NFL teams are getting more and more creative when it comes to finding players to give chances to. What the Tennessee Titans did Friday is evidence of that.
The Titans announced the signing of offensive lineman Adam Coon to their 90-man roster, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Coon was a three-time All-American wrestler at Michigan and is coming off a failed attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team.
Coon did not play football at all in college. He did, however, play offensive line in high school, but he hasn’t done that since 2013.
Still, the Titans saw something they clearly think is worth pursuing. Coach Mike Vrabel also may have noted that longtime Patriots guard Stephen Neal, his teammate with New England, entered the league under similar circumstances and ended up having a very successful career.
Channing Frye has a bold opinion regarding LeBron James.
Frye, who played in the NBA from 2005-2019, provided commentary in an NBA Twitter session during Game 6 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Frye said that James’ play has dropped to the point that he should retire.
“Here’s my thing,” Frye said. “If LeBron is averaging less than 25 points a game, which he’s been averaging, I think he should retire. That’s a crazy thing for me to say, but if he leaves the game averaging 25 points a game right. Also, I’m gonna add another level on this. Who are the Lakers bringing in or trading for that can put him over the top? Have you seen the free agents? There’s nobody.”
Frye, 38, seems to be feeling like it’s all downhill from here for James and that if he’s not going to be winning a championship, he should retire.
James knows the end of his career is near, but that probably won’t stop him from continuing to play. He could very easily point to the limited offseason and injuries as the reason why his Lakers were unable to repeat.
And before you accuse Frye of being a LeBron hater, be sure to note that they used to be teammates in Cleveland. Frye has been favorable to James in the past and actually said something outrageous about Steph Curry.
ESPN fired gambling analyst Kelly Stewart a month after she was hired, and the firing was over past tweets.
Stewart’s hire was announced by the network a month ago. However, they apparently were directed to past tweets she had sent in 2012 where she used a gay slur in response to people attacking her.
Stewart had long since deleted the tweets, but ESPN still fired her over them. She also reportedly had sent some tweets over the past year questioning the COVID-19 lockdowns that ESPN apparently flagged.
Stewart, known by the alias “Kelly in Vegas,” shared the following statement on Twitter regarding the situation:
Prior to her extremely brief tenure at ESPN, Stewart did some gambling analysis for Bleacher Report and WagerTalk.com.
Like every Los Angeles Lakers fan, Magic Johnson is disappointed to see the team’s season end with a first round exit. Johnson also isn’t afraid to single out members of the team he feels underperformed.
On Friday, Johnson singled out guard Dennis Schroder as a key underperformer in the Lakers’ six-game loss to the Phoenix Suns. The Hall-of-Famer questioned whether Schroder had the “winning mentality” to play for the Lakers, and outright said he “failed” against the Suns.
“Schroder, I don’t think he’s a Laker. That’s just my opinion,” Johnson said on AM 570 LA Sports. “I don’t know if they’re going to sign him back or not. I don’t think he brings the winning mentality and attitude that we need and he had a chance to show that in this series and to me, he failed in this series. If he comes back a Laker, I’m going to support him, I’m going to cheer for him and all that. But I just don’t think he’s a Laker.”
Johnson is definitely right that Schroder struggled against Phoenix. He averaged 14.3 points per game, but was limited to 2.8 assists per game and shot just 40 percent from the field. He was particularly poor in Game 5, when the Lakers needed their supporting cast to step up with Anthony Davis sidelined. Schroder went 0-for-9 from the field and failed to score in 26 minutes of action. It’s key to note, however, that Schroder was still getting his legs under him entering the playoffs after a bout with COVID-19.
As Johnson alluded to, Schroder is set to become an unrestricted free agent. It certainly sounds like he might be ready to leave the Lakers, so that might make Magic happy.
Kevin Garnett shared a wild recruiting story involving his grandmother.
KG was a guest on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Friday. During his appearance, he talked about making the jump from high school straight to the NBA in 1995. At the time, it was a bold and daring move.
Garnett actually considered colleges and underwent a recruiting process before deciding to go straight to the NBA. He talked about some of what he was offered.
“I got offered a lot of cash … (for) my mother and my family to have better opportunities. To meet some of the most powerful people in the world, whatever that meant,” Garnett said.
Then Garnett shared the story of the time a recruiter offered him cash in front of his grandmother. That didn’t go over well with his grandmother.
“I was staying with my grandmother at the time, because recruiting was getting to the point where it was just obese. My mother thought it would be a better idea for me to change addresses.
“Life was running so fast at this time, but I had a certain recruiter come see me. And he offered me some cash in front of my grandma. And she went and got her shotgun. She told me ‘always set the tone with people that you can never be bought. If you can be bought once, you can be bought always.’ That stuck with me forever,” Garnett shared.
