Titans’ Mike Brown ‘even Vikings players knew it was a bad call’

Tennessee Titans safety Mike Brown shares his thoughts on the penalty that could have changed the game.

The Tennessee Titans are recovering from their 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday while many fans across the league continue to figure out how Clete Blakeman’s officiating crew could be so bad.

Many on and off the field were upset with the egregious call, but for safety Mike Brown, it was business as usual and he moved to make an impact. After the game, Brown talked about the play. 

“I tried to make a play, but the referees thought different,” Brown said about the hit and the subsequent penalty. “No, I did hear any explanation. My teammates on the sideline said good play. They didn’t think it was a flag, but the referees think it’s a flag. Not much you can do once the referees do a flag.”

From the comments, the fact that Brown did not receive any explanation is troubling. Especially considering that Blakeman has doubled-down on the legitimacy of the call after the game. If it was truly unnecessary roughness or a players’ safety measure, why no explanation? 

“Some of the players from Minnesota that I know came up to me and thought it was a bad call,” Brown pointed out later in that media availability.

The fact that coaches, fans, and even opposing players in Nissan Stadium knew it was a bad call, and Blakeman could not own up to the mistake even after the game is a problem. Sure the league office will likely apologize later in the week, but real time accountability is needed and in this case would be justified. 

The Titans will take on the Houston Texans in Week 12 action and there is likely hope that Clete Blakeman and his crew are nowhere near the stadium. 

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NFL officials double down on incompetence after Titans game

Referee Clint Blakeman doubled-down on the penalty that sent shockwaves throughout Nissan Stadium and the Tennessee Titans’ fanbase.

The Tennessee Titans took on more than the Minnesota Vikings during Week 11, as they took on the officials as well. 

The Titans did not pay attention to detail and played a sloppy game overall, but some of the 13 penalties and 93 penalty yards were questionable at best. In fact, every Vikings touchdown drive was influenced mightily by the officials and their objectively incorrect calls. 

No call was more egregious than the fourth-down unnecessary roughness call on Mike Brown in the end zone. Not only did it allow the Vikings to get a new set of downs and eventually a touchdown, but it caused outrage throughout the fan base and again brought the officiating debacle into the spotlight, 

As the replay showed, Brown made a tremendous and legal play to separate the ball from Jordan Addison. He did not launch himself into the receiver. He made a clean defensive play. It is understandable that the officials approach the game with caution, but in a play of this magnitude, one has to ask if the officials have a complete understanding of the rules of the game. 

For head referee Clete Blakeman, who clearly does not understand the rule, here it is.

Article 9, Section b, Subsection 3 of the 2024 NFL Rulebook defines the term: “It is an illegal launch if a player (i) leaves one or both feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent, and (ii) uses any part of his helmet to initiate forcible contact against any part of his opponent’s body.”

Brown did not launch himself at Addison or initiate contact with his helmet. It was a terrible call, and to make things worse for fans, Blakeman doubled down on his interpretation of the rule during a post-game press availability. 


The NFL is a multi-billion dollar entity and should have better officials across the league or a transparent grading system that holds officials accountable for making improper game-changing calls. Today, Titans fans are upset, but this is not just a Titans problem; it is a huge blunder for the league because these signs of incompetence occur every week. 

The Titans were sloppy and could have played better, but their fate was in the hands of an officiating crew that clearly needed extra training and a better understanding of the rulebook.

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Mike Brown: Kayla Harrison ‘head and shoulders above the rest’ of UFC women’s bantamweights

Coach Mike Brown is confident Kayla Harrison is on the cusp of her latest piece of gold.

Although her sophomore appearance in the UFC didn’t produce an abundance of highlights for her all-time reel, coach [autotag]Mike Brown[/autotag] is confident [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] is on the cusp of her latest piece of gold.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo has spent the bulk of her career mostly dominating the PFL, where she won two $1 million 155-pound titles. She moved to the UFC earlier this year and debuted with a second-round finish of former women’s bantamweight champ Holly Holm.

