The Pulse: Brady’s retirement fallout, Breanna Stewart’s big move and a football problem
Start each morning with The Pulse in your inbox. Register here.
Good morning! Too much football?
DominosThe long tail of Tom Brady’s retirement
Too bad for Tom Brady at the 49ers, Raiders or even back to the Patriots. About an hour after hitting send newsletter yesterday, he again announced his retirement. He says it’s for good this time.
The news itself isn’t shocking, after a tough year on and off the court for Brady. But the effects of his departure are numerous:
Brady can begin his FOX career shortly. Last offseason, the last time he retired, he signed a 10-year, $375 million deal to be the network’s senior analyst on football broadcasts. That was put on hold when he returned and Greg Olsen slipped into his place for the interim.
While Brady struggled on the field, Olsen thrived in the cabin. I thought he was fantastic alongside Kevin Burkhardt this year. He will also call the Super Bowl next weekend. What is FOX doing now? Olsen impressively understands the landscape, although he did seem quite wistful in a conversation with our Richard Deitsch about quitting a job he’s come to love. Olsen will be valuable wherever he lands.
What does Aaron Rodgers do? Brady’s abdication leaves one less quarterback in what should be a fiery market, which means guys like Rodgers (if he wants to leave Green Bay), Derek Carr and Jimmy Garoppolo are rising in value. And, as Matt Schneiderman writes, Rodgers probably doesn’t want to share a Hall of Fame spotlight with Brady when he enters, which would tempt Rodgers to play another year.
The rest of the QB landscape changes a bit. Add the Buccaneers to the glut of teams looking for a quarterback. Tampa Bay could try to draft one with the 19th pick, or settle for a free agent like Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield or a bunch of other uninspiring options. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said yesterday he also doesn’t expect Garoppolo to return.
Plus, there’s a whole reflection on Brady’s career, which we did a year ago as well. He is the most accomplished quarterback to play the game. He was No. 1 on our list of the greatest players in NFL history.
We will have plenty of time to process his departure. If it sticks this time, that is.
Briefs
Rashada chooses ASU
Jaden Rashada, who had the NIL brawl with Florida, signed yesterday with Arizona State. It’s a huge win — Rashada was the highest-rated quarterback available — for Sun Devils freshman head coach Kenny Dillingham. Harlen Rashada, Jaden’s father, also played at Arizona State. Also, don’t miss the not-so-subtle shot at Florida coach Billy Napier in Rashada’s announcement tweet.
Louisville won a basketball game
It’s hard to imagine how bad Louisville, a modern power program, has been this year. Last night, the Cardinals’ 68-58 win over Georgia Tech was momentous — Kenny Payne’s team improved to 3-19 overall and 1-10 in the ACC. Prior to last year’s losing season, Louisville hadn’t been below .500 since 2000. Hello, low.
The Eagles OL indicted for rape
Philadelphia offensive guard Josh Sills has been charged with rape and kidnapping by a Guernsey County, Ohio grand jury, state officials announced yesterday. This season, Sills has played four snaps with the team, which put him on the bye commissioner list after the news broke. Read the details here.
WBreanna Stewart’s league-changing move
Kevin Durant recruited. The Empire State Building’s social media did too. Yesterday, the boost paid off: Breanna Stewart is the newest member of the New York Liberty.
In what had already been a frantic offseason for the W, the WNBA’s top free agent is off the market. But its addition could have bigger effects than just making the Liberty a title favorite:
Recently, the league has come under scrutiny over its travel rules, which require no team in the league to fly privately – even if owners can afford it – unless all teams can afford to fly privately. charter. The Liberty was fined $500,000 for charter theft last season. Liberty owner Joe Tsai has spoken out to move the league forward. The same goes for Stewart, who has pledged to donate a portion of her earnings to charter flights for the entire league. They have plenty of juice to push this and other issues forward.
On the court, Stewart joins Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones to form what is probably the scariest lineup in the league outside of defending champion Aces, writes Sabreena Merchant.
Sabreena and Chantel Jennings also debate: With Stewart in New York and Candace Parker landing in Las Vegas, are superteams good for the WNBA?
Pulse PollsDo we have too much football?
Arena Football is back, leaders of the resurgent league announced yesterday. They plan to resume play in 2024, which will give us four major professional football leagues in the United States alone, five if you include college football at this point.
In addition to other smaller leagues, we now have:
The final three of these leagues will play each other in the spring. Yeah. Also, don’t forget the CFL, which attracts a lot of American talent
It is blasphemous to write these words, but simply: Do we have too much football? Make your voice heard.
I say yes. Cancel me if you must. The quality of these other leagues is already below average, and adding one more place to stream talent even more will just mean a bad product.
What you need to seeTari Eason fills out the stat sheet
Last night, in just 30 seconds, Rockets rookie Tari Eason recorded the following stats: five rebounds and one block, most of them in one streak. How? Just watch the absurd video, which features a lot of determination and many missed layups. At least he finally succeeded.
Eason recorded a staggering 12 offensive rebounds in the game and only one defensive rebound, which seems impossible. It’s only happened three other times in NBA history, according to CBS.
Pulse choice
Keith Law’s big week continues: Today, he ranks all 30 farming systems in MLB. We will come back to this.
The decline in NHL ratings is easy to explain. However, there are other things to worry about, writes Sean Gentille.
NBA Trade Deadline Big Board 2.0 is here. All eyes are on OG Anunoby.
Former Panthers coach and current Nebraska manager Matt Rhule sued Carolina last week, claiming $5 million.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said there will be no personnel changes this year, despite having one of college football’s worst offenses last season. Go ahead and line up those under bets for next season.
Danny Green made his debut for the Grizzlies last night. Recall that the Sixers traded him to Memphis on draft night, though Green rehabilitated the torn ACL he suffered in the playoffs last summer.
(Photo: Ray Seebeck/USA Today)