Free Republic

Give Mattress Mack credit: He doesn’t give up. Jim McIngvale, the Houston-based owner of Gallery Furniture who is better known as “Mattress Mack,” has been betting against the Kansas City Chiefs this postseason and paying dearly for it. He’s not done. BetMGM had been preparing Wednesday for a $1 million Super Bowl LIV bet on the San Francisco 49ers, and it came in. The bet was from McIngvale, according to The Action Network.

The deal, reported on by the New York Times and slated to be announced on Wednesday, will see Roc Nation and Jay-Z “consulting on entertainment, including the Super Bowl halftime show, and contributing to the league’s activism campaign, Inspire Change,” the paper writes.

NEW ORLEANS — Opposing players haven't had much luck slowing return ace Devin Hester, but opposing team owners did so Tuesday when they passed a rule that will make it more difficult to return kickoffs. The Bears steadfastly opposed the proposal to move kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35 and voted against it to no avail. Kickers will find it much easier to reach the end zone and force the returner to settle for a touchback as opposed to risking a big return. It is anticipated the touchback rate could more than double to near 40 percent. Coach...

Dale Hansen of Dallas's Channel 8 News is "unhinged" about the Pacman Jones trade and believes signing Osama Bin Laden as Wide Receiver would be the moral equivalent. Video here: http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=239208

NFL officials are investigating whether Green Bay Packers players offered payments to teammates for achieving specific defensive goals. League rules prohibit teams and players "from offering or accepting bonuses to a player for his or his team's performance against a particular team, a particular opposing player or players, or a particular group of an opposing team.'' League spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed the investigation Monday. ESPN reported that Packers defensive backs offered to pay the team's defensive linemen $500 each if there were able to hold Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson under 100 yards rushing two weeks ago, and another $500...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The NFL has nixed a church's plans to use a wall projector to show the Colts-Bears Super Bowl game, saying it would violate copyright laws. NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church's "Super Bowl Bash" on the church Web site last week and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said. < snip > But the NFL objected to the church's plans to use a projector to show the game, saying the law limits it to one TV no bigger than 55 inches. The church will likely abandon...