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New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams found himself playing a little defense at Super Bowl LX.

In the fourth quarter of the Patriots' clash with the Seattle Seahawks, a shirtless fan ran onto the field and evaded security enough to reach the open field at Levi's Stadium. Normally, players just ignore field invaders unless the person enters their personal space.

Williams had other ideas, chasing down the man until he slid to the ground quarterback-style. A mob of security personnel proceeded to tackle him.

Williams was a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Washington State and posted 209 receiving yards and three touchdowns in his rookie year, along with 290 yards on 11 kickoff returns. 

In the NFL scouting combine, he ran a 4.40 40-yard dash, in case you were curious what kind of speed that fan had running behind him.

The play preceded some good fortune for the Patriots, who were down 19-0 at that point in what was so far one of the worst offensive performances in Super Bowl history. New England quarterback Drake Maye proceeded to hit wide receiver Mack Hollins for a 24-yard gain, then a 35-yard touchdown pass to ensure the Patriots wouldn't be the first team shut out in the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks won 29-13 to collect their second Super Bowl title in franchise history.

President Donald Trump has expressed admiration for the New England Patriots dynasty in the past, so it was little surprise what he thought about Bill Belichick's Pro Football Hall of Fame snub.

Speaking with NBC News in an interview conducted Wednesday and aired on Super Bowl Sunday, the president complained about the longtime Patriots head coach failing to reach Canton in his first year of eligibility:

"I thought it was terrible. I mean, he's won so much, won so many Super Bowls. Great coach. Became a little bit controversial, I guess, after that, this little period after that. During it he was just a great coach. I thought it was very inappropriate.

"Oh, yeah. It's like what have you done for me lately? Well, you know, you have a great career and he has a little bit of a controversial year and a half, two years maybe. But — what difference does that make? No, he should've — he should be in there right at the top."

The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump is hardly the first person to rail against the snub. He refers twice to "controversial" actions on Belichick's part, which could be a reference to the Spygate and Deflategate cheating scandals that occurred under the coach's watch. However, he alludes to those controversial years being after Belichick's NFL career so he might simply be referring to the 73-year-old's post-Patriots UNC-Jordon Hudson era.

Regardless, Belichick's snubs came down to more than controversies. As one of the few Belichick "no" voters laid out, the matter of voting Belichick was more than "yes" or "no." To some, it was "Belichick" or "a group of senior players who might not get another Hall of Fame shot for years."

The Hall of Fame's voting process created conditions in which the NFL's all-time leader in playoff wins among head coaches was put in competition for a limited number of votes with three senior players and a contributor, in this case Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

This year, the only one of that quintet to emerge was former San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig, who was recognized on the field at Super Bowl LX alongside modern-era inductees Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri.

Travis Kelce's NFL future is still unclear, but it's starting to bend toward a return to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The All-Pro tight end is in touch with the Chiefs about a potential return and the team wants him back, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The two parties reportedly plan to meet after Super Bowl LX to finalize a plan.

Kelce had previously hinted at a return after reacting with enthusiasm to the Chiefs' rehire of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on his "New Heights" podcast:

"I can't wait to see him back in the building, man. He's one of my favorite coaches of all time, one of my favorite people of all time. I've had so many unbelievable growing moments under him as a player, as a person. I just love the guy. It's gonna be awesome to see him back in the building and see him back wearing the Chiefs' logo, baby."

At 36 years old, Kelce is at the stage of his career where he'll be addressing questions about his retirement after every season. That was the case after the Chiefs' season finale, when he told reporters he was undecided at the moment.

Whenever he does retire, Kelce is Hall of Fame-bound. It's a tenuous time in Kansas City, though, after the team missed the playoffs for the first time of the Patrick Mahomes era and finished below .500 for the first time of Kelce's career. The Chiefs have made clear they think Kelce can still be an asset even if his production is down from his prime. 

The Winter Games have begun in Italy. From the rink to the slopes, a new generation of stars has emerged to chase gold. We’ll keep you connected to all of the thrilling moments and top stories as we track the medal race each day of the Games.

