The descent and death of the former NFL star showed us that we can never really know those who live their lives under the public gazeOn a gloomy late spring morning in 2013, Aaron Hernandez gave his final football interview. It came at the end of a mini-camp practice on the day the New England Patriots signed his college quarterback Tim Tebow. And Tebow’s arrival had caused an immense stir. As the workout ended and Hernandez walked off the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium, he was engulfed by a throng of reporters.Hernandez seemed polite enough as he stood holding his silver Patriots helmet, answering questions about Tebow. But he seemed impatient. His responses were short, and strangely devoid of insight...
Battling New England for NFL supremacy means dealing with coach Bill Belichick’s impossible-to-imitate advantagesHere we are again with the New England Patriots as reigning Super Bowl champions and the rest of the league trying to catch up. Rob Gronkowski and the rest of his beer-swilling team-mates have completed their duck boat parade of downtown Boston to officially cap the 2016 season, and so that means it’s time for the NFL to officially turn the page to draft season. Seven rounds, 223 draft spots, 31 teams trying desperately to find players who will help them become the new Patriots. The NFL – and all sports leagues, as the cliche goes – is a “copycat league”, and all the Patriots wannabes will...
A moment of impossible fortune sparked a stunning Super Bowl revival, and reminded us why fightback wins are the most cherished of allIn Fever Pitch, his peerless football fan’s memoir, Nick Hornby describes a cathartic moment in his life. He is watching Arsenal – naturally – and they’re playing in the semi-final of the 1987 Littlewoods Cup. It was hardly the Champions League, but it was an intense affair that mattered a lot at that time, not least because Arsenal’s opponents were their hated neighbours Tottenham Hotspur.It was the third match of the tie, the first two legs ending in a draw, and Spurs were winning with the game drawing to a close. At that time Arsenal were going through...
Two New England Patriots say they will not meet Donald Trump after their Super Bowl victory. At least they’re not dodging the issue like their quarterbackIn the midst of the idiotic “stick to sports” movement engulfing anyone in the media who dares to disagree with the White House, Super Bowl LI was another prime example of how sports will always be intertwined with politics.After the New England Patriots secured arguably the most shocking comeback win in American sports history on Sunday, their loquacious tight end Martellus Bennett presented the US public with another test of their sanity: either accept that athletes can make their own stands or risk being embarrassed trying to muzzle them. Related: Two New England Patriots say...
The Atlanta Falcons quarterback was statistically perfect with the NFL title within his grasp. But he was soon to find out that statistics can lieMatt Ryan was perfect. With under nine minutes left to play in Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback had completed 13 of 16 attempted passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Through the arcane calculations of the NFL’s statisticians, that gave him a passer rating of 158.3 - the highest score possible. Literally, perfection. At that moment, he appeared the likely winner of the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player award. The Falcons had just given up a field goal, but they still held a 28-12 lead over New England. All they needed to...