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Today — 7 January 2025Sport News

Titans, with No. 1 draft pick, fire general manager Ran Carthon

7 January 2025 at 09:44

The Tennessee Titans secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after a loss in Week 18. However, general manager Ran Carthon will not be making that selection. 

The team announced on Tuesday that, after two seasons, they have parted ways with Carthon. 

The Titans were 3-14 this season, and 9-25 over the past two years with Carthon at the helm. 

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Titans team owner Amy Adams Strunk informed Carthon that the team would be making a change on Tuesday morning.

"I've loved the time I've spent with Ran. He's a talented football mind, a great man, and friend to everyone along his path. It's impossible to ignore that our football team hasn't improved over the past two years. I am deeply disappointed in our poor win-loss record during this period, of course, but my decision also speaks to my concern about our long-term future should we stay the course," Strunk said in a statement. 

"I love this team more than you can imagine. To our fans: we know this level of performance isn't acceptable. We're humbled by your support as we continue to work towards building the team you expect and deserve."

Despite the firing of Carthon, head coach Brian Callahan will return next season.

BEARS PUT COWBOYS IN COACHING DILEMMA AFTER REQUESTING TO INTERVIEW MIKE MCCARTHY: REPORTS

President of Football Operations Chad Brinker will lead the search for their new general manager. 

In the Titans statement, Brinker listed what he will be looking for. 

"I think the general manager position is unique to their respective organizations. This particular job, what we'll be looking for is someone who has spent their career as a scout, is a top-flight, top-level evaluator who has spent the majority of their career projecting college players to the National Football League, they've had a major hand in setting the draft board in preferably a consistent, winning organization, and you can see their fingerprints all over the roster," Brinker said.

"It is someone who wakes up every single day and the only thing they think about is building a roster, evaluating players, watching tape, working with the coaching staff. And, not just someone who knows how to collect talent, but someone who really understands how to build a team and how all the pieces fit together that I can work with not only in the short term, winning today, but building for the future, the long term, and understanding how all those pieces fit together. If you make a decision here, how it impacts a decision down the road, and really understand the full puzzle.

"At the end of the day, this person is going to be all ball, all day. They are going to focus on the roster and the coaching staff, and I'll continue in my role with handling all the other areas that surround the center of our program, scouting and coaches. So, I will support that person. But we are looking for a general manager who wakes up every day and is focused on building the team."

Whoever the new general manager is, they are armed with the top pick in the draft, and a little over $61 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap.

The big question for their new general manager is what they want to do at the quarterback position, after second-year quarterback Will Levis struggled this season. 

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Chargers to sign Ezekiel Elliott ahead of playoff game: reports

7 January 2025 at 09:21

Ezekiel Elliott’s 2024 season may not be over after all.

The Los Angeles Chargers plan to sign the veteran running back to their practice squad ahead of their AFC Wild Card matchup against the Houston Texans, according to multiple reports on Monday.

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The Chargers hit the road against the Texans over the weekend. They play on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Elliott returned to the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason after spending time with the New England Patriots and Tony Pollard signed with the Tennessee Titans. Dallas did not pursue Derrick Henry, who signed with the Baltimore Ravens.

The 29-year-old played in 15 games for Dallas and ran for 226 yards on 74 carries. He scored three times. The two-time rushing leader has 9,130 yards and 74 rushing touchdowns in nine seasons. He’ll have at least one more shot at playoff success with Los Angeles.

PACKERS TAKE HUGE HIT ON OFFENSE BEFORE PLAYOFFS AS STAR WIDE RECEIVER SUFFERS KNEE INJURY

The Chargers have gone with J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards in the backfield this season after Austin Ekeler left the team and joined the Washington Commanders.

Dobbins has had a breakout performance in his first mostly healthy season since his rookie year in 2020. He has 905 rushing yards and nine touchdowns this season. Edwards has 365 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Edwards missed the last two games of the regular season with an ankle injury. It could open up an opportunity for Elliott to be in the backfield if he cannot go on Saturday.

Los Angeles, in its first season with Jim Harbaugh as the head coach, finished 11-6.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Rex Ryan vows 'country club' atmosphere for Aaron Rodgers is over if he lands Jets coaching job

7 January 2025 at 09:00

Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is lobbying for his old job and part of those efforts included him revealing one major change to come if he were to land the gig. 

Ryan, who led the Jets to back-to-back AFC championship game appearances during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, will be interviewing for the job with owner Woody Johnson in Florida on Tuesday. 

He appeared all but sure that he would be the best fit for the job during an interview with ESPN radio on Monday. 

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"The reason I think I'm going to get it is because I'm the best guy for it. It ain't close," he said, via ESPN. "The thing you have to do is, you have to connect with your football team, you have to connect with your fan base. The way they play, that's the most important thing. It's not just the Xs and Os and all that."

Aside from showing his confidence, Ryan even offered a pitch – one that took direct aim at quarterback Aaron Rodgers. 

AARON RODGERS' DECISION LOOMS LARGE AS JETS SEARCH FOR A NEW COACH, GM

"Clearly, when you have a guy that doesn't show up for mandatory minicamp – and, by the way, he's your quarterback, coming off an injury – I think that's an absolutely ridiculous message you send to the team," Ryan said of Rodgers missing mandatory minicamp over the summer for a trip to Egypt. 

