<p>Churches are not the only institutions that view baptisms as a stat line.</p>
<p>After years of athletes giving their lives to the Lord, Baylor University has also started keeping count. Baylor athletes wear their faith on campus as proudly as the names on their jerseys.</p>
<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s not very many schools across the country that have a competitive athletics program that combine that with a faith-based mission within the school,&#8221; Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Fortunately, Baylor is one of those schools that does that.&#8221;</p>
<p>The largest Baptist school in the country has baptized hundreds of athletes in the last five years alone.</p>
<div id="attachment_1010793" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010793" class="size-large wp-image-1010793" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09111-Pano-1024x485.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="485" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09111-Pano-1024x485.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09111-Pano-300x142.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09111-Pano-768x364.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09111-Pano-1536x727.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09111-Pano-2048x970.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1010793" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Baylor Athletics</p></div>
<p>&#8220;Being able to be a part of the athletes&#8217; lives and their spiritual journey is one of the coolest things about working at Baylor,&#8221; Head Basketball Coach Scott Drew told The Daily Wire.</p>
<p>Drew has been at Baylor since 2003, so he&#8217;s seen many lives changed.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have close to 26 campus ministries. The local churches are packed with Baylor students on Wednesday night. At Sunday church service &#8230; there&#8217;s probably 500 to 1,000 college kids every service I&#8217;m there. At the end of the day, it&#8217;s because we have great leadership at Baylor University.&#8221;</p>
<p>The football team&#8217;s faith took the spotlight this season when 10 players were baptized by teammates.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Moments Like This Last Forever.</p>
<p>Last night, 10 of our own took the next step in their faith through baptism 📸⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/U9U6GNRe0x">pic.twitter.com/U9U6GNRe0x</a></p>
<p>— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/BUFootball/status/1986175831266238697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Robertson, who leads the team on the field, helped baptize some of the players, including his former receiver, whom Robertson baptized before Thanksgiving.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Last night, Monaray Baldwin returned home to Waco and publicly declared his faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SicEm?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SicEm</a> <a href="https://t.co/MmGLI3lCvO">pic.twitter.com/MmGLI3lCvO</a></p>
<p>— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/BUFootball/status/1993711582199865491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8220;How it normally goes is when a player decides that they want to get baptized and give their life to Jesus, they get to decide who baptizes them. So it just happened that three guys wanted me to do it. That&#8217;s not something you turn down.&#8221;</p>
<p>Robertson also baptized Nate Bennett, his backup quarterback.</p>
<div id="attachment_1010795" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010795" class="size-large wp-image-1010795" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM08845-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1010795" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Baylor Athletics</p></div>
<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s awesome,&#8221; Robertson said. &#8220;He&#8217;s like a little brother to me, and he would get mad if I said that, but I only say that because he&#8217;s younger than me, so I think I&#8217;m allowed to say that, but I love him so much.&#8221;</p>
<p>The baptisms are part of a player-led Bible. About 5-6 small groups meet on Tuesdays to study a video series put together by a teammate. This semester, it was organized by a safety on the team, Michael Allen. The team studied the book of Genesis and looked at Joseph&#8217;s life. Robertson said a lot of the team related to this one, which may be why it was the largest group they&#8217;ve had commit their lives to Jesus.</p>
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<p>&#8220;Joseph is sold by his brothers because they were jealous of him. Then he gets accused of something that he didn&#8217;t do, and gets thrown in prison for two years, and then he eventually always works his way up to second in command of Egypt. The guys are just like, &#8216;How did he stay the course? This is incredible.'&#8221;</p>
<p>Robertson calls leading the Bible study a &#8220;calling.&#8221; For some players, the football team&#8217;s Bible study may be the first one they&#8217;ve been part of.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s been definitely the most fruitful thing,&#8221; the quarterback continued. &#8220;You can kind of tell based off the questions that are getting asked when you break off into small groups. People have said they had no clue this was a thing, like they didn&#8217;t know about this.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I interviewed <a href="https://twitter.com/BUFootball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BUFootball</a> Quarterback, Sawyer Robertson, on the recent player-lead baptisms. 10 Baylor Football players were baptized at the end of their Bible study. Story Sunday on <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a>. <a href="https://t.co/Nnmf5ca13K">pic.twitter.com/Nnmf5ca13K</a></p>
<p>— Lynden Blake (@LyndenBlake) <a href="https://twitter.com/LyndenBlake/status/1997076676157546699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>The Bible studies are held anywhere there&#8217;s room at the athletic complex, including team meeting rooms and locker rooms. The same goes for baptisms. Coach Drew has baptized so many of his players over his 23 years in Waco — sometimes right on the court — that the team now has a baptism wall honoring all the players who have dedicated themselves to Christ.</p>
<div id="attachment_1010815" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010815" class="size-large wp-image-1010815" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/1B9A3326October-16-2024-JRC-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/1B9A3326October-16-2024-JRC-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/1B9A3326October-16-2024-JRC-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/1B9A3326October-16-2024-JRC-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/1B9A3326October-16-2024-JRC-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/1B9A3326October-16-2024-JRC-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1010815" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Baylor Athletics</p></div>
<p>&#8220;Our chaplain baptized five players on the way down to the University of Texas,&#8221; Drew said with a laugh. &#8220;We&#8217;re versatile.&#8221;</p>
<p>Thankfully for current athletes at Baylor, the days of bringing a cold tub to center court for baptisms are over. The Bears have new athletic facilities, which include a large, warm therapy tub. Some say it&#8217;s perfect for baptisms.</p>
<p>&#8220;It works quite well,&#8221; Robertson added. &#8220;All the other guys that are part of the player-led Bible study, there&#8217;s about 30 to 40 people now, and they&#8217;re cheering and applauding, it&#8217;s just encouraging.&#8221;</p>
<div id="attachment_1010797" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1010797" class="size-large wp-image-1010797" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MMM09093-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1010797" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Baylor Athletics</p></div>
<p>As you walk around campus, you notice Bible verses everywhere. The basketball team attends a chapel before every home game. Coach Drew calls it a &#8220;Christian atmosphere&#8221; that leaves an impact on players long after they&#8217;ve graduated.</p>
<p>&#8220;I keep some of the letters from past players,&#8221; Drew said. &#8220;Whenever you&#8217;re having a really bad day, or you&#8217;re like, why do we do what we do, you pull out one of those letters, and it makes it all worthwhile.&#8221;</p>
<p>Robertson&#8217;s relationship with God keeps him grounded through the grind of being a college athlete.</p>
<p>&#8220;I want to be as successful as possible, but at the end of the day, if my relationship with the Lord isn&#8217;t right, then none of what I do on Earth matters,&#8221; he says. &#8220;At the end of the day, like it&#8217;s got to be my foundation, and I&#8217;ve got to make that the priority of my life.&#8221;</p>
<p>Before games, the quarterback reads 2 Timothy 1:7: &#8220;For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I like thinking about that one before games because it kind of like relaxes me and takes the pressure off, even though I know there&#8217;s a lot of people watching. Just going out there and not having any fear of it and just playing, playing to honor God, really, it relieves some of that pressure.&#8221;</p>
<p>The 22-year-old also lives by Mark 8:36: &#8220;For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not all about likes and popularity and attention,&#8221; Robertson adds. &#8220;But seeking something that&#8217;s actually like true and like what can I put my identity in.&#8221;</p>
<p>If you Google Scott Drew, you&#8217;ll see how the world views the veteran coach. He&#8217;s a National Championship coach and a three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year. Accolades he&#8217;s beyond proud of. But Drew said the only winning that lasts is winning eternity.</p>
<p>&#8220;One day I&#8217;ll get to heaven and see a bunch of Baylor Bears up there,&#8221; he says. &#8220;People we had a chance to help grow spiritually.&#8221;</p>


