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The 2026 Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend is always a sight to behold. The event, held on All-Star Saturday, will be the last in a night of exciting competitions, including the 3-point contest and the Shooting Stars competition, and this time around, we’re guaranteed to have a new dunk champion. (Mac McClung, who has won for three years running, has opted out this year.) The four competitors this year will be the San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant, Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson, Orlando Magic guard Jase Richardson, and L.A. Lakers center Jaxson Hayes.

The slam dunk contest will close out the All-Star Saturday broadcast, which begins at 5 p.m. ET on NBC and streams live on Peacock. Find out more about how to watch Saturday’s slam dunk contest and get the full NBA All-Star Weekend schedule below.

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How to watch the 2026 slam dunk contest at NBA All-Star Weekend:

Date: Feb. 14

Time: 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT

Location: Intuit Dome

TV channel: NBC

Streaming: Peacock

When is the 2026 slam dunk contest during NBA All-Star Weekend?

The AT&T Slam Dunk Contest will take place the day before the All-Star Game; you can tune in to the 3-Point contest, the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest and the Kia Shooting Stars competition starting at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 14.

What channel is the 2026 slam dunk contest on?

The Majority of NBA All-Star Weekend events will air on NBC and stream live on Peacock, and that includes the slam dunk contest.

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Who is participating in the NBA All-Star slam dunk contest?

• Keshad Johnson, Miami Heat

• Jase Richardson, Orlando Magic

• Carter Bryant, San Antonio Spurs

• Jaxson Hayes, Los Angeles Lakers

When is the 2026 NBA All-Star game?

The 2026 NBA All-Star Championship Game will be held this Sunday, Feb. 15. The first game starts at 5 p.m. ET.

NBA All-Star Weekend schedule:

Friday, Feb. 13

• Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game: 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

• Rising Stars Game 1 – Team Melo vs. Team Austin: 9 p.m. ET (Peacock)

• Rising Stars Game 2 – Team Vince vs. Team T-Mac: 9:55 p.m. ET (Peacock)

• Castrol Rising Stars Championship: 10:35 p.m. ET (Peacock)

• NBA HBCU Classic (Hampton vs. North Carolina A&T): 11 p.m. ET (Peacock)

Saturday, Feb. 14

• NBA All-Star Media Day presented by AT&T: 1:30 p.m. ET (NBA App, NBA TV)

• Commissioner Adam Silver News Conference: 4 p.m. ET (NBA App, NBA TV)

• NBA All-Star Saturday Night: 5 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

• State Farm 3-Point Contest: 5 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

• Kia Shooting Stars: 5 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

• AT&T Slam Dunk Contest: 5 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

Sunday, Feb. 15

• NBA G League Next Up Game: 2:30 p.m. ET (NBA App)

• All-Star Game 1 – Stars vs. World: 5 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

• All-Star Game 2 – Stripes vs. Game 1 Winner: 5:55 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

• All-Star Game 3 – Stripes vs. Game 1 Loser: 6:25 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

• All-Star Championship: 7:10 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)

How to watch the 2026 slam dunk contest without cable:

NBA All-Star Weekend is always one of the most fun sports events of the year, and 2026 is sure to be as lively as ever. While we love to watch the All-Star Game itself (which will debut a new round-robin competition format this year), there’s nothing like watching the pros face off during exhibitions like the slam dunk contest and the 3-point contest. This year, the 3-point contest will feature players like Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey and Bobby Portis Jr., as well as one somewhat surprising competitor, Damian Lillard, who has spent the entire season on the bench with an Achilles injury. Lillard is a two-time 3-point contest winner.

The 3-point contest will kick off the All-Star Saturday broadcast on NBC and streaming on Peacock. Find out more about who else is competing, when to tune in, and get the full NBA All-Star Weekend schedule below.

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How to watch the 2026 3-point contest at NBA All-Star Weekend:

Date: Feb. 14

Time: 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT

Location: Intuit Dome

TV channel: NBC

Streaming: Peacock

When is the 2026 3-point contest during NBA All-Star Weekend?

The State Farm 3-Point Contest will take place the day before the All-Star Game; you can tune in to the 3-point contest, the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest and the Kia Shooting Stars competition starting at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 14.

