“The Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU’s decision to give Jayden’s number to another player,” the letter read. “Jayden and his family had every reason to believe that his number would remain a meaningful part of his LSU legacy and would be honored and protected in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the university.”

The ESPN report details, though slightly buries, the circumstances surrounding the number “5” over the last few seasons. Apparently when Cornerback DJ Pickett committed to LSU for the 2025 season, he was promised the number 5, as it was the same number he wore in high school.

Brian Kelly, the former LSU Head Coach, elected not to give Pickett the number, once he discovered Jayden Daniels didn’t want it to be worn by another player. Pickett wore 3 in 2025, instead.

New LSU Head Coach, Lane Kiffin, decided he’d respect the original agreement, and allow the number to be worn by DJ Pickett, as promised.

Since the report broke Wednesday night, causing strong reactions Thursday morning, Daniels took to social media in response.

“I have been locked in on training camp and that’s been my number one focus.” Daniels wrote in an Instagram story, shared by Ian Rapaport. “Obviously there are issues to be worked out between my team and LSU and my hope is that it will get done privately. My sole personal focus is on Commanders’ football.”

A few things here.

1. Jayden, you’re obviously not locked in on Commanders’ football if you’re worried about who’s wearing your number on levels beneath you.

2. This is so soft, bro. The number is not retired. Yes, you were great at LSU. A part of Tigers history, even! This is so soft. It’s coming off as a kid who sets a toy down, moves on to a bigger toy, then starts crying when they see someone playing with the first toy. You can’t have all of the toys!

3. Are you sure you don’t want your NAME, image and likeness to be used by LSU?

Image and likeness, maybe. NAME? So you don’t want your name put on any list of all-time great Tigers that the school might publish? You don’t want to be honored in any kind of ring of honor or anything like that? You don’t want your name etched onto anything in the stadium?

This feels shortsighted, which is what makes it reek of temper tantrum.

I don’t see the advantage in pissing off your alma mater. I also don’t see how this endeavor helps the Commanders prepare for 2026.

-Written by Seattle Mike

Early in the book Portnoy writes “Barstool Sports was supposed to encompass anything that guys would discuss sitting around a bar watching sports. It was supposed to have the tone of a real sports fan, which was the direct opposite of how the Boston sports media was at the time.”

The time period Portnoy is referring to is around 2003.

“Traditional newspapers and sports talk radio had a monopoly on sports media. And it seemed that all the sports reporters who covered the local teams weren’t actually fans of the teams. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe openly rooted against the Red Sox. Ron Borges hated Bill Belichick and the Patriots. It was infuriating that the only media outlets covering your favorite teams were seemingly run by crusty old men who rooted and probably profited from their demise.”

The beat writers of today have the polar opposite problem. They want to protect their team access so bad that they won’t report on anything harmful to the teams they cover. Sure, you might get a report from a local San Fran moron that says the 49ers are mishandling the Brandon Aiyuk situation (I’m not calling all SF writers morons. Just the one that used my comment for engagement and then blocked me). That same writer isn’t going to address, or even acknowledge the possibility of a coverup involving a local police department, though.

And that’s the problem. For issues involving a multibillionaire organization potentially mistreating multimillionaire players, we can get some opinions and coverage. For coverups, affairs, or even police corruption - we get little (or no) coverage on issues that have impacts on real world hundredaire people like you and me. Okay, I might be a thousandaire.

Obviously I don’t want local writers that just hate their teams as Portnoy describes in his book. I remember what a bummer that negative style of reporting was (I was a kid at the time, but I remember it). There needs to be a middle ground where local writers can be fans and still have journalistic integrity. It sucks reporting on something negative involving a team or player you love, but that’s the toll of being a journalist. By the way, nothing is stopping these writers from covering their team in a fair way, and then writing a follow up post that celebrates the exciting things about their team.

I took no pleasure in making a video about Richard Sherman’s DUI a couple of years ago. As much as I hated it, I had to be honest and give a fair criticism to one of my all-time favorite players - otherwise what purpose am I even serving here?

Also, are you guys watching Hard Knocks right now? The Seahawks are winning the Super Bowl again this year. Sam Darnold and his spin rate are winning MVP. Mike Macdonald is winning Coach of the Year (Should have won it last year too). Go Hawks!

-Written by Seattle Mike

On Saturday, Yahoo Sports made a post quoting Crosby’s response to Kirk Cousins.

The quote is real. The context isn’t.

According to an article from Sac Town Sports in 2023, the quote actually occurred after a joint practice fight between Maxx Crosby and Rams’ running back Cam Akers.

I tracked down a video from a Raiders fan page on Facebook called The Raiders Silver and Black.

After discovering the true source of the quote (With the help of Grok), I asked Yahoo Sports if they had a response...

As it turns out, they did have a response...

Delete the post.

I don’t have a problem with a mistake being made. There’s so much misinformation out there, even once I knew where to find the original quote, I had to use tools on Google to help me filter past all of the fake reports.

What I have a problem with is Yahoo Sports irresponsibly spreading false information, and then thinking deleting the post fixes the problem. At the time that I took the screenshot, the post already had 13 thousand views and counting. By the way, I only took a screenshot because I had a feeling Yahoo Sports would pull something like this.

So now I’m calling on Yahoo Sports, once again, do you have a comment on your misquote/misrepresentation of Maxx Crosby’s response to the Kirk Cousins incident?

Do you have anything to say to the consumers of Yahoo Sports? Do you have anything to say to Maxx Crosby? To the Raiders?

-Written by Seattle Mike

One of the biggest question marks about the contract is why the Cardinals even bothered. They signed Gardner Minshew this offseason, who is as good (if not better) than Jacoby Brissett. The team also drafted Carson Beck.

That last point has a new development - Beck played extremely well in his preseason debut. At the time of this writing, Beck has gone 13/16 for 173 yards and a touchdown pass. Not just any touchdown pass, but a touch pass in the corner of the end zone, over a defender.

It’s worth noting that this is preseason. The defenses are basic. Many of the players on the field won’t make their teams. Most of the ones that do, won’t be starters. Still, Beck played great.

Head Coach Mike LaFleur hasn’t announced a Week 1 starter yet, which presumably means the Cardinals quarterback competition is ongoing. If the competition really is ongoing, why give Brissett a raise?

Brissett’s new contract doesn’t add any years or team control. Most of the new money isn’t tied to any incentives. Since the Cardinals didn’t get anything out of the contract, why not just tell Brissett that they’re not open to renegotiating?

If Beck continues to play well through the preseason, the Cardinals should get him to the field as soon as possible. Yes, the competition will be tougher than preseason - but they need to find out if he’s their guy before a quarterback heavy draft in 2027.

-Written by Seattle Mike

“The issue is that I don’t think [Baker Mayfield] is going to hit the market.” Schefter said. “Tampa’s got the franchise tag next year to the tune of $47 Million, which by the way, is less than they offered him on a two year basis, on the extension they offered him, which was over $50 Million each year.”

Schefter went on to explain that the Buccaneers could franchise tag Baker Mayfield the year after next as well, for another $57 Million by his estimate.

Here’s why Adam Schefter’s analysis bothers me.

There is no way in Hell he doesn’t understand how void years work. Per spotract, Baker Mayfield has $30.15 Million that will hit the Buccaneers salary cap in 2027 if they don’t get a new deal done. If the Buccaneers tag Mayfield, by Schefter’s own number, that would mean adding another $47 Million, on top of the $30.15 Million. Meaning Baker Mayfield alone would count $77.15 Million against the 2027 salary cap.

For a team currently projected to have a little over $26 Million in cap space in 2027, that’s a major hit that would require the Buccaneers to find a way to offload significant talent.

The reality is that Adam Schefter has to understand the salary implications of tagging Mayfield. It’s just not possible for someone who’s been the top NFL Insider for as long as he has, to be so obtuse when it comes to matters involving the salary cap.

Your question: Why would Schefter push a narrative that makes the Buccaneers look good, and Mayfield look bad?

My answer: Schefter’s been on the side of the owners for years, even before the NFL acquired 10% of ESPN.

Like the time Adam Schefter emailed a story to, then, Washington Redskins’ Owner Dan Snyder for approval, prior to publishing it.

Or the time that Schefter became an investor in a sports betting company called Boom Entertainment, with Patriots’ Owner Robert Kraft. Schefter’s also an investor in another sports gambling company called Underdog.

Or the very recent time when Schefter worked with the 49ers to control the release and narrative of a very serious Kyle Shanahan car accident.

Or the countless times Schefter posted bogus contract numbers because the inflated, and impossible to achieve number made the agent and team look better.

One of my new hobbies is commenting the real/guaranteed numbers on those posts.

