Aaron Rodgers seems to be relishing the fact that he may be causing the Green Bay Packers some headaches as they try to plan out his future.
Rodgers appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday and made more comments about his future with the Packers. He reiterated that it was “out of my control,” but pointed out that his play last year may have “thrown a wrench” into some of the organization’s plans.
“Nothing’s really changed. My future, a lot of it is out of my control,” Rodgers said. “That’s why I use a phrase like ‘beautiful mystery.’ Because it is quite uncertain which direction things are going to go. All I can do is play my best, and I feel like last year I did do that and that may have thrown a wrench into some timelines that may have been thought of or desired.”
That last line is sure to raise some eyebrows. Rodgers has never been happy about the Packers using a first-round pick on quarterback Jordan Love last year. Rodgers clearly saw it as a signal that the organization thinks Rodgers should be slowing down. Plus, he wasn’t particularly thrilled to see Green Bay using a first-round pick on a player that does not fill any immediate needs.
Rodgers has been making similar comments about his future lately, and he seems to be enjoying taking subtle shots at the Packers. For what it’s worth, the Packers seem to be giving him reason to do so based on how they’re handling things.
Jordan Spieth finally broke through on Sunday with a win at the Valero Texas Open, and few people were happier to see it than the legendary Jack Nicklaus.
Spieth held off Charley Hoffman by two strokes to claim his first victory since 2017. He is playing some of his best golf in years at a perfect time, as the Masters begins on Thursday. Nicklaus sent a tweet congratulating Spieth.
Nicklaus also complimented Spieth for the maturity he showed on the 18th hole, when he had a two-shot lead over Hoffman and chose to lay up rather than going for the green.
Prior to the last two months, Spieth’s game had largely been in shambles since his infamous meltdown at the 2016 Masters. He took a five-shot lead into the back nine and looked like he was going win back-to-back green jackets but fell apart.
Since missing four cuts in seven tournaments late last season into early this year, Spieth has four top-five finishes in his last six events. His win, of course, came just days before the start of the 2021 Masters. He made it clear how much the victory meant to him.
Nicklaus has been a positive influence for Spieth and many other golfers. If you remember, he was one of the first to offer words of encouragement for Spieth following the Masters meltdown.
Tennessee linebacker Aaron Beasley has found himself at the center of an animal abuse investigation following an allegation from another student.
A Tennessee student started a GoFundMe page for her 6-month-old cat on Thursday after she says the kitten was badly injured and required medical attention. The student said she was in the process of moving when she returned home to find the cat, named Nugget, hiding under a dresser. She said the kitten could not walk and screamed when she picked it up.
The woman said she learned that her roommate’s boyfriend had hit and kicked the cat. Veterinarians said the kitten “has brain damage and will now have a hard time walking, he has a bleeding hemorrhage on his kidney caused from internal bleeding from being kicked, clots in his bladder, and he is currently in an oxygen tank,” according to the GoFundMe page.
While the student did not mention her roommate’s boyfriend’s name, the Knoxville Police Department confirmed to WBIR on Friday that it received a report that Beasley had abused another student’s cat. The junior has not been charged with a crime, but the incident is under investigation.
The police report states that officers spoke with the student who filed the complaint and two of her roommates, including Beasley’s girlfriend. Beasley’s girlfriend said she and the linebacker came home to find the cat eating leftover food, which was an ongoing issue. She said Beasley then locked the cat in a bathroom. The girlfriend claimed she opened the door a few hours later and the cat went running to its owner’s bedroom.
The third roommate said she was in her room the night of the incident and heard Beasley’s girlfriend tell him “you can’t do that” and start crying. The other roommate also claimed she had a text from Beasley’s girlfriend saying Beasley put the cat in the toilet. Beasley’s girlfriend told police she did not see her boyfriend do that or hit the cat.
Beasley played sparingly for the Vols last season, recording seven total tackles and a forced fumble. Unfortunately, he is not the first person linked to a college football program this year who has faced troubling animal abuse allegations.
