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. 
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. 
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, House vs. NCAA, 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. 
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.
“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.” 
<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>
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.
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.
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 the cases of O’Bannon vs. NCAA and Alston vs. NCAA 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.
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.
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. 
However, NCAA president Charlie Baker does believe this will help regulate what has been a very volatile market in college sports. In an <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/6/6/media-center-a-letter-from-ncaa-president-charlie-baker.aspx">open letter</a> 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.”

NCAA

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

College basketball

College Football

College sports

Crain and Company

Morning Wire

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.
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.
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. 
Here are two very short clips that should give you a pretty good idea of how they were covering the news:
<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>
&#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;
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.
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.
They — very predictably — made it about race. It was decided that Shedeur Sanders fell in the draft because he&#8217;s black.
<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>
As an article in The Root put it in “<a href="https://www.theroot.com/i-am-a-leader-i-forge-my-own-path-shedeur-sanders-mak-1848432864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shedeur Sanders</a> 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.”
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: 
<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>
&nbsp;
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.
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.
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.” 
He also said this:
<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>
&nbsp;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Star: Shedeur Sanders threw a MASSIVE party to celebrate being drafted by the Browns.
Sanders performed his hit rap songs and flexed over $100K in cash during the event.
So many celebrities were in attendance as well.
Cleveland drafted a superstar 👀 <a href="https://t.co/zqKZZVNCqe">pic.twitter.com/zqKZZVNCqe</a>
&mdash; Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1916572629386887611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At the NFL scouting combine, he said he doesn’t even need to explain why an NFL team should draft him. 
There&#8217;s no question that Shedeur deserves it, according to Shedeur. Listen:
<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>
&nbsp;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

2025 NFL Draft – Rounds 4-7

Another Dumb ‘Racism’ Scandal Takes Over The NFL

Another Dumb 'Racism' Scandal Takes Over The NFL

Blacks

Deion Sanders

ESPN

Football

Legacy Media

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Racism

Sports

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance celebrated the 2025 national football championship with the Ohio State Buckeyes on Monday, congratulating the team on taking home the trophy in the first-ever 12-team playoff format. 
Ohio State won the National Championship on January 20, the same day Trump was sworn in for his second term.
“It turns out January 20 was a big day for all of us,” Trump said.
“This was a historic year in college football,” he added. “Standing together today, these men are the first college football players in history who can proudly call themselves 12-team playoff champions. … That’s not easy.”
The president praised the Buckeyes for pushing on through adversity during the season, including overcoming two losses — one to Oregon and another to “that team up north.” After getting upset by Michigan on November 30, Ohio State rallied, beating Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.
Trump was flanked by Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and star players TreVeyon Henderson, Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith, Jack Sawyer, and Will Howard — all of whom were praised by the president for their performances during the playoff.
Vance, an Ohio State grad, also addressed the team and said he asked Trump if he could skip the last Inaugural Ball to attend the National Championship game.
“The president said no, but we’ll have them at the White House,” Vance added.
Vance then pointed out a man in a Michigan hat in the crowd, saying, “I don’t know who let the guy over there in the corner in the Michigan hat into this celebration. I’m about to tell the Secret Service you’ve got a dangerous weapon, sir.”
Hosts Jake Crain, Blain Crain, and David Cone of The Daily Wire’s sports podcast “Crain &amp; Company” were in attendance at the White House for the ceremony and thanked the president for keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports.
&#8220;That was an easy one,&#8221; Trump replied.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thank you for keeping your word, Mr. President, and protecting women’s sports by keeping men out. <a href="https://t.co/IkHWwMk9qf">pic.twitter.com/IkHWwMk9qf</a>
&mdash; Blain Crain (@Blain_Crain) <a href="https://twitter.com/Blain_Crain/status/1911877181547950591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Jake Crain <a href="https://x.com/JakeCrain_/status/1911823682881618220" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quipped</a> on X, &#8220;We are at The White House to pitch &#8216;DOSE.&#8217; Department of sports efficiency. Unveiling our platform soon.&#8221;
Cone, a former University of Michigan quarterback, wore a blue suit and his Wolverines ring during the celebration of his biggest rival.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I’m at the White House but…
…I have to sit through the Buckeyes championship celebration. 
Every rose has its thorn, as they say. <a href="https://t.co/qu8nuKcaH7">pic.twitter.com/qu8nuKcaH7</a>
&mdash; David Cone (@davidadamcone) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidadamcone/status/1911846277567959116?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a post on X, Cone also gave a shoutout to Trump for “bringing up the Michigan game.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Shoutout to President Trump for bringing up the Michigan game. It’s only right. <a href="https://t.co/MPNcJfVQer">pic.twitter.com/MPNcJfVQer</a>
&mdash; David Cone (@davidadamcone) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidadamcone/status/1911865988171055352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

