Anonymous NFL scout gives savage verdict on Travis Kelce's hopes of returning to his best in 2025
While Kelce is a fan favorite among Kansas City Chiefs fans - and Swifties across the globe - stats from last year would suggest that the tight end is on the decline.
His 823 yards recorded is the lowest in his career, for a full season, and in the recent Super Bowl he managed four receptions for 39 yards as the Chiefs were humiliated.
Despite dropping retirement hints, Kelce confirmed that he would return for the 2025 season and, ahead of that, one scout has delivered a savage verdict on his form.
In a report by ESPN, Kelce was ranked as the fifth-best tight end in the NFL, as they prepare to head into the new season.
The scout claimed that Kelce has shown 'signs of physical decline' but did admit that 'you still have to worry about him' because he's 'such a smart player'.
However, they ended by claiming that Kelce 'doesn't get open like he used to' and pointed to signs that the Chiefs star 'played heavier last year'.
Trey McBride, Sam LaPorta, George Kittle and Brock Bowers were all listed ahead of the Chiefs star in the tight end rankings.
The tight end teased the possibility of ending his career following the loss in the Super Bowl and admitted the grind of NFL life had driven him 'crazy' last season.
To the joy of Chiefs fans, it was later confirmed that the 35-year-old would return for a 13th season however he did reveal that he would consider the 2026 season later 'down the road'.
Kelce signed a two-year, $34.25million contract - with $17m guaranteed - back in April 2024.
There is still one year left on that deal in Kansas City, where Kelce has played his entire career since being selected in the third round of the 2013 draft.
The 35-year-old is already a three-time Super Bowl champion but the Chiefs failed in their bid for a historic three-peat.
Kelce has, however, been enjoying his offseason alongside girlfriend Taylor Swift and recently attended an event together for the first time as a couple.
At the Tight End University event, Swift and Kelce were clearly locked in on each other, including sharing some PDA in front of cameras.
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
All-Star Games may be flawed but still a boon for professional sports leagues
July 25 (Reuters) - Once a much-anticipated celebration of a sport's best talents, All-Star games have fallen into a constant state of reinvention amid a high-stakes effort by North American leagues to make their star-studded showcases a ratings hit. Several factors, including a lack of competitive furor and athletes' ability to use social media to engage with fans from around the globe, have left many to wonder whether the standard All-Star Game model is broken. "All-Star Games used to be an opportunity for players to build their brand," Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing analyst in San Francisco, told Reuters. "Now there are so many other ways to do that, that it became less important for players to have to show up in these games and play well." Just this week Argentine great Lionel Messi, who is Major League Soccer's reigning Most Valuable Player, decided not to participate in the MLS All-Star Game held in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday despite not being injured. North America's Big Four sports leagues have for years been tinkering with the formats for their All-Star showcases in hopes of creating more competitiveness and additional interest in an exhibition game. The NHL ditched its All-Star Game this year in favour of an international tournament called 4 Nations Face-Off that proved to be a success in many metrics including attendance, television ratings and, perhaps most importantly, player buy-in. Even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver referenced the NHL's model when discussing future changes to his league's showcase after admitting the new format for February's NBA All-Star Game, which featured a mini-tournament of four teams, was "a miss." The NFL's all-star showcase was often missing many top players who were either injured, uninterested or Super Bowl bound and so in 2022 they replaced it with Pro Bowl Games, which features skills events and a flag football game. Last week's Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which for the first time was decided by a home-run swing-off, averaged 7.19 million viewers on Fox, down 3.5% from last year and the second-lowest for the Midsummer Classic. Still, MLB's showcase drew far better than its counterparts, with the NBA All-Star Game and the NFL's Pro Bowl Games each averaging 4.7 million viewers in February. "There was a time when every All-Star Game was a can't-miss event and people were excited and thrilled," said famed U.S. sports agent Leigh Steinberg, best known as the inspiration for Tom Cruise's character in the film "Jerry Maguire". But despite the idea that All-Star Games and related events are experiencing a decline in popularity, they still provide leagues with an opportunity for massive brand activation, which experts say is where the real value lies. The lead-up to an All-Star Game offers leagues a chance to connect with the city they are in that week through initiatives like community events, upgrading sport facilities, equipment donations, school visits and fan festivals. "When you look at it just as one game on one day, that's not really what the value is," said Joe Favorito, a long-time sports marketing professional and professor at Columbia University. "The value is everything that leads up to it and everything else that is tied into what the culmination of the game is. The reality is the actual game is probably the least important part of what an All-Star activation is these days."