Which brings me to the next part of Schefter’s reporting that bothers me. When he said the team offered Mayfield $50 Million a year, it doesn’t mean the team actually offered Mayfield $50 Million a year. It means they offered him somewhere between the veteran minimum ($1.3 Million) and $50 Million a year, because we don’t know what was guaranteed in that offer.

Because Shefter always gives us the inflated number, you can’t trust any specific figure he reports, unless it includes the word “guaranteed”. $50 Million a year could be real. It’s more likely somewhere between $25 Million and $45 Million.

I’m offering $50 Million to every single one of you that subscribes to Seattle Mike on YouTube, $0.00 guaranteed.

-Written by Seattle Mike

*Disclaimer: The “$50 Million offer” for YouTube subscribers is not a legitimate offer for any amount of money. That’s why I said “$0.00 guaranteed.” That’s the point.

“We’ve got eight minutes until the internet.” McAfee could be heard saying to Rodgers as he walked onto the stage set up on the Steelers’ outdoor practice facility.

“We got 8 minutes. We got a lot to talk about.” Rodgers said shortly after he sat down.

McAfee’s first question was about Rodgers’ decision to make this his final season.

“I’m going to plead the fifth.” Rodgers said. “Like that absolute coward, Tony Fauci. Absolute coward. Are you kidding me?”

Rodgers ranted about the coverage over his vaccine status in 2021 when he infamously lied to the media about being vaccinated, before adding “But there was another scandal this offseason too. Involving a voter for MVP, for coach of the year.”

“Where’s the camera?” Rodgers asked before looking directly into the ESPN camera and saying “How much time did your network spend on that?”

“There’s been a lot of silence.” Rodgers added a few moments later. “I feel like, you know, like 19 seconds about one subject. Oh, don’t talk about that. You know, we can talk about Rex Ryan’s foot fetish, but please don’t talk about, you know, anything else right now. Don’t talk about any scandals…”

Rodgers was clearly referring to the Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel scandal that’s been the talk of the offseason. ESPN, who is 10% owned by the NFL, has shamelessly dodged coverage of the subject. Fox Sports and CBS Sports haven’t spent much time on it either. The only major sports network that offered any real coverage of Vrussini-gate was Pro Football Talk, which is distributed by NBC Sports.

The most direct hit came toward the middle of the 28 minute interview, during the portion that was only available via YouTube, ESPN Unlimited, Disney+, TikTok and X, when Rodgers said “I don’t get to do this show as much as I would like to do, I think, from time to time. So, especially when I get a chance to get after that gutless organization you have to be connected with…I just don’t care anymore.”

ESPN can’t be happy that Rodgers called them out on their own network. McAfee is reportedly in negotiations with the network for a deal that could pay north of $60 Million a year. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of control the network expects for their money. According to McAfee, the previous agreement was strictly a licensing deal. Pat claims he still has full control over what he says and who he has on his show. For $60 Million a year, I doubt that’s still going to be the case (If it ever was). Aaron Rodgers highlights exactly why ESPN surely sees it necessary to control McAfee and his guests.

-Written by Seattle Mike

TMZ claims they were denied the body camera footage and accident report pertaining to a July 14th car accident that landed 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan in the hospital. The Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD) cited the California Public Records Act as the reason they are “exempt from disclosure”.

Upon looking into various stories surrounding the PAPD, I found something interesting though.

The Kyle Shanahan car accident occurred less than a month after an independent audit found the PAPD didn’t properly utilize their body cameras through several incidents, per NBC Bay Area.

“Body worn cameras are gamechangers when it comes to our auditing responsibilities and often are determinative in deciding whether or not the officers’ conduct was consistent with policy,” said Michael Gennaco of the Office of Independent Review. “We found several situations in which for one reason or another, the body worn camera did not depict all of the encounter or one of the (PAPD) officers on scene did not appropriately activate his or her body worn camera.”

Is that the reason for the PAPD reluctance to hand over body camera footage? Was it improperly used? Was it used at all?

Hard to say without anything being provided.

This is just the latest addition to a long series of strange behavior from the media and police involved in the Kyle Shanahan car accident.

First we had the timeline; the local and national media didn’t report on the matter for 11 days, which is an extremely long time for someone as prominent as Shanahan to have evaded 49ers writers that are paid to cover the team so extensively. In fact, according to one 49ers beat reporter, Shanahan, himself, was surprised how long it took for the story to break.

Then, we found out the PAPD didn’t issue a citation to anyone for the car accident, despite Shanahan clearly being at fault. The police knew he had been holding his cell phone at the time of the crash, or at least that’s what the entry in the online database said.

The same database listed the 21-year-old victim of the accident, as the person at fault. To his credit, Shanahan cleared up the mistake that the PAPD claimed was a “clerical error”.

There’s just been one thing after another with the handling of this matter. And where there’s smoke…

There’s me doing lots of Google searches and making lots of Twitter/X posts.

-Written by Seattle Mike

“Oh no, we’re not doing that.” Romo said. “I’ve heard from multiple lawyers, don’t ever do that, so we’re not going to do that.”

I don’t know what lawyers Romo heard from, but they probably weren’t talking about the machine in the station, and they probably weren’t talking about Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the only state in the country where a first offense OWI (Often called Driving Under the Influence in other states) is a civil charge, not a criminal one. Because of that fact, Romo had nothing to lose by taking the chemical breath test.

Refusing to take the test is an automatic suspended license under implied consent laws. If you didn’t know, when you got your driver’s license, regardless of state, you agreed to an implied consent law that gives permission to submit to a chemical sample for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or other illicit substances. Basically, if you’re being investigated for OWI/DUI and you refuse to provide a breath, blood, or urine sample, you automatically have your license suspended.

Some defense attorneys argue that if you know you’re going to blow above the legal limit, you should refuse all of the tests. Refuse the field sobriety tests, preliminary breath test, and the breathalyzer at the police station. That way the state doesn’t have any physical evidence you were operating a vehicle above the legal limit. You’ll still have your license suspended, but at least your lawyer can try and plead down to a non-criminal traffic ticket, instead of giving you a criminal record.

In Romo’s case, the criminal record concern isn’t there, since Wisconsin is extremely soft on first offense drunk driving charges. Still, even in states where a first OWI/DUI is taken more seriously, refusing all of the tests might not be the best defense. In fact, in my eight years of law enforcement experience, most defense attorneys advised their clients to submit to the breath test at the station.

They’d still advise to refuse the field sobriety tests since there’s no advantage in taking a no win test; but they’d say to submit to the breathalyzer machine at the police station. That way the defense attorney could attack the way the test was administered, the machine, and/or the results. There’s a lot more steps for the police officer that way. The more steps, the more opportunities for a misstep.

-The Potential Missteps-

Defense attorneys often argue about the observation period. In Washington I had to watch the suspect for 20 uninterrupted minutes before I could get them on the machine. I couldn’t let them go to the bathroom. I couldn’t let them put anything in their mouth (Chewing gum, water, etc.). I couldn’t step out of the room for a second, or look at my cell phone. We would sit directly in front of a camera, next to the BAC machine, and I’d watch them for 20 minutes.

Defense attorneys also liked to argue over the machine itself. When was the last standard maintenance performed? Did the machine properly go through the self diagnostic it’s supposed to before each test? Are there any error codes? Any of those things could get the results thrown out.

The defense attorney could also attack the results themselves. The breathalyzer always takes two samples of breath, meaning you have to blow into it twice. If the first sample and the second sample are extremely far apart, the attorney can argue the machine obviously can’t give an accurate reading.

Even if the samples are close, as long as they’re on the border of the legal limit, .08 in almost every state, the lawyer can argue the results aren’t definitive enough.

Let’s say the first sample is .082 and the second sample is .085. The attorney can argue that their client was actually under the .08 limit, because the test clearly is off by .003. So a third sample could reasonably have had their client at a .079. From my own experiences, I can tell you that the last digit of the sample can fluctuate pretty drastically. That’s why some states don’t allow the last digit to be admissible. In those states, the results from my example would have simply been .08 and .08, which would give the attorney no space to argue.

-How to REALLY Get Away With It-

The best way to get away with OWI/DUI is to not do it in the first place. If you’re planning to go out and have a few drinks, have a plan. Uber/Lyft, have a designated driver, public transportation, etc. In Romo’s case, he has an estimated net worth of $80 Million. So spring for the UberXL!

Having said that, everybody has the right to a defense and a fair trial. From my observations, Romo was clearly drunk. He didn’t just fail the Field Sobriety Tests, but failed them miserably. If he had better advice, maybe he would have gotten away with it too.

Still could, in theory.

-Written by Seattle Mike

1. The NFL’s partnership with ESPN means the network will serve more as a PR firm for the league, than actual journalists

2. Beat writers will do anything to protect their access to the team they “cover”

3. If the police make a “clerical error” that benefits the team, don’t expect the beat writers or ESPN to ask any critical questions (Even the people who caught the “error” are accepting the police’s explanation)

That last point is what makes this situation more important than “just sports.” Without ESPN or the beat writers putting real journalism into these stories, it’s easy for mistakes to happen. It’s easy for police departments to accidentally file the wrong name, if they don’t think anyone’s ever going to look into it.

