Chiefs TE Travis Kelce got emotional at Jason Kelce’s retirement press conference

The #Chiefs tight end was visibly emotional at Jason Kelce’s retirement press conference on Monday.

The offseason is rolling along as free agency looks next week, with many players expected to change teams. The period is also when some players announce their intentions for the new season or retire from the league.

The latest great NFL player to call it a career is Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce. The 13-year professional is considered one of the greatest to play his position, and a can’t miss first ballot Hall of Famer. Jason’s brother Travis has continued to support his brother’s decision to Monday’s press conference.

The younger brother was pictured sitting next to his mother, Donna, visibly emotional watching Jason deliver his retirement speech to a room full of reporters.

“I announce that I am retiring from the NFL after 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles,” said Jason, trying to hold back more tears. “Thank you, Philadelphia, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for letting me represent this city and allowing me into your homes every Sunday.”

Travis had defended the initial belief that Jason would be retiring since the Eagles lost in the wild-card round of the postseason. The duo appeared in recent episodes of the New Heights podcast while Jason continued to mull his decision.

WATCH: Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard discusses what went wrong in loss to Iowa

What do you think went wrong for Wisconsin in its loss to Iowa?

Wisconsin basketball has lost five of its last six games after Saturday’s 88-86 overtime loss to Iowa.

The game was closely contested throughout. Each team had several chances with the ball to seal the game late, but Iowa’s Tony Perkins took advantage of his opportunity.

Related: Wisconsin basketball social media angry after crushing overtime loss to Iowa

The loss drops the Badgers to 17-9 overall and 9-6 in Big Ten play. Not only is the Big Ten title out of the equation, but the team’s NCAA Tournament seed is slipping by the day.

The most glaring stats from the loss are Iowa’s shooting numbers. The Hawkeyes shot 52.6% and made 24 of 30 free-throw attempts. The Badgers’ defense was nowhere to be seen in the second half as Iowa gained easy shot attempts every time down the court.

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard spoke after the game about what went wrong in the loss:

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

‘Not trying to re-invent the wheel here’: Mike Zimmer looks to boost ‘pretty good’ Cowboys defense

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator puts to rest the past weekend’s drama and says he looks forward to working toward a title in Dallas.

It worked out exactly the way Mike Zimmer and the Cowboys wanted it to.

Despite several days of will-they-or-won’t-they regarding the 67-year-old’s return to Dallas as defensive coordinator, Zimmer told reporters at his introductory press conference that he “always kind of hoped” he would be back with the organization that gave him a Super Bowl ring in the mid-’90s.

“I wanted to be somewhere where I knew people and I trusted people,” Zimmer said Wednesday. “So when this opportunity came up, I was excited.”

As for that lull over the weekend where Rex Ryan noted the lack of a signed contract and even publicly lobbied for the Dallas job live from the ESPN desk, Zimmer says there was no last-minute second-guessing going on behind the scenes.

He was sick over Super Bowl Weekend, he explained, and the agreement had already been reached anyway.

“We kind of slow-played it and kind of went from there,” Zimmer said. “It wasn’t any intense negotiation or anything like that. I knew I wanted to be here; I knew they wanted me to be here. It wasn’t any big deal.”

So Ryan and the conspiracy theorists can settle down.

“I see a lot of Rex Ryan comments,” Zimmer deadpanned.

Now that it’s official, the hire will bring together two coaches who became quite familiar with one another from opposing sidelines in the NFC North. McCarthy recalled hard-fought battles between his Packers and the rival Vikings during Zimmer’s eight years as head coach in Minnesota.

Zimmer did the same.

“When I was in in the NFC North, he was the one I respected most. They were the best team, they were the most well-coached, the teams played the right way. We tried to emulate a lot of those things so we could hopefully compete against them.”

Now he’ll compete alongside McCarthy and complement his offense. And he’ll have as a starting point a defensive unit that’s already among the league’s best.