What channel is the 2026 3-point contest on?

The Majority of NBA All-Star Weekend events will air on NBC and stream live on Peacock, and that includes the 3-point contest.

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Who is playing in the NBA All-Star 3-point contest?

• Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers

• Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns

• Kon Kneuppel, Charlotte Hornets

• Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers

• Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets

• Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

• Bobby Portis, Milwaukee Bucks

• Norman Powell, Miami Heat

How to watch the 2026 3-point contest without cable:

The Unrivaled women’s basketball league is taking a break from its signature 3-on-3 games this week to hold the second annual 1-on-1 in-season tournament. 32 of the league’s 48 players will participate in the tournament that runs from Wednesday, Feb. 11, through Saturday, Feb. 14. Expect to see players like Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Mitchell, Breanna Stewart, and Aaliyah Edwards competing for the $200,000 grand prize. (The tournament runner-up will receive $50,000, and the last two semifinalists will get $25,000.) Last year’s 1-on-1 winner, Napheesa Collier, is sitting this one out; she’s missing the entire Unrivaled season due to ankle surgery.

Find out who else is participating in this year’s Unrivaled 1-on-1 Tournament, how to watch every matchup, and learn more about the regular Unrivaled season now.

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How to watch the Unrivaled 1-on-1 Tournament

Dates: Feb. 11-14, 2026

TV Channel: TNT, truTV

Streaming: HBO Max, Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV, and more

Where to watch the Unrivaled 1-on-1 women’s basketball tournament on TV:

All Unrivaled 1-on-1 basketball games will air on either TNT or truTV.

Where to watch the Unrivaled 1-on-1 women’s basketball tournament without cable:

The entire Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament will stream on HBO Max. You can also tune in to TNT and truTV on platforms including Hulu + Live TV and DirecTV.

Lindsey Vonn announced via Instagram on Saturday that her latest surgery went well and she plans to return to the U.S.

“Surgery went well today,” Vonn said in her post. “Thankfully, I will be able to finally go back to the US 🇺🇸! Once I’m back I will give you more updates and info about my injury.”

The 41-year-old American skier fractured her left leg 13 seconds into her downhill race Sunday. Vonn had previously trained on a torn ACL in the same left leg, an injury she suffered just days before the start of the Olympics. She had her fourth surgery on Saturday and could need more procedures done once she returns to the U.S.

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Despite how things ended, Vonn wrote that her ACL tear had nothing to do with her crash and that she did not want her fans to feel sad.

“Please, don’t be sad,” Vonn wrote. “Empathy, love and support I welcome with an open heart, but please not sadness or sympathy. I hope instead it gives you strength to keep fighting, because that is what I am doing and that is what I will continue to do. Always.”

Vonn also said that after the crash that she knew there could be consequences, but thought it was worth the risk.

Nothing in life is guaranteed. That’s the gamble of chasing your dreams, you might fall but if you don’t try you’ll never know.

So please, don’t feel sad. The ride was worth the fall. When I close my eyes at night I don’t have regrets and the love I have for skiing remains. I am still looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more. And I will.

Vonn retired in 2019 before deciding to return in 2024 following a knee replacement. One of the most decorated skiers of all time, Vonn has three Olympic medals (one gold and two bronze) and eight World Championship medals. In December, she became the oldest downhill skiing World Cup winner in St. Moritz, her first World Cup wins since 2018.

MILAN — Team USA might have it on a formula to get it through the rough stretches of these Olympics: When all else fails, just add Brady.

Brady Tkachuk threw hands late in the first period, then threw an equalizer into the net halfway through the second to rally a frustrated Team USA to a key 6-3 victory over Denmark. Six different Americans scored, a necessary, if erratic, and late-arriving offensive explosion.

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“He’s a beast. His energy is contagious,” Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. “He’s so vocal on the bench, in between periods. He’s a positive guy. He drags everybody into the fight, literally and figuratively.”

But not all wins are victories. This was a sloppy, subpar effort from a United States team that needs to be playing at a much higher level if it hopes to bring home a gold against Canada. When your All-Star squad is getting pushed around by a team with only five current NHL players and prospects on its roster, there’s work to be done between now and the knockout rounds.

