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Don Banks: If they had made the Super Bowl, Randall and I were going to do a book that year on his Christian transformation, on his faith, on his career turnaround. He took notes into a tape recorder all year anticipating that we were going to do a book, since everyone knew they were going to the Super Bowl.

Jeff Diamond: My daughter was playing in a basketball tournament [on the day of the NFC title game], so she couldn’t go to the game. She left me a note that morning that said Good luck in the game today. I know we’re going to win and we’ll be GOIN’ TO MIAMI. That was a big song at the time. I think it was Will Smith or someone who sang it.

Robert Smith: There was never any panic. As a matter of fact, I remember going on to the field as an offense before the drive where Gary missed the kick. It was 27-20 at that point, and we knew if we got some points the game would be over. I remember, it was just this incredible sense of calm and togetherness and confidence. It was spontaneous, I’ve talked about this 100 times but it still gives me chills—on that drive, everyone on offense held hands for the first time. It just, like, it said, We’re together, let’s do this. It was never something we had done before, but we held hands on that drive.

Owens has made it clear he does not appreciate Irvin’s criticism and has expressed unhappiness about Irvin’s decision to read text messages from Owens on the air. While it sounded like a feud was brewing, Irvin has said he considers it a good friendship, relationship with Owens.

The journey to this point, the strengthening stage of his rehab, was toughest during the first seven weeks, when no weight could be placed on the foot. There was a post-surgery splint and two weeks on his couch, much of it spent playing Call of Duty. There was a removable boot with crutches, a second surgery six weeks after the first and, don’t forget, the coach who promised him that he wouldn’t leave doing just that.

There were so many rumors every year, Fitzgerald says of Mullen. He told our team, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ The Sunday after the loss to Ole Miss, Mullen met briefly with players. He came in and said, ‘I’m leaving,’ and he walked out of the room.

It sucks that we came out on the losing end of it because things could have been different. If you’re in your second year and you win Super Bowl MVP, it’s crazy, says Jarrett during Falcons’ minicamp. The following year I have a really good year, chosen for the Pro Bowl as an alternate and I led the league at tackles for loss [or no gain] at my position. My first three years in the league I was in position to be a Super Bowl MVP and also a Pro Bowler.

No. 1 is obviously the product on the field—and I can’t control that, he says. I can try to hire the best coach, the best GM to bring in the best players but there’s no guarantee on anything. But that’s one part of it. The other part is really how we as an organization, our family, integrate ourselves into this community.

Spanos meets with small groups three or four times a week, building relationships piece by piece. And from July through December last year the Chargers participated in 150 community events and charitable programs, with an emphasis on causes promoting social justice. They partnered with the city’s most established media outlets and hired the area’s top afternoon drive sports talk radio host, Matt Money Smith, as their lead announcer. This year, their Fight for L.A. slogan will incorporate a Fight for Each Other slogan.

After Rashad changed his name, Simpson would call him, listen to him vent and offer encouragement. As the backlash built in St. Louis, Simpson successfully lobbied Buffalo to acquire him. The Bills came to accept Rashad, he writes, because O.J. vouched for him. Rashad spent only one season in Buffalo, but that rebuilt his reputation and led him to Minnesota, where he spent his best years in the NFL. Any stigma that had been associated with his new name evaporated.

But I think the answer has to be Houston. Getting Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt back is obviously enormous. So too is the return of Whitney Mercilus, who flashed big-time in the spring. And my sense is that the Texans feel like they’re deeper than they had been. Remember, Houston won the division two years ago with a total mess at quarterback. They had the No. 1 defense in football then, without Watt.

I tell people all the time when he got drafted here that’s the most I’ve been happy about a draft pick that was made here, Johnson said. It’s no offense to the guys who’ve been drafted. I was just excited to see them bring in a quarterback like that.

If anyone knows a thing or two about football, it’s Johnson. He spent 14 years in the NFL making seven Pro Bowl appearances during that time span. The former All-Pro also led the league in receiving yards twice (2008-09).

