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Shortly after Super Bowl 50 ended with a humiliating defeat for the heavily-favored Carolina Panthers, led by quarterback Cam Newton, Newton and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning shook hands on the field and exchanged greetings and comments, with Manning (who has suffered his own humiliating losses in previous Super Bowls) offering encouragement, then each went his own way. Unfortunately for Newton, he later would have an infamous press conference in which he showed up wearing a "hoodie," mumbled some answers to questions, and then would walk out after three minutes, leaving the press astonished. Not surprisingly, the sports media jumped...

As revelations surrounding the film Concussion, which explores the relationship between football and CTE, continue to make waves across the NFL, one high school student has turned down 12 football scholarships. John Castello of Mars High School in Pittsburgh decided that his health is more important than any of those opportunities. “The head injuries were a huge reason for my decision, I’ve liked both football and basketball for some time,” Castello said. “I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do. Then, that movie Concussion came out and some interviews came out. I watched one interview with Dr. [Bennett] Omalu...

Peyton Manning and his father smeared the star quarterback's college football trainer after he allegedly sexually assaulted her by rubbing his naked testicles and buttocks on her face. Nearly 20 years before his second Super Bowl win, he is claimed to have 'placed his naked butt and rectum' on the face of Dr Jamie Naughright while she was checking his foot for a stress fracture. Unearthed court documents reveal Manning had details of an earlier confrontation involving him and Dr Naughright that may have led to the 1996 alleged assault hushed up. A book co-written by Manning and his father,...

Former New York Jets quarterback Greg McElroy, best remembered for his out-of-nowhere criticism of the team's "corrupt" locker room chemistry after the 2011 season, unloaded Tuesday on a different target -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. McElroy, speaking on SiriusXM Radio, said Newton "quit" on his team for refusing to jump on his own fumble in the fourth quarter of the Panthers' 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. McElroy, retired from football, is an analyst for the SEC Network. "I have big issues with the way Cam handled himself not only on the field, but in...

Denver should put the backup QB in. Manning clearly isn't as good as he used to be. His passes aren't sharp but Denver's defense is keeping him in the game. I want him to win but this is a team game.

As a pediatric neurosurgeon at the Seattle Children’s Hospital, Sam Browd brought a swift end to the early athletic careers of innumerable youths across a myriad of sports due to concussions. Browd’s experience prematurely “retiring” children from athletics—most notably football—and the countless emotional conversations with parents made him question what could be done to address head injuries suffered by children while playing sports. In 2013, Browd, an associate professor of neurological surgery at the University of Washington, connected with Dave Marver and Per Reinhall—both of whom also had ties to the Seattle-based university and backgrounds in medical technology and mechanical...

On Super Bowl Sunday, proud adoptive mom Leigh Anne Tuohy will watch her son play football for the second time in the biggest American sports game of the year. Tuohy’s son Michael Oher is the offensive lineman for the Carolina Panthers and formerly the Baltimore Ravens, who he helped to achieve victory in the 2013 Super Bowl. Oher’s life had a troubled beginning. When Oher was born, his mother was addicted to drugs and his father was in prison. He struggled in school, moved through homes in foster care and spent time homeless until he met Leigh Anne and her...

Did Henry VIII suffer same brain injury as some NFL players? February 3, 2016 by Bill Hathaway Henry VIII may have suffered repeated traumatic brain injuries similar to those experienced by football players and others who receive repeated blows to the head, according to research by a Yale University expert in cognitive neurology. Traumatic brain injury explains the memory problems, explosive anger, inability to control impulses, headaches, insomnia—and maybe even impotence--that afflicted Henry during the decade before his death in 1547, according to a paper published online the week of Feb. 1."It is intriguing to think that modern European history...

Shortly before he died last July, the former N.F.L. quarterback Ken Stabler was rushed away by doctors, desperate to save him, in a Mississippi hospital. His longtime partner followed the scrum to the elevator, holding his hand. She told him that she loved him. Stabler said that he loved her, too. "I turned my head to wipe the tears away," his partner, Kim Bush, said recently. "And when I looked back, he looked me dead in the eye and said, 'I'm tired.' " They were the last words anyone in Stabler’s family heard him speak. "I knew that was it,"...

Bill Johnson, the brash American who became the first U.S. skier to win an Olympic downhill title, died after a long illness, the U.S. ski team said Friday. He was 55. Megan Harrod, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Alpine team, said Johnson died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Gresham, Oregon. Johnson's health had been on the decline for several years after a series of strokes. Johnson won the downhill at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, the first American to capture gold in Alpine skiing's marquee event. He was also the first American male to win an Olympic gold in...

