by Julian Spivey Josef Newgarden did something on Sunday, May 26 in the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that had only been accomplished five previous times in the 108 years of the illustrious motorsports event – winning the race in back-to-back years. When Newgarden made a daring last lap pace of race leader Pato O’Ward on lap 200 of the event on Sunday he managed to do something that only Wilbur Shaw (1939-40), Mauri Rose (1947-48), Bill Vukovich (1953-54), Al Unser (1970-71) and Helio Castroneves (2001-02) had ever done before. Sunday’s race was arguably the most competitive in the history of the event with a record 16 different drivers in the 33-car field leading a lap with Newgarden leading 26 of the 200 (his Penske Racing teammate Scott McLaughlin who started on the pole led a race-high 66 laps). The big win for Newgarden comes during what has been a rough first part of the 2024 IndyCar season for the two-time series champion who had initially won the season-opening race at St. Petersburg before having been disqualified more than a month after the fact due to illegalities found within the car (and that of his teammate McLaughlin) in that event. Newgarden’s Indy 500 victory on Sunday was the 30th win of his career, which ranks him 13th all-time in the sport. It’s hard to officially pinpoint my sports zero of the week because there are multiple people and entities involved with it – Marcus Smith and Speedway Motorsports, LLC, NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, etc. – but ultimately I’m just going to give the entire zero of the week to NASCAR in general because the sport ultimately oversees everything that happens during one of its events. And the thing that earns the sport the dishonor of the week is having former President, current Republican candidate for President and all-around bad dude Donald Trump at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26. Trump used the event, as he’s done before (but at least then had the allure of being the President of the United States), simply as a photo op and the sport was more than happy and willing to kiss his ass as he was chauffeured around pit road during the pre-race ceremonies by Childress. There are a couple of problems here – but the biggest is NASCAR once again aligning itself with a person who among other things has attempted to overthrow a democratic presidential election, has said and done racist and misogynistic things and has openly lied about and disparaged the sport’s only African-American driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. There’s also the hypocrisy from some of the fan base who scream “Don’t bring politics into the sport” whenever NASCAR has a driver with Black Lives Matter on their car or celebrates Black History Month or Pride Month, despite none of those things actually being political and then are all “Fuck Yeah, America” when Trump shows up at the track. You can’t have it both ways! NASCAR seemingly has made efforts to distance itself from politics in the last few years but this does away with all of that. Even more hurtful is seeing social media posts from all of the fans of the sport who may be in the minority in one way or another – people of color, LGTBQ+ fans, etc. who feel like the sport has turned its back on them by inviting the most vitriolic President in the history of this country into its community.
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by Julian Spivey Xander Schauffele had been one of the best golfers and biggest names on the PGA Tour for quite some time now with 10 wins combined on the PGA Tour and European Tour and having won the Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics (held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic). But despite some big moments in his career – the gold medal and the 2017 Tour Championship win – he hadn’t yet won one of the sport’s four major tournaments (Masters, PGA, U.S. Open or British Open) making him probably the biggest name in the sport without one. Schauffele had come close many times in major tournaments. He’s finished runner-up at the Masters in 2019, runner-up at the British Open in 2018 and has three top-5 finishes in the U.S. Open. Schauffele had played in 27 major tournaments before this year’s PGA Championship with 21 of them seeing him finish in the top-25 and 13 times in the top-10. He’s only missed the cut on three occasions. He just hadn’t found his way to the top of the leaderboard at the end of 72 holes. That was until he went wire-to-wire at the PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. Last weekend and secured his first major title. He started the tourney with a major tournament record-tying round of 62 and by the end had a major tournament record of 21-under par winning the event by one stroke over Bryson DeChambeau. Now Schauffele can get that “best in the sport without a major” monkey off his back. At 30 years old it likely won’t be his last major tournament win either. Unfortunately, for Xander Schauffele, his winning his first career major tournament was only the second biggest story out of the PGA Championship in Louisville last weekend as the world’s No. 1ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler, fresh off winning his second Masters Tournament in three years last month, found himself in handcuffs early on the morning of the second round of the tournament due to some over-zealous and, frankly, bad policing. Though it seemed to be a misunderstanding from the beginning, Scheffler was arrested and charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic when trying to enter Valhalla Golf Club on Friday, May 17, while emergency vehicles and workers were dealing with an accident involving the death of a pedestrian. From the very beginning the whole ordeal seemed fishy and like the Louisville Metro P.D. and its Det. Bryan Gillis had overreacted and overstepped, especially because one of the nearest eyewitnesses to the event was ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who gave his first-hand reporting from the scene. It was shocking that the charges weren’t dropped early this week but after footage of the traffic stop caught from a nearby traffic camera was released by the LMPD on Thursday, May 23, the whole incident looks even dumber on the part of the P.D. and basically makes Gillis’s initial statement seem like a fabrication – for instance nowhere in the video is he “dragged by Scheffler’s vehicle” as was in the initial report. The officer, who has been punished by his department on 11 previous occasions (including 13 days suspension combined for five of those offenses), has once again been disciplined by his department for failure to turn his bodycam on during the arrest of Scheffler. Amazingly, even after all of this has come to light the charges against