The mood inside the Target Center was, understandably, off on Sunday afternoon.
While the Golden State Warriors did roll to a near-30-point blowout over the Minnesota Timberwolves, it wasn’t the game that threw the vibes off. It was everything else going on just outside of the arena doors on the streets of Minneapolis that did it.
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That, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the Warriors’ 111-85 win, was very apparent.
“Honestly what I felt was that their group was suffering,” Kerr said, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “I thought the vibe in the stands, it was one of the most bizarre, sad games I’ve ever been a part of. You could feel the somber atmosphere. Their team, we could tell, they were struggling with everything that’s been going on and what the city has been through.
Plenty in the sports world have spoken out, including several Minnesota sports teams and the National Basketball Players Association. New York Liberty star and Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart held an “Abolish ICE” sign before her game on Sunday. Former Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton both posted about it on social media.
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After seeing the situation unfold, both Kerr and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch were in agreement. Playing basketball on Saturday, Finch said, “just didn’t feel like the right thing to do.”
“For the second time in less than three weeks, we’ve lost another beloved member of our community in the most unimaginable way,” an emotional Finch said before the game.
“As an organization, we are heartbroken for what we are having to witness and endure and watch. We just want to extend our thoughts, prayers and concern for Mr. Pretti’s family, all the loved ones and everyone involved in such an unconscionable situation in a community that we really love, full of people who are, by nature, peaceful and prideful. We just stand in support of our great community here.”
Warriors star Stephen Curry said he was “glued” to the TV on Friday and Saturday when they weren’t playing or practicing. He also said he has videos on his phone that he took of protesters who were walking through the streets on Friday outside of their hotel in sub-zero temperatures.
“The protests that were going on downtown, it was amazing to watch the turnout,” Curry said. “The peaceful protests and unified voice that was here, you feel like that would kind of turn the tide to a more positive direction. Then you wake up in the morning and you see what happened … There’s a lot of change that needs to happen, and when you’re here, you feel it.”
The Timberwolves held a moment of silence for Pretti before the game on Sunday. Several in the crowd shouted out “F*** ICE” during the moment.
While there were protests outside of the Target Center again on Sunday, the game went off as planned without any issues.
“It’s very difficult to see so many people struggling and sad,” Kerr said. “They came to the game to try to forget about stuff, I guess, but I don’t think anything went away for the city and for their team. I think they were suffering from the effects of everything.”
There’s ample reason to believe this one will be exciting, too. Here’s a deeper look by the numbers at what’s at stake.
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(Special thanks to the AP’s Josh Dubow and NFL researchers Dante Koplowitz-Fleming, Tony Holzman-Escareno, Zak Koeppel and Jack Andrade for the facts and figures.)
Drake Maye is the second QB in NFL history to defeat the top three scoring defenses from the regular season in the same postseason, joining Peyton Manning in the 2006 season.
This is the third Super Bowl between starting QBs picked in the top five of their respective drafts — as well as the first between QBs each picked third overall — following Peyton Manning vs. Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50 and Matthew Stafford vs. Joe Burrow in Super Bowl LVI.
4
This is the fourth Super Bowl between head coaches in their first or second season on the job, following Super Bowl XXXVI (Bill Belichick’s Patriots vs. Mike Martz’s Rams), Super Bowl XXXVII (Jon Gruden’s Buccaneers vs. Bill Callahan’s Raiders), and Super Bowl XLIII (Mike Tomlin’s Steelers vs. Ken Whisenhunt’s Cardinals).
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5
Sam Darnold has played with five teams in his NFL career, the most for a QB making his first Super Bowl start since Atlanta’s Chris Chandler in the 1998 season (six).
This is the sixth time in Super Bowl history the game will pit two teams that missed the playoffs the previous season, following Super Bowls III (Jets-Colts), XVI (49ers-Bengals), XXXIV (Rams-Titans), XXXV (Ravens-Giants), and XXXVIII (Patriots-Panthers).
7
The Patriots are in search of their seventh Super Bowl title, which would break a tie with the Steelers for most by a single franchise all time. (Tom Brady, of course, has seven on his own with the Patriots and Buccaneers.)
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8
This postseason has already featured eight games decided by 4 points or fewer, breaking the previous playoff record of six, which happened in both 2006 and 2021.
12
This is the Patriots’ 12th Super Bowl appearance, extending their own NFL record. Four teams (Cowboys, Steelers, 49ers and Broncos) are tied for second at eight.
17
The Seahawks are looking to become the 17th NFL franchise with multiple Super Bowl titles. The Eagles were the most recent team to accomplish the feat last season.
The number of giveaways Sam Darnold committed during the regular season, the most in the regular season. The last QB to lead the NFL in giveaways and make the Super Bowl? Eli Manning in 2007, when his Giants beat the Patriots to win the title.
26
The total number of points the Patriots have allowed in three games this postseason in reaching the Super Bowl, the fewest since the 2000 Ravens allowed just 16 in their first three playoff games.
35
Days older than Dan Marino that Drake Maye would be when he starts Super Bowl LX. Marino is the youngest starting QB in Super Bowl history at 23 years, 127 days, and Maye would be 23 years, 162 days.
DENVER — With the sunny, blue skies that colored the first half a distant memory, the New England Patriots had no intention of passing the ball.
One minute and 57 seconds remained in the AFC championship game. Third-and-6 loomed, and snow blanketed Empower Field at Mile High so thoroughly that stadium staff were powering snowblowers every game break to elucidate the yardage line markers vanishing beneath the powder.