President Trump/Ohio State Football

Trump, Vance Celebrate Ohio State’s 2025 National Championship At The White House

Donald Trump

Executive

JD Vance

Ohio State University

U.S.

White House

Former University of Michigan defensive analyst Connor Stalions, one of the most controversial figures in college football in recent years, sat down with “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ccs-ep-732-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crain &amp; Company</a>” for an in-depth interview on the program’s sign-stealing scandal.
An NCAA investigation into Michigan and its former head coach, Jim Harbaugh, allegedly centers on claims that Stalions sent scouts to future opponents’ games to record their play-calling signals. The Big Ten Conference suspended Harbaugh for three games during the 2023 season over the scandal, and Stalions stepped down from his position after he was also suspended. The NCAA has not revealed any information about how Stalions allegedly violated NCAA rules.
During his interview with the hosts of “Crain &amp; Company” released on Tuesday, Stalions gave viewers a glimpse into how he cracked his opponents&#8217; signals on the field, including those of Michigan’s biggest rival, Ohio State. While on offense, teams usually task their backup quarterbacks and graduate assistants with calling in plays by hand motions from the sideline. For most teams, a “live” signaler is calling the actual plays while two or three “dummy” signalers bluff to prevent the opponents from easily deciphering the call.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ccs-ep-732-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH THE FULL CONNOR STALIONS INTERVIEW HERE</a>
Stalions revealed that during the Michigan-Ohio State game in 2022, he quickly deciphered the Buckeyes’ live signaler.
“Ohio State didn&#8217;t change their live signaler in 2022 all season. The whole year,” he said.
“Including the game against Michigan?” asked a stunned David Cone, former Michigan quarterback and co-host of &#8220;Crain and Company.&#8221;
Stalions said that he and fellow staff member Denard Robinson quickly realized that Ohio State didn’t switch out their live signaler for the big game.
“You can call anyone from any Big Ten team when you trade signals during the week, and they all say the same thing: ‘Yeah, it&#8217;s the same guy,’” Stalions added. “Now, when you watch any game on TV, you can see &#8230; you can tell the whole time who&#8217;s live.”
Asked by host Jake Crain if Ohio State kept the same live signaler all season “out of arrogance or incompetence,” Stalions replied, “It might be a little bit of both. I don&#8217;t know.” The former Michigan staffer then said that he correctly predicted that Ohio State would swap out their live signaler for the second half.
“I said, ‘Hey, if there&#8217;s any time all year they&#8217;re going to change, it’s going to be this first drive or the second drive. And sure enough, I said, ‘If they’re going to change, it’s going to be that guy, the tall [graduate assistant] or whatever, and sure enough they switched,” he said.
Michigan went on to win that game 45–23, holding Ohio State to just three points in the second half.
“They changed their like route concepts going into that game,” Stalions said of Ohio State. “I don&#8217;t care what your route concepts are, right? If I can tell you&#8217;re going to run the ball or pass the ball … all I care about is the formation.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="How Michigan Cracked Ohio State’s Signals – The Untold Story with Connor Stalions | Crain &amp; Company" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-nRZX_Pt0MQ?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>
Michigan won the national championship in 2024, capping off a perfect season. Between 2021 and 2023, Michigan had one of its best stretches in program history. The team posted a 40-3 record, winning three straight Big Ten championships and making three straight College Football Playoff appearances. After Stalions left the Michigan staff in the middle of the 2023 season, he went on to coach Belleville High School in Michigan as an offensive coordinator, helping the team win a state championship in 2024. At Belleville, Stalions also coached the number-one recruit in the country, quarterback Bryce Underwood, who switched his commitment from LSU to Michigan last year.
Some argue that the sign-stealing scandal surrounding Michigan should result in the program&#8217;s wins from the past few seasons and its 2024 national championship being vacated. Stalions, who joined the Michigan staff as a volunteer assistant in 2018, has maintained that sign stealing isn&#8217;t unusual in college football programs and doesn&#8217;t violate NCAA rules.