Garnett said he had to tell the guy to get out of there. He says he still runs into the recruiter and gives him a wink when he sees him.
What a great story, and what great life advice.
That helps explain why KG never seems to be shy about sharing his opinions and comments.
The Chicago Bears have been owned by the Halas-McCaskey family since the franchise’s inception, but that could apparently change in the years to come.
According to Jim O’Donnell of the Daily Herald, there is increasing speculation that the Bears’ current owners could put the team up for sale sooner rather than later. One source told O’Donnell that there is “some internal strife” among members of the McCaskey family to sell as soon as possible.
The general thinking has long been that the Bears would never leave the McCaskey family as long as 98-year-old principal owner Virginia McCaskey, the daughter of team founder George Halas, has a say. However, according to Forbes, the franchise is worth roughly $3.45 billion, the 13th-highest value in North American professional sports. That could motivate the family to sell.
The Bears look to be headed in the right direction with a franchise quarterback who is embracing the challenge. That might make them even more attractive as an asset.
Jarrett Stidham has largely been a forgotten man for the New England Patriots, but apparently he’s putting together some good work in practice.
Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal said Friday that Stidham was “the most impressive quarterback” during the team’s practice, calling him “decisive” and adding that Stidham had “no issue throwing downfield.”
Stidham has to show some urgency before the regular season just to secure a roster spot. Cam Newton and Mac Jones aren’t going anywhere, and the late addition of a trusted veteran quarterback might jeopardize Stidham’s place on the Patriots. Based on this, it sounds like Stidham is at least trying to rise to the occasion.
No matter what, Stidham is highly unlikely to land a staring job. If anyone is going to unseat Newton, it sounds like it’s going to be this guy instead.
Sean McVay recently shared a story about a great prank he pulled on Kliff Kingsbury in 2019.
McVay and Kingsbury were guests on Peter Schrager’s “Flying Coach” podcast for an episode published on Friday. McVay talked about a time he and Kingsbury hung out together in Los Angeles prior to the 2019 draft.
Kingsbury was in town visiting and got together with McVay after being connected through a mutual friend.
McVay, who had been the coach of the Rams since 2017, figured Kingsbury did not know the NFL tampering rules well. So McVay reprogrammed the phone number of one of his contacts on his phone to say “Roger Goodell.” He asked the friend to send him a text message saying that McVay and Kingsbury were busted for “tampering.”
McVay then showed Kingsbury the message, and the new Arizona Cardinals coach went into an immediate panic.
McVay said he didn’t have the heart to keep up the prank very long and quickly reassured Kingsbury that it was just a joke. It’s a good thing, because it sounds like Kingsbury was pretty worried.
Kingsbury is entering his third season as an NFL head coach. His Cardinals improved from 5-10-1 in his first year to 8-8 last year. The big challenge will be if they can get a winning record in 2021. Oh, and Kingsbury is trying to one-up McVay in at least one regard now.
Tom Brady finally made an admission about the infamous fourth-down play in Tampa Bay’s loss to Chicago on Thursday night last year.
The Bucs lost in Week 5 at Chicago 20-19. The game pretty much ended after Brady tried to throw deep to Cameron Brate despite only needing six yards. Brady seemed to think it was third down and that he would have another play. In reality, it was actually fourth down.
Brady’s confusion was evident when he raised four fingers on his hand, as if he thought the next play would be fourth down.
“Fourth quarter, last chance in Chicago. I thought it was the second-to-last chance in Chicago, but apparently not. I don’t think I’ve ever been as confused as I am in this moment right here. Look at that face,” Brady admitted.
The Bucs covered for Brady somewhat at the time. That turned out to be smart, as they went on to win the Super Bowl. The superb finish for the team erased what otherwise would have been an ugly end-of-career blunder and made it just a mere amusing flub.
Some NFL assistant coaches are refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine and are in danger of losing their Tier 1 status.
NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported on Friday regarding the situation. He says assistant coaches for at least four teams are currently refusing the vaccine. Those coaches would lose their Tier 1 status, which would limit their access around their team.
NFL rules state that these coaches would be banned from the field, meeting rooms and direct interactions with players. If a coach provides medical or religious reasons for refusing the vaccine, they could maintain their Tier 1/2 status.
What is interesting is that Pelissero says the vaccination rate is lower among players compared to coaches. However, players can be unvaccinated and around a coach who is vaccinated.
Players, coaches and staff members have been advised to get the vaccine by the end of next week to be fully vaccinated by the start of training camp in late July. The league is recommending people get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Both vaccines require two doses, each given three weeks apart.
