Deadspin > Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise

Look at a photo of Rudy Gobert in any game. Typically, he’ll be wearing the same knee sleeves with padding that most other players do, maybe an arm-sleeve or two, and that’s probably it. Let’s not make this about Gobert, though — let’s take another center: Nikola Jokić. Usually, it’s just leg sleeves with nothing on…Read more...

This is the most important season of Ezekiel Elliott’s career.

Like it or not, this is still Kansas City’s division to lose. It’s not very often we can look at a team that went to the Super Bowl two years in a row and go “Wow! They really improved this offseason.” Yet, that’s exactly what the Chiefs did. The biggest problem for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl was their poor…Read more...

My fear is that once or twice a year, until my bosses find out that I’m just an absurd algorithm devised out of some combination of bong water and Primus records and they fire “me” (even though I don’t exist in physical form), I’ll be writing some piece about how this is the time that AEW can, should, and needs to…Read more...

The AFC South is a division that could have a significant impact on the playoff picture by the end of the year.

The main story of the U.S. Open, other than the plethora of five-set matches, or three-set matches for the women, has been the surprising runs of a few teenagers in both the women’s and men’s side of the draw. The longest run so far is by a young Canadian named Leylah Fernandez, who has kneecapped a couple former No.…Read more...

As Derek Jeter gains entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame today in Cooperstown, N.Y., there can be only one thought by most.Read more...

All eyes will be on Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns in 2021 after making the postseason for the first time since 2002 last year. A major storyline for the Browns this year will be Mayfield’s contract status. Baker is eligible for an extension of his rookie deal, but the Browns are being cautious (wisely) and…Read more...

The AFC East has been one of the NFL focal points this offseason.

(CW: Abuse, physical violence)

It’s really hanging one out there to call this Mets season particularly Mets-y. Every season in Queens has an element of the weird and inexplicable to it that only the Mets can conjure. They never settle quietly into the background. But this year, well, through Jacob deGrom’s injury and Javy Baez letting it slip that…Read more...

It’s been a hellacious two-year run for Chris Paul since being traded away from the Houston Rockets because of behind-the-scenes tension between CP3 and James Harden.Read more...

The NBA is notorious for “randomly” drug testing its players after seeing things that might be out of the ordinary.

Anytime an all-time great moves into broadcasting following their playing career, it’s a risky proposition for how people will ultimately view their legacy. Whether or not that matters is entirely up to them, and some would say it shouldn’t. But depending on how the player performs on the desk or in the booth, there…Read more...

Perhaps I doomed them last Wednesday when I told my editor the US Men’s National Team would qualify for the World Cup easily. The power of the motherfuck grows every day. That won’t comfort anyone, especially me, as the US has certainly stubbed its toe in its first two qualifiers, even if it hasn’t fully tripped over…Read more...

Brooklyn Nets forward Blake Griffin showed that he can be just as petty as the next person during a recent podcast appearance while shuffling through packs of basketball cards and coming across one of his own. Appearing on the Pardon My Take podcast, Griffin opened a pack of trading cards to one of his own from his…Read more...

It’s not breaking news that Derrick Henry is one of the most dominant running backs of the past 20 seasons.

It’s strange to say that a company that has been around almost two years still was trying to find something of an identity. And it’s always had one, but until Sunday it still had some nebulous quality, after Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view, we know exactly what AEW is, what it’s going to be, and where it’s going.

In a move that feels five years past its use-by date, the San Francisco 49ers have signed former All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman to help shore up their defensive backfield.

If COVID-19 was a college football team, it would be the USC Trojans from the early 2000s when they peeled off 34 straight wins between 2003 and 2005.Read more...

In early 2005, a California-based rock group named Audioslave released a song titled “Be Yourself,” which became the anthem that the band is perhaps most famous for many years later.Read more...

The NFL’s television partners don’t necessarily take the best teams in the league for the most primetime games. They take the teams that are going to get the biggest audiences and make the networks the most money.Read more...

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Every week during the season, NFL RedZone is packed with action from across the league, and there are some stalwarts who carry the action every Sunday afternoon from 1 to 8 Eastern.Read more...

One of the things that’s exciting about the NFL is that, with only 16 games — sorry, with only 17 games in a season, a couple of unexpected wins or losses can change the entire complexion of a season. A bad team can make the playoffs, while an otherwise good team can miss out because of a couple of bounces.Read more...

