Sports Illustrated

Dustin Johnson appears ambivalently content. If he’s bothered by his 228th position in the Official World Golf Ranking prior to his victory in the LIV Golf’s League’s Las Vegas event Saturday, he is hardly emitting that vibe.

Johnson, 39, never made a big fuss about much of anything when he jumped to LIV Golf in June 2026. He never disparaged the PGA Tour, was not part of any lawsuits, made a point to say he appreciated everything the Tour did for him.

He was fine with playing for a big up-front guarantee and the millions offered each week with LIV Golf, and if it meant fewer tournaments to play, great. Outside LIV Golf and the major championships, Johnson has not competed in any other worldwide tournaments.

But Johnson, a two-time major winner who has won in each of the three seasons on LIV and tied for 10th at last year’s U.S. Open, is yet another example of a system that continues to cause angst in the game.

Dustin Johnson has won an event in all three seasons of LIV Golf yet continues to plummet in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Lucas Peltier/USA TODAY Sports

Clearly he’s better than the 228th best player in the world as the OWGR says. Joaquin Niemann brought the issue to the forefront again a week ago when he won the LIV Golf event in Mexico, saying on the broadcast that he believes he can win majors.

"But I need to be in them," he said.

Jon Rahm lamented Niemann’s plight and both sides again weighed in:

The rankings are a joke if LIV players aren’t included.

LIV players knew what they were doing, they should have realized the consequences of playing for a tour that is not accredited.

And around and around we go again.

The LIV/OWGR debate has typically centered around things such as 54 holes, no cuts, a small field (48 players, now 54) and even the shotgun starts (which has nothing to do with it).

But ultimately, what it comes down to are relatively small player relegation and promotion as well as the locked fields. Peter Dawson, the former head of the R&A and the chairman of the OWGR, made this clear when the LIV application was formally denied in October.

"We are not at war with them," Dawson said in an interview with the Associated Press. "This decision not to make them eligible is not political. It is entirely technical. LIV players are self-evidently good enough to be ranked. They’re just not playing in a format where they can be ranked equitably with the other 24 tours and thousands of players who compete on them."

Dawson said that certain criteria such as 36-hole cuts and having less than a 75-player average field size were not deal breakers.

It was more the set fields from week to week. There is no weekly qualifying for LIV Golf events. It is a fixed 52 players with 13 teams. LIV has added two individuals to bring the field to 54, with Hudson Swafford expected to be one in every event. Other than an injury or a rotating 54th player, it’s the same field every week.

And that causes a math issue with the OWGR.

It gets into the weeds, but field strength is by a formula called "strokes gained world rating" for the OWGR. Strokes-gained statistics help determine how many points a player contributes to the field. In simple terms, when a group of players play in a no-cut event, the strokes gained for that event will zero out. An equal amount of strokes will be gained by some players in the field as will be lost by others. That’s true in any no cut event on any tour, not just LIV.

But LIV differs from other tours in that, with the minimal exceptions of an injury or changing out a wild card, it’s the same field every week. That means that every time LIV plays itself, the same net-zero strokes-gained effect occurs. There are no players from the outside “ecosystem” participating in the events, so comparisons to the outside are scant. That’s why field variation is critical. The addition and/or subtraction of a sufficient number of different players to the base 54 LIV roster each week would produce variation in the strokes gained of the base 54.

By contrast, a good example of field variation of limited fields was how the prior World Golf Championships were conducted. The OWGR top 50 would be exempt into all of the fields that varied in size from 64 to 78 players. But the top 50 wasn’t set to the same 50 players each time. Players could move in and out of the top 50 to qualify. Plus the additional 14 to 28 players earned entry by various criteria.

As it now stands, a LIV Golf event would see a winner get approximately 25 OWGR points if they were offered. Compare that to the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open, which was slated to give 55 points to the winner. The Qatar Masters on the DP World Tour was set to get 17 points. And the Korn Ferry Tour event in Colombia was to get 14.

So LIV’s points are not insignificant but still less than half of a regular PGA Tour event and probably just 35% of a signature event.

“Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, of course they should be in the ranking,” Dawson said last year. “We need to find a way to get that done. I hope that LIV can find a solution—not so much their format; that can be dealt with through a mathematical formula—but the qualification and relegation.”

So why the impasse?

It’s not unreasonable to point out that both sides are at fault. The OWGR’s ties to the major championships and the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (the entire board is made up of their executives) is a glaring conflict. It is not independent, and any criticism starts there.

The OWGR’s own handbook opens the door to ambiguity. There are guidelines such as a year review period, and things such as 36-hole cuts and 75-player fields being necessary. But no criteria is binding, and the OWGR’s own guidelines are followed by a disclaimer: meeting all the criteria does not guarantee approval, nor does meeting fewer mean non-approval; and the final decision is at the sole discretion of the board.

Clearly, the OWGR never envisioned a situation where it would be reviewing the case of a tour that is viewed as hostile or a competitor.

There is some evidence of LIV Golf arrogance as well. Its association with the Asian Tour—whose CEO, Cho Minn Thant, is part of the OWGR technical committee—was seen in some corners as a path to accreditation.

There was also a belief that LIV’s roster of players demanded that it be included: "How do you leave Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith out of the rankings?" Dawson echoed this point, with the caveat that LIV has a format that none of the other 24 accredited tours employ. That means the OWGR would have to "mold" its criteria to LIV’s format.

LIV Golf submitted its bid in July 2022, just a few events into its existence. A year later, the OWGR had yet to make a decision, although in correspondence with LIV Golf, it made clear that the lack of player transition was a problem and also suggested it had issues with the team format and its impact on individual play.

Given all that, the OWGR absolutely should have given a formal decision last July, one year after the application was made. The OWGR met at the British Open and could have made and announced this decision.

Then, LIV needed to immediately get with the OWGR. With the framework agreement having been announced weeks earlier, it seemed prudent then to try and work something out. LIV certainly wasn’t going away. And there is pretty much agreement that the OWGR not ranking all of the best players is a problem.

So why not sit down and come to a solution? Give LIV some specific parameters. Would weekly qualifying and roster churn help? What about six or eight players coming out of the Promotions event and two from the International Series instead of just three and one?