Baylor Athletics

‘Playing To Honor God’: Baylor Athletes Find A Higher Calling

'Playing To Honor God': Baylor Athletics Find Bigger Purpose

Christianity

College Football

Southern Baptists

Texas

<p>NASHVILLE—Dealing with Vladimir Putin was just practice for President Donald Trump&#8217;s toughest tango yet: satisfying college football fans.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt Quarterback Diego Pavia on Tuesday asked Trump to sign an executive order expanding the college football playoffs from 12 to 16 teams. Pavia, a top NFL prospect, made his petition on X after Vanderbilt once again found themselves at number 14, despite a major win over in-state rival Tennessee.</p>
<p>Tagging Trump&#8217;s official account on X, Pavia said &#8220;MAKE THE EXECUTIVE ORDER PLEASE!&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> MAKE THE EXECUTIVE ORDER PLEASE‼️👀 <a href="https://t.co/R37y5YofAo">https://t.co/R37y5YofAo</a></p>
<p>— Diego Pavia (@diegopavia02) <a href="https://twitter.com/diegopavia02/status/1996088529651204360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea co-signed his Heisman-contending quarterback&#8217;s request, calling the playoff system &#8220;flawed.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s go,&#8221; Lea told The Daily Wire. &#8220;If they&#8217;re willing to listen, we will make our case. If we can have someone come in from over the top and say &#8216;this is what we are going to do,&#8217; at least there&#8217;s clarity in that.&#8221;</p>
<p>Vanderbilt isn&#8217;t the only team left out of the playoff party. Miami is currently on the outside looking in, which was enough for Secretary of State and former Florida Senator Marco Rubio to phone the president for a favor.</p>
<p>“As a point of personal privilege &#8230; if the University of Miami gets screwed out of the College Football Playoff, after going 10-2 and beating Notre Dame, the whole thing should be scrapped and (Trump) is gonna have to take over next year,” Rubio <a href="https://x.com/GeoMilian/status/1995938408670380454?s=20">said</a> during this week&#8217;s cabinet meeting.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s good,&#8221; Trump replied.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unlikely that Trump will sign an order before Sunday, when the official playoff bracket will be set. Nor is it clear that an executive order could get the NCAA to expand the playoffs.</p>
<p>But the prospect of Trump attempting to influence collegiate athletics is not entirely far-fetched. The president began his second term signing an executive order to keep men out of women&#8217;s sports. He also signed an executive order to stabilize college athletics by preserving opportunities for non-revenue sports and prohibiting &#8220;pay-for-play&#8221; payments.</p>
<p>College football fans for years have wanted a playoff after having a system where only the top two teams had a shot at the title. In 2014, they got a four-team playoff, but most say that’s not good enough. Last season, the CFP expanded to 12 teams — but the committee still can&#8217;t get it right in the eyes of some coaches, players, and fans.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve tangled the wires too much. I am baffled by the process &#8230; the movement of teams up and down,&#8221; Lea said. &#8220;I wake up this morning and Utah is below us and now Texas is above us. What in the world is going on.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Nashville native is fighting for Vanderbilt&#8217;s historic season to continue.</p>
<p>&#8220;This team deserves to be in the playoff, they deserve to compete for a national championship.&#8221;</p>
<p>A Hail Mary from Trump may do the trick.</p>


Photo-illustration: Getty Images; Daily Wire staff

Marco Rubio, College Football Stars Petition Trump To Expand Playoff Bracket

Donald Trump

Executive Orders

Marco Rubio

Playoffs

<p>BOSTON—On a brisk November morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy shipped up to Boston with two goals: making his forgotten Merchant Mariners remember who they were, and bringing home the Secretaries&#8217; Cup.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s the trophy that goes to the victor of an annual college football game that pits the Merchant Mariners against the Coast Guard, a smaller but beloved version of the annual Army-Navy game. Fans, alumni, and family of the &#8220;Kings Point&#8221; mariners and the Coast Guard travel from all over the country to support their teams.</p>
<p>This year, Duffy and Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem — whose agency includes the Coast Guard — joined their teams for the final showdown of the season. They had a bet: whoever lost would host the other team at their agency back in the nation&#8217;s capitol. It was a rare non-political event attended for the two high-profile politicians, who were there to cheer on their teams and talk trash to each other.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our Merchant Marine Academy, they&#8217;re excited to play on a on a big venue like this,&#8221; Duffy told The Daily Wire ahead of the game. &#8220;And sometimes they don&#8217;t get the attention that they deserve &#8230; they&#8217;re critical as part of America&#8217;s infrastructure and making sure that we can defend ourselves.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;The Merchant Marine Academy, our young men and women go out and make sure we have the capability of supporting the military in doing sea lifts, making sure products are moving, supplies are moving, and our midshipmen provide those services,&#8221; he explained.</p>
<p>The Merchant Marine Academy is housed under the Department of Transportation, which formerly also housed the United States Coast Guard. The &#8220;Coasties&#8221; were moved under Homeland Security&#8217;s umbrella in 2003. But the reshuffling did nothing to the football rivalry, which dates back to 1949.</p>
<p>The Daily Wire spent the day with Duffy as he wandered around Fenway Park, even down to the locker room, where he aggressively hyped up the mariners before they headed out onto the field. &#8220;You guys have more heart, more grit,&#8221; Duffy told the animated mariners. &#8220;So please go kick some Coast Guard ass today!&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="The Military Game at Fenway Park You’ve Never Heard Of" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dK1sGZB3qwM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Many of the midshipmen who were at the game were delighted to chat with the transportation secretary, who spent a big chunk of his time hanging out in the stands with them.</p>
<p>&#8220;Oh, yeah,&#8221; Edward Lippert told The Daily Wire, asked if he was a Duffy fan. &#8220;He&#8217;s the man. He&#8217;s the man.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I love that guy,&#8221; added Christian Meyers. &#8220;I can&#8217;t wait to see him.&#8221;</p>
<p>The two young men, who are both seniors at the academy, responded emphatically when asked what it means to them to be mariners. Meyers will go into Navy aviation after graduation, and Lippert will be sailing on his third mates license in the maritime industry.</p>
<p>&#8220;Oh man, it&#8217;s everything,&#8221; said Lippert. &#8220;I mean, it&#8217;s how cargo moves around the world right? World needs mariners.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Pretty much everyone here will graduate with a license in the US Coast Guard that&#8217;s capable of operating any boat or vessel in the American fleet,&#8221; he added.&#8221;We move cargo, whatever it be, cars, containers from point A to point B. We&#8217;re what puts food on your shelves.&#8221;</p>
<p>The second mariner conceded that without their work, American lives would be significantly impacted.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;d be really hard to live,&#8221; he said, asked where Americans would be without them. &#8220;Costs would be insane. I mean, there would be no food in supermarkets. There&#8217;d be nothing. There&#8217;d be nothing without us.&#8221;</p>
<p>Duffy feels that the Merchant Marine Academy has been not only forgotten but downright neglected by other secretaries of transportation, including his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg (&#8220;Boot-edge-edge,&#8221; as Duffy chuckled aside to his kids).</p>
<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve been shunned,&#8221; Duffy said of the mariners. &#8220;They haven&#8217;t had the investments. They have one of the most beautiful campuses, but no one has  reinvigorated it. No one has invested in it.&#8221;</p>
<p>When Duffy first arrived in Kings Point, New York to visit the Merchant Marine Academy, he found out that these midshipmen had gone four months without hot water. A green energy effort brought in an electric boiler that didn&#8217;t work and ultimately led to the midshipmen going without water for months, he said with a shake of his head.</p>
<p>&#8220;So they&#8217;re taking cold showers. They have mold in in their dorms. Their dishwasher broke. They didn&#8217;t have regular plates and silverware. They had plastic plates, plastic silverware.&#8221;</p>
<p>When he brought it up to the midshipmen, he expected that they would be angry. Instead, he joked, they beat their chests and were proud of their tough situation: &#8220;I said, &#8216;No hot water?&#8217; And they&#8217;re like, &#8216;ROAR!! You&#8217;re damn right we did! No hot water!'&#8221;</p>
<p>He also found out that President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration removed a mural of Jesus Christ on the water from the academy and put it in the basement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Shameful,&#8221; said Duffy. &#8220;It&#8217;s been in the academy for over 50 years!&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I said that&#8217;s it, we are going to we are going to resurrect the painting of Jesus on the water out of the basement and put him back in his place of prominence. And when I mentioned it to the to the midshipman, they lost their minds.&#8221;</p>
<p>He doesn&#8217;t have to &#8220;bring faith back to the academy,&#8221; he said, questioned about the move: &#8220;These are faithful young men and women.&#8221;</p>
<p>One way that he&#8217;s boosting morale is by telling the mariners that the &#8220;black sheep&#8221; is their mascot, leaning into the idea that they are the &#8220;black sheep&#8221; of the academies and need to fight to reclaim their identity. Duffy himself was sporting a Merchant Mariners sweatshirt with the black sheep on it, as were his daughters and son who attended the game with him.</p>
<p>&#8220;I just I think it&#8217;s wrong that we have a great American academy with great young American men and women, that we don&#8217;t respect them,&#8221; Duffy shared. &#8220;They are the black sheep of all the academies, right? And sometimes when you feel a little beaten, you&#8217;re an underdog, you come back, have a little more heart, a little more energy, a little more fight.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;You can see we have our black sheep shirts on,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And we embrace it and we still kick ass. We still have grit. We still crush it like what&#8217;s going to happen today on the football field here at Fenway.&#8221;</p>
<p>The mariners did indeed crush the Coast Guard that day in the very final seconds of the game. Duffy joined them on the field, holding the trophy high above his head as he cheered, exuberantly celebrating with the young men — and even jokingly trash talking Noem, who didn&#8217;t come down to the field for the Merchant Marine Academy victory.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well done man,&#8221; he told the mariners as they left the field, shaking their hands and slapping them on the back. &#8220;Thank you for fighting! Well done.&#8221;</p>


