Each of the NFL’s 32 franchises nominates a player who exemplifies “outstanding sportsmanship on the field” and previous Lions’ nominees include Don Muhlbach, Haloti Ngata, Glover Quin, and Calvin Johnson.
Created in 2014, this Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award has recognized five winners over that time — Larry Fitzgerald, Charles Woodson, Frank Gore, Luke Kuechly and Drew Brees.
The winner of the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award is determined by a vote of current NFL players. From the eight finalists, each team’s players will submit a consensus vote of their choice for the winner. As in Pro Bowl voting, a team cannot vote for its own player.
The award is presented each year to an NFL player who best demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, and integrity in competition.
The NFL will host an NFL Honors show on Saturday, February 1 — the evening before Super Bowl LIV — where the winner will be announced. This ceremony will be televised on FOX.
Only meeting 16 times, Texas has dominated Iowa State. With ISU only winning twice, the stakes have been raised the past two years.
[jwplayer VOK15sqK-er0jUifI]
Texas plays a crucial road game against Iowa State and must win if they want to stay alive in the Big 12 championship picture. These two teams have a short history as they have only met a total of 16 times. The Longhorns dominated the begging of the series, winning seven straight. Even after an Iowa State win in 2010, Texas continued to win, beating the Cyclones seven out of the last eight.
Here is the series record between the Longhorns and Cyclones:
All-time series record: Texas leads 14-2-0
Largest wins: Texas 56-3 in 2007, Iowa State 24-0 in 2015
Latest Texas win: Nov. 17, 2018
Last season’s matchup with Iowa State was a ranked matchup as No. 13 Texas played host to the 18th ranked Cyclones. This was a strange game for the Longhorns, as both Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele got snaps.
Ehlinger was only able to play in the first half as he picked up a shoulder injury. Before he was forced to leave the game, he was able to get the Longhorns off to a strong start, scoring 17 points on five drives. He went 12-15 with 137 yards and a touchdown. He was also effective on the ground, having 32 yards and a touchdown.
Without Ehlinger, the Longhorns struggled, punting on four out of their six second-half drives. The other two ended with a Daniel Young fumble and a Shane Buechele 27 yards touchdown to Lil’ Jordan Humphrey. On the other hand, the Texas defense was outstanding, stopping an Iowa State offense that was averaging 427.2 yards over their five-game winning streak, to 210 yards. David Montgomery only ran for 33 yards as the Cyclones struggled running the ball.
The 24-10 win ended up being huge for the Longhorns as it was the reason they made it into the Big 12 championship game. Had Iowa State won the game, the Cyclones’ win against Kansas State the next week would have propelled them into the title game. Instead, Texas went on to beat Kansas and played in its first Big 12 championship game since 2009.
Latest Iowa State win: Oct. 31, 2015
2015 was a miserable year for the Longhorns and the matchup against Iowa State was no different. Going into the game, the Cyclones were 2-5, on a three-game losing streak, and allowing nearly 34 points a game on that streak.
Naturally, a Texas offense being led by Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard at quarterback put up a goose egg. Swoopes and Heard threw for 85 yards on 12-22 passing. The running game was not much better, as they averaged 3.7 yards per carry. Swoopes led the team in that category, rushing for 58 yards on 10 carries.
Iowa State’s offense pounded the ball on the ground, as they had 54 rushing attempts. They got 238 yards on those 54 attempts and added on two touchdowns. Running back Mike Warren had a career-high 32 carries with 157 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Joel Lanning was a mediocre 19-37 with 188 yards and a touchdown.
After defeating the Cyclones four years in a row, Texas shut out on the road, 24-0. It was their second time being shut out in two years after going a decade without it. Texas ended the season at 5-7, the first of back to back Charlie Strong 5-7 seasons.
Texas will play Iowa State on Saturday at 2:30 PM CST on FS1.
There won’t be a cancellation related to the playing surface at Estadio Azteca this time around.
[jwplayer 1vROLFUW-ThvAeFxT]
Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt took to the podium this afternoon, and one of the first questions was about the field conditions at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Last season, the Chiefs were scheduled to play the Los Angeles Rams at Estadio Azteca, but the field was in poor condition amid rainy weather and a packed event schedule at the stadium. The NFL ultimately chose to move the game back to Los Angeles amid concerns over the turf.
