Two Commanders will attend Tight End University
Three of the NFL's best tight ends created "Tight End University" in 2021 in an effort to bring more respect and fame to one of football's most overlooked positions. Travis Kelce will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while George Kittle may eventually have a strong case, too. Greg Olsen enjoyed a 14-year career in which he was selected to the Pro Bowl three times and earned second-team All-Pro twice. Kelce, Kittle and Olsen made "Tight End U" an annual event held in Nashville shortly before training camp.
Of course, Kelce, Kittle, and Olsen will lead the festivities this week at "Tight End U." This year's attendees include several young players who have yet to make their mark in the NFL. There will also be stars and retired players. Raiders star Brock Bowers will attend. Former Washington Commanders tight end Logan Thomas will also be in attendance.
Advertisement
What about the current Commanders?
Veteran starter Zach Ertz will not attend. Neither will top backup and blocking extraordinaire John Bates, or rising second-year TE Ben Sinnott. However, two of Washington's other tight ends will attend: Cole Turner and Tyree Jackson.
Turner is entering his fourth season and has attended "Tight End U" before. Jackson is in his sixth NFL season. The former college quarterback has outstanding size and opened some eyes this offseason. Turner and Jackson likely face uphill battles to make Washington's roster and need strong training camp performances.
It's unclear why Ertz, Bates and Sinnott will not attend. It could just be that these players want to spend some extra time with family before the grind of another NFL season begins in a few weeks.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Two Commanders' TEs to attend Tight End University
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
12 minutes ago
- CBS News
Blackhawks star Duncan Keith named to Hockey Hall of Fame
Three-time Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup champion Duncan Keith is heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame, after he was named as part of the eight-member class of 2025 on Tuesday. Keith, who twice won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman, won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015. He was also a four-time NHL All-Star, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2015 as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs, scoring the championship-clinching goal in Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He also won two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada in 2010 and 2014. "On behalf of the Chicago Blackhawks organization, I'd like to congratulate Duncan on being named to the Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2025," Blackhawks Chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. "Duncan defined the modern archetype for a complete defenseman. His opponents feared his shutdown defense as much as they respected his offensive prowess. He played with grit and heart, giving his all every second he was on the ice. While Blackhawks fans have long understood Duncan's profound impact on the game, we're thrilled to see his legacy now celebrated on hockey's biggest stage as he takes his well-deserved place among the game's all-time greats." Drafted by the Blackhawks in 2002, he is the team's all-time leader among defensemen in games played with 1,192. He also ranks second in assists (520) and points (625), and ranks third in goals (105). He leads all Blackhawks defensemen in career playoff games played (135), assists (68), and points (86), and ranks 4th in playoff goals among Blackhawks defensemen with 18. After 16 seasons with the Blackhawks, he played his final NHL season with the Edmonton Oilers in 2021-22 before retiring. He is joined in the 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame class by fellow NHL stars Alexander Mogilny, Joe Thornton, and Zdeno Chara; along with women's hockey stars Brianna Decker and Jennifer Botterill, longtime Boston University coach Jack Parker, and women's coach Daniele Sauvageau.
Associated Press
16 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Race track to MLB field: Bristol's transformation shifts into high gear
Turning a race track into a baseball field worthy of hosting Major League Baseball takes time and a plan. Demolition started in early June with heavy construction now in high gear to transform Bristol Motor Speedway into a ballpark — if only for the Aug. 2 Speedway Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds in the first MLB game in the state of Tennessee. As of Tuesday, Bristol no longer is a racetrack. 'It's not going to be good to have a 2-foot wall ... in the outfield for a player to run into, so naturally those had to go,' Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations development for Speedway Motorsports, said. Turning this track into a ballpark requires about 17,500 tons of gravel to level the infield. Murray Cook, president of BrightView Sports Turf Division, said trucks will start bringing in 340 tons of Pennsylvania clay for the playing surface later this week. The grass will be synthetic with 124,000 square feet set to be laid down with this field using the same surface as the Blue Jays in Toronto. There will be fencing, padding and foul poles. Musco Sports Lighting is adding 215 lights to the top of the track so no ball should be lost in a shadow. 'The field obviously is a big part of this event, and we're making it as Major League level as it needs to be for this game,' Cook said. Hosting an MLB game requires much more than just a field. BaAM is helping MLB and Bristol so that the teams have locker rooms complete with showers, strength and conditioning rooms, coach and trainers' offices, batting cages and even a full weight room. 'Everything that we're going to do is temporary in nature, and it's been precisely planned layers and layers,' BaAM president Annemarie Roe said. 'We have about 33 days from today until we hand over to baseball operations.' There will be grandstands down both the first- and third-base lines with broadcast booths, camera platforms, media positions and video replay included along with audio and video components. Concessions and merchandise will be available for fans on game day. For any players wanting to go over the wall, they'll have to carry 400 feet to clear centerfield, 375 in the alleys and 330 down each base line. True renovations always reveal something owners don't expect. Same goes for Bristol officials who found out they won't have to replace everything after Aug. 2. Swift said they won't have to replace the Sunoco pumps and tanks with NASCAR now bringing those to each race. The Sunoco signs also are gone to avoid sitting in centerfield. Half an infield building was removed to clear space for the outfield wall. Bristol has loads of experience with extreme track makeovers from bringing in dump trucks of dirt for races. This track hosted a college football game in the Battle of Bristol, drawing an NCAA-record 156,990 fans in 2016. Interest has been big, and MLB is planning a lot of events before the first pitch with Pitbull and Tim McGraw already set for a pregame concert from a stage in the infield. Country star Jake Owen will highlight more performances outside the track announced Tuesday. The fan zone also will feature the Commissioner's Trophy, a 110-foot Ferris Wheel, a food truck row, pitching tunnels and batting cages, team mascots and being Bristol — branded MLB stock cars for photos. Bristol will have a chance at the record for the largest crowd to see a baseball game. A March 2008 exhibition between the Red Sox and Dodgers at Los Angeles Coliseum drew 115,300. Once the Reds and Braves wrap up and all the fans leave, the next challenge begins. Bristol will race against the clock to turn the field back into a track for a night race in the NASCAR playoffs Sept. 13. 'There's the right way, the wrong way, and the speedway,' Swift said. ___ AP MLB: and AP auto racing:
New York Times
21 minutes ago
- New York Times
Pelicans trading CJ McCollum to the Wizards for Jordan Poole: Sources
The Washington Wizards have agreed to trade guard Jordan Poole, wing Saddiq Bey and the 40th pick in this year's draft to the New Orleans Pelicans for guard CJ McCollum, big man Kelly Olynyk and a 2027 second-round pick via Chicago, team sources told The Athletic. This story will be updated…