Give LIV the template and tell them to comply. The league would have had six months to make the changes in time for 2024 and given the rest of the track record of the league, perhaps a decision by now to grant points would have been reasonable.

Instead, LIV is left to lament its players not getting in majors. It has seemingly done nothing else to work toward complying with OWGR. It has taken to suggesting that the majors are going to be diminished and they will need to invite LIV players based on its ranking system—even though the majors do not carve out large spots for any other worldwide tour other than the PGA Tour.

So far, the major championships have shown no inclination to make big changes to their qualification processes.

The argument that LIV players "knew the consequences" or "knew they were taking a chance" is certainly valid, although there have been indications that many of the players were led to believe that getting ranking points was either assured or just a matter of time.

And that also doesn’t address the idea that for the overall good of the game, shouldn’t some of the players who pass the eyeball test of elite be in consideration for major spots?

There was hope that an agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia—LIV’s backer—might come with a resolution. So far, it’s not happened. And if there is no PIF deal, then what?

No matter what you think of the LIV format and those who are part of it, Johnson did beat 53 players this past week. Among them was Rahm, who is ranked third in the world, and Talor Gooch, LIV’s reigning player of the year. In a six-way tie with six holes to play, Johnson birdied three of them to forge ahead and win.

Even if the format elicits few points, it clearly would be worth something.

Johnson, who won the 2020 Masters, suggested Saturday he wasn’t happy with the way he played last year. He did have one LIV victory, but he was not a factor on Sunday at any of the majors and missed the cut at the British Open.

Although he appeared rusty in the season opener in Mexico, he still finished T5. Now he’s got a victory and three more LIV events prior to the Masters—unlike last year when there were just three events and he was dealing with a back injury.

There are other systems that rank LIV golfers—Data Golf, The Ultimate Golf Ranking (TUGR) and Sports Illustrated—all which use strokes-gained systems that are similar if the not the same as the OWGR's strokes gained world rating. What they don’t do is acknowledge the recurring field factor that is present in LIV events and bothersome to OWGR.

Is there a way forward?

Two-hundred-and-eighty-five games up. Two-hundred-and-eighty-games down. The offseason is almost here and so are the Super Bowl LVIII takeaways …

I had an interesting conversation with Arthur Blank about Bill Belichick—and it could open up more opportunity for the former New England Patriots coach in 2025. And I say that because the Atlanta Falcons owner’s words, after being the only owner to formally interview Belichick in January, fly in the face of the way a lot of teams viewed the 71-year-old as a candidate.

I simply asked Blank why Belichick was the wrong fit for Atlanta.

Blank’s Falcons made headlines as a contender for Belichick in January.

Jamie Sabau/USA TODAY Sports

He responded by going narrative hunting.

“It wasn’t that he was the wrong fit,” Blank says. “We had 14 candidates. We always wanted him. All the issues and questions about Bill relative to power structure were completely unfounded and untrue and based on nothing. All of my discussions with him, he was nothing but collaborative, inclusive, anxious to work with personnel and scouting alongside him. He did his referencing on our organization and felt very comfortable working with them. It really had nothing to do with any of that.

“I think Bill will coach again. I don’t know. But the energy’s there, the passion’s there. We just felt for a variety of reasons when we weighed Raheem [Morris] vs. everybody, that he was just the best choice for us.”

We’ve been here a few times in the past few months, but it’s worth repeating: A lot of folks figured the problem Belichick would have is the perception that he’d come in and walk all over everyone in a new organization. For a lot of teams, letting that happen might mean a lot of people leaving or getting pushed out. With Belichick turning 72 in April, there was a fair question of whether you’d want to blow things up for a short-term fix, even if that fix happens to be the greatest coach of all-time.

But if Belichick is willing to adapt to a team’s existing structure, or delegate like, say, Andy Reid did when he went from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Kansas City Chiefs? Then, teams looking for coaches are having a very different conversation around Belichick.

At any rate, while Belichick is not going to the Falcons, Blank is glad to have interviewed him twice and explored the possibility of hiring him.

“I learned a lot,” Blank says. “You’re talking to somebody who’s a historian of the NFL, 49 years being a coach in the NFL, 24 years in one organization, six Super Bowl successes. You learn about all the things that they did, or he did, to have that kind of success and how the league has changed and players, what’s not changed and what his requirements for success are going forward. I think he’ll be a fine candidate for somebody else.

“It just wasn’t the best fit for us.”

And as for the guy who was, well, there was a familiarity to Morris that positioned him perfectly to outpace the 13 candidates who didn’t get the job.

“The experience we had with him in Atlanta was great. It was six years, obviously a lot of success during that time, didn’t end that way, but a lot of success during that time,” Blank says. “Spent a lot of time on offense, defense, great leader. Coaches loved him, players loved him. What I saw in the three years he was in L.A. is I think he grew a lot professionally from his relationship with coach [Sean] McVay, their coaching style, their coaching structure, organizationally, as well as working with Les [Snead] and the level of collaboration that I think’s unique between Les and Sean and building their roster.

“I think he learned skills that weren’t fully developed when he left us in Atlanta. I could see that during the interview process, just thinking about how to build a coaching staff that would be sustainable if we were losing coaches in the future because of success. I’m excited about him.”

He swears he would have been excited about Belichick, too.

Maybe someone else will be in 2025, given what Blank said.

Chip Kelly’s flirtations with NFL coordinator jobs, and subsequent decision to leave a head-coaching job at UCLA to be offensive coordinator at Ohio State should serve as a powerful warning shot for those who run college football. Kelly, now 60 years old, loved his Bruins players. He loved living in Manhattan Beach. He saw the same potential that everyone else has for a place that’s in a recruiting hotbed, and should recruit itself.

So that a school such as UCLA loses a coach like Kelly is a bad sign for the state of the sport, at that particular level. As was the departure of Jeff Hafley from Boston College to be defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers; Hafley is a young, energetic, promising coach who built strong connections with his players and really, really cared about the sport.

College football will keep seeing these sorts of things if change doesn’t come soon.

