Tag: FTW

Why the Bears have the first pick in the NFL Draft despite not finishing with the worst record

Here’s why Caleb Williams fell into the Bears’ lap.

There’s a funny quirk behind the Chicago Bears’ owning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which gives them the first crack at generational quarterback prospect Caleb Williams. (It’s odd they won’t be able to sell his jersey yet, though.)

Because usually, the team with the top pick had the league’s worst record the previous season. By no means were the 2023 Bears a good team. But rather than completely bottoming out, they went a middling 7-10, and without further investigation, it’s very easy to wonder why they have a chance to draft Williams in the first place.

Dearest readers, let me explain every step because it is not simple at all.

It started at the end of the 2022 NFL season. In the regular-season finale, the Houston Texans — who were in line for the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft — defeated the Indianapolis Colts thanks to a 4th and 20 Hail Mary. That Houston victory gave Chicago the No. 1 pick in last spring’s draft, a pick it actually owned the entire time thanks to a 3-14 record.

But rather than use that draft selection, the Bears opted to trade it to the Carolina Panthers for a king’s ransom draft haul that included Carolina’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft. After the Panthers finished with the league’s worst record this past season, that meant the Bears now owned the top pick … again.

This is also particularly wild because, according to Pro Football Talk, Chicago is the first NFL team in over four decades to net the No. 1 overall pick in a draft thanks to a trade from the previous year. I mean, c’mon.

What a roll of the dice.

Count your lucky stars, Bears fans. Because every single step that led you to Caleb Williams over the year and a half sure feels like divine intervention played a role.

Here’s why Bears fans can’t buy Caleb Williams jerseys (for now)

Well, this kinda rains on Bears’ fans parade about Caleb Williams.

Caleb Williams is one of the most hyped quarterback prospects in NFL draft history. And come Thursday night, the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite is a virtual lock (so much so that you can barely make any money betting on the decision) to become the next quarterback of the Chicago Bears — a franchise that hasn’t had a superstar offensive signal-caller in decades.

It’s a match made in heaven and a moment Bears fans have been waiting their entire lives for. Unfortunately, anyone so excited about the Williams pick that they want to buy his Chicago jersey right away might have to wait until some finer details are ironed out.

After ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed that projected top-5 pick Marvin Harrison Jr. has not yet signed his preliminary NFLPA licensing agreement –in effect meaning his jersey on his eventual team won’t be available until he signs it — President of BreakingT (and For The Win founder) Jamie Mottram revealed that Williams has also not signed his licensing deal.

That, of course, means Bears fans unfortunately can’t get their hands on Williams’ name in that glorious navy and orange uniform until the young man signs on the dotted line. Welp.

It’s admittedly not the worst news per se when you’re getting a great quarterback prospect. Still, I imagine the Bears and their fans will be chomping at the bit to ensure Williams’ jersey will be available online very soon.

Video showed the incredible reaction to Jamal Murray’s Game 2 buzzer-beater from the Nuggets broadcast

Jamal Murray’s buzzer-beater made the Nuggets’ announcers lose their minds.

Any time an NBA team comes back from 20 points down to win on a buzzer-beater, it will understandably have everyone go absolutely wild. The Denver Nuggets’ local broadcasters were no exception to this rule after Jamal Murray hit an iconic game-winning shot to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 on Monday night.

In a new video courtesy of Altitude Sports, the camera is fixated on Nuggets’ play-by-play Chris Marlowe and color analyst Scott Hastings as they watch Murray make his move on (a later frustrated) Anthony Davis. When the ball finally swishes through the hoop, an elated Marlowe and Hastings practically have an out-of-body experience trying to describe the chaotic scene.

Judging by the sheer pandemonium at Denver’s home arena, they weren’t the only ones:

Man, that is special. It is these kinds of legendary moments that make sports worth watching. It is these kinds of legendary moments where even the announcers are utterly flabbergasted at what they just witnessed.

Featured image courtesy of Altitude Sports

The Bears held an awkward prayer before asking the public to help fund their $4.6 billion new stadium

The Bears aren’t even pretending to respect their fans.

It is not enough that the Chicago Bears are asking the public for roughly $2.3 billion for a new stadium on the Chicago lakefront. They also have to be impossibly brazen and blatantly disrespectful about it, too.