Scheffler still have not been dropped as of Thursday, May 23. It seems evident based on the many disciplinary actions against Det. Gillis that he should no longer have a job at the LMPD, but then again that is policing in 2024. by Julian Spivey We’re about 50 games into the Major League Baseball season, meaning it’s almost time for the league to unveil its All Star Game ballot. Every year I like to pick the players I think should get the starting nod for the midsummer classic. I like to make my first selections in May and my final batch in June. Here are the 10 players I think are currently the most deserving of the All-Star starting spots in the National League… *All stats are as of May 18 Pitcher: Shōta Imanaga (Chicago Cubs) During the MLB offseason, the biggest pitching acquisition out of the Japanese professional league was Yoshinobu Yamamoto going to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shōta Imanaga was almost an afterthought when he signed with the Chicago Cubs. Imanaga is certainly an afterthought no more – he’s been the best pitcher in baseball nearly 50 games into the season. Imanaga leads baseball with a 0.84 ERA while having a 5-0 record with 58 strikeouts and a 0.91 WHIP. Catcher: William Contreras (Milwaukee Brewers) Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras is currently tied with Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani for the National League batting title with a .350 average. He’s tied with Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernadez for second in the league with 37 RBI. The 26-year-old backstop, who was an All-Star with the Atlanta Braves in his first full-time season in the league in 2022, is well on his way to career-highs all around. First Base: Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies) The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest team in baseball right now and a lot of that has to do with their veteran superstar Bryce Harper, who has taken very well to first base after spending the majority of his career as an outfielder. Harper is fourth in the N.L. with 10 home runs and fifth in the league with 33 RBI. The two-time MVP is looking to make his eighth career All-Star team. Second Base: Ketel Marte (Arizona Diamondbacks) Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was one of the biggest stories of the 2023 MLB Postseason with his lengthy hit streak. Marte has picked off in 2024 right where he left off in 2023 on a hot streak. Marte is hitting .287 with nine home runs, 25 RBI and a .333 OBP. Marte is hoping to make his first All-Star appearance since 2019. Third Base: Alec Bohm (Philadelphia Phillies) Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm is another one of the big reasons the Phillies are currently the best team in baseball. Bohm is fifth in the N.L. with a .329 average. He’s second in the league with 37 RBI and he’s fourth in the league with 57 hits. The 27-year-old is looking to make his first All-Star appearance this season. Shortstop: Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers) It’s wild how Mookie Betts could go from one of the best outfielders in baseball to the best shortstop in the National League, but here we are. Betts is fourth in the league with a .341 average and second in the league with 63 hits. He leads the league with 40 runs scored. He’s also added eight home runs and 29 RBI to go along with all those numbers. The 31-year-old is looking to make his eighth career All Star Game. Outfield: Jurickson Profar (San Diego Padres), Teoscar Hernandez (Los Angeles Dodgers), Cody Bellinger (Chicago Cubs) As amazing as my American League outfield selections were, the National League is kind of lackluster thus far this season when it comes to the outfield – you can blame some of it on reigning MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. having a bit of a slow start and the aforementioned Mookie Betts move to shortstop. San Diego Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar is hitting .325 with seven home runs and 30 RBI. The 31-year-old veteran is hoping to make the first All-Star Game of his 11-year career. Teoscar Hernandez’s .245 average is lower than I’d like to see from one of my All-Star selections but I can’t deny his power numbers with 11 home runs being third in the league and his 37 RBI are second. My final outfield selection goes to Chicago Cubs veteran Cody Bellinger, who is hitting .264 with seven home runs and 22 RBI. Designated Hitter: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers) With apologies to Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves who is having a terrific season thus far, but this is a no-brainer to go with Shohei Ohtani in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers (hell, he’s going to win the fan vote anyway when it happens). Ohtani leads the N.L. with a .350 average (tied with William Contreras), he’s first in the league with 13 home runs, and he’s first in the league with 64 hits. by Julian Spivey We’re about 50 games into the Major League Baseball season, meaning it’s almost time for the league to unveil its All Star Game ballot. Every year I like to pick the players I think should get the starting nod for the midsummer classic. I like to make my first selections in May and my final batch in June. Here are the 10 players I think are currently the most deserving of the All Star starting spots in the American League… *Stats in this article are as of May 18. Pitcher: Tarik Skubal (Detroit Tigers) When the 2024 season began you probably wouldn’t have expected the midsummer classic front-runner on the bump to be a Detroit Tigers pitcher. What if I told you it was actually a coin flip between a Tigers pitcher and a Kansas City Royals pitcher (Seth Lugo)? Before the season some folks had Tigers ace Tarik Skubal as a dark horse Cy Young candidate and I just didn’t believe it. But here we are nearly 50 games into the season and Skubal is 6-0 (second in the league) with a 1.80 ERA, 66 strikeouts and a 0.78 WHIP. The 27-year-old southpaw is looking to become Detroit’s first All Star Game starting pitcher since Max Scherzer in 2013. Catcher: Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals) Kansas City Royals veteran backstop Salvador Perez is pretty used to not being able to make other vacation plans during the middle of July being a perennial All-Star, either as the starter or reserve for the A.L. at catcher. Perez, now 34, is having another stellar season for K.C., hitting .333 (on pace to have a career-high and currently second in the league) with eight home runs and 36 RBI (third in the league). If he makes the A.L. roster it would be his ninth All-Star team, only five catchers in MLB history have appeared in more. First Base: Josh Naylor (Cleveland Guardians) Can you tell players are really showing out thus far in the American League Central Division? Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor is currently on pace for career-highs in home runs and RBI with 12 (third in the league) and 34 (fifth in the league) already respectively. He’s hitting .256 with a .344 On-Base Percentage. The 26-year-old is looking to make his first All-Star team this summer. Second Base: Marcus Semien (Texas Rangers) There’s simply not a better second baseman in baseball right now that Marcus Semien of the Texas Rangers and it’s been that way for probably more than half a decade now. Semien, who shockingly has only made two previous All Star appearances, currently has nine home runs with 33 RBI, a .270 average and .319 OBP. Third Baseman: Isaac Paredes (Tampa Bay Rays) Isaac Paredes can play anywhere on the infield but has taken up home as the Tampa Bay Rays primary third baseman this season. He’s hitting .308 so far this season with eight home runs and 24 RBI. The 25-year-old broke out big time in 2023 with 31 homers and 98 RBI and is looking to make his first midsummer classic this season. Shortstop: Gunnar Henderson (Baltimore Orioles) Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson is currently leading the major leagues with 14 home runs. He’s hitting .265 with a .345 OBP and 30 RBI for the O’s. The 23-year-old phenom is looking to make his first All Star game in his second full-time season in the bigs and is well on his way. Outfield: Kyle Tucker (Houston Astros), Aaron Judge (New York Yankees), Juan Soto (New York Yankees) The American League All Star outfield right now would surely put fear into the eyes of National League pitchers if it ends up looking like this in July. Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker is currently second in the A.L. with 13 home runs, while New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is third in the league with 12 and is currently on quite a burner. Meanwhile, Judge’s outfield partner in the Bronx, Juan Soto, is second in the A.L. with 37 RBI. Soto also leads the league with 57 hits and is top-five in hitting with a .317 average. Designated Hitter: Giancarlo Stanton (New York Yankees) So, there are currently only two hitters in the A.L. qualifying as full-time designated hitters and Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees is the best. Stanton is fifth in the A.L. with 11 home runs. He’s hitting .258 (around his career average) with a .309 OBP and 26 RBI. Stanton is trying to make just his second All-Star appearance since joining the Yankees in 2018. by Julian Spivey NASCAR driver and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski won a thrilling race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C. on Sunday, May 12 to snap what was the second-longest winless streak in the sport among active drivers at 110 races. Keselowski was running in third place late in the race about a second behind his Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammate Chris Buescher and 23XL driver Tyler Reddick battling for the lead. When Reddick made an ill-fated dive bomb on Buescher to take the lead and the two made contact both drivers found themselves with cut tires and out of contention. Keselowski assumed the lead and never looked back. It was his first win with the team he now co-owns since taking over before the 2022 season. The win, which clinches a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for Keselowski, was the 36th Cup Series win of his career placing him 24th all-time in NASCAR history. Keselowski’s winless streak-snapping win and first as a co-owner of his team wasn’t just one of his career highlights for the 40-year-old driver but also his family. Keselowski has made a tradition of riding with an American flag in his car during his victory celebrations and on Monday of this week his oldest daughter Scarlett, 8, took the flag to her school so her classmates could say the daily Pledge of Allegiance facing it. Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker makes a career off of his foot. Well, last weekend while serving as a commencement speaker to the graduates of Benedictine College, a Catholic school in Atchison, Kan. the three-time Super Bowl champion firmly put that foot in his mouth with a series of truly dumbass comments on a myriad of topics including politics, religion, gay pride and women in the workforce. Among the comments drawing the most outrage was Butker urging women to forgo careers so that they could support their husbands in the household. It should be noted that Butker’s mother, Elizabeth Keller Butker, has worked in Emory University’s Department of Radiation Oncology in Atlanta, Ga. since 1988. She specializes in brachytherapy and Gamma Knife medical physics care. All of that means she’s probably too smart to have raised a dumbass kid who’s publicly calling out women in the workforce but alas here we are anyway. Butker and his wife, Isabelle, whom he praised for being a homemaker (calling it one of the most important titles of all while his mother is out there trying to cure cancer patients) are free to live any life they choose, as are we all. But telling a group of graduates that they should forget about whatever they just studied essentially to do a woman’s duty is the exact opposite of what you want to hear from a commencement speaker. Why are so many schools, both big and small, so concerned with celebrity commencement speakers anyway? For the most part, if a celebrity didn’t graduate from the school they’re giving the speech at (Butker went to Georgia Tech) they shouldn’t be doing it. As of Thursday, neither Benedictine College nor Kansas City Chiefs had given statements on Butker’s comments. His speech is still on the college’s YouTube page so it seems they condone it. by Julian Spivey New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson is on a burner right now. He’s having one of the hottest streaks we’ve ever seen in NBA Playoff history with four consecutive games of 40 or more points. That’s something only three other players in NBA history have accomplished: Jerry West (who holds the record with six straight), Michael Jordan (four) and Bernard King (four). Brunson is amidst a streak of playoff scoring more dominant than anything we’ve ever seen from LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, etc. Oh, and by the way, the game preceding Brunson’s four-game 40-plus point-scoring streak was a 39-point performance against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 25. What a slacker he was that night! The 76ers certainly didn’t have anything for Brunson in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs and the Indiana Pacers struggled against him in game one of the round two series that began on Monday (May 6). We’ll find out tonight in game two of the series if Brunson can take one