Free Republic

Justine Lindsay, the NFL's first openly transgender cheerleader, has confirmed she will not return to the Carolina Panthers' TopCats squad for the upcoming season. Lindsay, 32, made history in 2022 when she joined the TopCats, becoming the first transgender woman to cheer in the NFL. But after three seasons on the sidelines, she is officially stepping away, telling Outsports she's moving on to focus on pageantry and charity work. 'For now, I'm focusing on my pageantry work and community involvement, striving to be recognized not just as an NFL cheerleader, but as someone making a positive impact, especially during these...

The practice facility office of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was hit with a bullet, penetrating the glass while he was inside working in 2024, according to a report Wednesday night from the Kansas City Star. Reid, 67, wasn’t hurt in the incident, said Kansas City Police Department spokesperson Capt. Jake Becchina while speaking with the outlet. Per the Star, the shooting took place outside of the Chiefs team facility in Kansas City, hit Reid’s office by going through glass and then got stuck into a wall around 15 feet from Reid. It happened May 4, 2024 just...

For about the 20th year, one of Free Republic's members is pleased to create a Yahoo! Pick'em Fantasy Football league. The league rules are simple: ** Pick the winners of each game ** Assign a confidence value to each game ** Post messages to each other on the message board that include bad puns ** Donate generously to Free Republic at the end of the season in the name of the top point earner That's about it. It is a wonderful time waster that really doesn't take much time. I tend to pick all the games in preseason for all...

Many years ago, I was a football fan — a diehard, even. I stuck with the Panthers through seasons so bad they should’ve been classified as disaster zones, and I relished the rare payoff of seeing them claw their way to a Super Bowl. Those days are long gone. The NFL has morphed into a walking parody of itself—a late-night comedy sketch scripted straight from a corporate DEI handbook, spliced with what used to be satire about effeminacy. From the heavy-handed political sermons to the nonstop social engineering, it’s become an endurance test I have no interest in taking. And...

Scroll through Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson's X feed and find posts that reflect his Christian values, as well as his love of God and Jesus. But when Jackson reshared a post from firebrand conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, he received a flood of hate and criticism on X. The blowback stemmed from Kirk writing, "It's all about Jesus," and Jackson reshared. Although Jackson has not publicly shared his political values, he commonly reshares posts related to the Bible, God and Jesus. When Jackson signed his deal with the Ravens, he said his priority was to keep God and Jesus in...

Clay Higgins, a Republican congressman, criticised the use of male cheerleaders, saying: “I don’t think the NFL actually wants conservatives to watch their football games. And I must say if that’s the NFL business model, they’re doing very, very well.”

"The point is, Blank said on national television – yes, the game was broadcast on NFL Network, which picked up the Falcons' feed – that democracy in the United States is under pressure despite the fact he's a democrat and endorsed Kamala Harris."

Blackfeet Chief Two Guns White Calf was my great uncle and a great American icon. Americans know his face: he was the face of the Washington Redskins for 48 years, until he was cancelled in 2020. Americans once knew his story. White Calf defended tribal traditions in our Blackfeet homeland in Montana, where many of us still live today. He went to Washington D.C. where he forced the U.S. government to honor Indian treaties. He served as a model for the U.S. Mint’s famous 1913 “Indian head” nickel. White Calf’s face is still a collector’s item. ... White Calf became...

The Kansas City Chiefs got some comparatively excellent news on Thursday when they found out that receiver, Rashee Rice, would be available for the first month of the season after his disciplinary hearing was postponed until September 30. With Rashee Rice’s hearing now on track for Sept. 30, this would make him eligible to play the first four weeks of the season with games against the Chargers in Brazil, the Eagles, at the Giants and the Ravens. https://t.co/N4mZSOrU5W — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 14, 2025 However, this lead to some people – in this case media analyst/broad speculator, Mike Florio...

The NFL is continuing its on-field social justice messaging for a sixth straight season. All 32 teams will feature an end zone message of their choice at each home game throughout the season, selecting from four options: “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “Choose Love,” or “Inspire Change.” Once again, “It Takes All of Us” will be stenciled in the opposite end zone for all games. The only change from 2024 is that “Inspire Change” replaces “Vote.” These messages will complement the league’s other cause campaigns such as Salute to Service and Crucial Catch, which will also appear in end zones during...