The root of both leaving their posts was the same. Each of them just wanted to coach football. And while there’s always been a political nature to those jobs, the percentage of the work that is just coaching has shrunk at a breakneck rate over the past couple of years. The head coach of a college football program may now be more fundraiser, alumni-relations director, and salary-cap manager than they are someone-with-a-whistle-around-their-neck.

What’s made it worse is the competitive imbalances that NIL and transfer portal have created for schools such as BC and UCLA, both of which are good programs that don’t have the horsepower that the bluebloods in their conferences do. Which is why guys such as Hafley and Kelly would take pay cuts to go be assistants elsewhere.

For Hafley, the escape hatch came thanks to his having worked for Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh, close friends of Matt LaFleur. For Kelly, it was even more stark—taking interviews for a number of NFL jobs before going to work for someone, Ryan Day, who played quarterback for him at New Hampshire. Kelly interviewed with the Seattle Seahawks, was on Dan Quinn’s list with the Washington Commanders, and interviewed twice for the Las Vegas Raiders job (first on the Friday before the conference title games, then again on the Tuesday after that weekend).

And, yes, this is an NFL column. But all of this has an impact at the professional level, in that a healthy environment in college football—with stars being developed, marketed and prepared for life in the league—is always good for the league.

The problem, as we’ve discussed here in the past, is that the old NCAA president never did anything to prepare college sports for this. Now, all of this is on Mark Emmert’s replacement.

So, with all due respect, Charlie Baker, do something about it.

Speaking of college coaches bailing for the pros, the Seahawks did well to land Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. And I use the term “Alabama offensive coordinator” loosely, because he just got there less than a month ago, coming from the University of Washington. Now Grubb is returning to the city in which he was just working.

Anyway, it’s a really daring and sharp hire by new Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald.

You can start with Grubb’s background and how, over his 21-year career, he’s been a running backs, receivers, offensive line and quarterbacks coach, eventually becoming an offensive coordinator at four different levels of the game (high school, NAIA, mid-major FBS, and major college football). He’s built a scheme that’s had the NFL’s attention and respect for a few years now. (I can remember hearing about it when he was at Fresno State.)

Nick Saban had enough respect for Grubb to try and poach him last year after Alabama lost Bill O’Brien to the Patriots. And Washington’s continued resurgence this fall led to more and more heat on Grubb’s name as a candidate for NFL play-calling.

“Good hire,” says one AFC exec, who’s out a lot on the college-scouting trail. “He knows how to create mismatches. He’ll spread you out, and throw the ball, and run it into light boxes.”

“He’s a really good, genuine dude,” says one AFC college scouting director. “Very bright, very personable. All of the players love him…not just the offense, but the defense too. He worked his way up the ranks, mostly following [Kalen] DeBoer but he’s been successful everywhere he’s been. He does a good job adjusting his scheme to fit the personnel’s skill sets. Offense has a lot of shifts and motions to help the QB out and make it difficult on defenses.

“He’s treated all of my scouts with incredible respect—mostly because he’d do anything to help his players, but also because he’s such a high-class human being. It’s not uncommon for him to spend 30 minute to an hour after practice with one random area scout from a given team, even if he had no preexisting relationship with that guy. He may have a bunch more important obligations to get too, but he makes that scout feel like they are the most important person in that moment. It speaks to the kind of guy he is and how much he wants to help his players—just a phenomenal person and football coach.”

Now, is there risk? Sure. The hash marks are tighter and the athletes are bigger, longer and faster in the NFL, so there’ll be an adjustment for Grubb. And while he’s done a great job with the past two quarterbacks he had in college—Jake Haener at Fresno State and Michael Penix Jr. at Washington—obviously, getting the most out of one in the pros is a little different, too.

Either way, the hire got the attention of plenty of Grubb’s admirers in the league. The Seahawks should be fun to watch.

The Mike Vrabel–Dan Campbell–DeMeco Ryans effect is moving. I’ve said all year that as much as people focus on the trend to hire young offensive play-callers as head coaches, the trend of former players getting, and excelling, in top jobs has become one to watch.

Antonio Pierce certainly reaped the benefits of it, with Mark Davis’s willingness to trust him with the Raiders’ future, even after Pierce had coached just two years at the NFL level. Jerod Mayo is another one who was fast-tracked, as he’s now the Patriots head coach after just five years of coaching at any level (all five, of course, came in the NFL).

And now, we’re seeing it at the bottom of staffs, too. Mayo himself just hired the guy who played next to him for a few years, in Dont’a Hightower, to come aboard as the Patriots’ new inside linebackers coach. Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh hired his old 49ers captain, NaVorro Bowman, to be his linebackers coach with the Los Angeles Chargers. Bowman has one year of coaching experience (he coached linebackers at Maryland last year). Hightower has none.

But both have precisely what Vrabel and Campbell and Ryans did, and that’s a boatload of playing experience, plus leadership qualities that were evident and obvious to everyone who crossed paths with them as players. It won’t be hard for either of them to get the attention of the players inhabiting those linebacker rooms, and both could climb quickly in the league.

My guess is also that there’ll be a lot more of this coming in the next few years—if for no other reason than the engagement a prominent former player can get from players—in an era where that ability is far from automatic for most coaches.

Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson delivered the quote of the week on Radio Row. That quote, from an appearance on Sirius XM with Adam Schein, didn’t leave much gray area as to where the star stands heading into a contract year.

“I want to break the bank and I want to be a part of an organization that wants me and to really give me what I deserve,” Jefferson told Schein. “I feel like eventually the Vikings will do what they need to do to have me in the building, but I don’t really know at this very moment. Only time will tell. I feel like I have the right people in my circle to negotiate and do what’s right. I feel like this whole process of how we handled things and how we went accordingly with the season and the contract stuff, I feel like we did a great job with it.”

That last part—how Jefferson and his camp handled the 2024 season—might be the key.

Jefferson missed time with a hamstring injury.

Brad Rempel/USA TODAY Sports

Jefferson missed seven games, so his numbers weren’t otherworldly. But he still averaged over 100 yards and nearly seven catches per game and, after battling injury, finished the season healthy and with a 192-yard day against the division champion Lions.

He also, by waiting, gained something else: leverage. Had the Vikings gotten a contract done last year, they’d have done it with two years left on his existing deal—which usually makes a player more amenable to compromising and allows for the team to manage the cap damage more effectively. Waiting a year, on the other hand, means the player takes on an extra season of injury risk, plus is a year closer to the team having to put a tag on him.

