Want a rookie NFL player to cheer for this year?

@houseofhighlights Ravens got a real one in Vega Ioane 🙌🫡 (markxbrennan, lions.247/IG) #nfl #nfldraft #ravens #ioane #football ♬ original sound - House of Highlights

Brady's "wellness coordinator" allegedly "purports to possess significant organizational power" with the Raiders

NYT:

Like many players and coaches, [Maxx] Crosby was frustrated by the presence of Alex Guerrero, a staunch Brady ally whose official title is wellness coordinator.

Guerrero, who regularly attends practices and meetings, purports to possess significant organizational power, informing players of impending transactions and even indicating to staff members who don’t follow his instructions that their jobs may be at risk.

Guerrero is perceived to have a direct pipeline to Brady, who lives in Florida and serves as Fox’s lead NFL analyst, limiting his in-person presence. 

A 2015 article if you're not familiar, or have forgotten Supreme Greens and NeuroSafe.

The bushes were people in costume (Super Bowl roundup)

the bushes were people ???? pic.twitter.com/GscO1tOHNY

— ludwig (@LudwigAhgren) February 9, 2026

"Florida State reports $437 million in athletics-related debt in 2025"

"All told, Florida State University reported $617 million in institutional debt."

Yes, I've waited so long for sportswriting in this category of stupid

From a long profile of Elway from 2016:

TO HEAR HIM speak of death as a hurdle, a dare, an obstacle to clear like first-and-98, makes me think of John Elway and, well, a waffle maker.

It was January 2011, the first day of Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Alabama. Shortly after 6 a.m. in the restaurant of a downtown Hampton Inn, scouts swarmed around the breakfast buffet before heading out to practice for player weigh-ins -- the grunt work, the stuff nobody wants to do. Out of the lobby elevator, barrel-chested, bowlegged and pigeon-toed, came John Elway.

He was less than three weeks into his new job running the Broncos. He wore a leather jacket. Desk clerks stared. Scouts stared. It was like Springsteen had showed up for open mic night. Elway approached the waffle maker, poured the batter and clamped the irons. The red light didn't come on. He flipped it over. Nothing. He fiddled with it. Still nothing. Then he got that look he gets when he's imposing his will. Brow furrowed, tongue hugging his upper lip. The look from when he threw the bullet that capped The Drive, the look from when he launched himself into three Packers near the goal line in Super Bowl XXXII. A look of high stakes let loose on a breakfast buffet

And now, from SI's article, "Inside the Meal That Sealed the Deal for the Giants and John Harbaugh":

When Salouros got the call, he turned to his chef, Louis Falcone, and decided they were going to go off-menu. They had a separate steak, chicken and fish dish exclusive to Harbaugh and the Giants that, depending on the coach’s preference, they would make fresh. 

The appetizer selection was a Rolodex of Elia’s greatest hits: tuna tartare, fried zucchini and eggplant chips, octopus and fried calamari. 

Salouros said that the only disagreement was who would order first. Harbaugh deferred to Mara, who insisted that Harbaugh was the “man of the hour.” Harbaugh went with the fish, and Mara doubled down by saying he’d have the same thing. Schoen, in perhaps one of the great culinary power moves of all time, went with the ribeye.

(Check out the record of the team under the GM who executed that culinary power move) (The article continues to go into tremendous detail about the meal?)

Meanwhile, his previous employer:

@bleacherreport Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti says Harbaugh would have only had one more week if Tyler Loop made the FG 😳 (Via @Baltimore Ravens) #nfl #nflfootball #football #ravens ♬ original sound - bleacherreport

Delightfully absurd Monsters of the Gridiron cards (how did they convince the players to participate?)

Thread: 1993-94 Cola-Cola Monsters of the Gridiron cards Cortez Kennedy

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— Luke Knox (@lukeknox.me) December 11, 2025 at 6:19 AM

Bruce Armstrong

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— Luke Knox (@lukeknox.me) December 11, 2025 at 2:50 PM

Renaldo Turnbull

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— Luke Knox (@lukeknox.me) December 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM

John Randle

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— Luke Knox (@lukeknox.me) December 11, 2025 at 2:39 PM

Eric Swann

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— Luke Knox (@lukeknox.me) December 11, 2025 at 6:19 AM

Jumbo Elliott

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— Luke Knox (@lukeknox.me) December 11, 2025 at 6:47 AM