“We’re not trying to re-invent the wheel here. You know, they’ve been pretty good,” he told reporters. “We want to take the good things that they’ve done and maybe add a few more other things that we’ve done good in the past and try to make this thing manageable where we’re disciplined and we’re well-coached, we play together as a team, and we try to make sure everybody understands their role so that other people on the field can have success doing their job.”

Zimmer did hint that certain dynamics might change under his command, however, particularly given his often fiery handling of players.

“There’s a reputation out there that I’m a jerk or something like that. It is what it is, I guess,” Zimmer explained. “But since it was announced that I was going to be here, I’ve heard from so many players that played for me … texting me and said how happy they are for me. I think if I was such a jerk, I wouldn’t be hearing from those guys.”

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Zimmer readily admitted to a “demanding” coaching style and dropped names of several players who he’s had past run-ins with, including Adam “Pacman” Jones and Anthony Barr, but he was quick to offer that there was always a higher reason for driving some of his players harder.

“The ones that want to be great,” Zimmer pointed out, “they want to be coached. They want to study. They want to understand how they can get better.”

And making the entire Cowboys defense better and ultimately getting them back to the Super Bowl is more than just a contributing factor as to why Zimmer has returned.

“There is no other reason,” he said. “My grandkids are fine and all that, but I can see them anytime. I didn’t come here to do all the work that we need to do if we’re not trying to win the championship.”

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Twitter roasts Kadarius Toney after bizarre assertion at Super Bowl press conference

Fans on Twitter roasted #Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney after he told a reporter he is a No. 1 receiver at a Super Bowl LVIII press conference.

Kadarius Toney’s tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs has had its share of ups and downs, but after his dismal start to the 2023 season, many fans in Western Missouri have lost faith in his ability to be a viable weapon for Patrick Mahomes in Andy Reid’s offense.

Despite his struggles, Toney remains on the Chiefs’ roster ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, and may even see action in Kansas City’s February 11 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.

During Super Bowl opening night on Monday, Toney was asked about his role in the Chiefs’ offense, and whether he could still be the team’s No. 1 option at the wide receiver position.

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His response left fans scratching their heads.

“If I get the ball, yeah,” Toney told a reporter when queried about his role.

Twitter wasn’t so convinced that a higher volume of targets would get Toney back on track, and the veteran receiver was roundly roasted for his quote.

Check out some of the top reactions to Toney’s bizarre assertion:

Brad Holmes: Lions will be ‘very intentional about our intangibles’ in adding players

Detroit GM Brad Holmes says the Lions will be “very intentional about our intangibles” in adding players

Lions GM Brad Holmes has a keen eye for talent. He’s proven that over the years as the man in charge of picking the players for the Detroit Lions, as well as his prior role as the director of college scouting for the Los Angeles Rams.

For Holmes, seeing the talent is the easy part. He wants players with more than just the physical gifts in potential draftees and free agent signings for his Lions. He made that abundantly clear in his year-ending press conference on Monday.

“We have to get past just looking for the most talented player,” Holmes stated.” In my opinion, that’s the prerequisite of evaluation. That’s the – who’s the fastest? Who’s the strongest? Who’s got the most height? That’s a very coherent thing to do. No, it’s how do you find the right intangibles in a football player? And that’s what’s made us who we are.”

Holmes cited 2021 fourth-round pick Amon-Ra St. Brown as an example of a player who “had the intangibles that we were looking for to set our foundation.”

If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s in lockstep with what head coach Dan Campbell said last week,

“We’ve got to add more talent, more competition that thinks the same way that group of guys in that locker room does. And it’s non-negotiable if it’s not. There’s no level of talent that is worth bringing something that doesn’t fit what we’re about in there.”

That might lead to some external criticism. Holmes called out some individual reporters who had slammed some of the picks the team has made. It’s clear Holmes, Campbell and company are looking for more than just talent. They want specific types of individuals who happen to have great talents.

Or, as Holmes summarized,

“It just goes back to what we build and being very intentional about our intangibles and what we’re looking for in Detroit Lions.”