Not only did Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) take out a former titleholder right out of the gate, but she made a successful debut at 135 pounds, as well – a full 20 pounds down from where she spent most of her time in the PFL. At UFC 307, she faced some second-round adversity against Ketlen Vieira (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), but ultimately won a unanimous decision.

Former WEC champ Brown, who now is her head coach at American Top Team, thinks Harrison’s arrival in the UFC will bring some luster back to the division that had Ronda Rousey as its founding champion before Holm, Miesha Tate, Amanda Nunes, Julianna Peña and Raquel Pennington.

“Kayla really is on another level than these other girls, and I think that she’s bringing back excitement to that division,” Brown told MMA Junkie. “I think that division really needs it. The level of talent is not super deep there.

“She is an outlier. She’s charismatic and she is, I think, head and shoulders above the rest of the females and I think with the way she talks and the way she looks and what she’s capable of, she brings a lot of excitement. I think (the division) needs it, and I think she’s going to do big things.”

Harrison seemed to position herself as the next challenger for the title just a few fights before then-former champ Peña (13-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) beat Pennington (16-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) by split decision to win back the belt at UFC 307 earlier this month.

But after Peña’s win, she didn’t acknowledge Harrison’s win over Vieira – and instead said she hopes Nunes comes out of retirement to fight in a trilogy matchup. Peña upset Nunes to win the title, but lost it to her in a rematch. Nunes then retired and vacated both the women’s bantamweight and featherweight belts.

Brown, like Harrison, thought Peña ignoring her will only go so far.

“We just laughed. We almost expected it,” Brown said. “I don’t think really the (bantamweight) girls want any piece of Kayla. I think she’s making her claim, and I think she’s the future of the division. It’s going to happen eventually. You can’t run from it forever. You might as well face the music.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Coach Mike Brown surprised by Jorge Masvidal’s shape in return to ATT: ‘He’s focused, and he’s ready’

UFC star Jorge Masvidal is preparing to return to the cage, and American Top Team coach Mike Brown was surprised by his readiness.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – One of the biggest MMA stars in recent years, [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag], is gearing up for a return to the cage, and American Top Team coach [autotag]Mike Brown[/autotag] was pleasantly surprised to see how good he looked when he returned to the mats.

Masvidal (35-17 MMA, 12-10 UFC) recently expressed his desire to make a comeback to MMA after retiring last April. He hasn’t been completely removed from combat sports, though. In July, he boxed against the man he fought in the inaugural BMF title fight, Nate Diaz.

Despite spending a majority of the past year focusing on boxing, Brown says Masvidal is already in shape to compete in MMA, and that includes the grind of wrestling, which is typically the most grueling aspect of the sport.

“I was actually surprised when Jorge came back to the gym, how good of shape he was in,” Brown told MMA Junkie. “He was actually in really good shape, and he had obviously been training, and I’m talking wrestling shape. He was jumping right in and wrestling with the best guys.

“He didn’t get out of shape. He’s focused, and he’s ready. He has that itch and wants to do it again. He’s obviously a big star. There’s a lot of matchups that I’m sure people want to see. There’s a lot of fights I would like to see.”

Masvidal called it a career the first time after losing four consecutive fights. He failed to top then-champion Kamaru Usman in back-to-back title fights, lost a Fight of the Night against Colby Covington, and then came up short against Gilbert Burns.

“Gamebred’s” path to a title shot would be long, especially considering how much the welterweight division has changed in such a short period. But that’s fine with Brown, who would rather him take fights against other established stars than up-and-coming contenders.

“I’d like to see him in a more exciting, like a BMF-type fight,” Brown said. “Nothing like (a title contender fight), I don’t know, like a (Justin) Gaethje type of guy. I always like the Diaz brothers, that would be great. Nate for the third time, whatever, you know?