A more suspicious person might say it’s easy for police departments to cover up truths and abuse their power, if they don’t think anyone’s ever going to look into it. But hey, that’s for a more suspicious person to say.

In the Kyle Shanahan case, the “clerical error” had the 21-year-old victim of the coach’s car crash listed as the person at fault. Without sports writers turning over rocks to find all the details they can on this story, that “error” goes unnoticed. Maybe that’s never a legitimate issue. Afterall, there wasn’t a citation issued.

Or maybe someday, when that 21-year-old is now a 25-year-old applying for car insurance that requires a more thorough check, this comes back up. Now what? Does anybody believe her that this prominent Head Coach was actually the one at fault?

If that’s true, how come nobody reported that?

Maybe it’s not insurance, maybe they need a background check for a job, or a humanitarian effort, or even just something fun they want to do.

Without this detail being caught, word never gets back to Shanahan that there was a “clerical error,” and he never sets the record straight.

Maybe this particular situation proves to be irrelevant. I certainly see that as a possibility. This time it’s a “clerical error” in a public database that nobody puts any stock into. But what is it next time? Without journalists asking questions, where does it end? Certainly nowhere good.

Why do you think a free press was so important to our forefathers in the first place?

No, they weren’t thinking about Monday Night Football, but they were thinking about holding powerful people accountable. In America in 2026, there are very few forces more powerful than the NFL. Possibly none more powerful than their sponsors.

That’s why it’s not just sports.

Obviously your takeaway from this post should be this; the content I make is way more important than anything else you read or watch. Subscribe to @RealSeattleMike on X, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Substack, and probably one or two places I’m forgetting.

-Written by Seattle Mike

On Tuesday, a few hours after Shanahan admitted to reporters that the July 14th car accident that landed him in a hospital bed was his fault, Brandon Aiyuk posted to his Instagram Story.

Aiyuk’s posts read “You can’t win the race if you crash out” and “Keep yo head up and stay in yo own lane. You gone win.”

On the one hand, Aiyuk’s posts are wildly insensitive. On the other hand, yeah - Shanahan should have kept his head up and stayed in his own lane, instead of attempting to retrieve his dropped cell phone, resulting in him crashing into a 21-year-old driving in the opposing lane.

Earlier this offseason, Aiyuk posted to YouTube that Shanahan “got the temper of a fucking toddler.”

Aiyuk’s social media hasn’t done anything to help his cause to return to the NFL. He’s technically no longer in the NFL, and hasn’t taken any meaningful steps toward returning.

Toward the end of the second season of Justified, Winona pleads with her boyfriend’s boss to help him out of a hairy situation. The Chief Deputy Marshal looks at Winona, sighs and says “sometimes you just can’t help.” That’s kind of what it’s like wanting to help Brandon Aiyuk right now.

-Written by Seattle Mike

Tony Romo was arrested recently for Operating While Impaired in Wisconsin. The body camera footage of his traffic stop surfaced on Tuesday, and many people took exception to the way Romo was treated.

When Deputy Kaur, of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s office, asked Romo to exit his car for roadside Field Sobriety Tests, the former Cowboys QB asked if he could call his lawyer. The Deputy told him he couldn’t.

Explanation: My understanding is that in the state of Wisconsin, Kaur was in the right on that part. She hadn’t read Romo his rights yet, so he had no constitutional right to representation.

Romo then exited the car, and Kaur told him that it was unsafe to do the field sobriety tests where they were standing, on the side of the highway, so she wanted to transport him somewhere safe first.

Explanation: Kaur was in the right for this part too. Yes, it feels backhanded, but think about it - she can’t let him drive somewhere safer if she suspects him of operating while impaired. She can’t let him drive anywhere. So she needs to transport him. She also can’t tell him that’s the plan while he’s still in his car because that inevitably leads to arguments, and then people get uncooperative and defensive. That’s not a good situation for a police officer during a traffic stop (Trust me).

Once Kaur transported Romo to what appeared to be a police station parking garage, he complained of back pain (He’s had multiple surgeries, and the backseat of police cars are not comfortable). Then they conducted the Field Sobriety Tests. Romo performed poorly on the Horizontal Gaze Stigmas (Eye to pen test), one leg stand, and walk and turn.

After failing those tests (Everyone does), Kaur asked Romo to submit to a preliminary breath test (PBT). “Oh no, we’re not doing that.” Romo said. “I’ve heard from multiple lawyers, don’t ever do that, so we’re not going to do that.”

Romo later refused the breathalyzer machine at the station.

Explanation: Romo probably didn’t understand what tests he should take, and which ones he should refuse.

None of the 50 states require you to take the Field Sobriety Tests or the preliminary breath test.

In my opinion, as a former police officer, the Horizontal Gaze Stigmas, One Leg Stand, and Walk and Turn are impossible to pass. Grading them is extremely subjective. The officer just has to say they feel like you stuttered, hesitated, or struggled, even if you follow their instructions perfectly.

Romo never had a chance on those tests. Nobody does. Those are the tests that lawyers often say to not bother taking.

The Preliminary Breath Test (Little handheld device) is another one that lawyers often tell their clients not to take. My opinion is a little different. If you blow a 0.00 on the PBT, the officer is going to have a hard time proving their probable cause. So if I’m completely innocent, I’d have no problem blowing into the PBT.

Bottom line, I’m not a lawyer, and I’m not giving you legal advice - but if it were me, I’d refuse to take any Field Sobriety Tests other than the PBT.

Here’s where Romo messed up.

The breathalyzer machine at the police station (It looks like a fax machine with a long cable and a plastic tube) - that’s the one you’re foolish not to take. Every state has implied consent laws; meaning if you refuse to submit a chemical test (breath, blood, or urine), and an officer has probable cause to believe you were impaired while operating a vehicle, your license is going to be suspended.

So you might as well take the test at the station, because you might pass. Even if you don’t, your lawyer can try to argue the machine wasn’t calibrated correctly, or if there was some kind of maintenance issue, etc.

In other words, you should always take the machine at the police station. (Once again, I’m not a lawyer. Consult a licensed attorney if you’re concerned about these things).

In the case of Romo, he’s lucky that Wisconsin has baby DUI/OWI laws. People reports that a first offense for Operating While Impaired in Wisconsin is a $150-$300 fine, and isn’t a criminal charge.

I’m not defending drunk driving, but Field Sobriety Tests are not a fair measure for probable cause. That’s not Deputy Kaur’s fault. She didn’t make the laws or her department’s policies. I agree with her findings. Romo’s eyes appeared glossy. To me, he appeared at least buzzed. He also didn’t do well on the tests, and in my opinion, it wasn’t particularly close. Because he refused the machine, we’ll never know exactly how drunk he was - if at all.

At the end of the day, this comes down to three points.

1. Romo had no chance of passing the field sobriety tests (Nobody does)

2. Deputy Kaur did her job

3. If you don’t drink and drive, none of this is an issue

-Written by Seattle Mike

Kyle Shanahan called the 49ers beat writers into his office on Tuesday to clarify a point he, and everyone else had been hearing on social media. Per Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated, Shanahan informed various local media members that he was at fault for the car accident on July 14th that left him hospitalized, despite reports it was the other driver. Shanahan claims that while he was driving, he dropped his phone, attempted to pick it up, and then swerved into the opposite lane, causing the accident.

In the initial report from ESPN, the Palo Alto police department said their policies prohibit them from releasing information regarding the cause of a collision, or which party may be at fault. Based on facts from a California public record search, Grant Cohn originally wrote that Kyle Shanahan was “not ruled to be at fault for the crash because the other driver, a 21-year-old woman, apparently swerved into his lane…”

The same public record search listed that Shanahan had been holding his phone, and that it was in use leading up to the accident.

After Shanahan’s confession to the beat writers the Palo Alto police had to make a new statement. Per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, the Palo Alto Police Department cited a “clerical error” as the reason Shanahan wasn’t listed as the person at-fault for the collision on their public information website.

The police statement went on to read “It is not uncommon for officers to elect not to issue a citation to either party involved in a collision. Neither party in this situation was provided preferential treatment.”

Let’s look at what we know.

Kyle Shanahan was driving his car while using his cell phone. He dropped the phone and attempted to pick it up, causing him to swerve into the wrong lane, and hit another vehicle, resulting in a major car accident that ended in his own hospitalization.

Shanahan was not cited for the collision.

The police department originally stated that they don’t comment on who’s at fault for causing a car accident.

The state database listed the other driver as the one at fault, not Shanahan.

The media, both national and local, didn’t report on the matter for 11 days.