Hardy Nickerson

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— Luke Knox (@lukeknox.me) December 11, 2025 at 10:45 AM

(more in the thread)

So we're getting some insight into why Puka Nacua fell in the draft

"If you’re both a fan of Puka Nacua and a decent human being you might not want to read any further — but also you should, because he doesn’t have a right to be free of criticism for engaging in antisemitism"https://t.co/cZQ3GxGR7T

— Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) December 18, 2025

Two men, including the brother of Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, were arrested over the weekend after allegedly taking Los Angeles Lakers forward Adou Thiero’s SUV without his consent, LASD exclusively told NBC4 Investigates.https://t.co/Xl1utclJs5

— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) December 18, 2025

Also. FWIW. (I don't think the Rams have commented yet.) And Mookie.

Really creative uniform concept for Tulane

Hmmm a street tile uniform would be interesting but hmmm let’s see. pic.twitter.com/dFpdDhFKrY

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 1, 2025

Glow in the dark football cleats for the Oregon Ducks

Mummy mode.

Presenting the @Nike Mummy Duck Vaporposite cleat. Created exclusively for Oregon Football. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cRqFxhRL4b

— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) September 21, 2025

And speaking of specialty Nikes:

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A post shared by LAIKA Studios (@laikastudios)

I sure hope they restock these Buffalo Bills hats

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A post shared by New Era Cap (@neweracap)

Tonight, Josh Allen will debut the first of nine New Era hats created by patients at the Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo.

After each Bills home game, the caps will be auctioned off to benefit the Patricia Allen fund. pic.twitter.com/C30mvyEled

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 7, 2025

The base hat with the fabulous logo was sold out in the spots I looked. The first modified version is up for bid. (LOL Ravens.)

Update: Dick's still has them

Concussion prevention device

@docdocsolve 🚀Now launching: TopSpin 360🚀 🏈“For every 1 pound increase in neck strength there is a 5% decrease in concussion risk.” This device is used by top level football, hockey, volleyball, and rugby teams. 💥There are an estimated 3.8 Million sports concussions/year in the U.S. Build the neck strength they’re missing! 💪🏼You can’t prevent all hits, but you CAN prepare your body for them. 🧠This device dramatically reduces risk of concussion. Don’t worry- you just train with it, you don’t wear it during a game 😂. To stop the whiplash effect, this device strengthens the neck muscles and stabilizes the neck and spine! Your brain will thank you. 🙌🏼You can now train with the @TopSpin360 at our office by going through our Concussion Prevention Program! #concussion #concussionrecovery #headinjury #footballtiktok #chiropractic ♬ 20 Anymore - Swimming Paul

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A post shared by TopSpin Technologies (@topspin360)

Hand-painted faux-leather helmets for the Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers drop their throwback uniforms for the 2025 season featuring a leather-look helmet 🥶

(via @packers ) pic.twitter.com/6OiSzzKNAE

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 24, 2025

A work of art@amfam pic.twitter.com/WS7oHFV4G3

— Green Bay Packers Football Club (@packers) July 24, 2025

A 2023 article about the hiring of the NFLPA leader who just resigned in disgrace

Jim Trotter for The Athletic:

[He] may well be the person to take the union wherever it wants to go, but the players will have no one to blame but themselves if he fails. Through apathy and/or blind trust, they allowed union president [] to drive a selection process unlike any that had ever preceded it. 

...

Whatever the reason, it helps explains how you get a selection process like we just witnessed. As far back as March, players were privately expressing concerns to me about what was taking place. The expectation then was that a vote would take place that month at the union meeting in Hawaii. When it didn’t happen, some players essentially checked out and left the process to [the union president] and the executive committee — which makes the scheduling of this week’s vote more curious.

[The union president] spent eight seasons as an NFL offensive lineman. He knows the players get only one time each year to be completely off the books, that from early June to mid-July they schedule family vacations and international travel. So why would he hold a vote at a time when he knows turnout is likely to be low?

ESPN has a new article suggesting he resigned shortly after they started asking him about billing strip club visits to the union. 