Connor Stalions Crain and Co.

Former UM Staffer Talks Sign Stealing Controversy, Reveals How He Cracked Biggest Rival’s Strategy

Media

The Daily Wire

University of Michigan

The college football national championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame on Monday was the third-lowest-rated national championship game since the beginning of the College Football Playoff (CFP) era, which goes back to 2014.
An average of 22.1 million viewers tuned in to <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43525435/cfp-title-game-most-watched-season-viewership-down" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN</a> to watch the Buckeyes win over the Fighting Irish, a 12% drop from last year&#8217;s national championship game between Michigan and Washington that was watched by an average of 25 million people. Only the 2021 national championship game — which came at the end of a season that saw many canceled games due to the COVID pandemic — and the 2023 championship game between Georgia and TCU — which ended in a historic blowout — had <a href="https://saturdayblitz.com/declining-tv-ratings-for-college-football-playoff-national-title-should-be-reason-for-concern" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worse ratings</a> than this year&#8217;s championship game.
The lower ratings for college football&#8217;s biggest game came on the back of the first 12-team CFP, a massive expansion from the sport&#8217;s previous four-team playoff. The drop in ratings this year is surprising since the championship game featured two historically successful teams with large markets. According to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/19/college-sports-programs-valuations.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC</a>, Ohio State is the most valuable college sports program in the country with Notre Dame close behind at #6. The schools&#8217; large fan bases combined with the expanded playoff format, however, didn&#8217;t resonate with viewers as championship games have in the past.
Another factor that could&#8217;ve affected viewership on Monday night was the inauguration and immediate actions of President Donald Trump, which drew many people to Fox News and other news networks throughout the day.
Ohio State jumped out to a big lead in the third quarter when they went up 31-7, but Notre Dame crawled their way back into the game late in the fourth quarter. The TV audience for the game peaked during the second quarter at 26.1 million viewers when the game was a 7-7 tie, according to ESPN.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737044212122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3mp2MZNwEXBk00lKmCtOss">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
While the expanded playoffs added more games this year — and, therefore, more viewers compared to last year — the 2025 semifinals averaged just 19.2 million viewers, which was a 17% drop from last year&#8217;s semifinal games.
Outkick founder Clay Travis <a href="https://x.com/ClayTravis/status/1882204137842201046" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> that college football&#8217;s ratings are down for big games because the sport needs to do a better job lifting the ceiling for its &#8220;potential audience.&#8221;
&#8220;Just 22.1 million viewers watched Ohio State-Notre Dame, the third lowest playoff title game viewership on record. Truly awful number given expansion to 12 playoff teams. The title game was played on Monday night as they all have been in playoff era. So why the tiny number?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;My best theory, as someone who loves CFB, the ceiling needs to be lifted for potential audience. 100 million watch every Super Bowl. The CFB ceiling appears to be roughly 30 million right now no matter who plays. How does potential audience expand? And why is CFB so much lower than NFL? What is NFL doing, in other words to grow and sell its game to the general public so much better?&#8221;

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

‘Truly Awful Number’: CFB National Championship Sees Big Ratings Drop After Playoff Expansion

Fewer People Tune In For College Football National Championship After Playoff Expansion