Once a 49ers beat writer reported Shanahan wasn’t at fault for the accident, based on the public record search, the 49ers Head Coach clarified the truth. And then the police department claimed they made a “clerical error.”

1. Good on Shanahan for clarifying the truth. I’m sure there are people who wish he wouldn’t have, but it was the right thing to do.

2. The most likely conclusion is often the right one. The most likely conclusion for this situation is a major coverup.

I’m expected to believe that none of the beat writers knew about the accident until the team broke the story, followed two minutes later by a detailed ESPN report?

I’m expected to believe that the police department that didn’t issue their local team’s head coach a ticket for a collision that was obviously his fault, also happened to make a “clerical error” in the report? And they only noticed after Shanahan said something? (Never mind the several days before that everyone on Twitter X was saying the other driver was at fault)

Clearly there is some kind of conspiracy involved. At a minimum, ESPN sat on the story until 1/32nd of their new business partner thought they were ready to control the narrative. At worst, we’re looking at a mass media conspiracy that includes covering for a corrupt police department’s decision to throw a 21-year-old under the bus on their public database to shield blame from their local team’s head coach (or accept a bribe of some kind).

Unfortunately, we don’t have any answers that make sense right now. Surely the 49ers (and the Palo Alto police department) are hoping this whole thing goes away. The general public deserves the truth.

If only there was a job out there where people on the ground (some call it a beat) could look into these things, and then report their findings to the general public.

-Written by Seattle Mike

At 12:00pm ET, the 49ers posted their initial statement about Shanahan’s accident.

At 12:01pm ET, ESPN’s Adam Schefter made a more detailed post.

At 12:02pm ET, An article from Adam Schefter and Nick Wagoner posted to ESPN.

Having said that, as Pro Football Talk pointed out, ESPN aren’t the only ones that kept this quiet. The local beat writers didn’t say a word either. It’s hard to believe that the people who eat, sleep, and breathe 49ers, with connections to the local police departments, didn’t know about Shanahan being in a car accident and hospitalized until the team statement 11 days after the fact.

49ers beat writer for The San Francisco Standard, Tim Kawakami, explained on Twitter X that he found out on July 23rd that Shanahan wasn’t going to be at the start of camp, or the press conference he was previously expected to attend.

I pressed Kawakami and asked why he wouldn’t look into why Shanahan was going to miss camp. He said that the team pretty much told him not to worry about it and that they’d give more information soon. He claims he accepted that response. And then before I could respond, he blocked me.

So let me get this straight.

This 49ers “journalist” claims he didn’t know about their head coach being involved in a major car accident that left him hospitalized. And then when he found out that the team’s head coach was going to MISS THE START OF TRAINING CAMP, he shrugged and went “Whatever.” And then was told by the 49ers “Don’t worry about it. We’ll put out something soon.” He didn’t press for any details? He didn’t do any investigative work?

And then when I asked a very fair question - Why didn’t you look into a major situation about the team you cover? - He posts an overly defensive response, and then blocks me.

To me, the funniest part about his response is that he says “Be furious.” and then blocks me. (I love irony)

First of all, I really wasn’t mad and certainly wasn’t furious. I was just asking a question. Ya know, like a journalist.

Second of all, blocking me helped prove my point way faster than going back and forth a few times would have. Blocking me for merely asking a question about his reporting, proves Kawakami is far more concerned about his access to the 49ers, than actual journalism.

This is a major issue in sports reporting right now and a large part of the reason I dived into this field in 2023.

George Orwell once famously said “Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.”

Kawakami isn’t a journalist. He’s a cog in the 49ers public relations machine. Going through his posts, on a burner account I had to make, I learned that this is actually a very common move from Kawakami.

He reposts comments criticizing him, gives his response, and then blocks the account so they can’t reply to him. It’s a hilariously cowardly move. Making it more hilarious was Kawakami complaining about being blocked by an Xbox poster (Out of Kirkland, Washington).

Kawakami can block whoever he wants. That’s his right. I can write about it and call him a coward. That’s my right.

Some of you will surely think this post is a rant. It’s not. I’m not even upset. I’m actually happy about it, because he proved my point. This post is intended as both an eye opener for sports fans and a promise.

Eye opener for sports fans: Many (not all) of the beat writers that cover your favorite teams aren’t journalists. They’re a part of the team’s public relations.

Promise: I will always tell you what I think. I don’t care who it turns off (I’ve accepted that I’ll never get a job with ESPN). I work in journalism, not public relations.

-Written by Seattle Mike

Video

While there’s a lot that others will surely unpack in the coming days, weeks, and months as it pertains to Shanahan’s injuries, the incident did reveal what to expect from ESPN now that the NFL owns 10% of the sports media company.

And that’s where we’ll begin.

ESPN is not a sports news organization. Their employees are not journalists. They are cogs in the league’s public relations machine. Look no further than the timeline for the proof.

On Saturday, July 25th at 12:00 PM ET, the 49ers released a statement, informing the public that Kyle Shanahan had been involved in a car accident on July 14th.

At 12:01, ESPN/NFL Insider Adam Schefter posted a detailed explanation of the incident to Twitter X.

At 12:02, Adam Schefter and Nick Wagoner posted an article to ESPN.

Schefter’s Twitter X post was 73 words. The article he collaborated with Nick Wagoner on was 746 words. Unless Schefter not only can type and post at record breaking speeds, but do it while collaborating with another writer, this release was clearly a coordinated effort.

The synchronized PR stunt between Schefter and an NFL team can be expected for the foreseeable future. Though, the NFL/ESPN partnership may not be the sole reason Schefter was willing to sit on the story.

Schefter and the Shanahan’s have a relationship that spans more than a quarter decade. Schefter wrote a book with Kyle Shanahan’s father, legendary NFL Head Coach Mike Shanahan in 1999.

Presumably that makes Schefter a long-time family friend. Sitting on a story about someone you’re close to makes sense on one level. On another level, it’s a betrayal to journalism. Journalists have a responsibility to their audience, some of whom are paying north of $30 a month for their reporting.

Having said that, betraying a friendship isn’t the only option for a journalist caught in a conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest aren’t inherently bad. We all have them. The right thing to do when they come up is to recuse yourself, and hand the story off to someone who doesn’t have a conflict. With ESPN’s relationship to the NFL, they don’t have the ability or inclination to do that, making honest journalism impossible for the network.

This isn’t the first conflict of interest concern that’s been raised when it comes to Adam Schefter. For years, many have taken issue with the fact that Schefter is an investor in Boom Entertainment. Critics of Schefter’s involvement with the sports betting company point to his influence over the sports market, to the tune of 11 million followers on Twitter X.

Others point to the fact that Schefter’s conflict of interest extends to the Patriots, because owner Robert Kraft is also an investor in Boom Entertainment.

That conflict became particularly glaring when Schefter, and ESPN for the most part, avoided the biggest controversy of the offseason - the alleged affair between Patriots’ Head Coach Mike Vrabel and former NFL Insider, Dianna Russini.

Of course, ESPN and the NFL don’t seem to mind conflicts of interest. The NFL allows Tom Brady to work for Fox, interviewing several teams throughout the season, despite being a part of Raiders ownership. In a similar vein, Troy Aikman is allowed to work for the Dolphins and ESPN this season, essentially providing the exact same services (and conflict) as Brady.

Last week one of ESPN’s biggest names, Pat McAfee, bragged on his show that he knew LeBron James was going to make his announcement on Friday because ESPN’s top NBA Insider requested to be on the show that day. That prompted McAfee to make a bet on the top four destinations, one of which was the 76ers squad James wound up signing with (Insider trading? Conflict of interest? Unethical journalism? Take your pick).

Bottom line, at this point it’s clear that ESPN not only doesn’t care about journalistic standards, ethics, or conflicts of interest, but they actually embrace them. Once again, the NFL owns 10% of the network, who in turn run the league’s media entities. ESPN in and of itself, is a conflict of interest.

ESPN aren’t the only ones, though. We know why Adam Schefter and ESPN sat on the Shanahan story. But it’s not like Schefter is the only one that would have known.

The 49ers, like the other 31 teams in the NFL, have a plethora of beat writers that also must have known. 11 days is just too long for the writers who eat, sleep, and breathe 49er football to not know that the head coach was in a horrific car accident and hospitalized.

A few of them have admitted to knowing Shanahan was going to miss the start of training camp, they just claim they didn’t know why. Which means they are either bad journalists or they’re lying to cover the fact that the 49ers asked them to sit on the story. I mean, why wouldn’t you have any journalistic curiosity over your head coach missing the start of camp?

For years it’s been known that beat writers sit on stories to preserve their access to teams and players. Before the NFL/ESPN teamup, this wasn’t that big of a deal. Even when the beat writers sat on a story, you could count on the national media to catch it and report on it in a timely manner. In fact, I’d guess that oftentimes the beat writers were the ones slipping information to national media outlets. Think about it; the beat writer gets to preserve their relationship with the team, while proving their useful information to large sports media companies they could some day make the jump to.