Jon Gruden said Tuesday he is eager to discover the truth in a Nevada courtroom about whether commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL leaked emails to the media before Gruden was forced to resign as Las Vegas Raiders coach in 2021. "I'm looking forward to having the truth come out and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else," he said in a statement provided to ESPN. Gruden said he blames the NFL for leaking the emails, which led the league to pressure the Raiders to force him out when the team was 3-1....

ESPN is acquiring the NFL Network and other National Football League media assets, including the linear rights to the league's popular RedZone channel, in a deal that will see the NFL get a 10% equity stake in the all-sports network, it was announced Tuesday night. ESPN will also acquire the NFL's fantasy product and merge it into its existing platform, making ESPN Fantasy Football the official game of the NFL. In a separate deal, the NFL also agreed to license to ESPN other NFL content and intellectual property that will appear on the NFL Network and other assets. The NFL...

A former NFL player from Oklahoma has been convicted for his role in a large-scale dogfighting operation, federal prosecutors announced. Leshon Eugene Johnson, 54, of Broken Arrow was convicted of six felony counts of possessing dogs for use in an animal-fighting venture. He was acquitted of 17 other similar counts. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count when he’s formally sentenced at a later date. “The FBI will not stand for those who perpetuate the despicable crime of dogfighting,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “Thanks to...

Is Jerry Jones a great NFL owner? Maybe: It kinda depends on your criteria. If you think the fundamental job of an NFL owner is generating wealth, then Jones is one of the most stunningly successful owners in the history of sports. He bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million, and today his franchise is worth about $11 billion. Not too shabby of an ROI. More importantly, his aggressive approach to branding, merchandising, and marketing revolutionized the league. At first, the NFL threw a yellow hanky in the air, serving him with a $300 million lawsuit for carving independent...

The NFL world was rocked by the news of Denzel Perryman's arrest, a linebacker for the Chargers, who was detained Friday night on charges of firearm possession. According to public records, Perryman was arrested at 9:41 p.m. and booked at 10:06 p.m. This incident throws a wrench in his anticipated return to the team, where he was set to be a standout starter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department issued a statement detailing the incident: "On August 1, 2025, at 9:30 p.m., deputies from the South Los Angeles Station stopped Denzel Perryman, a 32-year-old football player for the Los Angeles...

New evidence being taken from deadly Midtown office shooting Surveillance footage shows 27-year-old Shane Tamura entering 345 Park Avenue with an M4 rifle before shooting an NYPD officer and later killing himself. The building houses major firms including the NFL and KPMG. Police say Tamura drove from Las Vegas just days earlier. FOX 5 NY's Hayley Fixler has the latest. The Brief * An NYPD officer was one of four people killed in a Midtown Manhattan office building Monday evening. * The gunman wound up in the 33rd-floor offices of Rudin Management, one of the city's largest real estate firms....

Four people were killed when a gunman stormed into a New York City skyscraper at the end of the business day on Monday. An off-duty New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, a security guard, a Blackstone executive and a Rudin employee were fatally wounded at 345 Park Avenue at 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. Authorities said Monday night that a fifth victim had been shot and was hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The accused gunman – identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura – died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the 33rd floor of the building, according to police....

"BREAKING: Active shooter described as a “middle eastern man” opened fire at police in Manhattan"

Christian Wilkins, who was released by the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, kissed a fellow player on the head and the teammate took offense to it, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The incident was not the sole reason Wilkins was cut, sources said. Wilkins has been recovering from a Jones fracture, which he suffered in his left foot last October. Because of how Wilkins has treated the rehab from his injury, the Raiders voided the remaining $35.2 million of guaranteed money left on his contract June 4, sources said. He was released with the designation of terminated vested veteran,...

President Donald Trump is threatening to hold up a new stadium deal if Washington’s NFL team did not restore its name to a racial slur, despite decades of psychological research showing the negative mental health impacts of Native American mascots. The president is demanding a private company change its name to something that researchers have linked to a variety of negative mental health outcomes, particularly for children, said Mark Macarro, president of the National Congress of American Indians. The organization has been pushing back on stereotypes of Native Americans since the 1950s, including Native sports mascots. “This is a big...