The NFL has taken action against Marcus Peters after video emerged showing him appearing to spit at Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry.
The Baltimore Ravens cornerback was fined $12,500 by the league, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The official reason was “unsportsmanlike conduct,” but the spitting incident was the specific cause.
The incident wasn’t really noted during the game, but became a talking point afterwards. It was pretty clear what happened on video, and Landry publicly ripped Peters for it as well.
It’s definitely a hefty fine for Peters, but it’s not the first time he’s had to pay up. In fact, he got an even bigger fine for doing this in a game against the Buffalo Bills in 2019.
The Northwestern Wildcats were giving the Ohio State Buckeyes everything they could handle in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship, and that was exemplified just before halftime by defensive back Brandon Joseph.
Joseph made one of the best players of the season with a one-handed interception in the end zone to wipe out Ohio State’s chances of taking the lead with 36 seconds left in the first half. Northwestern held a 10-6 advantage, and Ohio State likely had a straightforward field goal at worst without the turnover.
It’s only on replay that the quality of the play really becomes obvious. Joseph is falling down backwards when he throws one hand up, brings the ball in, and ultimately completes the catch. It would be an incredible play if a wide receiver pulled it off, and the fact that Joseph is a defensive back makes it even better.
It’s talent like this that had the Northwestern defense putting together streaks like this earlier in the season.
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell gave us an all-time coach meltdown during Saturday’s Big 12 Championship.
Campbell was livid after no penalty was called against Oklahoma when a defensive lineman jumped across the line of scrimmage prior to the snap. No offensive lineman jumped offsides, and the referees deemed that the Oklahoma player did not make contact with anyone on the Cyclones, meaning no flag was thrown.
That didn’t sit well with Campbell, who actually had to be restrained — by his own players, no less — as he went nuts on the refs.
Campbell kept pointing at the referee and yelling even as the game went on. In fact, he could still be seen doing it even after the next play.
Campbell was already on edge over the officiating after Iowa State DB Isheem Young was ejected just 33 seconds into the game as a result of a controversial targeting call.
That’s about as angry as you’ll ever see a coach get on a sideline. It even topped this guy’s theatrics.
Jerry Rice appears to have had his say on the topic of Randy Moss’ controversial wide receiver rankings.
In a recent podcast appearance, Moss rated himself as the best wide receiver of all time, putting Rice “third or fourth.” Those comments went down poorly with many given Rice’s longevity and consistency.
Rice knows that, too, and he made the point in a since-deleted Instagram post illustrating his statistical dominance over Moss.
Don’t count on this swaying Moss. For most others, however, it’s more than enough to settle the debate.
Rice likely didn’t think much of Moss’ rankings when you consider what the 49er great has said about Moss in the past, either.
Urban Meyer has long been an advocate of keeping the College Football Playoff field at four, but he’s had a change of heart.
On Saturday’s “Big Noon Kickoff,” Meyer admitted that he has come around on expanding the playoff. His key reason is different than that of most other expansion advocates, though: he wants to encourage more players to play in games of importance.
“I have had some really deep conversations with some of my colleagues, and the game is changing,” Meyer said. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, because I’m a traditionalist. I love the bowl games, I love the bowl experiences. But you have two different sets of groups. You have the elite group, the high-profile players and the maybe not so high-profile.
“There’s two things important to elite players: NFL, College Football Playoff. If that doesn’t happen, they’re not going to play in bowl games. I’m not saying all of them, but I know coaches are dealing with that on a day-to-day basis. I say expand the playoff — I can’t believe that came out of my mouth. I know you guys are saying more teams are going to be involved. I say more players are going to be involved.”
Whether the playoff should be expanded is a very heated talking point. Group of 5 teams feel left out of the process, and a four team field ensures that at least one Power 5 conference will be excluded every year. On the other hand, there are concerns about the academic calendar and how many games a team can be reasonably asked to play in one season.
Meyer has been critical of the current CFP format before, but he’s never favored expanding it. If colleagues in the game convinced him that it’s the right solution, one has to wonder how many rank-and-file coaches would privately agree with the former Ohio State coach.
The Ohio State Buckeyes will compete for the Big Ten Championship on Saturday, and they’ll be doing it without a lot of players.
The Buckeyes’ availability report lists 22 players as out for the game against Northwestern on Saturday night. The biggest name on the list is wide receiver Chris Olave, whose 528 receiving yards rank second on the team.