On Wednesday, before they officially requested that Chicago taxpayers foot half the bill on their giant unnecessary toy in a press conference, the Bears began the session with an awkward prayer in a video from Fox Chicago posted by a Twitter user.

Yes, that is not a parody in the least. Yes, that actually happened. Yes, this is real life. Yes, the Bears clearly think extremely little of their fans if they’re pulling shameless stunts like this:

I was already beside myself that the Bears were going to ask Chicago taxpayers to give them a lot of money they don’t have themselves. But to use religion in any context to try and use regular people as a piggy bank is beyond the pale. It is a new low I did not see coming but probably should’ve expected.

Owner George McCaskey should be thoroughly embarrassed by this display.

Featured image courtesy of Fox Chicago.

Tyrese Haliburton took a brutal shot at the Bucks’ playoff crowd after the Pacers tied the series

Tyrese Haliburton is so unimpressed by Bucks fans.

In a playoff series that has been relegated to NBA TV, it sure seems like the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers are already getting very chippy with each other. And after Indiana tied the series on Tuesday night, star guard Tyrese Haliburton added more fuel to the fire as both teams now shift to Indianapolis for the next two games.

While talking about how excited he is to play in front of a Pacers’ playoff crowd, Haliburton proclaimed that the Milwaukee home postseason crowd has been weaker through two games than a standard Indiana regular-season game.

Oh, man. What a brutal parting shot to Bucks fans after tying the series:

There’s bulletin board material; then there’s throwing a canister of gas on a roaring flame. Haliburton probably just did the latter. I cannot wait for Game 3 of this series on Friday night. Get your popcorn ready, folks.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla sounded bizarrely excited while describing his reaction to Jayson Tatum’s scary fall

What an extremely weird thing for Joe Mazzulla to say about Jayson Tatum’s scary fall.

The Boston Celtics opened their 2024 NBA playoffs by absolutely pummeling a shorthanded Miami Heat team, who beat them in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. But in the late stages of a sure victory, the Celtics almost faced disaster during a key sequence between their franchise player Jayson Tatum and Miami’s Caleb Martin.

With Tatum trying to secure a harmless defensive rebound, Martin accidentally ran into Tatum in mid-air. That led to the Celtics’ star taking what looked like a serious fall on his back and neck.

Fortunately, Tatum got up immediately and appeared to be OK as Boston breathed a huge sigh of relief:

In the postgame, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had a rather unexpected tenor about the play. Rather than simply saying he was just thankful Tatum was alright before moving on, a seemingly dead-serious Mazzulla almost sounded thrilled that Tatum had an opportunity to … show his toughness after potentially getting seriously injured?

I don’t know, man. That’s the most charitable interpretation I could come up with. This whole below sequence is just so weird to hear from a professional head coach:

Truly, what an irresponsible thing to say.

The Celtics almost saw their season go up in flames with a vulnerable Tatum in mid-air, and Mazzulla stated he barely expressed any concern in the heat of the moment because he wanted to see Tatum’s response. C’mon now. We should be way past this kind of fake tough-guy attitude in professional sports.

76ers’ Paul Reed just gave the Knicks unnecessary bulletin-board material

The last thing the tough Knicks need is more motivation.

Everyone knows that, on paper, the New York Knicks are a better matchup for Eastern Conference NBA playoff teams this year than the Boston Celtics. It shouldn’t be controversial to think wanting the 50-win opponent over the one that won 64 games is better for your team’s chances.

But if you’re actually one of the players going up against the Knicks very soon, you probably shouldn’t share these thoughts in public. Oh no.

During Thursday’s episode of Run It Back on FanDuel TV, Philadelphia 76ers backup big man Paul Reed came on the show to discuss his team’s recent play-in win and their upcoming first-round series against the Knicks.

RELATED: For The Win’s 2024 NBA playoffs predictions, from dark horses to the NBA Finals. 

When asked about the 76ers’ play-in thought process in potentially playing the Knicks or Celtics, Reed openly said that the Knicks were the “easier” matchup. Again, that’s probably a true statement. But if you’re someone actually playing against that team, that’s not something you should say on television!

The Knicks are one of the best defensive teams in NBA basketball. They make you work for every single inch for all 48 minutes, and they beat you up in the process while doing it. While yes, the Knicks are likely an easier matchup than the Celtics, you typically don’t want to feed tough-nosed teams like them any bulletin-board material.