Notre Dame

Allstate, the insurance giant that sponsors the Sugar Bowl, was blasted on Thursday for its response to the New Orleans terror attack that killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens more on New Year&#8217;s Day.
Early Wednesday morning, 42-year-old American citizen and Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar — who pledged his allegiance to ISIS — sped a pickup truck through a crowded Bourbon Street, killing people who were ringing in the New Year. This year&#8217;s Sugar Bowl game between Georgia and Notre Dame, which was initially scheduled for Wednesday night, was delayed until Thursday afternoon after the terror attack.
Before the Sugar Bowl kicked off, ESPN played a short video from Allstate CEO Thomas Wilson, who offered his condolences to friends and family of the victims and then implored Americans to be &#8220;stronger together by overcoming an addiction to divisiveness and negativity.&#8221;
&#8220;Join Allstate working in local communities all across America to amplify the positive, increase trust, and accept people&#8217;s imperfections and differences,&#8221; Wilson added. &#8220;Together, we win.&#8221;
The Allstate video went viral on social media and was roundly criticized after it was shared by Turning Point USA spokeswoman Isabel Brown.
&#8220;Turned on the Notre Dame &#8211; Georgia game for it to start with this ridiculous propaganda from @Allstate on yesterday’s terrorist attack: &#8216;We need to overcome an addiction to divisiveness and negativity… &amp; accept people’s imperfections and differences&#8217;??!!! You’re JOKING,&#8221; Brown wrote alongside the video.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Turned on the Notre Dame &#8211; Georgia game for it to start with this ridiculous propaganda from <a href="https://twitter.com/Allstate?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Allstate</a> on yesterday’s terrorist attack:
“We need to overcome an addiction to divisiveness and negativity… &amp; accept people’s imperfections and differences”??!!!
You’re JOKING. <a href="https://t.co/Xiwdek3BoP">pic.twitter.com/Xiwdek3BoP</a>
&mdash; Isabel Brown (@theisabelb) <a href="https://twitter.com/theisabelb/status/1874930349782004095?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Others chimed in, blasting Allstate for failing to condemn terrorism and lecturing Americans about &#8220;acceptance.&#8221;
&#8220;Insane move @Allstate. How about condemning terrorism? Fire all your PR people,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/ClayTravis/status/1874961147272818817" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Outkick founder Clay Travis.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott <a href="https://x.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1874989416395264096" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, &#8220;This is crazy by Allstate. Maybe — and hear me out here — we should all agree that terrorism will not be tolerated in the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;Only major companies somehow get this out of touch with society,&#8221; said conservative activist Robby Starbuck. &#8220;To normal people this sounds like @Allstate giving cover to an ISIS terrorist as if he wouldn’t have killed those people if we all accepted his backwards ideology. This is the definition of suicidal empathy.&#8221;
Former NBC NFL reporter Michele Tafoya <a href="https://x.com/Michele_Tafoya/status/1874998849544364122" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Allstate probably &#8220;wishes it had a mulligan.&#8221;
&#8220;Yikes. Bad decision. Silly message. Platitudes about acceptance, and nothing about rejecting terror in all its forms,&#8221; she wrote.
Allstate has been a longtime corporate sponsor of college football. Its logo, which features two hands, is often seen on the netting behind field goalposts. The insurance company has sponsored the Sugar Bowl since 2007. Allstate has fully endorsed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), <a href="https://www.allstatecorporation.com/corporate-responsibility/inclusive-diversity-equity.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> it a &#8220;core value.&#8221;
&nbsp;

Allstate

‘How About Condemning Terrorism?: Allstate Ripped For Response To ISIS-Inspired Attack

