JIM LITKE
FILE - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady waves during the team's picture at the walk through at University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008, in Glendale, Ariz. Tom Brady has retired after winning seven Super Bowls and setting numerous passing records in an unprecedented 22-year-career. He made the announcement, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, in a long post on Instagram. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)
Column: Brady's goodbye leaves (almost) everyone smiling

By Jim Litke Feb. 01, 2022 05:11 PM EST
The smart ones get out while people are still lining up to see them play. Tom Brady

FILE - Former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden practices the electronic charting device Telestrator on Jan. 21, 1982, in Pontiac, Mich., for the upcoming NFL football Super Bowl broadcast on CBS. Madden, the Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster whose exuberant calls combined with simple explanations provided a weekly soundtrack to NFL games for three decades, died Tuesday morning, Dec. 28, 2021, the league said. He was 85. The NFL said he died unexpectedly and did not detail a cause. (AP Photo, File)
Column: Madden's real gift? 'Always knew right thing to say'

By Jim Litke Dec. 29, 2021 06:16 PM EST
Somehow, he made every game feel fresh. So it barely mattered whether

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer speaks with Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) in the bench area during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)
Column: Meyer learns bullies run out of rope fast in NFL

By Jim Litke Dec. 16, 2021 05:45 PM EST
There’s a dozen good reasons why college coaches rarely make a successful jump to the

Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers and Preston Smith walk off the field after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 17-0. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Column: Karma may still want a word with Aaron Rodgers

By Jim Litke Nov. 15, 2021 03:27 AM EST
Seattle at Green Bay was never going to live up to the hype, and really how

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) is shown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol and will miss Sunday’s game at Kansas City. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur confirmed Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, that Rodgers was in the protocol, but would not say if Rodgers had tested positive nor if the reigning NFL MVP has been vaccinated. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Column: Rodgers 'audible' on vaccine not the right call

By Jim Litke Nov. 04, 2021 03:51 AM EDT
There are some potentially serious problems with the “unvaccinated-Aaron

FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2017, file photo, horses in the Bruce D. Memorial Stakes pass the grandstand at Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, Ill. The Chicago Bears announced the signing Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, of an agreement to purchase Arlington Park racetrack in Arlington Heights, the latest step toward a move from their longtime home, Soldier Field in Chicago. ( John Starks/Daily Herald via AP, File)
City of Big Shoulders shrugs off Bears' threat to leave town

By Jim Litke Sep. 30, 2021 04:20 AM EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — This is a town that respects a good hustle. Extortion wasn’t

FILE - Former Pittsburgh and Chicago Bears offensive lineman Jim Covert speaks at a news conference for the retirement of his number 75 college jersey before an NCAA college football game between Pittsburgh and Notre Dame in Pittsburgh, in this Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, file photo. Jimbo Covert made the people he played alongside look good, and after a nearly two-decades-long wait, the tough Chicago Bears left tackle will join them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
Covert joins all those Hall of Famers he made look good

By Jim Litke Jul. 28, 2021 02:45 AM EDT
Jimbo Covert made his name by making others famous first. Maybe that explains

FILE- In this undated file photo, Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras is shown. A dozen seasons as one of the most feared pass-rushers in the NFL turned out to be just an opening act for Alex Karras. Better late than never, Karras will be formally enshrined as part of the Hall’s Centennial Class of 2020. (AP Photo/Vernon Biever, File)
Karras cared more about making Hall of Fame than he let on

By Jim Litke Jul. 21, 2021 01:06 PM EDT
A dozen NFL seasons packed with All-Pro roughhousing, easy celebrity and lots

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2020, file photo, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta. Nassib on Monday, June 21, 2021, became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. Nassib announced the news on Instagram, saying he was not doing it for the attention but because “I just think that representation and visibility are so important.” (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
Column: Nassib's video shatters decades-old sports barrier

By Jim Litke Jun. 22, 2021 07:24 PM EDT
All it took was an Instagram post. In a 59-second video

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the crowd as the first round of the NFL football draft finishes early Friday, April 30, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
Betting millions on QBs who can turn clubs around on a dime

By Jim Litke Apr. 30, 2021 03:53 AM EDT
Last season wasn’t just the strangest in the 100 years of pro football, it was

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, center, is challenged by Leeds United's Pascal Struijk, left and Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Liverpool at the Elland Road stadium in Leeds, England, Monday, April 19, 2021. (Paul Ellis/Pool via AP)
Column: Only thing 'Super' about new league is the ca$h

