Free Republic

According to Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan, former Cleveland Browns linebacker David McMillan was shot and killed on Saturday: I should note that as of this post, no local Atlanta newspapers or television stations seem to be reporting the news; the only source so far appears to be Ruiter, so there is a slight chance that the report could be erroneous. If it stands as true, may McMillan rest in piece. UPDATE: Ruiter responded to our question by tweeting to us, "sadly my report is 100% true." McMillan was a 5th round pick by the Browns in 2005 and...

<p>MyFoxBoston.com) – The Boston Business Journal and The Boston Globe are both reporting that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wants to buy The Boston Globe.</p> <p>The reports say members of the Kraft Group have received a presentation from the company hired by the New York Times to sell the Globe. The sale also includes Boston.com and the Worcester Telegram.</p>

I hope Mathis doesn’t owe any Taxes, because I am sure an audit is coming his way now. He is straight on Instagram flexing, Bleacher Report captured the photo before Chip Kelly makes him take it down and drink a protein shake (no more fast food in the Eagles camp).

The commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, has played down speculation linking the Miami Dolphins with a possible move to Los Angeles. Florida politicians last week rejected the Dolphins' appeal for taxpayers to partially meet the $350m (£227m) cost of redeveloping their Sun Life stadium.

Fiscal hawk Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is known primarily for attacking reckless and duplicate spending programs in an effort to get our nation's budgetary woes under control through spending cuts. However, in the NFL and other professional sports leagues, he may have found some serious revenue enhancements. The Republican senator is hoping to go after the tax exempt status of the NFL and other leagues currently classified as "non-profits." The NHL and PGA would also fall into this category. Coburn estimates that re-classifying the NFL would bring in as much as $91 million per year in additional revenue. This is...

Has Tim Tebow been unofficially blackballed from the NFL? That's what Yahoo Sports writer Michael Silver is suggesting. After one season, the New York Jets released the third-string quarterback on April 29. And in the ensuing three weeks, no serious offers have been made. "No NFL team seems to want him — as a starter, backup, converted H-back or fake-punt decoy — and it's not like he's fending off big-money offers from Canada, either," writes Silver. And Silver blames "Tebowmania." Yes, Tim Tebow draws a media crowd – everywhere he goes. As a backup, backup quarterback, one could easily argue...

I wouldn't blame Geno Smith for thinking life as a professional football player is overrated. Even by the standards of today's vicious media landscape, the assassination of Smith's character is shockingly swift. When he starred at West Virginia, Smith was characterized as humble, studious, courteous and bright. Now he's perceived as entitled, whiny and lazy. No one knows for sure how much of what's being said about Smith, who was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round, is true. Some have suggested race is the reason Smith has been criticized so harshly. Or it could be that...

The Washington Redskins will NEVER change their name, insists owner as he breaks silence on 'racist' term The owner of the Washington Redskins has insisted that the name of the team will never change despite growing controversy over its origins as a derogatory term for Native Americans. Daniel Snyder told USA Today : ‘We’ll never change the name. It’s simple. NEVER’. The team has been under fire from some critics who say the term is a racial slur because of its origins in bounties placed on the scalps of Native Americans by British settlers. The director of the National Museum...

After 24 knee operations, the National Football League’s former Man of the Year leans heavily on a crutch. When Reggie Williams pulls up his pants leg, what’s underneath looks like the trimmings from a butcher shop. His right leg is so ravaged that it’s three inches shorter than his left. Worse, it’s uninsured. Once, Williams was the NFL’s high ideal. From 1976 to 1989 he was a spring-legged linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals who set franchise records and played in two Super Bowls. Off the field, he was a civic-minded Dartmouth graduate who won humanitarian awards and served as a...

The Miami Dolphins would consider building a brand new stadium in Palm Beach County, Fins CEO Mike Dee told reporters today. Dee, who’s still smarting from the team’s failure to get state dollars to renovate Sun Life Stadium, was asked directly about Palm Beach County — and said the team would consider moving north. “We’re open-minded to all long-term solutions,” Dee responded, according to The Miami Herald. “You can’t close the door on anything.