Allstate Ripped For Response To New Orleans Terror Attack

Business

New Orleans

Terrorism

terrorist attack

The college football quarterfinal playoffs Allstar Sugar Bowl game opened on Thursday with a moment of silence for the people killed in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-orleans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Orleans</a> following a terror attack in the city before the game was set to take place on New Year’s Day.
In several videos posted on <a href="https://x.com/RossDellenger/status/1874920156549574748">X</a>, fans inside the Caesars Superdome paused for 60 seconds and <a href="https://x.com/YahooSports/status/1874925600059658628" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bowed their heads</a> for the 15 people killed and dozens more wounded <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/truck-plows-into-crowd-in-new-orleans-french-quarter-mayor-calls-it-a-terrorist-attack">after a terrorist</a> with an ISIS flag drove a truck through a crowded Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day.
It was just before the Georgia Bulldogs and Notre Dame Fighting Irish players took the field for the coin flip and subsequent kickoff at 4:00 p.m. ET. The bowl game was postponed after it was initially scheduled to take place on Wednesday night.
Before the game, Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said that he’s “convinced” New Orleans is “safe” following the terror attack, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/louisiana-governor-says-hes-convinced-new-orleans-is-safe-ahead-of-sugar-bowl">The Daily Wire</a> reported.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Moment of silence for the French Quarter victims ahead of the Sugar Bowl. <a href="https://t.co/XNDgLBPOAB">pic.twitter.com/XNDgLBPOAB</a>
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) <a href="https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/status/1874920156549574748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
In an appearance on “<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/new-orleans-bourbon-street-terror-attack-01-02-25">Fox &amp; Friends</a>” Thursday morning, Landry was asked if he is concerned about more potential threats to New Orleans after Wednesday’s terror attack carried out by 42-year-old Texas native and Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
“I think one of the most important things is to make sure that each one of those victims did not die in vain. All of them had come to the city in order to enjoy the city, in order to enjoy some entertainment and ring in the new year,” the governor said.
“Y’all had a guest earlier who was an eyewitness, who said the same thing is that: We can’t live in fear. We need to be able to live our lives,” he added. “And what we plan to do is ensure that as we remember those folks, that we put New Orleans back in a position where people can come and have a good time. We believe that the city – I’m convinced that the city is safe.”
During pregame warmups, Georgia coach Kirby Smart described the Bourbon Street attack as &#8220;saddening and scary,” <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43260792/new-orleans-security-presence-hundreds-sugar-bowl">ESPN reported</a>.
&#8220;Things are bigger than football out there,&#8221; Smart said. &#8220;Sometimes we get caught up in our own selves and our own moment and you lose sight how blessed we are every day to have the opportunity we have to play football and to play in a CFP quarterfinal game against a historic program. A lot of times when you have gratitude, it takes away a lot of anxiety.&#8221;
The winner of Thursday’s Bowl game will take on No. 6 Penn State in the CFP Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida, on January 9, the outlet noted.
Zach Jewell contributed to this piece.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/louisiana-governor-says-hes-convinced-new-orleans-is-safe-ahead-of-sugar-bowl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louisiana Governor Says He’s ‘Convinced’ New Orleans Is ‘Safe’ Ahead Of Sugar Bowl</a>

Sugar Bowl 2025

Sugar Bowl Opens With Moment Of Silence Following New Orleans Terror Attack

Louisiana

New Year's

Sugar Bowl

Travis Hunter, the two-way Colorado star who dominates both sides of the ball as a receiver and a cornerback, won the 2024 Heisman Trophy Saturday night in New York City.
Hunter beat out Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, and Miami quarterback Cam Ward for the most prestigious award in college football that is awarded annually to the player who is voted the most outstanding player.
The Heisman Trophy is the crown jewel of the numerous awards Hunter racked up during his unprecedented season. The other awards he won include the AP Player of the Year, Biletnikoff Award (best receiver), Bednarik Award (best defensive player), Lott IMPACT Trophy (defensive impact player of the year), Paul Hornung Award (most versatile award), and Walter Camp Award (college player of the year).
This season at receiver, Hunter recorded 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also recorded a rushing touchdown.
On defense Hunter allowed only 22 catches all season, including 1 that went for a touchdown and just 6 that went for first downs. He had 34 tackles, 4 interceptions, 11 pass breakups, and he forced a fumble at the end of an overtime game that gave Colorado the win.
Hunter played 1,443 snaps in total this season, including 1,356 snaps on offense and defense in just 12 games. ESPN said that he played at least 434 more plays than any other player in college football this year.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1734316362792000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3WFrGTKGi4Kfdcfmpq1Mud">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
The most impressive part about his stats on both sides of the ball is conditions under which he achieved them. When he played on offense, he was double teamed on nearly every play and when he played on defense opposing teams avoided throwing to his side of the field.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“If the NFL Draft was tomorrow he’d be the #1 corner picked and he’d be the #1 receiver picked.”<a href="https://twitter.com/TravisHunterJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TravisHunterJr</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HE12MAN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HE12MAN</a> <a href="https://t.co/W6gUwKTXcZ">pic.twitter.com/W6gUwKTXcZ</a>
— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/CUBuffsFootball/status/1865572021318635577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
Projected to be the No. 1 pick in next year&#8217;s NFL Draft, Hunter became only the second defensive player in college football history to win the Heisman Trophy.
Michigan Wolverines cornerback Charles Woodson is the only other defensive player to win the award (1997).
However, Woodson only played situationally on offense and started on defense, whereas Hunter started on both sides of the ball and played nearly every play in the game.
During Woodson’s Heisman year, he intercepted seven passes and made 43 tackles on defense while catching 11 passes for 231 yards and a receiving touchdown on offense. He also had 1 rushing touchdown.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 28 Colorado at UCF

