National Football League News and Rumors
Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens -- not Randy Moss -- are the top receivers in NFL history, according to... OwensTerrell Owens was on a set Tuesday with the actor Matthew Perry, filming an episode of the NBC sitcom “Go On,” when he caught the tail end of Randy Moss’ declaration about being the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, but he isn't buying it. |
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) Baltimore Ravens starters Dannell Ellerbe and Dennis Pitta practiced Wednesday in heavy winds at Tulane University, looking sharp despite nagging injuries. |
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If Chris Culliver, a little-known but productive backup cornerback for the 49ers, was looking to use the tremendous exposure of Super Bowl week to make a name for himself, he certainly did that — in a negative way. |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com Baltimore Ravens starters Dannell Ellerbe and Dennis Pitta practiced Wednesday in heavy winds at Tulane University, looking sharp despite nagging injuries. |
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ESPN.com news services, ESPN.com San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver apologized Wednesday night for anti-gay remarks he made during a Super Bowl media day interview. |
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Michael David Smith, profootballtalk.com Twenty-six students from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 20 children and six staff members on December 14, will sing “America the Beautiful” before the Super Bowl. The NFL confirmed to USA Today that the stu… |
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Kevin Kaduk, yahoo.com After suffering an estimated 20 concussions over his 15-year pro career, Rodney Harrison now says he's "scared to death" about the future of his health in upcoming years. In an emotional interview on the upcoming Costas Tonight Super Bowl spec… |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com The chorus from Sandy Hook Elementary School will sing "America the Beautiful" before Sunday's Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. |
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John Clayton, ESPN.com Fans of old-school football should rejoice about the Ravens-49ers matchup. It should be power football at its finest. |
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Brian McIntyre, yahoo.com Over the last few days, "Shutdown Corner" has reported on some of the base salary increases for the 2013 season. In the first report last Saturday, which was updated on Monday, the highest increase belong to Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt M… |
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Michael David Smith, profootballtalk.com Jim Harbaugh and Colin Kaepernick are getting most of the attention when the 49ers meet the media this week, but the 49ers’ coach and quarterback both say the attention should go to the offensive line. Asked about the offensive skill position players to… |
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Darin Gantt, profootballtalk.com Jim Harbaugh rarely shares too much. But his father said Wednesday that his San Francisco son shared his intention to draft Colin Kaepernick a day before it happened. During the Jack and Jackie Harbaugh press conference Wednesday, the elder Harbaugh rec… |
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Barry Petchesky, deadspin.com Jessica Sanchez, of WKMG in Orlando, is our new local news hero. While doing a stand-up in the French Quarter on New Orleans's preparations for the Super Bowl, Sanchez had an uninvited guest crash the party. Since the woman wanted to talk on camera so b… |
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Doug Farrar, yahoo.com NEW ORLEANS -- It's entirely possible that nobody outside the San Francisco 49ers' organization better understands the dynamic between head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Colin Kaepernick than Indianapolis Colts quarterback and 2012 first-overall dr… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com 49ers CEO Jed York said on PFT Live Tuesday that the 49ers hope to keep both Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith for next season. That’s a different approach than anyone’s been predicting and it is one that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh seemed to dismiss at th… |
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Calvin Watkins, ESPN.com The Dallas Cowboys moved closer to finalizing their coaching staff Wednesday by naming Rich Bisaccia special teams coordinator. |
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Curtis Crabtree, profootballtalk.com The Pittsburgh Steelers have been searching for a new special teams after Amos Jones elected to join Bruce Arians’ staff with the Arizona Cardinals. A day after receiving permission to interview Washington Redskins special teams coach Danny Smith, it ap… |
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John Koblin, deadspin.com So, it took me a whole week to stumble upon this pic, which appeared on page 48 of last week's Sports Illustrated. It was taken during the NFC championship game at a San Francisco gay bar named—wait for it—Hi Tops. One dude in a tight T-shirt is pumpi… |
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Smiling, even laughing, at questions about a report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said Wednesday he "never, ever took" the stuff. |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com Marshall Faulk woke up some sleeping dogs this week by saying that he’d never get over feeling like he and the Rams were cheated out of a Super Bowl XXXVI win by the Patriots. Faulk’s argument hinges on adjustments that the Patriots defense made to ne… |