From fans to journalists to politicians -- and certainly many of Native American descent -- the Washington Redskins' team nickname is offensive. That much is clear. Congress weighed in this March, leaving some to wonder if these people didn't have anything better to do, but the controversy rolls along. On May 1, David Grosso, an independent District of Columbia councilman, introduced a bill that would have the Redskins changing a name that Grosso says is "racist and derogatory." No matter where you stand on the issue, there's only one guy who's going to make the call to change the name,...

As a journalist who has consistently experienced the wrath of Tebow Nation — mostly for passing along the slings and arrows voiced by various NFL players, coaches and talent-evaluators — I'm well aware that many devotees of the world's most celebrated unemployed quarterback carry a heavy persecution complex. Yet as Tim Tebow's career wheezes to an underwhelming halt, with less apparent interest in his services than Massachusetts funeral parlors have in Tamerlan Tsarnaev's remains, something strange is happening. Against all odds, I'm starting to wonder whether the man who helped the Denver Broncos become one of the league's most stunning...

Nine days after Tebow was released by the New York Jets, it has become increasingly clear that the ultra-popular quarterback who has hijacked many a news cycle has no viable landing spot. No NFL team seems to want him — as a starter, backup, converted H-back or fake-punt decoy — and it's not like he's fending off big-money offers from Canada, either. Now, here's the interesting part: Tebowmania is at least partly to blame.

(Newser) – Any out-of-work NFL player can get arrested for DUI. But it takes a special kind of dedication to get arrested 15 hours later for breaking into an impound lot in broad daylight in an attempt to get your car back. Titus Young allegedly has that dedication; police tell the Press Enterprise that he was busted just after midnight on Sunday after police spotted him driving his black Ford Mustang into oncoming traffic. He was arrested and his vehicle impounded. Then at 2:22pm on Sunday, witnesses reported a man jumping a fence into the impound lot, and police found...

The “Tebowmania” days in Denver are only 15 months old, but it seems like 15 years. And yet, when Americans are asked which pro athletes they believe carry the most influence with the public, Tebow’s name tops the list. A unique set of QB strengths and weaknesses and an affinity for wearing his Christian faith on his sleeve combine to make Tebow a compelling public figure, even as an NFL backup. Whether or not he’s able to remain deeply ingrained in the public consciousness without eventually getting more time on the field remains to be seen. But for now, Tebow,...

It’s now official. The Vikings have cut punter Chris Kluwe. The 31-year-old was given the news Monday morning at Winter Park during a meeting with General Manager Rick Spielman. (snip) Kluwe’s release will not come without some controversy. The veteran punter has raised his profile in recent years by speaking out on political and social issues, most notably taking a firm stance in support of gay marriage and gay rights.

Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III took to Twitter on Tuesday to complain about the “tyranny of political correctness” he believes is holding American culture “hostage.” “In a land of freedom we are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness,” the NFL player wrote on his official Twitter account. He followed up the post with a definition of the word, writing: “Tyranny- ‘a condition imposed by some outside agency or forceThe Twitter commentary comes as some are pushing the NFL to change the Redskins team name due to the racial implications of the Native American moniker. Additionally, NBA player...

After NBA player Jason Collins broke that barrier this week, the National Football League is making sure it will be ready for any coming out party. Earlier this year, at least three college football players said they had been asked about their sexual orientation during NFL recruitment interviews, sparking calls for the NFL to do more to fight discrimination. Just hours before Collins' coming out statement was published by Sports Illustrated on Tuesday, the NFL - America's most popular sport, with $9 billion a year in revenue - released a ‘workplace conduct statement' regarding sexual orientation.

Once, I allowed another man to violate my lower gastrointestinal tract. It was my doctor. I didn't like it. I doubt he did, either, because he wore gloves during the procedure. Now, can I be a star like NFL athlete Jason Collins, who announced that he, too, has had his lower gastrointestinal tract violated? Can President Obama say that I was courageous? Will millions of people Tweet and post on Facebook about me, too?

Off goes Tim Tebow, the player they pursued hard but never really wanted. They shamed him for their own lousy judgment, showing him on Monday just how disgusted they were. Perhaps they are right – Tim Tebow might not be an NFL player. At least not a quarterback. But they could have done a lot better than kick him in the face on a day when they should be wiping the mud from their own.