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But facing what Patriots center Garrett Bradbury called a “sideways blizzard,” just one first down separated the Patriots from a Super Bowl berth.
The Denver Broncos knew the weather drastically decreased the chance of a pass, so they left no safeties deep. They saw heavy personnel New England had earlier aligned on for a stretch run to the right, and defenders slid to their left accordingly.
As Drake Maye surveyed his options in an offense that puts a lot on the quarterback’s plate but also empowers him, Maye thought to himself: “At some point, they get lackadaisical.” Translation: If the Broncos were going to slide toward his right, Maye would take it around the left edge.
Broncos outside linebacker Jonah Elliss seemed to travel with Maye as he took off behind the line of scrimmage, then across the line of scrimmage, and nearing the first-down chains. But as Elliss dove to prevent Maye’s conversion, he instead ended up sprawled in the snow as Maye’s speed proved unmoored by the slick conditions that his teammates and opponents confirmed impacted their ability to find solid footing.
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“If it’s a pass play called, then we’re going to protect him the best we can and he’s got obviously that threat to take it, and so we’ll ride with him any day of the week,” Bradbury said from a celebratory postgame locker room. “He understands his skills and how he can hurt a defense. I mean, that’s got to be demoralizing for a defense.
“Gutsy effort from him in those conditions.”
After scoring just 10 points to the Broncos’ 7, the Patriots are headed to the Super Bowl. Because on a day when two high-performing defenses were further aided by conditions that countered the pass game the NFL has tried so hard to promote, the Broncos’ mobile, first-string quarterback was confined to the fourth floor with a scooter.
And while Bo Nix recovers from a broken ankle he suffered in overtime of the Broncos’ divisional-round win, Maye validated why he’s a finalist for this season’s MVP as he rushed for 65 yards and a score.
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Maye is poised to be the youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl since Dan Marino in 1985.
Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams echoed Bradbury’s phrasing from the opposite side of the locker room.
“It’s demoralizing,” he said of Maye’s escapability. “I mean, dem boys, they [are] rushing. They [are] trying to go get him and he [is] fast. He [is] fast and that’s a backbreaker when you [are] rushing and you can’t get back there. Now you got to chase him after you done beat your guy.
“That was a big play by Drake that ended it for us. We’re going back to the Bowl.”
DENVER , CO – JANUARY 25: Drake Maye (10) of the New England Patriots stiff arms Jonah Elliss (52) of the Denver Broncos as he beats him to the edge for a game-clinching first-down run during the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 10-7 AFC Championship Game win at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, January 25, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
(AAron Ontiveroz via Getty Images)
Patriots offensive strategy vs. Broncos: Don’t lose it
Three days before the Patriots arrived at a game in which the weather would rapidly become “worse and worse and worse,” per head coach Mike Vrabel, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spoke candidly about the nature of NFL playoff games.
But matchups of the best players and best coaches with the biggest stakes often don’t elapse without hiccups, McDaniels said Thursday.
“It’s like a great boxing match: I don’t think either guy leaves the ring at the end of the fight if it’s a 12-round split decision where one of ‘em thinks they really got the better of the other.”
As McDaniels advanced to his sixth Super Bowl as coordinator, the framework would come to describe the AFC championship offensive outings well.
Beyond each team scoring just one touchdown, and each missing two field-goal attempts, the Patriots’ and Broncos’ attacks struggled to stay on the field.
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The Patriots converted just one third of their third-down attempts (six-of-18), which fared better than the Broncos’ 28.6% (four-of-14). The Broncos managed just 79 rushing yards on 24 carries, while Maye completed fewer than 50% of his pass attempts (10 of 21 for 86 yards).
The boxing decision would come down to Maye’s mobility — beginning with the contrasting second-quarter stretch that would define the game.
The Broncos faced third-and-4 from their own 33, when Nix’s replacement, Jarrett Stidham, sought to make something out of nothing. But the Broncos’ offensive line hadn’t slowed linebacker Christian Elliss off the left edge, so Stidham sought to release the ball, instead throwing what was ruled a backward pass and fumble recovered by Patriots outside linebacker Elijah Ponder.
This was before the sun had fled and before the snow had fallen, but the Patriots’ offense had nonetheless struggled against the No. 1 sack unit and No. 2 defense the Broncos fronted.
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The gifted short field was a panacea. Maye hit receiver Kayshon Boutte for 6 yards in the red zone on the first play. The second, Maye hitched as if he would throw to his left, then tucked the ball and ran up the middle for a 6-yard score.
By day’s end, Maye’s legs would not only account for the Patriots’ lone score. They would also account for three of New England’s five longest plays.
General manager Eliot Wolf had seen that mobility in Maye’s college career, the quarterback accounting for 1,147 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing his final two years at UNC. With a league-best accurate arm this season, defenders have needed to respect both Maye’s arm and his legs. Honest defenses have suffered.
“The way that’s translated to up here has been pretty cool to see,” Wolf told Yahoo Sports. “From the standpoint of having another weapon to extend plays, obviously some of the biggest plays that we had today were those plays.
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“One of the differences in the game.”
Robert Kraft’s bet on Vrabel has paid off in no time
Another difference in the game ran up and down the Patriots’ sideline Sunday afternoon, the recipe he brought to New England this season on full display.
Vrabel has now tied the NFL all-time record for most wins in a head coach’s first season with a club (17). He is the eighth head coach in NFL history to advance to the Super Bowl in his first season with a team, and the seventh head coach to lead the team he once played for to the Super Bowl, per the team’s postgame notes.