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
If not taking the knee, then what? Football needs to figure out how best to fight racism
Searching for ways to wield power when you ultimately have none is hard. The decision of the Lionesses to use their most powerful tool, their collective profile and voice, which is amplified during a major tournament, to support Jess Carter after her decision to speak out about the racist abuse she has received during the Women's Euro 2025 was a brave one. They should be applauded because in their statement and collective action there is an attempt to go beyond condemnation of racism to demanding real change and grappling with what that looks like and how you do it – all while trying to win a second major tournament trophy. The Lionesses' decision to stop taking a knee in protest at racial injustice will thrust the topic back into the news and, whether it is the right or wrong move, they are attempting to find ways to wake people up to the need for change. 'We wonder, as a collective, is the message as strong as it used to be? Is the message really hitting hard?' said Lucy Bronze, in a press conference room that starkly showed the lack of racial diversity in sports journalism. 'To us, it feels like it's not, as these things are still happening to our players in the biggest tournaments of their lives. 'Not taking the knee is about putting another statement out there to say it's something that is still a problem and still needs to be put right. More needs to be done in football, more needs to be done in society, what that is right now as an individual, I don't exactly know, but it's something that we collectively as a team and as a federation want to work towards.' Taking the knee is a symbolic and powerful gesture that began in 2016 when the then NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem before San Francisco 49ers games as a protest against racial injustice, police brutality and oppression, and in support of Black Lives Matter. His action spiralled into a movement, with athletes wishing to take a stand on those issues joining him. Since then, it has become part of the fabric of football, seen at the start of football matches in England as routine. To some extent, though, taking a knee has become so the norm it has become somewhat meaningless, something people rarely note or remember why it's happening. Ultimately, you want people to see standing against racism as the normal and right thing to do, but that's not what has happened here: the message is being forgotten and the abuse still comes, over and over and over again. However, the Lionesses' alternative, to stand, which they did in their semi-final defeat of Italy, was also ineffective, if not more so. Bar the small fan-made banner in support of Carter in the crowd and the substitutes standing together arm in arm on by the dugout, that there was a protest taking place was not at all obvious. If the knee goes, a stronger gesture is needed. As Bronze and players such as Georgia Stanway and Chloe Kelly have said since, more needs to be done. Kelly poignantly said after victory over Italy that the issue can't be forgotten. 'It's disappointing to see that, sometimes, winning masks racism,' she said. 'It has no place in our sport and no place in society, too.' The problem is they don't know what the 'more' that needs to be done looks like, for them as individuals, a team or more widely. That is a feeling many people share: a sense of helplessness as they see injustice but no way to make a material difference, no way of taking a big step forward instead of lots of small incremental ones that feel like trying to move a haystack one piece of straw at a time. The messages of support for Carter poured in, from Keir Starmer, Uefa, Fifa, the Football Association and more. Racism has been condemned: it is not welcome, they all say; it is abhorrent, they all say; social media companies need to do more, they all say. That is all correct, but it is all empty. Yes, social media companies need to have better ways at dealing with incidents of abuse online and there are steps that can be taken, but social media didn't give birth to racism and it won't end it. Social media is a conduit for those wanting to spout racist abuse and until the conditions that allow racist views to become prevalent are tackled more generally it won't go away, online or elsewhere. How do we stop racism in football? Social media bans, prosecutions and stadium bans can all play a part if implemented effectively, sending a message to fans of what is and isn't acceptable, but ultimately racism will only truly be gone from football if we eradicate it from society. