Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mama didn’t let her baby be a Cowboy
NFL free agent DeAngelo Williams (Wynne) says he wants to play football in 2017, but he’s not talking like a man desperate for a job.
During an appearance on ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter’s podcast, the former Steelers running back crossed a few teams off his list, one of which was the Dallas Cowboys.
Williams says he grew up a San Francisco 49ers fan and despised the Cowboys. And then, just to make sure Dallas wouldn’t even think about calling him up, Williams decided to twist the knife further.
“They don’t ever show up during the playoffs. They always disappear in the playoffs,” Williams said.
“It’s hard to argue with Williams’ contention,” wrote Steven Ruiz of USA Today. “The Cowboys have won just two playoff games over the last two decades. But maybe Williams would have been the player who put them over the top. Probably not, but now we’ll never know.”
The other three teams Williams has crossed off his list include the Carolina Panthers — which makes sense after the two went through an ugly breakup in 2014 — the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns. Williams blacklisted the Jags and Browns because of their lack of recent success.
The streak
Phil Mickelson wasn’t at his best at The Greenbrier, though he had at least made the cut. That was a big deal, even for a 47-yearold who already has five majors among his 42 victories on the PGA Tour.
“I have made every cut this year so far, so I had a good feeling going in that I was going to do it,” Mickelson said.
In 25 years, Mickelson has never made it through an entire season without missing a cut, and this is the fourth deepest he has gone in the year. He only has four tournaments remaining with a cut — two majors and two FedEx Cup events
In 2011, Mickelson didn’t miss a cut until The Greenbrier, when it was held the last weekend in July. In 2006, he didn’t miss a cut until the International in August. And the closest Lefty came to going cut-free for an entire season was in 2005, when he finally missed the cut in Las Vegas, his final event of the year.
Fight night
UFC President Dana White took questions after Tuesday’s Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor media event in Los Angeles, and he was asked about his anticipated celebrity guest list for the Aug. 26 boxing match. After first talking about whether Tom Brady will be in attendance, someone asked him about President Donald Trump.
“Funny you say that, but they called me [Monday] and I don’t think they’ll come, but they’ll be watching,” White said.
Asked if Trump wanted to come, White said, “100 percent.” But “he feels like he’ll ruin the event if he shows up. Secret Service is gonna have to go through the place, they’ll have to shut down streets and create crazy traffic.”
As for Brady, the Patriots quarterback hasn’t been afforded Secret Service protection and is more than welcome to attend, though New England does play its all-important third preseason game in Detroit the night before.
“Tom Brady can do whatever he wants. He can get 10 tickets. I’ll give him every front-row [ticket] we have,” White said.