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Justin Sablich, nytimes.com The Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis denied that had ever taken a deer antler extract that contained a growth hormone banned by the N.F.L. |
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Doug Farrar, yahoo.com NEW ORLEANS — After half a season watching Colin Kaepernick take the San Francisco 49ers to places he couldn't, quarterback Alex Smith will get a chance to help another team. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the 49ers will try to trade Smit… |
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ESPN.com news services, ESPN.com San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Justin Smith estimated Wednesday that his triceps is at least 50 percent torn. |
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Ravens' returner Jones draws 49ers' full attention |
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A Reminder That The NFL Doesn't Test For The PED Ray Lewis Says He's Never Tested Positive ForJan 30
Barry Petchesky, deadspin.com Yesterday, SI reported that Ray Lewis had received the banned substance IGF-1, a muscle-building hormone resembling insulin. (Two years ago, Yahoo reported the same thing.) Lewis responded in two ways. First, he blamed it on the devil. Second, he noted … |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com Falcons coach Mike Smith is in New Orleans this week, but not for the reason he’d like. He wanted to be coaching one of the teams in the Super Bowl instead of visiting the Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Network crew on the Wednesday before the game. We… |
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Frank Schwab, yahoo.com New Orleans is a fun city, and until the NFL lightens up and lets Las Vegas get a Super Bowl — nope, never happening — then it's probably the best host city for the game. Well, for the pregame stuff at least. While the Bourbon Street partying has been… |
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Kevin Kaduk, yahoo.com Hey hey! Remember this guy? Back before Tim Tebow occupied our every thought and waking moment, Brett Favre was the quarterback that was pushed on every football fan whether they liked it or not. He went through a very public divorce with the state of W… |
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SI.com's Peter King separates fact from fiction as he answers a few questions about Super Bowl XLVII. |
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Ken Belson, nytimes.com Mario Manningham of the 49ers, who was injured in the second to last game of the regular season, advises younger teammates to appreciate their playing time. |
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Darin Gantt, profootballtalk.com Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell is one of two minority play-callers in the NFL, in a year when none of the available head coaching jobs went to minority candidates. He’s among the many who think the process needs to change, but admitted Wednes… |
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Brian McIntyre, yahoo.com In addition to hosting six Super Bowls, with a seventh to be played on Sunday, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome has hosted the Sugar Bowl since 1975 and was the site of four BCS national title games. It would be safe to say that the football program at Washb… |
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Mike Florio, profootballtalk.com On Tuesday, an ordinarily media-shy Randy Moss made a bold proclamation: Moss said he’s the best receiver to ever play football. On Wednesday, Moss reiterated the claim. “Everybody is going to have their opinion,” Moss said, via Matt Maiocco of CS… |
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Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN.com Kyle Williams said he was "shocked" that the New York Giants were not disciplined for comments made by a couple of their players that the San Francisco 49ers receiver was targeted for his history of concussions in last year's NFC Championship Game. |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com When the Panthers replaced offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski with quarterbacks coach Mike Shula, the obvious message was that the team wanted stability on offense. Coach Ron Rivera made it official. Rivera said that the play of quarterback Cam Newton… |
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Darin Gantt, profootballtalk.com You’ve got to hand it to Ray Lewis. He has so successfully sold you Ray Lewis for so long, that he feels like he owes it to you to have a chance to tell Ray Lewis how much you appreciate Ray Lewis. During his press conference Wednesday, the Ravens lineb… |
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Evan Silva, profootballtalk.com Florio speculated just last week that former Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon — currently of the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad — could reunite with college coach Chip Kelly in Philadelphia. There is now substance to support that speculation. Per G… |
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Darin Gantt, profootballtalk.com The Bengals aren’t going to look long, or far, to replace retired running backs coach Jim Anderson. According to Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Hue Jackson will replace him in that position. Jackson was labeled “assistant coach” last year, sa… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com The Buccaneers had the league’s worst pass defense in 2012, which is probably why they didn’t put up much of a fight when defensive backs coach Ron Cooper wanted to take a job at the University of South Florida. It did leave them with an opening on th… |