It's Super Bowl Sunday and Day 2 of the Olympics. Prepare yourselves, sports fans.

The NFC champion Seattle Seahawks and AFC champion New England Patriots are set to play in Super Bowl LX, an unexpected finale to the NFL season that's rich with storylines.

In the hours leading up to the big game, though, there will be plenty of intrigue as well. The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are picking up speed, and the medal count has already started.

Here are the top five things to watch Sunday (on the Italian side):

1. Lindsey Vonn's gutsy comeback in women's downhill

A mere nine days after tearing the ACL in her left knee during a World Cup downhill race in Switzerland, 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn will go for gold. On Saturday, Vonn completed her second straight day of training, finishing her downhill run in 1:38.28, more than 2 seconds faster than she skied on Friday. Her comeback this month is among the most gutsy in sports history. It's part of an even bigger one. Before her return, the three-time Olympic medalist spent nearly six years away from ski racing after retiring in 2019.

2. Will U.S. take gold in figure skating team event after Ilia Malinin's stunning yet imperfect Olympic debut?

Ilia Malinin is one of the biggest stars, regardless of country, in this year's Olympics. But the 21-year-old U.S. figure skater didn't have his best stuff in the men's short program portion of the team event. While still impressive, the "Quad God" wasn't as technically sound as usual, finishing second behind Japan's Yuma Kagiyama. Suddenly, Team USA's gold medal defense in the competition it won four years ago in Beijing isn't a lock. Granted, the U.S. has the lead in the team event with 44 points, but Japan isn't far behind with 39. Three events are left, and they'll take place Sunday: the free skates of the pairs, women and men. With a gold far from guaranteed in the event, the U.S. is rolling with Malinin for the men's free skate. Even though, his individual event is in two days, he's going back out there to help Team USA.

3. Will U.S. bounce back in mixed doubles curling?

Team USA's Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin stormed out to a 4-0 start in round-robin mixed doubles curling competition before dropping matches to Great Britain and South Korea on Saturday. The second of those defeats arrived in an extra end and in upset fashion, as South Korea's Kim Seonyeong and Jeong Yeongseok had lost their previous five matches. Thiesse and Dropkin will hope to regain their midweek form Sunday when they face off against Estonia (2-4) and Sweden (4-3). Great Britain's Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat are the only team to qualify for the playoffs so far.

4. Ester Ledecká goes for history

In non-Team USA news, Czech snowboarder Ester Ledecká has a chance to make history in the parallel giant slalom. A win on Saturday would make Ledecká the first snowboarder in Olympic history to three-peat an event. Shaun White is the only snowboarder with three Olympic golds to his name, all in halfpipe, but he missed out in 2014 to miss a three-peat. Ledecká already has one unprecedented feat to her name with a ski and snowboard gold in 2018 — which she can't do this year due to distance between venues — and can add to an all-time legacy with a few more races.

5. More medals

In addition to the above events, medals are set to be handed out biathlon, cross-country skiing, luge and speed-skating. The best odds for a Team USA in that group might be speed-skating where Casey Dawson faces a deep field. The 25-year-old currently ranks fourth in the world in long distances.

Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026 (Day 2)

Alpine Skiing

Downhill

• 5:30 a.m.: Women's final (USA Network)🏅

Biathlon

4 × 6 kilometer relay

• 8:05 a.m.: Mixed final (NBC coverage begins at 8:45 a.m.)🏅

Cross-Country Skiing

20 kilometer skiathlon

• 6:30 a.m.: Men's final (NBC coverage begins at 7 a.m.)🏅

Curling

Mixed doubles round-robin

• 4:05 a.m.: Norway vs. Czechia, South Korea vs. Estonia (USA Network coverage begins at 4:55 a.m.)

