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NFL Fans Think Packers GM Took Thinly Veiled Shot At Rival Lions

The Detroit Lions won their division for the first time since 1993 last season, taking over a position the Green Bay Packers held for many of those years in between.

But despite the new division champ, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst didn’t sound too worried about falling short to the Lions this past year. In fact, he even seemed to subtly troll their NFC North rivals when speaking to media on Tuesday.

“Around here, we’ve never hung banners for division championships, so it’s never been about that," Gutekunst said, via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. “It’s a nice starting point, but I think we’re always looking for bigger things.”

Fans guessed this comment was in reference to the Lions’ only two banners hanging in Ford Field for the four times the team has won the division. The Lions have never won a Super Bowl or appeared in the Big Game. The Packers have won four Super Bowl titles.

Lions fans came back with some shots as well toward Gutekunst, specifically referring to the fact that the Packers have hung zero banners since he’s been there. Take a look at some of the social media responses.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Vikings GM Bluntly Shuts Down Justin Jefferson Trade Suggestion

In four years with the Minnesota Vikings, wide receiver Justin Jefferson has checked virtually every box necessary for NFL success.

The Pro Bowl? He’s been there three times—every season but this past season, when injuries cost him seven games.

Rookie of the Year? He won that in 2020. AP Offensive Player of the Year? He won that in 2022.

Even in 2023, his ailments disguised a year in which he averaged 107.4 receiving yards per game—a career high.

For Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the choice of whether to keep Jefferson going forward is easy.

“[Trading him] is not something that has once crossed my mind,” Adofo-Mensah told reporters Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine.

Minnesota picked up Jefferson’s fifth-year option in April, and he will make $19.7 million in 2024. Adofo-Mensah then implied that the Vikings may not be done paying the LSU product.

“We think he’s the best wide receiver in the league, and he should be compensated as such,” Adofo-Mensah said.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who signed a four-year, $120 million extension in 2022, is currently the league’s highest-paid wideout. Time will tell whether Jefferson joins him—in the Twin Cities or elsewhere.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Chargers’ Justin Herbert Shared What Excites Him Most About Playing for Jim Harbaugh

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert admitted he was “fired up” when he learned Jim Harbaugh would be the team’s new head coach.

Herbert said he appreciates the winning mentality of Harbaugh, who is coming off a College Football Playoff national championship with Michigan. Conversely, the Chargers went 5–12 last season, the team’s worst record in Herbert’s four pro seasons. This resulted in coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco being fired before the season ended.

“He’s done such a great job at the NFL level, college level, he’s had success wherever he goes,” Herbert said in a clip from the Chasin’ It podcast posted Tuesday. “He’s a competitor. He wants to win. I’m really excited to play for him.”

Herbert missed the final four games of the ’23 season after undergoing season-ending surgery to repair his fractured right index finger. The Chargers lost all four games with backup Easton Stick starting in place of Herbert.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

ESPN Analyst Bashes Duke’s Kyle Filipowski for How He Handled Court-Storming Situation

ESPN NFL analyst Chris Canty added his voice to the debate around court-storming in college basketball in the aftermath of Duke’s loss to Wake Forest over the weekend.

While fans stormed the court at the LJVM Coliseum, Blue Devils star Kyle Filipowski suffered an ankle injury when a Wake Forest fan ran into him, renewing calls for the ban of on-court celebrations in the wake of upsets across the sport.

“Let’s also pretend like the players don’t have to have some more awareness in those moments as well,” Canty said Tuesday on ESPN’s Get Up. “What we saw from Kyle Filipowski, he looks like he’s going on a walk through the quad on campus, where you see that there are fans that are storming the court. He has to have more awareness of the situation and have urgency about getting the hell off the court.”

Although Canty believes Filipowski could have picked up the pace to exit the floor, he didn’t absolve the fans of blame.

“Now, I think that they have to do a better job of creating a plan and having that in place,” Canty said. “And I get that we don’t want to put the onus on the visiting team. But that has to happen.”