Tim Tebow has been waived by the Jets, the end of an unsuccessful one-season experiment in New York. Coach Rex Ryan said in a statement put out by the team in announcing the move Monday morning: "Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had hoped."

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who has repeatedly spoken out in favor of same-sex marriage, says he now worries that his career with the team may be on the line. On Sunday, Kluwe said he is starting to sense that rumors surrounding whether or not he will be released from the team will soon become ‘distractions.’ ‘It’s a shame that in a league with players given multiple second chances after arrests, including felony arrests, that speaking out on human rights has a chance of getting you cut,’ Kluwe told NBC’s Pro Football Talk via text message.

The Tim Tebow era is over in New York. The Jets have released Tebow, the New York Post is reporting. Tebow was widely expected to be on the way out for months, and the only surprise is that the Jets waited until now to do it. The arrival of rookie quarterback Geno Smith in the second round of the NFL draft may have been what it took for the Jets to decide that there was simply no room for Tebow on the roster anymor

The first openly gay man in a major American team sport may turn out to be former Middle Tennessee State kicker Alan Gendreau, who hopes to get a shot at the NFL this year. And, if he’s successful, that could translate into millions of dollars in endorsements and speaking engagements, experts say. Whether it’s the Sun Belt Conference’s leading scorer or someone else, the athlete who makes sports history by coming out will likely be sought after by companies that want to appeal to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population, whose annual buying power last year was estimated at...

MANDEVILLE — This is the weekend Michael Mauti has been looking forward to since he first put on a football uniform — maybe even before. And if it’s happening a year, maybe two, later than the former Penn State linebacker figured, well, life seldom goes as planned, especially considering the turmoil surrounding the Nittany Lions in the past two seasons. “You can’t always control what happens to you,” said Mauti, who’ll be watching this week’s NFL draft with his family in Mandeville — including his father, ex-Saints receiver Rich Mauti. “And it’s been a roller coaster for me. I’m hoping...

The N.F.L. will distribute to its teams in the next few weeks an information sheet that will reinforce its antidiscrimination policy and will lay out in detail what constitutes discrimination based on sexual orientation and what team members can do about it. The distribution of the information sheet comes after players said they were asked during the Scouting Combine if they liked girls.

Manti Te'o Falls Out Of The First Round Of The NFL Draft Tony ManfredApril 25, 2013, 11:55 PMIn a mild surprise, Manti Te'o wasn't picked in the first round of the NFL Draft. Most experts had him going between 20th and 32nd, with the Minnesota Vikings as the heavy favorite to pick him at in the mid-20s. But Minnesota passed on him with both of their first round picks. Then, to add insult to injury, they traded up for an THIRD first round pick and drafted wide receive Cordarrelle Patterson instead of Te'o. It's not like this is a catastrophic...

Round 1 1 Kansas City Chiefs 2 Jacksonville Jaguars 3 Oakland Raiders 4 Philadelphia Eagles 5 Detroit Lions 6 Cleveland Browns 7 Arizona Cardinals 8 Buffalo Bills 9 New York Jets 10 Tennessee Titans 11 San Diego Chargers 12 Miami Dolphins 13 New York Jets (from Tampa Bay Buccaneers) 14 Carolina Panthers 15 New Orleans Saints 16 St. Louis Rams 17 Pittsburgh Steelers 18 Dallas Cowboys 19 New York Giants 20 Chicago Bears 21 Cincinnati Bengals 22 St. Louis Rams (from Washington Redskins) 23 Minnesota Vikings 24 Indianapolis Colts 25 Minnesota Vikings (from Seattle Seahawks) 26 Green Bay Packers 27...

Alan Gendreau is just another ex-college football player trying to get onto a National Football League roster. Except for one thing: He’s openly gay. Gendreau kicked for Middle Tennessee State from 2008-2011, and he did so exceptionally well. The all-time leading scorer in Sun Belt Conference history, the Apopka, Fla., native amassed 295 points in his career at Murfreesboro. The 23-year-old, who has been openly gay since he was 15 years old, wasn’t drafted last year and never caught on with an organization. He’s not about to let his dream die, however. In fact, the former college star thinks he’s...