Untitled design (76)

Sean Duffy Wants To Put The Merchant Mariners On The Map — Starting With A Football Win.

Boston

Department of Transportation

Football

Kristi Noem

Sean Duffy

<p>The University of Alabama at Birmingham football team took the field Saturday afternoon for the final home game of the season despite two players having been stabbed by their teammate earlier that morning at their Football Operations Building.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’re grateful to report that two players injured in an incident this morning at the Football Operations Building are in stable condition. Our thoughts are with them and their families as they recover. The suspect – another player – remains in custody, and an investigation is taking place,&#8221; a UAB spokesperson told The Daily Wire.</p>
<p>&#8220;The team elected to play today’s game. UAB’s top priority remains the safety and well-being of all of our students. Given patient privacy and the ongoing investigation, we have no further comment at this time.”</p>
<p>According to Jefferson County Jail records, Daniel Mincey is in custody with no bond on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault. According to the jail records, UAB campus police arrested Mincey Saturday just before 1:00 p.m. local time.</p>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1004643" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/mincey-240x300.jpeg" alt="" width="240" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/mincey-240x300.jpeg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/mincey-461x576.jpeg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/mincey-768x960.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/mincey.jpeg 800w" sizes=" (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" /></div>
<p>UAB hasn&#8217;t named Mincey as the player involved in the stabbing, nor has the university said whether Mincey is still on the team as of Sunday morning. Mincey is the only UAB football player listed on the jail roster.</p>
<p>Per the UAB football website, Mincey is listed as a redshirt freshman offensive lineman in his first year with the Blazers football program. The Florida native transferred to UAB after one season at the University of Kentucky.</p>
<p><b>Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at </b><a href="http://dailywire.com/blackfriday">dailywire.com/blackfriday</a>.</p>
<p>UAB Athletic Director Mark Ingram hasn&#8217;t addressed the incident that happened at the football facility on Saturday. Instead, UAB&#8217;s interim football coach Alex Mortensen spoke to the media after the 48-18 loss to South Florida.</p>
<p>“I’m going to start with a statement,” Mortensen said. “Before we talk about the game, I do want to address what happened this morning. As you’ve heard, we have one player who is in police custody and two players who are in stable condition after sustaining injuries. More than anything, I’m grateful that those two players are in stable condition. And we will make sure that they have the support that they need. I hope you will join me in lifting them and their families in your thoughts and prayers, as our team is doing right now, too. I also ask that you will please respect their privacy as they deal with what happened.”</p>
<p>Mortensen, who took over the program after UAB fired head coach Trent Dilfer, said the team decided to go through with playing the football game because of the seniors on the team.</p>
<p>&#8220;We spoke as a team, and we spoke with the team, and those guys really wanted to play today, and the conversation went back to the seniors, with today being senior day, they wanted to go play for them, and give them an opportunity to [come] out and compete and play, so that was probably the biggest thing.&#8221;</p>
<p>The two players who were injured haven&#8217;t been identified. Mortensen said counseling is being offered to any player who wants it. The Blazers, who sit 3-8 on the year, have one more game this season on November 29 at Tulsa.</p>


UAB Football Helmet

Alabama Football Player Charged With Attempted Murder After Stabbing Incident

Alabama

Crime

U.S.

UAB Football

<p>Former NFL coaching icon Bill Belichick’s leap to college football got off to a hot start on Monday night, but it quickly devolved into an embarrassment as his North Carolina Tar Heels were stomped in front of a home crowd by Texas Christian University.</p>
<p>Belichick and the Tar Heels were among college football’s media darlings leading up to the opening week. The game attracted nationwide attention with a primetime slot on ESPN, and UNC legends Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor, and Roy Williams were all in attendance to see Belichick coach his first game since parting ways with the New England Patriots in January 2024.</p>
<p>North Carolina got the ball first and came out hot, driving 83 yards down the field in just seven plays and opening up the game with a 7-0 lead. The drive had the Chapel Hill crowd rocking, but the excitement only lasted for a few minutes. At the end of the first quarter, TCU scored to tie the game, and North Carolina’s offense began sputtering. TCU closed out the first half by kicking two field goals and picking off UNC quarterback Gio Lopez and returning it for a touchdown.</p>
<p>UNC’s collapse continued into the second half as Belichick’s defense — coached by his son, Steve — was embarrassed multiple times when TCU’s running backs sprinted past defenders for long scoring plays. Fans began their mass exodus from Kenan Memorial Stadium in the third quarter after TCU’s defense struck again with a strip sack returned for a touchdown. Belichick’s college debut was officially spoiled with more than 18 minutes of game time remaining.</p>
<p>By the end of the third quarter, the Tar Heels were down 41-14, and the team gave up another touchdown in the fourth quarter, setting a school record for points allowed in a season opener. It was also the most points ever <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bill-belichick-i-know-were-a-lot-better-than-that">surrendered</a> by a Belichick-coached team.</p>
<p>Belichick, who won six Super Bowls with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots between 2000 and 2023, said the Tar Heels have a lot to improve on, but added that he believes his team is a “lot better than that.” He also praised TCU’s performance.</p>
<p>“They were clearly the better team tonight,” Belichick <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401754523">said</a>. “They deserved to win and they did it decisively.”</p>
<p>On the other sideline, the TCU Horned Frogs believe they proved a point by quickly turning the attention away from Belichick and onto themselves.</p>
<p>“We wanted this game to be about us, and it was,” said TCU coach Sonny Dykes, according to ESPN.</p>
<p>“I think we all felt a little disrespected,” he added. “There was a lot of conversation about this game and none of it was about us.”</p>


TCU v North Carolina

How Bill Belichick’s Hyped-Up College Coaching Debut Turned From Excitement To Complete Disaster

