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He was rugged, rangy and relentless in his pursuit of quarterbacks. For 13 years during their heyday, the Baltimore Colts were defined by a slab of a man known simply as Gino. No Colts player epitomized the club — or the city — better than Gino Marchetti, the Hall of Fame defensive end who died Monday of pneumonia. Marchetti, 93, passed away at Paoli Hospital in Paoli, Pa. “I kissed him and he knew me and smiled,” said Joan Marchetti, his wife of 41 years. “That was Gino’s way of saying goodbye.”

The Angels and Mike Trout have agreed to a record-setting 12-year deal worth more than $430 million, according to a report Tuesday by ESPN's Jeff Passan. The Angels have not confirmed the report.Trout, 27, was eligible to become a free agent after the 2020 season upon the completion of his current six-year, $144.5 million deal. This new contract reportedly would add 10 years to his existing deal, making it 12 years total.Trout’s would be the first $400 million contract in Major League history, surpassing the total value of the 13-year, $330 million contract Bryce Harper signed with the Phillies earlier...

Hype aside the two teams are powerhouses...question is who will win. Make your case...

NFL LIVE THREAD Week 16 SATURDAY, DEC 22, 2018 (All Times Eastern) Washington at Tennessee 4:30 pm NFLN Nissan Stadium Baltimore at L.A. Chargers 8:20 pm NFLN StubHub Center SUNDAY, DEC 23, 2018 Atlanta at Carolina 1:00 pm FOX Bank of America Stadium Buffalo at New England 1:00 pm CBS Gillette Stadium Cincinnati at Cleveland 1:00 pm CBS FirstEnergy Stadium Green Bay at N.Y. Jets 1:00 pm FOX MetLife Stadium Houston at Philadelphia 1:00 pm CBS Lincoln Financial Field Jacksonville at Miami 1:00 pm CBS Hard Rock Stadium Minnesota at Detroit 1:00 pm FOX Ford Field N.Y. Giants at Indianapolis...

The black binder tucked under Marshall Walters’s arm is more valuable than just about anything on LSU’s campus during this overcast Saturday in October. It looks no different than the binders used by college students before iPads and laptops became the note-taking standard, only this one houses important information to keep this place protected on one of the busiest days of the year: an LSU football home game. Walters is careful with the binder, unzipping its cover to give an inquiring mind the slightest peek at the contents inside: bundles of stacked papers. “This,” he gestures to the binder, “is...

For the second consecutive season, Ohio State went on the road against an unranked Big Ten opponent and laid a dinosaur egg. Last year, it was a befuddling 55-24 loss at Iowa, which ultimately cost the Buckeyes a spot in the College Football Playoff. This year, Ohio State went to Purdue and imploded in a spree of red-zone ineptitude, critical penalties and a defense that offered little more than token resistance. It wasn’t just that Purdue upset the No. 2 Buckeyes, 49-20, it was the tenor in which they did it. They pushed around Ohio State up front, out-schemed them...

Don’t get used to it, but David Fizdale’s youthful Knicks created fireworks and history on opening night. Scoring a franchise-record 49 points in the second quarter and with Tim Hardaway Jr. adjusting superbly to his No. 1 option role, the Knicks captured their season opener with a 126-107 pounding of the even-younger Hawks. The Garden fell a few hundred fans short of a sellout against a Hawks team expected to compete for the NBA’s worst record. “I don’t want to put a cap on it,’’ Fizdale said before tipoff. “This team could catch fire and figure something out or this...

Eagles legend and Hall of Fame receiver Tommy McDonald died on Monday morning, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced. McDonald was 84 years old. "Tommy McDonald lived life like he played the game of football," Hall of Fame president David Baker said in a statement. "He was charismatic, passionate and had fun. He was such a character. Heaven is a happier place today." Prior to getting to the NFL, McDonald played running back at Oklahoma for three years. In his final season with the Sooners in 1956, he was named a consensus All-American

On January 1 of this year, I penned a piece the gist of which was that despite the awful player protests during the national anthem, I was going to watch the NFL playoffs. The post garnered me the heaviest excoriation I’d yet experienced since starting at PJ Media in 2015. The essay provoked more disagreement and disapproval than any previous or subsequent submission. Out of hundreds of naysaying and sometimes nasty comments, both here and at Instapundit, I think a grand total of one person stated in cautious agreement that he wasn’t going to let a bunch of spoiled millionaire...

