The Daily Briefing Friday, December 20, 2024

This from Clay Travis: @ClayTravisThe other big thing most aren’t talking about: many college football and basketball players are now making more in college than they would in the pros. Every starting SEC quarterback makes more this year than Brock Purdy does in year three in the NFL as a starter. It’s wild. And Purdy was still able to give his OL new Toyota trucks for Christmas per Zach Bachar of Bleacher Report: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was the latest signal-caller to present his offensive lineman with gifts for the holidays. In a video posted by the 49ers on X, Purdy presented his teammates with 10 new Toyota trucks. It’s an expensive gift from Purdy, as the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft is still on a rookie contract. He’ll receive a base salary of $985,000 for his 2024 campaign, per Spotrac. After Purdy revealed that he lived with 49ers offensive lineman Nick Zakelj as a roommate and drove a Toyota Sequoia during his rise to stardom in 2023, he agreed to a deal to become one of the car company’s national partners on Feb. 2. While the year hasn’t gone according to plan for San Francisco, Purdy still rewarded his offensive lineman for keeping him upright during the holiday season.

NFC NORTH

DETROITRB DAVID MONTGOMERY could return in January after a third opinion on his MCL injury.  Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com: The Lions held off on placing running back David Montgomery on the injured reserve list after he received a third medical opinion following an MCL injury in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Montgomery “might have avoided season-ending surgery” and there is “optimism [for a potential return] in the playoffs.” “It’s about rehabbing and going from there,” the source said. Initially, Montgomery was feared to be out for the season before receiving additional testing. Earlier in the week, Lions coach Dan Campbell acknowledged that the team was leaning on doctors while in a “waiting mode” about his injury status. “It is one of these injuries that’s unique because you need to know is it stable? OK, is it fixed, or will it scar? And then be certainly stable for now and for later and then you’ve got to rely on him, like, ‘Hey man, I’m good. I can do this,'” Campbell said on Wednesday. “So, it’s a combination certainly the doctors then him as well, where he thinks he can go with it and can he protect himself and play at a high level. So, we’re in a holding pattern, which as of right now is a positive.” Detroit has been bitten by the injury bug with a league-high 21 players currently on the injured reserve list, including 16 defensive players, which is also the most in the NFL this season. Montgomery is Detroit’s second-leading rusher with 775 yards and a team-high 12 touchdowns behind Jahmyr Gibbs, who has 1,047 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Although Gibbs is disappointed by the injury, he has no worries picking up the slack in his teammate’s absence. Montgomery has encouraged Gibbs to “keep hooping,” while Campbell and the coaching staff remain confident in his ability as “our lead horse.” For Gibbs, his on-field mindset isn’t changing without Montgomery. “Basically, the same, it’s nothing different,” Gibbs said. “I’ve been doing this my whole life, so I don’t look at it any differently.”

NFC EAST

DALLASEDGE MICAH PARSONS sounds like a guy who might follow the Tom Brady plan and leave a bit of money on the table.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com: The Dallas Cowboys waited until the brink of the 2024 season to make their big deals with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Micah Parsons would like to flip that in 2025. The star pass rusher said he’d like to ink a long-term extension before free agency kicks off in March. “I’m going to try and work with them as much as possible to help them attack free agency,” Parsons said Thursday, via ESPN. “I want to be back with this team. This offseason, I want to be here. I want to get these guys right. I want to take big steps, so hopefully it can be done sooner than later so we can attack the offseason.” Deadlines spur actions, and while nothing is holding the Cowboys to that timeframe, it gives sides at least a modicum of urgency once the season ends to lock down a deal that keeps the edge rusher happy. “I think I’m the best player in the world. I don’t throw numbers out there like that,” Parsons said. “I’ll see what they’re willing to give me.” Despite missing four games, he leads the Cowboys with 8.5 sacks and has three games with two QB takedowns since returning from the ankle injury. The edge rusher has dominated, generating a 19.8 QB pressure rate, the second-highest in the NFL this season (Danielle Hunter, 20.5), per Next Gen Stats. Parsons reiterated that he doesn’t need to maximize his payday to be happy. And getting a deal done before free agency would allow the Cowboys to be more flexible. “It would be nice to be surrounded by good players,” he said. “Players that will help me win championships, I’ll say that. To me, having $40 million and being chipped every play and slid into three, four people, that doesn’t sound too fun to me. “So to me, it’s about keeping people that can make a difference, and obviously we’re going to get Sam [Williams] back, some players back. We’ll see how it breaks down, but I want to keep as many guys as possible. They will make the cap work, I don’t know.” Parsons hopes that by getting a deal done early, he can avoid the issues that plagued the Cowboys in 2024, with Lamb skipping offseason workouts. “For sure, I definitely think I need to be here in camp because honestly when so much of the defense is surrounded by your play, your presence, and others getting lined up based off of you, I need to be here so that way I can get these guys [together],” Parsons said. “We can rush together, build that chemistry. So I think it’s extremely important that I’m back at OTAs and minicamp and all those types of things.”

PHILADELPHIAFor the want of a shoe, a proper shoe, QB JALEN HURTS has lost $5,625.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts wore two different shoes for last Sunday’s game against the Steelers and it will wind up costing him a little money. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the league has fined Hurts $5,628 for violating the league’s uniform rules. Per the report, the specific violation was for wearing a shoe that was not one of the team’s “constitutional team colors.” It’s not the first time that Hurts has worn mismatched shoes this season. During an October game against the Bengals, one of Hurts’s shoes came off during a play and he had to use a timeout to put on a different one because he couldn’t get the original one back on in time. That situation didn’t lead to the same hit to Hurts’s wallet that the premeditated footwear choice did, but neither development did anything to hinder the quarterback’s game. The offending shoe was green (his left shoe), just not the constitutional green.  Would it be allowed if the Eagles were wearing their throwbacks?  We assume black shoes and white shoes are always “constitutional”?