Bill Belichick

University of North Carolina

<p style="font-weight: 400;">A sophomore football player at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point joined his father in heroically rescuing a man from a burning car just before it became engulfed in flames.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The courageous actions of Army football safety Larry Pickett Jr. and his father Larry Pickett Sr. were caught on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/larry.pickett/videos/629538596878829/?rdid=o63wxWrD2P38qCi2">video</a> as they seized the driver of the car — which was near downed power lines — and carried him away.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“At one point, a woman could be heard screaming: ‘Larry! Come on! Come on! Get him out!’” <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46127559/army-football-player-larry-pickett-jr-rescues-man-burning-vehicle">ESPN</a> reported.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The car smashed into a utility pole in Fort Montgomery, New York, roughly four miles from West Point on Sunday. Pickett Jr. was driving back to the West Point campus with his dad and his sister, Lauren, after having dinner in Manhattan. Lauren took the video of her brother and father pulling the man to safety.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Just after Midnight, I watched in awe as my son, Larry Pickett Jr., ran toward a burning vehicle, ignoring the downed power lines crackling around it,&#8221; Pickett Sr. wrote on Facebook. &#8220;With immense courage, he pulled a man to safety, saving him from a fiery fate.&#8221;</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;There was no discussion. My son just jumped right into action,&#8221; Larry Pickett Sr. told <a href="https://abc11.com/post/former-enloe-current-army-football-player-saves-man-burning-car/17705965/">WTVD-TV</a>. &#8220;He mentioned his military training kicked in, and we pulled him out. He took care of him on the side of the road until the police officers got there. And then the fire department got there shortly after.&#8221;</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“It&#8217;s just amazing to see him in action. And it&#8217;s just not surprising because we&#8217;ve watched him his whole life do amazing things,” he added.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“We&#8217;re proud of the heroic actions taken Saturday night by Cadet Larry Pickett Jr, a second-year cadet &amp;  @ArmyWP_Football  player, &amp; his father who are seen pulling a driver to safety in a video online taken by the family. Their actions are the embodiment of the @USArmy  Values,” the U.S. Military Academy wrote on X.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">We&#8217;re proud of the heroic actions taken Saturday night by Cadet Larry Pickett Jr, a second-year cadet &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/ArmyWP_Football?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ArmyWP_Football</a> player, &amp; his father who are seen pulling a driver to safety in a video online taken by the family. Their actions are the embodiment of the <a href="https://twitter.com/USArmy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USArmy</a> Values. <a href="https://t.co/dlccTMwonT">pic.twitter.com/dlccTMwonT</a></p>
<p>— U.S. Military Academy at West Point (@WestPoint_USMA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WestPoint_USMA/status/1962338537719706087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Army Athletic Director Tom Theodorakis echoed, “This is exactly what we strive to develop at  @WestPoint_USMA &amp; @GoArmyWestPoint — leadership, courage, and selfless service. Cadet Larry Pickett Jr. and his father exemplify the values we hold dear, stepping up in a moment of crisis to save a life. Proud to see these traits in action, on and off the fields of friendly strife. Count the brave.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">This is exactly what we strive to develop at <a href="https://twitter.com/WestPoint_USMA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WestPoint_USMA</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/GoArmyWestPoint?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GoArmyWestPoint</a> &#8211; leadership, courage, and selfless service.</p>
<p>Cadet Larry Pickett Jr. and his father exemplify the values we hold dear, stepping up in a moment of crisis to save a life. Proud to see these traits in… <a href="https://t.co/6IyMefpkkp">https://t.co/6IyMefpkkp</a></p>
<p>— Tom Theodorakis (@TT_Army_AD) <a href="https://twitter.com/TT_Army_AD/status/1962485812013961623?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>


Larry Pickett Jr

HERO: Army Football Player Rescues Stranger From Burning Car

Military

Rescue

West Point

<p>On Saturday, veteran football commentator Lee Corso made his 430th and final “headgear pick” on ESPN’s College GameDay.</p>
<p>It’s been 38 years since Corso helped launch the flagship college football broadcast, and 29 years since he first <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/lee-corsos-last-show-beloved-member-of-college-gameday-dons-ohio-state-headgear-one-final-time-in-send-off/">donned a mascot head</a> to lock in a pick — picks that were right <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46112766/lee-corso-picks-ohio-state-final-gameday-appearance">more often than not</a>.</p>
<p>His first-ever headgear pick was for THE Ohio State, so it was only fitting that, for his last prediction, he donned the head of Brutus Buckeye one final time.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">&#8220;Give me my first love!&#8221;</p>
<p>Lee Corso&#8217;s first-ever headgear pick belonged to Brutus and the Buckeyes and it&#8217;s only fitting that his last one is the same ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/A8Fgj8b3TR">pic.twitter.com/A8Fgj8b3TR</a></p>
<p>— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay/status/1961822393732673601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br />
Standing in the way of Corso&#8217;s pick were the Texas Longhorns, coming into Columbus behind Arch Manning  for the first road start of his career.</p>
<p>It had been 2,084 days since Arch’s uncle, Eli, played his last game for the New York Giants, bringing to a temporary pause the family legacy Peyton Manning began with the Indianapolis Colts in 1998. With a dynastic name on his shoulders and a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/30/sports/arch-mannings-6-8-million-nil-value-revealed-as-texas-qb-takes-center-stage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$6.8 million NIL valuation</a> behind him, Arch Manning took the field in Columbus ready to make Lee Corso regret his last-ever headgear pick.</p>
<p>He did not succeed.</p>
<p>Manning, considered a strong contender for the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and a Heisman Trophy favorite, completed just 17 of 30 passes for a total of 170 yards. He threw for one late touchdown, and threw one crushing interception.</p>
<p>It was widely remarked on X and in group chats across the country that Manning threw fewer touchdowns than commercials he appeared in Saturday — for Raising Cane&#8217;s, the athleisure brand Vuori, and, for some reason, Warby Parker.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Arch Manning has more commercials than completions <a href="https://t.co/VdBjhErkBt">pic.twitter.com/VdBjhErkBt</a></p>
<p>— Hard Rock Bet (@HardRockBet) <a href="https://twitter.com/HardRockBet/status/1961842339766308979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Haters will say that Arch’s performance on Saturday proves that he’s nothing but a nepo baby, and a disappointing one at that. They’ll say the only thing he inherited from his uncles is a penchant for selling car insurance and sandwiches. They’ll say that he should start preparing for a postgrad career at his dad’s real estate firm rather than in the NFL.</p>
<p>But I’m not a hater. It’s a long season, and Arch’s disastrous debut notwithstanding, he’s still a promising player who will likely fare better down the line when he’s not playing the reigning college football champions on their home turf.</p>
<p>On the other hand…I am a bit of a hater. And the tweets dunking on the Manning scion are simply too good not to share.</p>
<p>So, here are some of the best.</p>
<h3>The name is Rooski. Fumblerooski.</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Arch it’s 4th down! We need you to make a play!” <a href="https://t.co/vGQ8ACCK98">pic.twitter.com/vGQ8ACCK98</a></p>
<p>— Old Row Sports (@OldRowSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/OldRowSports/status/1961856811218161671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>It was fun while it lasted.</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="zxx"><a href="https://t.co/MFJtXLgxuv">pic.twitter.com/MFJtXLgxuv</a></p>
<p>— Robert Behrens (@rcb05) <a href="https://twitter.com/rcb05/status/1961865346488377587?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Maybe his real gift is acting?</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Watching Arch Manning reveal himself as nepo Jeff Driskel on national TV only for Fox to cut to a commercial with him every thirty seconds is fucking hysterical</p>
<p>— Barstool SEC (@SECBarstool) <a href="https://twitter.com/SECBarstool/status/1961863526928261628?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Not even the Failing New York Times is impressed.</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Reviewing Arch Manning&#8217;s performance on the day.</p>
<p>Great in the Warby Parker ad.</p>
<p>Decent in Vuori and Raising Cane&#8217;s.</p>
<p>Football game against Ohio State? &#8230; Not great!<a href="https://t.co/OJHFUwqrmE">https://t.co/OJHFUwqrmE</a></p>
<p>— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) <a href="https://twitter.com/slmandel/status/1961887481554739629?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3> Many people are saying!</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Arch Manning for Heisman” <a href="https://t.co/3I7Gasr0vG">pic.twitter.com/3I7Gasr0vG</a></p>
<p>— Transfer Portal (@NCAAPortal) <a href="https://twitter.com/NCAAPortal/status/1961864255394684935?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>I think I&#8217;ll just stay here and drink.</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Arch Manning looks less comfortable than Luke Bryan trying to name 3 Merle Haggard songs without using Google.</p>
<p>— NotKennyRogers (@NotKennyRogers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NotKennyRogers/status/1961845540292804966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>This one&#8217;s just mean.</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ohio State defense has Arch Manning like this rn <a href="https://t.co/aHzQWP16dY">pic.twitter.com/aHzQWP16dY</a></p>
<p>— 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒆 🌩 (@Three_Cone) <a href="https://twitter.com/Three_Cone/status/1961863172949725324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>No disrespect to good ol&#8217; WCSU.</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Arch Manning when he isn’t playing West Copperfield State University <a href="https://t.co/OYVedSuor4">pic.twitter.com/OYVedSuor4</a></p>
<p>— 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣 ✌🏽 (@BELIEVEBRAND0N) <a href="https://twitter.com/BELIEVEBRAND0N/status/1961841077754712198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Would you call John Quincy Adams a nepo baby?!</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Arch Manning if Peyton and Eli weren’t his uncles<br />
<a href="https://t.co/i6y4FDfDUs">pic.twitter.com/i6y4FDfDUs</a></p>
<p>— Le5-6 (@deepyy_) <a href="https://twitter.com/deepyy_/status/1961827027012530329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Arch!</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Arch Manning in the Manning family <a href="https://t.co/Wm4KLMICR5">pic.twitter.com/Wm4KLMICR5</a></p>
<p>— Wilson F. Ball, CFB Analyst (@WillyFoosball) <a href="https://twitter.com/WillyFoosball/status/1961843314606428634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Shouts out to our boy Rob Schneider (real ones get it).</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Arch in the Manning family <a href="https://t.co/92BNebqB78">pic.twitter.com/92BNebqB78</a></p>
<p>— Erik Andersen (@erikandersennn) <a href="https://twitter.com/erikandersennn/status/1961833662628188641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Ask not what your quartahback can do for you!</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">JFK if Arch Manning was the shooter <a href="https://t.co/fXfAJdDd3h">pic.twitter.com/fXfAJdDd3h</a></p>
<p>— Joseph 🕊️ (@CaudilloXIV) <a href="https://twitter.com/CaudilloXIV/status/1961864035311214856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Don’t worry, Arch — we’re laughing <i>with</i> you.</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Me liking all the Arch Manning memes <a href="https://t.co/SE3YXky9Bd">pic.twitter.com/SE3YXky9Bd</a></p>
<p>— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) <a href="https://twitter.com/3YearLetterman/status/1961858119694205304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>


