Religion
FILE - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft walks the field during practice before an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, in Orchard Park, N.Y. On Monday, March 27, 2023, Kraft launched a $25-million national ad campaign against antisemitism. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File)
Patriots owner Robert Kraft campaigns against antisemitism

By Deepa Bharath Mar. 27, 2023 12:44 PM EDT

FILE - Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Rashad Fenton kneels on the field before the AFC championship NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. Public display of faith is nothing new in football or sports.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Damar Hamlin put prayer in football back in the spotlight

By Rob Maaddi Feb. 09, 2023 09:00 AM EST

FILE - Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson (2) points skyward after making a field goal from over 50 yards against the Minnesota Vikings during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Cincinnati. While its Super Bowl commercial appearances are few, religion – Christianity especially – is entrenched in football culture.(AP Photo/Aaron Doster, File)
Super Bowl ads will tout Jesus 'gets us' to the masses

By Holly Meyer Feb. 09, 2023 09:00 AM EST

FILE - Permian linebacker Israel Martinez, left, and defensive lineman Tyler Tomlinson pray before a high school football game against Abilene on Friday, Oct. 17, 2014, at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Texas. Abilene won 30-13. A poll by The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted Sept. 9-12, 2022, finds that about 3 in 10 Americans say they feel God plays a role in determining which team goes home the victor. (Edyta Blaszczyk/Odessa American via AP, File)
AP-NORC poll: On game day, some see prayer as a Hail Mary

By Holly Meyer Sep. 30, 2022 09:01 AM EDT

FILE - This Dec. 1, 2012 file photo shows a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church in New Orleans. The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar with the inquiry told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FBI opens sweeping probe of clergy sex abuse in New Orleans

By Jim Mustian Jun. 29, 2022 10:14 AM EDT

FILE - Los Angeles Chargers controlling owner Dean Spanos walks on the field before the team's NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 7, 2021, in Philadelphia. Spanos has been accused of repeated breaches of fiduciary duty and misogynistic behavior in a lawsuit filed by his sister. The filing escalates the ongoing battle among the four Spanos siblings over control of the franchise. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Chargers owner accused by sister of fiduciary mismanagement

By Joe Reedy Jun. 10, 2022 05:21 PM EDT

A photography of Tina Tintor, 23, and her dog is placed at a makeshift memorial site to honor them at South Rainbow Boulevard and Spring Valley Parkway, on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, in Las Vegas. Tintor and her dog were killed when Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs, accused of DUI, slammed into the rear of Tintor's vehicle. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Ruggs lawyers: Witness says firefighting slow in fatal crash

By Ken Ritter Nov. 11, 2021 02:08 PM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2010 file photo, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Phillip Adams (35) sits on the sideline during the first quarter of an NFL football game in San Francisco. A source briefed on a mass killing in South Carolina says the gunman who killed multiple people, including a prominent doctor, was the former NFL pro. The source said that Adams shot himself to death early Thursday, April 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
Slain South Carolina doctor wrote of faith, life's fragility

By Meg Kinnard Apr. 09, 2021 12:05 AM EDT

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2020, file photo, then Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Ryan Switzer attends practice at NFL football training camp in Pittsburgh. Cleveland Browns wide receiver Switzer said his 9-month-old son is stable after undergoing surgery to stop bleeding. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
Browns WR Switzer's infant son out of hospital after surgery

Mar. 10, 2021 11:22 AM EST

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2020, file photo, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh watches during the NFL football team's practice in Santa Clara, Calif. Saleh, the New York Jets' new head coach, has families in neighborhoods all across the country celebrating the first known Muslim American to hold that position in NFL history. That's a source of great pride for a community that has been generally underrepresented in the league's on-field leadership roles. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, Pool, File)
Saleh's hiring by Jets source of pride for Muslim community

By Dennis Waszak Jr. Jan. 16, 2021 02:33 AM EST

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2020, file photo, members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including John Gianoli, right, and John Anderson, hold signs during a news conference in front of the New Orleans Saints training facility in Metairie, La. The pro football team acknowledged the week before that its front office helped church leaders deal with the public relations fallout that followed the publishing of a list of local clergymen the archdiocese deemed "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)
Palestino vs Colo Colo 1/28/2020