While the equality treadmill under most of our feet is moving at a high rate of speed, I would imagine this journey is not traveling fast enough for many Americans whose lives are directly impacted by the possibility of change. Consider tennis hall of famer Billie Jean King, who was outed in 1981 when her relationship with another woman became public, and Greg Louganis, the four-time Olympic gold medal-winning American diver, who came out some seven years after King. With more than 55 years combined of public scrutiny of their sexuality, the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),...

Pat Summerall died Tuesday. He was 82. He died in his hospital room at Zale Lipshy Hospital where he was recovering from surgery for a broken hip, a family friend confirmed.

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo was released by Baltimore this offseason, and on the heels of comments earlier this week where he suggested that he was cut in part because of his outspoken stance on gay rights and equality issues, Ayanbadejo clarified himself to the Baltimore Sun on Friday. During an hour-long interview he made it clear that he harbors no resentment for the Ravens, and respects them for the support they offered him throughout his career both on and off the field. But that's not all. ...Ayanbadejo had this to say: "I think it will happen sooner than you think,"...

By now, Brian Banks is used to waiting. He sat in prison for five years, punished for a crime he didn’t commit. Freed last May after the victim admitted she had falsely accused him, the former USC recruit has been trying patiently but persistently to get a shot at the NFL. Finally, he’s getting one. Jay Glazer of FOX, who has worked extensively with Banks to get him into NFL shape, reports that the Atlanta Falcons have signed Banks to a contract. Banks, a linebacker, received tryouts last year from the Seahawks, Chargers, and Chiefs. Eventually, he joined the UFL...

To help improve the in-game experience, and get more people into the stadium, the National Football League will mandate their teams to install video cameras inside the home locker room before next season to provide content for use during halftime or breaks in the action, NFL executive vice president of business ventures Eric Grubman announced during a panel appearance at Wednesday's SBJ/SBD's World Congress Of Sports. While installation of the cameras is mandatory, the home team will be able to control what footage is used. "The content will be available only in stadium and the content will be available only...

HOUSTON -- Jack Pardee, one of Bear Bryant's "Junction Boys" at Texas A&M who went on to become an All-Pro linebacker and an NFL coach, died Monday. He was 76. In November, Pardee's family announced that he had gall bladder cancer that had spread to other organs and that he had six to nine months to live. The family has established a memorial scholarship fund in Pardee's name at the University of Houston, where Pardee coached from 1987-89. "Today, we mourn the passing of a great man who dedicated his life to the game of football and was a true...

Reuters reported yesterday that not one player in major pro team sports has boldly, proudly proclaimed himself as gay. The story's particular focus is on the NFL, which, of course, oozes masculinity (like the military) and, hence, needs to be gay-ized and feminized (in terms of eliminating nasty old contact that leads to big booboos). The left is stepping up its focus on gays in pro team sports as part of its game plan to prove to average Americans (especially those macho sports fans) that gayness isn't just the province of flower shops and HGTV. Masculinity is under assault (as...

The NFL appears more ready than ever for an openly gay player. It's possible we'll find out how ready this offseason. CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman wrote Monday that he was told a current gay NFL player strongly is considering coming out publicly. The plan would be for the unnamed player to do so in the next few months, then carry on with his NFL career. Freeman based the information on several interviews with active and former NFL players, but the reporter doesn't know who the player is. If the player does come out, it would be a landmark moment in U.S....

Former NFL player Scott Fujita has seen enough. He's tired of the bigotry. He wants it to end. He's not alone. Players like Fujita, along with a coalition of current and former NFL players, and NFL team owners, a music mogul and others, are working diligently to create a safe atmosphere for the day history will happen: when an openly gay man will be a member of an NFL club. People like Fujita -- brave people -- are attempting to make the issue a non-issue for when that day comes. And there are serious indications that day may come sooner...

Former NFL cheerleader has been charged with aggravated sexual battery after allegedly grabbing a 12-year-old boy's penis outside his pants ... and attempting to perform oral sex on him. 42-year-old Elizabeth Garner -- who cheered for the Tennessee Titans until 2009 -- was also charged with solicitation of a minor for rape of a child. According to law enforcement, Garner -- who is married -- is accused of following the 12-year-old to the bathroom during a party last month hosted by the boy's mother, grabbing his penis over his shorts ... and attempting to remove them in order to...

