At 34 years old with three Super Bowl rings and 11 seasons of a certain Hall of Fame career under his belt, there’s little left for Travis Kelce to accomplish as a football player. Nobody could reasonably fault him for contemplating retirement. But he’s still having too much fun. Kelce addressed the late stage of his career and the prospect …

MADISON – With a tall and rangy build, Jahmare Washington initially looked like a future star receiver to Morgan Park High School coach Chris James. Washington’s heart, however, was on defense The latest recruit for the Wisconsin football team played defensive back until eighth grade and was itching to make a return to the defensive side of the ball when …

The Commissioner would prefer to replace preseason games with regular-season games. Until that happens, the league still needs to monetize preseason games. Coincidentally, the league-owned network needs content, other than old games and NFL Films offerings and Zoom-based studio shows. The league has announced that 21 preseason games will be televised live by NFL Network. Which is free content for …

Does ESPN’s Football Power Index know something I don’t? ESPN recently released its latest FPI, which includes a percentage breakdown for each team’s chance to qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff. Among the peculiarities: ESPN’s FPI awards Ole Miss just a 20.7% chance of making the playoff. That’s strange, considering this is Lane Kiffin’s best roster, and the Rebels …

The Bears’ long quest to get a new stadium was dealt another setback when Illinois passed its budget without allocating anything that the Bears had asked for. But Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren says he still believes something will get done. “I’m confident at the correct time that we will come together to figure out a stadium solution,” Warren …

The Gadsden area has been known to pump out strong collegiate talent and that tradition looks to continue in the Classes of 2025 and 2026. Last year, one area player signed with a Power 5 program as Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. followed his father footsteps going from Gadsden City to Alabama. Two more area prospects signed to play at the Group …

When six quarterbacks were selected with the first 12 picks of the NFL Draft, it made the league’s decisions on preseason programming pretty easy. The NFL Network announced its 21 preseason games that will be televised live this August, and it’s heavy on rookie quarterbacks. In particular, the league is obviously excited to promote Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, …

When I think of John Henderson, it’s in the context of being among the handful of the best players I witnessed in 34 years of covering University of Tennessee football. Give me Peyton Manning, Heath Shuler, Eric Berry, Carl Pickens and Henderson. (I know, Al Wilson would like a word. Dale Carter, too.) I thought of Big John last week …

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has been doing 7-on-7 work at the team’s practices for almost a month, but he won’t be taking on anything else before the team wraps up its offseason program this week. Head coach Brian Daboll said on Tuesday that Jones, who is returning from a torn ACL, will not be doing full team drills during this …

You’ve heard of hot takes. You’re probably familiar with cold takes. But, do you know of lukewarm takes? They might be the truest predictions of all. On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams serve a helping of lukewarm SEC football takes. What constitutes a lukewarm take? It’s …

Tuesday is the first day of Jets mandatory minicamp, but two star players are not in attendance. According to head coach Robert Saleh, both quarterback Aaron Rodgers and edge rusher Haason Reddick have unexcused absences. Both players are subject to the CBA fine schedule, which fines players nearly $17,000 for missing the first day, about $34,000 for missing day two, …

Three-star 2025 cornerback Caleb Chester announced his commitment to Texas on Tuesday. The defensive back out of Fort Bend Marshall is from Missouri City, Texas and chose the Longhorns over LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, & TCU. Chester is the 11th commit in the Class of 2025 and the first secondary player to join. The 15th-ranked class as of Tuesday, according …

Left tackle Tristan Wirfs reported to the Buccaneers’ facility for the start of their mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, but another veteran member of the team decided not to join him at the workout. Edge rusher Randy Gregory is not in attendance on Tuesday. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles told reporters during a press conference that it is an unexcused absence …

The Army football team has earned seven spots on the Preseason All-American Athletic Conference all-star team, as named by Athlon Sports magazine. Safety Max DiDomenico and lineman Brady Small were named to the second team defense and offense, respectively. Third-team choices included linebacker Kalib Fortner on defense and running backs Tyrell Robinson and Kanye Udoh on offense. Fourth-team spots included …

Two of the NFL’s first-year head coaches will prepare for their debut seasons by practicing with each other. The Seahawks and Titans announced that they will hold joint practices ahead of a preseason game in Nashville this summer. The teams will work out together on August 14 and 15 before playing on August 17. It is the 12th time that …