Meyer’s coaching staff reportedly do not feel bringing in the 33-year-old is a smart move.
“Beyond the emotional side of this and beyond the wonders of why, is just the reality that it’s really not practical,” Darlington said. “It’s really not likely to work. Urban Meyer would say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna add anybody to my team who has the potential to better this organization.’ To which you could look at this and say, ‘How is this going to better the organization?’ There’s really not very much upside at all.”
Most people believe there is little chance Tebow will contribute in Jacksonville — including Jaguars fans. He has not appeared in an NFL game since 2012 and has never played tight end at the pro level. It would make more sense to bring him in as a coach than a player.
One wide receiver who is still hoping to play in the NFL already expressed his feelings about the Tebow news on Twitter. That opinion is widely shared.
Photo: Sports Spectrum/Wikimedia via CC-BY-SA 4.0
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had an extremely close relationship before Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash last year. Jordan admits he has had trouble accepting the tragedy, which is one of the reasons he can’t bring himself to erase the last communication he ever had with Kobe.
As he prepares to be the presenter for Bryant’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jordan spoke with ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan about the ways in which he has coped with Kobe’s death. The six-time champion revealed that he still has the final text messages he exchange with Bryant saved on his phone.
Jordan shared the exchange with MacMullan. He said Kobe reached out to him to tell M.J. how much he enjoyed his Cincoro Tequila, which had just launched. The two then discussed Bryant’s two biggest passions — family and basketball. You can see the full conversation below:
This tequila is awesome,” Kobe texted, referring to Jordan’s Cincoro Tequila, a bottle of which was sent to Bryant at the launch.
“Thank you, my brother,” Jordan responded.
“Yes, sir. Family good?” Kobe replied.
“All good. Yours?”
“All good.”
Jordan smiled, then decided to have a little fun. “He was really into coaching Gigi,” MJ explains, “so I hit him up about that.”
“Happy holidays,” Jordan texted back, “and hope to catch up soon. Coach Kobe??!”
“I added that little crying/laughing emoji,” Jordan chuckles.
“Ah, back at you, man,” Kobe wrote. “Hey, coach, I’m sitting on the bench right now, and we’re blowing this team out. 45-8.”
Jordan, one of the fiercest competitors in sports history, also admitted he is nervous about inducting Kobe into the Hall of Fame. He said he was initially concerned about losing his composure but “realized I’m not going to be nervous about showing emotions for someone I absolutely loved.”
“That’s the humanistic side of me — people tend to forget I do have one,” Jordan said.
Kobe idolized Jordan and modeled his game after the six-time NBA champion. We were reminded of that when “The Last Dance” aired last year, as Kobe gave Jordan credit for his own five championship rings when he was interviewed for the documentary.
Bryant openly tried to play like Jordan, talk like him, lead like him, and win like him. Even his love letter to basketball was just like Jordan’s. The two shared a lot of great memories together, and you can expect Jordan to do a great job of recapping that on Saturday.
H/T Bleacher Report
Novak Djokovic had yet another outburst toward an official during a match on Tuesday, albeit for a different reason than usual.
During his match against Taylor Fritz at the Italian Open in Rome, Djokovic became furious with the umpire for not suspending play despite heavy rain. He screamed in the direction of the umpire and asked, “How much do you want to play?” The umpire responded that he was checking the court, to which Djokovic angrily replied, “I asked you three times, you are not checking anything!”
The clip below shows the exchange:
Djokovic then walked off the court and took cover in the tunnel area. Fritz remained in the bench area as rain fell, but the match was eventually suspended because of the inclement weather.
Djokovic is known for having outbursts on the court. He smashed a racket in anger at the Australian Open back in February and left the court damaged (video here). The 33-year-old was infamously disqualified from the US Open last year after he hit a ball in frustration and it inadvertently struck a line judge. You can see that incident here.
While he said after the US Open incident that he would focus on controlling his temper, Djokovic clearly still work to do in that department.
Former Hawaii star quarterback Colt Brennan was found unconscious at a rehabilitation center days before he died.
Brennan’s father, Terry Brennan, confirmed to Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star Advertiser that his son died on Monday. The elder Brennan said Colt was found unconscious at a rehab facility days before he died at a hospital in Newport, Calif.
Terry said Colt, 37, was in the fifth month of an inpatient program. He said Colt had been doing great before the incident, which ultimately took his life.
“He was doing so well, the spark was back in his eyes, and he was healthy and doing great, and it happened,” Terry Brennan said. “He had been doing really (well). These guys were no-nonsense guys. It just got away from him. I don’t know how else to explain it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to explain it better.”
Terry said his son was surrounded by family at the time of his death and “went peacefully.”
Brennan, who was originally from Laguna Beach, Calif., was the starting quarterback at Hawaii from 2005 to 2007. He lit up the stat sheet during his three seasons with the program, completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 14,193 yards, 131 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. The 131 touchdown passes rank fourth all time in NCAA Division I FBS history.
Brennan was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2007, when he led Hawaii to an undefeated regular season. The Rainbow Warriors lost to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl that year.
After his huge season in 2007, Brennan was drafted in the sixth round by Washington. He spent two seasons there before signing with the then-Oakland Raiders for a brief time. Brennan then went on to play in several other pro football leagues when his NFL career fizzled out.
Colt Brennan, one of the most popular players in Hawaii football history, has died.
Hawaii News Now learned on Tuesday that Brennan has died at age 37. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Brennan, who was originally from Laguna Beach, Calif., was the starting quarterback at Hawaii from 2005 to 2007. He lit up the stat sheet during his three seasons with the program, completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 14,193 yards, 131 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. The 131 touchdown passes rank fourth all time in NCAA Division I FBS history.
Brennan was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2007, when he led Hawaii to an undefeated regular season. The Rainbow Warriors lost to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl that year.
After his huge season in 2007, Brennan was drafted in the sixth round by Washington. He spent two seasons there before signing with the then-Oakland Raiders for a brief time. Brennan then went on to play in several other pro football leagues when his NFL career fizzled out.
The loss of Brennan is a huge one for the University of Hawaii.