step closer to West’s NBA record of six straight 40-plus point playoff games. He’s the hottest player in the NBA at the moment. We’ve seen some wild displays of poor sportsmanship and overall disrespectful behavior from NBA players before but the one-two combination of sheer stupidity that came from Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley on Thursday, May 2 when his team was eliminated from the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers is one of the worst examples of such we’ve seen in a while. Late in the final game of the series, Beverley threw a basketball into the stands at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis not once but twice. The first toss into the crowd hit a female fan rather hard in the face with a ball that had some serious zip on it. The second malicious intent behind it. The fans had been taunting Beverley, which is something I’ve never liked from sports fans, and we don’t know what was being said but athletes must know that the only reasonable action they can do in such situations is to have security at the arena eject the fans (which Beverley admitted was something asked to him before the incident he now calls “inexcusable.” The NBA has seen some truly despicable interactions between players and fans before – almost always instigated by the fans – but it’s never a great look for the league when its athletes are doing things that could harm spectators. The second thing Beverley did on Thursday that was idiotic and the one that I took more offense to was his refusal to answer the question of an ESPN reporter because she wasn’t subscribed to his podcast (does every NBA player have a podcast these days?). Not only did he refuse to answer the question but he physically moved away her tape recorder and wouldn’t let her in the media scrum. Being an asshole to the press is never going to sit well with me but doing it because they don’t subscribe to your podcast is a particularly pissant reason for doing so. Beverley showed himself to be a tool on Thursday night and it’s something the league should consider this offseason. No punishment has been announced for Beverley as yet but if he’s not suspended multiple games at the beginning of next season for these actions it will be too lax of a response from the league. by Julian Spivey Nelly Korda is on one of the greatest hot streaks in the history of women’s golf and yet it wouldn’t surprise me if you didn’t know this given the lack of press from the mainstream sports media. Korda has won five consecutive LPGA Tour tournaments, including last weekend’s Chevron Championship major championship. The 25-year-old’s five straight wins tied an LPGA Tour record shared by Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2005). Korda has 18 wins on the LPGA Tour but had gone more than a year between victories when the first of her five-in-a-row streak began in late January. Her biggest accomplishments in her career include winning the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship and the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games (held in 2021 due to Covid-19). Korda has not indicated yet when she’ll attempt to go for the solo record of six in a row. There’s no shortage of horrible baseball umpiring moments every Major League Baseball season and though the 2024 season is still less than a month old there’s already been some doozies. But what happened in the first inning of the New York Yankees/Oakland A’s game on Monday (April 22) was among the dumbest umpiring decisions I’ve ever seen. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected just five pitches into the game by home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt who mistook a fan in the front row seats yelling at him for someone in the Yankees dugout. After Boone pointed out that a fan was the one making the remarks to Wendelstedt, the umpire could be heard on television mics saying, “I don’t care who said it. You’re gone.” To make matters worse, after the game and Wendelstedt had a chance to review the ejection he doubled down and refused to apologize for doing so saying: “Apparently what he said was there was a fan right above the dugout. This isn’t my first ejection. In the entirety of my career, I have never ejected a player or a manager for something a fan has said. I understand that’s going to be part of the story or something like that because that’s what Aaron was portraying. I heard something come from the far end of the dugout, had nothing to do with his area, but he’s the manager of the Yankees. So he’s the one that had to go.” It's pretty crappy umpiring to throw out a manager knowing he didn’t say anything, which Wendelstedt at least copped to in his statement. The New York Post on Thursday published that Wendelstedt would face “subtle discipline” for his ejection of Boone but Major League Baseball honestly should suspend Wendelstedt for such a flagrant example of bad umpiring. The league should take a much harsher stance with its umpires but seems too afraid of the umpire’s union to hold the bad umps to the fire. That’s why bad umpiring like Wendelstedt showed on Monday will continue to happen. by Julian Spivey 1. Peyton Manning (1998) You would think it would be hard to pick the greatest No. 1 overall draft pick in NFL history but it truly wasn’t. It was obviously Peyton Manning, whom the Indianapolis Colts took first overall out of the University of Tennessee in 1998. In nearly 90 years of the NFL Draft, there have shockingly only been 14 No. 1 picks that have gone on to Pro Football Hall of Fame careers. While those 13 other Hall of Famers are certainly legends of the game, like John Elway, Bruce Smith, Chuck Bednarik and more, Manning put up the biggest numbers in one of the game’s most successful and competitive eras in league history. Manning helped lead two franchises to Super Bowl titles: Colts in 2007 and Denver Broncos in 2016. He was a five-time league MVP (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 & 2013). He holds the all-time single-season records for both touchdown passes and passing yardage. He was a 14-time Pro Bowler and has had his No. 18 jersey retired by both the Colts and Broncos. The remarkable thing about Manning is he put up these numbers while playing against one of the greatest dynasties in the New England Patriots and fellow QBs in Tom Brady for nearly all of his career. Manning was named a member of the 100th-anniversary all-time team in 2019. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021. 