Tag: social media

Teddy Bridgewater writes open letter to young athletes: ‘I was once in your shoes’

New Orleans Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater wrote an inspiring open letter to young athletes, musing on their shared experiences.

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is grateful to be where he is today, standing on his own two feet. His career could have ended on the Minnesota Vikings practice field, when he suffered a non-contact knee injury so severe that it nearly required amputation. While he did bounce back from it, that injury set his career back by years, and it’s made him introspective.

Bridgewater recently published an open letter to young athletes over his official social media accounts, initially writing it on Facebook before sharing it through Twitter and Instagram. In his message to those who look up to him (such as the children in his old Miami neighborhood), Bridgewater mused about the challenges he experienced and shares with them having grown up in an underprivileged community.

“To the young boy who woke up this morning and hand to prepare yourself for the harsh realities of this world on your own because your mama job schedule is hectic,” Bridgewater began, listing the difficulties he and others like him have faced growing up in single-parent, low-income households. He also identified personal struggles like speech impediments and lauded the sense of accomplishment he felt during football practice as a youngster. Read it for yourself:

It’s easy to see why Bridgewater has become such a popular figure within the Saints locker room, and why he’s so highly-regarded around the NFL. The list of players easier to root for in this league is very brief, with few having risen from such humble backgrounds and overcome such adversity. It’ll be fascinating to see where Bridgewater goes next in his career, but he’ll always be welcome in New Orleans.

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Broncos WR Courtland Sutton reacts to the #BroomChallenge

A viral tweet claimed that NASA said brooms would stand up on Monday only because of the earth’s gravitational pull.

On Monday, a viral tweet claimed that NASA said brooms would stand up on that day only because of the earth’s gravitational pull. There’s just one problem: NASA never said that.

Brooms can stand up on any day of the week — Sunday through Saturday — but that didn’t stop the #BroomChallenge from going viral on social media. The original tweet has been viewed nearly 7 million times.

Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton was among many Twitter users who were perplexed by the hoax.

Denver cornerback Davontae Harris chimed in, too — he simply wanted to see the challenge go away.

“This is another social media hoax that exemplifies how quickly pseudoscience and false claims can go viral,” NASA public affairs officer Karen Northon told USA TODAY’s Adrianna Rodriguez in an interview.

It was a harmless hoax, but a hoax nonetheless.

Sutton can take solace in knowing that he wasn’t the only one fooled.

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Since 2014, the NBA has been employing …

Since 2014, the NBA has been employing and experimenting with technology from an Israeli company called WSC Sports to analyze key moments of each game and spit out some of the best highlights. As social media has emerged as an important destination to reach fans, the need for more and customized highlights has grown. This All-Star weekend, the software will automatically create multiple clips and content for every single player.

“We developed this technology that …

“We developed this technology that identifies each and every play of the game,” said Shaka Arnon, general manager of WSC North America. The software uses machine learning or AI to take a combination of visual, audio and data cues to identify big moments in games to create shareable highlights. In 2019, WSC Sport said they produced over 13 million total clips and highlights.