Tag: Vaughn McClure

Beautiful touch by Vikings to honor memory of ESPN’S Vaughn McClure

The Minnesota Vikings with a sweet touch to honor the late Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com.

The adage is no cheering in the press box. However, there was good reason to give the Minnesota Vikings a hand on Sunday as they paid tribute to ESPN’s Vaughn McClure before the game with the Atlanta Falcons.

McClure covered the Falcons for ESPN. He died last week at the age of 48.

It followed a tribute from Notre Dame on Saturday.

McClure used to cover Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and the Tribune’s Irish Sports Report magazine from 1999-2004 and later for the Chicago Sun-Times. He was honored during the Fighting Irish’s 12-7 win over Louisville Saturday with an honorary spot in the press box and a photo.

Notre Dame Press Box Pays Tribute to Vaughn McClure

Even if you haven’t covered Notre Dame football in years, it doesn’t mean you’ve been forgotten.

Even if you haven’t covered Notre Dame football in years, it doesn’t mean you’ve been forgotten. That’s the case with Vaughn McClure, the former Irish reporter for the South Bend Tribune, who died this week at the age of 48. McClure, whose picture was in Notre Dame Stadium’s press box for Saturday’s game against Louisville, wrote about the Irish for both the newspaper and its Irish Sports Report magazine during a tenure that spanned from 1999 to 2004. Since 2013, he had been ESPN’s beat reporter for the Atlanta Falcons.

Eric Hansen, the Tribune’s assistant sports editor and columnist, also used to be the aforementioned magazine’s managing editor. In the paper’s story about McClure, Hansen said the following:

“To try to sum up Vaughn McClure’s impact in a couple of paragraphs is like trying to pour the Pacific Ocean into thimble.

When we hired him in 1999, his goal — his obsession, really — was being better at his craft than the day before. And I’ve never seen someone grow as fast and as dramatically in our business as Vaughn, which isn’t even the most impressive thing about him.

What was? It’s who he was at his core, a man who wanted to make a difference in the world. Through his writing. Through some very frank late-night talks about life in America. Through his hugs. Through his disarming smile.

He didn’t just crush his mission of getting better. He made all of us, who came in contact with him, better people along the way.”

 

Matt Ryan shares tribute to Falcons beat reporter after sudden death

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was among those to share his thoughts on McClure’s passing, posting the following tribute on Twitter.

The sports world was shocked and saddened to learn of the death of ESPN beat reporter Vaughn McClure in his Atlanta home on Thursday.

McClure, who was just 48 years old, had been covering the Falcons beat since 2013. His tragic death has been hard on both his colleagues and the players on the team that got to know him well over the years.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was among those to share his thoughts on McClure’s passing, posting the following tribute on Twitter.

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Atlanta Falcons beat reporter passes away

On Thursday it was reported that ESPN’s Atlanta Falcons beat reporter, Vaughn McClure, passed away at the age of 48 in his Atlanta home.

On Thursday, it was announced that ESPN’s Atlanta Falcons beat reporter, Vaughn McClure, passed away at the age of 48 in his Atlanta home.

McClure was one of the most reputable and respected journalists in the industry and truly will be missed by many Falcons fans.  He joined ESPN’s NFL coverage team in 2013 after spending six years with the Chicago tribune.

The Falcons’ Twitter account released the following statement.

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Falcons OC says only question mark for Todd Gurley is durability

Atlanta Falcons OC Dirk Koetter talks about the concerns with former Georgia football star, new Falcons running back Todd Gurley.

Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was pretty straight forward with the media about new running back Todd Gurley and his health concerns.

The 25-year-old sixth year pro is reportedly dealing with arthritis in his surgically repaired left knee.

Per ESPN‘s Vaughn McClure:

“He can still do it. It’s just a matter of how often can he do it,” Koetter said.

After being released by the L.A. Rams, Gurley returned to Georgia to sign a one-year $5.5 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason. The former Georgia football star was drafted by the Rams in 2015 NFL Draft and in his five seasons Gurley made three Pro Bowls while being named to the All-Pro team twice, in addition to winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2017.

However, in 2019, Gurley’s knee issues surfaced and the Rams questioned his durability – ultimately leading to his release just two years after signing a four-year extension worth $45 million guaranteed.

“This guy, when he’s at his best, he’s got speed, he’s got power, he can break tackles, he’s elusive, he can catch the ball out of the backfield,” Koetter continued. “We’ve all seen what he can do. His accolades speak for themselves. We just have to see how healthy he is and how consistently he can do it.”

Gurley’s deal with the Falcons is still awaiting a physical and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Falcons staff hasn’t been able to evaluate him just yet.

“I know from talking to Todd that he’s fired up to be coming back to Georgia. He can do everything. He’s an excellent runner. He’s good in the pass game. He can protect. The main question that no one seems to know is, ‘What’s his health status? What’s his workload?’ He averaged about 17 touches a game last year, which is a little bit lower than he had been when he was All-Pro. We’re just going to have to find that out once we get here and get him working, get him up and running.”

Bears’ scouts allegedly miss Colin Kaepernick workout after location change

Many wondered if the Bears would do their due diligence on QB Colin Kaepernick, who held a private workout Saturday. They allegedly did not.

NFL teams looking to bolster their quarterback room finally got the chance to witness an in-person training session from polarizing free agent Colin Kaepernick, as he held a public workout just outside Atlanta in which multiple teams were in attendance.

The question in Chicago leading up to the heavily-discussed workout was whether or not the Bears would have someone in attendance to scout the former 49ers passer. The answer would have been yes, had the workout gone according to plan.

Approximately 30 minutes before the workout was set to take place at the Atlanta Falcons facilities, Kaepernick and his representatives decided to cancel the closed NFL-organized session and instead, hold a separate workout at a local high school that was open to the public. The change was due to a waiver Kaepernick needed to sign prior to the workout and his disagreement with the NFL for not allowing the media to attend. The new workout started an hour after the NFL-organized session was set to begin.

Following the decision, the NFL released a statement that 25 teams were set to view the workout planned at the Falcons’ facility. According to ESPN Falcons beat writer Vaughn McClure, one of those teams happened to be the Bears.

McClure tweeted the photo above just prior to the news of the location change. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic also confirmed the Bears were present to see the NFL’s scheduled workout. The new location was a high school in Riverdale, GA, an Atlanta suburb nearly 60 miles away from the Falcons facility in Flowery Branch.

When Kaepernick’s workout began, only eight teams followed the quarterback to his new location to see him throw.

ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter confirms the Chiefs, Jets, Eagles, Titans, 49ers, Redskins, and Lions were present, with a mystery team still yet to be identified.

After about 40 minutes, the chaotic day concluded and Kaepernick spoke to reporters.

“We’re out here, we’re ready to play, we’re ready to go anywhere,” he said.

As far as the Bears’ interest in Kaepernick goes, it’s still unclear if they were present at the actual workout as there was one mystery team in attendance that has yet to be identified. But it appears they were initially interested in seeing the 32-year old, who burst onto the scene against the Bears, torching them in a 32-7 victory nearly seven years ago to the day when he made his first career start.

The chaos surrounding the workout, however, created more questions. Did the Bears back out once the NFL was no longer involved? Were they the mystery team that has yet to be identified? How much interest did the Bears actually have in Kaepernick?

Unless general manager Ryan Pace elects to sign him, we may never know the answers. But one thing is clear: the Bears planned to do their due diligence in seeing Kaepernick throw, looking at all options to potentially upgrade their quarterback room.

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