For the first time in NFL history, a black quarterback could be named the sole MVP of the league this year. If Cam Newton can hold off Carson Palmer and Tom Brady, then Newton will become the first African-American quarterback to be named the sole winner of the award (Steve McNair was co-MVP in 2003). One of the things that makes Newton so good is his ability to run. The 26-year-old has rushed for 626 yards in 2015, which leads all NFL quarterbacks. Newton's ability to run and the ability of other black quarterbacks -- like Tyrod Taylor and Russell...

CLEVELAND, OH -- LeBron James has dropped Johnny Manziel as a business client. A spokesman for James said the NBA star and has ended his marketing agreement with Manziel, the embattled Browns quarterback whose behavior has him on very shaky ground with his team and Cleveland fans. James and his associates at LRMR - long-time friends Maverick Carter, Rich Paul and Randy Mims - will no longer be working with Manziel after mutually agreeing to end their partnership. LRMR has been handling endorsement deals for Manziel since he got drafted into the NFL. Cleveland.com first reported the end of James'...

Johnny Manziel is in danger of losing his biggest sponsor -- Nike -- with sources telling TMZ Sports the company is "on the fence" about dropping the QB from its roster this off-season. In fact, one highly placed Nike source tells us ... "We are worried about him and hope things will turn around in the right direction ... but we are on the fence if [our relationship] will continue."

African-American males are only six percent of the United States population, but comprise nearly 70 percent of the players in the National Football League. When we focus on the sport's high collision positions, the number of African Americans playing by percentage rises substantially. Nearly 30 percent of white NFL players are kickers, punters, or quarterbacks, all positions that have a much lower chance of being involved in concussion-causing collisions. With nearly 1,200 of the NFL's 1,700 players being black, football's concussion problem is also clearly a racial problem. For decades, young black men have laid themselves on the line for...

Six years after it asked America who the best athletes of all-time were, the Harris Poll released its most recent results on Wednesday, and there's at least one constant: Michael Jordan. Jordan was once again on top of the survey, followed by Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali, who each moved up one spot from their 2009 rankings. Tiger Woods, who in 2009 held the No. 2 spot, fell to No. 8. Rounding out the top five were Serena Williams, who wasn't ranked six years ago, and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who jumped from No. 8 to No. 5.

Kobe Bryant announced Sunday on the Players' Tribune website that he will retire after this season, saying "this season is all I have left to give." In a piece entitled "Dear Basketball," the 37-year-old Bryant wrote that the sport of basketball "gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream and I'll always love you for it."

Doug Flutie's parents both passed away within an hour of each other Wednesday after being married for 56 years, the former NFL quarterback said on Facebook. Flutie said that his father, Dick, had been ill and died of a heart attack in the hospital. Less than an hour later, Dick Flutie's wife, Joan, suddenly had a heart attack and also passed away. "They say you can die of a broken heart and I believe it," Flutie said. "I would like to honor my parents for all that they did throughout my and my brothers' and sister's lives. My parents were...

MEXICO, N.Y. – Mexico High School quarterback Dante Turo believes it’s God who gives him the strength and abilities to be successful on the football field. The junior team leader often points skyward after big plays as a tribute to the Almighty, and his 73-yard run for a touchdown against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Oct. 17 was no exception, Syracuse.com reports. The solemn celebration, however, apparently didn’t sit well with one referee, who flagged the teen for unsportsmanlike conduct and assessed a 15-yard penalty that ultimately cost his team the game. “I was just trying to give glory to God,” Turo told the...

Former NBA star-turned-reality star Lamar Odom had cocaine in his system and track marks on one arm following his sex-and-drugs binge at a Vegas brothel, according to new reports. Sources described as “hospital witnesses” told TMZ that doctors found evidence Odom had used cocaine and intravenous drugs. Fluid in his lungs may have been the result of crack cocaine use, according to people in Odom’s camp who spoke to his doctors, the website reported. News of the hard drugs compounds previous reports that Odom had an open bottle of cognac at his side and had been taking herbal Viagra when...

Lamar Odom has reportedly been hospitalized after being found unconscious at a Nevada brothel. According to TMZ, the former NBA player and star of E!’s “Khloe and Lamar” reality series was found unconscious at Love Ranch South in Pahrump, Nev., after multiple days of partying. He was apparently intubated at the hospital, an indication that he was not able to breathe on his own. He will reportedly be airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital for further treatment. Odom, the ex-husband of Khloe Kardashian, previously went missing two years ago after a drug-fueled bender at a Los Angeles hotel. He also...