• 8:35 a.m.: Canada vs. Sweden, Great Britain vs. Switzerland, USA vs. Estonia (USA Network), Italy vs. Czechia

• 1:05 p.m.: Italy vs. Great Britain, USA vs. Sweden, Switzerland vs. Norway, Canada vs. South Korea

Figure Skating

Team competition

• 1:30 p.m. Pairs free skate (USA Network)🏅

• 2:45 p.m.: Women's free skate (USA Network)🏅

• 3:55 p.m.: Men's free skate (USA Network)🏅

Hockey

Women's pool play

• 10:40 a.m.: France vs. Sweden

• 3:10 p.m.: Czechia vs. Finland

Luge

Men’s singles

• 11 a.m.: Run 3 (USA Network)🏅

• 12:45 p.m.: Run 4 (USA Network)🏅

Snowboarding

Parallel giant slalom

• 3 a.m.: Men’s and women’s qualifying (USA Network)

• 7 a.m.: Men’s and women’s finals (NBC coverage begins at 7:30 a.m.) 🏅

Big air

• 1:30 p.m.: Women’s qualifying (airs on USA Network at 6:30 p.m.)

Speed Skating

• 10 a.m.: Men's 5000m (NBC)🏅

Lachlan Cunningham via Getty Images

The James Harden era of the Cleveland Cavaliers began with a close win over one of the worst teams in the NBA on Saturday.

The Cavaliers came back to beat the Sacramento Kings, in Harden's first debut with the team after a trade deadline move from the Los Angeles Clippers. Harden finished the game with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting, with 15 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

Harden made his mark when Cleveland was down 121-116 with fewer than four minutes to go. He made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put his team ahead, and also made four free throws in the final 30 seconds to put the game away.

It had been previously shaping up to be a rough debut for the 11-time All-Star. The Cavaliers' defense in particular looked like it needed work with Harden getting his first minutes in the system, but big nights from Donovan Mitchell (35 points) and Jarrett Allen (29 points) helped offset those struggles.

Harden's time with the Clippers ended abruptly last week, when the team sent him to Cleveland in exchange for fellow All-Star guard Darius Garland. Harden spent two and a half seasons in Los Angeles, but a disappointing first half of the season led the Clippers to revamping the supporting cast around Kawhi Leonard.

In Cleveland, Harden joined a franchise currently in playoff position, but a step behind their 64-win season last year. He brings a lengthy history as one of the NBA's top offensive engines and forms a dynamic backcourt with Mitchell, though with some overlapping skillsets (an issue with Garland as well).

The real question is if Harden can overcome a track record of underperformance come playoff time. That answer is months away, so all he can do for now is focus on getting up to speed with his sixth NBA team.

Chris Unger via Getty Images

Mario Bautista saw a eight-fight win streak end last October. He looked ready start another one at UFC Vegas 113 on Saturday.

The veteran bantamweight made easy work of rising star Vinicius Oliveira, tapping him out late in the second round to bounce back from his loss to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 321.

"I had that fully locked in, he wasn't going anywhere," Bautista said after the fight.

Bautista was in control for most of the bout. Oliveira, who has 16 KO wins and two submission wins in his career, surprisingly went for the grapples early and Bautista was ready for every grab. He ended up landing five of seven takedown attempts and was dominant in the second round, right up until the finish. 

"I think he saw my previous fight and thought [grappling] was a hole of mine," Bautista said, referring to the loss to Nurmagomedov, a different class of wrestler.

For his next fight, Bautista called for a rematch against Cory Sandhagen, who beat him in his UFC debut in 2019. He stated his main goal is returning to the top 5 of the UFC's deepest division.

The loss is highly disappointing development for Oliveira, who was riding his own six-fight win streak and likely would have landed a big-time opponent with a win. He spoke of a brutal weight cut before the fight, having reportedly lost at least 50 pounds since the start of his camp, and certainly looked like a fighter lacking his usual energy.

Main card

Bantamweight: Mario Bautista Vinicius Oliveira via submission (rear naked choke) def. 4:46 of R2 | Watch finish

Flyweight: Kyoji Horiguchi def. Amir Albazi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Heavyweight: Rizvan Kuniev def. Jailton Almeida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Middleweight: Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Marc-André Barrialt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Bantamweight: Farid Basharat def. Jean Matsumoto via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Light heavyweight: Dustin Jacob def. Julius Walker via TKO (punches) at 1:42 of R2 | Watch finish

Preliminary card

Welterweight: Daniil Donchenko def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)