Dan Campbell, Lions looking to add specific types of talent this offseason

Dan Campbell and Lions looking to add specific types of talent this offseason, and some fans might not like it

It’s the time of year when Lions fans love to look at the players available in free agency and the 2024 NFL draft. It’s fun to ponder the possibilities of adding more talent to the team.

Head coach Dan Campbell knows the Lions need to keep adding more talent. However, he has made it clear in the past that just because players are talented doesn’t automatically make them a good fit.

Campbell doubled down on the idea of culture trumping talent — with zero exceptions.

“Yeah, I think the whole point was to create a core that had certain standards,” Campbell stated last week. “Obviously, they’ve got to be good players and we have that. But they’ve got to be a certain way and there’s got to be a certain mindset and a certain identity, and we have that with our core. And we’ve got to add pieces that are like-minded.”

Campbell continued with an edict that players who don’t fit the core identity will not be considered, period.

“We’ve got to add more talent, more competition that thinks the same way that group of guys in that locker room does. And it’s non-negotiable if it’s not. There’s no level of talent that is worth bringing something that doesn’t fit what we’re about in there.”

Let that last sentence resonate in your mind as you think about players the Lions might sign in free agency or select in the 2024 NFL draft.

“There’s no level of talent that is worth bringing something that doesn’t fit what we’re about in there.”

Campbell didn’t specifically state what types of things would preclude consideration. Based on several pronouncements in the past from both Campbell and GM Brad Holmes, the mantra of smart, physical players who love football and embrace being a reliable, responsible teammate is what the Lions are looking for.

Remember his words:

“There’s no level of talent that is worth bringing something that doesn’t fit what we’re about in there.”

Highlights from Brian Gutekunst’s press conference to end 2023 Packers season

All the important things to know from Brian Gutekunst’s press conference to end the 2023 Packers season.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst wrapped up the 2023 season by answering questions for roughly 30 minutes inside Lambeau Field. His young team — led by Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love — went 9-8 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs during a rollercoaster but exciting season.

Here are the highlights from Gutekunst’s season-ending press conference:

— Gutekunst said he’s “excited to build around” Jordan Love moving forward.

— Any consideration to trading Jaire Alexander: “No.” Said he is proud of the way Alexander responded to Week 17 suspension.

— Believed Anders Carlson was “by far” the best option at kicker for the Packers. Excited about where he’s headed.

— On wanting Aaron Jones back: “Absolutely.” Called Jones a “difference maker ” on the field, an “influential leader” in the locker room and the “heartbeat of the team.”

— Confirmed the Packers and Love’s representation will move forward on contract negotiations over the next few months. Said an extension is important for the “stability” of the team.

— Not expecting major shift in what Packers want in defensive players under Jeff Hafley. NFL is still mostly a 4-2-5 nickel defense.

— On free agency/cap situation: “We’re getting to a little bit better spot.” Feels good about team’s spot going into free agency and the ability to add players if need be.

— On Love: Proud of the way he went through his first season as a starter. Learned how to play the position at the line of scrimmage and led teammates in games. “He’s got very, very high upside.”

— Expecting 11 draft picks. Thinks they’ll have “more volume at the top,” which should allow more flexibility. Included possibility of using picks to acquire veteran players in trades.

— On Rasheed Walker: “He did a great job. You have to give that kid a lot of credit.” Said he fought through some injury things and was a “warrior” in 2023. Thinks he can play on the left and right side. Wants more competition in the offensive line. “Has a bright future.”

— On Zach Tom: “He played really well at right tackle this year.” Can play all five spots, can be good at all five spots. Says Packers want the best five for the offensive line.

— On Jeff Hafley’s defense: Believes versatility — especially in the defensive front — will pay off with a defensive coordinator change. Hafley’s influence will have “some” effect on personnel but not substantial.

— On Christian Watson: Said he’s an “impactful player.” Packers looking into ways of helping Watson and others staying on the field. Says some young players need time to get into a groove with their process.

— On safety: “Pretty solid at safety” in the draft/free agency class. Need to “add numbers” at safety. Important position in today’s game.

— Said Packers have Super Bowl expectations in 2024 but that isn’t new. Thought Packers were going to the Super Bowl before late collapse in San Francisco.