WASHINGTONThe team once known for its Hogs had a pork-funded stadium in the first draft of the omnibus bill.  But now that federal money is gone.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: The bill that would authorize D.C. to do a deal for a new facility at the site of RFK Stadium is dead. For now. The provision has disappeared from wide-ranging legislation that would avoid a government shutdown, via Eric Flack of WUSA9.com. More recently, the renegotiated deal was rejected by the House of Representatives. The previous bipartisan effort was derailed by President-elect Trump and Elon Musk, who specifically targeted the RFK Stadium provision on Wednesday. Although the bill devoted no taxpayer money to the construction of the stadium, does anyone really think Commanders owner Josh Harris will pay for all of it himself? The vast majority of NFL owners pursue private-public financing for stadium construction and renovation. So even if the current bill didn’t devote federal funds to the project, it’s just a matter of time before public money would be requested. For now, none of that matters. There’s no bill to allow D.C. to use the situation for a new stadium. The mood nationwide has changed in recent years against giving handouts to assist in the construction of sports stadiums. The ongoing explosion in the value of NFL franchises makes the argument that anyone but the teams and their owners should pay for new or upgraded stadiums a lot harder. Whenever such measures are put on a ballot, they fail. The NFL nevertheless has managed to get elected officials to keep finding ways to justify kicking taxpayer money into the pot. It’s possible that those days are ending.– – -Jay Busbee of YahooSports.com commends the Commanders for their achievements in 2024. It almost seems like a bad dream now, all those years of suing fans, overpaying players, overcharging fans, swapping out coaches, tormenting fans and embarrassing literally everyone who sported burgundy and gold. This year’s Washington football team has played so well, for so deep into the season, that it’s tempting to just forget the entire quarter-century reign of Daniel Snyder ever happened. So, go ahead and do it. Draw a line from the Joe Gibbs-Mark Rypien-Art Monk Super Bowl era of the early ‘90s right to the Dan Quinn-Jayden Daniels-Terry McLaurin era of the mid-2020s, and speak of the Snyder Era no more. Washington takes on Philadelphia this weekend in a battle for what’s left of the NFC East crown. Granted, it’s all but academic at this point — Washington (9-5) is three games behind Philadelphia (12-2) with three games left to play. But the Commanders are still playing for positioning, holding off the Seahawks or Falcons and avoiding these same Eagles or some NFC North best in the playoffs if at all possible. The Commanders held on to beat New Orleans in a closer-than-it-should-have-been victory last week, their second straight win after a three-game skid that could have derailed their season. Yes, the wins came over the Titans and Saints, not exactly the Lions and Vikings, but there are no style points in the NFL. And for a young team seeking both an identity and a playoff berth, you’ve got to win the easy ones. Now in Washington’s path: the Eagles, who are doing everything they can to erase 1) the sting of last year’s skid and 2) any hint of locker room discontent. After some possibly-media-enhanced grousing about the passing game a couple weeks back, Jalen Hurts threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns, and both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith reeled in triple-digit receiving yardage totals. Combine that with Saquon Barkley’s MVP-level season on the ground, and you have yourself a complete offense. Oh, and Philadelphia just happens to have the game’s best defense yardage-wise, too, allowing just 275.6 per game. Against Philadelphia, Washington has been competitive; the last three games have been one-possession margins. But then, Washington has lost all three of those games … and, again, there are no medals for second place here. “If you want to be seen as a heavy hitter, you got to beat them,” Quinn said earlier this week. “In the NFC East, Philadelphia has been the heavy hitters so far this season in the division.” Philadelphia has a reliable recent record of postseason success. Washington, to put it politely, does not. The franchise has reached the playoffs just five times in this millennium, and has won all of one (1) playoff game in that run — a 2005-season wild-card victory over a Tampa Bay team quarterbacked by Chris Simms. The energy that Daniels et. al. have brought to Washington this season has been remarkable and, for Washington fans, long overdue. Now, 2020s fans don’t have to listen to tales of old from their parents and grandparents; they can Hail the Commanders themselves without embarrassment. Jayden Daniels’ jersey is among the best-selling in the NFL, and the league flexed Washington’s Week 17 game against Atlanta to Sunday evening, so the entire country can see Daniels and crew in action. That’s respect. If the Commanders win two of their final three games — they finish with Philadelphia, at home against Atlanta and on the road against Dallas — they’ll finish with their highest regular-season win total since 1991. For those who can’t name every single one of the Hogs, the 1991 season was the last time Washington won the Super Bowl — and, not coincidentally, was long before Snyder took over the team. A Super Bowl, or even an NFC championship berth, is a tall order for this still-developing Washington team. But the Commanders are on an upward trajectory … and when’s the last time you could say that about a Washington team?