Colorado’s Travis Hunter Wins Heisman Trophy

Vice President-elect JD Vance invited subway hero Daniel Penny to attend this weekend’s Army-Navy football game – and Penny accepted.
Penny, who was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide on Monday, will attend the game as Vance’s special guest and watch alongside Vance and President-elect Donald Trump from Trump’s private suite.
“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance wrote on X. “I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone.
I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage. <a href="https://t.co/b4bY0G0EM3">https://t.co/b4bY0G0EM3</a>
— JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1867574373806215465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The invitation was <a href="https://www.notus.org/trump-transition/daniel-penny-jd-vance-football" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first reported</a> by Reese Gorman, a journalist at the non-profit news outlet NOTUS.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
New: VP-Elect JD Vance has invited Daniel Penny to be his personal guest at the Army-Navy game this weekend, per source familiar.
They will be joining President Trump in his suite at the game.
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) <a href="https://twitter.com/reesejgorman/status/1867558134220231068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after he put homeless man Jordan Neely in a chokehold last year. Neely had been threatening to kill passengers on the New York City subway when Penny placed him in a chokehold to restrain him until police arrived.
Neely still had a pulse when police arrived but soon died, and prosecutors said Penny was responsible. At trial, the New York medical examiner testified that Penny’s chokehold caused Neely’s death, even though high amounts of drugs were found in Neely’s system. A forensic pathologist who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chokehold-did-not-kill-jordan-neely-forensic-expert-testifies-in-daniel-pennys-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> for the defense, however, said that Neely died due to the drugs, his sickle cell trait, and the struggle between him and other passengers. An expert called by the defense also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jordan-neely-claimed-to-hear-tupac-and-devil-was-hospitalized-a-dozen-times-for-psychotic-episodes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> that Neely had been hospitalized more than a dozen times for psychotic episodes and claimed to hear voices.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1733885540339000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3AN1vxuvN8UmdriyXYDBvs">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
For its final witness, the defense called Brian Kemef, who works for the court clerk’s office. Kemef testified that Neely had an active warrant for his arrest relating to an alleged assault in 2021. Neely also had a history of violence, including other assaults on the subway, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/daniel-penny-trial-defense-witness-who-claimed-chokehold-didnt-kill-jordan-neely-returns-stand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Neely had been arrested more than 40 times.
Following the trial, which involved the prosecution repeatedly referring to Penny as “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daniel-penny-repeatedly-referred-to-as-the-white-man-by-prosecution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the white man</a>,” jurors told the judge that they were deadlocked over the manslaughter charge, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jury-in-daniel-penny-trial-says-theyre-deadlocked-over-manslaughter-charge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time. Judge Maxwell Wiley initially told the jury to return to deliberations and find a unanimous decision, but jurors again said they couldn’t. At that point, the judge and Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran discussed the possibility of dropping the manslaughter charge and allowing the jury to deliberate on the lesser charge in an effort <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-why-the-state-dropped-top-charge-in-daniel-penny-case-and-why-defense-is-calling-foul" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to find a guilty verdict</a>.
When the jury returned after the weekend, it took less than an hour to return a not guilty verdict for the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.