“There’s 20 fights that would probably excite me with Jorge. He’s exciting, man. He’s always fun to watch. He’s the man.”

Masvidal, 39, saw his popularity grow astronomically after his five-second flying knee knockout of Ben Askren in 2019. He followed that up by becoming the winner of the first-ever BMF title fight by stopping Nate Diaz. Although he hit a rough patch of results, Brown is excited to see him get back to action.

“I say it all the time: I think he’s got more weapons than anybody in the sport. He’s got so much technique, so much skill and can do so many different things. He’s fun to watch, and he’s also good on the mic as well.”

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Titans-49ers preseason Week 1: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The Tennessee Titans won their Week 1 preseason game against the 49ers. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The Tennessee Titans started their 2024 preseason with a 17-13 win against the reigning 2023 NFC champion San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night.

After the 49ers scored a touchdown on their first drive, the Titans’ first-team offense responded with two consecutive scores and added a field goal in the second half to round out the scoring.

The Titans secured the win with an interception by linebacker Chance Campbell on the final play of the game.

Now let’s take a closer look at the snap counts that contributed to the Titans’ Week 1 preseason victory.

Offensive snaps: 71
Defensive snaps: 56
Special teams snaps: 19

Offensive lineman Lachavious Simmons led the team with 57 snaps, earning a nice long look from head coach Brian Callahan. Linebacker Chance Campbell, our Player of the Game after his win-sealing interception, was next up with 45 snaps.

The special teams rotation was certainly interesting with only linebacker James Williams and safety Mike Brown receiving double-digit snaps.

Overall, the Titans spread the wealth around with 19 more players taking snaps than the 49ers. It was a look for almost the entire roster and that film will help help the coaching staff make final decisions when it comes time to set the 53-man roster.

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Mike Brown confirms Bengals, Evan McPherson contract extension talks

The Bengals want to get one of their key pieces extended.

The Cincinnati Bengals have kicker Evan McPherson in mind for an extension.

So confirmed Mike Brown himself at Monday’s annual luncheon, revealing that the talks have already happened.

Brown said the following, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway: “We’ve been talking to Evan McPherson, we’re hoping we can get there with him.”

A fifth-round pick in 2021, McPherson is one of the franchise’s most accurate kickers to date and enters 2024 on the last year of his rookie deal.

The Bengals like to get extensions done before the season, so this one isn’t a shocker — especially for a kicker who has hit 83.9 percent of his overall attempts, including 21 of 28 from 50-plus yards.

Before this, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin confirmed contract extension talks with Ja’Marr Chase.

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Mike Brown before UFC 302: Dustin Poirier most stressful fighter to corner ‘by a long shot’

Mike Brown could only laugh when asked which of his fighters stresses him out the most during a fight.

American Top Team head coach [autotag]Mike Brown[/autotag] could only laugh when asked which of his fighters stresses him out the most while cornering them.

Brown will be in [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag]’s corner when he challenges Islam Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) for the lightweight title in Saturday’s UFC 302 (pay-per-view/ESPN2/ESPN+) main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Brown picked Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC) as the most stressful fighter to corner, pointing to his continuous guillotine choke attempts in his past win against Benoit Saint Denis – even though he kept advising him not to. Poirier has never won a fight by guillotine choke.

“He’s No. 1 by far,” Brown told CBS Sports. “By a long shot. I also care about it, so the more you care, the more you’re going to be stressed. He can make it harder on himself sometimes, and he’s his own guy. At the end of the day, he does what he wants to do. When he has something in his head, he’s going to do it. Like the guillotine is a good example. If he wants to jump the guillotine, he’s jumping the guillotine.”

Poirier eventually abandoned the guillotine and wound up knocking out Saint Denis. Poirier’s insistence of jumping the guillotine has become a running joke, with “The Diamond” not ruling out the possibility of trying it against Makhachev, too.

