Free Republic

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Panthers quarterback Cam Newton suggested for the first time Wednesday that race may play a factor in why he's become a lightning rod for public criticism. "I'm an African-American quarterback that scares people because they haven't seen nothing that they can compare me to," said the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Newton. The No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL draft out of Auburn, Newton has his share of detractors who either don't like how he plays, his celebrations or his abundance of self-confidence.

Now that the NFL playoff scene is set, the 12 teams still playing this season will battle for the Super Bowl championship and the risk-seeking fans will begin making wagers on their pick to win it all. Monday, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook unveiled its Super Bowl odds, placing the Cardinals, Panthers and defending-champion Patriots as the favorites at 9-2. The Steelers' 8-1 odds of hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy rank sixth-best in the league third among AFC teams. Despite winning the AFC South, the battered Texans have the lowest odds at 60 to 1. Here's a full breakdown of...

The call went out seeking Green Bay Packers fans born in October, November, or December 1967, and those fans answered in a big way. The Green Bay Press Gazette had reported that House Casting of New York wanted "die-hard Packers fans" born during those months to appear in the NFL's Super Bowl 50 commercial. House Casting followed up Wednesday morning to say the agency has been inundated with responses, and the casting of the commercial is now closed. So what role might these 48-year-old Packers fans play in the commercial? You'll have to wait until the Super Bowl to find...

Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, an ISIS supporter born and raised in Philadelphia, has been indicted on charges of plotting to bomb last season’s Super Bowl in Phoenix, according to the Daily Mail. Kareem allegedly planned to make and use explosives like pipe bombs to kill as many of Super Bowl XLIX’s 70,000 attendees as possible and has been linked to other terror organizations and plots. Among Kareem’s charges is conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Kareem is alleged to be a supporter of ISIS. Other charges against Kareem include interstate transportation of firearms with intent to...

After 12 weeks of the NFL season, the New England Patriots are still the heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl. Using Nate Silver's "2015 NFL Predictions," a model that rates each team and then projects how the regular season and playoffs will play out, we can get a better sense of which teams are the true Super Bowl contenders. Heading into Week 13, the New England Patriots are still the favorite with a 28% chance to win the Super Bowl, down from 33% a week ago. The Carolina Panthers (20%) are the favorite in the NFC. In fact, according...

Bomb-sniffing dogs at train stations. Metal-detectors in every doorway. Police sharpshooters perched on rooftops. High-tech sensors and cameras capturing every move. Paris? Nope. Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara.

The 2-6 San Francisco 49ers are benching quarterback Colin Kaepernick and starting Blaine Gabbert this weekend against the Falcons, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday. Niners head coach Jim Tomsula said earlier on Monday that he was "evaluating everything." Later in the day, Schefter reported that San Francisco had traded veteran tight end Vernon Davis to the Denver Broncos for a 2016 7th-round draft pick and 6th round picks in 2016 and 2017. Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012 and the NFC Championship Game in 2013, is having the worst season of his career. He's thrown...

Why was it OK to have Super Bowl I, V, X, but not L?

San Francisco is known for its Golden Gate Bridge, world class cuisine, panoply of cultures, striking skyline, frigid fog, and homeless. More specifically, aggressive panhandling and homeless defecating and urinating in public. And sometimes doing even worse things. With the holiday shopping season coming, and Super Bowl 50 right behind, the city by the bay will be in the national spotlight once again, and so will images. While Mayor Ed Lee announced this week that "the homeless must leave the street" for Super Bowl 50, it's more what they leave behind on the street that is a concern for the...

There can no longer be any doubt — “Deflategate” is not about football. It is about a national affliction — one of the seven deadly sins: Envy. “Envy: the feeling of wanting to have what someone else has.” Exactly. And it’s made unhinged haters out of a lot of you outside New England. Tom Brady took a helicopter to Salem State University. “Arrogant!” detractors from across the country shouted. Collectively, Americans have not been so fixated on a helicopter image since the fall of Saigon.

