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Home / frontsports / The Wolf Sports Newsletter: May 22, 2023

The Wolf Sports Newsletter: May 22, 2023

By Wolf Sports Staff

May 22, 2023


The Wolf Sports Newsletter is a weekly newsletter giving an efficient update on the recent happenings in the world of sports. In an era where Twitter is a primary news source for many sports fans, you can think of The Wolf Sports Newsletter as a Tweet Sheet delivering key information every Monday. The focus is on football, but big news from other sectors of sports will also be included to keep you in the loop with all the action to start the week.

 

The Wolf Sports Newsletter is beginning in article form but will eventually also be delivered via email. Create a free Wolf Sports account if you are interested in getting The Wolf Sports Newsletter via email when available.

 

Welcome to the first edition of The Wolf Sports Newsletter! A ton has happened in sports in recent days, so let’s jump right in.

 

🙏🏻 Legendary NFL running back, actor, and activist Jim Brown, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes in history, died at 87.

 

  • In the past, Bill Belichick, who had a strong friendship with Brown, has called him “the greatest player that ever played.”
  • Brown retired before age 30 but left the game as an NFL champion, three-time NFL MVP, and eight-time All-Pro for the Cleveland Browns.
  • He was named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and was also considered by many to be the greatest college player in history.
  • Brown is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, and the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
  • Brown went into acting and appeared in over 30 films.
  • The Syracuse product also became a prominent civil rights activist and made a huge impact throughout his entire life.

 

 

 

 

 

📺 Peacock will have the first ever exclusively streamed NFL playoff game.

 

  • The Peacock exclusive game will be the Saturday night game during Wild Card Weekend.
  • According to the Wall Street Journal, NBCUniversal is paying around $110 million to stream the one playoff game.
  • NFL postseason games have all been available for free via over-the-air broadcasts in the past.
  • This is a follow up to the NFL last season making all of Thursday Night Football streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
  • Many fans are not happy about a playoff game not being free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

🎙️ After weeks of rumors, Pat McAfee is officially going to ESPN this fall (NSFW video).

 

  • McAfee walks away from a four-year, $120 million deal with FanDuel.
  • McAfee says that four different companies were in the mix but that ESPN was the best fit.
  • The former Colts punter, who was a regular on ESPN’s College GameDay last year, had direct talks with ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro.
  • ESPN had been seen as the heavy favorite for McAfee, who recently posted a picture with Disney CEO Bob Iger.
  • McAfee is also a contributor to the WWE.
  • Some fans of The Pat McAfee Show have voiced displeasure with his move to ESPN.

 

 

 

❄️ Matt Ryan is not retiring from football yet, but he’s joining CBS’s NFL coverage this season.

 

  • Ryan told SiriusXM NFL Radio that “all the stars would have to [align]” for him to play again.
  • The 38-year-old Ryan was the 2016 NFL MVP and has thrown for 62,792 yards (seventh all-time) and 318 touchdowns (ninth all-time) in his career.
  • He and the Falcons were of course victim to the epic Tom Brady “28-3” comeback in Super Bowl LI, a game where Ryan couldn’t have played much better with a 144.1 passer rating against New England’s defense.
  • The third overall pick in the 2008 draft lived up to his draft status, with a Super Bowl being the only thing missing on his resume.

 

 

🏈 Steelers bring back quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to keep together a strong room behind starter Kenny Pickett. Pittsburgh also signed XFL star receiver Hakeem Butler.

 

  • Trubisky’s 2023 cap number is lowered while now staying under contract with the Steelers for two more seasons.
  • Rudolph rounds out a quarterback room that certainly looks like the deepest in the league.
  • Butler, a 2019-fourth-round pick of the Cardinals out of Iowa State, caught 51 passes for 599 yards and eight touchdowns for the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks this spring.

 

 

 

 

Other Sports Updates

 

⛳️ Brooks Koepka wins the PGA Championship for the third time. And PGA club pro Michael Block hit an insane hole-in-one earlier in the day.

 

 

 

🏒 Panthers beat the Hurricanes in QUADRUPLE overtime, the sixth-longest game in NHL history, to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. The Panthers then also won Game 2 in overtime to take a 2-0 series lead.

 

 

 

🎾 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal says that he expects 2024 to be his final season.

 

 

In Case You Missed It

 

– 2023 Wolf Sports fantasy football projections are now live

– Preview of the Wolf Sports 2023 Fantasy Consigliere Draft Guide

– Highlighting the best primetime games on the 2023 NFL schedule

– Fantasy implications from the 2023 NFL schedule.

– Takeaways from early 2023 Best Ball Mania IV drafts (🔒)

– EA’s new college football video game (coming in 2024) will have player likeness