Texas v Ohio State

All The Best Tweets About Arch Manning’s Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Game

ESPN

Memes

Ohio State University

Twitter

University of Texas

<p>New details from the Minneapolis school shooter&#8217;s manifesto reveal his anguish over his transgender identity, sparking a fierce national debate over motive. A patriotic &#8220;flagging&#8221; movement sweeps the U.K. as public backlash grows against the government&#8217;s mass migration policies and a surge in migrant crime. The multi-billion dollar college football season kicks off this weekend amid a new era of paid athletes and an expanded playoff.</p>
<p>It’s Friday, August 29, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.</p>
<p>Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Shooter’s Past Uncovered &amp; Britain Raises Colours" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_wjwHTVkqy8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>If you’d rather <em>listen</em> to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:</p>
<p><iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shooters-past-uncovered-britain-raises-colours-8-29-25/id1576594336?i=1000724006117" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe></p>
<h2><b>Minneapolis Shooter’s Manifesto Reveals Transgender Anguish</b></h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-966753" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH1.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
<p><b>Topline:</b> Newly deciphered writings from the trans-identified shooter who attacked a Minneapolis Catholic school reveal his anguish over his gender identity, sparking a fierce national debate over the motive for the massacre.</p>
<p>Two days after the horrific attack that left two children dead and 17 others injured, authorities have deciphered parts of the shooter’s cryptic manifesto. According to a translation from the New York Post, the writings reveal a deep internal struggle: &#8220;I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brain-washed myself,&#8221; one passage reads. &#8220;I regret being trans. I wish I was a girl I just know I cannot achieve that body with the technology we have today.&#8221;</p>
<p>Many on the Right are pointing to a growing number of mass shootings committed by transgender offenders and arguing that affirming a transgender identity, which they view as a form of mental illness, creates mental anguish that can lead to violence. The White House said Thursday that HHS is investigating potential links between &#8220;gender affirming drugs&#8221; and violence.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=summer&amp;utm_content=editorialsummersale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a></strong></p>
<p>Many on the Left and in the legacy media have either avoided the transgender component or insisted that discussing it is bigoted. &#8220;Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community&#8230; has lost their sense of common humanity,&#8221; said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. MSNBC&#8217;s Jen Psaki claimed that discussing the shooter&#8217;s identity is an attempt to &#8220;distract from what matters,&#8221; which she said is gun control. Several outlets, including The New York Times, have run headlines claiming the shooter&#8217;s motive is a &#8220;mystery,&#8221; despite his explicitly anti-Christian and anti-Trump writings.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><b>‘Flagging’ Movement Sweeps U.K. Amid Migrant Backlash</b></h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-966749" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH2-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH2.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
<p><b>Topline:</b> A new patriotic movement known as “flagging” is sweeping the United Kingdom, as public anger grows over the government&#8217;s mass migration policies and a surge in violent crime committed by migrants.</p>
<p>The organic movement involves citizens raising the Union Jack and the St. George’s Cross flags on lampposts and in public spaces. It grew out of protests against the government&#8217;s practice of housing illegal immigrants in local hotels, which has led to a number of rapes and assaults on local people.</p>
<p>Critics have labeled the movement &#8220;xenophobic,&#8221; but supporters point to a double standard, as local councils that have been quick to take down British flags have been afraid to remove Palestinian flags from heavily Muslim areas.</p>
<p>The backlash comes as government data shows a surge in crimes committed by foreign nationals. According to the Centre for Migration Control, convictions of foreign nationals for sexual offenses increased by a &#8220;staggering 62%&#8221; between 2021 and 2024. A recent viral video from Scotland shows a 12-year-old girl brandishing an axe and a machete to defend herself and her 14-year-old sister from a man with a foreign accent who appears to have been harassing them. The girl has since been <a href="https://x.com/PoliceScotland/status/1960745568747102433">charged</a> by police with possession of a knife &#8212; the man involved has not been charged and has <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/migrant-confronted-schoolgirl-12-wielding-104332586.html">publicly</a> denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the girls approached him.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><b>College Football Kicks Off in New Era of Paid Athletes</b></h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-966751" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH3-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH3-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH3-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH3-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/MRN-8.29.25-Fri-SH3.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
<p><b>Topline:</b> The multi-billion dollar college football season kicks off this weekend, ushering in a new era of paid athletes, an expanded 12-team playoff, and a slate of high-stakes opening matchups.</p>
<p>This season marks the second year of the expanded 12-team playoff and the first full season since the <em>House v. NCAA</em> settlement, which allows universities to pay athletes directly through revenue sharing, in addition to existing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals.</p>
<p>The opening weekend is packed with marquee games. On Saturday, the action kicks off with preseason number one Texas, led by quarterback Arch Manning, visiting the reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. The afternoon features Alabama traveling to Florida State, and the primetime game is a top-10 showdown between LSU and Clemson.</p>
<p>The action continues through the holiday weekend with Miami hosting Notre Dame on Sunday, and the collegiate head coaching debut of eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick on Monday night, when his North Carolina Tar Heels host TCU.</p>


MRN 8.29.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Minneapolis Shooting Fallout, UK Immigration Backlash, A New Era Of College Football

Immigration

Jen Psaki

Minneapolis

School Shooting

Sports

U.K.

