The tricky curves and crafty bounces of their kicks, honed by Australian football and rugby, have changed the way punt returners are coached.
Category: Football
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How the N.F.L. Used Supercomputers to Solve Its TV Schedule Problems
The N.F.L. leaned into optimizing its 2023 schedule for TV (and streaming), turning to high-powered computers rather than football tradition to create matchups.
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NFL Week 1 Predictions: Our Picks Against the Spread
The Packers-Bears rivalry begins anew, the Chiefs start their title defense and the hyped-up Jets will be tested against the Bills in a strong slate of games.
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Gil Brandt, 91, Dies; Helped Make the Cowboys ‘America’s Team’
As talent evaluator for nearly 30 years, he built Dallas into an N.F.L. powerhouse through the use of computer technology and other innovations.
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Alex Smith’s Recovery Didn’t Prepare Him for Daughter’s Cancer Fight
Alex Smith returned to play pro football after a horrific leg injury nearly killed him. Nothing about his recovery prepared him for the helplessness of watching his daughter battle a brain tumor.
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‘The Mountain Will Make Cowards Out of All of Us’
Two former pro football players entered the Leadville Trail 100-mile race, a grueling slog over Colorado peaks. They were used to challenges, but this was a new kind of pain.
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After the Loss of a Son, a Football Coach Confronts a Terrible Truth
Meiko Locksley was found to have had a degenerative brain disease often associated with football. His father, the head coach at Maryland, is still reckoning with the implications.
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A Football Coach Walks the Line on C.T.E.
Football gave the University of Maryland Coach Michael Locksley a scholarship, a family and a career. But it also likely contributed to his son’s C.T.E. diagnosis.
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The Unusual Legal Agreement Behind ‘The Blind Side’
Michael Oher says Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy used their relationship with him to unfairly profit from his story. They have denied it.
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In Wheelchair Football, Camaraderie Comes With Metal-on-Metal Contact
A collision-heavy wheelchair football team in Buffalo is giving players community and purpose.
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After a False Start, Sean Payton Aims to Reset the Denver Broncos
The team and its heralded quarterback finished the 2022 season with a losing record and one of the most disorganized offenses in the N.F.L. Its new head coach has brought order, and an early controversy.