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“Well, some things just don’t go the way we plan them,” Fisher wrote. “Every week I take the field, I start with a prayer. Some games the prayers are different than others, but the one thing that I try to keep consistent is that God’s will comes before my own.
“I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams to play in the NFL for eight years. I have enjoyed success and faced adversity along the way. Unfortunately we don’t usually know how or when adversity will strike. What I do know, is that when we are confronted with adversity there are things that we can control, and there are things that we can’t. While faith can be tested through something like this, I will stay strong in mine. I may not understand the test right now, but I know it will make complete sense when God brings it full circle.
“To not be able to play in the Super Bowl after such an amazing season is gut-wrenching. While that may be, I can’t wait to be out there cheering my guys on to be back-to-back World Champs. Thank you to everyone for all the prayers and well wishes. I am grateful for all of the support!”
Super Bowl timelines for all 32 NFL teams: Who’s in mix, getting closer and years away? | ESPN
CLEAR-CUT CONTENDERS RIGHT NOW
Kansas City Chiefs
Last Super Bowl appearance: 2020
2020 FPI rank: No. 1
Strategy for becoming a Super Bowl contender: All of the Chiefs’ key players are signed through 2021 and many of them beyond that, so now the challenge is to fit them all in under the salary cap. But it’s doable, so the Chiefs won’t have to part with players they truly want to keep for salary-cap purposes. The Chiefs might be limited in what they can spend in free agency, so they might be searching the bargain bin for veteran help.
Biggest X factor: The Chiefs need as many good, young and inexpensive players as they can find to fill in around their many high-priced veterans. They need another rookie class like 2020 with value picks like cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton. — Adam Teicher
2021 Super Bowl: Ranking all the starters for Chiefs vs. Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV | CBS Sports
4 - Tyreek Hill
His big-play speed is what makes the passing game so special. He can do so many things, and you have to double him or risk the big play. You can’t teach what he brings to the field.5
5 - Chris Jones
He is a power player in the middle of the Chiefs defense who can wreck a game plan. He is good against the run, but his inside pressure could be key to slowing Tom Brady.
Super Bowl LV: Seven predictions you can trust in Chiefs-Buccaneers | NFL.com
3) The first touchdown of the game will be scored by a player with a jersey number less than 15.
I’ll gladly take Tyreek Hill, Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle, Sammy Watkins, Scotty Miller, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Tom Brady — in case he gets a chance at his patented QB sneak — in this one. I expect this game to be pass-heavy, so I’m throwing my confidence behind three of the top four receiving options in the game (all but Travis Kelce).
Rondale Moore WR
Kansas City
The Chiefs didn’t need Clyde Edwards-Helaire a year ago and they certainly don’t need Rondale Moore here, but what’s better than one Tyreek Hill? Two of them. Moore isn’t Hill — no one is — but he flashes many of the same explosive traits, and with Sammy Watkins, DeMarcus Robinson and Byron Pringle headed for free agency, the Chiefs could be looking for a fresh crop of wideouts to run roughshod over the rest of the league.
Kelce was asked for his reaction to the allegations and how it affects the NFL’s reputation.
“To be honest, it’s disgusting,” Kelce said during the Chiefs’ media availability that kicked off Super Bowl 55 week. “I don’t even want to talk about it. It has nothing to do with the NFL. It’s ridiculous that a guy like that even had a job. He shouldn’t have been …”
Kelce’s voice cracked with emotion as he continued.
“What’s happened with that young lady, there’s no reason for that in this world. And he should be dealt with accordingly. I don’t even want to talk about that. It’s a very touchy subject. … I think everybody understands that that’s just flat-out wrong.”
Around the NFL
Green Bay Packers GM on Aaron Rodgers: ‘He’s our quarterback, and he’s our leader’ | ESPN
“I don’t think I have to do a lot of assuring him because I think obviously his play speaks for itself,” Gutekunst said Monday in his first public comments since Rodgers openly questioned his future in Green Bay following the NFC Championship Game loss to the Buccaneers eight days earlier.
“I will say this: We’re really excited not only for next year but the years to come. He’s playing at such a high level that he always has, and I think this year was a special team. It didn’t finish like we wanted to finish, but I think everybody’s purely motivated to get back and I think, like I said, I don’t think there’s anything that we have to do. He’s our quarterback, and he’s our leader.”
Why Tom Brady is one of America’s most polarizing athletes | SB Nation
Why do people love Tom Brady?
Brady represents the archetype of the underdog athlete. We don’t need to spend a great deal discussing this, because we’ve heard his story a million times, in a million different ways over the course of the last 20 years. Scouts didn’t believe in Brady entering the NFL from Michigan, and his average athletic showing at the combine cemented him as a sixth round pick.
He became a star due to circumstance. Taking over for an injured Drew Bledsoe, leading the Patriots to a Super Bowl in his rookie season in 2001 — it’s a story straight out of a sports movie. Brady’s ascension defied expectations in a way people love, and it perpetuated the dream that anybody with the smarts and drive could excel. I mean, if a slightly doughy, relatively unathletic Brady could win a Super Bowl, then the presumption is that anyone can — even if that’s not true.
Then Brady kept winning, kept succeeding, and in doing so cemented himself as the modern Joe Montana. The rest is history.
Retired NFL star Jason Witten named head coach at Texas HS | ESPN
Former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten has been named head football coach at Liberty Christian in Argyle, Texas.
Witten passed on several NFL and major college football opportunities as an assistant coach to opt to coach at the school his children attend. He joins former Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, who retired after a 17-year career, in moving from the NFL to high school. Rivers will coach at St. Michael Catholic in Fairhope, Alabama.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
3 unsung heroes of the Chiefs’ run to the Super Bowl
Chad Henne
We were all feeling uneasy when Mahomes exited the playoff game against the Cleveland Browns. There was so much uncertainty surrounding his status moving forward and the outlook of this team’s chances of running it back. Henne did a great job steadying the ship. No, the Chiefs didn’t put many points on the board after Mahomes’ exit — but they did have some sustained drives — even though one ended in a red-zone interception. Henne played well, completing 6 of 8 passes for 66 yards and holding off the Browns by running the clock out. His greatest contribution came on a third-and-long run that created a short fourth down that Andy Reid was aggressive enough to execute. He put the ball in Henne’s hands on a sprint-out play to Tyreek Hill that sealed the game and gave Mahomes a chance to come back and reclaim the Lamar Hunt Trophy.
A tweet to make you think
Patrick Mahomes describing his relationship with Chiefs C Austin Reiter: “With Austin, I’ve even opened up a Pokémon card with that guy before. So I think our relationship is kind of on a high level.”
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 1, 2021
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