Jan 9, 2023; Inglewood, CA, USA; Detailed view of a Georgia Bulldogs helmet during the CFP national championship game at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The son of an NFL head coach and former top recruit is planning to transfer from the Georgia Bulldogs.
Linebacker Troy Bowles, the son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles, is entering the transfer portal, according to Hayes Fawcett of On3. Bowles, a top 100 recruit in the 2023 class, will have three years of eligibility remaining.
BREAKING: Georgia LB Troy Bowles plans to enter the Transfer Portal, he tells @on3sports
The 6’1 220 LB will have 3 years of eligibility remaining
Bowles was regarded as one of the top linebackers in the class of 2023, and was also recruited by the likes of Ohio State and Oklahoma before ultimately settling on Georgia. He has hardly seen the field for the Bulldogs, playing in five games in 2023 and just two in 2024.
Bowles is the sixth Georgia defensive player to enter the portal already, even as the team preps for the College Football Playoff.
Randy Moss on Friday revealed the nature of the personal health issue he has been dealing with.
Moss went on Instagram Live and told his fans that he is battling cancer. The former NFL wide receiver was holding a cane in his right hand as he made his announcement.
“I told y’all over the last couple of weeks about me battling something internally. Your boy is a cancer survivor,” Moss said.
Moss said that he had spent the previous six days in the hospital after undergoing a surgery.
“I just got out today,” he informed his fans.
Moss gave thanks to his doctors, whom he called “the best Charlotte has to offer.”
The former receiver revealed on Dec. 1 that he was taking a leave from ESPN to deal with a health matter. He had not disclosed the nature of the issue until Friday.
Moss told his fans that he had undergone a surgery for bile duct cancer six days prior. The surgery was called a Whipple procedure. Moss also underwent a surgery on Thanksgiving to put a stent in his liver.
Moss says that he will undergo chemotherapy and radiation. He also directed fans to his website where he wants to raise cancer awareness.
Moss, 47, is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He led the NFL in touchdown catches five times in his career and he made six Pro Bowls. He played from 1998-2012 and has been an analyst with ESPN since 2016.
Dec 3, 2022; Atlanta, GA, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly prepares for the SEC Championship against the Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
LSU coach Brian Kelly is putting his money where his mouth is after a disappointing season on the field.
Kelly announced Friday that he and his wife Paqui will match all donations to the school’s NIL fund up to $1 million through early February. It marks the second $1 million donation Kelly has made to the university, as he also contributed to the construction of new training facilities in 2022.
“In order to remain among the nation’s elite in this new world of college athletics, we have to be competitive in all areas of our program. I am committed to doing all that we can to win championships at LSU,” Kelly said in a statement. “While we are not permitted to financially support our NIL efforts directly, Paqui and I can certainly match this tremendous fanbase’s generosity by investing in the future of LSU Athletics through the Tiger Athletic Foundation.”
By rule, Kelly cannot donate directly to the school’s NIL collective. To get around that, his donation will be to the Tiger Athletic Foundation, which funds various athletic programs through funding of facilities and private scholarships.
Kelly’s gift is solid incentive to boost LSU’s NIL funds, and the coach could probably use some wins in that department. He was hoping for much more than the 8-4 season the Tigers put together in 2024, and elements of the fan base have begun to turn on him. Considering this was the worst of Kelly’s three seasons at LSU record-wise, that is not a huge shock.
Sep 30, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; Footballs with the college football playoff logo sit on the field during warmups prior to the game between the Northwestern Wildcats and Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Infamous college football booster Nevin Shapiro was one of the lucky felons to have his prison sentence commuted.
President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentence for 1,499 criminals — a 1-day record for a sitting president of the U.S. One of the people who was on the list was Shapiro.
Shapiro was sentenced in 2011 to 20 years in prison for running a $900 million Ponzi scheme. He was serving his prison sentence until June 2020 when he was sent to a family member’s home due to changes made because of COVID. Now he has had his sentence commuted, which means the sentence will be lessened though his guilty please to two felony charges will stand.