The Shanahan incident shines a light on a new reality. Beat writers are either going to have to get back to being the true journalists that ask the tough questions, and report the truth on their teams, or we’re going to be left with media as muddy as the political field, where you accept half truths provided by, and in defense of, the subjects of the coverage.

-Written by Seattle Mike

Smith also has never been shy about admitting who he asked the network to bring on.

According to Smith’s book, Straight Shooter, he once told ESPN Executive Vice President Dave Roberts that First Take didn’t work with himself and Max Kellerman. “If you don’t want to take Kellerman off the show, then take me off the show.” Smith recalled in his memoir. “I’ll understand. I’m sure we can find something else for me to do here.”

Since First Take moved on from Kellerman, Smith reportedly asked ESPN to bring in Michael Irvin - ESPN let him go after a sexual harassment allegation in 2023, though the network claimed letting him go had more to do with reshaping their on-air debate format.

Smith also claims he’s the one that pushed hard for the network to bring in Shannon Sharpe after he left Fox Sports’ Undisputed. ESPN let him go after settling a sexual assault allegation in 2025.

On Tuesday ESPN let go of another one of Smith’s strong endorsements, Cam Newton. This just one day removed from the network letting go of Ryan Clark, who Smith has since posted a video of support for.

Of Stephen A. Smith’s First Take endorsements, that I’m aware of, only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo remains.

As far as Cam Newton and Ryan Clark go, the decision makes sense. Both Clark and Newton have extremely successful podcasts that discuss sports and culture. Neither of those podcasts are produced or affiliated with ESPN. So the most polished/filtered sports network in America, has no influence over what’s said on those platforms.

Stephen A. Smith also has his own podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show. The difference is that Stephen A. Smith, as the most prominent figure on the network, has a massive paycheck that comes from ESPN. He’s not going to say anything on his show that he wouldn’t say on ESPN (Other than a few stronger curse words). Additionally, Smith has programming on Sirius XM. He won’t want to do anything to upset that employer either.

While ESPN may be comfortable with Smith having other outlets to state his political beliefs and continue promoting his personal brand, they’re seemingly done giving him input on First Take contributors. For one reason or another, Smith’s choices and preferences haven’t worked out. Frankly, I liked Max Kellerman sitting opposite Stephen A. I thought he had pragmatic takes that didn’t rely on the over-the-top theater that Cam Newton and Michael Irvin relied heavily on. Hell, if we’re being honest, First Take was best with Skip Bayless sitting across from Stephen A. Smith. Not because Bayless has good takes, he has hilariously awful ones…but Smith and Bayless going at one another was pure entertainment.

ESPN, can we just get Bayless back?

-Written by Seattle Mike

Also keep in mind, the Sunday Ticket doesn’t include every game. It only includes out-of-market, Sunday afternoon games. That means if a game is on your local CBS or Fox station, you don’t get it through the Sunday Ticket.

Same thing for Sunday Night Football, you need NBC or Peacock for that. Or Monday Night Football, you need ESPN or ESPN Unlimited for that (Or ABC for certain games). Or Thursday Night Football, you need access to Amazon Prime Video for that. This season also includes a slate of international games on NFL Network in addition to some Netflix broadcasts sprinkled through the season.

That last point is important because it affects the value of the Sunday Ticket. With so many games not being played on Sunday afternoon, there’s significantly fewer out-of-market games than in years past, yet the price of the Sunday Ticket is as high as ever. I’m not telling you not to get the Sunday Ticket. Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your hard earned money. But to help you make the decision, I decided to make The NFL Money Ticket Guide below.

In order to do this, I had to make a few assumptions. I’m assuming you have access to your local CBS, Fox, NBC, and ABC stations. You can get those through cable or satellite, over an antenna or a combination of streaming services (Explanation in next section). I also have to assume you have ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and NFL Network, since the Sunday Ticket doesn’t help you with those anyways.

If you don’t have cable, satellite, or a live streaming plan, here’s how you get access to the NFL Games on these channels:

CBS: You’d need a Paramount+ subscription. Some services, like Walmart+, can cover the cost if you happen to be a member. CBS is also available via antenna, if you live close enough to a broadcast tower.

Fox: You’d need Fox One or an antenna.

NBC: You’d need Peacock or an antenna.

ABC: You’d need ESPN Unlimited or an antenna.

Amazon Prime Video and Netflix: These are just streaming services. I won’t insult you. Some cell phone providers cover the cost of Netflix, though (Mine is covered through T-Mobile).

NFL Network: This one is strange for Xfinity customers at the time of this writing, as NFL Network and the cable provider are currently in a contract dispute. Having said that, if you happen to want NFL RedZone, this might not be the end of the world. The NFL’s streaming service, NFL + Premium, is $15 a month and includes both NFL Network and the NFL RedZone Channel. Xfinity customers had to pay for an add-on to get the NFL RedZone Channel last year anyways. So just take the money you were going to give to Xfinity, and give it to the NFL for their streaming service. I’ve had NFL + Premium for years now, I have no complaints

Helpful things to know:

The Sunday Ticket applies to the Sunday afternoon games, all of which are on Fox and CBS.

There are two windows of Sunday games. A bulk of the games played on Sunday are in the 1:00 PM ET window. The late afternoon window includes games that start at 4:05 PM ET, or 4:25 PM ET.

CBS and Fox alternate doubleheader weeks, with both getting Week 1. Fox will have a 1:00 PM ET game, and a 4:05/4:25 PM ET game in every market in weeks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 17.

CBS will have a 1:00 PM ET game, and a 4:05/4:25 PM ET game in every market in weeks 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15, and 16.

Both CBS and Fox have already released what they anticipate to be their featured late window games for each week. For CBS, they call it their Featured Games. Fox calls theirs America’s Game of the Week. I factored both of these releases into the guide below. Keep in mind, CBS and Fox can change their late window feature choice at any time.

The entire Week 18 slate is unassigned. The league usually waits until the Week 17 Sunday Night Football game to announce the Week 18 slate.

Nine of ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcasts will be available on ABC as well as ESPN. In the guide, I do clarify if a team’s games will be available on ABC, as opposed to strictly ESPN. That way anyone who only gets the free, over-the-airwaves broadcasts on ABC can factor that in.

In Week 16, the Buccaneers, Falcons, Bengals, Colts, Commanders, Vikings, Panthers, and Steelers are involved in a cluster of games that can be flexed to standalone windows on Saturday or the slate of Sunday afternoon games.

In Week 17, the Broncos, Patriots, Chiefs, Chargers, Rams, Buccaneers, Commanders, and Jaguars are in the same boat. (Both of these clusters are accounted for and explained in the guide).

Also keep in mind that beginning in Week 13, the league/networks can flex games into Thursday Night, Sunday Night, or Monday Night windows, and move the games currently scheduled in those slots to Sunday afternoon.

Key:

Guaranteed - Accounts for the games you’ll get if you have access to CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC, ESPN, Prime Video, NFL Network, and Netflix. The guide does explain how many games were accounted for on each of these networks. So if you don’t have access to one or more of them, you can subtract those games from the “guaranteed” amount.

Featured Games - Accounts for games currently listed as CBS’s Featured Game or Fox’s America’s Game of the Week.

Disclaimers:

*This guide is a floor, not a ceiling. I don’t know what games your local Fox or CBS station is going to give you in the early window, if your in-market team is playing on a different network or time slot. So you can always get MORE than the “guaranteed” number.

*The NFL schedule is subject to change. Late season flex windows happen. Some are built in, I can account for those. I can’t account for the surprise ones that aren’t built in. So if the schedule changes, so does the “guaranteed” number.

*This guide is based on what is presently known and assumed about the NFL schedule. Seattle Mike is not responsible for any decisions you make based on the contents of this guide.

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The 2026 NFL Money Ticket Guide

-AFC East-

Buffalo Bills: 7 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 2 against the Lions for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

2. Week 5 against the Rams for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

3. Week 9 against the Vikings for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

4. Week 12 against the Chiefs for the Thanksgiving evening game on NBC/Peacock

5. Week 14 against the Packers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

6. Week 15 against the Bears for a standalone Saturday broadcast on CBS/Paramount+

7. Week 16 against the Broncos for a Christmas Day game on Netflix

Featured Game: The Bills play in one featured game in the Sunday late afternoon window; Week 13 against the Patriots on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Panthers and Vikings markets should expect to get this game.

Bills schedule can be found here.

Miami Dolphins: 0 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts: The Dolphins aren’t currently scheduled to play in any national or standalone broadcasts in 2026.

Featured Games: The Dolphins aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Dolphins schedule can be found here.