Urban Meyer has already proven that he’s a habitual liar. It’s the reason why he isn’t at Ohio State anymore. But this week, we found out that lying isn’t his issue. It’s that he doesn’t know when to do it.

The NFL’s television schedule doesn’t tell you everything about who’s expected to be good in a given season. The Cowboys and Steelers will always get plenty of games in prime time, because no matter what, they’re going to draw eyeballs.

This season marks the 10th anniversary of Eli Manning cementing his legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time by beating Tom Brady in the Super Bowl for the second time.

With the start of the NFL season four days away, positive COVID tests could become a huge setback to the start of the season.

The game last night between Georgia and Clemson was the epitome of a throwback.

Tom Brady couldn’t catch a pass in Super Bowl LII, but he did catch COVID-19 after the Buccaneers’ parade for their Super Bowl LV victory.Read more...

The Olympics have always felt like the pinnacle for several sports around the world. Only the best sprinters in the world can win gold at the 100-meter dash. Only the fastest swimmers can rise above everyone else in the 200-meter freestyle. Yet, for other sports, the Olympics hasn’t felt like the top of the sport…Read more...

Seeing how amped the crowd was in Blacksburg, Va., on Friday night, it’s less surprising than the straight on-paper matchup would lead you to believe that unranked Virginia Tech upset No. 10 North Carolina, 17-10, in the season opener for both teams.Read more...

It’s the first week of September, you know what that means! It’s time for AEW’s biggest show, All Out. Not only is it the biggest show they’ve ever run, or their most important, but it has a real chance to shift the wrestling world in a way we haven’t seen in a couple decades. AEW could very well be on the same plane…Read more...

Yes, they’re old. Yes, we should have concerns about injuries. Sure, we don’t even know if all the players are vaccinated yet, which will matter because they’ll have to be.Read more...

I guess we’re just gonna keep doing this until Ben Simmons actually gets traded, so here’s another.Read more...

​​Naomi Osaka’s title defense at the U.S. Open is over, and it’s not really clear right now what else might be.Read more...

​​Bill Belichick took heat this week for his contention that “[the] implication that vaccination solves every problem … has not been substantiated.”Read more...

Kansas won an actual football game, its first in nearly two years, coming from behind at home to notch a 17-14 verdict over South Dakota.Read more...

What happened to the Big 12? They were once a dominant force in the college football world. They were feared by opponents, loved by fans, hated by others, and everything a college football powerhouse conference should be. Now, with Texas and Oklahoma having left the conference for greener pastures, the Big 12 is a…Read more...

The Justin Fields era at Ohio State is over. The C.J. Stroud era has begun.

John Sterling is 83 years old and has been broadcasting for such a long time that he once was the radio voice of the Baltimore Bullets, the WHA’s New York Raiders, and the New York Stars of the WFL. He’s been calling Yankees games for so long, he was behind the microphone for their last losing season, during the first…Read more...

The Golden State Warriors are straight tripping.

AThe NHL apparently is not fucking around for the upcoming season when it comes to vaccinations. A memo went out last night that outlines what will be different this season for players who are vaccinated and those who are not.

I kind of knew that being so jonesed about the U.S.’ first qualifier would lead to something of a dry-heave of a game last night. This is CONCACAF, after all. Winning on the road is incredibly hard. It’s even harder when you’re taking a squad full of players that haven’t been on the road in CONCACAF before. It takes…Read more...

Since the dawn of the 2021 season, every major figure in the baseball world has, at some point, uttered some semblance of these seven words: “The Giants aren’t really World Series contenders.” Whether it be by saying “The Dodgers will easily overtake them. It’s just a matter of time,” or “Just look at them. I don’t…Read more...

Former rebound king and Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is recognized as one of the original bad boys of the NBA. That’s not only because he played for the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons of the 1980s and early 90s, either. Rodman may have been more entertaining off the court than on it. And he was indeed a sight to behold on the…Read more...

Last night, the Dodgers’ Max Scherzer threw six innings of shutout baseball to lead his team to a 4-3 win. With that victory, coupled with a Giants loss to Milwaukee, the Dodgers took sole possession of first place in the NL West.