2. Lawrence Taylor (1981) Lawrence Taylor is widely considered the greatest defensive player in NFL history. He’s also the greatest number-two overall pick in NFL Draft history after being selected by the New York Giants in the 1981 draft out of the University of North Carolina. Taylor was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and became just the second defensive player to win the league’s Most Valuable Player (after Alan Page) in 1986. The feared linebacker helped lead the Giants to two Super Bowl wins in 1987 and 1991. The 10-time Pro Bowler was named to the league’s 75th and 100th anniversary All-Time teams. His No. 56 jersey is retired by the Giants franchise. Taylor was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2010, the NFL Network ranked Taylor as the third greatest player in league history behind only Jerry Rice and Jim Brown. 3. Dick Butkus (1965) Dick Butkus was one of the most feared defensive players in the history of the NFL. He’s also the greatest number three overall pick in NFL Draft history. Butkus was selected third overall by the Chicago Bears in the 1965 draft out of the University of Illinois. Butkus would win back-to-back NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1969 and 1970. The eight-time Pro Bowler was named to both the ‘60s and ‘70s All-Decade teams despite only playing from ’65-’73 and was selected as a member of the 100th anniversary team. Butkus was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and his No. 51 jersey has been retired by the Bears franchise. 4. Walter Payton (1975) Walter Payton was the fourth overall selection in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears out of Jackson State University. He would go on to be the game’s most prolific rusher of his era. The nine-time Pro Bowler would win NFL Most Valuable Player in 1977 and help lead the Bears to the Super Bowl XX title in the mid-‘80s. Payton was named to the league’s All-Decade teams in both the ‘70s (despite only playing half a decade) and ‘80s and in 2019 was a member of the 100th anniversary team. He retired as the all-time leading rusher in league history. His No. 34 jersey has been retired by the Bears franchise. Payton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. 5. Deion Sanders (1989) Deion Sanders was selected fifth overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1989 NFL Draft out of Florida State University and became one of the greatest defensive backs in league history despite also playing professional baseball throughout much of his career. Sanders, perhaps the game’s flashiest and most exciting player of his era, would win two Super Bowls in his career: San Francisco 49ers (1995) and Dallas Cowboys (1996). He was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1994 and an eight-time Pro Bowler. Sanders was named as a member of the 100th anniversary team in 2019. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. 6. Jim Brown (1957) Jim Brown is considered by some to be the greatest player in the history of the NFL. He is the greatest sixth-overall selection in NFL Draft history. The Cleveland Browns took Brown out of Syracuse with the sixth pick in the 1957 Draft. Brown would win NFL MVP three times (including his rookie season) and led the Browns to the 1965 NFL championship. He led the league in rushing in eight of his nine seasons and retired holding most of the rushing records in league history. Had he not retired at an early age there’s no telling where he’d currently be in the rushing record books. Brown was named a member of the league’s 50th, 75th and 100th anniversary All-Time teams and the NFL Network ranked him as the second greatest player in NFL history in 2010 behind only Jerry Rice. Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. 7. Champ Bailey (1999) No offense to Champ Bailey. The guy is a Pro Football Hall of Famer (inducted in 2019 in his first year of eligibility) and is considered one of the game’s all-time great cornerbacks but it’s also a bit wild that he’s the greatest seventh overall pick in NFL Draft history. Bailey was taken seventh in the 1999 draft out of the University of Georgia by the Washington football team. Bailey is one of only two players from that draft (Edgerrin James) to be inducted into the Hall of Fame thus far. He was a 12-time Pro Bowler (most ever for his position) over 15 seasons with Washington and the Denver Broncos. 8. Ronnie Lott (1981) Ronnie Lott is arguably the greatest defensive back in the history of the NFL, which makes him a rather obvious pick as the greatest eighth-overall selection in NFL Draft history. Lott was taken by the San Francisco 49ers out of USC in 1981. That ’81 Draft included some of the greatest defensive players to ever play the game, including Lawrence Taylor, and Mike Singletary, whom the Chicago Bears took in the second round. Lott was one of the fiercest defensive players in league history helping the 49ers to four Super Bowl titles in the decade. The 10-time Pro Bowler was named to both the league’s 75th and 100th-anniversary All-Time teams. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. 9. Bruce Matthews (1983) Bruce Matthews is primarily known for two things: spending his entire 19-season career with one franchise – the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans – and for being one of the greatest offensive linemen to ever play the game. He’s also the greatest ninth overall draft pick in league history being selected by the Oilers in 1983 out of USC. The 14-time Pro Bowler was named to the league’s 100th anniversary All-Time team in 2019. Matthews was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007 and his No. 74 is retired by the Titans. 10. Rod Woodson (1987) The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted cornerback Rod Woodson with the 10th overall pick of the 1987 NFL Draft out of Purdue. Woodson would go on to become one of the greatest defensive players on a team known for having great defensive players throughout its history from ’87-1996, which included winning the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor in 1993. The 11-time Pro Bowler would also spend time with the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders during his career, which included a Super Bowl win with Baltimore in 2001. Woodson was named to the league’s 75th-anniversary and 100th-anniversary All-Time teams. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. 11. Paul Warfield (1964) Paul Warfield was the 11th overall pick in the 1964 NFL Draft out of Ohio State by the Cleveland Browns. The eight-time Pro Bowl wide receiver would spend the first six years of his career with Cleveland, which included leading the league in touchdown catches in 1968, before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in 1970. In Miami, Warfield would become the main target of quarterback Bob Griese and help lead the Dolphins to back-to-back Super Bowl titles, including the perfect 1972 season. Warfield was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. 