So now, Jefferson can justifiably ask for the moon and stars. The nine biggest receiver contracts out there—Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Cooper Kupp, A.J. Brown, Stefon Diggs, DK Metcalf, Deebo Samuel, Terry McLaurin and DJ Moore—were all done two years ago. That means you add two years of inflation to the aforementioned leverage, plus the fact that Nick Bosa and Aaron Donald have broken the glass ceiling for (true) $30 million contracts for position players and, well, the Vikings have a lot of work to do.

In short, it was a risk for Jefferson to play last year without an extension. And now he’s coming for his reward.

How the NFL rewards its second tier of quarterbacks this offseason will be fascinating. Last year, we saw real pushback in this area. Yes, Derek Carr and Jimmy Garoppolo got nice deals, but they weren’t budget-busters, and teams such as the Commanders, Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided to punt all together on the high end of the market.

A year later, the coaches from two of those three teams were fired, with the third having won a low-risk gamble on Baker Mayfield, who made $4 million in base pay last year.

So what does that mean this offseason? It’ll be interesting to see.

Signing Kirk Cousins or Ryan Tannehill, of course, won’t set a team up for the next five years, but it could work to stabilize a coach’s situation and buy time to find a long-term answer, if said team doesn’t like what’ll be available to it in the draft. If you’re the Miami Dolphins, even with injury questions (that subsided a bit this year), paying a bit of tax is worth it for what Tua Tagovailoa can do for you, in giving you a good answer at the position, right? And if Mayfield doesn’t get tagged in Tampa Bay, surely, he’d bring value to someone.

What’s really fascinating about this is how it has swung back and forth, from an environment where the highest paid quarterback was simply the last starter to get paid, to last year’s relatively tepid market that led to some franchise upheaval.

We’ll see if it swings back again.

The Kadarius Toney saga is a good reminder for draft time: generally, red flags on a player aren’t a simple invention of them being put through the pre-draft ringer, or some conspiracy to make someone fall into a team’s lap. These teams have a lot of the same information on players. That information is built over years, through the team’s network of sources at the college level and vetting by the security departments.

They aren’t guessing.

So, yes, there are stories of these sorts of players turning it around as pros. But more often than not, you get what you asked for. That Toney wore out his welcome this fast in two different places is no more a surprise to scouts than it was that 2020 first-rounders Damon Arnette, Mekhi Becton and Isaiah Wilson haven’t kept it together as pros. Everyone knew. Teams gambled on their talent. The result was predictable.

Anyway, with draft season coming, it’s smart to follow things with this in mind. Because, in the words of my old buddy Troy Brown, “Money only makes a guy more of what he already is.”

Speaking of Brown, I’m gonna go to bat for one of his old teammates here: Rodney Harrison should absolutely be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I’ll say that, first, while acknowledging what a tough job it is to vote on the Hall of Fame. I’ll also say it while congratulating a deserving class comprised of Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Julius Peppers, Patrick Willis, Randy Gradishar and Steve McMichael.

Now, five of those seven players are contemporaries of Harrison, or players that came in as his career was winding down. Throw Harrison in with them to make a group of six, and I’m not saying the former Charger and Patriot is the best of that cluster, but he certainly wouldn’t be on the bottom of the list, either.

At this point, I think two things are keeping Harrison out. First, it’s tough for safeties, and I get that. It took Steve Atwater, one of the very best at the position during my childhood, forever to get in. John Lynch had to wait a while as well. Darren Woodson is with Harrison on the outside looking in. The second thing is that Harrison only made All-Pro three times, which, I think, was tied to his reputation for playing the game on the edge of the rules, something that made him unpopular with opponents and their fans.

Harrison (right) played 15 years in the league.

USA TODAY Sports

With all that established, Harrison was an elite player at his position over a long period of time, which, to me, should always be the top qualifier for induction. And I could go on here, but I figured it’d be better to bring in former Patriots exec Scott Pioli to make his case Sunday as the guy who signed Harrison in 2003.

“No matter what metrics you use, or film, he deserves to be in,” Pioli says. “Based on the other players that are in, I don’t know what the standard is anymore. If you want to use statistics, statistically, he’s better than other players that have been elected recently that played during the same time as he did. He’s only one of two players in the history of the game to have 30 sacks and 30 interceptions. He was the first one in NFL history to do it, and the only other person who’s done it is Ray Lewis.

If we want to use statistics, you can find all kinds, such as how many more tackles Harrison had than John Lynch, in fewer games. With this whole notion, though, of Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams, here’s what we know: When a lot of past voting went on, it was more about popularity. When Rodney played, he was not popular amongst his opponents. Everyone that played with him, whether it was in San Diego or New England, loved the guy. In addition to statistics, he’s a champion, multiple times over.

“I don’t know what the standard needs to be. And here’s the other thing, before I was a decision maker, I was a pro scout and did pro personnel. I saw him as a player. I evaluated him all those years before we got him. I saw him relative to the league. I just don’t know what the standard is,” Pioli says.

“He embodied everything that we believed in. He fit in so perfectly because he was a leader. He was a hard worker. There were a lot of things that didn’t ever get to the (coaches, front office) because he was one of the players that took care of it, along with a group of others. He mentored people. What did he mean? I can’t put it into words because there’s so many things. That’s the truth. What did he mean to us? He meant far too many things than we could stand here and describe.”

And to punctuate his point, Pioli sent along a slide he tweeted from a couple months ago.

As Pro Director, then head of Personnel w/ @Patriots I evaluated Rodney Harrison for 9-seasons when he was w/ the @chargers
His film & knowing him told me why we wanted to sign him at the #Patriots in '03
The film & these numbers remind me why he should be in the Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/6slUF9sety

— Scott Pioli (@scottpioli51) December 9, 2023

So, yeah, I’m with Scott on this one. This shouldn’t be very hard.

And we’ll wrap up the 2023 season with our quick-hitters. As a gift to all of you, our readers, I wanted to do something for everyone. So here’s one question for all 32 teams, in alphabetical order (by mascot), heading into the offseason.