Welterweight: Nikolay Veretennikov def. Niko Price via KO (elbow and punches) at 1:42 of R1 | Watch finish

Women's strawweight: Ketlen Souza def. Bruna Brasil via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Catchweight (141 lb): Javid Basharat def. Gianni Vázquez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Catchweight (127.5 lb) Wang Cong def. Eduardo Moura via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Catchweight (141 lb): Jakub Wiklacz def. Muin Gafurov via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:59 of R3 | Watch finish

Women's bantamweight: Klaudia Sygula def. Priscila Cachoeira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Stephen Curry has missed three games for the Golden State Warriors with a knee injury. It sounds like he will be missing at least two more.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr indicated to reporters Saturday that Curry is likely to sit out until after the upcoming All-Star break. At the very least, he was out for that night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers and is considered doubtful for a clash with the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.

"I think there's a good chance he doesn't play until after the break," Kerr said. "We're just going to take it day-by-day, but [Monday], he's doubtful.

The Grizzlies game is one of two games the Warriors have before the All-Star break, with the other being a home game against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. Golden State's first game of the second half is Feb. 19 against the Boston Celtics.

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That means the Warriors will have to continue proceeding heavily shorthanded. Jimmy Butler remains out for the season with a torn ACL, while past contributors Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield are now members of the Atlanta Hawks. They were dealt at the trade deadline in exchange for big man Kristaps Porzingis, who has been out since early January with an Achilles injury.

Kerr said Porzingis will remain out until after the All-Star break.

"He got a workout in today with Rick so we'll see where it goes from here," Kerr said. "I think the plan is he'll be in the Bay all of All-Star break and he'll play after All-Star break."

The Warriors entered Saturday in eighth place in the Western Conference at 28-24.

The Dallas Cowboys have no plans to let George Pickens hit free agency this offseason.

The team is expected to place the franchise tag on the Pro Bowl wide receiver, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, which would lock him in for next season on a one-year contract worth roughly $28 million. The tag can be officially applied anytime between Feb. 17 and March 3.

The decision is hardly a surprise. Playing alongside All-Pro CeeDee Lamb, Pickens enjoyed the best season of his career in 2025 after being traded to Dallas from the Pittsburgh Steelers, with 93 catches, 1,429 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 137 targets.

Both Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his son, team COO Stephen Jones, have said they want Pickens back long-term, with Jerry saying he expects a long-term extension to get done:

"I'm talking to George all the time by virtue of my excitement for him," Jones said when asked if contract extension talks have begun with Pickens. "He's better than, as far as what he contributed to our team, showing the potential that he could contribute. I'm looking forward to getting things worked out so George can be a Cowboy a long time."

The franchise tag ensures that however negotiations go, the Cowboys can plan for Pickens to be in the fold for the 2026-27 season.

Cooper Neill via Getty Images

Hitting Pickens with the franchise tag does mean the Cowboys would have the NFL's second-most expensive receiver duo next season between him and Lamb, who is currently on a four-year, $136 million deal. Combined with the average annual value of that contract, Dallas will be paying the pair $62 million, behind only the $69 million AAV currently going to the Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Pickens is one of several notable Cowboys to be hitting free agency this offseason. Starters Javonte Williams, Jadeveon Clowney and Donovan Wilson are all unrestricted free agents, while All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey is a restricted free agent and is likely seeking the richest kicker deal in NFL history.

Signing Pickens to an extension instead of the tag would free up a significant amount of money for this upcoming offseason, in addition to retaining a star at a premium position for years to come.

It appears Anthony Davis will be waiting until next season to make his Washington Wizards debut.

The All-Star big man is expected to sit out the rest of the season for health reasons, according to Prime Video's Chris Haynes. Davis hasn't played since early January due to a finger injury.

This article will be updated with more information.

Just like the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles defenses, peer pressure has proven effective against Tom Brady in Super Bowl week.

The New England Patriots legend reversed course from his stated neutrality in Super Bowl LX, posting an encouraging message aimed at Patriots owner Robert Kraft urging him to win a seventh ring.

"You know I got your back RKK [fist emoji] Get that 7th ring so we can match," Brady posted on his Instagram story.

