NFL

6:56 AM ET The past two quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl could have been pro baseball players. Before Tom Brady won six rings, he was chosen in the 18th round of the 1995 draft by the Montreal Expos. “He was a left-handed-hitting catcher with power. He had a good future,” the Expos’ then-director of

11:26 PM ET New England Patriots owners Robert and Jonathan Kraft donated $100,000 in safety Devin McCourty‘s name as part of their social-justice initiative on Tuesday night, and coach Bill Belichick highlighted how McCourty’s tireless work in that area has sparked his interest to do more. The remarks came during a virtual fundraiser in which

6:00 AM ET MINNEAPOLIS — The waiting game has been going on for months. On Monday, Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook put his foot down. A source told ESPN that Cook, who is set to make $1.33 million on the final year of his rookie deal, will no longer participate in any team-related activities

7:11 PM ET Brady HendersonESPN New Seattle Seahawks running back Carlos Hyde believes that an NFL team signing Colin Kaepernick would show that the league is serious about doing its part to improve issues of racial inequality. Kaepernick and Hyde were teammates with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016 when the quarterback began protesting racial

5:39 PM ET Minnesota Vikings Pro-Bowl running back Dalvin Cook no longer will participate in any team-related activities until and unless he receives what he determines to be a “reasonable” deal, a source said Monday. “He’s out,” A source told ESPN. “Without a reasonable extension, he will not be showing up for camp or beyond.”

11:35 AM ET Shaquille O’Neal urged the New Orleans Saints last Thursday not to let the media divide them in the wake of Drew Brees‘ national anthem comments, a source confirmed to ESPN. “They’re going to try to divide you, just like they divided us with the Lakers! Me and Kobe [Bryant], we had a

7:00 AM ET NFL NationESPN What if every NFL team had a complete do-over in building its roster? What if every single player were a free agent? What if the worst team in the league had a chance to add a Super Bowl MVP at quarterback? Or one of the worst defensive teams out there

7:41 AM ET Andre SnellingsESPN I am a 6-foot-tall, 300-pound African American. I usually wear a goatee, if not a full-on beard. If a police officer finds me in any way physically intimidating during a routine traffic stop, I’m very aware that things could go badly very quickly. I’ve had to teach my children —

6:00 AM ET Matt Leo was six months shy of completing his plumbing apprenticeship when the constraints around his dream to play football closed in far too tight. It was 110 degrees and humid in his hometown of Adelaide, Australia, that summer day in 2014, and he was working on a bridge that connects a

6:39 PM ET DENVER — More than 70 players, coaches and other staff personnel from the Denver Broncos — most wearing black T-shirts saying “If You Ain’t With Us, You Against Us” — led a group of thousands through downtown during a Black Lives Matter protest Saturday. Many of the group from the Broncos, which

11:41 PM ET The Carolina Panthers have terminated their partnership with Charlotte-based CPI Security, the team announced Saturday night, in the wake of comments by the company’s founder and CEO downplaying police brutality against people of color. Ken Gill’s comments came in response to an open letter sent by Jorge Millares, the executive director of

11:45 PM ET An unprecedented week in the NFL culminated in a landscape-shifting 24 hours that appear to have dramatically changed the league’s stance on player protests. Things are happening quickly, and you surely have questions. Is kneeling during the national anthem OK now? Does Colin Kaepernick have a chance to get back in? What

10:39 PM ET In a message addressed to President Donald Trump on Friday night, Drew Brees stood by his apology for earlier comments on “disrespecting the flag,” after Trump wrote that the New Orleans Saints quarterback should not have changed his stance. Brees was following up on his pledge to be an “ally” for the

6:59 PM ET NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement Friday condemning racism, saying he admits the league was wrong to not listen to its players earlier and that it will try to do better. “It has been a difficult time for our country, In particular, black people in our country,” Goodell said in a

10:15 AM ET In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is donating $500,000 toward a GoFundMe fundraiser he established, aimed at advancing lives in the black community of Atlanta. Ryan, who wears jersey No. 2, has set a goal of raising $2 million. Floyd, who was black, died last week

2:48 PM ET Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Jake Fromm apologized Thursday after screenshots emerged of a text conversation in which he claimed only “elite white people” should be able to purchase guns. The conversation, which took place in 2019 and was posted to Twitter early Thursday morning, involved Fromm and a friend discussing

8:37 AM ET New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees issued an apology Thursday for his comments on “disrespecting the flag,” saying he “completely missed the mark” on current issues in the United States. During an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, Brees reiterated his stance that he will “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag

7:30 AM ET ESPN NFL Insiders For every big NFL offseason signing, savvy draft selection or forward-thinking trade, there is a curious failure by another team to address an area of need. We asked our panel of NFL experts for the biggest missed opportunity of the offseason. What trade, signing, draft pick, etc., should have