Shapiro, 55, became known in the college football world when he used the riches from his Ponzi scheme to become a major booster for the University of Miami. Shapiro spent millions of dollars supporting Miami’s football team and made payments to numerous Hurricanes players.
Miami’s football and basketball programs were penalized by the NCAA for violations related to Shapiro’s actions, including the loss of scholarships.
Shapiro continues to know how to draw attention to himself. He generated some buzz recently when he declared Miami quarterback Cam Ward and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson would end up with the New York Giants.
TRENDING: Miami booster Nevin Shapiro guarantees Miami QB Cam Ward and OC Shannon Dawson will end up with the New York #Giants.
Nevin served 20 years in prison for a $930 million Ponzi scheme & allegedly violated NCAA rules for years as a UM booster. pic.twitter.com/snMFTboAAZ
Sep 12, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) walks to the dugout in the middle of the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Friday’s trade between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Brewers did not exactly come at a good time for Nestor Cortes.
Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed that Cortes had a particularly bad way of finding out about the trade. Cortes is currently in Las Vegas celebrating his birthday (Cortes turned 30 earlier this week) and woke up on Friday to a lot of missed calls and texts that had him confused.
Jun 2, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) warms up prior to the game against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
WNBA owner Sheila Johnson made some ridiculous comments about Caitlin Clark during a recent interview.
Johnson, who owns the Washington Mystics, was interviewed by CNN. In her interview, Johnson was critical of TIME magazine for naming Clark the “Athlete of the Year.”
In Johnson’s eyes, the entire WNBA deserves widespread recognition, not just Clark. Johnson wishes the league as a whole were recognized instead of Clark individually.
“I want to be very diplomatic about this. It’s just the structure of the way the media plays out race, if I’m being very honest. I feel really bad, because I’ve seen so many players of color that are equally as talented, and they never get the recognition that they should have. And I think right now it is time for that to happen,” Johnson said.
“So last night, you read TIME Magazine, and Caitlin Clark was named ‘Athlete of the Year.’ Why couldn’t they have put the whole WNBA on the cover and say ‘the WNBA is the league of the year,’ because of all the talent that we have? Because when you just keep singling out one player, it creates hard feelings, and so now you’re starting to hear stories of racism within the WNBA, and I don’t want to hear that. We have got to operate and become stronger as a league and respect everybody that’s playing and their talents.”
So Johnson wishes TIME honored the entire league in the Athlete of the Year category. Apparently she doesn’t understand what the magazine was doing.
Johnson also seems clueless about what led to the league’s explosion in popularity for 2024.
“It has taken the WNBA almost 28 years to get to the point where we are now. And this year, something clicked with the WNBA and it’s because of the draft that the players that came in. It’s just not Caitlin Clark, it’s Reese, there’s so much talent out there that has been unrecognized. And I don’t think we can pin it on just one player.”
So Johnson recognizes that “something clicked” but refuses to give the credit to Clark that is deserved.
Clark is the reason things “clicked” this year. Clark is driving the popularity. She’s the player who sells out games whether it’s at home or on the road. The Mystics should know better than anyone just how much of a draw Clark is. The team had 20 home games and hosted the Fever twice. Despite only making up 10 percent of their home games, games against the Fever produced 31 percent of the Mystics’ home attendance. That’s the Clark Effect.
You may not like the reason why, but to deny that she is the reason is refusing to accept reality.
"We have so much talent out there that has been unrecognized, and I don’t think we can pin it on just one player"
Sep 9, 2017; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez high fives fans before the game against the Houston Cougars at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
Rich Rodriguez’s introductory press conference at West Virginia was nearly derailed by a heckler.
West Virginia re-introduced Rodriguez on Friday as their new head football coach in a public press conference. Unfortunately for Rodriguez, a public critic found their way into the event and started heckling him as it was going on.
The rest of the attendees were largely supportive of Rodriguez and booed the individual. Some even threw things at them as police intervened.
