The Los Angeles Rams have won the Super Bowl and the 2021-22 NFL season is finally over. But there is still plenty of offseason news to cover, which we got to on our WISE Sports Radio football spot.
Kevin O’Connell (not Jim Harbaugh – whew!) is the Minnesota Vikings’ new coach. Mike McDaniel is the captain now for the Miami Dolphins. And Sean McVay and Aaron Donald apparently put rumors of their retirement down while celebrating the Rams’ championship.
We talk NFL Thursdays on WISE Sports Radio, but begin by catching up on the Baseball Hall of Fame vote, which was announced after our Monday MLB spot. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens not getting elected caused a lot of outrage, but it can’t have been a surprise to anyone with the PED controversy surrounding their careers.
On to football, we discuss two retirements. Well, in Sean Payton’s case, it might be a sabbatical. He’ll probably take a year off from coaching and is expected to give broadcasting a try. Ben Roethlisberger, however, is definitely calling it a career after 18 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The NFL does not want any games to be postponed or jeopardized due to COVID-19 this season and is leaning hard on players and coaches to get vaccinated because of it.
On our WISE Sports Radio football segment, Pat Ryan, Mike Gore, and I talk about that, along with Cole Beasley’s vaccine skepticism, Fred Warner’s big contract with the San Francisco 49ers, and Jerry Jones perhaps seeing the end with his Dallas Cowboys.
For this week’s WISE Sports Radio NFL segment, the hope was that the Washington Post would publish its supposed bombshell story on the Washington football team (no longer the Redskins, remember). Plenty of media acted like they’ve heard what will be reported, even though they probably don’t really know.
The Post published its story after our segment: 15 women allege sexual harassment and verbal abuse from Washington Redskins team employees, three of whom recently left the organization before this report was published.
Pat Ryan, Mike Gore, and I addressed that speculation before getting to the big contracts signed this week. Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett received big paydays, and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is looking at a potentially very lucrative future.
Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson stepped into it this week when he posted some anti-Semitic quotes on social media. He says he didn’t realize how those were interpreted and vowed to take steps to educate himself and work with the Jewish community in Philadelphia.
For WISE Sports Radio‘s NFL segment, Pat Ryan and I discussed whether the Eagles should release Jackson or if he should be taken at his word. We also talked about the massive contract Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed and continuing efforts to get the Washington Redskins to change their team name.
Ian Casselberry 