ESPN Daily

In 1994, Steve McNair turned in one of the greatest seasons in college football history. He put his alma mater Alcorn State on the map, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy race. But nearly 30 years later, players at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) face a difficult path to the NFL. Jay “Sky” Walker, one of the great quarterbacks in black college football history, and a con...

The 2023 NBA All-Star Game marked a new low for the event. A lack of effort (and defense) from the players prompted “Team LeBron” head coach Michael Malone to call it “the worst basketball game ever played.” And after years of declining competitive spirt, the contest saw its lowest television ratings on record.  So today, our NBA oracle Brian Windhorst explains what’s gone wrong, why the players n...

NASCAR season is back, America. And it's time to tune in or, well … you’ll be missing out. Because where else in the sports world are you going to find drama, crashes, hugs, fights, confetti cannons, fireworks, oh and not to mention, Michael Jordan. And all of this is happening at 200 miles per hour.   So today, just ahead of the 2024 Daytona 500 – and the start of the NASCAR season – our resident...

The puck dropped on the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, or PWHL, in January 2024, and fans have been excited so far. The nascent league has attracted eyes, and dazzled with its play, while big names like Hilary Knight, Marie-Philip Poulin, Alex Carpenter and Natalie Spooner have packed fans into arenas, proving that there’s room in North America for women to take the ic...

Everyone hopes that the NBA Trade Deadline is filled with thermonuclear Woj Bombs that stop us in our tracks. But this year it all ended with a whimper. Still, there were enough players on the move and that leads us to ask some questions: What happens next? What do you do with your family, your pets … and most importantly, your sneakers? As the NBA is past the midpoint of the season, with trades t...

It’s official. The Kansas City Chiefs are the NFL’s newest dynasty following their 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. Becoming the first repeat champions in the NFL since the 2003-2004 New England Patriots. That’s three titles, and three Super Bowl MVP awards for Patrick Mahomes. And if the most flawed team of the Mahomes-Andy Reid era Chiefs can bring home a ring...

Are you Ready for It? We should have known all along that the Travis Kelce - Taylor Swift romance was destined for the Super Bowl stage. And while many can’t wait to see how it all plays out, others are just asking Is It Over Now? Through it all, as the gossip columns, social media Swiftie commentary, and song lyric puns add up, diehard football fans are wondering if this will damage the game’s Re...

Super Bowl LVIII kicks off in just a few days, marking the first time in history that the NFL’s biggest game will be played in Las Vegas. It’s a Super Bowl rematch, as the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs face off for the second time in less than five years, with the Lombardi Trophy on the line. But these aren’t the same teams now, and in some ways roles have switched. It’s the Chiefs wh...

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is one of the best and brightest minds in the NFL. He’s overseen great success in the past five years, leading the 49ers to four NFC Championship Games, three divisional titles, and two Super Bowl appearances, one in 2019 in Super Bowl LIV and this year's Super Bowl LVIII.  But as he prepares to face a familiar foe on Sunday, the same Kansas City Chiefs...

Frank Gore Sr. ran for exactly 16,000 yards in his prolific 16 year career in the NFL. Most likely, that longevity and endurance will never be replicated again, meaning Gore is more than worthy of the title, “The Last Running Back”. As the running backs' role in the NFL has dramatically shifted over the years, the Frank Gore archetype is fading into history. With his son Frank Gore Jr.’s impending...

There were two big questions about the Kansas City Chiefs throughout much of the 2023 NFL season. What was wrong with their offense? And was 2023 going to be a lost year? Now, with Super Bowl LVIII less than a week away, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and company, are poised to face the San Francisco 49ers, in what will be the Chiefs fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years. ESPN’s Ad...

In 2003, a team of marketers for the city of Las Vegas were ready to debut their soon-to-be iconic “What Happens Here, Stays Here” advertising campaign. And they turned to a natural platform for the launch — the Super Bowl. But the NFL, seeking to distance itself from the capital of and only legal outlet for sports betting, said no way.  Fast forward 21 years and sports betting is legal in 38 stat...

