12 years ago, the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins, in Vancouver. Canucks fans didn’t exactly hide their frustrations, as a riot engulfed the city. Now, more than a decade later, arguably the most enduring image of that night was a photo of a couple, kissing on the ground, surrounded by police in riot gear. In an encore fit for Valentine’s Day…and of one of our favorite episodes…Greg Wyshynski caught up with the couple, and the photographer, and j...
Feb 14, 2023•35 min
The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions! MVP Patrick Mahomes re-injured his ankle shortly before halftime and faced limited opportunities as Philly’s time of possession kept him off the field, but that didn’t stop him from shining bright like a diamond and leading yet another Mahomesian comeback, proving that he’ll be here forever. With the game tied late (and a questionable holding call against the Eagles), Kansas City ran the clock down for the game winning field goal…and they ran this...
Feb 13, 2023•35 min
When the Eagles and Chiefs meet in Super Bowl LVII it will mark the first time in league history that both of the starting quarterbacks in the game are Black. It’s a historic, and long overdue moment in a league where roughly 70 percent of the players are Black. ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III, the former No. 2 overall pick, explains why it has taken more than 50 years to see two Black QBs in the Super Bowl…what it’s like for young Black QBs who aren’t always given the same opportunities to comp...
Feb 10, 2023•38 min
We’ve all heard the football adage, “games are won in the trenches.” And this year’s Philadelphia Eagles are a prime example of this mentality. Philly has dominated along the line on both sides of the ball: their defensive line has the third-most sacks in NFL history, while their vaunted offensive line has kept Jalen Hurts safe, and is led by two generational talents in Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce. All that being said, the trenches are still the part of the field that most people understand the...
Feb 09, 2023•38 min
If Super Bowl Sunday is America’s most beloved holiday — the holiday that the greatest and most famous quarterbacks in the sport have spent their lives dreaming about winning — it does feel like Joe Montana is a bit like the ghost of Christmas past. Montana is the man Tom Brady grew up idolizing. The icon whose accolades — four championships and three Super Bowl MVPs — Patrick Mahomes is now actively trying to surpass. But, today, Wright Thompson takes us behind the scenes and inside the feeling...
Feb 08, 2023•34 min
Believe it or not, there’s a lot more to Super Bowl LVII than Rihanna performing at halftime. You may have heard about a pair of brothers facing off for the first time in Super Bowl history. Or about the beef between Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who was the Eagles head coach for 14 championship-less seasons, before being fired…who’s now taking on his former team. One of Reid’s first moves after being hired as the Chiefs’ new coach the next year was to fire much of the staff…including an assistan...
Feb 07, 2023•42 min
Love him or hate him, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is one of the best in the NFL. But beyond the flamboyance and flash, there’s a side most people haven’t seen...especially when it comes to his big brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce. And Sunday, both Kelce brothers will play in Super Bowl LVII. Ahead of the Big Game (or the “Kelce Bowl” as some are calling it), we’re playing an encore of our episode with Lisa Salters, as she describes the relationship between the two brothers. In fact, Patrick ...
Feb 06, 2023•25 min
It’s only a matter of when, not if, LeBron James breaks the all-time NBA scoring record, surpassing the current mark of 38,387 points held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar… which has stood for longer than LeBron has been alive. At times, it seems as if the career paths of both LeBron and Kareem have run parallel to each other. Both were among the best high school players in history, both infamously changed teams…and both are considered to be two of the greatest players we have ever seen. Despite that, the...
Feb 03, 2023•35 min
Tom Brady is retiring...again. One year to the day after announcing his first retirement, Brady posted a video on social media announcing that he was done “for good.” Seth Wickersham has covered Brady up close for more than two decades, and he explains why this time Brady is retiring for real…and the opportunities that are already in the works for this new chapter of his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 02, 2023•37 min
The NHL All-Star Weekend hits South Florida this weekend, but there’s one notable snub. Viktor E. Rat, the hometown Florida Panthers’ alternate mascot, will not be appearing and the fans are UPSET. Because Viktor E. Rat represents more than a costume…he is the personification of one of the most unusual traditions in all of sports: throwing rats onto the ice. It’s a hair-raising tradition that dates back to the ‘95-’96 season, when a Cinderella-esque Panthers team made the Stanley Cup Final in ju...