"If he comes back, things would be different. If he's back, it ain't gonna be the country club, show up whenever the hell you want to show up. That ain't gonna happen. I'll just leave it at that."

Rodgers spoke about his future with the Jets with some level of uncertainty following their season-ending victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. 

"Whether I’m back or whether it’s the guys they’ve got or new guys or whatever, the focus has to be how can I, the player, be part of the solution, not the problem?" Rodgers said. "And I have a lot of love for this organization and I hope it gets turned around. If I’m back part of it, I’ll do everything in my power to get it turned around."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Cowboys' Jerry Jones has no interest in giving up GM role: 'I bought an occupation'

7 January 2025 at 08:52

Jerry Jones has been the owner, president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys since he bought the team in 1989.

The shrewd moves he made in the 1990s allowed the team to win three Super Bowls, but the team has not found the same success since last winning the title during the 1995 season. Dallas hasn’t made it back to the big game since, nor have they made an NFC Championship appearance.

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Even winning 12 games three years in a row recently, Dallas still had yet to make it out of the divisional round. As fans turn up the scrutiny on Jones’ decision-making, the 82-year-old billionaire made clear he has no plans to give up the general manager role.

"No. Just, no," he said Sunday, via The Athletic. "I bought the team, I think the first thing to come out of my mouth… somebody asked, ‘Did you buy this for your kids?’ I said, ‘Hell no. I bought it for me.’ And I didn’t buy an investment. I bought an occupation, and I bought something I was going to do.

"I was 46 (years old). I bought something I was going to do for the rest of my life. That’s what I’m doing. So, no. The facts are, since I have to decide where the money is spent, then you might as well cut all of the bull---- out. That’s who’s making the call anyways."

PACKERS TAKE HUGE HIT ON OFFENSE BEFORE PLAYOFFS AS STAR WIDE RECEIVER SUFFERS KNEE INJURY

Jones has a list of crucial personnel decisions coming as the Cowboys enter the offseason.

Head coach Mike McCarthy’s contract is expiring with some hope he will be back at the helm in 2025. The team will also have to decide what to do with players like Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence, Brandin Cooks and Jourdan Lewis, who could hit free agency in March.

The team exercised its fifth-year option on pass rusher Micah Parsons, but he will definitely be looking for a new deal soon.

Dallas had an injury-riddled 2024 season and finished 7-10.

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WWE legend Hulk Hogan hears boos on 'Monday Night Raw,' Los Angeles fans face criticism

7 January 2025 at 08:02

WWE legend Hulk Hogan made a special appearance at the Intuit Dome with Jimmy Hart as "Monday Night Raw" debuted on Netflix.

Hogan came out to his "Real American" theme song with Hart waving the American flag in the background. As Hogan tried to cut a promo for his Real American Beer brand, which signed a deal with WWE before the show, he was met with a bunch of boos from the Los Angeles crowd.

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The 71-year-old WWE Hall of Famer was seen for a few minutes before he walked to the back.

While the Los Angeles crowd was quick to make their displeasure known, not everyone watching "Raw" on Netflix was pleased with the treatment Hogan received. "The Hulkster" found defenders on social media.

"Hulk Hogan getting boo’d probably because the state of California is the biggest left sided piece of s--- state in the country. F--- your political views and watch wrestling," one Hogan fan wrote on X.

"I love Hulk Hogan idgaf. Guy had a whole life and made a few mistakes okay so what. F-----g people acting holier than holy. P--- off," another Hogan defender added.

JOHN CENA'S FAREWELL TOUR BEGINS WITH MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT ON RAW'S NETFLIX PREMIERE

"The booing for hulk hogan is r------d btw, he’s a legend, respect him," another fan wrote.

"Hulk Hogan getting boo’d on Raw is because he’s MAGA. F----n’ hypocrites. Without Hogan ya’ll aren’t watching WWE. Grow up, Trump is your president," another added.

It was Hogan’s first appearance since he came out in full support of President-elect Donald Trump during election season. Hogan was seen in Trump’s corner during a rally at Madison Square Garden back in October and the Republican National Convention in July.

He also appeared on the "PBD Podcast" and revealed why he decided to speak out, pointing to the assassination attempt against Trump over the summer.

"When they tried to kill Trump, someone that I knew personally, it affected me worse," he said. "I sat up off the couch and I said, ‘that’s it, this has to stop.’ I don’t want to split my audience as a businessman but now I don’t care. This is much more important than business. This is a spiritual revolution now.

"This guy is coming out trying to help people. He wants to help millions of people. He wants to help America. Have God in our country, in our homes, in our schools, and I said, ‘I can’t handle it.’"

Hogan’s appearance in Los Angeles came about two months after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the election.

Hogan, along with Hart, appeared on the "Raw" anniversary show back in January 2023. He warmed up the crowd in Philadelphia at the time and received the totally opposite reception.

The pro wrestler’s relationship with the company has been hot and cold. He has had multiple separations with the company over several scandals.

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