New England Patriots: 6 Guaranteed (+2 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 1 against the Seahawks for the Wednesday night season opener on NBC/Peacock

2. Week 7 against the Bears for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

3. Week 10 against the Lions for an international game in Munich, Germany on Fox

4. Week 12 against the Chargers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

5. Week 14 against the Vikings for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

6. Week 15 against the Chiefs for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect:

1. Week 9 against the Packers on Fox. Everyone outside of Seahawks and Cardinals markets should expect to get this game.

2. Week 13 against the Bills on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Panthers and Vikings markets should expect to get this game.

Other Circumstances: Week 17 against the Broncos; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Patriots schedule can be found here.

New York Jets: 0 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts: The Jets aren’t currently scheduled to play in any national or standalone broadcasts in 2026.

Featured Games: The Jets aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Jets schedule can be found here.

-AFC North-

Baltimore Ravens: 4 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 5 against the Falcons for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

2. Week 9 against the Jaguars for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

3. Week 10 against the Chargers for Monday Night Football on ESPN

4. Week 17 against the Bengals for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

Featured Games: The Ravens play in one featured game in the Sunday late afternoon window; Week 3 against the Cowboys on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of the Raiders and Saints markets should expect to get this game.

Ravens schedule can be found here.

Cincinnati Bengals: 4 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 9 against the Falcons for an international game in Madrid, Spain on NFL Network.

2. Week 10 against the Steelers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 11 against the Commanders for Monday Night Football on ESPN

4. Week 17 against the Ravens for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

Featured Games: The Bengals play in one featured game in the Sunday late afternoon window; Week 14 against the Chiefs on Fox. While this game is presently set to be America’s Game of the Week, it’s worth noting that Fox also has the Rams/49ers game at the same time.

By Week 14, it’s not unreasonable to think the Rams/49ers game could be more compelling. Assuming Fox doesn’t change America’s Game of the Week, everyone outside of the Rams, 49ers, Giants, and Seahawks markets can expect to get the Chiefs vs Bengals game.

Other Circumstances: Week 16 against the Colts; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Bengals schedule can be found here.

Cleveland Browns: 1 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts: The Browns will be in the national spotlight for one game, a Week 4 Thursday Night Football game against the Steelers on Prime Video.

Featured Games: The Browns don’t have any late afternoon games currently scheduled.

Browns schedule can be found here.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 6 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 4 against the Browns for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

2. Week 7 against the Saints for an international game in Paris, France on NFL Network

3. Week 10 against the Bengals for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 12 against the Broncos for a Black Friday game on Prime Video

5. Week 13 against the Texans for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

6. Week 14 against the Jaguars for Monday Night Football on ESPN

Featured Games: The Steelers play in one featured game in the late afternoon window; Week 11 against the Eagles on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of the Raiders and Broncos markets should expect to get this game.

Other Circumstances: Week 16 against the Panthers; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Steelers schedule can be found here.

-AFC South-

Houston Texans: 5 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 6 against the Jaguars for an international game in London, England on NFL Network

2. Week 11 against the Colts for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

3. Week 13 against the Steelers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 16 against the Eagles for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

5. Week 17 against the Packers for Monday Night Football on ESPN

Featured Games: The Texans aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Texans schedule can be found here.

Indianapolis Colts: 3 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 2 against the Chiefs for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

2. Week 4 against the Commanders for an international game in London, England on NFL Network

3. Week 11 against the Texans for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

Featured Games: The Colts aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Other Circumstances: Week 16 against the Bengals; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Colts schedule can be found here.

Jacksonville Jaguars: 5 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 5 against the Eagles for an international game in London, England on NFL Network

2. Week 6 against the Texans for an international game in London, England on NFL Network

3. Week 9 against the Ravens for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

4. Week 14 against the Steelers for Monday Night Football on ESPN

5. Week 16 against the Cowboys for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

Featured Games: The Jaguars aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Other Circumstances: Week 17 against the Commanders; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Jaguars schedule can be found here.

Tennessee Titans: 0 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts: The Titans aren’t currently scheduled to play in any national or standalone broadcasts in 2026.

Featured Games: The Titans aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Titans schedule can be found here.

-AFC West-

Denver Broncos: 5 Guaranteed (+2 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 1 against the Chiefs for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

2. Week 3 against the Rams for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 6 against the Seahawks for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

4. Week 12 against the Steelers for the Black Friday game on Prime Video

5. Week 16 against the Bills for a Christmas Day game on Netflix

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect if the network doesn’t make a change:

1. Week 4 against the 49ers on CBS/Paramount+. CBS has three games in the late window: Broncos–49ers, Chiefs–Raiders and Chargers–Seahawks. CBS’s schedule indicates that Broncos–49ers and Chiefs–Raiders will receive broader national distribution, but the exact market split will not be known until closer to the game.

If you’re in a Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers, or Seahawks market, you’re not going to get the 49ers vs Broncos game. For everyone else, it’s a tossup.

2. Week 8 against the Chiefs on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Patriots and Dolphins markets should expect to get this game.

Other Circumstances: Week 17 against the Patriots; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Broncos schedule can be found here.

Kansas City Chiefs: 7 Guaranteed (+4 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 1 against the Broncos for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

2. Week 2 against the Colts for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 7 against the Seahawks for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 12 against the Bills for the Thanksgiving evening game on NBC/Peacock

5. Week 13 against the Rams for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

6. Week 15 against the Patriots for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

7. Week 16 against the 49ers for the lone featured Sunday afternoon game on CBS/Paramount+

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect if the network doesn’t make a change:

1. Week 4 against the Raiders on CBS/Paramount+. CBS has three games in the late window: Broncos–49ers, Chiefs–Raiders and Chargers–Seahawks. CBS’s schedule indicates that Broncos–49ers and Chiefs–Raiders will receive broader national distribution, but the exact market split will not be known until closer to the game.

If you’re in a Broncos, 49ers, Chargers, or Seahawks market, you’re not going to get the Chiefs vs Raiders game. For everyone else, it’s a tossup.

2. Week 6 against the Chargers on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of the Bills and Raiders markets should expect this game.

3. Week 8 against the Broncos on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Patriots and Dolphins markets should expect this game.

4. Week 14 against the Bengals on Fox. While this game is presently set to be America’s Game of the Week, it’s worth noting that Fox also has the Rams/49ers game at the same time.

By Week 14, it’s not unreasonable to think the Rams/49ers game could be more compelling. Assuming Fox doesn’t change America’s Game of the Week, everyone outside of the Rams, 49ers, Giants, and Seahawks markets can expect to get the Chiefs vs Bengals game.

Other Circumstances: Week 17 against the Chargers; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Chiefs schedule can be found here.

Las Vegas Raiders: 0 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts: The Raiders aren’t currently scheduled to play in any national or standalone broadcasts in 2026.

Featured Games: The Raiders play in one featured game in the late afternoon window; Week 4 against the Chiefs on CBS/Paramount+. CBS has three games in the late window: Broncos–49ers, Chiefs–Raiders and Chargers–Seahawks. CBS’s schedule indicates that Broncos–49ers and Chiefs–Raiders will receive broader national distribution, but the exact market split will not be known until closer to the game. Broncos, 49ers, Chargers, and Seahawks markets aren’t going to get the Chiefs vs Raiders game. For everyone else, it’s a tossup.

Raiders schedule can be found here.

Los Angeles Chargers: 3 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 10 against the Ravens for Monday Night Football on ESPN

2. Week 12 against the Patriots for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 15 against the 49ers for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

Featured Games: The Chargers play in one featured game in the late afternoon window; Week 6 against the Chiefs on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Bills and Raiders markets should expect this game.

Other Circumstances: Week 17 against the Chiefs; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Chargers schedule can be found here.

-NFC East-

Dallas Cowboys: 8 Guaranteed (+3 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 1 against the Giants for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

2. Week 5 against the Buccaneers for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

3. Week 6 against the Packers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 7 against the Eagles for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

5. Week 10 against the 49ers for America’s Game of the Week on Fox (No other games on Fox at that time, meaning everyone will get this game)

6. Week 12 against the Eagles for a Thanksgiving Day game on Fox

7. Week 13 against the Seahawks for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

8. Week 16 against the Jaguars for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect if the network doesn’t make a change:

1. Week 2 against the Commanders on Fox. Everyone outside of Seahawks, Cardinals, Dolphins, and 49ers markets should expect this game.

2. Week 3 against the Ravens on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Raiders and Saints markets should expect this game.

3. Week 15 against the Rams on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Broncos and Raiders markets should expect this game.

Cowboys schedule can be found here.

New York Giants: 4 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 1 against the Cowboys for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

2. Week 2 against the Rams for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

3. Week 10 against the Commanders for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

4. Week 16 against the Lions for Monday Night Football on ESPN

Featured Games: The Giants aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Giants schedule can be found here.