Vrabel has elevated the Patriots with his schematic influence and his emphasis on speed and violence in defensive play. But as a walk-around coach who does not call plays on game day, Vrabel’s influence also has permeated deeply with his rare ability to balance supporting his players while holding them accountable.
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His postgame speech reflected that deeply.
The Patriots’ in-house media uploaded a clip of Vrabel’s speech in which he promised his players he would “let you celebrate,” as they’d “earned the right.” And he reminded them the importance of believing, sometimes, before they could see — because “everyone’s journey to the Super Bowl looks a little different.”
The team did not upload Vrabel outlining the rules of celebration.
Williams, however, recounted his coach’s directive.
“He proud of us, said no curfew tonight, but the bus leaving at 8 in the morning so if you ain’t on it, you ain’t playing in the [Super] Bowl,” Williams said. “So I’m pretty sure everybody going to be on that.”
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Did Vrabel really say that?
“Oh yeah, I ain’t playing,” Williams said. “He said that.”
So a nighttime celebration in snowy Denver awaited before the Patriots hoped weather would permit them to return to New England on Monday to prepare for the biggest stage. An offense with struggles that predated the snow (think: allowing five sacks for three straight weeks) is ready to find ways to contribute more thoroughly to its final result, while team brass noted its desire for Maye to remember he has the option to scramble.
Patriots kicker Andy Borregales will be glad that the Super Bowl is scheduled this year for the San Francisco 49ers’ stadium in the Bay Area, snow highly unlikely to reach the forecast.
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And Patriots defenders will have the chance to again fuel themselves with narratives that they’re not the best defensive unit advancing to this game.
The Seattle Seahawks, in Mike Macdonald’s second season, allowed the fewest points per game (17.2) all season.
Preparations will continue, analyses of situational football and schematic edges and maximizing personnel ahead.
Over time, the reality may hit. On Sunday night, for many players, it had not.
“You can’t put into words what this means,” Bradbury said. “It doesn’t feel real. It’s like a simulation, what’s going on?”
Maye similarly was still processing after he hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy on a stage of his opponents’ field, “MVP” chants drowning out his answers to any questions he was asked.
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“Get a chance to go win the Super Bowl,” Maye said later at the podium, as if trying out the words. “That’s what it is, and that’s pretty cool.”
SEATTLE — By the time the locker room opened Sunday night, Sam Darnold was leading a parade of joy inside a cloud of cigar smoke.
Hug. Cigar. Hand slap. Photo. Cigar. George Halas Trophy. More photos. More cigar.
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Overhead, speakers very deliberately boomed Notorious B.I.G.’s “Going Back to Cali,” providing a soundtrack to some career symmetry for the Seattle Seahawks quarterback. He’d just played arguably the game of his life — inarguably in the biggest moment of NFL career. Seattle had beaten the Los Angeles Rams 31-27, salting the victory away with some key completions by Darnold late in the fourth quarter. Now he was heading to the Super Bowl as an NFC title winner, taking the game’s biggest stage on Feb. 8 in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Sam Darnold is going back to Cali.
It’s where he starred at San Clemente High School. It’s where he became a coveted NFL Draft prospect at the University of Southern California. And lest anyone forget, it’s where his pro football career was rebuilt from ashes on a San Francisco 49ers practice field that sits next to Levi’s Stadium. This is what Sunday’s NFC title win has delivered to Darnold: A chance to complete a football circle and then put that circle on his finger in the form of a Super Bowl ring — representing his rise at USC, his fall with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, and his career resuscitation as a 49ers backup and then starring turns with the Minnesota Vikings and Seahawks.
It’s the kind of journey that seemed to have the Seahawks enjoying both the Super Bowl berth distinctly for themselves, but also very much collectively for Darnold, largely because the quarterback’s return from the football abyss has continually been dogged with criticism that he couldn’t win big games. Even heading into the NFC championship, doubters pointed to a steamrolling 41-6 divisional round win over the 49ers and lamented that Darnold hadn’t carried the load. He threw only 17 passes in that game, which reduced Darnold’s contribution to a backhanded slap from critics: He didn’t win the game for Seattle. He simply got out of the way and didn’t screw it up.
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That bothered Seattle’s players. It bothered the Seahawks’ coaches. Then came Sunday, when he not only threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns, but was also relied upon by the coaching staff to make plays throwing — when Seattle easily could have run the ball exclusively and burned clock, leaning on the defense to deliver the win.
This after Darnold threw six interceptions against two touchdowns in a pair of regular-season games against the Rams, which resulted in a 21-19 loss in Week 11 and a 38-37 overtime win in Week 16. In those two games, Next Gen Stats noted that Darnold had thrown zero touchdowns and three of his six interceptions when he was under pressure. On Sunday, he completely turned that stat inside out, throwing all three of his touchdowns under pressure — which is a new career high — against zero interceptions.
“Can’t talk about the game without talking about our quarterback,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said. “He shut a lot of people up tonight, so I’m really happy for him. … Every time they went and scored again, he came back. He made some big-time throws on third down. The two-minute drive, the four-minute drive. The guy barely practiced all week. I’m just really happy for him. He deserves it. He’s just been a rock for us all year.”
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This wasn’t coach speak after a win, either. It was one voice in a chorus of praise.
“I’m so happy for him,” wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba said, sitting across from Darnold in the locker room and nodding in his quarterback’s direction. Later, speaking to reporters from a podium, he went further.
“True leader,” said Smith-Njigba, who led Seattle with 10 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown. “True competitor, leader. He led us today. Can’t say enough about Sam, man.”