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion The reality is that we tackle racism through education, solidarity and by tackling the issues ordinary people face; by combating homelessness and poverty, by investing in youth clubs and facilities, by building vibrant communities, by properly funding the NHS, through inclusive immigration policies and through reminding people that we have more in common than that which divides us. This is all much much bigger than football. But that doesn't give football an excuse for inaction or inadequate action. What football is is a powerful tool, able to influence society, and that is the job it needs to do. Clubs and federations need to actively campaign against racism in society generally. That's not PR campaigns, branded banners and somewhat empty slogans, it's being present in local communities, bringing them together through tackling those causes of racism and campaigning for political institutions to do more to stop the divisions that lead to a rise in racism. This sounds like a lot, intimidating even, a task too big, but football has shown time and time again that people long to be a part of a community and will come together in the most beautiful of ways to support each other; through grief, shared protest, poverty, illness, displacement and more. Football unites fans across all divides – class, race, gender, ability – in an increasingly divided world. On and off the pitch a shared love of football humanises. It brings you closer to your new neighbour, the person that sits next to you in the stands, the person that watches on the same screen in the pub or the person wearing the shirt you feel a deep connection to. We push for the small steps and incremental changes, for the bans and billboards, but we also discuss and explore the history of racial prejudice, why it still exists and figure out how the roots can be dug out for good. Ultimately, to take that bigger step, we need to change the social conditions that allow racism to permeate and grow.
The Herald Scotland
6 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Antonio Brown: an examination of a troubling post-NFL life
"I can't let them take me out," Brown said with a laugh. "... Nah. AB snuck out the back door." The context was unspoken but clear. A little less than three weeks earlier, Brown had flown to the Middle East after authorities in Miami-Dade County charged him with attempted second-degree murder. According to a copy of the arrest warrant obtained by USA TODAY Sports, he allegedly grabbed a security guard's gun and fired two shots at an acquaintance outside an amateur boxing event May 16. Brown, 37, described the charge as "fake" in a post on social media but has a warrant out for his arrest - the latest twist in what has been a tumultuous three-year stretch since he last played professional football. After removing his jersey and walking off the field midway through a game in January 2022, Brown has attempted to reinvent himself as a musician, entrepreneur and crude-humored influencer on social media. He has recorded songs with well-known rappers, and briefly owned an arena football team. But he has also faced a consistent string of legal issues, including criminal charges, lawsuits alleging unpaid bills and, most recently, Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. According to court records, the former wideout could soon be forced to sell two of his Florida homes to repay more than $3.5 million in debt. He has publicly estimated that he made more than $100 million during his NFL career. "Yeah, I'm (expletive) up," he said with a smile, when asked about the bankruptcy proceedings on "The Pivot" podcast last summer. "I just can't comply with debts. ... I'm not broke, but I'm fractured." Brown did not reply to interview requests sent via e-mail and social media. USA TODAY Sports also contacted 15 people who were or are in the former NFL star's orbit, including family members, current and former attorneys, business associates and former teammates. All of them either did not respond to messages or declined to comment on Brown. One associate requested compensation in exchange for an interview, which violates USA TODAY's code of ethics. In social media posts, livestreams and podcast interviews, however, the man commonly known as "AB" has offered frequent, if incomplete, glimpses into his life and mindset after football. "The first rule of life is self-preservation," Brown said on the "Assets Over Liabilities" podcast less than a year after his retirement from the NFL. "You've got to take care of yourself first. If you ain't self-sufficient, you can't really take care of no one else." A once great NFL career sputters In many ways, Brown's first three years outside of professional football have been a continuation of his last three years within it. After making seven Pro Bowls in nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Miami native was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2019 and his career began to sputter. He bounced between three teams in three years, while also facing multiple league suspensions and lawsuits -- including separate claims that he sexually assaulted a former trainer and assaulted a moving truck driver. (Brown settled the lawsuit filed by the trainer, which included an allegation of rape that he denied, and lost a $1.2 million judgment to the truck driver.) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released Brown after he left the field midway through the penultimate game of the 2021 season. And although he didn't immediately announce his retirement, his focus began to shift. Brown was announced as the president of Donda Sports, the sports arm of a company founded by controversial musician Ye. He released rap songs under the name "AB," including one track featuring prominent rapper Young Thug. And he traveled to Dubai and hung out with Floyd Mayweather ahead of one of the boxer's fights. Later that summer, Brown signed a record deal with Secure The Bag (STB) Entertainment, which gave him a $150,000 advance and arranged for him to perform at a hip-hop music festival called Rolling Loud. But the relationship quickly soured when he sent the company an invoice for $178,000 after returning from the festival, which STB Entertainment refused to pay, according to a lawsuit later filed by the company. Brown stopped returning messages from STB Entertainment's owner, Ryan Kane, and began publicly distancing himself from the company with which he had signed a distribution contract, according to court records. "I don't got a deal with nobody, man," Brown said on "Assets Over Liabilities" that fall, when asked about rumors he had secured a different record deal. "I own myself." It wasn't just the lawsuit, however, that defined Brown's first fall since leaving the NFL. In October, the New York Post published video of Brown exposing himself to a woman at a hotel pool in Dubai. (He dismissed the footage in a social-media post as "disinformation.") He also faced a misdemeanor battery charge for allegedly throwing a shoe at a woman while attempting to evict her from a house in Tampa. She later declined to press charges. USA TODAY Sports does not identify the victims of alleged domestic violence without their permission. After football, Brown faces numerous lawsuits Brown has been party to at least 10 lawsuits since retiring from the NFL, according to USA TODAY Sports research. Some alleged that he broke contracts, did not repay bills and did not return lucrative pieces of jewelry. One civil case claims Brown sold the plaintiff -- Kane, the STB Entertainment head -- a fake Richard Mille watch for $160,000. Kane's attorney did not provide answers to written questions about his interactions with Brown. Brown has also filed several legal complaints himself -- some of which cited esoteric legal statutes and appear to have been drafted without the help of a lawyer. After Tampa police responded to the domestic incident in Tampa in late 2022, for example, Brown filed a document accusing officers of trespassing and seeking $68 million in damages from Hillsborough County. One year later, he filed a 65-page complaint in federal court against 11 different entities, including lawyers and a state judge, after he was arrested for failing to pay child support. Brown - who, according to the 2018 Steelers' media guide, was born in Miami - identified himself in the document as "a foreign national by birth but not a citizen of the United States. He alleged, among other things, violations of the 1886 Civil Rights Act. The case was swiftly dismissed by a judge, who called it "a quintessential shotgun pleading." While juggling various legal claims, Brown has also remained in the public eye. In March 2023, he was introduced as a new co-owner of the Albany Empire, a National Arena League football team for which his father, Eddie "Touchdown" Brown, had previously been a star player. Within three months, the Empire was booted from the league because it said Brown failed to pay league membership fees and fines. Game checks for players also went unpaid, according to The Albany Times-Union. "I feel like this was his plan all along," Empire wide receiver Fabian Guerra told the newspaper. "I feel like he does stuff for social media and to sell his songs. I think it's just what he does. That's the type of guy he is. No one trusts him anymore." 'People don't understand' Since retiring, Brown has been a frequent guest on podcasts and TV shows, sitting for lengthy interviews in which he's discussed his music career, his stance on social media and his hopes of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2027. During an appearance on "The Pivot" podcast last summer, Brown said he meets with a therapist to talk about trauma from his football career. When co-host Fred Taylor said there are people who are concerned about him, Brown interjected. "I just feel like people don't understand," he said. "It's always when people don't understand, you're crazy. Or you're not from where I'm from, so you don't get to understand it." Brown has talked openly and repeatedly about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the neurodegenerative brain disease more commonly known as CTE. He has