NFC SOUTH

ATLANTAWR MICHAEL PENIX, Jr. was splurging on a delicacy when word reached him he was starting against the Football Giants on Sunday.  Nick Shook of NFL.com: In this era of inflation, it’s not often a consumer finds a deal too good to pass up. For Michael Penix Jr., he got two this week: a promotion, and a Costco hot dog. That’s right, the Falcons’ new starting quarterback was in line for the go-to culinary item at the multinational big-box warehouse store when he was informed he’d be taking the field for Atlanta in Week 16. “Whenever I got the call, I wasn’t hungry no more,” Penix said Wednesday. Penix’s appetite might have been satiated, but a hunger remains: to lead Atlanta to victory. That type of starvation requires more than a hot dog. “I got a lot of feelings,” Penix said. “I don’t know what they are, but I’m just ready to play.” Penix takes over for a Falcons team in desperate need of production from the quarterback position. Kirk Cousins’ performance slipped dramatically over the last five weeks, and Atlanta only left Las Vegas victorious Monday night because its defense, special teams and running backs carried the load. A boost in production under center just might turn around the Falcons’ fortunes, and it couldn’t come at a better time. At 7-7, they’re a game behind the Buccaneers and essentially need to win out to give themselves the best chance to take home the NFC South. Penix understands the stakes, which are unusually high for a rookie quarterback to make his debut. He’s focused on preventing them from affecting his approach. “I just got to be myself,” Penix said. “I don’t feel like I got to be anybody else. I don’t have to try too hard to be the big leader, the vocal leader. Just be myself. Trust in my preparation and bring everybody along with me.” Because of his extensive experience gained at both Indiana and Washington, Penix entered the 2024 NFL Draft as the quarterback considered to be the most pro-ready, which made Atlanta’s selection of him peculiar to some, especially considering they’d just handed Cousins a $180 million deal. Nearly eight months later, Atlanta’s vision is now clear for everyone to see. A scenario most every football-playing youth has envisioned will become reality for Penix on Sunday. Falcons fans are hoping it produces a dreamy afternoon. “I ain’t going to lie, I’m going to be nervous running out of that tunnel,” Penix said. “But whenever I get on the field, it’s a whole different mentality, a flipped switch. I’m ready to go.” Meanwhile, this is the reaction of QB KIRK COUSINS to his benching.  More from Shook: As the professional he is, Cousins accepted the decision Wednesday while acknowledging he hadn’t performed well enough to keep the job. “It’s pro football. There’s a standard that I have for myself, that the team has for me,” Cousins told reporters. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t playing up to that standard consistently enough. It is what it is. You roll with it. Now, you still get ready, one play away kind of a thing, and support Mike and just try to help our team be able to find a way to win these last three to get in the playoffs. That’s what it’s all about. That’s my focus.” His decision-making regressed dramatically, with Cousins frequently attempting to fire passes into risky windows only to see the worst possible outcome. If one needs an explanation for his fall from grace, look no further than that losing streak. “I would agree. It probably ultimately was the turnovers,” Cousins said, echoing Morris’ earlier explanation for the move to Penix. “That’s such a key thing in winning and losing in the NFL.” A passerby might wonder why the Falcons are benching their quarterback after a win, but their ugly 15-9 victory was arguably Cousins’ worst showing. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 112 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and could have turned it over a couple of more times. Given one last chance to convert on third-and-long in a suddenly tight game, Cousins nearly threw a pick, failing to convert and giving the ball back to the Raiders with 1:50 left in a one-score contest. Cousins was ineffective, and if not for a strong game from second-year running back Bijan Robinson (22 carries, 125 yards), the Falcons could have ended up on the losing end. They can’t afford such a risk with their postseason hopes hanging in the balance, turning to the rookie whose draft selection at No. 8 overall created its own offseason firestorm during the spring. “I brought Kirk in here with full expectation that we could win a championship with Kirk and we’d be able to compete with Kirk,” Morris explained on Wednesday. “For whatever reason, whatever happened the last couple of weeks, it just hasn’t felt that way. It was time to make a change. “Any time you take a step down or a demotion at work, it’s not going to be met with great appreciation and all those things. But Kirk was a professional, he’s a pro, he’s a man, he’s a great human, he’s a great father, he’s a great football player, he’s done a lot of great things for us this year. He handled it with class. He’s an absolute professional. … But obviously it comes with some disappointment when you lose your job.” To his credit, Cousins drew appreciation from Morris, who admitted “we’ve got to play better at the position … and that’s why we made the decision to do that last night.” Cousins even called Penix to talk about the change Tuesday night, telling reporters, “I like to shoot elephants in the room.”

NEW ORLEANSQB SPENCER RATTLER will get the start as the Saints head to the Frozen Tundra on Monday night.  Matt Connelly of On3.com: New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi has announced that Spencer Rattler is moving back into the starting quarterback role as Derek Carr continues to recover from an injury. Rattler played well in relief of Jake Haener this past Sunday against the Washington Commanders and now will get the start this Sunday when the Saints take on the Green Bay Packers. Spencer Rattler completed 10 of 21 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown against Washington. He threw a potential game-winning or game-tying touchdown with no time left on the clock. However, New Orleans opted to go for two, and the two-point try failed. “Spencer Rattler will be the starting quarterback for us,” Darren Rizzi said. “Obviously he gave us a spark this past game in the second half. Had a real good practice day today. So that’s where we are with him.” Rattler will take on the Packers without RB ALVIN KAMARA who is out with a groin ailment.  Larry Holder of The Athletic: The New Orleans Saints have taken another hit to their offense as running back Alvin Kamara is unlikely to play Monday in Week 16 against the Packers in Green Bay with a groin injury, interim coach Darren Rizzi said Thursday. Kamara left the Saints’ Week 15 loss to Washington in the second half. He’s been the most stable piece to the team’s offense in 2024 with 950 rushing yards and six touchdowns, along with 68 receptions for 548 yards and three TDs. This only adds to the list of injured skill position players with Taysom Hill, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed missing from the Saints’ offensive lineup because of injuries. This from Nick Underhill: @nick_underhillAlvin Kamara intends to try to get back before the season is over, I’m told. A lot of work to do but he’s aiming to make that happen. Hasn’t thrown in the towel on it even though there are only three games left.

TAMPA BAYQB BAKER MAYFIELD knows exactly how many yards WR MIKE EVANS needs to reach 1,000 receiving yards for an 11th straight season.  Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com: Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans has never had less than 1,000 yards in his career. Ten consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards to begin a career is an NFL record. After Evans missed three games and most of another with his hamstring injury, it appeared a long shot for the five-time Pro Bowler to continue his streak. Evans, though, caught nine passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over the Chargers on Sunday, giving him 749 yards for the season. He now needs to average 84 yards in the final three games to reach 1,000 yards for an 11th consecutive season. “I’m thinking about it more than Mike is,” Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said Wednesday, via video from Jenna Laine of ESPN. “He helped himself out, though. He put a little chunk into it. All in all, winning is the most important part, but he’s a huge part of this offense. He makes a huge difference in the explosive aspect of this offense, so trying to get him the ball someway, somehow but not forcing it. That’s not what this offense is all about. Let’s let the defense dictate where the ball is going to go based on coverage and what they’re doing. But yeah, still moving Mike around. He’s still our No. 1 guy. If it happens, it happens.” In 2017, Evans had 1,001 receiving yards, the closest he has come to ending the streak. He has 12,429 yards for his career.

