Tag: athletic

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Jason Lloyd likes five things and doesn’t like five things about the Cleveland Browns – The Athletic

With the first kickoff that matters still three weeks away, here are five things I like about the Browns and five things that worry me…1
This is the most talented bunch of Browns running backs I’ve ever seen, dating back to the Earnest Byner/Kevin Mack era of the 1980s.
Of course, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are excellent, but DErnest Johnson is a key third back, and rookie sixth-round pick Demetric Felton is developing into a versatile weapon.
The focus will be on Chubb and Hunt, but this is perhaps the strongest group of running backs in the NFL.
Because of Feltons versatility as a fourth back/seventh receiver/return specialist, the Browns should be able to carry all four on the last 53.2
The offensive line is 1A if running back is the deepest position.
The Browns have at least a dozen offensive lineman capable of making an NFL roster.
The Browns will most likely carry nine players, according to my partner Zac Jackson: the five starters, Chris Hubbard, Michael Dunn, James Hudson III, and Nick Harris.
Dunn isn’t a lock at this stage, but following his great end last season, he appears to be one of the favorites.
He’s had a sore back all week, but it’s nothing serious.

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NFL News

The NHLPA’strongly encourages’ players to get completely vaccinated, and warns that failure to do so could result in serious sanctions.

Mar 31, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; A general view of an empty Rogers Arena after the game between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks scheduled for Wednesday was postponed due to COVID-19. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

According to Michael Russo and Katie Strang of The Athletic, the NHL Players’ Association “highly pushed” players to get completely vaccinated against COVID-19 last week and warned them of potential consequences if they did not.
If players are not vaccinated and contract COVID-19 during the 2021-22 season, they may forfeit salary.
The Athletic notes that teams may withhold salary if an unvaccinated athlete is unable to accompany his team on road trips where municipal or federal authorities demand vaccination to enter.
“That puts a lot of pressure on everyone,” a player who did not want to be identified told The Athletic.
“You don’t want to be the reason your team is shorthanded or forced to stay in your hotel like last season,” many player agents told The Athletic. “They have urged their clients” to follow vaccine recommendations.
Players who are unsure about the immunization should speak with their doctors, according to the agents.
More than 85% of NHL players have been completely immunized, according to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
Yet, this is lower than the other main professional sports leagues in North America.
The NFL, like the NBA, has a vaccination percentage of around 90%.
According to The Athletic, the NHL is unlikely to require players to be vaccinated.
Unvaccinated players, on the other hand, may face tougher restrictions and protocols.
The NHL and NHLPA are still debating protocols for the 2019 season, but with the delta variation on the rise across the country, those protocols could be identical to last season’s.
According to The New York Times, more than 128,000 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Friday.
That’s a 66% rise in the last 14 days.
Furthermore, 651 deaths were reported on Friday, an increase of 116% in just 14 days.

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Rod Woodson, whose rugged, athletic performance was ‘before his time,’ is ranked No. 26 on the NFL 100.

The Athletics’ initiative to select the 100 greatest players in football history is known as the NFL 100.
We’ll reveal new members of the list every day until the season starts, starting with the No.
In September, one player will be proclaimed champion.
8.When you think of Rod Woodson, you think of a Hall of Fame defensive back who was both quick and athletic.
If you’re a Steelers fan, you might want to include one of the rare instances the team got it wrong when it came to letting a player go early because it’s still a touchy subject.No one considers Woodson to be the best defensive back in league history, right up there with Deion Sanders, but maybe they should.

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Vikings’ offensive line and defensive backfield get a rough workout with the Broncos – The Athletic

Even after recognizing that patterns were broken and players had to acclimate themselves with a new, more crowded practice setting, the first Vikings-Broncos joint practice was about as sloppy as one can imagine. The sloppiness made it impossible to fully evaluate some of the positions, as receivers and cornerbacks werent seeing the accuracy or timing that generally comes with an OTA.

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Troy Hill’s amazing journey from Youngstown, Ohio to the Cleveland Browns – The Athletic

Troy Hill’s ticket to a better life — and possibly the one that could save his life — went unused the first time around.Feeling a little like he’d been duped by his family, but largely that he wasn’t ready to leave the only place he’d ever known at the age of 15, Hill skipped his one-way flight from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles and instead stayed out all night on the streets of the south end of Pittsburgh.
He wasn’t thinking about the NFL at the moment, mostly because he wasn’t thinking about anything other than the next night’s game.
Hill wasn’t academically able to play high school football one year after starting at Chaney High School, and he wasn’t coming to school at all most days.”When I did go,” Hill recalled, “I was generally asleep in class.” Hill’s mother, Sandra Jennings, felt her son needed a change, so she requested her brother, Jim Gilmer, to take Troy away from the house she shared with her mother and move him to California.
In the early 1970s, Gilmer departed Youngstown for the military, eventually settling in Southern California.
Hill had previously aided family members by housing them for a few weeks or even months, and when he learned that his mother and uncle were planning a longer-term arrangement, he purposefully missed the flight.He wasnt going anywhere, which was exactly the problem at the time and now makes his story all the more extraordinary.
Hill has had no qualms about revealing any aspect of his experience, from high school to college to now, as he prepares to begin his seventh NFL season.

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As the investigation into Deshaun Watson continues, the NFL says there are no limits on him.

The NFL announced in a statement to The Athletic on Tuesday that quarterback Deshaun Watson’s involvement in Houston Texans activities is currently “unrestricted,” while the league continues to examine sexual assault and misconduct allegations against him.
“The NFL’s investigation into the severe allegations leveled against Deshaun Watson is still continuing and active,” according to the statement.
The NFL has not been given access to meet with many of the plaintiffs in the 22 civil complaints filed against Watson, or to relevant third parties, according to a league source.
The league also lacks access to evidence acquired by authorities as part of their ongoing criminal investigation.
On Monday, a spokeswoman for Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, confirmed to The Athletic that ten women had made police complaints against Watson.
According to the spokeswoman, eight of the women are among the 22 women who have filed legal complaints against him.
Watson has not been sued civilly by two women who filed complaints with Houston police.
The Houston Police Department stated that an investigation is underway, but would to say how many people had filed complaints.
Watson has refuted all charges through his counsel.
Watson reported to Texans training camp on Sunday, despite a source told The Athletic on Sunday that he has still requested a trade.
Houston will start practicing on Wednesday.
Watson is still being investigated by the NFL for a possible violation of the league’s personal conduct policy.
The league has not indicated when they might talk to Watson, according to a representative for Hardin’s office.
Watson could still be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list if no criminal charges are filed, depending on the outcome of the NFL’s own investigation.

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Getting to know incoming Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh: From on-field success to succeeding Barry Alvarez

Chris McIntosh became Wisconsin’s athletic director during one of the most pivotal moments in the history of college sports.
McIntosh, who joined the Badgers athletic department in 2014, took over as AD on July 1, the same day that the name, image, and likeness era began. McIntosh spoke with The Athletic on Monday about navigating NIL, how his time as a Badgers All-American offensive lineman impacts him in his current role, his abrupt NFL retirement, and following in Alvarez’s footsteps.
The quick response is that it has been fantastic.
That is, as you are aware, an tremendously exciting period.
It’s a historic time to be a part of college athletics on a national one, and then to be a part of it on a local level.