Sullivan opted to go with Jeremy Swayman in goal, sending Connor Hellebuyck to the bench. The move seemed like a good opportunity to give Swayman some ice time against an inferior opponent. It didn’t quite work out that way.

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Denmark doesn’t really have any on-paper advantages against the United States, so the Danes pressed their one strength — a fast, agile frontline — and did their best to slow down the game by harassing the United States from every angle. The move paid immediate dividends in the opening minutes, as Denmark’s Nick Olesen punched in a goal through a scrum less than two minutes into the game.

Team USA’s Matt Boldy scored an equalizer on a wraparound less than two minutes later, and for a few minutes, order seemed to be restored. But then Denmark’s Nicholas Jensen fired a shot from the neutral zone, just inside the red line, blowing it right past Swayman for an embarrassingly easy goal. So easy, in fact, that it’s entirely possible Swayman lost the puck against the inexplicably black boards that line the ice in Milan.

“I’m color-blind, so it doesn’t matter to me,” Swayman smiled after the game. “It’s something all of us goalies have to face. We play in different arenas every night in the NHL, so it’s just a challenge we have to embrace.”

The first period ended with the United States holding a 12-7 shot advantage but a frustrating 2-1 deficit on the scoreboard. Perhaps for that reason, Tkachuk decided to punch Oliver Lauridsen’s helmet off, but the Olympic referees intervened before any real hostilities could ensue.

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Denmark continued to fluster the United States’ offense, hassling the Americans right through a second-period power play, frustrating Team USA right up until the moment that Tkachuk evened up matters. Tkachuk, off a face-off win by Jack Eichel, rifled a shot right past Danish goalie Mads Sogaard to tie the game at 2 apiece.

“It’s a pretty cool feeling, scoring for your country,” Tkachuk said. “You get so much energy from this crowd, feel their support. It’s an amazing experience.”

From there, Denmark’s defense turned rotten, allowing a goal by Eichel less than a minute after Tkachuk’s, and then another by Noah Hanifin with less than three minutes remaining in the period. Still, just to remind the United States not to start counting their Free Birds, Danish defenseman Phillip Bruggisser poked through a shot with just three seconds remaining to send the game to the final period at 4-3.

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The third period was a grind, pure and simple. Despite holding well over a 2:1 shot-on-goal advantage through most of the game, and despite keeping the puck largely on the Danish end, the United States struggled to close out Denmark until Jake Guentzel lasered a one-timer past Sogaard.

With 8:53 remaining, Danish head coach Mikael Gath swapped in goalkeeper Frederik Dichow, but it didn’t do much good; Jack Hughes added another dagger with just over five minutes remaining.

“Give them credit, they played really hard and were opportunistic,” Eichel said. “No game’s going to be easy, we realize that.”

The victory leaves the United States in position to advance out of the group stage, but questions will persist about the team’s ability to fight through physical opponents and keep from making crucial mental mistakes. Survive and advance is a decent strategy; thrive and advance is a better one.

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Next up: Germany and Leon Draisaitl in the final game of Group C play. The United States has little time for a turnaround.

“They’re a good team,” Sullivan said. “So are we.”

Each week during the 2025-26 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.

Last week: The Thunder won the trade deadline

Fact or Fiction: The NBA’s response is enough to curb its tanking epidemic

The NBA’s tanking problem, it seems, creeps earlier and earlier into the season, to the point that two teams were fined on Thursday for violating the league’s tanking policies.

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“Are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory?” NBA commissioner Adam Silver asked himself during a media availability on Saturday. “Yes.”

In consecutive games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, the Utah Jazz removed Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. prior to fourth quarters that were still in doubt and never reinserted either former All-Star into the contests. The Jazz blew a 17-point lead in the final 13:49 of a 120-117 loss to the Magic and actually held on to defeat the Heat 115-111.

Asked how close he came to subbing Markkanen and Jackson back in, Jazz coach Will Hardy said plainly, “I wasn’t,” blatantly baiting the league into taking action against them.

As Miami’s Bam Adebayo, whose Heat are vying for a play-in berth, conceded afterward, “We’ve got to find a way to win against teams that are, I guess you can say, trying to lose.”