3 years later: No more sweating bullets for Lions fans on the Dan Campbell hiring

It’s the 3-year anniversary of Dan Campbell’s epic introductory press conference, and my how times have changed the perception

On this day three years ago, January 21st of 2021, the Detroit Lions introduced Dan Campbell as their new head coach. The hiring was not necessarily the most popular choice for the perennially downtrodden franchise. Campbell had scant head-coaching experience and an unknown relationship with new GM Brad Holmes.

January 21st unleashed the mother of all introductory press conferences. The intensity and violence Campbell exuded were straight out of a Megadeth song. Watching it had many Lions fans sweating bullets.

While Campbell leans to Metallica, the Megadeth classic “Sweating Bullets” lyrics were certainly applicable on that day.

Feeling paranoid, true enemy or false friend?

Anxiety’s attacking me and my air is getting thin

Lions fans wanted to trust in the risk in the one-time Detroit tight end and the kneecap biting he espoused. But many also bought into the narrative that this new hire would wind up being a punchline, an embarrassment for a franchise that was just coming off a symphony of Patriot Way destruction. For many, the countdown to another coaching extinction began on that fateful day three years ago.

Hindsight is always 20/20

Looking back, it’s still a bit fuzzy

Three years later, we can look back and laugh at the cryptic writings from so many outlets on that day. The dystopia they predicted never materialized. The endgame they mocked to Detroit in 2021 instead sees Campbell and the Lions hosting a playoff game today after winning one last week. The system did not fail!

Hello me, it’s me again

You can subdue, but never tame me

Now the rest of the league is sweating bullets over Campbell’s architecture of aggression in Detroit. The Lions are conjuring something special under Campbell. So far, so good…

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McCarthy: Cowboys have ‘established a championship program. It’s just not the world championship yet.’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The embattled coach spoke of “hard, direct questions” from Jerry Jones that will nevertheless give him a 5th season to try to win in Dallas.

Mike McCarthy hosted his annual end-of-season press conference on Thursday, secure in the knowledge that he would remain the Cowboys head coach for 2024.

That in and of itself is enough to have a significant faction of Cowboys Nation expecting his fifth season with the club to bring more of the same: regular-season fireworks followed by a big fat postseason dud. While the 60-year-old coach repeatedly used words like “raw” and “numb” and “emotional” to describe his feelings about how the team’s latest promising season went up in flames in the early rounds of the playoffs, McCarthy was clear about one thing.

“The reality of it is, this team’s going to change,” McCarthy said. “We’re going to have changes.”

As for what exactly those changes might look like, though, it’s too early in the offseason evaluation process for McCarthy to say.

“We’re just getting started,” he vowed.

Many — and perhaps most –– observers believed Sunday’s embarrassing blowout at the hands of the Packers in the wild-card round would instead be the ending to McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas. The 48-32 home loss marked the third January in a row that saw the Cowboys fail to reach the conference championship and extended the franchise’s Super Bowl drought to 28 years.

And while McCarthy asserted that he and his players “take no responsibility” for the shortcomings of Cowboys squads from past eras, he had a message for supporters who will now have no choice but to continue to look to his group to end a wait that’s closing in on three decades.

“We have an unbelievable fan base, and they should be frustrated. We’re extremely disappointed. Disappointed for them, disappointed in our performance,” McCarthy said.

“But my message would be this: We’ve established a championship program. It’s just not the world championship yet. We know how to win, we know how to train to win, we have the right people, but we have not crossed the threshold [of] winning playoff games. It’s extremely disappointing to sit here talking about it. But I know how to win, and we will get over that threshold. I have total confidence, and that’s why I’m standing here today.”

Jerry Jones had commented that Sunday’s wild-card loss was as shocking a setback as he can remember in his ownership, prompting widespread rumors that McCarthy would be relieved of his duties – even with a year remaining on his contract — in favor of one of the high-profile coaching candidates currently on the open market.