• Will the San Francisco 49ers kick the can down the road cap-wise another year, to keep their galaxy of stars in the Bay Area sky?

• Is the question of whether the Chicago Bears take Caleb Williams really one that goes both ways, in an Eli Manning sort of way?

• Will the Cincinnati Bengals start the 2024 season with Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase on new contracts?

• How do the Buffalo Bills assess their core, with Stefon Diggs at 30, Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, and Dion Dawkins within a year of that milestone?

• Do the Denver Broncos go all-in to get Sean Payton’s next quarterback in this year’s draft?

• How will the Cleveland Browns revamped staff get more from Deshaun Watson?

• Where do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers draw the financial line with Mayfield?

• Will Marvin Harrison fall in the Arizona Cardinals’ laps?

• Is there a Frank Gore–like bellcow out there for Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers offense?

• Can the Kansas City Chiefs find a way to keep Chris Jones?

• With nearly $60 million to spend, how do the Indianapolis Colts leverage having Anthony Richardson on a rookie contract on the veteran market?

• Is it Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels (or a trade-up) for the Washington Commanders?

• Can the Dallas Cowboys find the right price for Dak Prescott, with tagging him in 2025 pretty much impossible logistically (due to his $60 million cap number?

• Will the Miami Dolphins re-sign Tagovailoa, and what would it mean for the rest of the roster?

• Is the Philadelphia Eagles crew of young defenders (Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, Kelee Ringo, etc.) good enough for the team to shed some expensive vets?

• Which veteran quarterback will the Atlanta Falcons pursue?

• Will the New York Giants be in the quarterback market in the draft, with Daniel Jones only having one guaranteed year left on the deal he signed last year?

• After some tumult at the end of 2023, is a revamped Jacksonville Jaguars staff on the same page?

• Can the New York Jets get a tackle and Davante Adams?

• How do the scars of the blown 17-point lead in the NFC title game hit the Detroit Lions?

• Are the Green Bay Packers ready to pay Jordan Love at the top of the quarterback market?

• Can the Carolina Panthers attract veterans in free agency to create a better situation for Bryce Young?

• How do the New England Patriots handle having gaping holes at three premium positions (quarterback, receiver, tackle) on offense?

• Do the Las Vegas Raiders go all-in on their Adams-Maxx Crosby–Josh Jacobs–Kolton Miller core, and go get a veteran quarterback?

• Are the Los Angeles Rams, now with a clean cap and a full complement of picks (for the first time in nearly a decade) about to go back into offseason attack mode?

• Can the Baltimore Ravens, with Justin Madubuike and Patrick Queen among their free agents, keep the NFL’s best defense together?

• Do the New Orleans Saints work on finding Derek Carr’s eventual successor?

• Ditto for the Seattle Seahawks: With how Mike Macdonald sees Geno Smith still a question, does Seattle look at putting the next guy in place behind him?

• What sort of competition do the Pittsburgh Steelers bring in for Kenny Pickett?

• Can the Houston Texans super-charge their offense with a big name skill-position addition?

• Is Will Levis really the guy for Brian Callahan’s Tennessee Titans?

• And yes, a lot of these revolve on quarterbacks, so we’ll finish up with this: Will the Minnesota Vikings do what it takes to keep Kirk Cousins?

Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark is on the precipice of breaking college basketball history, sitting just eight points shy of becoming the NCAA women’s all-time leading scorer.

Following Iowa’s upset loss against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday, Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum took to X to congratulate Clark on making history, only to quickly realize that the 22-year-old had not yet broken her all-time scoring record. 

Plum scored 3,527 points in her career for the Washington Huskies, and she knows it’s only a matter of time until she passes her scoring crown on to Clark, who has 3,520 points. 

“Congratulations on the record, and really your entire season! I appreciate what you do for the game, much respect and love! See you at the next level, hopefully sooner than later,” wrote Plum on X on Sunday before correcting herself a few minutes later. 

My bad next game 😂 https://t.co/waUVTzGfWr

— Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) February 11, 2024

Clark is likely to topple Plum’s record during the Hawkeyes’ next game–Thursday against the Michigan Wolverines–but she finished seven points shy of the all-time mark despite a 31-point outing during Iowa’s 82–79 defeat. 

Clark and the Hawkeyes will be back on their home court for Thursday’s matchup, when she could make NCAA women’s basketball history at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

She did it folks.

Taylor Swift has made it to The Big Game.

After fans worried that Swift might struggle to make it from a run of shows in Japan over the past week back to the United States in time to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce play in Super Bowl LVIII, the biggest pop superstar in the world made her grand entrance to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas about two hours before kickoff.

[Super Bowl 2024: Latest news and analysis | How to watch]

But as was made very clear to reporters on the ground at the Super Bowl, no pictures were allowed.

Several reporters who were on their way into the stadium posted messages on social media of just how strict things were in the space surrounding Swift’s entrance.

Security stopped us in the tunnel and said NO PHONES! Taylor Swift just arrived at Allegiant Stadium with Blake Lively, Ice Spice, and Ashley Avignonne. Swift was wearing all black with a red chiefs jacket thrown over her shoulders.

— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) February 11, 2024

We were threatened with our lives if we had phones out but trust she looked 🔥🔥🔥

— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) February 11, 2024

Pretty wild that even game security officers weren’t allowed to walk through and were chastened for texting their bosses about the security posts that weren’t going to be properly manned because of this lockdown https://t.co/NXYoC31hhx

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) February 11, 2024

While the reporters in the stadium were not allowed to capture images of Swift’s grand entrance, rest assured the moment was covered in depth by CBS’s cameras, with Swift arriving in her suite and sharing a nice hug with Jason Kelce, and introducing the Eagles center to Ice Spice.

The stars are in the house for Super Bowl LVIII. pic.twitter.com/CY4fskd713

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 11, 2024

With Swift’s arrival, Super Bowl Sunday has officially begun.

The Los Angeles Lakers signing veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie was written in the stars all along—or, more aptly, written by Dinwiddie himself many years ago.

On Saturday, Dinwiddie was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Toronto Raptors, who ended up waiving him. After clearing waivers, the 30-year-old chose to join the Lakers as a free agent.