On president Donald Trump, patriotism, social justice, etc.:

Since (Trump) has been the president of the United States, I really haven’t said anything about it. Except for (positive influence) on economic policy, which again you guys choose not to talk about. If you decide to talk about those things, we’ll talk about those things. But people don’t like to talk about positive things.

The NFLPA also said the move contradicts statements commissioner Roger Goodell and Giants owner John Mara had made to union leadership about the principles, values and patriotism of our league.

On Tuesday, the NFLPA announced that it was formally challenging the new policy:

Our union filed its non-injury grievance today on behalf of all players challenging the NFL’s recently imposed anthem policy. The union’s claim is that this new policy, imposed by the NFL’s governing body without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on player rights.

Tyler Olson: A lefty whose job is to get lefties, he unexpectedly dominated lefties and righties last year and didn’t allow a run in 30 appearances. He has again dominated lefties this year! Meanwhile, righties are hitting .344/.432/.656 against him.

Dan Otero: A veteran sinkerballer who never strikes many guys out, Otero’s walk and strikeout rates this year are consistent with his career averages. But he has allowed as many extra-base hits as he did all of last season, and he has been hit especially hard with runners in scoring position. He has allowed 33 baserunners, and 18 of them have scored.

That left several questions to be answered in 2018, and a second-year quarterback with 35 career NFL passes under his belt will have to answer them. If Patrick Mahomes II struggles, it’ll open the door for the rest of a competitive division.

The Broncos may finally have some stability at quarterback after signing Case Keenum to a two-year deal, and the addition of No. 5 overall pick Bradley Chubb should help restore a stout defense to its terrifying heights. The Chargers made a late run at the division title in 2017 and have added more talent on each side of the ball, including space-clearing center Mike Pouncey. The real wild card is the Raiders, who underwent serious reconstruction this offseason under returning head coach Jon Gruden.

Tennessee ended an eight-year postseason drought by backing into the playoffs and will need Marcus Mariota to prove his 2017 downturn was a fluke to foster hopes of the team’s first division title since 2008.

So if you as Lakers are committed to being so good at pursuing your own form of excellence, it won’t really matter as much what the competition is doing.’

This [Genius] series has meant a lot to our Lakers. To have them in front of our guys, explaining how they became successful, has meant a lot and it changed their lives.

For Felix, speaking to the Lakers gave the six-time Olympic gold medalist a chance to put competition into perspective, telling the players she envied their opportunities to play 82 regular-season games and — if they achieve their goals — playoff games beyond that.

Every year you get a chance to go to the championship, Felix recalled of what she told the Lakers. And for me, you get every four years, [when] my chance [and training] can come down to about 21 seconds.

On Friday, he informed the NFL that he would retire from officiating.

The veteran quarterback takes back his starting job in Week 13 with New England now 5-7. He can’t do enough to get the Patriots to the playoffs.

On a bright, sunny day in Miami, the Raiders win a Divisional Round game against the Dolphins that doesn’t have any tuck rule drama. Oakland advances to face the Steelers in the AFC Championship, where Pittsburgh struggles with turnovers and hands a spot in the Super Bowl to the Raiders.

But the high-flying St. Louis offense is too much, and the Rams win a Super Bowl for the second time in three years. Adam Vinatieri watches all of this from his living room.

The Wall Street Journal’s report on Trump’s involvement said that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was among a group of owners who spoke to the president directly about the protests and an anthem policy.

This is a very winning, strong issue for me, Trump said in a phone call, according to a sworn deposition given by Jones and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Tell everybody, you can’t win this one. This one lifts me.

They were clearly colluding because they were intimidated by the president, Geragos said in an interview with CBS’ Amy Dash. The only reason — and the owners will admit this — that they haven’t signed him is because of Trump, and they’ve colluded because of Trump.

To prove collusion, Geragos’ team will seek to show that Trump improperly impacted NFL owners’ decisions regarding Kaepernick, and that owners then advised one another not to sign the quarterback.

In a vacuum, Trump’s thoughts on Kaepernick wouldn’t have any bearing on the NFL. A few years ago, he was an advocate for Tim Tebow getting another chance in the league to no avail.