Get Up host Mike Greenberg was taken aback by Canty’s comments, but the former NFL star didn’t back down.

“As a player, you’ve got to have awareness. And I know we always talk about with in-game situations,” Canty added. “But you also have to have awareness of the environments that you’re in. And with that situation over the weekend, I don’t think Kyle Filipowski showed that level of awareness.”

Despite the controversy, court storming remains in the game for now, with the only ramification being fines administered to the home school.

That won’t be enough to keep rabid fans from celebrating a monumental upset on the hardwood, especially considering most of the fans in question are students.

However, it’s likely that something will be done to ensure that an incident like the one fans saw Saturday in Winston-Salem doesn’t happen again.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Royals Lobbied MLB, Nike for Special Exception to New Uniform Standard

The MLB's new uniforms, designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics, have been a source of frustration among players for differences in the lettering and numbering, as well as the see-through nature of the pants.

But one MLB team found a way to remedy one of the issues with the new threads.

The Kansas City Royals worked with the MLB and Nike, which changed the lettering on the jerseys to a smaller size, to maintain the full-size lettering on their team jerseys, according to Paul Lukas of UniWatch.

As Lukas notes, other MLB teams were not granted this exemption from the smaller letters—the Royals were because they had "lobbied hard" for it.

Royals players Diego Hernández and third baseman Maikel García pose during Kansas City spring training.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports

Nike created the new jerseys with a lighter fabric, which has made larger numbering and lettering more difficult, leading some players to call the smaller numbers and letters “amateurish.”

In a statement that denied any alterations to the pants, MLB confirmed the changes to the jersey's fabric.

Representatives from MLB, Nike and Fanatics have been tweaking the jersey size, waist, in-seam, thigh fit and the bottom of the pants based on feedback from players during spring training.

However, it seems there is little that can be done to alter the numbering and lettering size to players’ liking.

It begs the question: Why didn't more teams lobby for changes like the Royals did?

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Raheem Morris Offers Brutally Honest Appraisal of Falcons’ QB Situation

Raheem Morris took a shot at the Atlanta Falcons’ current quarterback situation, without much subtlety, when he spoke at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday in Indianapolis.

“If we had better quarterback play, I’m probably not standing here at this podium,” Morris said.

Morris, who takes over as head coach from Arthur Smith, who was fired Jan. 8, didn’t name names. But he clearly implied that Atlanta intends to bring in new blood at the quarterback position. The Falcons used both Taylor Heinicke and Desmond Ridder as starting quarterbacks in compiling a 7–10 record last season.

“I won’t bring up names,” Morris continued, via Pro Football Talk. “But when you’re going through the process, you have everything open. We’ve got so many avenues right now, because we have free agency money, we have the ability to trade, whether it be trade for a player with a team, or be it trade up or back in the draft. It’s just really about the different scenarios you want to have at the quarterback position.”

Ridder threw for 2,836 yards with 12 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions and an 83.4 passer rating in 15 games last season (going 6–7 in 13 starts). Heinicke recorded 890 passing yards and five touchdown passes to four interceptions and a 74.7 passer rating in five appearances (going 1–3 in four starts).

The Falcons hold the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Blue Jays’ Erik Swanson Leaves Spring Training After 4-Year-Old Son Is Hit by Car

Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Erik Swanson has left spring training and will be away from the team for the foreseeable future after his 4-year-old son, Toby, was hit by a car on Sunday in Clearwater, Fla., and airlifted to a nearby hospital.

Toronto manager John Schneider thanked first responders who were quick to assist the injured boy.

“Thanks to the incredible work from the Clearwater first responders, Toby is on the road to recovery and is surrounded by his family,” Schneider said Tuesday. “Family comes first. Our love, support and prayers are with Erik, Madison, Toby and the entire Swanson family.”