As part of his team initiation, the Lakers dug up one of Dinwiddie’s old tweets from 2013 and suggested that the former Nets star was destined to come to Los Angeles.

Meant to be https://t.co/x2jatUFQSJ

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 11, 2024

The Lakers did, in fact, stay patient for 11 years until they finally seized upon the opportunity to sign the well-established shooter this year.

For better or worse, the Lakers stood pat at the NBA trade deadline but did have an open roster spot available, allowing the team to sign Dinwiddie without moving any players.

Dinwiddie, who is averaging 12.6 points and 6.0 assists per game this season, will return to his hometown where he can hopefully help the ninth-seeded Lakers gain some steam for a late-season push and playoff run.

"Playmaking, another ball handler, another shot-maker," LeBron James said of Dinwiddie. "Another guy, another veteran. Anytime you can add a veteran with that ability, it helps. So we'll see what happens."

Super Bowl Sunday is here. Finally. 

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will battle Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers in what should be a very good game between the two best teams in the NFL.

CBS will be broadcasting the game this year, with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo calling the action from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

If you’re looking for ways to stream the game for free, don’t worry—we’ve got you. Paramount+ and FuboTV are both offering free seven-day trials over their services, and both will be carrying the game.

If you sign up, just make sure to remember to cancel your subscription before the trial ends so you don’t have to pay for their monthly services. 

Just like Travis Kelce often does on the field for the Kansas City Chiefs, he impressed with his pregame outfit ahead of Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. 

Kelce, who boasts a WWE-meets-rock-star personality, reflected such characteristics in his dazzling pregame outfit, which made him look like he might somehow be a part of the Super Bowl halftime show.

Not to be outdone by bis brother Jason, the Chiefs star donned a shimmery jacket and pants along with black sunglasses. Check out Kelce’s pregame fit, shared by the team’s account on X, formerly Twitter. 

Killa Trav ready to shine. pic.twitter.com/cDod5e7zZU

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 11, 2024

Chiefs fans will hope Kelce can shine as bright as the shiny pants and jacket he wore into Allegiant Stadium. It’s likely that he will, judging by his illustrious postseason career. 

Kelce recently surpassed Jerry Rice for the most career playoff receptions, and he ranks second to Rice in career postseason receiving yards. 

The Chiefs, 1.5-point underdogs to San Francisco, likely will need a big Kelce performance to win the Big Game. 

Taylor Swift has made to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, where she’ll cheer on Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs after a making the long trek back to the United States following her concert in Japan on Saturday night. 

The pop star arrived at Allegiant Stadium a few hours before kickoff, wearing all black and holding a Chiefs red jacket over her shoulder. 

Kelce and the Chiefs will be looking to win their second straight Super Bowl when they face the San Francisco 49ers, and they will have their most famous fan in attendance for the Big Game. 

Here she is making her way to her luxury suite: 

Taylor Swift is here with Ice Spice and Blake Lively! #SBLVIII pic.twitter.com/0x4XIDRupW

— NFL (@NFL) February 11, 2024

She's here.

Taylor Swift has arrived at Allegiant Stadium for Super Bowl LVIII. pic.twitter.com/dYGYpt2dQ0

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 11, 2024

Should be a fun night in Sin City. 

Jason Kelce has had so much fun cheering on his brother, Travis Kelce, during the Chiefs’ playoff run the past few weeks, including a wild afternoon in Buffalo where he took off his shirt and celebrated like a mad man during Kansas City’s big win. 

The Philadelphia Eagles center is in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII, where the Chiefs will be looking to win back to back titles when they face the 49ers, and he picked a great outfit to wear to the game. 

These Chiefs overalls Kelce is sporting in Sin City will make it hard for him to go bare-chested during the game: 

Jason’s Gameday fit is on point pic.twitter.com/VB1L8M2C4e

— New Heights (@newheightshow) February 11, 2024

NFL fans had so many jokes:

I wonder if Jason told Kylie that he would one up his Bills experience and streak across the Super Bowl field if Travis scores a touchdown down and this was Kylie’s way of keeping clothes on him 🤪 https://t.co/EjixZYWFx4

— ⭐️Nicole⸆⸉ in the darkest dark 🩵 (@13LongLiveMagic) February 11, 2024

jason wearing bibs cause kylie said the shirt aint coming off today https://t.co/IFmSDuML3R

— 🆎 (@theABinKC) February 11, 2024

I ain’t mad at it. We all could use a sense of humor. https://t.co/cOEqAZy7TU

— ✭ Lacy ✭ (@FBCowboysQueen) February 11, 2024

Kylie is making sure his shirt stays on 😂😂😂 https://t.co/tXBrpkGoAU

— lauren 🐍 (@folklaurenx) February 11, 2024

WAIT DID KY MAKE HIM WEAR SOMETHING SO HIS SHIRT STAYS ON 😭 https://t.co/gUoZuHsHqI

— Jacquelyn ⸆⸉ (Taylor’s Version) (@itsaclownstory) February 11, 2024

it's a lot harder to go shirtless if your pants are also your shirt!!! https://t.co/HcTCk1FOSG

— babiekatie (@jukeboxkatie) February 11, 2024

Kylie made you wear overalls so you can’t take your shirt off didn’t she @JasonKelce https://t.co/qa38ZhOX2c

— SVC (Taylor’s Version) (@sarah_vancleve) February 11, 2024

Kylie making sure that shirt ain’t going anywhere https://t.co/uY1P0dpOHc

— 🏳️‍🌈LETS GO KRAKEN🏳️‍🌈 (@1hairyman) February 11, 2024

Kylie’s new attempt at Jason keeping his shirt on https://t.co/snz0PWduQX

— Mitzi 🏈 (@mixi_e) February 11, 2024

they’re trying to keep him from taking his shirt off 💔 https://t.co/Rms6y7vHsB

— shan 🤍 (@sapphicrogue) February 11, 2024

Im assuming this means Jason will be keeping his shirt on this game 😅😂 https://t.co/Qa7d2ROESu

— Kris MIAMI N1🤍 (@KristmasLights) February 11, 2024

Viewers who tuned in to the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Iowa—Nebraska game hoping to see Caitlin Clark break Kelsey Plum’s NCAA Division I women’s career scoring record witnessed a massive upset instead, one that included a sneaky bit of shade directed at Iowa’s beloved sharpshooter.