ESPN NHL reporter Kristen Shilton explains how in the summer of 2018, members of Canada’s gold medal winning Junior Hockey team were in London Ontario, being celebrated as heroes for winning that year’s World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. But after a night of heavy drinking by some, then, underaged players on the team, sexual assault allegations emerged, allegations that would quickly be dismis...

ESPN NBA writer Jamal Collier has been following the Milwaukee Bucks all season long. Today he explains to us how Adrian Griffin’s tenure with the team ended after only 43-games.  With transcendent stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard on their roster, the Bucks entered the season with sky-high expectations. A 30-13 record had them near the top of the Eastern Conference. But cracks were f...

There’s one phrase in the NBA that reflects as crying wolf; The Knicks are back. Different shades of mediocrity have inhabited Madison Square Garden over the last 20-plus years, but this time it may actually be different.  Led by emerging NBA superstar point guard Jalen Brunson, the Knicks are the team that no one wants to play. Following the addition of OG Anunoby, the Knicks look as good as they...

All that’s left is Super Bowl LVIII. The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will meet in a rematch of Super Bowl LIV at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 11th. The Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes proved that they were not, in fact, dead - as much of the media tried to pronounce them throughout the season. As they went into Baltimore and bottled up Lamar Jackson and the Ravens all after...

The Detroit Lions are usually considered one of the most hapless franchises in the NFL. They have never been to a Super Bowl, and are preparing to make just their second trip to the NFC Championship in the Super Bowl era. But most of that history predates their current head coach, Dan Campbell. He’s led an overhaul over his first three seasons that have the Lions on the cusp of their first Super B...

It’s time to get ready for championship Sunday in the NFL. In Baltimore, the Ravens host the Kansas City Chiefs, in the first playoff ever matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, with a trip to Super Bowl LVIII on the line. Charm City hasn’t hosted the AFC Championship game since the Baltimore Colts beat the Oakland Raiders in 1971, the first season of the NFL/AFL merger! Meanwhile out...

NBA fans have had Wednesday’s matchup between the Spurs and Thunder circled on the calendar for months. Because when rookies Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren face off in San Antonio, it will be the latest battle of what is expected to be a long and historic rivalry.  And thanks to the likes of Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Karl Anthony Towns, it’s all happening in an era where the big man has b...

It’s been a season of scrutiny for the LSU women’s basketball team. First, the NCAA Division I reigning champions lost their season opener to the Colorado Buffaloes. Then, their most famous player, Angel Reese, mysteriously didn’t play for four games in November, igniting much speculation among fans and media. But under Kim Mulkey’s leadership, they’ve come back strong, earning an 18-2 record and...

The final four matchups are set: In Baltimore, the presumed MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, who also boast the best defense in the NFL, will welcome in Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who looked like they remembered who they were, Sunday night in Buffalo. Across the country, the San Francisco 49ers, fresh off a sloppy victory over the Green Bay Packers, will host the Detroit Lions, a...

The midpoint of the NBA season is here, meaning that the trade deadline is around the corner. That often raises more questions than answers.  Should the Sixers make a move in a wide open Eastern Conference? Is Chicago’s Zach Levine the answer for another franchise? And is there another blockbuster trade looming on the horizon? So today, Ramona Shelburne joins the show to break down all the possibi...

This weekend, the divisional round of the NFL playoffs begin, and eight teams are still alive in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy. Kevin Clark, host of the This is Football podcast, shares his analysis of this weekend’s matchups, and tells how each team got here, and predicts what they have to do to win.  He also looks at some of the hottest news from the NFL coaching carousel where names like: Bi...

It only became official last Thursday, but the writing had been on the wall for weeks, if not months. Bill Belichick’s reign in New England, the greatest run by any coach in NFL history, was ending. A 13-loss season, the worst of his career, and growing dysfunction in the organization were the ultimate undoing. But the seeds of his decline go back much, much further –– long before Tom Brady’s depa...

Lionel Messi's MLS debut last summer with Inter Miami was spectacular with dramatic goals and record-setting ticket prices. But now Messi faces a tougher test with a somewhat aging super team getting prepared for a nine-month marathon of a season.  So today, Luis Miguel Echegaray checks in with us to talk about the evolution of the Messi brand and why, when it comes to The Beautiful Game, Lionel M...