United Kingdom

World

<p>University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders announced on Monday that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer — and that he had undergone a successful surgery to remove the tumor.</p>
<p>Sanders gave a <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/45843439/colorado-coach-deion-sanders-said-battled-bladder-cancer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press conference</a> at the Touchdown Club in the Dal Ward Athletic Center on Monday to update the public on his health, and urged everyone to &#8220;get checked out.&#8221; Sanders appeared alongside Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, to make the announcement and take questions.</p>
<p>Kukreja began by touting the success of the surgery, saying that Sanders had been declared &#8220;cancer free&#8221; after the surgery was completed. &#8220;The results from the surgery are that he is cured from the cancer.&#8221;</p>
<p>After a brief pause, Sanders quipped, &#8220;You can clap, it&#8217;s ok.&#8221;</p>
<p>The audience laughed and applauded.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">&#8220;You have no idea how good God has been to me.&#8221;</p>
<p>Deion Sanders got emotional after revealing he is cured from cancer. <a href="https://t.co/3VDTX0HMFH">pic.twitter.com/3VDTX0HMFH</a></p>
<p>— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1949882948590752249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&#8220;It was dynamic. It was tough. It wasn&#8217;t a cakewalk. It wasn&#8217;t easy. That was a fight, but we made it,&#8221; Sanders said, adding, &#8220;You have no idea how good God has been to me.&#8221;</p>
<p>Questions have swirled about Sanders and his health since his son, Deion Sanders Jr., posted a video over the summer in which he could be heard talking about a &#8220;health issue&#8221; he was dealing with: &#8220;I ain&#8217;t all the way recovered.&#8221;</p>
<p>He opted not to address any health-related questions at Big 12 Media Days, further fueling speculation about his condition.</p>
<p>Sanders said on Monday that throughout the ordeal, he has also lost 25 pounds — but that he was ready to return to coaching for the 2025-2026 season.</p>
<p>He followed with a message to the crowd, calling on them to &#8220;get checked out.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Please get yourself checked out… because it could have been a whole other gathering if I hadn’t.”<a href="https://twitter.com/DeionSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeionSanders</a> shares a message to everyone during his health update press conference ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/QBi2v8Ri2L">pic.twitter.com/QBi2v8Ri2L</a></p>
<p>— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1949882650745065622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&#8220;Please get yourself checked out, especially African American men, we don&#8217;t like going to the doctors, we don&#8217;t like nothing to do with the doctor, you know that — so I&#8217;m not just talking to the brothers, I&#8217;m talking to my caucasian brothers, my hispanic brothers, my Asian brothers, everybody and my sisters. And that&#8217;s all ya&#8217;ll. Get checked out, because it could have been a whole &#8216;nother gathering if I hadn’t.&#8221;</p>
<p>Watch the full press conference here:</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Deion Sanders addresses health issues, reveals he is now cancer free [FULL PRESS CONFERENCE]" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lasjH5gWMn4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>


DEION SANDERS CANCER

Deion Sanders Reveals Cancer Diagnosis, Recovery: ‘You Have No Idea How Good God Has Been To Me’

Deion Sanders Reveals Cancer Diagnosis, Recovery: 'You Have No Idea How Good God Has Been To Me'

Cancer

College sports

Colorado

Deion Sanders

Health

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SEC Media Days are finally upon us. We are super excited to be in Atlanta. And we thought, what better way to debut day one of the 2025 edition of SEC Media Days from &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ccs-ep-808-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel">Crain &amp; Company</a>&#8221; than by drafting the top 25 players in the SEC? </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The hosts of “Crain &amp; Co.” — Jake Crain, Blain Crain, and David Cone — selected SEC players in a draft order, not as if we were an NFL team, but as if we were building a college football team to play this year. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here’s the list we came up with, ranking the top 25 SEC football players for the upcoming season: </span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Ranking The TOP 25 SEC Football Players I 2025 SEC Media Days | Crain &amp; Company" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ns9FSYdtv40?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<h3>25. Tyreak Sapp (DE &#8211; Florida) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He’s such a good player. An older guy, too. This Florida front seven is scary good. </span></p>
<h3>24. Arch Manning (QB &#8211; Texas) — Blain&#8217;s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I’d be remiss if I didn’t take Arch Manning. From a potential standpoint, he’ll be on an offense with coach Steve Sarkisian, receiver Ryan Wingo, running back Quintrevion Wisner, and a solid offensive line. </span></p>
<h3>23. Diego Pavia (QB &#8211; Vanderbilt) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Diego is a hard-working player. Three thousand total yards at Vanderbilt and 28 TDs. Yeah, write a book about it.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946739" style="width: 790px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946739" class="wp-image-946739 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191667051-780x576.jpg" alt="" width="780" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191667051-780x576.jpg 780w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191667051-300x222.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191667051-768x567.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191667051-1536x1135.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191667051-2048x1513.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946739" class="wp-caption-text">Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images</p></div>
<h3>22. Eric Singleton Jr. (WR &#8211; Auburn) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I don&#8217;t think you have to be an Auburn fan to look at Eric Singleton Jr and realize that this guy may be one of the fastest, if not the fastest, at the NFL draft combine. He’s a true receiver. He’s not a track guy. I think he can take the underneath ball or hit a home run. He can run right by you. </span></p>
<h3>21. Jermod McCoy (CB &#8211; Tennessee) — Blain&#8217;s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before he was injured last year, McCoy had four interceptions and nine pass breakups in 12 games. If he’s healthy this year, you can go ahead and lock that half of the field down. </span></p>
<h3>20. R Mason Thomas (DE &#8211; Oklahoma) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thomas recorded nine sacks last year. He’s a football player, man. Oklahoma’s got a great one. </span></p>
<h3>19. Christian Miller (DL &#8211; Georgia) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Miller is the only returning starter on Georgia’s defensive line. I just think when you look at Christian Miller, guys that are that size, that have that flexibility are more rare than having a middle linebacker that can really play.</span></p>
<h3>18. Zachariah Branch (WR &#8211; Georgia) — Blain&#8217;s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The kid is an absolute spark plug. You can’t touch him in a phone booth. Soft hands, great route runner. And I think you&#8217;re going to Georgia, where you&#8217;re going to be the main focus for quarterback Gunner Stockton and what they can do over there to get him open.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946743" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946743" class="wp-image-946743 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2210110484-720x576.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2210110484-720x576.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2210110484-300x240.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2210110484-768x614.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2210110484-1536x1229.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2210110484-2048x1638.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946743" class="wp-caption-text">Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images</p></div>
<h3>17. Jalon Kilgore (CB &#8211; South Carolina) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He led the SEC in picks a year ago with five and added five pass breakups. He&#8217;s a good open-field tackler. You can move him anywhere.</span></p>
<h3>16. Eli Stowers (TE &#8211; Vanderbilt) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think this guy is going to shoot up draft boards. He was a quarterback who was moved to tight end, and I was so impressed with not only his ability to catch the ball away from his body as a bigger guy, which is tough, but his run after the catch. </span></p>
<h3>15. Cam Coleman (WR &#8211; Auburn) — Blain&#8217;s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cam is one of the best receivers in the SEC already. You want to talk about size? He reminds me a lot of AJ Green. In his last three games, he had over 100 yards receiving to finish out the year and a couple of touchdowns in almost every one of those games.</span></p>
<h3>14. Suntarine Perkins (LB &#8211; Ole Miss) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ten and a half sacks at 6’1, 210 pounds. You&#8217;ve got to be a football player to pull that off. I like this kid out of Ole Miss.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946745" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946745" class="wp-image-946745 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2184332529-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946745" class="wp-caption-text">Wesley Hitt/Getty Images</p></div>
<h3>13. Austin Barber (OL &#8211; Florida) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you look at tackles around the league, there&#8217;s obviously a lot of talent that&#8217;s returning, and Austin Barber is a very consistent tackle. I’m excited to see where he ends up going in the first round of the NFL draft, probably next year.</span></p>
<h3>12. DJ Lagway (QB &#8211; Florida) — Blain&#8217;s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I&#8217;ve heard only things when it comes to his shoulder after his surgery. One thing he can improve on, obviously, is his completion percentage, but from talent explosiveness, the dude&#8217;s an absolutely huge dual threat. If DJ lag can be healthy, I think you can put him right up there with the LaNorris Sellers from just an accuracy and going through progressions standpoint. </span></p>
<h3>11. Garrett Nussmeier (QB &#8211; LSU) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He’s the only returning 4,000-yard passer that&#8217;s coming back this season. And look, he can make all the throws. He can make the NFL throws. He’s got to limit some of the mistakes, especially in big moments, but I think that he is a gamer. I think he&#8217;s going to do great things in 2025 for LSU.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946747" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946747" class="wp-image-946747 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191969148-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946747" class="wp-caption-text">Alex Slitz/Getty Images</p></div>
<h3>10. LT Overton (DL &#8211; Alabama) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you look at the size, when you look at the explosiveness, when you look at the versatility, I just love the way the guy plays with his hands. And I think the sky&#8217;s the limit for him.</span></p>
<h3>9. LaNorris Sellers (QB &#8211; S. Carolina) — Blain&#8217;s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He can get a little more consistency in the short to medium game. I think that comes with experience, but I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s a ceiling for this guy, I really don&#8217;t. I think he&#8217;s the best running quarterback in the SEC, and has one of the best deep balls in the SEC.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946749" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946749" class="wp-image-946749 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-866x576.jpg" alt="" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2191509685-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946749" class="wp-caption-text">David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</p></div>
<h3>8. Jake Slaughter (OL &#8211; Florida) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He was only penalized twice a season ago and didn&#8217;t allow a single sack. If you&#8217;re a young quarterback like DJ Lagway, you like to have a guy like Jake Slaughter playing center for you.</span></p>
<h3>7. John Mateer (QB &#8211; Oklahoma) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some people will think I&#8217;m crazy, but I think this guy is that talented. I get that physically, LaNorris Sellers is more dominant than Mateer is, but I think Mateer is more on time right now because of experience. I can&#8217;t wait to see him and mix with running back Jaydn Ott. And the offensive line, I think, will be better at Oklahoma.</span></p>
<h3>6. Colin Simmons (LB &#8211; Texas) — Blain&#8217;s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He can do everything you want him to do. Could probably be the signal caller on the defensive. He can put his hand down, can get into coverage, and can tackle in space. </span></p>
<h3>5. Ryan Williams (WR &#8211; Alabama) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Eight hundred sixty-five yards a season ago. That was on 48 catches for an average of 18 yards per reception. Eight touchdowns. To go with those numbers, we saw what he was able to do at the end of the Georgia game last year.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946759" style="width: 756px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946759" class="wp-image-946759 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2187285602-746x576.jpg" alt="" width="746" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2187285602-746x576.jpg 746w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2187285602-300x232.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2187285602-768x593.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2187285602-1536x1186.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2187285602-2048x1581.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946759" class="wp-caption-text">Jason Clark/Getty Images</p></div>
<h3>4. Keldric Faulk (DE &#8211; Auburn) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Look, Auburn doesn&#8217;t have the best roster in the league obviously. But I think Keldric Faulk could end up being the number one defensive lineman in the Southeastern Conference. You look at what he can do on the edge. You can move him inside. He&#8217;s incredibly versatile.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946751" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946751" class="wp-image-946751 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2171054709-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946751" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Chang/Getty Images</p></div>
<h3>3. Kadyn Proctor (OL &#8211; Alabama) — Blain’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tackle out of Bama, 6’8, 340 pounds. I mean, that dude&#8217;s basically the mountain from Game of Thrones. A little bit of inconsistency last year, but I think you&#8217;re going to see that fixed this year, especially with the offensive line they&#8217;re going to have. I think Kadyn Proctor will probably be the number one tackle taken in the SEC in the NFL draft. </span></p>
<h3>2. Dylan Stewart (DE &#8211; South Carolina) — David’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At 6’5, 245 pounds, he&#8217;s going to put on even more weight than he did a season ago, entering his sophomore year. I just think that he&#8217;s going to be one of the best football players in the conference, and his game is going to transition to the NFL.</span></p>
<h3>1. Anthony Hill Jr. (LB &#8211; Texas) — Jake’s pick</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He&#8217;s a home wrecker. He&#8217;ll wreck a whole game. I think he could be the first guy taken in the NFL draft from the SEC. I love his versatility. I love his experience, but I love his size. He is basically Fred Warner running around. I would love to build a team and a defense around this guy.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_946753" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-946753" class="wp-image-946753 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2193342531-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /><p id="caption-attachment-946753" class="wp-caption-text">Sam Hodde/Getty Images</p></div>


