Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles selected to host Super Bowls
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The NFL has awarded Super Bowls to Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles, three cities that made significant financial investments in new stadiums or recently upgraded an existing one.
Atlanta will host the game in 2019, followed by Miami (2020) and Los Angeles (2021). The announcement came Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings.
Atlanta will host its third Super Bowl, but the first at its new $1.4 billion stadium, which opens in 2017. The previous two were at the Georgia Dome.
Miami will have its record-setting 11th Super Bowl following a $450 million stadium renovation.
Los Angeles, which gets the relocated Rams this season, has not had a Super Bowl in the area since 1993 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The game will be played at the new $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, California, which opens in 2019.
The NFL also voted to expand its replay system to include more reviewable plays, including penalty enforcement, proper down, spot of the foul and status of the game clock.
The league said the replay official and the members of the officiating department at the league office may now consult with the on-field officials during games to provide information on penalty yardage, proper down and status of the game clock.
DEVELOPMENTS
Titans lineman hurt: Tennessee Titans coach Mike Mularkey said Tuesday that offensive lineman Byron Bell will miss the season after dislocating his left ankle on the first day of organized team activities. Mularkey said he did not know the extent of Bell’s injury, but the veteran’s left ankle was placed into an air cast before he was carted off the field.
Bell signed a one-year deal with the Titans this offseason after four seasons with Carolina.
Bell says he was targeted: Le’Veon Bell has accused the Bengals of intentionally trying to injure him. The Pittsburgh Steelers running back took the field with his teammates Tuesday for the first time since tearing the MCL in his right knee last November against Cincinnati.
Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict twisted Bell awkwardly as the two tumbled out of bounds just a few yards away from where Bell’s 2014 season ended after taking a shot to the same knee from Cincinnati’s Reggie Nelson. Burfict celebrated openly as Bell writhed in pain, a memory that lingers even after Burfict reached out on social media in March to express support as Bell worked his way through rehab.
“Obviously it looked like they were happy about it,” Bell said. “I’ll take the liberty of just thinking everybody plays just football to love the game. But people aren’t out here playing like that. People are playing to take people out. Obviously I know that now.”
‘Deflategate’ defense: Numerous engineering and physics professors weighed in with a federal appeals court being asked to review New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for the “Deflategate” controversy over the level of air pressure in balls during the AFC championship game last year. Papers filed with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the experts believe the 2nd Circuit’s ruling upholding the suspension lacks scientific proof.
CTE diagnosed: The Concussion Legacy Foundation says former NFL defensive end Bubba Smith was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy by researchers after his death. Smith died in 2011 at age 66. He played nine seasons for the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers. Smith also is known for his role as Moses Hightower in the “Police Academy” movies.
Report disputed: The co-chairman of the NFL’s head, neck and spine committee sent a letter to Congress stressing that he was not contacted during a government study on the link between football and brain disease. Dr. Richard Ellenbogen wrote to New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone to note that claims he and others tried to influence a National Institutes of Health grant selection are inaccurate.