How Willis wowed ex-49ers teammate Robinson in rookie season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area Patrick Willis’ NFL greatness soon could be acknowledged with entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024. But former 49ers fullback Michael Robinson, who spent three seasons with Willis in San Francisco, recognized the special talent that Willis was well before …

LSU’s 2024 high school signing class is complete. With Dominick McKinley making it official and delivering his letter of intent, LSU sits at 29 signees. It was a good year to recruit Louisiana, with 66% of LSU’s class coming from inside the state. National Signing Day came without much drama. LSU was hoping to flip Terry Bussey from Texas A&M, …

LAS VEGAS — Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! I don’t know how it happened, but the Super Bowl is now only three days away. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. I actually have no idea how far away it is because I’ve lost all sense of time out here in Las Vegas. If I’ve …

Former Raiders receiver Rod Sherman has died, the team announced Thursday. Sherman was 79. Sherman, a native of Pasadena, California, spent four of his seven seasons with the Raiders. The USC star was selected by seventh overall by the Raiders in the 1966 AFL draft and by the Colts in the fourth round of the NFL draft that same year. …

Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell is hoping to recreate some of the same magic when he and Mike Vrabel were at Ohio State. According to ESPN, Fickell said he hopes to have Vrabel “around as much as possible” at Wisconsin in an informal role in 2024. Fickell played with Vrabel at Ohio State from 1993-96 before the pair coached together …

Getty Images Belichick is staying in New England. OK, not that Belichick, but there is one expected to stay with the Patriots in 2024. Safeties coach Brian Belichick is staying put, according to ESPN. Brian has worked in this role for four seasons and with the team for eight seasons. Patriots new head coach Jared Mayo, who is taking over …

The 2024 Super Bowl will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers. Travis Kelce was already one of the NFL’s biggest stars as a two-time Super Bowl champion who just made his ninth consecutive Pro Bowl, but he’s become even more famous in recent months. …

They’re laughing in Ames, Iowa, this week. They’re laughing because they’ve seen the best of Brock Purdy at Iowa State. They’ve seen the worst, too. That means, no matter what happens Sunday in Super Bowl XVIII, he’s still theirs. And that’s so Iowa State. It’s the kind of place that embraces a babyfaced kid from Gilbert, Arizona, almost no one …

The Cincinnati Bengals announced several coaching updates on Thursday morning. When offensive coordinator Brian Callahan was hired by the Tennessee Titans to become their head coach, it created a ripple effect on head coach Zac Taylor’s staff. Taylor promoted former quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher to offensive coordinator leaving an opening at the quarterbacks coach position. Bengals offseason plans How are …

The San Francisco 49ers have been benefitting from a new NFL rule over the past few years and it seems that several owners are not happy about that.  Back in November 2020, the NFL’s 32 owners approved a new policy that called for teams to be rewarded any time a minority member of their organization was hired away by another …

The Titans are expected to hire former Raiders interim offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree as their quarterbacks coach under Brian Callahan, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports. Hardegree served as the Raiders’ interim offensive coordinator after they fired Josh McDaniels. The team averaged 22.9 points per game in the nine games under Hardegree, and the Raiders won five of those games …

Deposed Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson staying in the NFC East originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia Deposed Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson is staying in the NFC East. But he won’t be an offensive coordinator. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Thursday morning that the Commanders are hiring Johnson to their offensive staff, likely as Washington’s passing game coordinator. The Commanders …

Getty Images LAS VEGAS — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is best known for terrorizing opponents through the air. But the reigning NFL MVP has also been an efficient scrambler over the years. He revealed this week that his “secret” to rushing success lies mostly in opponents’ inability to read his running style, suggesting “people think I’m slow” because …

Getty Images San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s journey from being the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, aka Mr. “Irrelevant,” to being an NFL MVP finalist and starting in Super Bowl LVIII is nothing short of remarkable.  Naturally, those who were tangentially a part of Purdy’s improbable football rise are coming out to claim they knew of Purdy’s …

In the early signing period in December, Los Alamitos (California) cornerback Isaiah Rubin was the only USC commit to not formally sign with the program. On Wednesday, he made it official, finally signing with the Trojans. The three-star cornerback is considered to be the No. 36 cornerback prospect in the Class of 2024 and the No. 38 player in the state …