Brady unintentionally triggered a backlash from multiple former Patriots teammates on Monday, when he declared "I don't have a dog in the fight, may the best team win" in the upcoming Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.

He explained it as caring more about the people involved than the actual teams:

"I think there's always different chapters in your life. And you have different chapters and moments that you go through where you are affiliated with a certain team. Michigan, and then I was with the Patriots for 20 years. I was with Tampa for three amazing years. I've been in broadcasting, now I'm an owner of the Raiders. So, those memories that I have are forever ingrained in me and I'm indebted to all the people who worked so hard to help make our team successful.

"And now in a different phase of my life, I really root for people and the people I care about. The people who I know the work that goes in to what they are trying to accomplish. I really want to sit back as a fan and enjoy the game, enjoy the moment. And I always think, may the best team win. It's not going to be who I'm cheering for or who I think is going to win, it's going to be decided by the people out there on the field."

As much as Brady tried to explain the nuances of his stance, it didn't square with some of his most famous teammates.

Jane Gershovich via Getty Images

Vince Wilfork called the comments "political bullcrap." Asante Samuel Sr. called him Flaw Ass Brady, said he was "highly disappointed" in Brady for not rooting for his ex-teammate, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, and jokingly suggested Brady's Gillette Stadium statue be replaced with one of himself. Rob Gronkowski made very clear he was rooting for the Patriots.

As for current Patriots, linebacker Robert Spillane said the idea "makes me sick."

So Brady mildly backtracked, though you could argue his message to Kraft very much falls in the category of rooting for people he cares about that he originally explained. It apparently remains to be seen if he will be forgiven.

A Patriots win on Sunday would give the franchise its record seventh Super Bowl title, and would even the score with Brady after his final title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While he is more formally associated with the Las Vegas Raiders, owning a minority stake in the franchise, he had his statue unveiled in Foxboro last August.

Across the sports landscape, the NFL always seems to be the one league immune to the ratings erosion brought on by the era of cord-cutting. With one exception.

The 2026 Pro Bowl Games continued a worrying trend for the league, drawing an average of only 2.0 million viewers on ESPN in its new Tuesday timeslot, according to Sports Media Watch. That's a 59.6% drop from last year's record low viewership of 4.7 million.

Just how bad are we talking here? The 2021 Pro Bowl, a tape-delayed virtual event in which some of the players faced off in "Madden NFL" due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, drew 1.9 million viewers.

Here's how the ratings have gone since then:

• 2022: 6.7 million viewers (lowest in 16 years)

• 2023: 6.3 million viewers

• 2024: 5.8 million viewers

• 2025: 4.7 million viewers

• 2026: 2.0 million viewers

To be fair, much of the drop-off from last year can be explained by the fact the game wasn't on ABC. This year also saw a big change in both time and venue, as it was held on Tuesday in the Super Bowl host city of San Francisco rather than Orlando or Las Vegas. The NFL said the change was intended to help promote flag football for its debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

This year's flag football game saw the NFC beat the AFC 66-52.

Is it time to finally kill the Pro Bowl?

At some point, it might be time for the NFL to take a step back and ask, "Is this all worth it?"

The Pro Bowl was originally a simple idea. The best players in the league — or at least the best players who didn't make the Super Bowl — get a Hawaiian vacation while taking it easy for a single game. However, there's no guarantee of safety in a tackle football game, and the more the players tried to avoid injury, the less fun it became to watch. Player safety is understandably going to take precedent 10 times out of 10 when the stakes are so low, which is why the NFL switched to flag football in 2023.

At this point, the Pro Bowl Games are essentially a football variety show in which the public is invited to watch some of their favorite players goof off for a few hours. The NFL wants to promote flag football so it feels more natural when its athlete report to Los Angeles in 2028, but how much is this actually going to help?

Making the Pro Bowl has also become a hollow honor, at least at the quarterback position. It wasn't a good sign for the event that its biggest story was Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders making the game after a seven-touchdown, 10-interception season, but making it even worse is that Sanders was simply following the norm of the past few years.