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITYThe ankle injury to QB PATRICK MAHOMES seems to be much ado about nothing as he is without any injury status on the Thursday report.  Adam Teicher of ESPN.com: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes will start for the Kansas City Chiefs in Saturday’s game against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium despite sustaining a high ankle injury last Sunday. Mahomes has no injury status for the game. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said earlier Thursday that Mahomes took a full practice workload Thursday, the Chiefs’ final session of the week. He also was a full practice participant in the Tuesday and Wednesday practices. “He did look good out there,” Reid said. “He moved around pretty good. So, you’re always looking to make sure they can get out the way, not to further any harm to them. So that’s what I look at. “I’ve been through it with him before, and he amazed me every time he does it. The guy, he’s been so mentally tough and just puts it into a mindset that he has going into it [from] where he was a few days ago.” Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, asked how Mahomes looked in practice this week, said, “Like he always does.” Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s 21-7 victory over the Cleveland Browns. He came out of the game and was replaced by Carson Wentz. The Chiefs also ruled left tackle D.J. Humphries out of Saturday’s game. Humphries did not practice all week because of a hamstring injury that knocked him out of a Week 14 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He did not play in last week’s win over the Cleveland Browns. The Chiefs used Joe Thuney, usually their starting left guard, at left tackle against the Browns. Before recently signing Humphries, the Chiefs had Wanya Morris or rookie Kingsley Suamataia as their left tackle, but both players were benched during games at various points.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERSThe fair catch free kick has been in the rule book, unused, for decades.  Then came Thursday night at SoFi.  Kris Rhim of ESPN.com: Cameron Dicker made the longest fair catch free kick in NFL history at the end of the second quarter of the Los Angeles Chargers’ 34-27 win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Dicker made the 57-yarder on the seldom-used play, which allows a team that has just made a fair catch to attempt a field goal without the opponent trying to block it. The kick shortened the Broncos’ lead to 21-13 at the half and proved to be a spark for the Chargers, who outscored Denver 21-6 over the next two quarters. The longest previous fair catch free kick was a 52-yarder by Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers in 1962. The Chargers looked as if they would go into halftime down 11 points after quarterback Justin Herbert was intercepted by cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine late in the first half. But a quick three-and-out by the Broncos’ offense and a fair catch interference penalty on Denver cornerback Tremon Smith gave Los Angeles an untimed down to end the half. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh chose to take the fair catch free kick, which by rule is attempted from where a fair catch was called or has been awarded as the result of a penalty. Typically, teams signal for fair catches well out of field goal range, so the strategy is not commonplace. Dicker lauded special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken postgame, telling reporters that he prepares the team weekly for such a scenario. Dicker said he didn’t know the rule until he met Ficken in 2022. The last fair catch kick attempt was by Carolina’s Joey Slye in 2019 against the Buccaneers. He missed the 60-yard attempt. Each Friday, Dicker said the specialists watch Slye’s kick. Still, Dicker admitted he never thought he would attempt one in a game. “It was awesome,” Dicker said. “It was funny to be in that scenario and just be like, ‘Huh, there’s no lineup there. This looks a little weird,’ but it was really cool.” Harbaugh said the free kick is his favorite football rule and that he had been waiting for the chance to try one all season. This isn’t the first time Harbaugh has had his team attempt such a kick. In 2013, as coach of the San Francisco 49ers, he had Phil Dawson try a 71-yard fair catch kick, but he missed. “This is our chance; this is our moment,” Harbaugh said of his thought process. “I wanted to try it from 65 [yards].” On the sideline, Chargers players shared collective confusion. Herbert thought he would attempt a Hail Mary, and others realized that they didn’t know as much about football as they thought. “Everybody was trying to figure out what was going on,” outside linebacker Bud Dupree said. “We knew he could make it. We just didn’t understand. Was it going to be a two-point or three-point, or did we get the ball on the 1? We didn’t know.” Added running back Gus Edwards: “Man, I don’t know whose idea it was to kick that, but they know ball. I was confused as s—. I ain’t ever seen that before.” There have been at least 29 fair catch free kicks recorded during the regular season, according to quirkyresearch.com. The last known player to make a fair catch free kick was Ray Wersching of the San Diego Chargers in 1976. Broncos coach Sean Payton said his team prepares for such scenarios in practice and that Smith’s penalty “wasn’t smart.” With the win, the Chargers swept the season series with the Broncos for the first time since 2010. They can clinch a playoff berth with a loss or tie by the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts this weekend. “Get some rest, recovery, but then we’ve got to attack,” Harbaugh said. “We still have games to win.” The Chargers close the regular season with trips to the New England Patriots (3-11) and the Las Vegas Raiders (2-12).