12. Herb Adderley (1961) Herb Adderley was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 1961 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. One of the game’s greatest cornerbacks, Adderley would spend most of his career with the Packers, winning Super Bowls I and II with the team, before going to the Dallas Cowboys in 1970 and helping them when their first Super Bowl in franchise history in 1972. Adderley was also drafted 10th overall out of Michigan State by the New York Titans in the AFL Draft. Adderley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980. 13. Bob Lilly (1961) The all-time greatest 12 and 13th draft picks in NFL history came back-to-back in the 1961 NFL Draft. With the very next pick after the Green Bay Packers took Herb Adderley, the Dallas Cowboys selected defensive tackle Bob Lilly 13th overall out of Texas Christian University. He was also drafted 14th overall in the AFL Draft by the Dallas Texans. Lilly played his entire 14-season career with the Cowboys and never missed a single game. He helped Dallas win Super Bowl VI in 1972 and made the NFL’s 1960s and 1970s All-Decade Teams (and he only played for half of the ‘70s). Lilly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980. 14. Gino Marchetti (1952) Gino Marchetti was selected with the 14th overall pick (first pick of the second round) by the New York Yanks in the 1952 NFL Draft. During Marchetti’s rookie season, the Yanks would become the Dallas Texans and then in 1953, they became the Baltimore Colts. Marchetti was already in his mid-20s by the team his NFL career began – this was seven years after he’d fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Marchetti would win back-to-back NFL championships with the Colts in 1958 and 1959. He’s one of just a few players to make the NFL’s All-Time 50th, 75th and 100th-anniversary teams. The 11-time Pro Bowler was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972. 15. Alan Page (1967) Alan Page was so damn impressive as a football player he was one of only two defensive players to win MVP in league history when he did so in 1971. Page was selected 15th overall in the 1967 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings out of Notre Dame. Page would win NFL Defensive Players of the Year twice in his career (1971 & 1973), make nine Pro Bowls and be named to the league’s 100th anniversary All-Time team in 2019. The Vikings retired his No. 88. Page was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. 16. Jerry Rice (1985) Many fans and historians consider Jerry Rice to be the greatest player in the history of the NFL. He’s without a doubt the greatest wide receiver to ever play the game. Rice was selected with the 16th overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers out of Mississippi Valley State. Rice quickly became the No. 1 target for already legendary 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and the two would lead the franchise to Super Bowl wins in 1989 and 1990. Rice would win another, this time with Steve Young as his QB, in 1995. Rice holds most of the career receiving records in NFL history, including 197 touchdowns and almost 23,000 receiving yards. Rice was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. He was named the greatest player in NFL history by the NFL Network in 2010. 17. Emmitt Smith (1990) Emmitt Smith holds a couple of the greatest records in NFL history with his 18,000-plus rushing yards and his 164 rushing touchdowns. Smith was selected out of the University of Florida with the 17th overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, whom he’d spent the majority of his career with. Smith would help lead a powerful Cowboys offense to three Super Bowl wins in the ‘90s. Smith, the 1993 NFL MVP, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. He was added to the league’s 100th anniversary All-Time team in 2019. 18. Paul Krause (1964) Paul Krause, who would go on to be one of the greatest defensive backs in NFL history, was selected with the 18th overall pick of the 1964 draft by the Washington football franchise with the fourth pick of the second round. The 1964 NFL Draft is the single draft with the most hall of famers taken in league history with 11. Krause would play the first few years of his career with Washington before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1968. Krause’s 81 career interceptions are an NFL record. The eight-time Pro Bowler was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998. 19. John Mackey (1963) John Mackey, one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history, was selected with the 19th pick overall out of Syracuse in the 1963 draft as the fifth pick of the second round by the Baltimore Colts. Mackey would play the majority of his career for the Colts, helping them win Super Bowl V in 1971. The five-time Pro Bowler was both a member of the NFL’s 50th Anniversary and 100th Anniversary All-Time squads. Mackey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992. 20. Forrest Gregg (1956) Forrest Gregg was one of the greatest offensive linemen to ever play in the NFL. He was selected with the 20th overall pick in the second round (seventh pick of the round) of the 1956 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. Gregg would go on to win five NFL Championships with the Packers and then end his career with one more with the Dallas Cowboys. Gregg was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and was named to the league’s 100th anniversary All-Time Team in 2019. 21. Randy Moss (1998) It’s somewhat hard to believe that one of the most electric wide receivers to ever play the game of football slipped to the 21st overall pick of the first round but that’s exactly where the Minnesota Vikings took Randy Moss out of Marshall University in 1998. Moss would go on to lead the league in touchdown receptions five times and holds the single-season NFL record for most touchdown catches with 23. Moss was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 and was named as part of the league’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019. 22. Ernie Stautner (1950) Ernie Stautner may not be a household name today among football fans but the hall-of-fame defensive tackle was one of the league’s best defenders in the 1950s. Stautner was taken with the 22nd pick overall (eighth pick of the second round) in the 1950 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Stautner would play his entire career with the Steelers and became the first player to formally have his number (No. 70) retired by the franchise. Stautner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. 