This season, the league has taken measures to ensure that the International Series game between the Chiefs and Chargers will go off without a hitch. Hunt is sure that the field is in good condition ahead of Monday night.
“Our field staff has been in contact with the league, who has been in contact with the representatives in Mexico City who have been taking care of the field,” Hunt said. “It’s a completely different field and it’s in much better condition than it was last year.”
Last year’s complications led to the officials at Estadio Azteca installing a new, natural playing surface over the summer. The installation and preparation has been overseen by NFL officials as well as the experts from World Sports Turf.
Just another great visit at Stadium Azteca. The NFL game is next month and it will be great. Field is doing great, roots are dense and white, grass is dense. POGO is helping us to control moisture and other factors 👍👏@WorldSportsCo@POGOTurfPropic.twitter.com/2odeeuKymZ
Now, the Chiefs will get their opportunity to go down to Mexico City and expand their brand internationally without having to worry about a questionable playing surface putting their players at risk of injury. While Hunt didn’t lobby for the opportunity to have the Chiefs play in Mexico City this season, you won’t find anyone in Kansas City complaining about their AFC West rivals in Los Angeles giving up a home game.
“I was hopeful that we would have a chance to go to Mexico City,” Hunt said. “I think all of the international games are important to the league and they’re also important to the Chiefs from a branding standpoint. I frankly did not expect that we would be going to Mexico City so fast. It was not something that we lobbied the league for. When I looked at our schedule, I did not think that it would work out from a scheduling standpoint. I guess at the end of the day, the Chargers were willing to give up a home game down there, even though we’re a division team.”
Coming off his best performance of the season, Collin Johnson is injured again. He is not expected to miss time and will play on Saturday.
At his press conference Monday morning, Head Coach Tom Herman told reporters that star wide receiver Collin Johnson injured his hamstring on the game-winning drive against Kansas State.
Johnson will undergo an ‘aggressive’ treatment this week to make sure he is ready to go against Iowa State on Saturday afternoon. The wide receiver did injure his hamstring earlier in the year, but it is believed to be in a different spot this time around. He missed three games earlier this season with that injury.
#Texas WR Collin Johnson tweaked his hamstring on the final drive of the #KState game. It’s in a different spot than the previous injury and they’re going to treat it aggressively. #HookEm
Coming off his best game of the season, Johnson continues to be critical for the Longhorns. Not only does he create problems for defenses, but his presence lets other receivers get better.
Seven catches were the second-most in the game behind Duvernay and his 110 yards tied Duvernay for the most for either team. His touchdown came on a red-zone flea-flicker from quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
After defeating Purdue on Saturday, the Longhorns narrowly miss out on the top 25. Three other Big 12 teams are ranked, including No. 5 KU.
After the first week of college basketball, the second AP poll of the season was released Monday morning. Even after defeating previously ranked Purdue, the Longhorns are still on the outside look in, receiving 95 votes.
Here is the new poll:
Kentucky
Duke
Michigan State
Louisville
Kansas
North Carolina
Maryland
Gonzaga
Virginia
Villanova
Texas Tech
Seton Hall
Memphis
Oregon
Florida
Ohio State
Utah State
Saint Mary’s
Arizona
Washington
Xavier
Auburn
LSU
Baylor
Colorado
Others receiving votes:
Virginia Commonwealth 137, Florida State 112, Texas 95, Marquette 67, Tennessee 49, Providence 23, Purdue 21, Houston 18, Utah 14, Missouri 13, Arkansas 11, Mississippi State 9, Georgia 4, Liberty 3, San Diego State 2, Creighton 1, Dayton 1, Vermont 1
Three Big 12 teams are inside of the Top 25, as Kansas is the highest ranked at No. 5. Last year’s runner up Texas Tech lands at No. 11, while Baylor slides to No. 24 after a Friday night loss to Washington.
The ACC dominates the top of the poll, as five teams are inside of the top 10. If Texas can beat Georgetown in the 2K Empire Classic, there is a good chance they will face No. 2 Duke in the championship game.
Facing Cal Baptist and Prairie View at home this week, both games can be seen on Longhorn Network. Those two games are 2K Empire Classic campus games, before the real tournament that starts Nov. 21.