NEW YORK JETSPart of “Enigma”, the Netflix documentary about Aaron Rodgers as some fresh comments about his non-relationship with his family.  Trey Alston of Yahoo.com: Aaron Rodgers opens up about the dysfunction in his family that caused him to “re-parent” himself. Netflix has released a new three-part docuseries, Aaron Rodgers; Enigma, that details the issues that he’s had with his family over the years — particularly, the rift that he had with his parents. “At times when you have some dysfunction or some separation in your family life, you have to kind of re-parent yourself and give yourself what you didn’t get or wanted to hear more of when you were a kid, and I think for me, I just wanted to hear, ‘I’m proud of you,’” said Rodgers in the docuseries’ second episode. “I had to find a way to be my own parent in those moments and say, ‘Hey, fuck being perfect. I’m proud of who you are and what you’ve accomplished on and off the field.’ And forgiveness for all the mistakes, because I was just trying to do the best I could and a lot of times it wasn’t good enough,” he added. Although Rodgers’ relationship troubles with his family became well known later in his career, the NFL player explained that it started for him before he even got into the NFL. “It wasn’t like I was super-duper close with everybody in the family,” he said. “In actuality, it goes back to stuff from high school that made me feel distant. Stuff from college, stuff post-college. And I was quiet about it. Because I thought the best way to do it, was just, don’t talk about it publicly. And what do they do?” One situation that caused an issue was when his family excluded him and his then-girlfriend Olivia Munn from an episode of The Bachelorette in 2016 where Rodgers’ younger brother, Jordan was competing. In this particular episode, Jordan had made it to the show’s “final two” suitors and she went to his hometown (Chico, Calif.) to meet his family. When she ate with the family, there were two chairs left purposely empty for both Aaron and Munn. “And what do they do? They go on a bullshit show and leave two empty chairs,” explained Rodgers.“They all agreed this was a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs at a stupid dating show that my brother just went on to get famous — his words, not mine. That he ended up winning. But a dinner that was during the [football] season, I was never asked to go to. Not that I would’ve gone.” Ben Church of CNN with more: Given much of his life has been reported on for years, revelations are few. But there is still plenty to learn and try to understand. Here are five of the most intriguing topics from his new documentary. 1. Draft day and ‘ego death’While it was clear that young quarterback Rodgers had an elite throw, his rise to the top wasn’t always smooth; the 2005 NFL Draft was the perfect example of that. After flourishing at college in California, the Super Bowl XLV champion admits he expected to be picked early in the first round of the draft. After all, the San Francisco 49ers had the first pick and needed a quarterback. However, reality proved very different. San Francisco did pick a quarterback, but it wasn’t Rodgers. They instead picked what was deemed the safer option in Alex Smith from Utah. Rodgers, with a television camera pointing in his face, had to wait, and wait some more, before he was eventually picked 24th, in one of the biggest draft slides in history. “I was embarrassed, I was pissed, I was going through a kind of ego death,” he says in the documentary. “The draft process can make you start really feeling yourself, thinking your sh*t doesn’t stink. I really needed that reality check that happened during that process, so I’m definitely thankful for that.” The Green Bay Packers finally made the jump and, safe to say, it worked out pretty well for both parties. 2. Fame after Super Bowl winFor any young player with dreams of playing in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl is the highest aspiration. Rodgers was no different. It was always his ultimate goal, a moment which would be the culmination of all his hard work, making all those sacrifices worth it. Then, in 2011, those dreams came true. Rodgers, against all odds, led the Packers to victory at Super Bowl XLV. “The game is kind of a blur. I’ve actually never watched it back on tape, I’ve never seen it,” he says. “I’ve seen it in my mind and there’s a couple of amazing plays that I feel good about.” Rodgers not only won the Super Bowl, he was also named game MVP – the ultimate dream for any player in the NFL, right? But while Rodgers says it was a “special” night, he concedes it also forced him to confront some uncomfortable questions about himself. “Now (that) I’ve accomplished the only thing I’ve wanted to do in my life, now what?” he asks. “Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?” While Rodgers was left battling an identity crisis, he was also navigating his new life as a Super Bowl champion – which meant more attention and more scrutiny. His life was now being played out in front of the entire world and Rodgers says he didn’t do himself “any favors” with several public romantic relationships. “I definitely hated it at first, like really despised it. I enjoyed my private life, I enjoyed being able to go places,” he says. “But from Super Bowl MVP, MVP, State Farm commercials, that got a little more difficult.” 3. Fractured relationshipsNo family members participated in the three-part documentary, which probably says all you need to know about Rodgers’ fractured relationships. He refers to it throughout the episodes and says issues with both friends and family were exacerbated after he became one of the faces of the NFL. “There were a lot of times, when I became real famous, where I heard from a lot of people, including family members, who were like, ‘Your life is too big, we need you to be smaller, be smaller, don’t talk about your life.’ “It always hurt me because I just feel like, ‘You don’t see me.’ This is not something I’ve desired or wanted, other than playing on Sundays. “It can definitely change the people around your circle because it can be intoxicating: the fame and notoriety. Definitely, relationships changed after that.” Delving deeper into the family feud, Rodgers refers to unknown issues dating back to high-school and college that made him feel distant from his parents. The estrangement only got worse after his younger brother’s appearance on reality TV show, “The Bachelorette.” In the show, watched by millions of viewers, there was a scene where Rodgers’ brother took a woman back to the house to have dinner with his family. The family sat down at the table, where it was made clear that the NFL star was absent. “They go on a bullsh*t show, and leave two empty chairs. They all agree this is a good thing to do, to leave two empty chairs on a stupid dating show that my brother just went on to get famous, his words, not mine,” the current New York Jets QB says. “A dinner that was during the season, that I was never asked to go to – not that I would have gone.” The issues only deepened when Rodgers began questioning things from his childhood, notably his religion, but the quarterback concedes he hopes one day for reconciliation in the family. 4. Plant medicine and self-loveIt’s impossible to write about this documentary and not talk about ayahuasca – if you didn’t know better, you might think the whole series was used to simply advertise its supposed benefits. Rodgers says he had done ayahuasca nine times and credits it for giving him a mental edge on the field. Ayahuasca, a word from the indigenous Quechua language, means “the vine of the spirits.” People in the Amazonian region of Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador have used it for centuries for therapeutic and spiritual purposes. The medicinal beverage’s properties come from two plants. Banisteriopsis caapi, a vine that twists its way up to the treetops and across river banks of the Amazon basin, is boiled together with Psychotria viridis, a shrub whose leaves contain the psychoactive molecule DMT. A camera crew accompanies Rodgers to an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, where he also meets other NFL veterans who say they were inspired by him to explore alternative therapies. “I’m just searching, curious, inquisitive. Just trying to listen to the universe,” Rodgers says, as he attends the retreat in order to help him deal with his long-term injury – a torn Achilles tendon suffered in just his fourth play as the Jets starter in 2023. “The reason we do this is because it’s deep healing work, on self, on ego, on past trauma. But you have to go to some deep places in the shadow of your own self.” From the documentary, he doesn’t seem to care about those who ridicule the process. It’s become a huge part of his life and a way of coping with the intense pressure he faces in his life as an athlete. 5. Covid-19 and media falloutBeing his own documentary, Rodgers controls the narrative around some of his bigger controversies. The last episode focuses largely on the Covid-19 years and the media fallout which came after that infamous press conference where Rodgers told reporters he was “immunized.” What Rodgers really meant was that he had not been vaccinated, choosing instead to explore alternative therapies. When it came out that Rodgers was unvaccinated, critics said Rodgers had lied. “There was this whole smear campaign, that I was endangering my teammates and I was going to kill their grandmas because how could I be in a room and nobody know I wasn’t (vaccinated),” he says. “Everybody in my f**king circle knew I wasn’t vaccinated, everyone in my team knew I wasn’t vaccinated.” Rodgers’ former Green Bay teammates and head coach stood up for Rodgers in the documentary, which made out that the media was on some sort of witch hunt. The media storm followed him throughout the season and Rodgers says it became hard to deal with. “You obviously wish at times that things could be easier in various aspects; not testing positive for Covid, not answering the question better,” Rodgers concedes. “Having your reputation take a shot, the whole 2021 season, that was definitely heartbreaking for sure.”

