Month: June 2018

In Myles Jack’s two-year NFL career, his signature moment is a play whistled dead in the AFC title game in New England last January.

Jack is on the cusp of becoming an NFL star, but unless the Jaguars win a Super Bowl, that play might overshadow the rest of his career.

With 13:53 left in the game, Jack knocked the ball out of Dion Lewis’ hands and recovered the fumble.

He got up and seemingly was going to score a touchdown to put the Jacksonville Jaguars up 27-10 when the officials blew the whistle and ruled he was down.

Jack and the Jaguar Nation vehemently disagree, and the phrase “Myles Jack Wasn’t Down” has become a thing in Jacksonville.

Continue reading “It’s not too early to look ahead to Jaguars’ September revenge match with Patriots”

It has almost been forgotten that the Washington Redskins were once so popular that their success caused Congress to pass a bill forcing the NFL to lift TV blackouts if games were sold out 72 hours before kickoff.

Back in the day, the NFL blacked out home games within a 75-mile radius of the home team even if they were sold out. Even Super Bowls were blacked out in the home city.

That all changed in 1972, when the Redskins hosted two home playoff games and they were blacked out.

Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception that same year was blacked out in Pittsburgh.

But blacking out a game in Pittsburgh was not like blacking out a game in Washington.

Continue reading “End of the Redskins’ famed ticket waiting list is also a cautionary tale”

The origin of the phrase “justice delayed is denied’’ has been lost in the mists of history.

A version of it may go back to William Penn.

But it never seems to go out of style. It certainly describes the NFL’s investigation of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston.

He is still awaiting justice over a groping allegation that became public seven months ago, and only this week learned he will reportedly be suspended for the first three games by the NFL.

That expected announcement is typical of the NFL, suspending him without ruling on the actual accusation, but if Winston didn’t report it he has no defense for violating that league policy.

Continue reading “NFL dragging its heels with the Jameis Winston suspension is a disgrace”

In the era of cable TV, the Internet and social media, we sometimes think there’s never been as much hype in sports as there is these days.

The recent death of Billy Cannon, the 1959 Heisman Trophy winner, is a reminder that even back in the day, players could become larger than life heroes even without today’s hype.

Cannon was one of them.

Playing running back and defensive back, he helped LSU win the national title in 1958 and his 89-yard punt return for a touchdown that helped beat Mississippi, 7-3, in 1959 is still one of the most iconic moments in the history of college football.

Both teams were undefeated and LSU was ranked first and Mississippi third.

Continue reading “Billy Cannon didn’t need the Internet era to be larger than life”

The Aaron Hernandez case is now closed except for the various lawsuits winding their way through the courts, but the fascination with his rise and fall remains.

The book about the case by best-selling author James Patterson (who has a new novel out written with Bill Clinton) and two co-authors came out in January and quickly became a New York Times best seller. CBS did a “48 Hours’’ episode on it. So did the Oxygen cable channel, and the movie rights have also been sold.

Still, all the attention has not resulted in any answers for why Hernandez became a murderer and then committed suicide, which wiped out his conviction because the case was still on appeal.

The authors believe Hernandez killed two other men, but he was acquitted on those charges. He also shot a drug dealer — who was supposedly his best friend — in the eye.

Hernandez shot four people in three separate incidents … and nobody knows why.

Continue reading “Aaron Hernandez case remains a fascinating mystery, perhaps forever”