But as president, Trump’s thoughts carry more weight — particularly, when there’s a base behind him that can impact the league’s favorability and ratings. Trump has made no effort to hide his thoughts on Kaepernick and other players who kneeled, once saying at a rally that he wished an NFL owner would get that son of a bitch off the field if a player protested during the national anthem.

An arbitrator denied Julian Edelman’s appeal Tuesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. That means the Patriots receiver will serve a four-game suspension to start the season.

Edelman was found to have violated the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy. His positive test reportedly was triggered by a substance that wasn’t immediately recognizable.

Edelman, who can participate in training camp and the preseason, will miss games against the Texans, Jaguars, Lions and Dolphins.

Most league executives expect a cool market for restricted free agents, which could lead to a few of them — including Smart — signing one-year qualifying offers and entering unrestricted free agency next summer. Dallas might have feared this when it withdrew Doug McDermott’s qualifying offer mere hours after tendering it.

Smart and Jusuf Nurkic look like the best candidates for this strategy. Nurkic turned down a rich, four-year extension in the fall, league sources say, and might struggle to find any team other than Portland willing to offer more than the midlevel. Portland could try to retain him long-term at a courtesy salary just above that — say, $11 million or $12 million per year — and dare Nurkic to do better.

We’re trying to get him to see what he does well, what his skill set is like, Bradley said. What I love about him, even though he might be burdened mentally, it doesn’t slow his game speed down. He still plays fast.

The Chargers would like to see James learn fast enough to be a starter in Week One.

Wyshynski: The real answer is the team that dabbles the least in unrestricted free agency because not good can come from it, but I’ll go ahead and predict that Ray Shero and the New Jersey Devils do well for themselves. They have over $24 million in cap space and only nine forwards under contract, so one assumes they’ll dabble for players like James van Riemsdyk and potentially re-sign deadline pickup Patrick Maroon. Of course, trades are always a possibility, and after Shero’s masterstroke waiting out the Capitals’ cap crisis to snag Marcus Johansson, expect more of the same.

Kaplan: Honestly, I believe the defending champion Washington Capitals already won it. Think about it: the point of free agency is to augment your team by taking calculated risks without overspending, while opting for known commodities when possible.

The Knicks, of course, have missed the playoffs in each of the past five seasons and have won just one playoff series in the past 18 years. Mills was asked how he’d sell free agents on signing in New York. He mentioned Porzingis.

Guys want to be a part of a winning culture, Mills said, adding that Madison Square Garden and the New York market will be a lure. They want to be a part of a group of guys they want to play with. Porzingis is a magnet. He’s the reason why everyone interviewing for coaching jobs this year wanted this job.

What’s unclear at this point is if the Knicks plan to offer Porzingis an extension this summer or wait until next summer. Waiting could give New York approximately $10 million in cap space for the summer of 2019. But even if they delayed Porzingis’ extension, the club would still need to shed salary by waiving or trading players under contract for the 2019-2020 season to afford a max free agent in 2019, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reports.David Price on approach vs. Yankees: ‘Go back to that drawing board’

The five long balls Price gave up also set a career high for him. The most he had ever allowed in a game was three. The last time he did that was in September 2016 — also against the Yankees.

[Sunday] was one of those that he wasn’t at his best, and they were at their best, obviously, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Thanks to his shooting (40 percent career from 3) and ability to move without the ball, McDermott is a useful offensive player. But useful isn’t enough to make up for his poor defense and make him even a neutral overall contributor. McDermott is ill-equipped to defend quality scorers one-on-one and rarely provides steals or blocks.

Indiana can point to Bojan Bogdanovic last season as an example of turning a player with a dismal defensive track record in RPM — even worse than McDermott’s — into a decent contributor. (Bogdanovic even served as the Pacers’ primary defensive option on LeBron James in the playoffs.) If McDermott can make similar strides, this contract might end up being an OK one. That’s just not enough upside to justify making McDermott a priority when there are so few other teams out there with cap space.