Added safety Julian Love, “‘You probably just got lucky today’ — that’s what [critics] like to say, right? I have a perspective on Sam because I started my career in New York [with the Giants]. He got a bad rap early, and I think that’s not fitting for who he is as a person or player. He shows it when he works hard. He’s humble about it. He takes no shortcuts in the process. Everyone in the building loves him. He’s just a good guy. … All that criticism is not warranted. He showed up when it mattered and he won us a game today.”
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Love’s context of having his career overlap with Darnold in New York conjures a memory of his frustrating end with the Jets. A few months after Darnold was traded to the Panthers in 2021, Jets general manager Joe Douglas met with Yahoo Sports during the ensuing training camp. Revisiting the trade, Douglas continued to describe Darnold’s failure as organizational.
“I still think he’s going to be a good quarterback,” Douglas said at the time.
Two years later, after Darnold had flamed out with the Panthers and then surprisingly won the backup job with the 49ers — leading the 49ers to trade Trey Lance — head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch both told Yahoo Sports they believed Darnold could still develop into a successful starting quarterback.
Ultimately, Douglas was right. Shanahan and Lynch were right. Even the Vikings were half right, signing Darnold to a one-year bridge starter deal that ultimately cemented him as a legitimate quarterback again — only to let him leave for Seattle last March in free agency.
He did it going through the same 49ers regime that helped him reclaim his career, and the same quarterback in Brock Purdy that he backed up in 2023. He did it against the Rams, outdueling Matthew Stafford, who is likely to win the league’s MVP award in two weeks. And he did it with an oblique injury that has caused him to miss significant practice time over the last two weeks. So much so, he was asked Sunday if he’d ever practiced less during a full week and still started a game — to which Darnold replied, “I don’t think so.”
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In whatever vantage you want to view it, this has been the longest way back to Cali for anyone on the Seattle roster. And the entire Seahawks organization is here for it.
“We’ve got one more to go, but for him to overcome what he has to overcome, I’m rolling with Sam all day,” Smith-Njigba said. “We believe in him. This building believe in him. This city believe in him. It’s awesome to run out on the field with him.”
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🚨 Headlines
⛳️ Scottie wins again: Surprise surprise, Scottie Scheffler (-27) won his season debut, dominating The American Express by four strokes for his 20th career PGA Tour victory. He now has 14 wins in his last 35 starts, a rate of 40% (!!). Ridiculous.
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🏈 CFP expansion on hold: The College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams next season after conference commissioners failed to agree on an expansion plan by Friday’s deadline. The Big Ten is in favor of a 24-team playoff format, while the SEC wants a 16-team field.
🏀 Giannis out 4-6 weeks: Giannis Antetokounmpo, who already missed time this season with a calf strain, is expected to miss another 4-6 weeks with the same injury. “I don’t think it looks great,” said Bucks coach Doc Rivers. “This calf keeps coming up and it’s concerning.”
🏈 Steelers hire McCarthy: The Steelers have hired former Packers and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy to replace Mike Tomlin. Could this entice Aaron Rodgers, who played under McCarthy in Green Bay for 13 seasons, to stick around in Pittsburgh?
⚾️ Ramírez signs extension: José Ramírez, who’s been with Cleveland since debuting in 2013, signed a seven-year, $175 million extension that should keep him with the Guardians for the rest of his career.
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🏈 Super Bowl LX is set
Sam Darnold (center) celebrates with fellow QBs Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
NFC Championship: The Seahawks beat the Rams, 31-27, on Sunday night in Seattle to cap an epic trilogy between the division rivals this season and win the franchise’s fourth conference title, all in the last 20 years (2005, 2013, 2014, 2025).
Stars of the game: Sam Darnold (25/36, 346 yds, 3 TD) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (10 rec, 153 yds, TD) bested Matthew Stafford (22/35, 374 yds, 3 TD) and Puka Nacua (9 rec, 165 yds, TD) in the third straight down-to-the-wire game these teams have contested.
Nov. 16: Rams 21, Seahawks 19
Dec. 18: Seahawks 38, Rams 37 (OT)
Jan. 25: Seahawks 31, Rams 27
Fifth team’s the charm: The Jets traded Darnold. The Panthers let him walk. He was a backup with the 49ers. He won 14 games with the Vikings but they still weren’t convinced he was the guy. Now, he’s one win away from becoming a Super Bowl champion, and he’ll be playing in his home state of California, where his football journey first began. You absolutely love to see it.
The Patriots defense celebrates a fourth-quarter interception. (Bart Young/AP Photo)
AFC Championship: The Patriots beat the Broncos, 10-7, on Sunday afternoon at Denver’s Empower Field in a defensive slugfest that began on a green, well-manicured surface and ended on a white, snow-covered gridiron.
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Back where they belong: This will be the record 12th Super Bowl appearance for the Patriots (no other team has more than eight), who are back on the sport’s biggest stage after going 4-13 each of the past two seasons. The last team to win the Super Bowl after having five or fewer wins the year before? The 2001 Patriots in Tom Brady’s first season as the starter.
From Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab:
The Patriots ruled the NFL for most of two decades, and when they fell, they fell hard. Just not for long. The celebration for the end of the their dynasty is over, and now perhaps there will be a new round of complaints about a new era of dominance.
Looking ahead: 11 years after Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson in the end zone to clinch the Patriots’ victory in Super Bowl XLIX, New England and Seattle will meet in the Super Bowl once again. The Seahawks opened as 5-point favorites on BetMGM, and ticket prices are already through the roof for the Feb. 8 game in Santa Clara.
