For the 2nd time in less than 365 days, Tom Brady, widely regarded as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, has retired. And this time, he would like you to know that it’s “for good”.
Brady leaves the game as a 7x Super Bowl winner (most ever by a player, team, or franchise), 5x Super Bowl MVP (most ever by a player), 15x Pro Bowl selections (most ever by a player), and holds quite literally every single NFL passing record. Here are some of our other favorite Brady stats:
First NFL player to win a Super Bowl in three different decades. In fact, no other player has played in a Super Bowl past 40 years old. Tom Brady played in 3 of them.
The Super Bowl has been around since 1967. Tom Brady has participated in just under 20% of them.
He has more playoff wins than 13 other franchises have played in.
Only 2 players in NFL history have registered receiving yards after turning 40 years old. One is hall-of-fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, the other is Tom Brady (6 yards).
Michael Jordan came out of a 2nd retirement. Just saying.
Today’s Rundown:
Headlines: Sean Payton is Back to Coaching
Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed’s Beef
Questionable NFL Officiating from Sunday
What to watch this week, Standings, Best Bets & More
Est. Read Time: 7 minutes
Headlines
Trending
Denver Broncos Reach Deal With Sean Payton for Head Coaching Job: After months of speculation and many teams in the mix, the former Saints coach has decided on Denver for his return to the NFL.
49ers QB, Brock Purdy, Tore UCL in NFC Championship Game: The injury that Purdy suffered in the 1st quarter of their game against the Eagles was more serious than the team hoped. Purdy will be sidelined for at least 6 months.
Chargers Hire Kellen Moore as Offensive Coordinator: Less than 24 hours after parting ways with the Dallas Cowboys, Kellen Moore reached a deal with Los Angeles.
Bobby Hull, One of Hockey’s All-Time Greats, Dies at 84: Hall of Famer, 2x MVP, and one of the sport’s most recognized names passed away on Monday. Hull signed the first $1 million contract in the sport’s history in 1972.
Conversation Starters
Eagles Have Become Betting Favorites for Super Bowl LVII: After the betting line for the Super Bowl initially opened at even, the Eagles quickly emerged as the favorites, moving the line now to -2 in their favor.
Amazon Working on Movie About Nike in the 1980s: “Air” which follows the story of Nike’s early days and trying to sign Michael Jordan, stars Ben Affleck as Phil Knight and Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, plus many more.
Saudi Arabia PIF Tried to Buy Formula 1: The country’s sovereign wealth fund tried to purchase the global racing series from Liberty Media for a whopping $20 billion; roughly 5x what it was purchased for in 2017.
Rory McIlroy & Patrick Reed
Lawsuits, insults, tee-throwing, and some good golf
There is a pretty dramatic saga unfolding between two of the biggest names in golf, and for the most part, it’s flying under the radar.
Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed have made headlines over the past year for their own reasons, but now they’re making headlines together. Now, there is a bit of a feud between the two, and it goes deeper than golf. Here’s a quick timeline recap to catch you up to speed:
LIV Golf Tour Announced in 2022, Patrick Reed leaves PGA Tour for it
McIlroy publicly decries LIV Golf and golfers who left to join it
Reed files multiple lawsuits alleging defamation, Rory McIlroy is named
McIlroy is served papers from Reed’s lawyers on Christmas Eve
This past weekend at the Dubai Desert Classic is where the plot really started to get juicy. During warmups ahead of the tournament, Patrick Reed approached Rory’s practice area to say hello and tried to shake his hand. Rory, without even making eye contact with Reed, declined (not too unreasonable after getting subpoenaed on a holiday around family). Reed then laughed while shaking his head and turned to walk away while throwing a tee at Rory’s feet in a disrespectful motion, like a movie villain.
But, that encounter, which is now being referred to as “TeeGate”, was just the tip of the iceberg for what went down this past weekend. As fate would have it, the Dubai Desert Classic tournament came down to two golfers on Sunday evening: Rory McIlroy, and Patrick Reed. It came down to the final hole of the tournament, the score tied at -18. Reed was watching from the clubhouse as McIlroy lined up for an 18-foot birdie putt which would make him the winner, Reed the loser, and that tee toss look a whole lot dumber. Not an easy putt, even for a professional, but there’s a reason why McIlroy’s the World No. 1 Golfer. Rory sunk the putt to claim his victory and cap off what was a wild weekend in Dubai, on and off the course.