THIS AND THAT

ELI AND THE HALL OF FAMEThe DB tends to favor players who endured with one team for a long time when the Hall of Fame comes up.  That is why, with reservations of course, we would vote for Eli Manning.   Dan Pompei of The Athletic with a nice look at Eli, then and now: Two guys are sitting in a bar. They could be talking about who the Giants’ next quarterback should be, or what went wrong with Daniel Jones. Instead, they are talking about Eli Manning, as, it seems, they have been for most of the last two decades. They are debating whether he should be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible for the first time this year. Pro-Eli guy: “He beat Tom Brady twice in the Super Bowl.” Anti-Eli guy: “Yeah, but he was a .500 quarterback in the regular season. His record was 117-117. Does that sound like a Hall of Famer?” Pro-Eli guy: “Only six players in the history of the NFL have two Super Bowl MVP trophies, and he’s one of them.” Anti-Eli guy (smirking): “Ha! He never was even voted All-Pro!” Pro-Eli guy (slams beer mug on the bar): “Did you know, including playoff games, he had 42 game-winning drives and that he was 10-4 in overtime games?” Anti-Eli guy (voice rising now): “He threw 244 interceptions. That’s more than any player since 2004. And he led the NFL in interceptions three times.” The argument will go on for a while. It could be hours, days, months or lifetimes. It’s possible no NFL player has ever engendered a wider spectrum of emotions from his team’s fans. Eli has heard it all. If he turns on the television, he will hear more. On social media, the debate rages. But where he stands, there is none of that noise — just two Super Bowl trophies, two Super Bowl MVP trophies and a contentment about what has been and what will be. In the spring of 2004, Eli was the most highly regarded prospect in the draft after leading Mississippi to its first 10-win season in 32 years. The San Diego Chargers had the first pick, and Eli had misgivings about an organization that failed to make the playoffs the previous eight years, struck out with Ryan Leaf and was struggling to develop Drew Brees. He was intentionally unimpressive in meetings with the team, and when the Chargers appeared undeterred about selecting him, he made it clear he wished they wouldn’t. “It was not comfortable for me,” Eli says. “But I felt strongly that I didn’t want to go there. I never tried to dictate that I go to the Giants, though.” The Chargers picked him, made him wear their cap for one of the most awkward draft photos in history, and then traded him to the Giants, which was his hope. Eli was careful about what he wished for, if not completely aware of the consequences. “I didn’t realize,” he says, “what I was getting into.” In his first days as a Giant, Eli was met with skepticism and resentment — and that was just from his teammates. Some were not pleased that the team had cut the popular Kerry Collins for a rookie. “We were like, ‘Who is this spoiled brat — Archie Manning’s son, Peyton’s little brother — making a big stink about what team he wants to play for,’” Giants center Shaun O’Hara says. “What kind of guy is this?” Eli failed to beat out Kurt Warner for the starting job but made his way into the lineup in late November. By then he was suffering from comparisons to Peyton, who was named the NFL’s most valuable player that year, and Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback chosen 10 picks after him by the Steelers who was on his way to a Super Bowl victory. In his first start, Eli was booed. In his fourth loss without a win, his quarterback rating was 0.0, and he was pulled from the game. On the train home from Baltimore to New Jersey, he sat with quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride and told him he had no excuses. But he noted many of the plays the Giants were using were plays Warner favored. Eli gave Gilbride eight plays that he wished the Giants would use. They started using them and his career trajectory changed. The next season he led the Giants to an NFC East title. But that didn’t win over New York, whose sportswriters came after him like German Shepherds after an intruder and whose customers seemed to enjoy jeering his misthrows more than celebrating his excellence. Giants defensive end Michael Strahan thought Eli had more pressure on him than any player in the league, given the environment, his last name and the draft history. “People don’t understand how tough it is to play in New York City,” Strahan says. “It’s another level of scrutiny. I admire him because emotionally, I could not have handled what he handled from the media and fans at times.” Eli ignored what the media said about him but made it a point to know what was being said about his teammates so he could be a locker room fireman. The boos, he admits, were upsetting. But he took them in stride. “I think in most cases I probably deserved it,” he says. Year 4 was tumultuous, starting with criticism from recently retired running back Tiki Barber about Eli’s leadership. Four of his league-leading 20 interceptions that season came in a 41-17 home loss to the Vikings, and three of them were returned for touchdowns. He was booed by his own many times but never as lustily as on that day. Peyton went to one of his games every year. That was the game. “It was tough on all of us,” Archie says. “But he didn’t go to his room afterward and sulk and pout. He said he would bounce back the next week.” Eli owns those interceptions — and all the others. “Sometimes, I knew what the read was and where the ball should be going and I didn’t want to run because I wasn’t great at scrambling,” he says. “So I probably forced the ball too many times and put the ball in harm’s way.” Whenever a play didn’t work, for whatever reason, Eli raised his hand. “My fault,” he said over and over. He met with the media on Mondays only after losses. When the Giants won, he wanted the attention on others. After the loss to the Vikings, the Giants won three of the next four games and earned a wild-card spot in the playoffs. On the road, they beat the Bucs and Cowboys before taking on Brett Favre and the Packers in Green Bay where temperatures reached minus-5 with a minus-27 wind chill. The Giants’ 23-20 victory earned them the right to be lambs for the wolves from New England in Super Bowl XLII. The Patriots were 18-0 and 12-point favorites. With 2:42 remaining, the