23. Ozzie Newsome (1978) Ozzie Newsome was selected by the Cleveland Browns out of the University of Alabama with the 23rd overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft. Newsome would play his entire 13-year career with the Browns and become one of the greatest tight ends in league history. Newsome, one of four hall of famers selected in the 1978 NFL Draft, would be named to the league’s 1980s All-Decade Team. When he retired in 1990, he was the all-time leader in receptions and yards among tight ends. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. 24. Ed Reed (2002) The Baltimore Ravens have had great luck selecting defensive players out of the University of Miami in the first round of the NFL Draft, as you’ll see not only here but at No. 26 on the list. In the 2002 draft, the Ravens selected safety Ed Reed 24th overall. Reed would help lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl title in 2013 and was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2004. Reed was a nine-time Pro Bowler and was named to the NFL’s 2000s All-Decade team. He holds the NFL record for most interception return yards at 1,590. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019. 25. Ted Washington (1991) It’s almost unfathomable that after nearly 90 years of the NFL Draft, there has never been a single Hall of Fame player selected with the 25th overall pick. It’s the only draft spot in the first round that has never had a Hall of Famer taken. Is it a cursed pick? For our selection of the greatest No. 25 draft pick in NFL history we’ll go with the gargantuan nose tackle Ted Washington, who was selected by the San Francisco 49ers out of Louisville in 1991. The 1991 draft was rather anemic when it comes to Hall of Famers overall with only Brett Favre and Aeneas Williams being enshrined from that year’s class. Washington, a four-time Pro Bowler, spent 17 seasons in the league with seven teams and won Super Bowl XXXVIII in his only season with the New England Patriots. 26. Ray Lewis (1996) Ray Lewis was selected out of the University of Miami with the 26th overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. He was the second future hall of famer selected by the Ravens in that round as they took offensive lineman Jonathan Ogden with the fourth overall pick. Lewis would make a name for himself as one of the most feared defensive players in league history helping lead Baltimore to two Super Bowl titles. Lewis was a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner in 2000 and 2003 and holds the league record for both most combined and solo tackles of all time. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. 27. Dan Marino (1983) Dan Marino was one of the coveted quarterbacks chosen in the famous 1983 NFL Draft, which saw six QBs go in the first round. Marino was selected 27th overall by the Miami Dolphins out of the University of Pittsburgh with the penultimate selection in the first round. To this day, the Kansas City Chiefs (Todd Blackledge), New England Patriots (Tony Eason) and New York Jets (Ken O’Brien) must be kicking themselves for choosing QBs ahead of Marino. When Marino retired after his entire career with the Dolphins in 1999 he held many of the game’s all-time passing records, though he’s likely most known today as perhaps the greatest player in NFL history to never win a championship. Marino was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. 28. Darrell Green (1983) Darrell Green, one of the greatest cornerbacks to ever play the game, was selected 28th overall out of Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Washington football team. Green would help lead the Washington defense to two Super Bowl titles in 1988 and 1992 and was a seven-time Pro Bowler. Green, a member of the 1990s All-Decade Team, holds the NFL record for most consecutive seasons with an interception at 19 (a record that very well could stand the test of time). Green was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. 29. Fran Tarkenton (1961) Fran Tarkenton, one of the most exciting quarterbacks and players of his era, was selected in both the NFL and AFL Drafts in 1961 out of the University of Georgia. He was taken 29th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL Draft with the first pick of the third round. He was also chosen in the fifth round (35th overall) by the Boston Patriots. He chose to play for Minnesota. The nine-time Pro Bowler would go on to win the league’s Most Valuable Player honor in 1975, a year he led the league in touchdown passes. The Vikings have retired his No. 10 jersey. At the time of his retirement in 1978 he owned many of the league’s passing records. Tarkenton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. 30. Sam Huff (1956) Sam Huff was the 30th overall pick in the 1956 NFL Draft out of West Virginia by the New York Giants, which was the fifth pick of the third round. The five-time Pro Bowl linebacker would win the championship in his rookie year with the Giants and would go on to have his name honored in both the Giants and Washington Commanders Ring of Honor/Fame. Huff, one of five hall of famers in his draft class, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982. 31. Curley Culp (1968) Defensive end Curley Culp was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 31st overall pick in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft, the second year in which the two held a joint draft. He was the fourth overall pick of the second round and one of eight Pro Football Hall of Famers drafted that year. Culp, however, never played a game with the Broncos. The franchise considered him too small to play defensive end in the league at 6’1’’ and 265 pounds and when they failed to convert him to an offensive guard they traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he spent the first half of his career and helped lead the team to a Super Bowl IV title. He would spend most of the second half of his career with the Houston Oilers, where he would win NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1975. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013. 