Keaton Wagler during his 46-point explosion against Purdue. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
🏀 40+ points
Illinois’ Keaton Wagler (46 points at Purdue), BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa (43 points vs. Utah) and Houston’s Kingston Flemings (42 points at Texas Tech) all scored 40+ points on Saturday, marking the first time in Division I history that three freshman topped 40 points on the same day.
But wait, there’s more: Four other freshmen also topped 30 points on Saturday, including Duke’s Cameron Boozer (32 points vs. Wake Forest) and Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. (31 points vs. LSU).
A building occupant records Honnold during his ascent. (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)
🔝 1,667 feet
Alex Honnold successfully completed his free solo climb of Taipei 101 on Saturday, ascending the 11th-tallest building in the world (1,667 feet) without any ropes or safety nets in just over 90 minutes. “Sick,” said Honnold as he summited the 101-story skyscraper live on Netflix.
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Historic feat: In climbing Taipei 101, Honnold finished the highest “free solo” climb of an urban structure in history, topping Alain Robert’s 2009 climb of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Robert scaled the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in 2011 but was required to use a rope.)
🏒 90 points
Connor McDavid recorded five points (and scored the game-winner) in Saturday’s 6-5 (OT) win over the Capitals to reach a league-leading 90 on the season. In doing so, he joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history with 10 consecutive 90-point seasons.
Dynamic duo: McDavid (32 goals, 58 assists) has 20 more points than his next-highest scoring teammate, which sounds like a wide gap until you realize that teammate, Leon Draisaitl, ranks fifth in the league with 70 points (25 goals, 45 assists).
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📸 In photos: The ‘56 Winter Games
The Opening Ceremony. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
70 years ago today, the 1956
Winter Olympics began in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the charming Italian ski resort town that will co-host the 2026 Winter Games with Milan beginning next week.
License to ski: Cortina was featured prominently in the 1981 James Bond film, “For Your Eyes Only,” starring Roger Moore.
Sailer stands with his sister, Rosl, and a soldier following his victory in the downhill competition. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Skiing: Austria’s Toni “Wonder Boy” Sailer was one of the stars of the ’56 Games, becoming the first person to sweep all three alpine skiing events (downhill, slalom and giant slalom) in a single Olympics.
Albright poses with Italian soldiers on the edge of the Olympic ice rink. (Intercontinentale/AFP via Getty Images)
Figure skating: When she was 11 years old, American Tenley Albright contracted polio and doctors wondered whether she’d ever walk again. 10 years later, she won an Olympic gold medal in figure skating.
Did you know? The Cortina Games were the last Olympics to host the figure skating competition on an outdoor rink.
The second-best goalie in the Brodeur family. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Hockey: Canada’s starting goalie in ’56 was Denis Brodeur, father of Martin Brodeur, the NHL’s winningest goaltender.
Podium: After winning six gold medals and one silver through the first seven Olympics, Canada earned a disappointing bronze in Cortina, while the USA took silver and the Soviet Union took gold.
American bobsledder Jim Bickford leads teammates during the Opening Ceremony. (AP Photo)
Medal table: The Soviet Union led all participating nations with 16 medals, finishing ahead of Austria (11), Sweden (10), Finland (7), USA (7) and Switzerland (6).
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Then vs. now: The 1956 Olympics saw 821 athletes from 32 nations compete in 24 different events. The 2026 Olympics will feature nearly 3,000 athletes from over 90 nations competing in 116 events.
📺 Watchlist: Monday, Jan. 26
BYU freshman A.J. Dybantsa during a game earlier this month. (Bryan Byerly/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
🏀 College Hoops
Freshmen phenoms Cameron Boozer and A.J. Dybantsa, who are among the nation’s leading scorers and may very well be the top two picks in the NBA draft, are in action tonight as No. 5 Duke hosts No. 23 Louisville (7pm ET, ESPN) and No. 13 BYU hosts No. 1 Arizona (9pm, ESPN).
The quarterfinals get underway in Melbourne (7pm, ESPN+; 9pm, ESPN2), headlined by No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 6 Alex de Minaur in the men’s bracket and No. 3 Coco Gauff vs. No. 12 Elina Svitolina in the women’s bracket.
More to watch:
🏀 NBA: Magic at Cavaliers (7pm, Peacock); Trail Blazers at Celtics (8pm, Peacock); Warriors at Timberwolves (9:30pm, Peacock) … Boston (28-17), Cleveland (27-20) and Orlando (23-21) are part of a crowded group of teams between second and ninth place in the East.
⛳️ TGL: Boston Common vs. The Bay (7pm, ESPN2) … Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and Michael Thorbjornsen vs. Shane Lowry, Min Woo Lee and Wyndham Clark.
Thinking about heading to a game tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets, with instant delivery to your phone. Tap in, grab seats and go.
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If Philip Rivers’ NFL journey continues, it’s not going to be with the Buffalo Bills. Rivers reportedly took himself out of consideration for the Bills’ head-coaching gig after being a surprise candidate for the role, according to The Athletic.
Rivers, who spent the past couple seasons coaching high school football, made a shocking return to the NFL in December, making three starts with the Indianapolis Colts down the stretch.
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Those starts got him back on the NFL radar, and may have resulted in Rivers suddenly being a candidate for the Bills’ head-coaching job after the team fired Sean McDermott. While Rivers was rumored to be a real candidate for the position, the former quarterback reportedly took his name out of consideration, The Athletic reported Monday.