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So, there you had it: The Jazz were clearly undermining the integrity of the game, and an opposing player called them on it, which resulted in a $500,000 fine for Utah’s franchise.

“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” Silver said in Thursday’s press release. “Additionally, we are working with our competition committee and board of governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”

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The league’s board of governors plans to meet in March, when tanking will be a hot topic.

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“We’re all in this together,” Silver added on Saturday, urging the NBA’s teams to follow its rules. “We want to have fair competition, we want to have fair systems and to keep an eye on the fans, most importantly, and their expectation that we’re going to be putting the best product forward.”

Exactly. And faith in what is a broken system is no solution. Nor are fines.

Jazz governor Ryan Smith is worth an estimated $2.6 billion, which means that $500,000 is about the same as $1 to someone who has $5,000 in his savings account. This is hardly a disincentive when the prize on the other end of their tank job — a high-end pick in what is considered a loaded draft — could increase the franchise’s value by hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. Consider what Stephen Curry did for the Golden State Warriors.

As long as losing is the way to get the most ping-pong balls in the NBA’s annual draft lottery, teams that have no hope for the playoffs are going to intentionally lose games.

This is an epidemic. As much as a third of the league has every incentive to lose from here on out, especially the Jazz and Washington Wizards, who each owe their first-round picks to other teams if they do not fall in the bottom eight. The playoff fields in each conference are all but set — with two months to go in the regular season. There is little left to play for.

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The season is too long, and there are financial reasons why team owners would not want to give up regular-season games — for the gate receipts. But what are they selling to fans? Stars are resting for all or parts of these games, and the product is, at best, watered down. At worst? Some of the product is essentially rigged, with one or both teams trying to lose.

Think a $100,00 fine against the Indiana Pacers for resting a healthy Pascal Siakam is going to dissuade Indiana from trying everything in its power to secure a top-three pick — and the rights to AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer — in the draft? Think again.

The Pacers are hoping and praying that Dybantsa, Peterson or Boozer, or whomever they get, eventually commands half a billion dollars in salary and is worth every penny to them.

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If the NBA must fine teams, it must fine them ping-pong balls, hitting them where it counts in the lottery and removing the incentive to lose. Teams will learn real quick not to tank.

“There is talk about every possible remedy now to stop this behavior,” conceded Silver.

Maybe it is time to scrap the lottery entirely. Make it a wheel. Drastic measures are required to root out a serious problem. What the NBA does about gambling, salary cap circumvention and its All-Star Game are other matters, but this issue seems fixable.

“We’ve got to look at some fresh thinking,” Silver added on Saturday. “What we’re doing, what we’re seeing right now is not working; there’s no question about it. Yes, is there more I can do? Have I attempted not only to respond to behavior we’ve seen but send a clear message that we’re going to be scrutinizing everything we see going forward? Absolutely.”

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As is, the Jazz assigned season-ending surgery to Jackson for a non-cancerous growth in his knee. Even though the procedure is necessary, Utah’s actions leave us to wonder if the team might have elected to postpone Jackson’s surgery if it had any incentive to win.

Likewise, the Wizards apparently traded for both Trae Young and Anthony Davis with the reported intention of resting both stars for the remainder of the season. What is the NBA going to do — convince Young that a lingering quad injury is no longer a concern? Tell Davis not to worry about the hand and groin injuries that he sustained on the Dallas Mavericks?

It is too easy for teams to find reasons to rest their stars in pursuit of losses. Anyone can have some sore soft tissue, and no amount of NBA investigation may discover otherwise.

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As Silver conceded, “It’s so clear that the incentives are misaligned.”

So, what to do if you are the NBA? Incentivize winning, maybe. Give the No. 1 pick to the non-playoff team that wins the most games after the All-Star break, or something like that. This is hardly a revolutionary idea, and it would surely lead to more problems (for example, would not teams try to duck out of the play-in tournament?), but it is at least something.

And something is better than what we have now, which is a gamble — accepting the league’s fines in hopes of landing a franchise savior — that billionaires are willing to take.

Otherwise, fans will have to take the issue into their own hands and stop going to or tuning in to these games. Paying $1,000 for a family of four to see a game that may or may not feature its star players is, on the other hand, a gamble most fans may no longer make.

