NFL

11:52 AM ET Veteran quarterback Alex Smith, who made a remarkable comeback from an injury that nearly cost him his leg, announced Monday on Instagram that he is retiring from football. Smith, 36, was the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2020 after helping lead the Washington Football Team to the NFC East title.

7:30 AM ET THERE WERE NO skulls available, so Trevor Lawrence grabbed a grapefruit instead. In July 2019, just a few months after he led Clemson to the 2018 national championship, Lawrence was cajoled by his older brother, Chase, and sister-in-law, Brooke, to fill in as a model for a series of life-sized oil paintings

Louisiana is famous for its Cajun food, jazz music, Mardi Gras — and quarterbacks. A total of 721 quarterbacks have debuted and played at least one game in the NFL during the Super Bowl era (since 1966), and the Bayou State outperformed expectations the most in a study by ESPN and Pro Football Reference. California

6:00 AM ET FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL: 1. Finding Edelman: Former Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli shined a spotlight on how the team found Julian Edelman at Kent State, posting a tweet noting that area scout Jim Nagy put Edelman on the

3:13 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas City Chiefs tight end Fred Arbanas, a key member of their first two Super Bowl teams in the 1960s and ’70s who later had a long career in county politics, has died. He was 82. The Jackson County Democratic Party in Missouri, for which

11:58 AM ET NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said it is the union’s position that it is in the best interest of players to not participate in voluntary offseason workouts. “I think what a lot of players have said that they’ve heard from their coaches is that they need to show up,” Smith said Saturday

7:00 AM ET MIAMI — The conversation between Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, general manager Chris Grier and Alabama coach Nick Saban exceeded 10 minutes as Senior Bowl players began filing out of Hancock Whitney Stadium toward the buses following a Jan. 27 practice. The visual was striking. Flores had just finished coaching a National

2:17 PM ET Presumptive No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence said in a series of tweets Saturday that quotes made by him that have led some to question his motivation are being “misread.” “I am internally motivated – I love football as much or more than anyone. It is a HUGE priority in my life,

12:34 AM ET Lindsey ThiryESPN Close Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times Previously covered the Falcons Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball The attorney representing De’Vincent Spriggs, the man who accused Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald of assault earlier this week, is now offering an apology to

6:00 AM ET CINCINNATI — The way Penei Sewell shuffled his feet and struck his opponents convinced Oregon coach Mario Cristobal the budding offensive lineman was going to be special. Cristobal was recruiting the 6-foot-5, 349-pound Sewell, a Class of 2018 tackle from Desert Hills, Utah, located less than four miles north of the border

12:10 PM ET Lindsey ThiryESPN Close Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times Previously covered the Falcons Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball A lawyer representing Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald says there is video evidence refuting a claim by De’Vincent Spriggs that Donald physically assaulted him outside

8:24 AM ET Ahead of the NFL’s first 17-game regular season, the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have opened with the highest win totals at Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill. Oddsmakers for William Hill opened the Chiefs at 12, and the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers at 11.5. Kansas City won 14 games last

11:28 AM ET Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Aldon Smith has agreed to a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks, a source told ESPN on Thursday. After serving an indefinite suspension from 2016 to 2019 for multiple off-field incidents and violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy, Smith joined the Cowboys in 2020 on a one-year

3:11 PM ET Washington Football Team Owner Daniel Snyder filed a motion of discovery against former team president Bruce Allen in a federal court, seeking to go through his text messages and documents that allegedly led to negative reporting against him. Snyder filed the suit in California Central District Court Thursday against a man who

6:00 AM ET It is universal. It is unique. It is stacked, adjusted and set. It is mocked, remocked and mocked again. But unless you are one of the cooks in the proverbial football kitchen, you haven’t seen it. It is the stew that everyone in the NFL makes and whose recipe is hidden from

4:53 PM ET HOUSTON — Twenty women who had filed lawsuits alleging inappropriate behavior and sexual assault against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson have amended their petitions to disclose their names. Another lawsuit is expected to be refiled by Thursday after an emergency hearing was canceled on Wednesday. One of the original 22 lawsuits was

12:40 PM ET Free-agent pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney has signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns, it was announced Wednesday. The deal is worth up to $10 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Clowney will have an opportunity to thrive playing opposite fellow former No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett. “We’re excited to add

7:00 AM ET THE ENDLESS DANCE of the 7-year-old was conducted in its full kinetic glory on an early February day at Holy Redeemer School in Marshall, Minnesota. The second graders in Mrs. Klaith’s class bounced in and out of their Plexiglas-enclosed desks, talking in unison in their own delirious language, treating every one of