The NFL’s young quarterbacks aren’t so young anymore.
Baker Mayfield, the first overall pick in the 2018 draft, turns 30 today. (Happy birthday.) Others aren’t far behind.
Within the next 21 months, the top four quarterbacks in the NFL will exit their twenties. First up is Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on September 17. Next will be Bills quarterback Josh Allen, on May 21 of next year.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow gets there next, on December 10, 1996. Less than a month later, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson arrives in Club 30.
All five are in their prime. All five will keep achieving at a high level. Four of them are chasing their first Super Bowl win.
And while Mayfield isn’t in the same category as the other four, he’s closer than most realize. And the Buccaneers are quietly loaded for another potential division title — and maybe plenty more.
The Chiefs reportedly have volunteered to become a permanent fixture on Christmas Day. The NFL is not prepared to accept the offer.
Mike North, the NFL’s V.P. of broadcast planning & scheduling, recently addressed that and many other topics during an appearance on the It’s Always Gameday in Buffalo podcast.
“I’m not sure that’s gonna become a tradition quite the way Thanksgiving is,” North said. “I mean, think about what it took for that tradition, right? The Lions since the ‘30s, the Cowboys since the ‘60s. We didn’t commit to a third site on Thanksgiving when we brought that back about 20 years ago. We rotated that around. I imagine we’re gonna keep rotating Christmas around, too.”
He noted that it’s a lot to expect from a team’s fans to show up for a Christmas game every year. He also made the point that we mentioned when the report first surfaced. The Chiefs won’t be good forever. It makes far more sense to select the slate every year — and possibly to preserve a flex option.
“Never say never,” North said. “Let’s see what the next few years bring. But I don’t think we’re today gonna commit to a permanent third host for Thanksgiving, a permanent host for Black Friday, or a permanent host for Christmas.”
It’s the smart play. Christmas games will be a permanent fixture of the NFL landscape. The impressive worldwide live broadcast on Netflix makes it an even bigger deal.
Making the Netflix broadcast even more impressive is the now-common claim, as repeated by North, that the Christmas 2024 games on Netflix reached “200 countries.”
That’s one hell of a feat, given that there aren’t 200 countries on the entire planet.
In the aftermath of the February 2024 Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting, multiple people falsely identified Denton Loudermill Jr. of Olathe, Kansas as the culprit. Loudermill has died at the age of 48.
Via KCTV, Loudermill’s attorney said his body was found on Friday morning. No cause of death was released.
After the February 14, 2024 shooting, a photo emerged of Loudermill sitting on the ground. His hands were behind his back, and police were standing nearby. Police confirmed in the following days that Loudermill was not a suspect.
Several lawmakers nevertheless amplified the photo, accusing Loudermill of being the shooter and claiming that he was in the country illegally. Most were local; Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett allegedly made the claim, too.
Loudermill filed multiple lawsuits. He claimed that he received death threats and has suffered mental distress and anxiety.
The lawsuits will continue to be pursued by his estate.
Titans cornerback L’Jarius Sneed is facing a lawsuit for at least $1 million after an incident in the parking lot of a car dealership December, Teresa Walker of the Associated Press reports.
Christian Nshimiyimana says Sneed or Sneed’s personal assistant shot at him while Nshimiyimana was sitting inside a Mercedes-Bentz on a dealer lot on Dec. 6 in Carrollton, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. No one was hit by bullets fired from a Lamborghini Urus as it drove by One Legacy Motors.
Attorney Levi McCathern said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press that Sneed and his accomplice were arrested by the Carrollton Police Department for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. McCathern also accused Sneed and a woman who identified herself as Sneed’s mother of threatening Nshimiyimana, ordering him not to cooperate with police or retain an attorney.
“The proof is there,” McCathern said in his statement to Walker. “There is video surveillance from the dealership showing the car and the person who opened fire on Christian. We want to know why this happened. We’re thankful no one was shot, but we continue to search for the reason behind this incident.”
A Titans spokesperson told Walker that the team is “aware of the matter and have been in contact with NFL Security per league protocol.”
Nshimiyimana filed the civil lawsuit Feb. 20 in Dallas County, suing Sneed and a defendant listed as “John Doe.” The lawsuit calls the incident “an unprovoked attack in cold blood and broad daylight” and states that the defendants might have mistaken Nshimiyimana for someone else.
Nshimiyimana, 23, owns an exotic car rental business.
The Titans traded for Sneed last March, but he played only five games before going on injured reserve with a quadriceps injury. He spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs.
Linebacker Jack Cochrane is back on the roster in Kansas City.
The Chiefs announced that Cochrane re-signed with the team on Friday. Cochrane was tendered as a restricted free agent last month along with cornerback Nazeeh Johnson. Johnson has also signed his tender.
Cochrane signed with the Chiefs after going undrafted out of South Dakota in 2022. He has played in 54 overall games for the team, but missed the end of last season and the playoffs while on injured reserve.
Cochrane has seen the majority of his playing time on special teams. He has 43 tackles and one pass defensed over the course of his career.