Dec. 28, 2020 12:04 AM EST

FILE- In a Sept. 27, 2020, file photo Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) greets Detroit Lions offensive guard Oday Aboushi (76) after an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz. NFL players have kneeled during the anthem and have made stands to protest social injustice, but none have done it in quite the same way as Aboushi. He wants to use his platform to shed light on what he says is Israel's oppression of the Palestinians and to promote religious harmony as a Muslim with friends of different faiths. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
NFL player looks to shed light on Palestinians' plight

By Larry Lage Nov. 17, 2020 05:17 AM EST

DeSean Jackson educating himself after anti-semitic posts

By Rob Maaddi Sep. 09, 2020 08:57 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson says he’s been educating himself after facing backlash for sharing anti-Semitic posts on...

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2017, file photo, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson sits on the sideline with his wife, Gayle Benson, before an NFL football game in New Orleans. An Associated Press review of public tax documents found that the Bensons' foundation has given at least $62 million to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and other Catholic causes over the past dozen years, including gifts to schools, universities, charities and individual parishes. (AP Photo/Bill Feig, File)
Judge denies media request to unseal files on Saints owner

By Jim Mustian Jul. 15, 2020 12:03 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2019, file photo, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson (10) warms up before an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, in Atlanta. Jackson has apologized after backlash for sharing anti-Semitic posts on social media over the weekend. “My post was definitely not intended for anybody of any race to feel any type of way, especially the Jewish community,” Jackson said in a video he posted on Instagram on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
Eagles WR DeSean Jackson apologizes for anti-Semitic post

By Rob Maaddi Jul. 07, 2020 01:33 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2017, file photo, New England Patriots' Tom Brady raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Atlanta Falcons in overtime at the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game in Houston. Brady’s journey to each of his nine Super Bowls with the New England Patriots will be the subject of an ESPN series released in 2021. Entitled “The Man in the Arena: Tom Brady,” the nine-episode series will include a look from Brady’s perspective at the six NFL titles and three Super Bowl defeats he was a part of. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
New England bishop takes tongue-in-cheek shot at Tom Brady

May. 22, 2020 02:57 PM EDT

New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond speaks at Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards' daily coronavirus press briefing via conference call on Friday, April 10, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. Aymond is recovering from COVID-19. (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte)
Saints emails, lawsuits could be buried in church bankruptcy

By Jim Mustian And Michael Rezendes May. 05, 2020 02:40 PM EDT

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2016, file photo, a New Orleans Saints helmet rests on the playing field before an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo. An Associated Press review of public tax documents found that the Bensons' foundation has given at least $62 million to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and other Catholic causes over the past dozen years, including gifts to schools, universities, charities and individual parishes. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
Official: Saints emails on clergy crisis should stay secret

By Jim Mustian Apr. 09, 2020 07:11 PM EDT

Edward Dirk Wegmann, attorney for the New Orleans Archdiocese, right, and James C. Gulotta, Jr., attorney for the New Orleans Saints, leave a hearing at Orleans Parish Civil District Court in New Orleans, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. The New Orleans Saints headed to court Thursday in a bid to block the release of hundreds of confidential emails detailing the behind-the-scenes public relations work the team did for the area's Roman Catholic archdiocese amid its sexual abuse crisis. The request comes amid claims that the NFL team joined the Archdiocese of New Orleans in a “pattern and practice” of concealing sexual abuse — an allegation the Saints have vehemently denied. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
NFL Saints backed by church in effort to keep emails secret

By Jim Mustian Feb. 20, 2020 12:22 AM EST

FILE - In this March 27, 2019, file photo, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond talks with NOLA.com | The Times Picayune at the archdiocese office in New Orleans, La. Aymond has been spotted on the field at New Orleans Saints games and inside the team's Superdome box and has flown on the owner’s private jet. He is known for celebrating stirring pregame Masses. (David Grunfeld/NOLA.com/The Advocate via AP, File)
Judge orders open hearing on NFL team's emails with church

By Kevin Mcgill Feb. 13, 2020 01:10 AM EST