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Drew Magary, deadspin.com It's not exactly daring to hate Ray Lewis. Facebook data show that most people are rooting for the 49ers to win the Super Bowl, and I'm sure "FUCK RAY LEWIS" has a lot to do with that. No one disputes that Lewis should be a Hall of Famer, and … |
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NEW ORLEANS -- It was not difficult to find the members of the San Francisco 49ers' offensive line on the turf of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome at Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday, even though thousands of people were there, including peppy guys dressed as… |
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The Harbaugh sister: Joani Crean, the first lady of Indiana basketball, is a lot like her brothersJan 30
Kevin Kaduk, yahoo.com The Harbaugh brothers may be at the center of the sporting world this week, but there's a member of their family who will be trying to get through two big games this weekend. We're talking, of course, about Joani Crean. You may know her as the wife of I… |
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Barry Petchesky, deadspin.com Because it's Super Bowl time, everyone has to get in on the football. The Public Religion Research Institute conducted a survey earlier this month, and asked its random sample of 1,033 adults a bunch of questions about the NFL. Most of the responses are… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew is still moving around on a scooter after surgery on his foot in late December, but he said Wednesday that he hopes to start rehab next month. Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union reports that Jones-Drew wil… |
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Darin Gantt, profootballtalk.com The 49ers were fighting with one arm behind their back without defensive tackle Justin Smith, and he’s currently playing with about half an arm. Smith said he has a tear of about 50 percent of his left triceps tendon, which will require surgery shortly … |
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Mike Florio, profootballtalk.com An unexpected controversy has arisen regarding the selection of referee Jerome Boger to wear the white hat for Super Bowl XLVII. Some think that he didn’t earn it, the league says he did. Regardless, the NFL Referees Association has congratulated him … |
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Evan Silva, profootballtalk.com Ravens safety Ed Reed is an impending free agent, and it’s become popular to dot-connect Reed to New England as a match with longtime admirer Bill Belichick. The speculation was fueled when Peter King of SI.com predicted on last Sunday’s Pro Bowl preg… |
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Associated Press, ESPN.com Seattle Seahawks linebacker Leroy Hill was arrested after police say he assaulted his girlfriend and kept her in his home against her will. |
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Jason Sickles, yahoo.com Ingredients for a superb live-blog? Try Beyonce, beer commercials, and the biggest game of the year. Now all we need is you, rambunctious Yahoo! readers. Join us Sunday during Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. Tell u… |
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ESPN.com news services, ESPN.com Ravens coach John Harbaugh says star linebacker Ray Lewis assured him "there's nothing to" a magazine report linking him to a company that makes deer-antler spray containing a banned performance enhancer. |
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Brian McIntyre, yahoo.com The National Football League officially announced on Wednesday that referee Jerome Boger will lead a seven-man crew for Super Bowl XLVII. “We congratulate Jerome and his entire crew on being assigned to work at Super Bowl XLVII,” NFL vice president of… |
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Michael David Smith, profootballtalk.com Ravens linebackers coach Ted Monachino is aware of the reports that he could be the Eagles’ next defensive coordinator, but he says media reports are all he knows about it. “I haven’t been contacted and neither has the club. I’m doing everything I… |
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Brian McIntyre, yahoo.com This week is all about Super Bowl XLVII. Beginning next week, however, all 32 NFL teams will be focused on 2013 and will be able to begin subtracting players from their 80-man offseason rosters. Some of those changes will be made for disciplinary purpos… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com Ravens safety Ed Reed hasn’t been shy when it comes to expressing his thoughts about the NFL’s attempts to increase player safety. Reed said earlier this season that the only way to stop concussions it to stop playing football and the topic came up ag… |
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Frank Schwab, yahoo.com The issue of concussions in the NFL is touchy. The former players suing the league, saying it misled them about the dangers of concussions, is an even trickier debate. Some will argue players obviously understand the risks of playing NFL football and ar… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com Near the end of the 49ers’ 28-24 NFC Championship Game win against the Falcons, 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks hit Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and left Ryan with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. Brooks can empathize with Ryan’s plight since … |
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NEW ORLEANS -- The Cain and Abel coaching sub-plot in this year's Super Bowl is undeniably the most irresistible in NFL history, but it's still the playing talent that decides championships in football, and that's where the San Francisco 49ers have almo… |
