Latest news with #SuperBowlXXX
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Troy Aikman Clarifies Cowboys Super Bowl Prediction
FRISCO - Now that the Dallas Cowboys schedule is officially out, everybody it seems has an opinion on it. Legendary quarterback Troy Aikman made an appearance on ESPN Wednesday night to break down the network's slate of Monday Night Football games. He was also asked about the Cowboys as their schedule flashed on the screen. Advertisement But before analyzing their lineup of games, Aikman took time to clear up his shocking prediction earlier this week that his former team would win Super Bowl LX in February. "Well, that was ... ya know ... people tend to get excited and overreact to everything these days," Aikman said. "I was half-joking because Michael Strahan was in the studio." But while he did backpedal on the Cowboys winning the championship for the first time since he led them to Super Bowl XXX in 1996, Aikman doubled-down on them having a surprisingly successful season. "I understand the Eagles are the cream of the crop and Washington will be better," he said. "But I do think Dallas has been flying under the radar this offseason and rightfully so. They don't deserve a lot of talk at this point. But I do believe that they're going to be ... not just because they were injured last year ... I think they're going to be a better football team this year and they may surprise some people. I know in Dallas there's always talk about a Super Bowl and, who knows, it's been a while as we know. But I do think they're going to contend and be stronger than they've probably gotten credit for at this point." Advertisement "Contend and be stronger" may not equate to winning a Super Bowl, or even the NFC East. But Aikman obviously expects more than seven wins from his former team. And we also know this: Good or bad, the TV networks still love America's Team. Counting Thanksgiving against the Kansas City Chiefs and Christmas Day against the Washington Commanders, the Cowboys will play eight times when they are the only game on TV. Related: Cowboys Legend Troy Aikman Makes Shockingly Homer Super Bowl Pick Related: Cowboys Thanksgiving Against Chiefs Will Be Stuffed With Silly Stereotype
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman dies
PITTSBURGH (WKBN) — Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Ray Seals has died at the age of 59. The cause of death is unknown. He was a standout on the Pittsburgh team that reached Super Bowl XXX. He did not play college football, gaining the attention of NFL scouts while playing for the semi-pro Syracuse Express. Seals, who played two seasons with Pittsburgh in 1994-95, appeared in 29 games with the Steelers in the NFL. He piled up 15.5 sacks, three total tackles, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. Prior to his time with the Steelers, Seals played eight seasons with Tampa Bay. He also played one season with the Carolina Panthers. For his career, Seals appeared in 90 games with 32 career sacks. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Steelers AFC Champion defensive end Ray Seals dies at 59
This article originally appeared on Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Ray Seals has died at the age of 59, according to Seals was one of the rare few NFL players to skip college football, going straight from Henninger High School in Syracuse, New York to the minor-league Syracuse Express of the Empire Football League. Advertisement He played two seasons for the Express before being picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1989. Seals spent two seasons as a reserve for the Bucs and three as a part-time starter before joining the Steelers in 1994. In three seasons in Pittsburgh, Seals started 27 games, including all 16 regular season games in 1995, and then another three in playoffs as the Steelers went all the way to Super Bowl XXX. Click here to read more from Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
NBC Sports
05-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Ray Seals, who became an NFL starter without going to college, dies at 59
Ray Seals, who became notable for making it to the NFL without ever going to college, has died at the age of 59. Seals was a star football player at Henninger High School in Syracuse, but he decided not to go to college and to start working after graduating high school in 1984 to help support his family. Seals didn't quit playing football, however, joining a semipro team in Syracuse. Seals played so well in semipro football that a football coach from the area began calling around to NFL teams to urge them to sign him as an undrafted free agent. The only NFL head coach who would listen was Ray Perkins of the Buccaneers, who had previously met Seals on a recruiting trip when Seals was in high school and Perkins was head coach at Alabama. Perkins agreed to give Seals a shot. The Buccaneers ended up signing Seals in 1988, although he didn't play at all that year. In 1989 he played as a backup in two games and in 1990 he played as a backup in eight games, but in 1991 he earned a starting job and was a starter in Tampa Bay for three years. In 1994 Seals signed a free-agent contract with the Steelers, and he was a starter in Pittsburgh for two years, including the 1995 season when he started all 16 games in the regular season and all three games in the postseason, concluding in Super Bowl XXX, where the Steelers lost but Seals had a good game, including a sack of Troy Aikman. In addition to that sack of Aikman, Seals is remembered for his role in the first completion — and first catch — of Brett Favre's Green Bay Packers career: Favre threw a pass, Seals tipped it into the air, Favre caught it, and Seals tackled him behind the line of scrimmage. After missing the entire 1996 season with an injury, Seals signed with the Panthers in 1997 and played one more season, then signed with the Bengals in 1998 but never got on the field. Garry Acchione, Seals' teammate from their time in Syracuse, told that the people who played with him always knew he had what it took to make it to the NFL. 'We were all behind him. We were rooting for him like you couldn't believe, to have that opportunity to make it,' Acchione said. 'I never had a doubt in my mind that he was good enough to play in the NFL, I mean, we all knew it. It's just, OK, how do you get him there? How does he get the opportunity? Because back then, I mean, he didn't come out of college. You're not going to just walk onto a pro team and make it.' But that's what Seals did, going from semipro football to a sack in the Super Bowl, completing one of the most unique stories in NFL history.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former NFL coach seen at Colorado's practice hinting at another big coaching staff hire
Former NFL coach seen at Colorado's practice hinting at another big coaching staff hire Could another former NFL coach join Deion Sanders' coaching staff in Colorado? After Thursday's practice, it sure looks like a possibility. Former Minnesota Vikings head coach and longtime NFL defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was spotted at Colorado's practice, deked out in full CU gear and chopping it up with Deion Sanders and Travis Hunter. Zimmer is no stranger to Boulder, as he was an analyst on Coach Prime's 2023 staff. He was Sanders' defensive backs coach when Sanders was with the Cowboys and the duo won Super Bowl XXX together. The longtime NFL coach returned to the Cowboys' last season as their defensive coordinator but was dismissed after the year when the team moved away from head coach Mike McCarthy. Zimmer's most successful stint in the NFL was as the head coach of the Vikings from 2014 to 2021. In 2017, he led the Vikings to the NFC Championship game, with the "Minneapolis Miracle" being one of the more memorable moments of the season. He ended his run in Minneapolis with a 74-59-1 record. He would add 28 years of NFL coaching experience, a Super Bowl and an NFL Assistant Coach of the Year to Colorado's coaching staff. Zimmer would be the fourth coach with significant NFL ties to join the coaching staff this offseason, following Marshall Faulk, Domata Peko and Byron Leftwich. Although not officially announced by the school, Leftwich's hire generated a ton of buzz as a potential quarterback coach with his NFL offensive coordinator experience. It wouldn't be surprising to see Zimmer back on the staff this season in some role, given his deep ties to Deion Sanders and the fact that he spent a season at Colorado just two seasons ago. Follow Charlie Strella on X, Threads, and Instagram. Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.