There was a heckler at the Rich Rodriguez press conference for WVU. He did not get a warm response pic.twitter.com/rmom5m9KrD
Rodriguez took the interruption in stride by jokingly telling any other Pitt fans present to leave.
This guy literally held up the presser to oppose rich. Escorted out by cops. lol rich rods response: Any other pitt fans can go ahead and leave pic.twitter.com/9sSnFujLh4
The heckler did not appear to be a Pitt fan, though it was not clear what they were actually heckling over. Regardless, their interruption was a brief one, and police quickly removed them from the venue.
Rodriguez previously coached West Virginia with great success from 2001 through 2007. He agreed to a surprise return to the school earlier this week in a move that appears to be broadly popular with fans. There are some dissenters, clearly, but at least at Friday’s event, they were in the minority.
Apr 22, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers logo at center court during game three of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James and Anthony Davis might not be the only former top overall picks on the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster for long.
Lakers writer Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints reported Friday that the team has had internal discussions about adding veteran guard Markelle Fultz. The 26-year-old Fultz remains an unsigned free agent after spending the last five NBA seasons with the Orlando Magic.
Fultz was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers (over later lottery picks such as Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, Lauri Markkanen, Donovan Mitchell, and Bam Adebayo). But he is universally seen as a bust, having averaged just 7.7 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting for the 76ers before being traded less than two years after he was drafted. Fultz’s Philly tenure was also marred by an ugly and bizarre saga with his jump-shooting form.
The former University of Washington star Fultz did manage to rebuild his reputation some though in a lower-stress environment in Orlando, posting 14.0 points, 5.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per contest in the 2022-23 campaign. With the Lakers getting next to nothing from their backup point guard Gabe Vincent, Fultz could have some appeal for them. But it could require much more (such as a trade for this rumored target) for the Lakers to turn around their mediocre 13-11 season.
Feb 8, 2023; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia speaks to the media at an introductory press conference at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia may be trying to expand his portfolio out to professional baseball.
Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported on Friday that Ishbia is interested in a potential purchase of Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins. Ishbia’s brother Justin would also be involved in the possible ownership bid.
The Twins, who took home the AL Central crown in 2023 and won a respectable 82 games in 2024, have been owned by the Pohlad family since 1984. But the family has been exploring the potential of a sale ever since last October amid a successful tenure that has produced 11 division titles and two World Series victories over the years.
Ishbia, the billionaire CEO and chairman of mortgage lender giant United Wholesale Mortgage, has owned the Suns since early 2023. Already, Ishbia has developed a reputation as one of the most aggressive and spend-happy owners in the NBA, swinging trades for All-Stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal and sending the Suns soaring into the second apron of the luxury tax. Phoenix leads the league in total payroll this season at over $217 million.
There have recently been rumors that the Twins could be looking to shed more of their own payroll, which has steadily dropped year-over-year. As such, Minnesota fans would likely welcome the Ishbia brothers as the possible new Twins owners given the strong track record of spending.
Oct 3, 2021; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan walks on the field before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco 49ers are taking steps to deal with linebacker De’Vondre Campbell after he refused to enter Thursday’s loss against the Los Angeles Rams.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Friday that the team will be moving on from Campbell in some form after he refused to play. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network added that the Niners are essentially deciding whether to suspend Campbell or to simply cut him immediately.
The #49ers are moving on from LB De’Vondre Campbell, coach Kyle Shanahan said, after he refused to go back into the game on Thursday night upon being out of the starting lineup.
Shanahan said they are working out the semantics of how. Suspension is an option, as is release. pic.twitter.com/HqQIWfH6xJ
The 49ers were left with no choice but to get rid of Campbell after the linebacker essentially left them hanging during Thursday night’s defeat. If his decision alone did not seal his fate, the reactions of his teammates certainly did. At this point, the actual decision is a formality, with the method being the only lingering question.
Campbell has played in 13 games this season with 12 starts, tallying 79 total tackles. He was being moved out of the starting lineup to accommodate the returning Dre Greenlaw, and had given some hints that perhaps this sort of thing was coming all along.