Arch Manning/Cam Coleman/Dylan Steward

College Football Preview: Ranking The Top 25 Players In The SEC

Crain and Company

<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The following article was adapted from a “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1arnooNZK8">Morning Wire</a>” interview with “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/crain-and-company">Crain &amp; Company</a>” host David Cone that was released on Wednesday, June 11. </span></i></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A new era has dawned in the world of college sports. Something that was illegal just a week ago – schools paying players – is now the law of the land. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last week, a settlement was <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2025/06/07/ncaa-revenue-sharing-settlement-questions/83221673007/">approved</a> in the case, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">House vs. NCAA</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a class-action lawsuit that claimed the NCAA was illegally limiting the earning potential of college athletes. This agreement ends three separate antitrust lawsuits, and it means schools can now begin paying their athletes directly. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Outkick’s Trey Wallace joined us over at “Crain &amp; Company” earlier this week to lay out how he believes this decision will affect college athletics going forward. Wallace said the settlement will eventually lead to some schools cutting certain sports.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I hate to say it,” Wallace told us. “But you’re gonna see cuts in track and field, rowing, volleyball, mid-major softball programs. You can’t afford them anymore. You&#8217;re relying on football to pay the bills.” </span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="What the House v. NCAA Settlement Means for College Sports w/ Outkick’s Trey Wallace" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mBdaSIRX7dM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>With this settlement comes an annual cap, much like a salary cap in professional sports, and it is expected to start at roughly $20.5 million per school in 2025-26. It will then increase every year during the decade-long deal. These new payments are in addition to scholarships and other benefits the athletes already receive.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first checks will be cut on July 1, so schools and conferences need to act quickly and establish the necessary infrastructure to enforce their new rules. And this doesn’t just affect current and future athletes; the NCAA will also pay nearly $2.8 billion in back damages over the next 10 years to athletes who competed in college at any time from 2016 through the present day.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In short, this is a shift from name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals student athletes made with companies and collectives to direct pay from the schools. So</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">the cases of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">O’Bannon vs. NCAA</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alston vs. NCAA</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> paved the way for college athletes to receive NIL money, but those payments were coming from third parties rather than from the athletic programs themselves. This settlement allows schools to share their revenue directly with athletes for the first time, and it also enables programs to create new rules designed to limit the influence of boosters and collectives. Starting this summer, any endorsement deal between a booster and an athlete will be vetted to ensure it’s for a &#8220;valid business purpose&#8221; rather than a recruiting incentive.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, what will be interesting to monitor is how each athletic director allocates that $20.5 million between their various sports, as Wallace hinted at in his interview with us. Another thing to watch for is how each program will continue to incorporate NIL deals on top of the revenue-sharing payments.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This development still won’t end the debates regarding how long athletes can compete at the college level, and whether or not they should be considered employees who are represented by a union for the purposes of collective bargaining. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, NCAA president Charlie Baker does believe this will help regulate what has been a very volatile market in college sports. In an </span><a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/6/6/media-center-a-letter-from-ncaa-president-charlie-baker.aspx"><span style="font-weight: 400;">open letter</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> posted last Friday, Baker stated, “This is new terrain for everyone. Given the defendant conferences&#8217; new ownership of complicated pieces of rulemaking and enforcement, there will be a transition period and certainly bumps in the road. Opportunities to drive transformative change don&#8217;t come often to organizations like ours. It&#8217;s important we make the most of this one. We have accomplished a lot over the last several months, from new health and wellness and academic requirements to a stronger financial footing. Together, we can use this new beginning to launch college sports into the future, too.”</span></p>


NCAA

A Landmark Settlement Rings In A New Era Of College Sports. Will The Tradition We Love Survive?