It’s unclear where this feud will go from here. Even though it has seemed to be one of the biggest things going on in the sport at the moment, it really just represents a blip in the ongoing battle of the PGA Tour vs LIV Golf.
NFL Officiating Raises Eyebrows
It’s not the first time, and it likely won’t be the last
There’s a huge amount of respect you have to give officiating crews at the highest level of sports. NFL referees, in particular, have to track some of the quickest and fastest athletes in the world down to the tiniest movements, all in fractions of a second - much respect. But there’s been a big stir about favoritism and bias that NFL refs are giving to teams in big playoff games during crunch time - like the conference championships last weekend. There were three instances in the two games last weekend specifically.
To begin, in the Eagles vs. 49ers early game DeVonta Smith had an amazing one-handed grab on 4th & 3 to give Philly a 1st and goal on the 6-yard line. At first glance, Smith made the catch look surprisingly easy and secured the ball with no problem. The Eagles subsequently hurried up to the line to snap the ball off, eliminating the officials’ opportunity to formally review the play. They were fast enough to snap the ball without the review, but upon further video evidence, there’s a good chance the call could have been overturned.
Now, that game ended up being a blowout, so it stings a little less. However, the Chiefs vs. Bengals game was a much more competitive and close game, and it had a much bigger share of questionable officiating that could have drastically changed the momentum of the game.
The first came in the first 5 minutes of the 4th quarter when the Chiefs earned a second chance at a 3rd down attempt because of a clock error. The Chiefs blew their first chance on an incomplete pass, but were given the other attempt because officials were apparently trying to stop the play once they noticed the play clock was running for longer than it should have. This resulted in another 3rd down attempt that wound up giving the Chiefs a 1st down due to defensive holding. This call not only almost led to Bengals head coach Zac Taylor blowing a gasket, but to many fans around the world calling the game, and the NFL, rigged.
The next call ended up being the one that put the final nail in the coffin of the game, however, came in the last minute of regulation for the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes hobbled and scrambled for 5 yards to earn better field positioning for a game-winning field goal attempt. As he was running out of bounds, Bengals second-year defensive end, Joseph Ossai, lightly gave Mahomes an extra push out of bounds to initiate an unneccessary roughness penalty, giving the Chiefs 15 extra yards to kick the field goal and secure a Super Bowl berth.
While there is a case to be made on both sides of the fence, the NFL has been clear that there’s no justification for pushing a player who’s already running out of bounds. But the controversy stems from the fact that the same penalty could have, and probably should have, been issued against the Chiefs plenty of other times throughout the game when a similar play unfolded.
Read: Here’s a referee and rules expert explaining the decision for some of the controversial calls on Sunday.
Standings Updates
📺 What to Watch This Week
🏀 NBA: LeBron James is averaging 30.2 points per game this season and is quickly approaching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record of 38,387 points. LeBron is currently 88 points away from tying the record, so if he can keep up his current pace, he could shatter it in a matter of his next three games.
🏒 NHL: The Boston Bruins will attempt to end their three-game losing streak tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins haven’t lost more than three games in a row all season thus far.
🏀 College Basketball: The Kansas Jayhawks sought revenge over the Kansas State Wildcats last night in a 90-78 statement win. We’ve also got a two-day slate chalked full of top-25 games today & tomorrow.
💰 Best Bets
Current record: 12-16
February 1st & 2nd
NCAAM (2/1): PSU +10.5 (-110) at PUR
NHL (2/1): CAR vs BUF over 6.5 goals (-110)
*No Huddle is not an online sports gambling book or gambling platform of any kind. We do not advise the placing of bets or wagers on a sportsbook that is not in compliance with your current local & state laws.
Please bet responsibly. Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
🗓 Today in Sports History
1995 Utah Jazz guard John Stockton passes Magic Johnson to become the NBA’s all-time leader in assists at the time. Stockton remains at the top of the list with 15,806 total assists. The closest active player to him is Chris Paul, who only has 11,246.