Daniel Penny

Daniel Penny To Attend Army-Navy Game As JD Vance’s Guest

Daniel Penny To Attend Army-Navy Game After Invitation From JD Vance

General

Politics

A fight broke out between <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> and Ohio State Saturday afternoon following the Wolverines&#8217; 13-10 upset victory over the No. 2 ranked Buckeyes.
The brawl erupted after Michigan football players brought a school flag onto the field after the win and tried to plant it at center field at Ohio Stadium, commonly referred to as &#8220;The Horseshoe&#8221; by Ohio State fans.
Police used pepper spray to breakup the altercation that ESPN <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/42703166/police-probing-use-pepper-spray-ohio-state-michigan-melee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> lasted for approximately five minutes.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A fight has broken out between Michigan and Ohio State after The Game <a href="https://t.co/XPwdAjfYzN">pic.twitter.com/XPwdAjfYzN</a>
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1862957558324986221?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
Ohio State Police said in a statement that &#8220;officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an on-field altercation.&#8221;
&#8220;During the scuffle, multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray,&#8221; the statement said. &#8220;OSUPD is the lead agency for games &amp; will continue to investigate.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Following the game, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an on-field altercation. During the scuffle, multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray. OSUPD is the lead agency for games &amp; will continue to investigate.
— OSU Police (@OSUPOLICE) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSUPOLICE/status/1862981455153893623?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day later blamed Michigan for starting the melee by planting the flag.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know all the details of it, but I know these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren&#8217;t going to let that happen,&#8221; Day said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll find out exactly what happened. But this is our field and certainly we&#8217;re embarrassed of the fact that we lost the game, but there&#8217;s some prideful guys in this team that weren&#8217;t going to just let that happen.&#8221;
Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore said that emotions were running high on both sides.
&#8220;I did see they had the flag and guys were waving it around and their guys charged us. There&#8217;s emotion on both sides,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It can&#8217;t happen. Rivalry games get heated, especially this one, it&#8217;s the biggest one in the country, so we got to handle that one better.&#8221;

Michigan v Ohio State

Fight Erupts Between Michigan, Ohio State Following Wolverines Upset Win

Colorado Buffaloes head football coach Deion Sanders slammed the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award on Tuesday after it snubbed two-way Colorado star football player Travis Hunter from its finalist list.
Hunter, who starts at both wide receiver and cornerback for the 8-3 Buffaloes, is the heavy favorite to win the Heisman Trophy heading into the final weeks before the winner is announced on December 14. The latest odds in betting markets have Hunter at -1,000 — giving him an implied 90.9% chance of winning the most prestigious award in college football, according to BetMGM. The award is given to the most valuable player in college football every year.
The <a href="https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2025-nfl-mock-draft-three-quarterbacks-go-in-the-top-10-shedeur-sanders-new-york-giants">projected</a> No. 1 NFL Draft pick for next year was named as a finalist for multiple awards on Tuesday, including the Maxwell Award (for best all-around player), Biletnikoff Award (for best wide receiver), Bednarik Award (for best defensive player), Hornung Award (for most versatile player) and Walter Camp Award (for most outstanding player).
However, it was the one award for which Hunter was not a finalist that upset Sanders — who starred in the NFL and MLB at the same time.
&#8220;How is Travis Hunter snubbed for the Jim Thorpe Award?&#8221; Sanders asked at a press conference. &#8220;You could have my award. You could have it back. Matter of fact, I’m gonna give him mine. I ain’t using it. It’s just sitting up there collecting dust. So Travis can have my Thorpe award because if this ain’t the most idiotic thing in college football that he’s not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and he is — I would say arguably but I don’t really think it’s an argument about this young man being the best defensive back in college football.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
&#8220;He rarely gets thrown at,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;He’s won a game for tackling for us. And he’s always on point. So if you bring up the statistics I don’t know how in the world is Travis Hunter not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. They just pretty much messed up all the integrity of the award, and he can have mine.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Coach Prime on Travis Hunter not being a finalist for the Jim Thorpe award:
“How is Travis Hunter snubbed by the Thorpe. You can have my award, you can have it back. In fact i’m gonna give him mine” <a href="https://t.co/vHHUF24CzA">pic.twitter.com/vHHUF24CzA</a>
— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) <a href="https://twitter.com/DNVR_Buffs/status/1861473018503143744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
If Hunter wins the Heisman Trophy, he will become only the second defensive player in history to win the award.
Michigan Wolverines cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997 was the only defensive player to win the Heisman.
However, there is a key difference between Woodson and Hunter. Woodson only played situationally on offense and started on defense, whereas Hunter starts on both sides of the ball and plays nearly every play in the game outside of special teams.
During Woodson&#8217;s Heisman year, he intercepted seven passes and made 43 tackles on defense while catching 11 passes for 231 yards and a receiving touchdown on offense. He also had 1 rushing touchdown.
So far in 2024, Hunter has intercepted three passes and deflected breakups — despite rarely being thrown at — and had a game-winning forced fumble on the goal line against Baylor. On offense, Hunter has 82 catches for 1,036 yards and 11 touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown.