Down 14 points in the fourth quarter, the Cornhuskers stormed back to win, 82—79, and hand the No. 2 Hawkeyes their third loss of the season. In a pivotal moment, Nebraska guard Jaz Shelley drilled a three-pointer with roughly 30 seconds left in the game to give her team its first lead at 78—77.

After sinking the three, Shelley quickly hit the “You Can’t See Me” celebration, which Clark famously performed in last year’s NCAA tournament.

Jaz Shelley hit the "YOU CAN'T SEE ME" celly 😈 pic.twitter.com/WEnkDdL3AT

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 11, 2024

Nebraska’s upset victory at a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena marked the Cornhuskers’ first win against a top 25 opponent this season. The Cornhuskers improved to 16–8 overall and 8–5 in Big Ten play, while the Hawkeyes dropped to 22–3 overall and 11–2 in conference.

Clark, who was 39 points away from breaking Plum’s record, got shut out in the fourth quarter, going 0-for-6 from the field. She finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. It’s the first time in Clark’s collegiate career that she’s played in a fourth quarter but failed to score.

The Hawkeyes’ senior guard still made history on Sunday by becoming the first player in Division I history to record 3,000 points and 1,000 assists in her career. Clark most likely will break Plum’s record of 3,527 points on Thursday during Iowa’s home game against Michigan. Clark currently boasts 3,520 career points.

Thursday’s Hawkeyes-Wolverines game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, and the telecast will be streamed on Peacock.

Patrick Mahomes is treating the Kansas City Chiefs’ journey to Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII to face the San Francisco 49ers as a business trip. 

The Chiefs quarterback has said as much, telling reporters that he told his teammates the trip is strictly professional, promising to bring them all back to Las Vegas should they win the Big Game. 

If you didn’t believe Mahomes was treating his stay at Sin City as purely business, look no further than the pregame outfit he donned walking into Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.

The Chiefs signal-caller was decked out in a black suit, looking the part of a serious businessman. 

Patrick Mahomes arrives for #SBLVIII

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/3uTP9iBpGb

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 11, 2024

Mahomes, who has won a pair of Super Bowl titles and MVPs in his career, already understands how difficult it is to get to this point, especially given the Chiefs’ uncharacteristic struggles during the 2023 regular season.

• Super Bowl 2024: Latest news, analysis | How to watch

Plus, there is a lot riding on Super Bowl LVIII for Mahomes’s individual legacy, as he pursues Tom Brady’s record of seven Super Bowl titles. 

It’s no wonder the Chiefs QB showed up in business attire.

The Chiefs and 49ers are scheduled to kick off Super Bowl LVIII at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing ends this week with one of the Tour's most enduring events and a host everyone will be watching.

Historic Riviera Country Club hosts the Genesis Invitational, a signature event with a $20 million purse and $4 million awarded to the winner. Unlike the previous two signature events this season, the Genesis will have a 36-hole cut to the low 50 players and ties.

Host Tiger Woods, who made a record 142 straight cuts from 1998 to 2005, approves. He'll be trying to make the cut himself, making his first official PGA Tour start since last year's Masters. 

Tiger Woods, pictured at the 2020 Genesis Invitational, will make his first 2024 start this week. 

Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

In December at the unofficial Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Woods expressed optimism about playing more this year after having ankle surgery in April following his Masters withdrawal.

He'll tee it up along with the best of the best on Tour. Last year's FedEx Cup top 50 are eligible along with this year's tournament winners, among other categories, and virtually all of them will compete. Woods is in the field on a sponsor's exemption, as are Adam Scott, Gary Woodland and Will Zalatoris. 

Oddly, Scott and Max Homa are the only players in the field who have won the Genesis. Defending champion Jon Rahm, 2022 winner Joaquin Niemann plus Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson all have won at Hogan's Alley in the last decade and all are now with LIV Golf. 

Here's the full field as of Friday from the PGA Tour:

65 of 67 eligible players for The Genesis Invitational via one of these categories are committed:
- 2022-23 FedExCup top 50
- Aon Next 10 (51-60 in 2022-23 FedExCup Fall)
- Race to Dubai (top player not otherwise exempt)
- 2024 winners
- Top 30 OWGR
- Sponsor exemptions (*) pic.twitter.com/ijWX8vO4mg

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 9, 2024

Print out this fun prop bet pool for your Super Bowl Party. It adds an extra element of entertainment for your friends and family while you watch the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers battle in Super Bowl LVIII.

Question 1: Coin Toss Result

A: Heads
B: Tails

Question 2: What color jerseys will the Chiefs wear?

A: White
B: Red

Question 3: What color jerseys will the 49ers wear?

A: White
B: Green

Question 4: Who will win Super Bowl 58?

A: Chiefs
B: 49ers

Question 5: How many touchdowns will Brock Purdy throw?

A: 1
B: 2
C: 3 or more
D: None

Question 6: How many touchdowns will Patrick Mahomes throw?

A: 1
B: 2
C: 3 or more
D: None

Question 7: Which running back will have the most rushing yards?

A: Isiah Pacheco
B: Christian McCaffrey

Question 8: Which wide receiver or tight end will have the most receiving yards?

A: Travis Kelce
B: Deebo Samuel
C: Brandon Aiyuk
D: Rashee Rice
E: Other

Question 9: Which team will get the ball to start the 2nd Half?

A: Chiefs
B: 49ers

Question 10: Which team will have the ball at the two-minute warning in the 4th Quarter?

A: Chiefs
B: 49ers

Question 11: Will the team with the ball at the two-minute warning have the lead?

A: Yes
B: No

Question 12: Who will be the Super Bowl MVP?

A: Patrick Mahomes
B: Brock Purdy
C: Travis Kelce
D: Someone Else

Question 13: What color Gatorade is poured on the winning coach?

A: Red
B: Orange
C: Blue
D: Yellow
E: Water/No Gatorade

Question 14: Will either team score a safety?

A: Yes
B: No

Question 15: Will either defense score a touchdown?

A: Yes
B: No

Tie Breaker: What is the combined Final score of Super Bowl LVIII?

