Latest news with #SuperBowl57
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Eagles GM reveals how AJ Brown trade nearly fell apart during 2022 NFL Draft
The Philadelphia Eagles enter the 2025 NFL season as the favorites to take home another championship after winning Super Bowl 59 in dominant fashion last season. Philadelphia fielded one of the best offenses in the NFL last season thanks to stars like running back Saquon Barkley, offensive tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Only two of those players were not drafted by the Eagles: Barkley, a free agent acquisition last offseason, and Brown, who Philadelphia acquired via trade during the 2022 NFL Draft. Turns out, Philadelphia's trade for Brown was minutes away from falling through on draft night. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman revealed on an episode of the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast that he was down to the wire on getting a deal done for the wide receiver during the draft. Roseman and Jon Robinson, the Tennessee Titans' general manager at the time, had a deal in place the morning of the draft for the Eagles to acquire Brown. The only issue was finalizing a new contract for the wide receiver. "We had to get a contract done with him," Roseman explained. "I said, 'Jon, if we can't get a contract done, we can't do this trade. We can't trade you a [first-round pick] and a [third-round pick] for one year of a player. We got to get a contract done first.'" Howie Roseman breaks down the inner workings behind the blockbuster AJ Brown trade Philadelphia held the No. 12 and No. 18 overall picks in the first round of that draft and were planning to send No. 18 to Tennessee for Brown. At No. 12, they picked Jordan Davis but still didn't have a contract in place for the wide receiver, causing Robinson to pressure Roseman about what was happening. "Jon's like, 'what are we doing? What's going on here?'" Roseman said. "Between [picks] 12 and 18, I'm trying to finish the contract." This deal was kept secret from many Eagles' front office members even as the first round of the draft went on. "Nobody knew except a couple of people that we were even doing it because I said, 'imagine if this falls apart,'" Roseman said. "Like, I'm going to be the GM who can't get a deal done with AJ. ... When we finished it, it was about pick 14." Roseman decided to break the news to the rest of the draft war room. "I'm just going to say, 'hey guys, we're picking AJ Brown," he said. "And they're all going to look at me like, 'what the (expletive) is going on?' But they're going to be excited as (expletive). And so it was really fun, it was really great energy." Brown was a second-team All-Pro in his first year with Philadelphia as the Eagles made a run to Super Bowl 57. He was a second-team All-Pro in 2023 and 2024 as well and had five catches for 43 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl 59. AJ Brown trade details Philadelphia ended up trading the No. 18 and No. 101 overall picks to Tennessee for Brown. The Eagles immediately signed him to a four-year, $100 million contract. Tennessee selected wide receiver Treylon Burks at No. 18 overall and packaged the No. 101 pick in a deal to send the New York Jets the No. 26 overall pick. Here's who they selected with the picks they received from New York: McCreary and Burks are the only players still on the Titans' roster ahead of the 2025 season. Robinson was fired during the 2022 NFL season. Then-Titans coach Mike Vrabel disagreed on this trade as well as a later trade for wide receiver Julio Jones, leading to his firing.
USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Greg Olsen finds common ground with Tom Brady through youth sports
Greg Olsen says we can look at his relationship with Tom Brady like two young players on a football field. The association begins as they clash with one another on the field, but it develops into a friendship. "It's very similar to how we were with so many guys in the locker room, right?" Olsen tells USA TODAY Sports, "whether they're guys at your position group that you're competing with for time or guys on the offensive side of the ball that you're competing with for opportunities and targets and catches and plays in the game plan. "Competition is at the center of everything at a high level. And anything that is competitive and anything that's worth doing is going to come with that level of competitive spirit." When he retired after a 14-year NFL career as a three-time Pro Bowl tight end, Olsen, 40, quickly rose to Fox's No. 1 color commentator during games and worked Super Bowl 57 with Kevin Burkhardt between the Chiefs and Eagles on Feb. 12, 2023. He was replaced by Brady, as the network's top analyst to start the 2024 season. It stung but, Olsen says, the demotion didn't get in the way of the two learning more about each other when Brady arrived at the network. "No different than some of my best friends that were teammates," Olsen says. "Yes, we were on the same team, but the better I do, I'm going to take more balls away from you and I'm going to get more playing time from you and you're trying to do the same thing to me, but that doesn't mean I want you to drop every pass and run the wrong route. That's a complete opposite of the nature of team that everyone's trying to build in this profession. "Tom and I have had a really good both professional and now a personal relationship and prior to the last year, we didn't have a real deep personal (one) – we obviously, had played against each other a lot and had a ton of respect – but just getting to know him as a person, as a dad, as just a friend, we both have young teenage daughters, and we kind of share and laugh over stories about that, and then we're also both raising teenage sons, which is a whole different world." When he retired, Olsen found himself like many of us with kids who play sports: Confused and even overwhelmed, He created the Youth Inc. podcast. He brought in famous athletes and coaches as well medical experts and noted commentators in the youth sports space. On Aug. 12, Olsen and his partners are launched Youth Inc. , as a digital content and commerce platform built for youth sports families, coaches, and teams. It debuts with a Brady interview, in which the two directly address their relationship publicly for the first time. "As long as I'm cool with you, I know that's all that matters," Brady tells Olsen in the interview. "I'll be here for you for anything because you've been available to me." USA TODAY Sports spoke with Olsen and co-founder Ryan Baise about Youth Inc.'s launch. What is Youth Inc.? Youth Inc. started in 2022 as a series of podcasts in which Olsen took his easygoing style and analytic football mind that breaks down complex schemes into simpler terms. "I've been the first to say this podcast is not for us to tell everybody else how much we know and you need to do things the way we do it," Olsen says. "Listen, I'm along this journey and this learning process right alongside our listeners. I don't pretend to have all the answers." With the help of a $4.5 million seed funding, the platform has expanded offerings, marketing itself as a one-stop shop for media content, merchandise and business services. "The focus for us has not really been X's and O's content or coaching drills or things like that. We felt like there's good resources out there if you're going to look for that type of content," says Baise, who leads the organization's e-commerce initiative. "There's pros and cons in this youth sports world and the way that it's evolving, but fundamentally, at its core, we believe that there's nothing better than youth's sports for a child, as a parent, for society when done right." How has Youth Inc. changed? While Youth Inc. will still offer podcasts – Malcolm Gladwell, Ryan Day, Bryce Young and Clayton Kershaw are part of the new season – it now offers an array of digital content. This author contributed to it earlier this year in an interview with Coach RAC, of Savannah Bananas fame, and his parents. Coach RAC, who distills complicated baseball drills into friendly bite-sized social media nuggets for kids, is part of the spirit of the new movement. "We have three pillars of the content: Information, inspiration, and then entertainment," Baise says. Tim Murphy, a third founder who has worked at Audacy and The New York Times, has helped acquire content and expertise for the website. You can search by sport and topic (training and nutrition, mental health, parenting, coaching, tryouts etc.) to find written, audio and visual content. "I spend a lot of time coaching and parenting and in the world of youth sports, running practices and games and managing teams and all that, and I still get a lot of the things wrong," Olsen says. "I still do things where I look back at the end of the day, of the week and I say I probably should have done that better or different or whatever the case may be. So I'm right along with our viewers and there's a curiosity that I have." Baise, who worked for Fanatics, has brought in a fanwear space primarily for high schools and travel clubs. What did Tom Brady