Patriots led 14-10. That’s when Strahan gathered his teammates on the sideline and gave an impassioned speech. “17-14 is the final, OK?” he said. “17-14, fellas. One touchdown and we are world champions.” Strahan looked in many of his teammates’ eyes. In some, he saw determination. In some, he saw uncertainty. And then there was Eli. “He had the same strange Eli look as usual, kind of confused but yet confident,” Strahan says. “It was just the weirdest, strangest look that he had on his face at times, but that’s just Eli. He never seemed overwhelmed.” The Giants faced a third-and-5 on their 44 with 1:15 left to play. Eli dropped back and somehow got away from three pass rushers who could have sacked him, then threw up what seemed like an ill-advised pass in the middle of the field. David Tyree made the impossible “helmet catch” over Rodney Harrison, giving the Giants a first down on the Patriots’ 24. Four plays later, Eli connected with Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard touchdown pass that made the Giants Super Bowl champions. When Eli and Strahan embraced on the field afterward, Strahan remembers a different look on his teammate’s face. “He was so exhausted,” Strahan says. “It was as if he had all the years of holding these emotions in and he could finally breathe.” Eli’s expressions could be difficult to read. Gilbride, his position coach for three years and offensive coordinator for seven, initially wondered how much Eli cared based on the faces he made. “His competitiveness is not readily discernable,” says Gilbride, who now does research for Eli and Peyton’s “ManningCast.” “He never looks like he gets angry. But his desire is as good as I’ve ever seen. It’s a high-intensity fire in him.” Gilbride felt the fire when he apologetically called Eli at 10 p.m. on many Wednesdays to go over unusual defensive looks they could face that week. No problem, Eli always told him. He was watching tape anyway. And besides, Eli had already considered the problem and potential solutions. The fire was evident again on Fridays when some players were looking forward to enjoying an afternoon off. Not so fast, Eli would tell them. He had prepared teaching tapes for each position group and expected every player to review the tapes with him. Giants guard Chris Snee, who was part of the same draft class as Eli, sat next to him on airplane trips and always shared a Bud Light on the team bus after games, says Eli worked harder than anyone in the organization. “I prided myself on being one of the first guys in, but Eli was always there, too,” Snee says. “And then, to his credit, he was always there when I was leaving.” Four seasons after Eli led the Giants to his first Super Bowl win, the NFL locked out players in the offseason because of a collective bargaining divide. Eli saw it as a potential advantage. For the first time in his career, he stayed in New Jersey for the entire offseason. He scheduled team workouts at high schools and scripted practices for the offense and defense. “We had the opportunity to outwork people, and that’s not always the case in the NFL,” Eli says. “I probably worked the hardest I ever worked that offseason.” That season, the Giants went 9-7, but it was an ugly 9-7. They allowed more points than they scored, had the NFL’s 32nd-ranked running game, the 27th-ranked defense and an overwhelmed offensive line. But Eli led eight game-winning drives and passed for a career-high 4,933 yards as wide receiver Victor Cruz — Eli’s special offseason project — broke out with a career year. In the playoffs, Eli won again at Lambeau Field, this time by outdueling Aaron Rodgers. Then came the NFC Championship Game at the 49ers, which some consider Eli’s most remarkable performance. He was sacked six times and threw 58 passes in a 20-17 victory that tested the limits of human endurance. “He got physically assaulted all game,” says Snee, who apologized to Manning for his performance on the bus afterward. “We were peeling him off the ground numerous times and he was never rattled or started yelling.” Eli never missed a game because of injury, not in junior high school, high school, college, or the NFL. He played through a separated shoulder in 2007 and plantar fasciitis in 2009, and his streak of 210 straight starts is the 10th-longest in league history. With 3:46 to play in Super Bowl XLVI, the underdog Giants trailed the Patriots by two points. Eli began a possession on the Giants’ 12 with a perfect pass, perhaps the most perfect in the history of Super Bowls. Mario Manningham ran a sideline route and Eli placed the ball where only Manningham could catch it before stepping out of bounds. The 38-yard completion was the spark to the game-winning drive. On a recent “ManningCast” NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said he never saw a better throw. It was one of Eli’s four most impressive games, along with Super Bowl XLII and the conference championship games that preceded both Super Bowls. “Every major opportunity he had, he took advantage of,” Strahan says. “He’s just a closer, man.” In high school, his friends called him “Easy” or “Easy E.” The nickname, appropriate as any ever, stuck. Eli cannot recall a time in a football game when he felt nervous. In those fight-or-flight moments in which heroes are discovered, Eli’s palms never moistened, his heart never raced and his eyes never darted side to side. “When those Super Bowls were on the line, I had zero negative thoughts,” he says. “I’m only thinking about scoring a touchdown and winning a Super Bowl.” After the Super Bowl, the Giants failed to do what was necessary to protect their quarterback and began an organizational struggle that continues to this day. For the rest of his career, Eli had a 48-67 record as a starter. He played in just one more playoff game. In late November of 2017, the Giants were 2-9. Eli was watching tape on a Tuesday by himself in the quarterbacks room as always when coach Ben McAdoo came in and told him his plan was for Eli to start the next game that week, but Geno Smith would replace him during the game. Eli suspected McAdoo was starting him just to keep his streak of consecutive starts alive. He and his wife, Abby, cried it out that night. The next morning, he went in early and asked McAdoo if the streak was the reason he was starting. McAdoo confirmed it was. “That’s not what this is about,” Eli told him. “You don’t play