32. Drew Brees (2001) Drew Brees went from slipping out of the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft to becoming one of the most prolific touchdown passers in league history. Brees was selected out of Purdue as the 32nd overall pick in 2001, the first pick of the second round by the San Diego Chargers. Brees would spend the first five seasons of his career with the Chargers before signing with the New Orleans Saints in 2006 as a free agent and forming the bulk of his Hall of Fame credentials as the greatest player in Saints franchise history. by Eric Fulton The Chicago Bears are one of the National Football League's oldest franchises existing for over 100 years. While they have had legendary players play for the team, they have also produced not so many great players in the most important position in the game, quarterback. That could change come Thursday night (April 25) in the 2024 NFL Draft. After trading with the Carolina Panthers for the number one overall pick, (which became quarterback Bryce Young) along with wide receiver D.J. Moore in 2023 and with Carolina finishing with the worst record, Chicago is expected to pick the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and USC quarterback Caleb Williams number one overall. If you are a Bears fan, you waited an extra year to potentially (and finally) have something you have never really had in decades, a true franchise quarterback. Historically, the Bears have excelled in positions like running back with icons such as Gale Sayers and Walter Payton. Also, the linebacking position has been valuable with legends like Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher. While all of the players I mentioned are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the quarterback position has been the one area where the Bears have not succeeded much. It’s become one of those things in the league that you just assume will be a laughingstock. The greatest and most successful quarterback in Bears history was Sid Luckman and the team hasn’t had anybody rival him at the position since his career ended nearly 75 years ago. Luckman was the second overall pick by Chicago in 1939 and played his entire 12-year career with the Bears. Luckman led Chicago to four NFL Championships in the 1940s as well as becoming a five-time first-team All-Pro. Though most fans remember the next two quarterbacks that I will mention, their numbers and accomplishments do not match the likes of Luckman. Jim McMahon was drafted in 1982 and won Super Bowl XX with the Bears in 1985. However, that team was mostly remembered for their "Monsters of the Midway" defense which put up historic stats during that memorable season. Though he would be the starting quarterback for Chicago for most of the 1980s, McMahon never put up the successful numbers Luckman did. In 2009, the Bears made a big splash by acquiring Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. Cutler played eight seasons in Chicago and became the Bears' all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions and attempts. Cutler led the Bears to the NFC Championship in 2010 but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion and rival, Green Bay Packers. Cutler got hurt during the game and did not finish. That was the high mark of the Cutler era in Chicago as the team did not come close to the Super Bowl again. The starting quarterback in their last Super Bowl appearance was Rex Grossman in Super Bowl XLI and Grossman was nowhere near a great quarterback. In recent history, the Bears drafting quarterbacks has been often but has also been unsuccessful. In 2017, the Bears selected Mitchell Trubisky second overall. Trubisky had early season success with then head coach Matt Nagy as the Bears returned to the playoffs. But that success was short-lived as neither Trubisky nor the Bears would win in the playoffs. Trubisky was let go and Nagy was fired. Adding more salt to the wound, the Bears could have drafted Patrick Mahomes second overall that season. Mahomes has had major success in Kansas City with multiple championships and MVPs. In 2021, the Bears once again used their first-round pick to draft a quarterback. This time, they would draft Justin Fields 11th overall. Fields had some success, but his rookie season saw the Bears finish 6-11, thus leading to the firing of Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace. The next couple of years would see Fields struggle the majority of the time, but he did show some flash at times, as well. Last month, Chicago traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2025. Now the Bears are on the verge of drafting Williams first overall in this year's NFL Draft. Williams does have the talent to be drafted first overall, the biggest question is can he live up to all the hype of being the number one pick while also changing the fortunes of a position for a bedrock NFL franchise? If Williams plays the way like did in 2022 which won him a Heisman, then he will be a franchise player for a long time. If for some reason the Bears fail to make the playoffs and have deep runs during the Williams era, then it will be another same song and dance for Chicago. by Julian Spivey There’s nobody in golf right now that can hold a candle to Scottie Scheffler, the current No.1 ranked golfer in the world, who won his second Green Jacket in three years over the past weekend at the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Scheffler was in contention the entire tournament at the Masters and entered the final round on Sunday, April 14 in a dogfight with a handful of other golfers, including Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Luvig Åberg. For the first nine holes of the final round, it still appeared to be anybody’s tournament to win before Scheffler’s competitors starting fallen one by one and fast, while he was playing at the usual top of his game. By the end of the back nine, Scheffler had won the Masters by four strokes over Åberg. Scheffler has played in nine tournaments thus far in the 2024 PGA Tour season and has won three events with a runner-up position, as well. He has finished in the top 10 in all but one event this year. His nine career wins dating back to February 2022 have him on one of the hottest three-year streaks I’ve ever seen in 25 years of watching golf. Aaron Rodgers, who supposedly plays quarterback for the New York Jets, would be on the first ballot of my sports zero Hall of Fame if such a thing existed. The veteran quarterback and future football hall of famer (if he doesn’t wind up being Curt Schilling’d by voters) is certainly the leader in the sports clubhouse when it comes to saying dumbass stuff. This week Rodgers sparked outrage when he claimed that the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the 1980s was entirely manmade on the Look Into It podcast (a podcast I certainly won’t be looking into) and connected to former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci. Because what horrible thing hasn’t Fauci created in the minds of the nation’s ignoramuses? What Rodgers said was so stupid I don’t want to give him or it the further press by quoting it, so if you must know the specifics I suggest Googling it. It’s amazing to me the amount of bullshit Rodgers is allowed to pedal without having any repercussions from his team or the NFL in general. Players have suffered far worse consequences for far less – *cough* Colin Kaepernick *cough*. I hope that when Rodgers’ playing days are over and that will be soon given his age the press won’t worry as much about his idiotic conspiracy theories and hobbies but that probably won’t be the case. Can you believe this guy was once recently a considered host for “Jeopardy”? |
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