College players complaining about their video game likenesses in EA's College Football 26 (and one player got a zero percent toughness)

@j2cksonx wrong number too😂 #foryou #trending #cfb26 ♬ one way - pndswifee

@savebled 😂😂😂😂 #cfb26 #collegefootball #football #savebled #samhouston ♬ Classic classical gymnopedie solo piano(1034554) - Lyrebirds music

@chrisaldayy cfb 26 face scans are something else 👎🏼 @EA SPORTS @Overtimeszn #cfb26 #collegefootball26 #football #d1athlete #sandiegostate ♬ Classic classical gymnopedie solo piano(1034554) - Lyrebirds music

They inexplicably singled out this punter for a zero percent toughness:

Wanna @ me?

— Aidan Laros (@aidan_laros) July 7, 2025

Pablo Torre's latest podcast is a remarkable discussion about the NFL Player's Association seemingly sabotaging itself with ineptness and self-dealing

He and Mike Florio of PFT heard about a secret document that concerned possible collusion among NFL owners to prevent guaranteed contracts in the wake of Watson's deal. The two reporters understood why the NFL might want to keep the document secret, but why would the NFLPA? So they made a bet as to who could uncover it, and Torre won.

Compelling listening, and stay tuned til the end to hear which ESPN personality and former NFLPA president refused to comment.

Here's Florio's follow-up today discussing whether Justin Herbert might want to sue the league and the PA.

Good illustrations for the Colts' schedule release

really good schedule art
(a 🧵 by @nba_paint)
--
week 1 vs. dolphins pic.twitter.com/Y0LCq6ry7w

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 15, 2025

week 5 vs. raiders pic.twitter.com/NU7Z72NQiA

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 15, 2025

week 13 vs. texans pic.twitter.com/AlpcbFlVr0

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 15, 2025

week 17 vs. jaguars pic.twitter.com/GUHNGhXRWC

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) May 15, 2025

Great story about Bills receiver Amari Cooper convincing a 14 year old to teach him to play chess

An article from August headlined, "Why did NFL stars gather in June to play chess? It all began with Amari Cooper’s vision":

When Cooper first drove his Lamborghini into a suburban townhouse complex in 2020, a 14-year-old’s parents were wary.

Was a Cowboys player 12 years their son’s senior really just driving him to … the neighborhood Barnes & Noble for chess lessons?

Deviprasath, then a ninth grader on the verge of attaining chess’s expert “national master” rating, told his mother he was going to coach Cooper.

“So first she Googles him and tries to understand,” Deviprasath said. “She honestly wasn’t believing him. Like — how does this happen?”

...

They met each Monday night for two to three hours at the Barnes & Noble near Deviprasath’s townhouse.

Four years later, lessons continue.

They’ve outlasted the Barnes & Noble, which closed in May 2023, and Cooper’s Cowboys tenure, which wrapped March 2022 when Dallas traded him to the Browns for a fifth-round draft pick as his salary outgrew their interest. Deviprasath worried then that the lessons and friendship had run their course.

Instead, he and Cooper began FaceTiming each Monday night as Deviprasath shared his screen.

“Then he came back to Dallas [each offseason] and it was almost like no difference,” Deviprasath said. “Our chess lessons have grown over the years.”

Roundup of the gifts quarterbacks got their offensive linemen this year

FSO:

Quarterback Jalen Hurts ($13.5 million) and running back Saquon Barkley ($3.8 million) teamed up amid a 12-3 season to give their linemen personalized golf carts donning their names and numbers. Both Barkley and Hurts’ personal logos are on the back of each cart. 

Bill Barnwell ranked the worst mistakes for all 32 NFL teams since 2020

Fun list.

Faux-leather helmets for the University of Illinois football team

An iconic part of football history.

Individually hand-painted, each player will wear a custom helmet to match our throwback uniforms to the importance Red Grange played in football history. #Illini // #HTTO // #famILLy pic.twitter.com/jUEsMfOyRO

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) October 19, 2024

The time has come...#Illini // #HTTO // #famILLy pic.twitter.com/ROn1wBNrlk

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) October 17, 2024

Day over day, year over year.

Just keep stacking days to go 1-0. #Illini // #HTTO // #famILLy pic.twitter.com/vBUxaiOX9R

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) October 19, 2024

The leather Illinois helmets pic.twitter.com/yazGa3kPn8

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) October 19, 2024

They're each hand painted by Armando Villarreal:

Jenny Dell on the background of Illinois' leather helmets, they're done by hand pic.twitter.com/UJlDyjEHMB

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) October 19, 2024

He created some helmets honoring the USS Salt Lake City back in 2021.