Tyler Huntley infamously made the game in 2023 after starting only four games for the Baltimore Ravens due to seemingly every other AFC quarterback being either hurt or unwilling to play, and a similar thing happened with Gardner Minshew in 2024. Joe Flacco spent his entire career getting squeezed out by a group of generational QBs, then made it for the first time this year with 10 mediocre starts for the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals.

A Pro Bowl selection is supposed to mean a player was among the best at his position that season, but it really means "best among the players at his position willing and able to show up to a meaningless event."

So what are we doing here? What's stopping the NFL from announcing its Pro Bowlers at the end of the season and then ... recognizing them at the NFL honors? How important is it that all of these guys come together on a Tuesday night, if it's not even going to draw half the audience of your average MLB wild-card game?

The NFL isn't hurting anyone by doing the Pro Bowl this way and if it decides getting a couple million eyeballs on a Tuesday evening is a fine outcome, that's their decision. Still, you'd imagine there is a number of viewers in which the endeavor is no longer financially worth it, especially if the league's stars would approve of getting their week before the Super Bowl back.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2026 was a competitive one, with Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and Roger Craig earning enshrinement. Among those left out: Bill Belichick and Eli Manning.

2027 could be even more competitive. Belichick and Manning be back on the ballot — alongside other 2026 finalists like Frank Gore, Torry Holt and Marshal Yanda — and there will also be a large number of first-time candidates deserving of consideration.

Here are 10 players whose last NFL appearance was in the 2021-22 season.

Rob Gronkowski

One of a few acceptable answers to the question, "Who is the greatest tight end of all time?"

No player caught more passes or posted more receiving yards from Tom Brady than Gronkowski, who was also one of the best blockers at his position and a larger-than-life personality. The only thing that ever limited "Gronk" was injuries. When healthy, he was an unstoppable weapon in the hands of some of the NFL's best minds.

Adrian Peterson

The last running back to win NFL MVP was AD, who sits at fifth in the NFL's all-time rushing list and is one of nine players in history to post 2,000 rushing yards in a season. He came only eight yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season record in 2012-13.

Peterson was a star from his first snap and kept going until his mid-30s.

Richard Sherman

The loudest member of the Legion of Boom was also the best. Sherman made the switch from wide receiver to cornerback in high school and waited until the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft to hear his name called.

One of the largest corners in the league at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, Sherman became a paradigm-shifting defensive back in the Seahawks' system and was a central component of their Super Bowl XLVIII team. He was an all-time trash-talker who earned it, regularly shutting down his side of the field.

Ben Roethlisberger

Aside from Manning, the system is usually kind to two-time Super Bowl champion quarterbacks. Roethlisberger's first ring was more a product of Jerome Bettis and the Pittsburgh Steelers defense in his sophomore season, but was overall one of the NFL's most prolific quarterbacks during his 18-year career.

Big Ben retired as the all-time leading passer for one of the NFL's most storied franchises. However, a pair of sexual assault allegations from earlier in his career loomed over his achievements, and there's no telling how that could play out if Spygate was enough to get Bill Belichick off some people's ballots.

Jared Wickerham via Getty Images

Antonio Brown

Our second of three Steelers offensive stars is also the most mercurial, to put it politely. Brown was on track for an overwhelming case when he turned 30 and still had a standout career, ranking behind only Hines Ward on the Steelers' all-time receiving list.

And yet, few stars have crashed out of the NFL as loudly as Brown did, first with the Oakland Raiders, then the New England Patriots, then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He rose from the sixth round of the 2010 Draft to do some amazing things on the field, but he's going to be remembered for much more than that.

Le'Veon Bell

The third of the Killer B's likely faces the longest odds, considering how short his prime ended up being. Bell was one of the NFL's top backs as a runner and receiver, but an ugly divorce from the Steelers saw him sit out a season then land with the New York Jets. He was never the same after that.

Cam Newton

Newton not making the College Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility despite posting one of the greatest seasons in the sport's history was a Belichick-style puzzler. His NFL career was a standout too.

Newton led the 2015-16 Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 record and the Super Bowl, demanding attention every time he stood on the field. Injuries derailed what could have been a strong second act, though, especially with so many other quarterbacks vying for enshrinement.