Sep 17, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Erik Swanson (50) pitches to the Boston Red Sox during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre. — Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Erik Swanson will be away from the team while his son, Toby, recovers after being hit by a car.
John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports

Swanson was traded to the Blue Jays by the Seattle Mariners in November 2022, and is set to begin his second full season with the franchise. In 69 games last season, Swanson went 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA and 1.095 WHIP with 75 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings pitched.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Lynette Woodard Asks NCAA to ‘Respect the History’ as Caitlin Clark Approaches Scoring Mark

Before there was Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, before there was Washington guard Kelsey Plum. Before there was even an NCAA-sanctioned women’s basketball tournament, there was Kansas guard Lynette Woodard.

Woodard, one of the best female players of her era, scored 3,649 points in a four-year career for the Jayhawks from 1978-81. That is the most in major women’s college basketball history, but it is not recognized as such by the NCAA because it took place under a previous governing body, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).

With Clark 32 points away from breaking Woodard’s mark—having taken the NCAA crown from Plum on Feb. 15 in a 106–89 win over Michigan—Woodard urged the governing body for college sports to respect her and her contemporaries’ achievements.

“I want the NCAA governing body to know that they should respect the (AIAW) players, respect the history. Include us and our accomplishments,” Woodard said during Kansas’s 58-55 upset of then-No. 10 Kansas State on ESPN2 Sunday. “This is the era of diversity, equity and inclusion. They should include us. We deserve it.”

With interest in the history of women’s college basketball at an all-time high as the sport explodes in popularity, the celebration of AIAW greats by the NCAA as a whole seems like a potential layup.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Ex-NFL Coach Dirk Koetter Returns to Boise State as Offensive Coordinator

Boise State is hiring former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter as offensive coordinator, Jay Tust of KTVB in Idaho first reported and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde confirmed.

Koetter is a veteran coach in both college and the NFL, spending time as either a head coach or offensive coordinator for 35 years. He is most known for his time in the NFL, leading Tampa Bay from 2016 to ’18 after nine years as an offensive coordinator for three NFL teams.

Koetter previously spent three years as Boise State’s head coach between 1998 and ’00, and returned to the school as an offensive analyst and eventual interim offensive coordinator in 2022. He’s also been the head coach at Arizona State.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter looks on from the sidelines during a game. — Former Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter will be Boise State's new offensive coordinator.
Jonathan Dyer/USA Today sports

The Broncos enter 2024 with a new head coach, as Spencer Danielson takes over after finishing last year as the interim head coach. The former Boise State defensive coordinator went 3–1 as the interim coach last season, including wins in the Mountain West championship and in the LA Bowl.

Danielson comes from a defensive background, so he will task Koetter to run an offense that includes new quarterback Malachi Nelson, a former top recruit who transferred to Boise following one season at USC.

27 Feb 24 Jimm Sallivan

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart Inks NIL Deal With Private Jet Company

Jaxson Dart is one of college football’s most notable returning quarterbacks entering the 2024 season. On Tuesday morning, one of the most intriguing college football NIL deals to date was announced with the Ole Miss gunslinger.

Dart has signed a deal with Nicholas Air, a private air travel company, as noted by sports business reporter Darren Rovell. The deal will grant Dart private jet use for “travel, training and philanthropy,” per Rovell.

Nicholas Air is no stranger to deals with Ole Miss football greats. Both Archie and Eli Manning have endorsed the company, along with the likes of golfer Daniel Berger, journalist Tom Brokaw and actress Nicole Kidman.

According to his representation at ESM, Dart’s endorsement is the first NIL deal with a private jet company. It serves as further proof that the NIL world continues to ramp up, especially as it comes on the heels of a federal court decision that granted an injunction preventing the NCAA from enforcing NIL rules.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is among those who have urged caution around the impact of NIL and transfers on his program and the sport as a whole. Even so, he didn’t hesitate to use Dart’s new arrangement for recruiting purposes.

Dart had his best collegiate season in 2023, completing 65.1% of his throws for 3,364 yards with 23 touchdown passes and five interceptions, leading the Rebels to an 11–2 record and Peach Bowl win over Penn State.

He and Ole Miss will open their 2024 season at home against Furman on Aug. 31.