Quarterback. The most important position on the team. Can the team accept this kind of behavior from a 'leader'. I know the answer. Does skin color give him a pass? I know the answer to that one too. Talk to me my friends.

What do Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Obamacare, and President Trump all have in common? All of those people, and institution, have higher favorability numbers than the NFL. According to a Fox News poll released on Thursday, the NFL’s net favorability rating comes in at 42%. Only former FBI Director Robert Mueller, Rudy Giuliani, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Roseanne Barr, have lower favorability numbers. The NFL’s lack of popularity stands out even more, when looking back at where the league was only five years ago. In October of 2013, the league had a 64% favorability rating. By October of 2017,...

The National Football League has done nothing to recover during the off season from it’s miserable popularity ratings that are now at the lowest ever. Rocked by the issues of players taking a knee during the playing of the National Anthem, overly long games, and scandalous players, just 35 percent say they have a favorable view of “America’s sport.”

You have placed your country above a stupid game. Isn't it great a number of Freepers here put their money where their mouths are and when they say they boycott the NFL..they actually do. Unlike some..well, never mind ;)

The NFL is approaching the playoffs looking for a ratings turnaround after a year of record-low television numbers. Outcry over players protesting by taking a knee during the national anthem isn’t helping, but it’s only one of several reasons fans are turning away from professional football, media analysts say.

Bender's NFL LIVE THREAD Week 15 Thursday, Dec 14, 2017 (All times Eastern) Denver at Indianapolis 8:25 pm NFLN (& NBC) Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday, Dec 16, 2017 Chicago at Detroit 4:30 pm NFLN Ford Field L.A. Chargers at Kansas City 8:25 pm NFLN Arrowhead Stadium Sunday, Dec 17, 2017 Arizona at Washington 1:00 pm FOX FedEx Field Baltimore at Cleveland 1:00 pm CBS FirstEnergy Stadium Cincinnati at Minnesota 1:00 pm CBS U.S. Bank Stadium Green Bay at Carolina 1:00 pm FOX Bank of America Stadium Houston at Jacksonville 1:00 pm FOX EverBank Field Miami at Buffalo 1:00 pm CBS...

Josh McCown knew right away. He knew he was done. Definitely for the rest of Sunday’s game. Likely for the rest of this season. And possibly for his career, which has spanned more than 15 years and eight different teams. That’s why, when McCown emerged from the trainer’s room in the bowels of Sports Authority Field at Mile High after breaking is left hand late in the third quarter of the Jets’ 23-0 loss to the Broncos, his eyes already were red from the burning of tears.

Bender's NFL LIVE THREAD Week 14 Thursday, Dec 7, 2017 (All times Eastern) New Orleans at Atlanta 8:25 pm NFLN (& NBC) Mercedes-Benz Stadium Sunday, Dec 10, 2017 Chicago at Cincinnati 1:00 pm FOX Paul Brown Stadium Detroit at Tampa Bay 1:00 pm FOX Raymond James Stadium Green Bay at Cleveland 1:00 pm FOX FirstEnergy Stadium Indianapolis at Buffalo 1:00 pm CBS New Era Field Minnesota at Carolina 1:00 pm CBS Bank of America Stadium Oakland at Kansas City 1:00 pm CBS Arrowhead Stadium San Francisco at Houston 1:00 pm FOX NRG Stadium Dallas at N.Y. Giants 1:00 pm FOX...

Last week at a roundtable discussion, Bob Costas opened another front by making the provocative prediction that parents will not allow their sons to play football because it "destroys people's brains" and that "if I had an athletically gifted twelve-year-old son, I would certainly not allow him to play football." Is football truly destroying the brains of boys across America? The gauntlet has been thrown. Many articles reporting Mr. Costas's comments cite the high-profile study conducted by Boston University published in July 2017 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). See examples here, here, here, here, and here....