“He’s great at what he does, and he does have a good guillotine,” Brown said. “And he was damn close in that fight. They were close, but you also could’ve knocked him out. Every time you hit him, you were hurting him.

“At least when you’re hitting him, you’re not getting caught underneath. Every time you jump, you’re underneath and you’re putting yourself in a bad position. So it’s just a percentage game. Yeah, you can finish him, but we want to play the percentages.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.

Kings coach Mike Brown on tough emotions after Bulls comeback win

Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown expressed the team’s dissappointment after the Chicago Bulls’ comeback win.

On Wednesday night, the Sacramento Kings had a win in the bag. They stomped the Chicago Bulls for the first three quarters of the game, amassing a 22-point lead at the height of their dominance in the third. It was an impressive display and one that a middling Kings team needed amidst their recent up-and-down stretch. But they didn’t win.

Instead, the Bulls stormed all the way back throughout the fourth quarter behind a 19-point final frame from DeMar DeRozan. Coby White even finished the night with a career-high 37 points. Chicago stole a win in Sacramento, and the Kings were devestated.

After the game, Kings head coach Mike Brown expressed the disappointment his team was feeling post-game.

“Obviously, everybody’s down because it was a winnable game,” Brown said via ESPN. “Even though we feel like we didn’t play well, we still felt it was a winnable game. We felt like we let this one slip through our fingers, and so it’s tough right now. It’s tough for anybody to swallow this one.”

The Kings may not be too pleased, but this was a huge win for the Bulls.

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6 incidents that had NBA coaches fuming over referees this season, including Steve Kerr’s Nuggets rant

NBA coaches seem a lot angrier than usual with referees this year.

The NBA has an officiating problem. That is, at least, if you listen to many of the head coaches around the association this season.

In a year that should be defined by stories like the Denver Nuggets’ pursuit of back-to-back championships, the rise of the young Oklahoma City Thunder, and Joel Embiid’s title pursuit with the Philadelphia 76ers, it feels like there’s a coach raging about skewed officiating seemingly every other night. Unfortunately, such a saga will often take precedence over more compelling on-court stories about some of the league’s better teams and brighter stars.

We’re over halfway into this NBA regular season, and we’ve already got more than a few doozies where coaches publicly ripped referees. Let’s take a look at some of the more high-profile incidents (so far).

Kings coach Mike Brown gives ultimate respect to Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey

Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown has the ultimate respect for Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey.

PHILADELPHIA — One of the rising stars in the NBA, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey continues to turn heads. He has had one of the tougher challenges in the league as he has had to take over the starting point guard spot after the James Harden saga.

Maxey hasn’t blinked as he’s averaging 26.1 points and 6.6 assists while shooting 45.1% from the floor. He has been fearless in every sense of the word and his development continues to be one of the fastest in the NBA.

Before the Sixers knocked off the Sacramento Kings 112-93 on Friday, Maxey received a lot of praise from Kings coach Mike Brown.

“Man, that dude is just explosive,” said Brown. “He’s a small guy. When you’re talking about the traditional explosive guys. The LeBrons (James) and stuff like that. He’s not Allen Iverson, but he’s fearless like AI was. When you have as explosive as they are and he’s fearless, meaning they don’t care how many times they get knocked to the ground. They don’t care who they see in front of them.”

There are so many ways Maxey can beat a team. He can knock down a deep, step-back triple, he can get to the basket and finish around taller defenders, he can knock down a mid-range jumper, and he can also accelerate and stop on a dime to score.

There are not a lot of players in the NBA who can do what he does on a nightly basis.

“They’re gonna take the 3 when it’s open,” Brown continued of Maxey. “They’re gonna take the pull-up if it’s open or they’re gonna dunk on you if there’s a lane. When you have that, man, it’s hard to guard because of his quickness and all the other athletic attributes that he has mixed in with his skill set so he’s gonna be a tremendous talent in this league for a long time.”

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