A video message of Tucker welcoming back all former players is making the rounds on social media
New Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker has a message to all former Spartan players: “You are welcome here.”
A video on social media is making the rounds today of a message from Tucker to former players, saying they are all welcome in the program regardless of when they played, how much they won, who they played for, etc.
In the message Tucker says he wants the former players around the program as much as possible, even joking they can stand next to him at practice and hold his whistle.
It may seem like an obvious gesture, but having a strong, connected and passionate alumni base within the program can be very impactful. Michigan State has done that in the past and it’s good to see that continue with the new regime. Tucker also recently hosted a large video conference meeting with a bunch of former players and reportedly been reaching out to former players to make connections with them. He’s also hired a number of former players, including Darien Harris Director of Player Engagement, Harlon Barnett as Defensive Backs Coach, and Courtney Hawkins as Wide Receivers Coach.
Former New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley, whose famous field goal in overtime sent the team to Super Bowl XLIV, signed with the XFL.
Garrett Hartley earned his place in New Orleans Saints history by booting the 20-yard field goal to end overtime against the Minnesota Vikings in the 2009 NFC Championship Game, propelling the Saints to Super Bowl XLIV, their first title game in franchise history. Hartley hung around the NFL for a few more years, having last played in 2014 with the Cleveland Browns.
However, per a report from ESPN staff writer Kevin Seifert, Hartley is preparing to kick again professionally: now with the XFL. Hartley was one of several kickers to try out for the alternative football league, and he ended up signing a contract with them. It’s unclear which of the eight XFL teams he’ll play for, however — contracts are signed with the league itself rather than its member squads.
Still, it’s great to see Hartley get this opportunity. Other former Saints players like pass-rusher Hau’oli Kikaha and wide receiver Tommylee Lewis are trying their luck in the XFL, and some of Hartley’s past teammates such as wideout Robert Meachem also attended past tryouts. Hartley turns 34 in May, a month after the XFL’s inaugural season wraps up.
The startup league’s first games are scheduled for Feb. 8, in a double-header featuring matchups between the Seattle Dragons and D.C. Defenders (at 1 p.m. CT on ABC), as well as the L.A. Wildcats and Houston Roughnecks (at 5 p.m. CT on FOX). Maybe some former members of the black and gold can keep it going in the XFL.
Leaving the Cowboys has never been a better omen for these former players.
The Dallas Cowboys haven’t been to a Super Bowl in some time. It’s been so long, there’s been an entire generation of fans who have cheered for the squad without ever seeing them get past the divisional round.
As players come and go through the organization, sometimes they get opportunities never before afforded them. Such is the case for several former Cowboys players who have moved on to other franchises, some landing in San Francisco and Kansas City, earning their first trips to the Super Bowl in decades as well.
All in all, there are six former Cowboys players who will be participating in Super Bowl LIV in Miami in a few weeks; five players and one coach.
Miles Austin, 49ers offensive quality control
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Austin was actually in the scouting pipeline in Dallas and looked to get into coaching, but the turmoil that surrounded the team and hiring and shuffling of the offensive staff last offseason ended up with Austin on the outside looking in, and sending him out to the west coast to latch on with Kyle Shanahan’s staff.
LB Anthony Hitchens, Chiefs
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Hitchens left Dallas two seasons ago after the expiration of his rookie contract. He signed a huge deal with Kansas City, five years for $45 million, and has been part of their defensive revolution this season under DC Steve Spagnulo, logging 705 snaps, 62.9%. Hitchens, a former fourth-round pick, had 88 tackles a pass defense and a forced fumble in 2019.
CB Morris Claiborne, Chiefs
The Cowboys only had one player in recent memory who they drafted in the first round without spending time before the draft with. Claiborne, the former LSU standout is having himself a great week. First, his alma mater wins it all and now he’s earned a trip to the Super Bowl.
Dallas traded up for Claiborne, but injuries kept him from making an impact in Dallas and he eventually left for the AFC. A few years later he landed with the Chiefs where he’s played sparingly, logging 17.7% of their defensive snaps on the season.
LB Damien Wilson, Chiefs
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One year after Hitchens defected, so did Wilson. While he didn’t receive as sizable a deal (two years, $5.75 million), he played a slightly bigger role on the defense with 714 snaps on the season. He had 81 tackles, a pass defense and a forced fumble this season. Wilson was also a fourth-round pick, a year after Hitchens.
LB Mark Nzeocha, 49ers
Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Nzeocha was a seventh-round pick for the Cowboys in the same draft they selected Wilson. He was with the Cowboys as a special teams ace and has served in a similar fashion with the 49ers through three seasons by the bay.
CB Charvarius Ward, Chiefs
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This is the one that likely stings the most. Dallas thought they had a lot of riches at the position during training camp in 2018. So much so, they decided they could afford to trade Ward away, as a promising player at the back end of their roster.
The return? An interior offensive lineman named Parker Ehringer, who promptly blew out his knee and retired the next season without ever playing a down for Dallas. Meanwhile, Ward started all 16 games this year for Kansas City, bringing in two interceptions and having 74 tackles.
QB Matt Moore, Chiefs
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Earlier in the season, MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes injured his knee and had to miss a couple of games. The Kansas City offense was in good hands, however, as Moore came to the backup rescue. Moore went 1-1 in relief, throwing four touchdown passes against no interceptions, and that victory helped the Chiefs get a bye week that turned into home-field in the AFC championship game.
He never actually played for Dallas, but was in camp with them back in 2007 and was seen as one the organization let get away trying to be cute with their final roster cutdowns. Instead of joining the Cowboys’ practice squad, he went to Carolina and has carved out a decade-plus career in the league.
DE Damontre Moore, 49ers
Moore spent one season in Dallas and is currently on IR with San Francisco.
RB Mike Weber, Chiefs
Weber is on the Kansas City practice squad currently.
Former New Orleans Saints WR Joe Horn was charged with Pro Bowl RB Clinton Portis and several peers by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe Horn found himself in hot water on Thursday, when the U.S. Department of Justice charged a group of 10 retired NFL players with defrauding a league health care plan. Unlike the other former players in this group, Horn is being charged with a bill of information after agreeing to cooperate with government authorities. Other names on the list include former Pro Bowl running back Clinton Portis and his Washington Redskins teammates Carlos Rogers, Robert McCune and John Eubanks. A handful of other ex-NFL players round out the group.
According to the charges detailed in the DOJ report, retired NFL players including Horn submitted fraudulent claims totaling $3.9 million, with the league reimbursing $3.4 million of them between June 2018 and December 2018. Claims were made for expensive medical equipment in the range of $40,000 to $50,000 such as cryotherapy saunas, hyperbaric chambers, and electromagnetic therapy devices, but that equipment was never purchased.
Horn is charged along with the other defendants on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, but nine individual counts of wire fraud and nine different counts of health care fraud are also on the table. Penalties for these counts are as steep as 20 years in prison and up to $250,000.
It’s a developing story, and one worth watching as prosecutors proceed forwards. Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski held a press conference to announce the charges, saying, “Ten former NFL players allegedly committed a brazen, multimillion-dollar fraud on a health care plan meant to help their former teammates and other retired players pay legitimate, out-of-pocket medical expenses. Today’s indictments underscore that, whoever you are, if you loot health care programs to line your own pockets, you will be held accountable by the Department of Justice.”
This is certainly a disappointing turn for Horn, who played 103 of his 165 career NFL games with the Saints. He was one of the team’s most prominent players in the early 2000’s, though he lasted only 10 games once Saints coach Sean Payton was hired in 2006.