Rivers, 44, may have pulled out of the role for family reasons. It’s possible he’ll consider a future in coaching in the NFL down the road, but now is not the right time, per NFL Network.
After five years away, Rivers made his return to the NFL this season with the Colts. With Indianapolis scrambling for help at quarterback, the team signed the longtime veteran to start three games down the stretch. Considering his age and long layoff, Rivers performed admirably, tossing four touchdowns and three interceptions in three games, all losses.
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With the Colts eliminated from consideration, the team opted to start rookie Riley Leonard in Week 18. Rivers has since announced his retirement — as a player — from the NFL.
While Rivers may eventually return to the league as a coach, it doesn’t sound like that will happen this offseason. Rivers has not been mentioned as a head-coaching candidate for any of the other open jobs around the league, meaning he’ll likely spend the rest of 2026 out of the NFL.
Rivers’ decision to take his name out of consideration for the Bills’ job further complicates the team’s head-coaching search. Given the timing of McDermott’s firing, the Bills have already missed out on some of the premier coaching talent to hit the market this offseason.
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There are very few coaches still available who have a strong track record that includes playoff success. That’s going to be the expectation for whoever is hired in Buffalo after the team axed McDermott.
Things looked bleak for Ben Shelton early Monday, but the highest-ranked American man remaining in the Australian Open draw rallied to push himself into the quarterfinals at the event for the third time in his career.
It didn’t look like that would be the case early, as Shelton dropped the first set to Casper Ruud, who won 6-3. Given the tight matchup — Shelton came into the matchup ranked No. 8, Ruud ranked No. 12 — winning the first set could have been a major advantage for whichever player snagged an early lead.
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But Shelton got his game together from there. He won the next three sets — and the match — against Ruud, taking the second set 6-4, the third set 6-3 and the fourth set 6-4 to pick up the win.
While Shelton has never won the Australian Open, he’s reached the quarterfinals at the tournament two other times. In 2023, he lost to fellow American Tommy Paul in the round. Last year, Shelton overcame Lorenzo Sonego to move on to the semifinals for the first time in his career. He lost in the round, however, falling to Jannik Sinner.
Shelton will have a chance at revenge in two days, though, as he’s once again set to take on Sinner in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
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Sinner managed to win in straight sets over Luciano Darderi on Monday, much to Darderi’s frustration. The Italian launched a ball into the stands following a first-set loss against Sinner.
Elsewhere on the men’s side, Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals on a walkover. His opponent, Jakub Menšík, was forced to pull out of the Australian Open due to an injury. It marks the 16th time in his career Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals at the event.
Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina cruise to wins
The two high-ranked women to take the court early Monday had no trouble with their opponents. Iga Swiatek, the women’s No. 2, easily dispatched Maddison Inglis on Monday, winning 6-0, 6-3. Similarly, Elena Rybakina had no issue taking down Elise Mertens, winning 6-1, 6-3.
Those wins set up a head-to-head matchup between Swiatek and Rybakina in the quarterfinals. It will mark the 12th time the two players have met on the court. The two are pretty evenly matched, with Swiatek holding a slight 6-5 head-to-head lead over Rybakina over their careers.
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While Rybakina has reached the finals at the event before, she’s never won it. Swiatek, for all her success in the sport, is still searching for her first Australian Open title, and has never advanced past the semifinal round.
Usually, when teams have a middle-of-the-road quarterback, they hold on no matter the cost despite knowing deep down that they can’t go to a Super Bowl with him. Those making decisions generally don’t have enough time to make a quarterback change and survive it if it doesn’t hit big right away. So they play it safe.
The Seattle Seahawks have made two bold moves at quarterback in the past few years. And they’re going to the Super Bowl because of it.
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Credit Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who has been Seattle’s GM since 2010, for not being scared. Also recognize Seattle ownership for being patient through both high-profile trades. The first trade was Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in March of 2022. That’s not a trade many teams would make, even if Wilson was slowing down and the Seahawks knew it. The Seahawks got two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick and a few players back in the trade too. Those picks turned into players like tackle Charles Cross and cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who were big parts of their fantastic season.
Geno Smith was the stopgap. He provided a couple good seasons but then the Seahawks looked elsewhere. Teams like the Las Vegas Raiders are fine settling for a 35-year-old quarterback with a low ceiling, and they traded a third-round pick to Seattle for Smith. Smith struggled badly with Las Vegas, which the Seahawks probably saw coming. The Seahawks decided that Sam Darnold would be an upgrade after he had a good 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings, and they were right when they signed him to a three-year, $100.5 million deal. Darnold is going to Super Bowl LX as the Seahawks’ starter.
In addition to the quarterback moves, the Seahawks also made a big move at head coach. Pete Carroll had a great run in Seattle, but the Seahawks fired him two years ago, after consecutive 9-8 seasons. Teams often are too worried to make that move too. But the Seahawks landed Mike Macdonald as Carroll’s replacement, and he’s already a star as a defensive guru who has turned the Seahawks into NFC champions.
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Maybe the Seahawks will show the way to other poor franchises who are unwilling to admit mistakes, or to see a better path forward. They stick with the status quo because that’s easy, and those making decisions believe that radical moves will cost them their jobs … and they’re generally right because the owners of those franchises can’t see a long-term plan through. So those teams probably won’t follow the Seahawks’ model. Even though Seattle just showed it can work, to great results.
The Seahawks bet on Sam Darnold and won big-time. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
(Michael Owens via Getty Images)
Here are the winners and losers from the conference championship round:
WINNERS
Robert Kraft: Owners get too much credit for mostly anything in football. The recent trend of putting them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is strange.