By Jim Litke Apr. 19, 2021 07:54 PM EDT
After decades of trying and throwing enough cash at the problem to fund a space

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2020, file photo, former basketball superstar Michael Jordan speaks during a news conference ahead of an NBA basketball game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Milwaukee Bucks in Paris. The Associated Press asked eight of the greatest current and former champions, including Jordan, from seven different sports to find out what impressed them most about Tom Brady. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
Best of the best impressed: 'Brady is the gold standard'

By Jim Litke Feb. 06, 2021 03:13 AM EST
Ahead of his 10th Super Bowl appearance, The Associated Press asked the best of

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes walks on the sideline during the second half of an NFL divisional round football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Kansas City. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
Column: Mahomes 'cleared' for big game. What could go wrong?

By Jim Litke Jan. 23, 2021 03:44 AM EST
Never mind that Patrick Mahomes got knocked silly and out of a game barely a

FILE- In this combo of 2020 file photos, Naomi Osaka, of Japan, wears face masks bearing the names of Black victims of police violence and racial profiling during the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York Osaka has been selected by The Associated Press as the Female Athlete of the Year. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, top, Seth Wenig)
Sports in 2020: Disruptions aplenty, only constant was loss

By Jim Litke Dec. 28, 2020 12:30 PM EST
2020 reminded us that the show mustn’t always go on. Disrupted by the

FILE - James Watson, left, protests before a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians, Monday, April 1, 2019, in Cleveland. The Cleveland Indians are changing their name _ they just don't know to what or when. Expressing that “it's time," team owner Paul Dolan said that after months of internal discussions and meetings with groups, including Native Americans who have sought to have the team stop using a moniker many deem racist, the American League franchise is dropping the name it has been known by since 1915. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, Dolan said: “The name is no longer acceptable in our world.”(AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
Teams say Indian names show respect, history says otherwise

By Jim Litke Dec. 16, 2020 06:12 PM EST
Colorful names for teams are nearly as old as team sports themselves.

FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2015, file photo, Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder walks the sidelines during an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, in Philadelphia. A new name must still be selected for the Washington Redskins football team, one of the oldest and most storied teams in the National Football League, and it was unclear how soon that will happen. But for now, arguably the most polarizing name in North American professional sports is gone at a time of reckoning over racial injustice, iconography and racism in the U.S. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Column: What's in a Name? Stubborn Snyder About to Find Out

By Jim Litke Jul. 14, 2020 03:09 AM EDT
Try and think of a more deserving guy in all of sports than Dan Snyder to get

FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2018, file photo, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during a news conference in Irving, Texas. Coaches will be allowed to return to NFL team facilities beginning Friday as the league continues preparation for training camps and its season. Commissioner Roger Goodell told the 32 clubs on Thursday, June 4, 2020, that coaching staffs may from team complexes starting Friday. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
Column: Goodell's mea culpa is a good start - and no more

By Jim Litke Jun. 08, 2020 07:06 PM EDT
Never thought we’d see the day when typing the words “Roger Goodell” and

FILE - At left, in a Jan. 30, 2019, file photo, New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski speaks with members of the media during a news conference in Atlanta. At center, in an Aug. 24, 2019, file photo, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck speaks during a news conference following the team's NFL preseason football game against the Chicago Bears, in Indianapolis. At right, in an Aug. 2, 2019, file photo, Carolina Panthers' Luke Kuechly watches teammates warm up at training camp in Charlotte, N.C. Life in the NFL is short. The recent retirements of three of the game's best 30-and-under stars -- Gronkowski, Luck and Kuechly -- could be coincidence or the start of a worrisome trend. (AP Photo/File)
Column: 'We Don't Like to Draft a Guy Who's Too Smart'

By Jim Litke Jan. 25, 2020 02:39 AM EST
Last week, nearly two decades after his death, straight-talking Giants front

This combination of newspaper clippers show, at left, an Oct 25, 1937 clipping from the Mount Carmel Item with an image of Cleveland Rams quarterback Stan Pincura in padding worn in a game; and an Oct 27, 1921 article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by former Harvard football player Charlie Brinkley on the art of tackling. (Mount Carmel Item, left; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, right, via AP)
Column: Better helmets won’t settle safety vs mayhem race

By Jim Litke Dec. 18, 2019 01:20 PM EST
Football helmets are almost as old as the game itself and, by now, about as