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Determination: Fiction. Obviously.

If Damian Lillard participating in the NBA 3-point contest while still recovering from a torn Achilles was a surprise, what he actually did in the NBA was a shock.

The Portland Trail Blazers star, who hasn’t played an NBA game since April 27, won his third NBA 3-point contest Saturday, joining Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only three-time winners of the event. He had previously won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.

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Lillard defeated Devin Booker and Kon Knueppel in the championship round, with Norman Powell, Bobby Portis Jr., Jamal Murray, Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Maxey falling short in the first round.

Lillard, going last in the eight-player field in the first round, actually appeared in trouble after three racks. He needed to catch Mitchell at 24 just to reach the final, but had only 13 points when approaching his final 10 balls. He then made nine of those 10 shots to stun the Intuit Dome crowd.

Knueppel was the first to go in the championship round and posted only 17 points, far fewer than his 27 in the first round. Lillard was up next and this time, never looked vulnerable. He made at least four shots in every rack but his last one, making a statement with 30 points.

Then came Booker, who topped the first round with 30 and soon looked on his way to a victory. The 2018 3-point contest champ had 27 points and three balls left, all of them moneyballs. He needed to make two for the win — and got zero.

“I was praying on his downfall,” Lillard said after the contest.

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Basketball hasn’t been kind to Lillard in recent years, between his struggles with the Milwaukee Bucks and then the Achilles injury. He rejoined the Blazers last offseason on a three-year, $42 million deal after the Bucks waived and stretched him, with the understanding that he might not make an appearance this season.

Fortunately, even as he waits for that Achilles to reach 100%, he could still shoot. And now the Blazers have a little more reason for confidence they’ll be getting one of the NBA’s best shooters back when he’s ready.

Providence was up by one point before bedlam erupted in Amica Mutual Pavilion less than six minutes into the second half of the Friars’ Saturday afternoon game against No. 17 St. John’s.

Friars graduate forward Duncan Powell committed a Flagrant 2 foul on a driving Bryce Hopkins, a Red Storm graduate wing who spent the previous three seasons at Providence.

That led to a fight that resulted in six of the game’s seven ejections. A raucous Friars student section had front-row seats to the unhinged altercation, which eventually shifted toward the Red Storm bench and then, notably, saw Powell try to swing on St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell, who ducked out of the way beneath the basket just in time.

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Hopkins had been hearing jeers from the Providence crowd well before Powell took a hack at him on the break. Following a stoppage in play that lasted close to 20 minutes while the referees sifted through the punishments, St. John’s (20-5, 13-1 Big East) took control of the game and took down Providence (11-15, 4-11) 79-69 in the testy affair.

The seventh ejection came later in the second half when Providence’s Jamier Jones was thrown out after he was called for a Flagrant 2 foul on St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor.

Here’s the complete list of ejected players:

• F Dillon Mitchell (St. John’s)

• G Kelvin Odih (St. John’s)

• F Ruben Prey (St. John’s)

• F Sadiku Ibine Ayo (St. John’s)

• G Jaylin Sellers (Providence)

• F Duncan Powell (Providence)

• F Jamier Jones (Providence)

The six-ejection scuffle headlined the heated Big East contest, though. Four St. John’s players were booted, and two Providence players got the hook because of that skirmish.

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In the wake of the lengthy delay, the officials informed the coaches of the appropriate mid-game discipline, and Friar faithful chanted, “Duncan Powell!”

As for the game itself, St. John’s rebounded from Providence’s rally that started at the end of the first half and continued into the beginning of the second.

The Red Storm, who have now won 11 games in row, were led by Dylan Darling’s 23 points.

St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, who led Providence to a Final Four in 1987, told reporters postgame that the league will handle Saturday’s altercation and that he didn’t want his players to be asked about it.

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But, naturally, there was still some reflection.

“I feel like we responded in the best way possible,” St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor said, per The Associated Press.

“Coming into this game we knew exactly how rowdy this environment was going to be — not only for [Hopkins], but for all of us. We knew it was going be tough. You have to have a great mindset to come in here and win, and I think that’s what we did.”

The popcorn at a concession stand at Oklahoma’s Lloyd Noble Center got a tad too toasty on Saturday.