tell Greg Olsen's middle school team When Brady was starting out as a broadcaster, Olsen offered him advice on the profession. Brady provided an inspirational message for Olsen's team this season. Olsen coaches his two sons – Tate, 14, and T.J., 12 – for a Charlotte, North Carolina middle school. He also has a daughter, Talbot, who is TJ's twin. "His message was that this is the highlight of your life," Olsen says. "Like these are the moments that you're gonna always remember playing football with your buddies for your school, with your parents and the town and your friends in the stands, playing the team from across town that you grew up playing. It's just the moments of playing for your school, in all sports, playing for your school is the best. It is just, it is so much more special than all the other travel ball and super teams and showcases where everybody's just a rent-a- player. Like, this is sports at its purest form." What is Olsen's message to youth athletes and their parents We know from his chat with Brady that the future Hall of Famer was a backup quarterback who didn't know how to put his pads on correctly. Nothing came easy, but he was always prepared because he says he knew how to compete. It was an area of common ground the two found they shared. "Continue to take a long-term approach," Olsen says. "And I think in today's day and age, it's so easy to be creatures of the moment and get caught up in the moment in time. And it's a snapshot of a really long journey. And I think for young kids, mine being in this group, they all view themselves where they are right now. Like, everyone is so worried about comparing to your peers in this moment in time, and especially for the young kids, what they don't realize is it's not a level playing field. Maturity and development and all of that stuff happens at very different paces for different kids, boys, girls, and then obviously within all of those divisions and age. So if everyone can just keep the idea is to get better. "Everyone's doing whatever they can to make that given all-star, that showcase, that Instagram reel, whatever that moment in time of success or failure becomes it becomes almost an indictment of labeling these kids of who they're going to be the rest of their life. And what we know is it's not a race to 12. It's not a race to who's the best sixth grader. It's just not the way sports works, even though at times it feels like it does.' What are Olsen's future broadcasting plans? Olsen will work games for Fox this season with the goal of getting back to a Super Bowl. "I'm sure that's not unique to me," he says. "I'm sure every guy who gets a microphone at Fox, CBS, NBC, everybody wants to elevate to that next level. "I didn't know a lot of things that I know now, and that was no different than when I was a player. That was no different when I was a broadcaster. And I'm sure Tom would say the same thing. His first year as a quarterback, he probably wasn't nearly as good as he was in year 20. "Him being good doesn't make me bad. Me being good, doesn't make him bad. It doesn't work like that. It's independent. We can both pursue excellence at our given career." Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons' baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here. Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@
Toronto Star
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Star
NFL Players Association executive JC Tretter is resigning amid union overhaul
FILE - Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin speaks after being introduced as the winner of the Alan Page Community Award during a news conference ahead of the Super Bowl 57 NFL football game Feb. 8, 2023, in Phoenix. Damar's parents Mario and Nina Hamlin, center, look on with NFLPA President JC Tretter, left. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File) STW PK flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
USA Today
14-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Three NFL coaches carry the first branches of Nick Sirianni's coaching tree
Grading the first three branches of Nick Sirianni's coaching tree Sometimes, it's good to be wrong. Well, maybe 'wrong' isn't the correct word choice. We'll say this. We all had reservations about Nick Sirianni at some point. If you claim you didn't feel this way, you may be misleading yourself. However, he has earned the trust of the Philadelphia Eagles fans—or at least he should have. When we reconsider the situation from that perspective, it seems we judged him incorrectly, and honestly, we're glad we did. Sometimes, being 'wrong' can be a satisfying experience. It wasn't that there were significant reasons to doubt him. He proved he could win immediately. His players worked hard for him, but there were also times when he scared the bejesus out of us. Frankly, none of us have ever seen Andy Reid or Bill Belichick mix it up with fans on the sideline, so it bothered us that Coach Sirianni did it. Plus, no one knew how the 'CEO head coach' idea would work. The collapse to conclude the 2023-24 season was downright horrifying. As it turns out, Philadelphia knew what was best, and the rest of us didn't. Who would have thought, huh? It's amazing how things work out sometimes. Nick Sirianni and Dan Campbell are the sole survivors of the 2021 seven-man NFL head coaching hiring cycle. Sirianni, just three years in, has won over 71% of his games. He has won in six of his nine playoff game appearances. He has also won a Super Bowl after appearing in two. If we were talking about