Good job to Paul Reed. He may have just motivated the grinding Knicks even more.

A.J. Brown really had to explain he wasn’t getting traded to the Patriots after using a Tom Brady profile picture

A.J. Brown couldn’t believe he had to explain why he used a Tom Brady profile picture.

Even after a disappointing 2023 Philadelphia Eagles season, A.J. Brown remains one of the NFL’s top receivers. From stretching defenses to getting yards after the catch on short passes, there is nothing this No. 1 playmaker can’t do — he even keeps receipts!

Brown showcased this by changing his Twitter profile picture to a photo of an excited Tom Brady during the 2015 New England Patriots season. Brown did this, thinking it would be a harmless gesture about a competitive mindset and where his head is in relation to any Eagles disrespect he’s seen this offseason.

Alas, dearest readers, he was so, so wrong.

As we all know, when you are a superstar professional athlete on any public platform, everyone on the internet speculates and talks about your every slight move almost to the point of obsession. (Well, sometimes on the obsession thought.) Unfortunately, this may as well be an unwritten “rule” in the clause of their contracts. So when Brown unveiled the Brady profile picture, fans online immediately thought this meant a shocking trade to the Patriots was underway.

How could they not? It’s the internet! If you can’t recklessly speculate and huff and puff online about a situation entirely out of your control, where can you?

We live in a society, people!

The Eagles’ star playmaker quickly quelled these concerns, maintaining that Brady was merely his favorite player growing up and that he was just trying to put himself in the mindset of a great player he felt was also doubted. At the same time, Brown noted that he couldn’t believe he actually had to explain that his social media appearance meant nothing about his Philadelphia future:

A good reminder here, everyone: Just because one of your favorite players did something “controversial” on social media, it does not mean the worst-case scenario is happening. Sometimes (most of the time?), it literally is what it is at face value.

Doris Burke gave JJ Redick hilarious advice about using Twitter after he ranted about a Joel Embiid criticism

Doris Burke listened to JJ Redick’s Joel Embiid rant and quickly realized the real problem.

Peruse NBA Twitter while Joel Embiid plays on any given night, and you might notice a common theme.

Some fans on the platform like to talk about how the Philadelphia 76ers superstar “baits” for free throw attempts rather than always relying on old-fashioned scoring. This criticism irked NBA analyst JJ Redick, who came to the defense of Embiid as he shot free throws during the 76ers’ play-in win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

However, as Redick passionately ranted about the unfairness of the Embiid critique, his ESPN broadcast partner Doris Burke noticed a particular tick in his tangent. When pressing Redick about where he got this Embiid criticism from, he revealed he read it on NBA Twitter.

Burke quickly joked that that was Redick’s problem in the first place: He was reading too much Twitter.

We have fair points from both Redick and Burke here.

Drawing fouls against NBA-caliber defenders is a skill, something that is not legislated against by league rules as long there is an actual foul. It’s also just smart because you’re not always going to have a clean shot at the basket, and getting to the line can be integral for your team. Also, someone of Embiid’s listed 7-foot, 280-pound stature probably is getting fouled that much because he’s just so big and strong, and no one can reasonably defend him one-on-one. (Note: Embiid has averaged over 11 free throw attempts per game over each of the last three seasons, which comfortably leads the NBA.)

To Burke’s point, yes, Redick was probably just reading too much Twitter. That is another evergreen lesson for us. Don’t spend too much time, if any, reading other random people’s opinions on social media.

Dawn Staley delivered a heartfelt message to Beyoncé for sending her flowers and swag

Dawn Staley is so lucky that Beyoncé is one of her biggest fans.

A Hall of Famer and perennial championship coach with South Carolina, Dawn Staley is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in basketball.

In fact, Staley is so influential that she’s now got one very appreciative super-fan: Beyoncé.

On Wednesday, Staley posted a video to her Twitter account revealing that the superstar singer sent her beautiful flowers, swag, and a message about how closely she followed Staley and South Carolina throughout this past entire season. It’s clear that Beyoncé put a lot of effort and thought into her appreciation of Staley.

Needless to say, Staley was jubilant to get her literal flowers from one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

Does it get any better than two respective legends in their fields coming together like this? What an awesome gesture from Beyoncé.