Feb 01, 2023•38 min
It has been more than two years since Meyers Leonard last set foot on an NBA court. The former Miami Heat center had his most productive season ever in 2019-20, a season that ended with him playing for the NBA Championship in the bubble. But after a shoulder injury derailed his 2020-21 season, Leonard filled his time playing video games. And it was during one online game session in March of 2021 when Leonard would utter an antisemetic slur that would ignite a firestorm of controversy. Meyers was...
Jan 31, 2023•45 min
It’s Chiefs vs. Eagles in Super Bowl LVII! The Chiefs escaped with a last second win over the Bengals, thanks to some late game heroics by a hobbled Patrick Mahomes. In the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles soared past the San Francisco 49ers, who ran out of quarterbacks after losing third stringer Brock Purdy to an elbow injury, and fourth stringer Josh Johnson was placed into concussion protocol early in the second half. Alex Smith takes us inside the mindsets of the quarterbacks and helps us under...
Jan 30, 2023•44 min
We are all Brett Maher…and whether you realize it or not, you are too. Every human being is at least a little bit like the Dallas Cowboys’ Kicker and NFL’s current poster boy for choking, flop-sweating, crapping the bed, whatever word you wanna use…even if you’d never admit it. Even if the person we all dream of being is Joe Burrow. So, today, David Epstein, best-selling author of THE SPORTS GENE and RANGE, takes us inside the Yips — and our own brains. Where we learn actual lessons that apply t...
Jan 27, 2023•39 min
Patrick Mahomes is undoubtedly one of the most talented quarterbacks we have ever seen in the NFL…but there was a chance that his meteoric rise almost didn’t happen at all. Back in middle school, Mahomes was locked in a QB battle with a kid named Ryan Cheatham that lasted for years until his junior season. Mahomes and Cheatham grew up playing baseball and football together, and despite how fiercely competitive they were…they actually became best friends. So Ryan Hockensmith tells you everything ...
Jan 26, 2023•39 min
This time of year, as the field of NFL contenders whittles down, the hot takes start to ramp up…and with it comes the usual tropes. Talk of quarterback legacies and the Cowboys’ never-ending failure abounds. But with Championship Sunday mere days away, we asked Mina Kimes to help us break new ground and get our heads around these two highly anticipated matchups. Can the Bengals’ depleted offensive line support Joe Burrow and overperform for the second week in a row? How much does Patrick Mahomes...
Jan 25, 2023•35 min
Just a few years ago in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball painted a picture of a dire financial situation across the league…but less than three years later, the finances – and the contracts dished out this offseason – paints the picture of a very healthy MLB economy: Aaron Judge reached a deal to stay in pinstripes for 9 years, $360 million. Trea Turner went back to the East Coast for an 11-year, $300 million agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies. Rafael Devers became ...
Jan 24, 2023•34 min
The NFL playoffs are cruel. Take Dak Prescott…last week, he had the best game of his life against the Buccaneers. This week, his season ends on an inexplicable trick play that humiliates you in front of tens of millions of people. Or, take the Buffalo Bills…who were licking their chops to face a banged up Bengals offensive line, only to look completely outmatched in front of their home fans. So today, we ask our friend Alex Smith, a quarterback who’s been there before, to tell us what impressed ...
Jan 23, 2023•52 min
Domonique Foxworth has a theory. Our current ESPN colleague is convinced that the job he used to have––NFL cornerback––is more interesting than it has ever been. So today, ahead of the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, we summon the heightened and unparalleled confidence of Domonique Foxworth. He brings all his diva cornerback vibes to explain why his old job is the biggest hidden secret-to-success in the NFL. And why, during a weekend full of superstar quarterbacks and the people who obsess...
Jan 20, 2023•36 min
The path to the Super Bowl is starting to narrow. But after the truly super, Wild Card Weekend where we only saw one blowout, the remaining contenders are catching their breath after needing miracles, big and small, to make it out of the fourth quarter. So we called up our friend Bill Barnwell to take us through each matchup one-by-one…and he tells us what to expect from a divisional round where anything can happen. To help ensure you didn't miss any of our best stories from the past year, we've...
Jan 19, 2023•38 min
It’s not just you, we really are seeing more high-scoring performances by NBA players than usual. We’ve seen 50-point performances from Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, Giannis, and counting this season…and that’s not including Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point game on January 2. It seems as though the saying “50 is the new 40” has finally made its way to the NBA, and it's become the dominant trend of the season…which left us asking ourselves, “why?” So naturally, we turned to th...