someone because of a streak. How can you coach that way? How can I prepare that way? Let’s pull the Band-Aid off now.’” The streak ended. Eli started four more games that season and 16 the next before becoming a backup to Jones in 2019, his last season in the NFL. Texas quarterback Arch Manning, the son of Eli’s brother Cooper, recently texted his uncle Eli. He wanted to talk about what to do when he’s out with friends and fans ask to take photos. Eli told Arch that when he was playing, someone once asked to take a picture. Eli obliged, and the photo of him holding a beer and making a funny face made the rounds. Everyone had a laugh at “drunk Eli.” From then on, whenever he was at a restaurant or bar, he told fans that he had to follow a team rule that prohibited him from taking pictures where alcohol was served. Eli had concocted the team rule and suggested Arch take the same approach. As the quarterback in the city of overreactions, Eli was determined to be understated. He rejected repeated invitations to appear on “Saturday Night Live” until after winning his second Super Bowl and turned down multiple endorsement opportunities. “I was always very conscious of how the media would portray me in this market,” he says. “I never wanted people to think I was silly or not focused.” To O’Hara, Eli understood the responsibility of being the face of the Giants. “So many quarterbacks have come and gone in the New York market in the last 20 years, but this good old boy from New Orleans somehow figured out Da Vinci’s code,” says O’Hara, who has long considered Eli one of his best friends. To teammates, Eli revealed himself. One of his secrets was he liked to have a good time — like, a really good time. “I’ve seen Eli dancing on tables,” Strahan says, chuckling. Strahan also has been a victim of Eli’s practical jokes. Eli often changed the language on teammates’ mobile phones to Chinese, but he went beyond that with Strahan. The defensive end picked up his mobile phone to see the wallpaper had been changed to a photo of a teammate’s private parts. Before the Giants left to go to Super Bowl XLII in Arizona, they had a walkthrough in East Rutherford. Players had their dress clothes in their lockers so they could change before heading to the buses. When Eli’s offensive linemen looked for their dress shoes, they couldn’t find them — in their place were new shoes painted bright purple. And so they headed to the Super Bowl looking like clowns as their quarterback cracked up. In his post-playing days, Eli has gone from concealing his personality to marketing it. For the ESPN show “Eli’s Places,” he wore elaborate makeup as a tryout quarterback named Chad Powers to prank Penn State coaches. On the “ManningCast,” he has done the “Sexy Dexy” dance and sang for Pete Davidson. On “The Eli Manning Show” on Giants.com, he cooked with Matthew McConaughey and had a pie-eating contest with Jason Biggs. He played so long and hard, but somehow time has been a friend. Many old quarterbacks wear their sacks, interceptions and losses on their faces. Not Eli. At 43, he works out several times weekly, taking early morning high-intensity interval training classes at a local gym. He has had only one surgery in his life — an ankle cleanup in 2015. He says nothing hurts enough to mention, and he can run, jump and throw, which he does often when he plays with his four children. One of the reasons the “ManningCast” appealed to him more than a traditional broadcasting job is he does it from his basement. Eli’s priority is being there for his family, as it was for Archie when the boys were young. Ava, 13, wants to do it all like Eli did at her age. Her determination is like his, too. She is a competitive swimmer and lacrosse player and also plays field hockey and basketball. Lucy is more laid back. The 11-year-old likes individual sports, especially tennis. Eli has been helping her study states, capitals and fractions. School comes easy for 9-year-old Caroline — his joke is she takes after Mom. She plays hockey. Charlie, 5, has learned all the NFL teams by their helmets. He can tell you his father played for the Giants, his uncle played for the Colts and Broncos, and his grandfather — “Red,” they call him — played for the Saints, Oilers and Vikings. Charlie plays hockey, basketball and flag football for two teams — both are the Giants. Eli is a coach on both football teams. After their first three children were girls, Eli did not yearn for something he didn’t have. But Abby wanted a boy, partly because she dreamt of a son who would treat her as sweetly as Eli treats his mother, Olivia. Eli and Olivia always had a special connection. It grew during the five years he was the only kid in the house after his brothers went to college. Olivia collects antiques. Eli accompanied her on search missions and became a collector himself. “You think Peyton was going to go antique shopping with his mother?” Archie says. Olivia loves wine. Eli subsequently took an interest in wine, and now it is a shared passion. When his mother visits, he breaks out a special bottle from his cellar. Eli Manning, author of history, owner of big moments, thrower of interceptions and master of perspective, steps out to his front yard, into the smell of autumn and the beautiful chaos of a young family. School just got out, and kids are coming and going, laughing and playing. This is a special time of day for Eli. He looks out to where life has led. When he was playing, Eli never had his sights set on the Hall of Fame. “All my goals were about team-oriented success,” he says. “Trying to win championships — that was my goal.” He isn’t anxious about his chances now, though he acknowledges being inducted would be very meaningful. “Whether I get in or don’t get in, it’s not going to impact how much I’ve appreciated the game or what I’ve taken from the game or the friendships, the good times, the bad times,” he says. “I feel so grateful to have been with the New York Giants organization for 16 years.” He could campaign for himself. But he won’t. “That’s not me,” he says. “And hey, I can see both sides of the case. That’s just kind of my personality.” And now Charlie wants to toss around a football with his father. Charlie throws it as if he were born to. His passes travel high and deep, arcing like rainbows. Eli Manning’s legacy? Whatever it is, he’s good with it. He sure seems to be first ballot Hall of Fame as a person.