College basketball

Morning Wire

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Collective cries of anguish echoed through the heavens this past weekend. You may have heard the sound. It was the sound of trauma. Of heartbreak. Of great moral outrage. It was the sound of the Left-wing hacks in sports media reacting to Shedeur Sanders, the son of former NFL star Deion Sanders, being drafted into the the NFL a little bit later than most people expected.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For some background and context, Shedeur Sanders is a quarterback who played for The University of Colorado where his dad, Deion Sanders, is the head coach. For months, most analysts projected that he would be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, which began on Thursday and ran for three days and seven total rounds. But the prognosticators in sports media are about as credible, and have about as good a track record, as the political prognosticators in the news media. Which is to say they&#8217;re full of crap most of the time. So Shedeur was not drafted in the first or even second round. Instead he didn&#8217;t come off the board until the fifth round, when he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns — who selected a different quarterback, some other players, a water boy, a cheerleader, and a janitor before they finally got around to drafting Shedeur.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why does any of this matter? Well, it doesn’t matter. But to the commentators in sports media, it was a national tragedy. Shedeur’s brief draft slide was ESPN’s 9-11. It was the NFL Network’s Pearl Harbor. They’ll never forget where they were when it happened. They were shell shocked. Dumbfounded. Grief stricken. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are two very short clips that should give you a pretty good idea of how they were covering the news:</span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="005 Charles Davis and the NFL Network crew and Mel Kiper" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yw9CHR0lCsc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;It&#8217;s disgusting. I don’t get it. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s never happened before. I just want to reach out and give him a hug. This is such a tough time for him.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To be clear, they aren’t talking about someone who survived a school shooting. They&#8217;re talking about an already wealthy and famous athlete who had to wait a day longer than expected to be drafted into the NFL and get paid millions of dollars to play football. This is like weeping in the street because a trust fund baby got the wrong color Ferrari for her sweet 16. Most of the human population would kill just for the chance to experience this kind of &#8220;disappointment.&#8221; But the sports media treated Shedeur like a holocaust survivor.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All of this would just be kind of funny and embarrassing but not worth discussing. After all, sports media embarrasses itself in some form pretty much every day. They embarrass themselves even more often than the news media, if you can believe it. But what makes this whole spectacle something worse, and perhaps more notable, is the reason why the sports media were so outraged.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They — very predictably — made it about race. It was decided that Shedeur Sanders fell in the draft because he&#8217;s black.</span></p>
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1584-member-exclusive?elementPosition=2&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As an article in The Root put it in “</span><a href="https://www.theroot.com/i-am-a-leader-i-forge-my-own-path-shedeur-sanders-mak-1848432864" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shedeur Sanders</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> not getting drafted in the first, second or third rounds of the NFL draft is like when that white cashier scrunches up her face and drops change in your hand instead of running the risk of touching you. Was she a racist Karen, or is that how she treats all customers? It’s a racism Rorschach test.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Never mind the question of how else a cashier is supposed to transfer change from her hand to yours. What do you want her to do? Stroke your arm gently as she sensuously places one coin at a time into your palm? Personally I prefer that she just drop the change into my hand so we can both move on with our lives. But that’s how I interpret the “racism Rorschach test.” On the other hand, for the race hustlers, when it comes to the racism Rorschach test, the answer is always yes. And that’s why lots of commentators in sports media jumped in to make it about race. Here&#8217;s another brief highlight reel: </span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="006 Racism" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q-CyAJFyOVw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That was Ryan Clark, Emmanuel Acho, and Skip Bayless — three of the most prominent sports commentators in the country. All of them agree that this came down to race. Skip is practically in tears over it. Emmanuel says he was up all night “muling&#8221; about it, whatever the hell that&#8217;s supposed to mean. I assume the word he was reaching for was “mulling.” But the other thing about sports commentators is that they are, for the most part, fantastically stupid.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stephen A Smith was also outraged. He was tweeting in a frantic hysteria all weekend, repeatedly invoking Colin Kaepernick and alleging that there was &#8220;collusion&#8221; at play, just as there was, allegedly, to keep Kaepernick out of the league.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And it wasn&#8217;t just sports commentators. Jamaal Bowman, the former congressman famous only for pulling a fire alarm, put out a video on Saturday claiming that Shedeur’s fate is more evidence that &#8220;America continues to fear strong black men.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He also said this:</span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="007 Jamaal Bowman" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q3DwXgvB3cI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, given that I have an audience of intelligent people — certainly more intelligent than Jamaal Bowman, who has the approximate IQ of a rubber spatula — I probably don&#8217;t need to explain that these racism complaints are totally asinine.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you think that Shedeur wasn’t drafted in the first round because he&#8217;s black, you’ll have to explain why the guy selected number one overall is black. Also the guy selected number two is black. So was the guy selected number three. So was the guy selected number six, number seven, number eight, number nine, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and so on. There were 32 selections in the first round. All but five of them were black. And this ratio held up through the entire draft, just as it did in last year&#8217;s draft, and the year before that, and before that, and before that, for decades. Which is why only 25% of the players in the NFL are white. All of the rest are black, or some other racial minority.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The vast majority of NFL players are black. The vast majority of the biggest stars are black. The highest paid player in the league is black.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So where is the racism coming into play? Is it that black players are held to a higher standard? Are black players scrutinized and penalized and criticized more? No, definitely not. Deshaun Watson — a black quarterback — was credibly accused of sexual assault by over 20 women and yet was still given the richest contract in league history after all of these accusations were made public. There are black players in the league who have been involved in all manner of scandals and crimes and alleged crimes. The Baltimore Ravens selected a player in the second round of this year’s draft who was accused of rape in high school and college. He’s also black. But they needed an edge rusher, and the kid has talent, so they overlooked the rape stuff. That&#8217;s how NFL teams operate. They don&#8217;t care about the color of your skin or crimes on your rap sheet. They only care if you can help them win games. Winning is the only thing that matters. The Ravens most legendary player of all time, a black man, was charged with double murder. A year later he won Super Bowl MVP. Nothing matters in football but winning. Which is what I love about football, actually. It&#8217;s the ultimate meritocracy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Shedeur suffered his tragic drop, for which all of humanity weeps and the heavens cry out for justice, because he&#8217;s not a great prospect. He&#8217;s a pretty good prospect, but not great. He’s not as talented as a lot of the guys who went before him. Also, to make matters much worse, he’s a high maintenance diva with an ego bigger than any room he walks into. According to lots of reports, that&#8217;s exactly how he came across in his pre-draft interviews with various teams. This is a guy who had a room custom built just for the draft night broadcast with the word “legendary” painted all over the walls. He hosted a draft party where he performed some rap songs — apparently he moonlights as a rapper — and walked around with a giant brief case full of cash.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Star: Shedeur Sanders threw a MASSIVE party to celebrate being drafted by the Browns.</p>
<p>Sanders performed his hit rap songs and flexed over $100K in cash during the event.</p>
<p>So many celebrities were in attendance as well.</p>
<p>Cleveland drafted a superstar 👀 <a href="https://t.co/zqKZZVNCqe">pic.twitter.com/zqKZZVNCqe</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1916572629386887611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the NFL scouting combine, he said he doesn’t even need to explain why an NFL team should draft him. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There&#8217;s no question that Shedeur deserves it, according to Shedeur. Listen:</span></p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="009 Sanders Speaks" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QfpmX-Oxyn0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you aren&#8217;t ready to change your culture, don&#8217;t draft him. That was his message to teams considering drafting him. A message that was apparently heard loud and clear.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is, of course, the opposite of what you want to say in a job interview. Employers are looking for candidates who will fit their workplace culture, not candidates who demand that the culture change for them. Imagine walking into an interview and saying, &#8220;Hey, if you hire me, I’m going to need you to change your whole culture and the entire way that you do business. That&#8217;s how special I am.” That’s a surefire recipe for getting laughed out of the room. The only real mystery here is how this jackass managed to find any team dumb and desperate enough to draft him. But it’s Cleveland we&#8217;re talking about. Dumb and desperate is their brand. It turns out they actually won&#8217;t have to change their culture at all.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In any case, in this story we find the real tragedy of the Left-wing race hustle. We find what really makes it so harmful. Which is that it constantly destroys opportunities for much more productive conversations. So many teachable moments have been wasted over the past several years because the usual suspects injected their racial victimization narrative into it, completely derailing what could have otherwise been a useful discussion.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this case we could have been talking about the value of humility. And we could use more conversations about humility, as it falls second only to chastity as the most underrated virtue of our time. Shedeur comes from a generation that has been thoroughly brainwashed into the religion of self-worship. And his dad is Deion Sanders, who is one of the prophets of that religion. But in the real world, you can only get away with being a narcissistic nightmare if you’re extremely talented and gifted — if the weight of your ego is still somehow outweighed by your skills. Even then, you’re only getting away with being a narcissist. It certainly isn&#8217;t helping you. And eventually, as your skills fade — as they will for everyone, no matter your line of work — this equation may not work out in your favor anymore. The thing about a narcissist is that their skills, their talents, their physical gifts — whatever it is that’s causing people to put up with their nonsense — won’t last forever. But narcissism, unchecked, will last forever. Or at least until death. In fact, it will probably even grow with age, like a tumor.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So the lesson is that, no matter how talented you are, it’s better to be humble. There are two kinds of people in this world, after all. The humble, and those who will be humbled. As Christ explains to us in the Beatitudes. Better to be in the first group than the second. That’s the lesson we could take from this. But instead we’re hearing again about racism. Because why talk about real issues, when you can talk about fake ones. If the media had a motto, that would be it.</span></p>


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