Colorado v Colorado State

Deion Sanders To Give Travis Hunter His Thorpe Award After Hunter Gets Snubbed

Celebrities

Colorado

Podcast host and former NFL player <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jason-kelce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jason Kelce</a> was harassed during his visit to Pennsylvania State University by a heckler who called his brother <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/travis-kelce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Travis Kelce</a> a “f****t,&#8221; and in response, Kelce smashed the person’s phone before the heckler shoved him to the ground.
In the <a href="https://x.com/Outkick/status/1852792827710697785">video</a> that surfaced on Saturday on X, the retired Philadelphia Eagles star is attempting to go to the Ohio State-Penn State college football game when he is surrounded outside Penn State’s Beaver stadium. One of the people who was walking very close to him was a male college student pointing his phone-camera in Kelce&#8217;s face and harassing him.
In the clip, we can hear the person say to Kelce, whose brother is dating Taylor Swift, “Kelce, how does it feel that your brother is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?”
A second <a href="https://x.com/barstoolsports/status/1852779425990914182">video</a> shows a close-up shot of Jason seeing the heckler holding the phone in his face while making the attack on his brother. In response, Kelce grabs the phone and throws it to the ground. He then bends down to pick it up and walks away.
In a third <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DB4pgg5CqFZ/?igsh=MTBlZjE4YzMxOA%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clip</a>, we see Kelce bend down to pick up the dropped phone again, when the heckler puts his hand on him and shoves the former NFL player to the ground. Travis&#8217; brother then stands up and replies to the heckler, “Who’s the f****t now?” before he walked off to the game.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Jason Kelce smashes the phone of some homophobic loser to bits after he decided to talk s**t on his brother and Taylor Swift right in front of him.
What an icon.<a href="https://t.co/HMKRP2iYLB">pic.twitter.com/HMKRP2iYLB</a>
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/PHLEaglesNation/status/1852762286659920291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
Reading through social media, the support for Kelce appeared to be overwhelming, with many people pointing out this person was harassing him, and saying horrible things about his brother clearly in an effort to get a viral moment.
“Good for Jason Kelce. Can’t say bulls*** and not expect a response,” one person <a href="https://x.com/MarkMizzouSteel/status/1852785021788041430">wrote</a>.
Another <a href="https://x.com/colin_dunlap/status/1852764756811358442">added,</a> “I love this. Jason Kelce just took a stand for normal men against the ‘idiots who have become way too comfortable saying ridiculous s*** to people who can actually kick their a**&#8217; crowd. Good for him.”
While a third person <a href="https://x.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1852776563491717481">wrote</a>, “People are gonna comment about Jason Kelce but the point is there’s no accountability for anything anyone says anymore. The old days with no phones and social media what do you think would have really happened?! People are losers for this crap.”
One person noted how the man &#8220;following and berating Jason Kelce deserved to have his phone smashed. He went looking for trouble and intentionally wanted to elicit a reaction. F that guy!”
The video was taken during Kelce’s attendance at the game for an appearance on ESPN’s College Gameday, <a href="https://people.com/jason-kelce-smashes-fans-phone-after-they-call-travis-homophobic-slur-8738785?hid=4f90b78dc31e627328d98338e1fa49d03b364abc&amp;did=15218418-20241102&amp;utm_campaign=ppl_relationship-builder&amp;utm_source=ppl&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=110224&amp;lctg=4f90b78dc31e627328d98338e1fa49d03b364abc&amp;lr_input=a08f4ce0dc67f7e22d138c82b9ce538ad294bfaca0b145e2f563962e58e05ef7&amp;utm_term=news-alert">People magazine</a> noted. Kelce retired from the Eagles in March 2024. He is a host of the “New Heights” podcast with his brother Travis and also works for ESPN as a sports analyst.

Menu