No reason was cited for the absences. However, Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade notes that the players would be in danger of missing the College Football Playoff semifinal if any of the players tested positive for COVID-19.
The Buckeyes must beat Northwestern to keep their playoff hopes alive. As deep as they are, that will certainly be tougher with this many players sidelined. That said, given the team’s many critics, winning this game without key players may make their resume look stronger.
When the Cleveland Browns face the New York Giants this Sunday, there’s a growing chance that it will be Colt McCoy under center for New York. That actually has Myles Garrett rather excited.
Garrett and McCoy share a financial adviser, the Browns defensive end said Friday. And yes, that does factor into Garrett’s motivation heading into Sunday’s contest.
“Me and Colt have the same financial adviser so if he’s under center I’m going to bust his a– and tell our adviser about it,” Garrett said, via Camryn Justice of News 5 Cleveland.
That’s not great news for McCoy. Garrett has 10.5 sacks this season, and as we’ve seen on plays like this, when he wants at a quarterback, he usually gets him. The Giants backup could be in for a rough game at this rate.
After years of rumors, Bret Bielema is officially headed back to the Big Ten.
The Illinois Fighting Illini announced Saturday that Bielema would become the team’s new head coach, replacing the fired Lovie Smith. Bielema signed a six-year contract with a base salary of $4.2 million per year.
In a statement issued by the school, Bielema made clear that one of his priorities will be to keep recruits from Illinois from leaving the state.
“Illinois and the Big Ten is home for me, and I can’t be any more excited about the opportunity in front of me with the Fighting Illini,” Bielema said. “We want to build a program that makes Illini Nation proud and regain the passion that I’ve seen when Illinois wins. We want the young men playing football in the state of Illinois from Freeport to Cairo and from Quincy to Danville dreaming of wearing the Orange and Blue and playing at Memorial Stadium. I look forward to re-connecting with the high school coaches around the state making it clear we intend to keep our players home.”
Bielema, an Illinois native, had a highly successful run in the Big Ten previously. From 2006 to 2012, he went 68-24 at Wisconsin, guiding the team to three consecutive Rose Bowls. He most recently served as the linebackers coach for the New York Giants.
The former Arkansas coach has often been linked to Power 5 openings at schools in need of a rebuild, including another Big Ten program this past year. Now he’s finally landed one.
Vanessa Bryant honored her late husband with a touching tribute she posted on Instagram on Friday.
Friday marked the three-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s jersey retirement ceremony from the Lakers. Both numbers worn by Bryant during his Hall of Fame career (8 and 24) were retired by the team on Dec. 18, 2017.
Three years later, Kobe is no longer alive, but his wife is keeping up the memories. She posted a video clip from the ceremony and said “no one like you” and called Kobe “irreplaceable.”
Kobe and daughter Gianna died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash that killed all nine people aboard the chopper. Nearly a year later, it’s still so hard to believe Kobe and Gianna are gone. At least the memories they gave us and their family are still alive.
Ben Roethlisberger is calling b.s. on a report about his knee injury.
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported last weekend that the Pittsburgh Steelers were concerned about Roethlisberger’s knee injury. You may recall that the veteran quarterback hurt his knee on a tough hit against the Cowboys in early November.
When speaking with the media on Wednesday, Roethlisberger shot down La Canfora’s report.
“I’m 38 years old.” Roethlisberger said. “I’ve played football for 17 years. I’ve had multiple surgeries. I saw that report. I don’t know where it came from. I think it was the one that said the Steelers were concerned. I would love to know who that was or who told him because the week before against Washington I was having issues with my knee, landed on it, had something going on, but other than just an old knee and arthritis, my knee actually feels really good this week, especially after playing on an artificial surface. Typically, that is another issue that makes it kind of ache. After last week, it feels pretty good. That report to me is just one of those phony kinds of things that people sometimes want to make up. I actually feel pretty good.”
La Canfora isn’t the first one to say that Roethlisberger has been dealing with a knee injury. What would you expect the quarterback to say? Make an excuse and tell opponents that he is weak? Or brush it off so nobody thinks about it? Roethlisberger is doing the latter.
After missing all but two games last season due to his arm injury, Big Ben has played in 13 games this season. He has passed for 3,292 yards, 29 touchdowns and just nine interceptions this season.
Photo: Jeffrey Beall/Wikimedia via CC-BY-SA 3.0