NFL owners have passed a player safety rule barring ball carriers from using the crown of their helmets to make contact with a defender in the open field. Several coaches and team executives expressed concern about officiating the new rule, but Commissioner Roger Goodell championed it and it passed Wednesday as the owners meetings concluded.

NFL Owners Approve 2 Rule Changes To Enhance Player Safety March 19, 2013 5:46 PM PHOENIX (CBSNewYork/AP) — The National Football League continues to change as we know it. NFL owners approved two rule changes Tuesday to enhance player safety. They might not vote on a proposal to ban offensive players from using the crown of their helmets against defenders. The owners outlawed peel-back blocks anywhere on the field; previously, they were illegal only inside the tackle box. A player makes a peel-back block when he is moving toward his goal line, approaches an opponent from behind or the side,...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman urged the NFL on Thursday to investigate whether possible draft picks were improperly asked about their sexual orientation during the league's combine, which he said would be illegal in New York. "We ask that the league immediately issue a statement that any form of discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation by league teams or players against potential recruits or players constitutes a violation of state, local and, in some cases, contractor law and will not be tolerated," Schneiderman said in a letter dated Thursday and released to news...

Lauren Silberman's history-making NFL tryout ended disappointingly quickly. Silberman, the first woman to take part in a regional scouting combine sponsored by the NFL, suffered a leg injury and had to withdraw after just two kickoffs. She pulled up after managing just 19 yards with her first kick-off and then 14 yards with her second effort.

Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller cited religion Tuesday in arguing that an openly gay player would not be welcomed in NFL locker rooms. “There are some religions that are just not going to accept a gay individual in the locker room,” Miller told "The McNeil and Spiegel Show" on WSCR-AM 670. “So now, are you as an organization going to bring that element into your locker room and think everything is going to be OK?

<p>After the fake girlfriend hoax exploded in January, Katie Couric asked Te’o if he was gay and the former Notre Dame linebacker nervously responded: ”No, far from it, far from it.”</p> <p>But according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, NFL teams are still wondering if Te’o is indeed gay and they want to know the answer.</p>

An NFL Insider Says NFL Teams Want To Know If Manti Te'o Is Gay Cork GainesFebruary 25, 2013, 10:47 AM After facing the media over the weekend at the NFL Combine, most seem to believe that Manti Te'o has successfully moved on from the fake girlfriend story and that it will have little impact on his status in the NFL draft. However, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com says Te'o's sexuality is still a concern for NFL teams. Florio appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" Monday and said flatly, "teams want to know if Manti Te'o is gay," calling it "the elephant...

If we're being completely honest, Lauren Silberman's odds of making a NFL team as its kicker are pretty much nonexistent. However, the long-shot nature of her bid isn't stopping the 28-year-old New Yorker from becoming the first woman in history to register for an NFL regional scouting combine, which features players who weren't invited to the main combine currently being held in Indianapolis. Silberman will compete alongside college kickers in New Jersey on March 2 and 3 for the right to advance to a Dallas super-regional combine in April...

On Thursday, NFL quarterback Tim Tebow canceled his appearance to speak at First Baptist Church of Dallas next month after Tebow came under pressure from the sports media to do so.

New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow is scheduled to speak at a megachurch in Dallas whose pastor has spoken out against Muslims, Jews, Mormons and members of the LGBT community. Tebow is listed as a special guest at one of the First Baptist Church's morning services on April 28, according to its website. The church is led by Evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress, who has previously denounced non-Christian religions such as Islam, Judaism and Mormonism. Leading up to the most recent presidential election, Jeffress warned parishioners that re-electing President Barack Obama would "lead to the rise of the Antichrist," according to...

It's a new day with Washington's professional football team. The franchise finally has a quarterback, management that knows what it's doing and an owner who stays the hell out of the way. Mostly. The optimism around the team hasn't been this high since Joe Gibbs won his first Super Bowl. Everything is moving forward. The flowers are blooming, the future is bright and the team still has a racist nickname. Oh, wait. As the franchise clearly takes a turn for the better and is now run by grownups, rejoining the big boys of the NFL, now would be the perfect...