Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH, the most electrifying ceremony in sports media. Following up on the hotly contested 2021 IDIOT OF THE YEAR awards, we have for you today, well, many of the same ninnies and twits who appeared on that vaunted list. The calendar year, it turns out, is not some sort of magical…Read more...

Terry Brown and Derrick Jensen share this record, both on blocked punts that were recovered in the end zone. So the answer is 0 yards.

In Super Bowl XXV, Bills kicker Scott Norwood lined up a 47-yard field goal with the hopes of giving Buffalo its first Super Bowl title. With the score 20-19, the Giants held a slim one-point lead.

Aaaand there it is. After one of the more dramatic weekends of sports news in recent memory, the “is he or isn’t he” question has been answered by the man himself. It’s time, as TB12 wrote on Instagram this morning, to “focus [his] time and energy on other things” than football.Read more...

Quarterback is the position in football in which swag comes with the job. Quarterbacks are the only players on the field who constantly have the ball in their hands. They make the calls in the huddle, organize the team at the line of scrimmage, and once the play begins, it’s their show. No one moves until they’re…Read more...

Not that we don’t know the answer, but it will make for even more awkward viewing than United’s on-field performances have been anyway.

After Sunday’s AFC Championship loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, I think it’s time we come to realize that these Kansas City Chiefs are a great team, but they are not a dynasty. Not currently, anyway. Dynasties usually include multiple Super Bowl victories, not just getting there and taking second place or…Read more...

Health doesn’t appear to be in the cards for the 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers. Anthony Davis had just returned from a 17-game absence due to a sprained MCL. He was back in the lineup last Tuesday and the Lakers defeated the Brooklyn Nets — sans Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden — 106-96. The very next game,…Read more...

The natural inclination is to arm the nukes to drop on USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter after his comments that the U.S. “dominated” Canada, despite losing 2-0 and managing just three shots on target. The initial reaction is that he’s completely deluded, doesn’t know what he’s watching, and all while having huge talent…Read more...

Matthew Stafford has prevailed against all the odds and critics as he’s set to lead the Los Angeles Rams into Super Bowl 56 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Of course, a few out there picked the Rams early then kinda rolled off the bandwagon during the season, only to jump back on once the postseason began. Then some…Read more...

Tom Brady is a cheater.Read more...

Whether Rafa Nadal likes it or not, and he probably doesn’t mind because he seems an amiable sort, he’ll be more closely linked to Roger Federer than Novak Djokovic. It was Federer who was unchallenged for years until Rafa built a base on clay, and then slowly ate into his advantages on grass (beat him in his third…Read more...

Pundits like Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson, and Will Cain are at the forefront of the “culture wars” on the right. Each has built a career stirring the pot and “owning the Libs.’’They, just like their liberal counterparts, focus on hot-button social issues instead of issues plaguing all Americans’ daily lives. Issues…Read more...

Finding noteworthy athletes from the rest of the world might still be easier than cherry picking from the America tree, but it’s harder to decide which multi-medalist athlete or teenage phenom to leave off the list. I tried to get a nice mix of both, but there are quite a few times when I simply had to mention…Read more...

If you’ve tuned into sports media at all over the last couple of weeks, you’ve undoubtedly heard the barrage of criticism being hurled at Jimmy Garoppolo, the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback. It’s arguably been more criticism than any quarterback has faced amidst back-to-back playoff wins. It has been said that it’s…Read more...

When they said that “on any given Sunday (or Saturday) any team can beat any other team,” I’m guessing they weren’t talking about football teams from Cincinnati winning games that would put them on the sport’s biggest stages.Read more...

It took a few hours, but a roar finally bellowed out in the sports bar following Aaron Donald’s forced interception of Jimmy Garappolo. A noise level that for most of the game didn’t exceed the level of a drunk birthday party group in the back of a restaurant. The moment Donald enveloped Garappolo, a person could…Read more...

This probably won’t apply if Tom Brady is doing all this for the attention and doesn’t actually retire. Quarterbacks have a habit of doing that. Brett Favre. Aaron Rodgers. Or maybe it’s just a Packers thing. Still, when you’re the centerpiece of a league that’s the centerpiece of the sporting consciousness of this…Read more...

We’re down to the final four teams left in the NFL postseason, and Championship Sunday is upon us. In the 56-year history of the Super Bowl, we’ve had seven rematches. That’s about 12.5% of the games being played between franchises that previously met on the big stage. This year there is an excellent chance that we…Read more...

It’d been two and a half years since the world had seen the Splash Brothers together on an NBA court when Klay Thompson made his return to the game earlier this month. Thompson was out 941 days with the torn ACL & Achilles. Now nine games into his comeback, Thompson is averaging 15.8ppg and shooting 35.4 percent from…Read more...

Not many days out of the 365 we are given each trip around the sun can match the excitement of Championship Sunday.Read more...

We’ll see when Tom Brady’s career is actually over, but his name will be part of the conversation in the NFL for decades to come. There’s plenty of room to debate about the greatest of all time, and there’s plenty of time to have that debate, but there’s no question at all that Brady leaves the game as No. 1 all time…Read more...

Danny Lewis, a tight end from New Iberia, La., had been ticketed for Cincinnati, but decommitted from the Bearcats earlier this month. Reopening his recruiting process, Lewis visited Alabama last week, and got some photos of himself all decked out in a Crimson Tide uniform. Neat! Seems like a fun time, this college…Read more...