anyone else, we'd be screaming they were on a Pro Football Hall of Fame trajectory. Why aren't we saying that about the Eagles leader? And, has anyone noticed? Now he has a coaching tree! Checking in on Nick Sirianni's former assistants in their current roles as NFL head coaches That flower in bloom took root. Philadelphia hasn't lost very often since Nick confused us with one of his earlier metaphors. Now, we long for them. Flowers and roots... Cool... What else do you have, Coach? How about a warning involving 'perfume' and 'poison'? It's hard to believe that this is already year five of the Nick Sirianni/Jalen Hurts era in the City of Brotherly Love. How about a look at what some of his former assistants are doing? We'll never know whether Jonathan Gannon's ticket to Glendale for Super Bowl 57 was a one-way purchase, but we do know he never returned to Philadelphia after the game's ending. Some will tell the story of the 2022-23 Eagles and state he was one of the game's goats (and, we don't mean 'G.O.A.T.' in the complimentary sense). Coach Gannon accepted the role of Arizona Cardinals head coach two days after losing the big game on February 14, 2023. He has since returned to Philadelphia and beaten his former squad in a surprise 35-31 upset during the aforementioned 2023 Eagles collapse. It was one of the few highlights of Gannon's 4-13 debut. He is now 12-22 following two seasons and has yet to lead his team to the postseason. He enters the 2025 campaign on the hot seat, and for all intents and purposes, it doesn't seem in the cards that he'll reach the playoffs in year three. Things aren't looking good for the former Eagles defensive coordinator. Grade: D Like Gannon, Shane Steichen was part of Coach Sirianni's inaugural coaching staff, serving as the offensive coordinator for two seasons. During that time, he helped Jalen Hurts to a near-MVP season, and had the quarterback been healthy for the entire campaign, one could have made reasonable arguments that Hurts would have won. Steichen now leads the Indianapolis Colts, where he is .500 as their leader with an average 17-17 record. There are three issues. First, he hitched his wagon to then-rookie Anthony Richardson. Second, Richardson wasn't great when returning last season. Third, the rest of his team isn't very good either, and they have yet to reach the postseason under his guidance. It is hard, however, to deny that the Colts seem to be improving slowly under his guidance. Grade: C He also enters the coming season on the hot seat, but there isn't much to be excited about here, as the AFC is loaded with so many great contenders. Kellen Moore is likely the Sirianni disciple with the best chance of succeeding. That says a lot, as he didn't inherit much from the last New Orleans Saints regime. Moore is the most talented leader of this bunch, but he has a lot of work to do. We'll give him a vote of confidence, considering he's in a weak division with only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to worry about. Take that how you will. Honestly, some of our opinions are slanted as the Saints voted in favor of keeping the 'Tush Push' alive, and we're thankful we haven't seen Coach Moore wear a bucket hat similar to the one Gannon wore at Cardinals minicamp. Grade: Incomplete
USA Today
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Peyton Manning credits Jalen Hurts for talking him out of QB rankings discussions
Peyton Manning won't be entertaining QB rankings discussions following a year-old conversation with Jalen Hurts One day, when we're all old and grey, we'll have quite a few stories to tell the grandchildren about great quarterback play. Who knows? Maybe we'll discuss Jalen Hurts with them. Maybe we can, at that time, discuss several Super Bowls he won with the Philadelphia Eagles. It's hard to imagine an NFL career getting off to a more fiery start, unless, of course, we could travel back in time and fix the field at Super Bowl 57. By raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy last February, Jalen made waves by losing his first Super Bowl and getting back to win another one. It isn't something we have seen happen very often. Shout out to John Elway! But, it's Hurts' time now. He's one of the young offensive signal-callers filling a void few thought could be filled, a mammoth-sized hole left by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Speaking of Peyton Manning... Peyton Manning jokes that Jalen Hurts may have talked him out of the QB rankings business Here's a funny story for those looking for a chuckle. While hanging out at Fanatics Fest in NYC, Peyton joked that he wouldn't be offering a 2025 version of the top five NFL quarterbacks list he shared last season. Last year, when he did the same, he received a call from Jalen Hurts about 20 minutes later asking Manning why the Eagles' quarterback was omitted. There has seemingly been no word about whether or not Jalen and Peyton's conversation added any more fuel for his quest to win Super Bowl 59 last season. Still, based on everything we have learned about Hurts up to this point, we're going to assume it did. We'd also like to thank Manning for any additional comments that he might make about the Eagles' gunslinger in the future. At this point, praise, criticism, oversights, backhanded compliments, and disrespect are all welcome. Oh, and by the way. Did you catch that? Who knew that Hurts had Manning on speed dial and that these two were so friendly? Alabama and Tennessee quarterbacks are hanging out now. Who would have ever guessed?