Philadelphia Eagles: 8 Guaranteed (+2 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 3 against the Bears for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

2. Week 5 against the Jaguars for an international game in London, England on NFL Network

3. Week 7 against the Cowboys for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

4. Week 8 against the Commanders for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

5. Week 12 against the Cowboys for a Thanksgiving Day game on Fox

6. Week 15 against the Seahawks for a standalone Saturday game on Fox

7. Week 16 against the Texans for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

8. Week 17 against the 49ers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect if the network doesn’t make a change:

1. Week 1 against the Commanders on Fox. Everyone outside of Dolphins and Raiders markets should expect to get this game.

2. Week 11 against the Steelers on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Raiders and Broncos markets should expect to get this game.

Eagles schedule can be found here.

Washington Commanders: 5 Guaranteed (+2 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 4 against the Colts for an international game in London, England on NFL Network

2. Week 6 against the 49ers for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

3. Week 8 against the Eagles for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 10 against the Giants for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

5. Week 11 against the Bengals for Monday Night Football on ESPN

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect if the network doesn’t make a change:

1. Week 1 against the Eagles on Fox. Everyone outside of Dolphins and Raiders markets should expect to get this game.

2. Week 2 against the Cowboys on Fox. Everyone outside of Seahawks, Cardinals, Dolphins, and 49ers markets should expect to get this game.

Other Circumstances:

• Week 16 against the Vikings: This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

• Week 17 against the Jaguars: This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Commanders schedule can be found here.

-NFC North-

Chicago Bears: 8 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 3 against the Eagles for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

2. Week 7 against the Patriots for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

3. Week 8 against the Seahawks for Monday Night Football on ESPN

4. Week 9 against the Buccaneers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

5. Week 12 against the Lions for Thanksgiving Day game on CBS/Paramount+

6. Week 15 against the Bills for a standalone Saturday game on CBS/Paramount+

7. Week 16 against the Packers for Christmas Day game on Netflix

8. Week 17 against the Lions for America’s Game of the Week on Fox

Featured Games: The Bears play in one featured game in the late afternoon window, other than the Week 17 matchup already accounted for as a guaranteed. Week 5 against the Packers is presently scheduled as America’s Game of the Week on Fox. Everyone outside of Lions, Cardinals, 49ers, and Seahawks markets should expect to get this game.

Bears schedule can be found here.

Detroit Lions: 7 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 2 against the Bills for Thursday Night Football on Prime video

2. Week 4 against the Panthers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 10 against the Patriots for an international game in Munich, Germany on Fox

4. Week 12 against the Bears for a Thanksgiving Day game on CBS/Paramount+

5. Week 15 against the Vikings for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

6. Week 16 against the Giants for Monday Night Football on ESPN

7. Week 17 against the Bears for America’s Game of the Week on Fox (No other games on Fox at that time, meaning everyone will get this game)

Featured Games: The Lions play in one featured game in the late afternoon window; Week 7 against the Packers on Fox. Everyone outside of Rams and Raiders markets should expect to get this game.

Lions schedule can be found here.

Green Bay Packers: 7 Guaranteed (+4 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 3 against the Falcons for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

2. Week 6 against the Cowboys for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 8 against the Panthers for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

4. Week 12 against the Rams for the Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix

5. Week 14 against the Bills for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

6. Week 16 against the Bears for a Christmas Day game on Netflix

7. Week 17 against the Texans for Monday Night Football on ESPN

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect if the network doesn’t make a change:

1. Week 1 against the Vikings on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Chargers and Cardinals markets should expect to get this game.

2. Week 5 against the Bears on Fox. Everyone outside of Lions, Cardinals, 49ers, and Seahawks markets should expect to get this game.

3. Week 7 against the Lions on Fox. Everyone outside of Rams and Raiders markets should expect to get this game.

4. Week 9 against the Patriots on Fox. Everyone outside of Cardinals and Seahawks markets should expect to get this game.

Packers schedule can be found here.

Minnesota Vikings: 4 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 9 against the Bills for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

2. Week 11 against the 49ers for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 14 against the Patriots for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

4. Week 15 against the Lions for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

Featured Games: The Vikings play in one featured game in the late afternoon window; Week 1 against the Packers on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Chargers and Cardinals markets should expect to get this game.

Other Circumstances: Week 16 against the Commanders; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Vikings schedule can be found here.

-NFC South-

Atlanta Falcons: 4 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 3 against the Packers for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

2. Week 4 against the Saints for Monday Night Football on ESPN

3. Week 5 against the Ravens for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 9 against the Bengals for an international game in Madrid, Spain on NFL Network

Featured Games: The Falcons aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Other Circumstances: Week 16 against the Buccaneers; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Falcons schedule can be found here.

Carolina Panthers: 3 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts

1. Week 4 against the Lions for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

2. Week 8 against the Packers for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

3. Week 12 against the Buccaneers for Monday Night Football on ESPN

Featured Games: The Panthers aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Other Circumstances: Week 16 against the Steelers; This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Panthers schedule can be found here.

New Orleans Saints: 2 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 4 against the Falcons for Monday Night Football on ESPN

2. Week 7 against the Steelers for an international game in Paris, France on NFL Network

Featured Games: The Saints aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Saints schedule can be found here.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts

1. Week 5 against the Cowboys for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

2. Week 9 against the Bears for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

3. Week 12 against the Panthers for Monday Night Football on ESPN

Featured Games: The Buccaneers aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Other Circumstances:

• Week 16 against the Falcons. This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

• Week 17 against the Rams. This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Buccaneers schedule can be found here.

-NFC West-

Arizona Cardinals: 0 Guaranteed

Guaranteed Broadcasts: The Cardinals aren’t currently scheduled to play in any national or standalone broadcasts in 2026.

Featured Games: The Cardinals aren’t currently scheduled to play in any CBS or Fox featured games in 2026.

Cardinals schedule can be found here.

Los Angeles Rams: 7 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts

1. Week 1 against the 49ers for an international game in Melbourne, Australia on Netflix

2. Week 2 against the Giants for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

3. Week 3 against the Broncos for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 5 against the Bills for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

5. Week 12 against the Packers for the Thanksgiving Eve game on Netflix

6. Week 13 against the Chiefs for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

7. Week 16 against the Seahawks for the Christmas evening game on Fox

Featured Games: The Rams play in one featured game in the late window; Week 15 against the Cowboys on CBS/Paramount+. Everyone outside of Broncos and Raiders markets should expect this game.

Other Circumstances:

• Week 14 against the 49ers on Fox. Currently, Fox has listed the Bengals/Chiefs game as America’s Game of the Week. By that point in the season, anything is possible. Fox could easily decide to pivot to the NFC West showdown between the Rams and 49ers, if the Chiefs/Bengals matchup isn’t as compelling.

• Week 17 against the Buccaneers. This game can be flexed to one of the two standalone Saturday windows or a Sunday afternoon window.

Rams schedule can be found here.

San Francisco 49ers: 7 Guaranteed (+2 featured games)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 1 against the Rams for an international game in Melbourne, Australia on Netflix

2. Week 6 against the Commanders for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

3. Week 10 against the Cowboys for America’s Game of the Week on Fox

4. Week 11 against the Vikings for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

5. Week 15 against the Chargers for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

6. Week 16 against the Chiefs for the lone featured Sunday afternoon game on CBS/Paramount+

7. Week 17 against the Eagles for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

Featured Games: The following are the CBS/Fox featured games that most markets can expect if the network doesn’t make a change:

1. Week 4 against the Broncos on CBS/Paramount+. CBS has three games in the late window: Broncos–49ers, Chiefs–Raiders and Chargers–Seahawks. CBS’s schedule indicates that Broncos–49ers and Chiefs–Raiders will receive broader national distribution, but the exact market split will not be known until closer to the game.

If you’re in a Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers, or Seahawks market, you’re not going to get the 49ers vs Broncos game. For everyone else, it’s a tossup.

2. Week 12 against the Seahawks on Fox. Everyone outside of Commanders and Cardinals markets should expect to get this game.

Other Circumstances: Week 14 against the Rams; Currently Fox has Bengals/Chiefs listed as America’s Game of the Week. Anything is possible by that point in the season, so Fox could easily pivot to an NFC West showdown if Bengals/Chiefs isn’t as compelling by then.

49ers schedule can be found here.

Seattle Seahawks: 7 Guaranteed (+1 featured game)

Guaranteed Broadcasts:

1. Week 1 against the Patriots for the Wednesday night season opener on NBC/Peacock

2. Week 6 against the Broncos for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video

3. Week 7 against the Chiefs for Sunday Night Football on NBC/Peacock

4. Week 8 against the Bears for Monday Night Football on ESPN

5. Week 13 against the Cowboys for Monday Night Football on ABC/ESPN

6. Week 15 against the Eagles for a standalone Saturday game on Fox

7. Week 16 against the Rams for the Christmas evening game on Fox

Featured Games: The Seahawks play in one featured game in the late afternoon window; Week 12 against the 49ers on Fox. Everyone outside of Commanders and Cardinals markets should expect to get this game.