The idea of Jim Harbaugh returning to the NFL has seemed like a leverage play since the rumor started floating around, shortly after Michigan’s loss to eventual national champion Georgia in the Orange Bowl.

I know neither the Rams nor Bengals have punched their way into the Super Bowl yet, but just look at what would be happening if both teams won on Sunday.

John Harbaugh let Jim have a little Mike MacDonald — as a treat. But after a successful one-year loaner program that I have to assume is kind of like studying abroad for NFL position coaches into the weird, wonderful land of college football, MacDonald has been brought back to the Ravens as the program’s youngest…Read more...

This story has been updated.Read more...

The Denver Broncos are calling all billionaires as they prepare to auction off their franchise, valued at around $4 billion on the market, in what will likely turn out to be the biggest sale in sports history.Read more...

It’s a remarkable reference point of consistency that the Kansas City Chiefs will host their fourth straight conference championship game Sunday, this time trying to stave off the resurgent Cincinnati Bengals en route to a third straight Super Bowl appearance.Read more...

Henrik Lundqvist’s No. 30 was raised to the Madison Square Garden rafters Friday night, a well-deserved honor for the future Hall of Famer who backstopped the Rangers for 15 years and won everything but a Stanley Cup as one of the best and most consistent goalies in the business.

No matter how down you are on WWE, and Eric and I certainly are somewhere around ankle-level, there’s still something special about the Royal Rumble. It’s still the only of its kind. It signals the beginning of the build to WrestleMania, but mostly it’s because it’s still the only event on the calendar — AEW or WWE —…Read more...

The hottest new trend in NBA betting seems to be first basket parlays. Essentially, a bettor guesses which player will score the first basket in a given game. On December 29, 2021, Jim James thought he’d give one of these parlays a shot. He put $100 on a four-game parlay assuming that Jaylen Brown would drain the…Read more...

The J.R. Smith undergrad Twitter chronicles have been a delightful highlight of the past few months. The 15-year NBA veteran was drafted straight out of high school in 2004, and after retiring from basketball, decided to get his degree at North Carolina A&T, the largest HBCU in the country. He also made the…Read more...

There are 28 NFL teams not playing this weekend, which means there are 28 teams trying to figure out how to get to where they want to go: the Super Bowl. Some, naturally, have better ideas about it than others.

I didn’t know how I was going to feel eight months out of college packing up everything I own, shoving it into my midsize sedan, and moving nearly two time zones away from the East Coast for the first time. But I knew for growth personally and professionally, I needed to feel it.

I don’t mean to be crass, but in pop culture, Jeff Garcia’s behavior is described as “little dick energy.”

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green really tapped into something a couple of years ago during his war of words with Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley. Turner Sports was so impressed with Green’s brash opinionated style that they struck up a relationship, and now it’s been announced that he is…Read more...

This Kansas City Chiefs team is already legendary. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Co. led by Andy Reid, will never have to buy a plate of Jack Stack in K.C. again. I personally know way too many Chiefs fans, so it’s nice to see them not have to pretend Elvis Grbac, Alex Smith, or Trent Green were good.

It’s biased because of where I grew up, and certainly wasn’t the biggest oversight in the continuous and mud-tasting Hall of Fame debate. But much like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have now fallen off the ballot, so has Sammy Sosa. And yet no one seems to care.

Austin Reaves’ star is steadily rising as a rookie for the Los Angeles Lakers — for various reasons.Read more...

When Rob Gronkowski finally decides to retire for good, he will do so as one of the greatest tight ends ever to play the game. To some, he’s already the GOAT at his position, and has been for several years at this point. Gronk, who has already retired from football once, was on TMZ recently, and the subject of…Read more...

A new league of professional women’s basketball kicked off last night in Las Vegas with WNBA stars Lexie Brown, Mercedes Russell, and Odyssey Sims taking the court. Athletes Unlimited is hoping to change the game in the U.S. in more ways than one — the question is whether its unusual format and small start will allow…Read more...

I thought we, as a sports community, were moving away from the “You didn’t play the game so you can’t comment on it,” way of thought. Maybe that’s just my echo chamber that doesn’t include a voice like former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia.

Yes! The Winter Olympics are here, and I’m not going to be sitting at a copy desk in a Colorado ski town awaiting results from halfway around the world this time. I don’t know what to be happier about: My work inbox being free of Olympic coverage plans, or my knowledge of skiers, snowboarders, cross-country skiers,…Read more...

Concentration is key to performing at peak potential in sports. When shooting free throws, many players have rituals they undergo before attempting their shot. Steve Nash is one of the greatest free throw shooters of all-time — posting a career percentage of 90.43 percent. His ritual consisted of miming his shot a few…Read more...

The Miami Heat have been playing lights out recently, with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games. Amid their hot streak, the Heat have taken over sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. Wednesday night, Miami had even more firepower added to the lineup with the return of Tyler “I’m a bucket” Herro…Read more...

It may feel like the USMNT’s qualification process has been going on for about 32 years. Which is what happens when you cock-up the last one and everyone has to wait eight years between World Cup appearances (hopefully). Still, it’s important to stress that the U.S., if it can manage two wins in these three games the…Read more...

Just like a loose ball, when the bag is in reach, you dive headfirst for it. Every summer, a handful of teams, big and small markets, choose to resign, extend, or offer big money to one of their rising players. Sometimes it works out. Other times, you’re stuck with Kevin Love. Although kudos to Love for rejuvenating…Read more...