In a statement delivered Wednesday evening that followed reports McCarthy would remain in place, Jones said he had “great confidence” in McCarthy, citing his regular-season winning percentage (higher than any of his eight predecessors, by .002 of a point) as the reason why “the best step forward” for the organization is to continue “the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership.”

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The coach characterized his three-hour meeting with Jones on Wednesday as productive and wide-ranging. And while he conceded there were “hard, direct questions” from his 81-year-old billionaire boss, McCarthy suggested that he never felt he had to go into that conversation fighting to keep his job.

“We talked about everything: the right, the wrong, the indifferent, what we need to build off of. I don’t know if there’s much we didn’t talk about, as far as topics that apply to the football operation. Hard conversation, definitely, throughout a number of points here, but they’re conversations that I personally always look forward to. I’ve never walked out of a one-on-one with Jerry where I didn’t think I was better, one way or the other.”

McCarthy may feel better about his standing with the Cowboys now that his fifth season on the job is secure, but Cowboys fans will likely need a bit more convincing that the team can be better with him still at the helm.

McCarthy talked about having established “a championship program … just not the world championship yet.”

Problem is, that second kind is the only one that anybody really cares about.

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Mickey Loomis on Saints’ 2017 draft stars Lattimore, Ramczyk

Mickey Loomis shared few details (but differing outlooks) on Saints 2017 draft stars Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramczyk:

You can point to some moments in the New Orleans Saints’ recent history as important milestones or turning-points — one of them being the team’s historic 2017 draft class, which started with a pair of future Pro Bowlers. The Saints owned two picks in the first round that year and spent them on two instant starters in cornerback Marshon Lattimore and offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

But both players’ futures with the team are in doubt. Time and injuries and drama behind the scenes have prompted speculation that neither of them could be long for New Orleans. And when Saints general manager Mickey Loomis spoke to reporters on Wednesday in his end-of-year press conference, he was short on details, but offered vastly-different messages on each of them.

Let’s start with Ramczyk. He’s missed 13 games over the last three years with a persistent knee injury, including the last three matchups in 2023. Ramczyk has been dealing with a degenerative cartilage condition and said earlier this year that career-ending surgery is an option in the offseason, and while Loomis didn’t go into details, he did share a more-uplifting perspective on the right tackle’s outlook.

“I have a positive feeling about where he’s going to end up,” Loomis said. “And I think he does as well.”

That sure suggests Ramczyk will be back in 2024, even if Loomis didn’t spell it out clearly. But what about Lattimore?

Lattimore has missed a full 17-game season’s worth of matchups over the last two years, but the injuries were unrelated. This year he got rolled up on by a teammate while helping finish a tackle, and missed the final seven games with a slow-to-heal high ankle sprain (which typically sideline NFL players for six to eight weeks). The year before, Lattimore suffered internal organ injuries in a freak accident when he collided with other players while rallying to the ball. Both times he got hurt while cleaning up someone else’s mistake.

Rumors have swirled about discord between Lattimore and Saints head coach Dennis Allen leading to a possible trade. And the Saints made that more likely by restructuring Lattimore’s contract for 2024 to center on an option bonus, not a signing bonus, which his new team would be responsible for paying.

But when asked about that decision, Loomis kept his hands close to his vest, saying the restructure was about cap management. On the unique option bonus maneuver, he responded: “There’s a reason but I’m not going to get into it.”

That’s not exactly telling the world that Lattimore is available and the Saints are open for business, but it’s awful close. Trading one of the best defenders in pro football wouldn’t make a lot of fans happy, and the optics of giving Lattimore the boot while keeping a head coach with a career-losing record would be awful. But that appears to be a path Loomis is willing to tread even if it’s expensive and unpopular.

So while we’re reading the tea leaves here, Loomis’ comments suggest that Ramczyk will be back in 2024, but Lattimore may not be, if the team can find a trade partner. Or at least the team is prepared for life without their star cornerback. Or maybe we’re reading his words all wrong. Either way, it’s shaping up for another eventful Saints offseason. Hopefully a successful season and return to the playoffs is waiting on the other side of it.

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