Seahawks schedule can be found here.

End of Guide

-Created by Seattle Mike

Personally, I’m grateful to Ryan Clark. While attempting to paint the picture that Sam Darnold was preparing excuses for a playoff loss (that never came), Clark made up untrue interception stats about the quarterback during an appearance on First Take. Fact checking Clark on Darnold’s stats was one of my most successful TikTok videos (Now resurfacing on other platforms). Thanks, Ryan!

Past all of those clear and obvious issues that probably should have resulted in Clark being let go a long time ago, ESPN handled his departure the wrong way. According to multiple outlets, ESPN decided to notify Clark he was being laid off, while he was on air, because the rumors were already circulating, and the network was afraid he’d hear about it somewhere else first. So instead, ESPN waited until Clark was off camera, either for a segment he wasn’t a part of or a commercial break, and notified him then. Clark didn’t finish the episode of NFL Live. 

What a disrespectful way to handle that situation. First of all, how did so many people know about Clark’s firing? Is the gossip at ESPN really that bad? If so, maybe the network is letting go of the wrong people. 

Second of all, unless the network was concerned Clark would hear about it within the hour, why couldn’t they wait until the show was done? Wrap the show. Get a note to Clark that the boss wants to see him as soon as the show’s over. Let him know then. 

Third of all, even if Clark would have gotten the rumor during the show, or immediately after; 1. It’s still just a rumor at that point. 2. It’s still better than firing him during the show!

Having said that, I wish ESPN would have done all of their layoffs during talent appearances this week. We might actually sit through the commercial breaks just to see who’s left by the time the credits are rolling. I mean, you did Clark like that, why not the others?

-Written by Seattle Mike

The layoffs were predictable. The fact of the matter is that since ESPN acquired NFL Media, they now have redundant positions. And while that may be the reason for the layoffs, the fact of the matter is that ESPN still had to rank certain employees over others. Afterall, it’s not like they just drew names from a hat. ESPN chose to let Cam Newton go. They chose to let Ryan Clark go. They chose to keep Stephen A. Smith. Those are decisions.

Other than working for ESPN, and being regular contributors to First Take, there is another thing that binds Cam Newton, Ryan Clark, and Stephen A. Smith; and it happened back in March.

After publicly feuding over social media for years, Cam Newton invited controversial sports podcaster Jason Whitlock onto his podcast to talk out their differences. As could be expected, Whitlock was his normal, repugnant, hateful self.

“Most of these homosexuals in the media are scared to death of me.” Whitlock said, referring to the sports personalities that have been critical of him over the years.

“In 4th grade [Stephen A. Smith] got held back because they thought he was retarded.” Whitlock also alleged during the interview. (Smith wrote in his book, Straight Shooter, that he was held back in third and fourth grade due to undiagnosed dyslexia).

“If I catch you at an NBA finals game playing solitaire, I think you’re gay and don’t like basketball.” Whitlock later added, referring to an incident when Stephen A. Smith was seen playing solitaire at an NBA Finals Game.

ESPN couldn’t have liked that interview, or the affiliation their employees had with it. Still, there was nothing they could do about it. 4th and 1 is Cam Newton’s podcast. ESPN has no influence over it.

You know what else ESPN has no influence over? Ryan Clark’s Twitter X account.

You know what else ESPN has no influence over? The Stephen A. Smith Show, where the host responded to both Ryan Clark’s response, and Cam Newton’s interview.

Eventually, Stephen A. Smith went on Cam Newton’s podcast where he expressed his displeasure in Newton’s refusal to push back on Whitlock at all. Smith and Newton seemed to not have an issue with one another. Just two friends talking out a disagreement.

Still, ESPN doesn’t like controversy. They’ve done everything they can to become the most clean, polished, even filtered, sports network in America. ESPN sold 10% of itself to the NFL in exchange for NFL Media. So the biggest league the network covers, is literally a part of them now. That’s how filtered they are.

They don’t want to be affiliated with entities they can’t control. ESPN can’t control Cam Newton’s show. They don’t want to be in business with him.

ESPN can’t control Ryan Clark’s show (or Twitter X). They don’t want to be in business with him.

Stephen A. Smith is a different story. Not only is he the face of the network at this point, but they know he doesn’t want to stop his massive ESPN paychecks from being signed. Ryan Clark and Cam Newton didn’t have that motivation. Their checks were surely much smaller than Stephen A. Smith’s.

So a few months ago, when Jason Whitlock caused a feud within ESPN that the network had no ability to prevent or even deal with, it presented a problem. Once ESPN had to layoff a few employees anyways, they had a solution (allegedly).

-Written by Seattle Mike

According to a report from The Athletic, Ryan Clark was let go by ESPN while appearing on NFL Live. Clark was presumably notified during a commercial break, or some point in time when he wasn’t on screen. Clark didn’t finish the program.

Clark’s history with ESPN has been colorful, to say the least, in the last year. Back in September, Clark infamously got into an argument with colleague Peter Schrager on Get Up when they disagreed over the Cowboys performance in Week 1.

“That’s the non-player in you.” Clark said to Schrager.

“I’m not looking at fantasy football.” Schrager responded quickly. “Ryan, don’t belittle me like that…I can say, as three ex-players are saying one thing, I can give an alternative perspective…”

“Peter, what I need you to do is not get mad and let me finish.” Clark interrupted.

Clark posted an apology to Twitter X later in the day. “Today, I had an interaction with my colleague (Peter Schrager) both on and off the air that I regret.”

The comment section flooded with social media users pointing out that this was just the latest in a series of apologies from Clark.

Just a few months earlier, Ryan Clark issued an apology to Robert Griffin III, after insinuating that because his wife is white, Griffin doesn’t have enough conversations in his home to understand the struggles black women have to deal with in America. The argument began as a disagreement over the rivalry between WNBA stars Angel Reese and Caitlyn Clark. At one point during the argument, Clark described Griffin as the worst teammate he’s ever had, on and off the field (They played together in Washington, and worked together at ESPN until Griffin was let go in 2024).

Clark’s other infamous apologies came after questioning Tua Tagovailoa work ethic and Russell Wilson’s “corny” image to his wife Ciara and her son from a previous relationship (Russell’s stepson; who he’s only ever referred to publicly as “son”).

Another Clark apology came on air earlier this year for questioning quarterback Sam Darnold’s integrity when he limited his throws during the Seahawks first round bye, in the playoffs. Clark implied that Darnold was exaggerating an injury in order to set up excuses in case the Seahawks were bounced by the 49ers in the Divisional Round (Seahawks won 41-6).

I’m not against apologizing when you get something wrong. That’s the right thing to do! But if you constantly have to apologize, it means you’re doing/saying a lot of wrong things in the first place.

I personally have a connection to Ryan Clark’s poor performance on ESPN. One of my most viral videos on TikTok was me fact checking Ryan Clark, who stated completely incorrect stats about Sam Darnold’s performances with the Seahawks.

So I do want to personally thank Ryan Clark for the content! I couldn’t have made that video if he was actually good at his job.

The Athletic reports that Ryan Clark is just the first of an expected wave of ESPN layoffs in the coming days. Being someone so widely disliked across the internet does make the layoff decision easier for ESPN (Though, I would have at least waited until after the show!)

-Written by Seattle Mike

There’s a practicality that football fans who dislike Goodell are going to have to accept. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association is set to expire in 2030. The league would like to get a new deal done before then.

Also on the league’s agenda are massive broadcasting deals with CBS, NBC, Fox, Amazon Prime, and ESPN (Disney) that the league will want renegotiated by 2030. That’s when the NFL has the option to terminate the current agreements and leverage updated broadcast deals for more money.

The NFL isn’t going to want someone new negotiating those deals. Love him or hate him, the league is worth more today than it was when Goodell took the reins in 2006. And at the end of the day, as long as he continues to negotiate deals that put more money into the pockets of owners, why would they let him go?

Goodell will continue to be booed every time he steps onto a podium to open the NFL Draft. It’s pretty much a tradition at this point. He’s a Commissioner, and fans hate Commissioners (for some reason).

I personally don’t have an issue with Goodell because I recognize what he is. You see the shield on the NFL logo? That’s Goodell. There’s 32 controlling owners behind that shield.

Goodell’s job is simply to be the guy that takes all of the hits for whatever the owners want done. He gets paid north of $60 Million a year providing that service, and he’s done it well.

Sooner or later Goodell will retire. When that happens the league will replace him with a new shield, and everyone will hate that guy too.

-Written by Seattle Mike