also posted videos and conducted interviews for a self-described sports outlet that he's dubbed "CTESPN" -- a crude combination of the popular sports network and the disease that has been found in the brains of deceased NFL players. It was on CTESPN's social media accounts that he announced in May 2024 he had filed for bankruptcy - alongside a video clip featuring a comedic moment from "The Office." In initial court filings, Brown claimed to have less than $50,000 in assets. But that figure has changed drastically in subsequent filings, as he included or revealed additional assets technically owned by trusts or corporate entities he controls. Creditors and the trustee assigned to the case have criticized Brown for the financial mixups and his conduct in court - including a March hearing that he asked to postpone because he said he was dealing with an unspecified medical issue. "The Debtor, however, was not in poor health," the U.S. trustee later wrote in a court filing. "In fact, the Debtor participated as an invited guest on The Joe Rogan Experience (a podcast) for 98 minutes the very next day." Brown's first bankruptcy attorney has since resigned and his case has been converted to Chapter 7 - a form of bankruptcy in which the court can seize assets and garnish wages to repay creditors. (His current bankruptcy attorney, Chad Van Horn, declined comment.) According to court records obtained by USA TODAY Sports, the trustee in Brown's case is in the process of selling two of his homes, and also asking a judge to force him to provide accurate financial data to the court. The next hearing in the case is July 24. Andrew Dawson, a professor of bankruptcy law at the University of Miami, said the bankruptcy proceedings are actually protecting Brown by pausing any lawsuits filed against him and preventing new suits from being filed. But disobeying court orders could, in theory, prompt a judge to throw out the case. "If he loses the protection, in some ways, he might be worse off," Dawson said. "Now, creditors are actually aware that, wow, he owes a lot of money to a lot of people, and there may be some property we didn't know. It leads to what we sort of call the proverbial race to the courthouse. Everyone wants to go and file their claim." Brown apparently in United Arab Emirates One will find little evidence of Brown's financial issues on his social media feeds, where he portrays himself as living the same luxurious lifestyle he led when he was in the NFL. Since arriving in the Middle East nearly six weeks ago, he has posted images of sprawling marble floors and flashy sports cars. He celebrated his 37th birthday on a yacht with several of his children. On June 26, he posted a screenshot on X of an account balance exceeding $24 million. "Bankrupt over," he wrote in part of the caption. Tamara Lave, a former public defender and law professor at the University of Miami, said the frequent social media posts could complicate Brown's bankruptcy claims because they could be later used against him in court. "I think silence would be a virtue for him, right now," she said. Brown also is still wanted by the state of Florida after he allegedly fired two gunshots at Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, 41, during the May 16 incident in Miami. According to the arrest warrant, the shots came after a physical altercation between Brown and Nantambu, who previously sued the former NFL wide receiver, won a judgment of nearly $1 million from a jury and is now among the creditors named in Brown's bankruptcy case. Miami police have repeatedly declined to answer questions about the warrant or Brown's case, citing "an open active investigation." And it is unclear whether they, or the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, are aware of Brown's whereabouts or have been in contact with him or his attorney. At least as of July 23, Brown appeared to be living in the United Arab Emirates, according to social media posts. Lave said that would mean he could only be taken into custody in one of two ways: If he returned to the United States, where he would likely be detained by Customs and Border Protection, or if the U.S. asked the UAE to extradite him. "I think it's more a geopolitical question - what the UAE would want to do in terms of the relationship with our president," Lave said. Brown campaigned for President Donald Trump and spoke at one of his rallies last fall. Online, at least, Brown remains relatively easy to find. He has 2.5 million followers on X, where many of his posts include racist, homophobic or otherwise vulgar language. He has also hosted multiple livestreams in what appears to be an attempt to drum up interest for a Belize-based gambling company, During one such stream, which is no longer archived online, Brown balked at the suggestion from a commenter that he was "hiding out" in the Middle East. "I'm here full-time," he said. "We're not hiding." Contact Tom Schad at tschad@ or on social media @