The Sooners’ men’s basketball game against Georgia was delayed briefly early in the first half after a popcorn machine caught fire. Seriously.

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Take a look.

The fire happened during the first TV timeout of the game and sprinklers quickly put it out.

That video might not accurately represent how big the fire was in its early stages, either. Here’s a closer angle.

Given how much we all know how a burnt popcorn smell can linger, fans in the sections near that concession stand probably had to deal with the smell of that fire for a while after it was put out. Thankfully (in this case), the arena didn’t appear to be at max capacity, so fans could easily have found other seats to watch the game.

Oklahoma came back to win the game, too. Georgia led 43-41 at halftime, but the Sooners outscored the Bulldogs 53-35 in the second half for a 94-78 win. It was just Oklahoma’s third SEC win of the season and the loss dropped Georgia to 5-7 in SEC play.

Ole Miss quarterbacks coach Joe Judge released a statement Saturday after a quote from a court appearance went viral, insisting that his comments about fathers of newborns prioritizing their sleep were “taken out of context.”

The comments were given Thursday during the hearing for Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ request for an injunction to play a sixth season of college football. That injunction was granted Friday.

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One clip of Judge’s testimony took off in particular, in which Judge recounts telling the partners of players with young children that they need to prevent those children from waking them up in the middle of the night.

Notably, that clip identifies Judge as an Ole Miss coach and refers to unspecified players, but what it does not mention is the conversation at the time was about Judge’s experience dealing with sleep disorders while in NFL player development with the New England Patriots.

In his statement, Judge clarified that the conversations about playing football while raising a child were only in the NFL, never the collegiate level:

“Some of my comments from Thursday have been taken out of context, so l’d like to provide some clarity. In a discussion about Trinidad’s sleep apnea, I was trying to point out the importance that the NFL places on sleep for recovery and performance in addition to the education of balancing family dynamics during the football season.

“These are discussions I was a part of at the professional level from veteran players based on their own experience managing similar situations. These are not discussions we’ve had at the collegiate level. As a husband and father of four children, I understand those challenges first hand and would never diminish the commitment to family. We share that same dedication to family with our players and always support them through any challenges they face in their personal.”

Judge worked under Bill Belichick from 2012 to 2019, became head coach of the New York Giants in 2020, then moved back to the Patriots after his firing in 2022. He joined Ole Miss in 2024 and currently holds the titles of quarterbacks coach and “head coach of offense” (John David Baker is the offensive coordinator under head coach Pete Golding).

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In the interest of clarity and not taking Judge out of context, here is the larger exchange about dealing with NFL players with sleep disorders:

Q: “Can a sleep disorder affect a player’s ability?”

Q: “Has that occurred in your past where you have encountered players with sleep disorders?”

Q: “And what did you do for those players?”

A: “Well, we got them the CPAP machines. We tracked their sleep. We made sure they were evening out their sleep cycles, that they’re properly rested. That was several players over the course of years.

“And then there was also the players that we would have to educate — this is always a tough conversation to have. It’s not a popular opinion, this is the truth, we would have to educate significant others who may have been pregnant during the season, or were going to have a baby during the season, and you’d have to educate them on — you have this baby in the middle of the season, that father has to play good football. It’s a day-by-day production business. He has to be ready to perform and go out there and play, and when I say that is, you need to let him sleep. He needs to be in another room, detached.

“You have to explain to the mother, ‘Listen, he ain’t waking up for the midnight feedings. After the season, he’s full metal jacket. You can do whatever you want with him, he’ll change every diaper. In season, he’s got to have a different priority.

“Now, there were examples to use from that. We had some older veteran players — I can or can’t share names if you want me too — who had multiple children who would sleep in other rooms. Their wives would bring in family or a nursing aid to help throughout the night, and those players continue to play high-level football. We had other players who are young who quite simply did what every other father in the world does, waking up, changing diapers, doing feedings, and led to injuries, led to soft-tissue injuries, not being rested, not being recovered, not being ready to roll.”

Q: “That never occurred to me, that newborns can affect injuries on the football field. But who had to deliver that message?”

Q: “And to whom did you deliver the message?”

A: “To the pregnant women.”

A: “About as good as you’d expect (laughs).”