The New England Patriots have not performed all that well in the draft in recent years, which is one of the main reasons they had to spend so much money in free agency this offseason. One position Bill Belichick never seems to hit on is wide receiver, and that may be a result of his reluctance to listen to the team’s scouting department.
In his latest Monday Morning Quarterback column, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said Belichick is taking a different approach with the draft this year. Breer said Belichick has previously left team personnel “feeling like they were actively cut out where other teams’ people weren’t.” One example of that came in 2019, when the Patriots used the 32nd overall pick on wide receiver N’Keal Harry.
According to Breer, some Patriots scouts felt Deebo Samuel and A.J. Brown — both of whom were taken in the second round — were better prospects than Harry. Some of Belichick’s personnel people believed there were red flags with Harry, but Harry was impressive in his visit to New England and Belichick is friends with his Arizona State coach, Todd Graham.
In two seasons with the Patriots, Harry has 45 catches for 414 yards and just four touchdowns. He has missed a total of 11 games. Samuel has also battled injuries, but he’s been much more involved with the San Francisco 49ers than Harry has with New England. A.J. Brown is a star for the Tennessee Titans and one of the best receivers in football.
Perhaps that mistake and others have humbled Belichick a bit. Breer says Belichick is treating the 2021 draft as a “more collaborative effort” than years past. Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently described the team’s free agent spending spree as a “team effort on the part of our personnel department.” That may not have been a coincidence.
We all know the Patriots have their eye on one veteran quarterback, but it will be interesting to see if they are aggressive in addressing the position in the draft. If they are, that may be a sign that Belichick is giving his personnel department a stronger voice.
H/T Boston.com
Former NFL offensive lineman Bruce Campbell found his name trending on social media over the weekend, but it turns out it should not have been.
A video that went viral on Twitter on Sunday showed two men involved in a fight at a Walmart store. The larger of the two men supposedly had to be taken to the hospital afterword with a broken jaw. The Raiders fan account that tweeted the video claimed the man who had his jaw broken was Campbell, who used to play for the team.
You can see the video below, but beware that it contains inappropriate language and violence:
It would have been something if Campbell, a former fourth-round draft pick, was involved in a Walmart brawl. However, several media outlets have confirmed that it was not Campbell in the video.
Campbell, 32, was a star at Maryland before being drafted by the Raiders. He spent two seasons in Oakland before brief stints with the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets. Campbell’s career may not have gone thew way he had hoped, but that doesn’t mean he has stooped to getting knocked out by smaller guys at his local Walmart.
Aaron Rodgers is suddenly planning a wedding after his relationship with actress Shailene Woodley progressed at a rapid pace, but there may end up being some major tension surrounding the big day.
Rodgers has had a strained relationship with his immediate family for many years. A source told Us Weekly recently that the Green Bay Packers quarterback has been thinking about which family members to invite to his wedding and that it has been “weighing heavily on him.”
“It’ll for sure be a special day and it would be wrong of him to not invite his family, but everyone is aware of their strained relationship and knows that [those] problems aren’t going to get fixed in one day,” the source said. “Whether they decide to come [is] up to them.”
Rodgers and Woodley are planning to get married in California, which is where the majority of both of their families and friends live. The exact date is not yet known.
Rodgers has had a strained relationship with his family for at least seven years. Going back to 2016, we heard about him having issues with his family. Rodgers’ brother even opened up about the tension a few years back.
When Rodgers made some comments about his Christian upbringing around a year ago, his family was reportedly upset over it.
It would be a surprise if Rodgers didn’t invite his own family to his wedding. That said, it doesn’t sound like the relationship has improved much, if at all.
Kirk Herbstreit ripped Dan Orlovsky this week after Orlovsky passed along a negative report about Justin Fields’ work ethic, and it sounds like executives at ESPN are not pleased about the situation.