Andrew Whitworth

Offensive linemen usually don't get their due, but Whitworth earned his right to be an exemption with a 16-year career as a dependable blind-side blocker for the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams. He went out on top with the latter against the former at Super Bowl LVI, alongside...

Eric Weddle

Weddle spent a solid decade as one of the NFL's top safeties for the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens, earning six Pro Bowl nods and hauling in 29 interceptions in his career. He had a strong case when he first retired in 2020, but his return to the Rams in 2021-22 postseason after a pair of devastating injuries was one of the biggest stories of their Super Bowl title, especially when he didn't let a pec tear stop him from playing every defensive snap.

Alex Mack

Mack was arguably the best center of the 2010s, earning seven Pro Bowl nods for the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers. Between him and Joe Thomas, the Browns had two of the best in the league anchoring their offensive line for seven years, and he helped lead the Falcons to the ill-fated Super Bowl LI with the Falcons.

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters

The Los Angeles Lakers had to play the second half without Luka Doncic on Thursday. They can only hope that's the extent of his time out.

Doncic exited the game against the Philadelphia 76ers with an apparent leg injury and was later announced to be out for the rest of the game, with the Lakers describing the injury as left leg soreness. The injury occurred in the second quarter, on a stepback from the paint that led to Doncic grabbing his hamstring.

Doncic was not pleased with the development.

Doncic finished the game with 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 turnovers.

It had mostly been a healthy season for Doncic, with appearances in 42 of the Lakers' games this season. His longest absence was early in the season, when he missed three games with a finger sprain and leg contusion.

This injury comes at a sensitive time for the Lakers, who entered the game in sixth place in the Western Conference and only one game ahead of the seventh-place Phoenix Suns. After a strong start, they've been a significantly up-and-down team since the start of December but were hoping to get a shot in the arm with the return of Austin Reaves, who had been out for more than a month with a calf strain.

Instead, they can only hope this isn't the start of an absence for another of their top players.

Eli Manning has once again missed out on making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The longtime former New York Giants quarterback fell short of making the cut into the Hall of Fame again this year, marking his second straight time falling short as one of the 15 modern-era finalists. 

The full class was announced at the NFL Honors on Thursday: Drew Breees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and Roger Craig.

Manning is generally expected to eventually earn his way into the Hall of Fame, though the topic is often debated and there are plenty who think he shouldn't. He currently ranks 11th in both career passing yards and career passing touchdowns in league history, and he won two Super Bowls during his 16 seasons with the Giants. The four-time Pro Bowler was the 2016 Walter Payton man of the Year, too. 

Manning finished with a 117-117 overall record with the Giants, however, and he was eventually replaced by then-rookie Daniel Jones during his final season with the franchise in 2019. Manning also led the NFL in interceptions three times. 

But despite the areas where he may have struggled, history is on Manning's side. He is one of six players with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards to his name. Of that group, three were first-ballot inductees. The other two, longtime New England Patriots star Tom Brady and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are expected to be first-ballot entries once they are eligible.

The Hall of Fame is controlled by Canton's selection committee, which is made up of a 50-person panel of media members all selected by the Hall's board of directors and appointed to two-year terms. Each team's media contingent gets a representative, as does the Pro Football Writers of America organization. The last 17 spots are then filled by at-large contributors. It takes at least 80% approval to get in.

Manning isn't the only notable NFL figure who didn't make the cut into the Hall of Fame this year. Longtime Patriots coach Bill Belichick fell short of his bid to become a first-ballot entrant. Belichick was reportedly "puzzled" and "disappointed" by the decision during his first year of eligibility. He reportedly asked associates, "Six Super Bowls isn't enough?" and "What does a guy have to do?" after learning of the news, which set the NFL world into a firestorm on social media on Tuesday.

Longtime Patriots owner Robert Kraft also didn't make the cut. Both Patriots luminaries likely had their candidacies hurt by a much-criticized system that makes them compete against each other and senior players like Craig.

In the end, Manning very likely will make it to Canton. Whether or not he gets there before Belichick or Kraft, however, is now anybody's guess.