By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Austin Howard‘s time in Oakland came to an end in late July. It didn’t take him long to find his next opportunity.
The offensive tackle has signed a three-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens, the team announced Friday. The Ravens waived/injured tight end Crockett Gillmore in a corresponding move. Continue reading
© Pro Football Hall of Fame
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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In its early days, journeying through the Pro Football Hall of Fame was more like taking a stroll.
Enter through the front doors of the circular main building, walk up the rotunda ramp around a statue of Jim Thorpe, view a collection of football artifacts, walk through a few more modest rooms filled with busts and exhibits, and that was pretty much it.
These days, a fan needs almost an entire day to get through the meat and potatoes of the Hall’s exhibits. Soon enough, it’ll be a week.
Professional football’s most hallowed ground has long stood as a monument to the game in the city where it started, but it didn’t offer much more. Under the direction of president David Baker, it’s slowly transforming into football’s Disneyland. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Kurt Warner is in Canton. His extended family is not.
Warner tried to use his newly acquired Hall of Fame clout (piled on top of his NFL Network and Super Bowl champion clout) to sway a major airline company to squeeze his traveling party of 13 onto the last flight to Cleveland in order to get them to Canton in time for Enshrinement Weekend. Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill didn’t wait to take matters into his own hands. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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The Hall of Fame Game won’t feature most starters on Thursday night.
Following Bruce Arians’ announcement that he won’t play his starters, the Cowboys also sat most of their first-stringers, though safeties Byron Jones and Jeff Heath, and offensive linemen La’El Collins and Jonathan Cooper did play. Kellen Moore will start in place of Dak Prescott at quarterback for Dallas.
Before you close your browser and take up disc golf or lawn darts, we have reasons for you to tune in: Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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David Baker is a man you cannot miss — and surely cannot forget.
Baker — once called the “New Tower of Power” by Sports Business Journal — lumbers down a hotel hallway in Houston on a Saturday in February with a message and camera crew in tow. The message doesn’t come on a scroll or written memo, but through a knock on a door.
Much has been made of Baker’s knock, delivered with a forcefulness that fits the man creating the sound — Jason Taylor has likened it to getting a knock from the FBI. But it does not herald bad news. Instead, it summons football immortality.
As his knock this afternoon is answered, the room, brimming with nearly 20 of those closest to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, erupts in cheers. The video shows tears flowing and the people inside embracing as Baker informs Jones of his impending enshrinement into football’s most hallowed club.
Baker is the president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The 64-year-old’s frame — all 6-foot-9 and nearly 400 pounds of it — looms over almost anyone. His suit size is a 64. When Baker is approached for a handshake, the hand that isn’t his is guaranteed to disappear within his massive paw. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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College football has lost one of its coaching icons.
Former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian died early Wednesday, the university announced. He was 94.
Parseghian, a 1980 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, led the Fighting Irish to two national championships in 1966 and 1973. The titles culminated a massive turnaround for the program, which was floundering prior to Parseghian’s arrival in 1964. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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One of the first things many second- and third-year players will discuss during training camp is how much the game has slowed for them mentally. For Browns rookie DeShone Kizer, it’s only taken a summer.
The young quarterback made an impression on veteran newcomer Kenny Britt, who noticed Kizer’s improvement since organized team activities. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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A secondary chock-full of experienced playmakers is gaining another veteran.
Tramon Williams has agreed to terms with the Arizona Cardinals, the team announced Sunday.
Williams spent the last two seasons in Cleveland, signed as a major addition at corner. The former Packers standout instead struggled in coverage, missed five games and intercepted just two passes in two seasons combined. Father Time’s effect on him became evident in 2016, especially in man-to-man situations where he’d clearly lost a step. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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James Conner hit headlines when his jersey was declared the highest-selling among rookies this summer. With Steelers camp underway, the rookie’s star keeps rising.
Conner is getting plenty of carries with Le’Veon Bell absent from camp, and the runner with local ties and a battle with cancer under his belt is turning heads in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala reported everyone in the Steelers‘ organization has been really pleased with the new arrival, and that was before the pads had been put on.
Enter Sunday, the first day of hitting. Continue reading
By Nick Shook
NFL.com
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Shane Ray‘s attempt to replace the retired DeMarcus Ware full-time has been put on the shelf.
The linebacker suffered a torn ligament in his wrist on Thursday and will be out six to eight weeks after surgery, which is scheduled for Saturday, coach Vance Joseph announced on Friday. Ray practiced with a brace on his wrist on Friday, but it was determined afterward that surgery would be necessary, Joseph added. Continue reading
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