Jan 18, 2023•32 min
It’s the dream of every sports fan: the star player on your favorite team goes down with an injury. The coach is desperate, and someone needs to step up. Somehow you, the average sports fan, get picked out of the stands to hit with the bases loaded, or step in at quarterback, or take the game winning shot. Obviously, that never happens in real life, or in sports, really…except for extremely rare occasions in hockey, thanks to the EBUG rule: which stands for Emergency Back-Up Goaltender. It’s a r...
Jan 17, 2023•34 min
The NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend did not disappoint, with nailbiting finishes, surprising upsets, and a comeback for the ages. Heavy favorites like the 49ers and Bills both advanced, although Dolphins put up a bigger fight in Buffalo than many anticipated. Meanwhile, the Giants continued their surprising season behind a resurgent Danny Dimes by upsetting the #3 seed Vikings. And the Bengals finished off their divisional rival Ravens with a 98-yard thicc six fumble return on what may be the wors...
Jan 16, 2023•46 min
Why are Buffalo Bills fans called “Bills Mafia?” It’s a story that’s become legend within Buffalo. But outside of Bills fandom, the story is less well known, even for the individuals involved with the creation of Bills Mafia themselves. Twelve years ago, Stevie Johnson dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass in overtime, and seemingly blamed God on Twitter, in the aftermath. That moment sparked a movement among Bills fans, and inspired Bills Mafia as we know it now. So today, ESPN Daily ...
Jan 13, 2023•52 min
America is a French goose of a nation on Super Wild Card Weekend—a kind football foie gras about to be force-fed a seemingly endless menu of expensive, high-stakes NFL playoff games, until we luxuriously burst. So today, we ask our friend Bill Barnwell—the sharpest and most empirically minded football analyst we know—to explain how he’s attacking these half-a-dozen dishes. Will numerous quarterback injuries spoil the meal? Is Tom Brady about to eat humble pie? Can Dak and the Cowboys sugarcoat o...
Jan 12, 2023•36 min
If you live in the United Kingdom, you probably know the voice of Wayne Mardle. But after last week, millions of people around the world suddenly got a taste of him calling the World Darts Championship final – a genuinely historic duel between Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands and Michael Smith of England. And Wayne’s commentary helped make it the most globally viral thing that’s pretty much ever happened to this admittedly strange game. So, today, for everyone who watched that clip with awe...
Jan 11, 2023•35 min
The family feud between the Berhalters and the Reynas is unlike anything we’ve seen in sports. It feels more comparable to Shakespeare, or Game of Thrones, or even Star Wars. But it became all so real when Claudio Reyna, childhood friend of USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, and father of rising star Gio Reyna, along with his wife Danielle, exposed a 1991 domestic violence incident between Berhalter and his now-wife Rosalind…seemingly in response to Gio being benched at the World Cup. It’s a tragic di...
Jan 10, 2023•33 min
The final ticket to the NFL playoffs has been punched, and it belongs to the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks stayed alive with an overtime field goal over the LA Rams, and they got the help they needed from the Detroit Lions, who spoiled the playoff hopes (and bit the kneecaps) of the Green Bay Packers. The final week of the regular season was also the most emotional, especially for the Buffalo Bills, playing for the first time since Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on Monday night. Add to that a Ja...
Jan 09, 2023•30 min
It’s hard to find a more unlikely college football journey than that of Georgia QB Stetson Bennett. He first arrived in Athens as a walk-on in 2017 and a year later, when five-star recruit Justin Fields committed to the Bulldogs, Bennett transferred to Jones County Junior College. He returned to Georgia in 2019, and didn’t get his shot as the starter for two more years after that. But now, Bennett has been a Heisman finalist, and a national championship-winning quarterback…who is about to play f...
Jan 06, 2023•36 min
Pelé is without question one of the most famous people to ever live. He won three World Cups for Brazil from 1958-1970, and is widely regarded as the benchmark to which today’s greatest players are compared. Pelé died on Dec. 29 at the age of 82. ESPN Global Sports Correspondent Sam Borden is on the ground in Brazil for the funeral, and he tells us what he’s seen in Pelé’s hometown…and how his death has reverberated around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...
Jan 05, 2023•41 min
Damar Hamlin’s name has been echoing across sports for the last two days. On Monday night, the 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety collapsed on the field during the Bills-Bengals game in Cincinnati, where he was administered CPR and eventually taken to a Cincinnati hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Tyler Dunne, a Buffalo based journalist and founder of Go Long, a football focused newsletter, profiled Hamlin in 2021 after he’d been drafted by the Bills. As the world awaits additional...
Jan 04, 2023•31 min