Orlovsky was a guest on Pat McAfee’s show Wednesday and was asked by the host about rumors that Fields’ stock is dropping. Orlovsky told McAfee that he has heard some talk from NFL teams questioning Fields’ work ethic and desire to be great. Orlovsky made it clear that what he was sharing was not his opinion about Fields and said he has no concerns about the former Ohio State star’s ability to perform at the next level.
After receiving some backlash, Orlovsky posted a video on Twitter to elaborate on his comments. He said he had since spoken with more people — including one Ohio State offensive assistant — who praised Fields for his work ethic. Herbstreit, a fellow ESPN employee and Buckeyes alum, was not satisfied with Orlovsky’s explanation. He called Orlovsky’s initial report on Fields “reckless and absurd.”
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, ESPN has spoken with both Herbstreit and Orlovsky. Neither TV personality will be suspended, but the issue has been addressed. It’s unclear if the higher-ups at ESPN took issue with Orlovsky’s initial report about Fields, Herbstreit’s tweet, or both.
Orlovsky repeatedly said that the negative reports he heard about Fields’ work ethic came from NFL teams and indicated he was not buying into them. The information probably came from one or more teams that are interested in Fields and want him to fall down the draft board.
With some of the throws Fields made and the blazing 40-yard dash he ran (video here) at his Pro Day, it’s hard to imagine him slipping too far.
Jordan Spieth on Sunday claimed his first PGA Tour victory since 2017, shooting 18 under to win the Valero Texas Open. He held off Charley Hoffman by two strokes in claiming the victory.
Spieth, 27, began his career in captivating fashion. He turned pro in 2012 and became the No. 1 player in the world in 2015. That year, Spieth won two majors and finished in the top five of all four majors.
Because he hadn’t won an event since 2017, Spieth kept getting hounded with questions about the matter. He said he was glad to get that monkey off his back and move on. He also said this win would hold a special place in his heart.
“This one will hold a special place in my heart,” Spieth said after winning the Texas Open. “Just as kind of knocking off that monkey that I don’t really have to answer the questions ‘it’s been this long since you’ve won.'”
Spieth then showed some light humor.
“At this point, it’s been about 20 minutes, so that’s more recent than anyone else,” Spieth noted.
Spieth seems to be heating up just at the right time — right when the Masters is coming.
The Washington Nationals have been cleared to begin their season on Tuesday after having their first four games postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
Four Nats players tested positive for COVID, which led to the beginning of their season being postponed. Nine other members of the team (seven players and two staffers) were placed into quarantine because they were deemed to be close contacts.
The Nats’ entire three-game series with the New York Mets was not played. They have a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves scheduled for Monday-Wednesday.
As of now, Monday’s game has been postponed, but Tuesday’s game is set to be played. It’s unclear whether Monday’s game will be made up this week.
The Nats also got permission to have all active players work out on Monday so they could warm up and train ahead of Tuesday’s game. Previously, only pitchers could go to the park to train, so long as it was with one catcher and coach. Position players had not been able to workout until being cleared for Monday.
Carlton Davis apologized and defended himself on Twitter for his use of an Asian slur.
Davis was on Twitter Sunday night and sent a tweet that said: “gotta stop letting g–ks in Miami” (edited by LBS). He later deleted the tweet.
The word is a derogatory term for Korean and Vietnamese people. Its origins date back to the Korean War.
But Davis claims the term means something completely different to him. Davis says he grew up with the term being used to describe someone who is “lame.” He apologized once he found out about the slur and says he won’t be using the word any longer.
Davis was a second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018 out of Auburn. He had 68 tackles and four interceptions last season.
Davis has been known for some dumb plays on the field, and he mocked Michael Thomas in a beef earlier this year.
Do you believe his explanation? The situation is strikingly similar to what happened with Meyers Leonard. He was quickly suspended by the Heat, traded, and then dropped by the Thunder. Will something similar happen with Davis?