Unlike the 2014 Little League World Series champs, who lost their trophy because they fielded ineligible players, the New England Patriots are not going to lose their Super Bowl rings over Deflategate. But it will be instructive to see the public reaction over the National Football League’s announced four-game suspension on Monday of Patriot quarterback Tom Brady over the deflating of footballs at the AFC championship game. Amid growing evidence, he couldn’t plausibly scramble his way out of his previous contention that he knew nothing about the incident in the Patriots’ 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC...

An N.F.L. investigation has found that “it is more probable than not” that New England Patriots personnel intentionally deflated footballs to gain an advantage in the A.F.C. championship game last season, and that Tom Brady, the Super Bowl most valuable player, was probably aware of it. No penalties have been announced. The long-awaited report into so-called deflategate, released on Wednesday, concluded that it was probable that Patriots personnel were “involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules.” The report said that Jim McNally, a locker room attendant, and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant, released air from the footballs. It...

BOSTON (CBS) — The Patriots will be honored by President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, but the MVP won’t be in attendance. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss and the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe, Tom Brady will not be present at the White House due to a family obligation. Brady has attended three previous trips to the White House, in 2002, 2004 and 2005. The quarterback earned Super Bowl MVP honors for the third time in his career when he threw four touchdowns in a 28-24 win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. There’s no reason to...

As I continue to read on twitter that former dude from MSNBC that couldn't beat O'Reilly at 8, some NBA star I never heard of and that CBS anaylist that I used to like until yesterday talk about how the NFL and NCAA should move from Indianapolis, I realize maybe it is time to move the Super Bowl out of San Francisco and the whole California state. There is no reason why millions of freedom loving Christians, conservatives, republicans or libertarians should have to watch this horrible city host one of the biggest events of the year. The city that...

It started with a bet between movie stars — and ended with both guys putting on their superhero costumes and visiting children’s hospitals. “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt and “Captain America” star Chris Evans set up a friendly wager on Twitter ahead of the 2015 Super Bowl: If Evans’ favorite team, the New England Patriots, won, Pratt would visit the Christopher’s Haven cancer charity in Boston dressed as Star-Lord, and if Pratt’s Seattle Seahawks won, Evans would visit Seattle Children’s Hospital dressed as Captain America.

Weeks after the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl victory the DeflateGate scandal continues to rumble on in the background. According to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, a Patriots locker room attendant attempted to introduce an unapproved special teams ball into the AFC Championship game. The attendant, identified by ESPN as Jim McNally, is said to have been in charge of the officials’ locker room at Gilette Stadium since 2008. He is alleged to have handed a ball, which wasn’t officially approved for kick-offs, field goals and punts to an official during the first-half of the Patriots’ 45-7 victory over the Colts.

Compare and Contrast: The Super Bowl and the Mass, Football and Faith By: Msgr. Charles Pope I write to you in the midst of a semi-“religious” event: the Super Bowl. People have donned their sacred attire and are shouting praises. I enjoy football, but see it a lot less than most since I’m a priest and tend to be busy on Sundays! Yet I remain quite fascinated at how passionate and dedicated many Americans are to their team and to the game.Would that more Catholics had the same dedication to the Mass and the Church that true football fans have...

Worst call ever? Check out the best of the worst insults. CNN's Jeanne Moos intercepts putdowns of Seattle's play-calling.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll isn't sleeping well these days. Carroll and his offensive coaching staff made the infamous decision to pass the ball from New England's 1-yard line in the final seconds of Super Bowl XLIX, resulting in Russell Wilson throwing a game-ending interception.

BOSTON (CBS) — Tom Brady won his fourth Lombardi Trophy and third Super Bowl MVP award Sunday night. But he wouldn’t have accomplished that without a clutch interception by undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler, who picked off Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson at the New England one-yard line with just seconds remaining in Super Bow XLIX to seal the victory for the Patriots. “I think there are a lot of people who are very deserving of this award,” Brady said Monday morning in Arizona as he collected his latest MVP trophy. As MVP, Brady also received a shiny new Chevy truck. While...