Combined Total Points:

The Philadelphia Eagles have given star linebacker Haason Reddick permission to seek a trade, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday. The news was confirmed by ESPN’s Tim McManus. 

Reddick, 29, is one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL and is coming off of back to back Pro Bowl seasons. The seven-year veteran has tallied double-digit sacks for four consecutive years, including 11 in 2023. He also registered 38 tackles and 23 quarterback hits while starting all 17 regular-season games. 

He was drafted out of Temple with the No. 13 pick in the 2017 NFL draft to the Arizona Cardinals, for whom he played four seasons. He signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers in 2021 and then signed a three-year, $45 million deal with the Eagles in 2022. 

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick looks on during his team’s game against the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 31, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field.

Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

He was a key part in the team’s Super Bowl run last season, but he could very well be on the move this offseason. Reddick’s current contract calls for him to receive a $14.25 million base salary in 2024.

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is taking a leave of absence following a death in his family. The identity of the family member is unknown at this time. 

“Jimmy Butler has been granted a leave of absence as he deals with the death of a family member,” Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, said in a statement. “Jimmy and his family ask for privacy at this point in time as they navigate this loss. Updates will be given when appropriate.” 

Butler, 34, is in the midst of his 13th NBA season out of Marquette. The six-time All Star is averaging 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists this season for the Heat. Miami is currently the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference at 28–24. 

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler was granted a leave of absence from the team Sunday following the death of a family member.

Christopher Creveling/USA TODAY Sports

The Heat will take on the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ABC without Butler. The Heat’s subsequent game is Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Iowa star Caitlin Clark attracts major crowds in every city she plays, but the previous crowds might not be able to compare to the crowd lined up to see the Hawkeyes play against Nebraska on Sunday.

Clark has the opportunity to make NCAA Division I women’s college basketball history on Sunday against the Cornhuskers. If she scores 39 points, she will break Kelsey Plum’s scoring record. Clark currently boasts 3,489 career points, while Plum’s record sits at 3,527 points.

The game at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln is sold out, as fans anxiously hoped to see history made on the court. Tickets were selling for remarkably high prices ahead of the eagerly anticipated game.

Fans showed up at the venue hours before the noon CT tipoff, and the images were impressive.

A video posted by the Big Ten Network showed hundreds of fans making up a long line to enter the arena. The line apparently started in the early hours of the morning. Check out clips of the giddy crowd below.

The Caitlin Clark effect. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/de58eLpRay

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 11, 2024

Two-hour check-in on the line to get into Iowa-Nebraska. It wraps around the block, takes ~ 3 fast minutes to walk and hundreds more are filing/ driving in to see Caitlin Clark go for the record. pic.twitter.com/JgqnizG2me

— Cassandra Negley (@CasNegley) February 11, 2024

"This is our Super Bowl..."

Hundreds of Iowa fans in line this morning ahead of the #Huskers hosting the Hawkeyes, and Caitlin Clark 39 points away from history.🏀

(@1011_News, @kevinsjuts) pic.twitter.com/4sO1Wd88Au

— Chase Matteson (@ChaseMatteson) February 11, 2024

90 minutes from tipoff!

This is the scene at Pinnacle Bank Arena!

#2 Iowa at Nebraska - 1pm ET on FOX!

Caitlin Clark is 39 points away from the NCAA scoring record.

🔥🔥🔥@CBBonFOX @jasonbenetti @B1Gwbball @AllisonW_Sports pic.twitter.com/m1reEkTPk5

— Kim Adams (@_kimadams) February 11, 2024

The line began forming at 4 a.m. in Lincoln for Caitlin Clark’s potential record-breaking day 😳 pic.twitter.com/ump5bqg185

— Hurrdat Sports (@HurrdatSports) February 11, 2024

This is the line outside Pinnacle Bank Arena two hours before the #Huskers tip off against Caitlin Clark and No. 2 Iowa.

The first people in line tell me they arrived here at 5:45 a.m. @KETV pic.twitter.com/5dr4Py55pT

— Matt Sottile (@MSottileTV) February 11, 2024

On several occasions throughout the whirlwind romance between Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and pop star Taylor Swift, Tony Romo has made a significant flub by referring to Swift as Kelce’s wife. However, the CBS broadcaster admits it’s just an ongoing joke. 

“I think you’re always trying to do new things,” Romo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I feel like, for me, one area is I add humor in a lot of times. So the people who really know me kind of get it. So when I’m joking about Taylor Swift being the wife, not everyone gets it.

• Super Bowl 2024: Latest news and analysis | How to watch

“But I feel like, to me, we’re on air for three hours and 15 minutes, sometimes three and a half. You’re trying to add some levity to it, but it’s really about the game, and you’re always trying to make it about the game,” he continued. 

"And his wife loves it, I mean, girlfriend." - Tony Romo on Taylor Swift applauding a Travis Kelce catch.

"You've been down that road with that before." - Jim Nantz. pic.twitter.com/oQJS8cBF97

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 25, 2023

Romo has caught some criticism this season for his in-booth performance, and even he appears to admit that this particular joke hasn’t quite landed.

Romo will be in the booth providing color commentary for Super Bowl LVIII alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz on Sunday, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback situation heading into the 2024 season could become even more complicated, as the team is expected to look into signing Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill this offseason, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported Sunday.

Tannehill has been linked to Pittsburgh by some observers based on his relationship with the Steelers’ new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, who worked with the QB as the Titans’ OC during the 2019 and ’20 seasons.

Tannehill is a free agent this offseason after spending five seasons with the Titans. He started eight games last season, suffered an ankle injury and ultimately was replaced by rookie Will Levis as the starter.

The Steelers enter the 2024 season with Kenny Pickett as the incumbent starter, coach Mike Tomlin said a few weeks ago. But Tomlin and owner Art Rooney II both implied that there would be a quarterback competition in training camp. Such a competition would seem to include backup Mitchell Trubisky, who signed a two-year extension before the 2023 season, and Mason Rudolph, who led the Steelers to three wins to cap the ’23 regular season.

Rudolph is also a free agent, though, making his future status with the Steelers unclear. NFL free agency begins on March 13 at 4 p.m. ET.