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Michael David Smith, profootballtalk.com Ravens tight end Ed Dickson is watching tape of the 49ers, and he likes what he sees. Dickson said at Super Bowl Media Day that watching the 49ers’ defense give up 24 first-half points to the Falcons in the NFC Championship Game, the Ravens became confi… |
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Kristian Dyer, yahoo.com Now all that's left is the commercials. No need to watch the Super Bowl for the actual game, at least not with PredictionMachine.com having run 50,000 simulations of Sunday's Super Bowl matchup and determining that the San Francisco 49ers will beat the … |
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Frank Schwab, yahoo.com First of all, mayor bets on football games are stupid. We don't care if Philadelphia's mayor will ship cheese steaks to Green Bay if the Packers win, and Green Bay's mayor will send cheese wheels to Philly if the Eagles win, or whatever lame local cuisi… |
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Behind the NFL's most explosive postseason offense is a coach whose plans surprise his players as much as opponents. Jim Trotter gets into the head of the Niners' Greg Roman. |
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Mike Florio, profootballtalk.com Just when the events surrounding the Super Bowl were about to make us forget about the Manti Te’o fake dead girlfriend hoax, the perpetrator of the fake dead girlfriend hoax has taken it to a new level. In an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw, Ronaiah Tuia… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com … |
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Ray Lewis forgives Wes Welker’s wife: ‘People just make mistakes and say foolish things sometimes’Jan 30
Frank Schwab, yahoo.com Because we know you were wondering where the Ray Lewis-Wes Welker's wife feud stood, we're happy to report all is forgiven. The Baltimore Ravens linebacker this week said he forgave Anna Burns Welker, the wife of the New England Patriots receiver who ha… |
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Michael David Smith, profootballtalk.com San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh says his offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, is changing the way people think about offensive football. At his press conference on Wednesday morning, Harbaugh made a specific point of bringing up Roman when asked abo… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com When Juan Castillo was fired as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator during the season, you could have won some good money betting that he’d be at the Super Bowl as anything other than a spectator. Castillo is there with the Ravens in a consulting role t… |
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Jay Busbee, yahoo.com So here's a tale of mixed messages and unclear lessons. Sharon Osgood, a hardcore 49ers fan who desperately wanted to follow her team to New Orleans, wired $5,900 to a seller on Craigslist offering two Super Bowl tickets. She and her boyfriend had poole… |
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Michael David Smith, profootballtalk.com Marc Trestman has left his job as head coach of the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears, and now a former NFL head coach may replace him. Jim Zorn has interviewed for the Alouettes job, NFL Network… |
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Doug Farrar, yahoo.com NEW ORLEANS -- The best linebackers resemble jungle cats on the field. Fast, strong, and predatory, they assess their prey with incredible instincts and hunt without mercy. Super Bowl XLVII features two such linebackers. One, an old lion whose career is… |
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Brian McIntyre, yahoo.com With Tuesday's "Media Day" over and done with, the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers can get down to business and focus on preparing for Super Bowl XLVII. Both teams will practice on Wednesday, with the 49ers using the New Orleans Saint… |
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Darin Gantt, profootballtalk.com There’s a reasonable chance that if Alex Smith had simply lied, he’d still be the starting quarterback of the 49ers. But he said Tuesday he had no regrets about revealing his concussion symptoms, which opened the door for Colin Kaepernick, and the doo… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com The Bengals play their home games in Paul Brown Stadium, but they’ll no longer have a coach on the staff who was actually interviewed by Paul Brown when he initially got his job in Cincinnati. Running backs coach Jim Anderson announced his retirement on… |
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Josh Alper, profootballtalk.com Linebacker Brian Urlacher hasn’t spoken to the Bears yet this offseason, but he doesn’t need to have direct contact with them to know what it is going to take to have any shot at remaining in Chicago in 2013. He’s going to have to take a serious cut… |
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Michael David Smith, profootballtalk.com Players on the 49ers and Ravens are finding out one of the down sides of playing in the Super Bowl this week: Your friends and relatives assume you have free tickets to give them. In reality, players in the Super Bowl get two free tickets and the opport… |
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Doug Farrar, yahoo.com NEW ORLEANS -- Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher is a foundation of an offense that led the way in the franchise's first trip to the Super Bowl since the end of the 2000 season, but that's not his claim to fame, of course. Oher is the subje… |
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After a decade of mostly familiar names, Super Bowl XLVII is set to provide some welcome new blood under center. Sunday will mark the first title game... |