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But Kraft’s stature, as he stumps to be one of those owners in the Hall of Fame, got a pretty big boost.
It was one thing for Kraft’s team to ride Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to six Super Bowl titles. Doing it again with Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye looks good on the Patriots’ owner, especially after he made the bold decision to fire Jerod Mayo because he wasn’t happy with the direction of the team during Mayo’s one season. Kraft said it cost him financially to fire Mayo but he thought the chance to get Vrabel was best from a football aspect.
“I’m a fan first, and I thought this just isn’t the right situation, and that’s on me,” Kraft told “The Quick Snap” podcast. “Jerod’s a great guy, but I just didn’t want to go through a continuation of what happened. I really believed that hiring Mike gave us a chance quickly to put the team where it was.”
It’s a decision that changed the trajectory of the franchise.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Smith-Njigba had a great season for the Seattle Seahawks, and will likely win NFL Offensive Player of the Year in less than two weeks. But a Super Bowl appearance will truly stamp him as one of the NFL’s best receivers.
Over the next couple weeks there will be plenty of praise for JSN, who led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards in the regular season and had 153 yards and a touchdown in the Seahawks’ NFC championship game win. A first-round pick in 2023, Smith-Njigba improved in his second season and then made a massive leap in his third season. He’s about to be one of the headline stars of Super Bowl LX. An even larger audience will hear all about how he might have taken the title as the top receiver in football.
Josh McDaniels: As a head coach, McDaniels did not do well in two opportunities. As a coordinator, he’s on the verge of making history.
Steve Spagnuolo has won four Super Bowl rings as a coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, which is a record. McDaniels can tie him if the Patriots win Super Bowl LX. He has been a part of six championship teams with the Patriots, three of which he served as offensive coordinator.
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McDaniels’ role in the rapid development of Drake Maye has been one of the key stories of the NFL season. McDaniels won with Tom Brady, but Brady is widely considered the best quarterback of all time. Doing it with a new quarterback, and being on the verge of winning a fourth ring as a coordinator before the age of 50, would be a huge accomplishment.
LOSERS
Sean Payton: Payton has done an amazing job to build the Broncos back up to contender status. It’s even more impressive when you realize his highest paid player each of the last two seasons was Russell Wilson, who wasn’t even on the roster.
Payton not taking the field goal when he had a fourth-and-1 in the second quarter will be talked about for a while in Denver. The Broncos could have gone up 10-0, and with bad weather coming in for the second half, those points would have been extremely valuable. Payton went for it, they changed the call from a run to a pass when the Patriots had six players on the line, and the play went nowhere. Jarrett Stidham threw incomplete under pressure. The Broncos never scored again.
Maybe Payton will be back in an AFC championship game, but it’s not a guarantee. His legacy would have grown if he made a Super Bowl with Stidham replacing Bo Nix. The opportunity passed, and he has plenty of time now to second guess the decision.
Matthew Stafford: Stafford was very good in the NFC championship game. He threw for 374 yards against one of the best defenses in the NFL. He did everything he could. The loss is not on him, or even close.
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But a Super Bowl, coming at the end of what is likely an NFL MVP season, would have pushed Stafford to an even higher level in terms of his career legacy. That would have given him two Super Bowl appearances with a shot at a second ring. If Stafford continues to play, the Rams should be one of the NFL’s best teams again, but there’s no guarantee on anything. Especially for Stafford, who will be 38 years old next season. That’s an age in which a quarterback can decline quickly, even if Stafford still looks like he has a few more elite seasons left in him.
The NFC championship game was a fantastic game that finally turned on a fourth-down stop inside the 10-yard line by the Seahawks defense late in the fourth quarter. The result could have gone either way. But the Rams fell short, and we might look back on it being Stafford’s last shot at going to a Super Bowl.
Tennessee Titans: The Titans knew what they had in Mike Vrabel. He won NFL Coach of the Year with them. He consistently had his teams playing above their talent level. And Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk fired him, siding with a general manager who isn’t even there anymore in a power struggle.
The Titans have won six games in the two seasons after firing Vrabel. The Patriots won 17 games, including playoffs, this season and are heading to the Super Bowl. Vrabel was considered one of the NFL’s best coaches when he was at Tennessee and he has moved up the list in his first season with New England. The Titans hired Robert Saleh to be their head coach, and that looks like a good hire. But it’s unlikely Saleh is as good as Vrabel.
Should NFL fans believe what happens during a season, or is it all pre-planned from the beginning? Some fans are asking themselves that question after the prophetic tweet by the league in September.
Prior to the start of the season, the NFL put out a graphic featuring a player on every single team. The caption teased Super Bowl LX, and featured the Lombardi trophy in the background.
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Upon first glance, you might not think there’s anything suspicious about the tweet, but fans have been quick to point out the placement of New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, both of whom are front and center … extremely close to the Lombardi trophy.
Because some fans can’t deal with the reality of their team losing legitimately, some have jokingly — we think — decided that the NFL’s placement of those players was intentional. That maybe the league knew the Patriots and Seahawks were always bound to meet in the Super Bowl and put both players close to the Lombardi trophy as a harbinger of the future.
The cries over the graphic reached a point where league PR man Brian McCarthy actually responded to it, saying there was no “controversy” over the image.
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Of course, any critical scrutiny of that theory immediately falls apart. From a betting angle, Super Bowl LX is the most unlikely the league has seen in at least 50 years.
No one expected either team to make it this far, which is evident in the graphic, which clearly prioritized putting the players and teams most likely to reach the Super Bowl in the foreground. There’s a reason Saquon Barkley is the most prominent player in the graphic, as the Philadelphia Eagles entered the year as the reigning Super Bowl champs.
But the NFL season rarely goes the way anyone expects. Last-place teams can surge to the top of a division (look no further than the Chicago Bears) and previously dominant teams can slip off the radar due to a tough schedule and a key injury (see the Kansas City Chiefs). The fun of the NFL — and sports, generally — is that they can never be fully predicted. How a team looks on paper can change the instant that team actually takes the field.
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There are plenty of reasons why the Patriots and Seahawks defied the odds this season. For New England, the decision to hire Mike Vrabel, combined with the MVP-like emergence of Drake Maye, elevated the team to the next level. For the Seahawks, a dominant defense, combined with a truly excellent season from Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a strong coaching staff, pushed the team back to the top of the NFC.
Did the NFL really foresee that in September? Of course not, but it sure makes for a fun coincidence.
Welcome back to The Playlist: my weekly column that lets you know who to add off the waiver wire and get in your lineup for the upcoming week in fantasy basketball.
Every league is different — sometimes a 75% rostered player hits waivers, whether by mistake or because they’ve hit an intolerable slump. If they fit your build, go get ’em. But for this column, we’re focusing on players under 50% rostered who are widely available and ready to help in Week 15.
Sandro Mamukelashvili – FC, Toronto Raptors (28% rostered)
Jakob Poeltl’s days could be numbered in Toronto as he can’t shake a lingering back injury. Until the Raptors make a move, though, Mamu is the guy you’ll want to roster in High Score and shallow leagues. He’s been playing 33 minutes over the past few games, producing a mix of counting stats — 18.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1 stock per game. If he’s rostered in your league, there’s an outside chance someone could drop him with the Raptors not playing until Wednesday. Regardless, he should be a priority add across leagues after scoring 43 fantasy points in High Score last week.
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Jalen Smith – FC, Chicago Bulls (25% rostered)
Running this back because fantasy managers picked him up in just 2% of leagues since last week. The Bulls play five games this week, leaving several chances to get Smith into a frontcourt or utility spot. Though he only scored 34 fantasy points in Week 14, he’s one of the best deadline stashes in fantasy basketball and had a 50-point fantasy outing in Week 13. He should be rostered in all leagues.
Brandon Podziemski – G, Golden State Warriors (39% rostered)
I still see Podz on waivers in a few of my High Score leagues, so why not include him? He’s been added in 10% more leagues since last week, which makes sense with Jimmy Butler (torn ACL) and Jonathan Kuminga (knee) suffering injuries. Podz has scored at least 39 fantasy points in High Score in four of his last five games. The Warriors’ front office seems indecisive at the moment, which leaves Podz with an excellent opportunity to shine with all the injuries piling up in the Bay. Add him everywhere.
Cam Spencer – G, Memphis Grizzlies (26% rostered)
With four games on tap and Ja Morant missing at least the next three weeks with a sprained UCL, Spencer becomes a must-stream for Week 15. Now, Ty Jerome is nearing a return, but until that happens, Spencer will be the primary facilitator for the Grizz. He scored 51 fantasy points in his last game, delivering a 24-5-11 line against the Pelicans — a team he’ll play again this week. Add him, because he has considerable staying power.
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🎧 Who’s in My Rotation:Deeper leagues
Tre Johnson – SG, Washington Wizards (14% rostered)
I was surprised to see Johnson on waivers in a 12-team league of mine early Monday morning, so maybe he’s there for you as well. Anyway, the rookie performed well in Week 14, finishing 103rd in 9-cat leagues. In three games last week, he averaged 20 points with 4.7 assists and 4.0 3s per game. He’s a bucket, so if you’re needing help in the scoring department with some sneaky assists, pick him up for a four-game week. I also think he has long-term appeal as the Wizards continue to trend south. Bub Carrington is another pivot if you want more versatility — just be wary of the high turnover rate.
The backup center for the Kings is making an impression with his hustle and effort. Despite not being much of a threat offensively, Cardwell is showing out on the glass and as a shot-blocker in limited minutes. Over his last five contests, the rookie big man is posting a respectable 6.0 points, 9.2 boards and 3.3 stocks in 24.3 minutes per game. I’d add him mid-week, when the Kings play three of their four games from Thursday to Sunday.
Aaron Wiggins – SG/SF, Oklahoma City Thunder (10% rostered)
Wiggins is back on my list because two key rotational players, Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace, got hurt last week. Wiggins is dealing with a groin injury himself; however, he was the one who started the second half in Wallace’s place after Wallace was injured on Sunday night against the Raptors. Wiggins has been a solid defensive asset for fantasy managers recently, averaging over 2 stocks per game over the past month. He’ll also provide some scoring and 3s. I don’t love OKC’s three-game schedule, but Wiggins should play north of 30 minutes as the Thunder are dealing with one too many injuries.
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Kevin Huerter – SG/SF, Chicago Bulls (7% rostered)
The Red Velvet’s minutes have been all over the place recently. However, he hit a massive game-winner against Boston on Saturday night in front of a hyped home crowd that celebrated Derrick Rose’s jersey retirement. It felt like a moment that could carryover well into a five-game week. He was surprisingly 86th in 9-cat leagues across three games in Week 14, so if you’re looking for some cross-categorial stats (points, 3s, assists and steals), give Huerter a look in competitive deep leagues.
