NFL News:

• Since he’s not on any rosters, I’d like to see Goodell fine him: Jerry Rice says the 49ers should try to land Antonio Brown.
  • The main trading block would be a $21 million cap hit the Steelers would have to absorb – and the Niners would have to help soften.

• Both the NFL & NFLPA have asserted, in writing, that Eric Reid was not unfairly targeted by the drug testing protocol.
  • They provided him a private, confidential copy of the league’s computer-generated testing algorithm, along with evidence of other players tested multiple times during the season.
  • It’s being alleged that Reid inflated his test count to garner sympathy.
    • The comments are what you’ve come to expect from Twitter.

According to one source familiar with the report delivered to the NFL and NFLPA on Eric Reid's drug testing, that report says that Reid was not tested as many times as Reid asserted publicly.

— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) January 9, 2019

• The Hall of Fame has decided against an attendance requirement for enshrinement.
  • This was proposed after Terrell Owens skipped the ceremony for his own self-serving ceremony at UT-Chattanooga.
  • Peter King will be fine with it, because it means his beloved Darren Sharper may still qualify despite being currently unable to attend for another 14-16 years.

• The Cardinals will get a sixth-round compensatory pick from the Bucs as compensation for Bruce Arians becoming their new coach.
  • It’s the result of Arians retiring in 2017 with one-year plus an option left on his contract, meaning he possibly could have been Arizona’s coach in 2019, thus the required remedy.
  • Plus, he’s decided to rebuild the Bucs offense around Jameis Winston, and brought in Todd Bowles to help shore up the defence.

• John Elway – pictured (right) speaking to Broncos owner Pat Bowlen – has agreed to terms with Vic Fangio to become the new Head Coach, and with Gary Kubiak to become the new OC.
  • Fangio will focus on hiring a defense staff that can work with Von Miller, because he’d already used the monkey paw on Khalil Mack & doesn’t know how many wishes it has left.

• The Browns have indeed gone with Freddie Kitchens as their new head coach.
  • They’ve also parted ways with DC & interim head coach Gregg Williams.

Finally, on a serious note, Brandon Mebane’s infant daughter Makenna passed away last Thursday.

• She was born with trisomy 13, also known as Patau syndrome, a rare condition in which some or all of the cells of the body contain extra genetic material from chromosome 13.
  • Trisomy 13 occurs in about 1 in 16,000 newborns. Although women of any age can have a child with trisomy 13, the chance of having a child with this condition increases as a woman gets older.
  • The extra genetic material disrupts normal development, causing multiple and complex organ defects – in this case, causing her to be born missing a heart valve & bleeding into her stomach.
  • It’s not normally an inherited condition, but occurs due to random errors in cell division during gestation, causing a cell to acquire an extra copy of chromosome-13.
• He missed four games this season to be with his family while Makenna was treated for the heart defect, and the wild-card game to mourn her passing.
  • Over 90% of children born with the condition don’t make it past their first year.
• He stated that he will be playing against the Patriots on Sunday.

Tonight’s sports:

• Hockey:
  • NHL:
    • Predators at Blackhawks – 8:00PM | NBCSN / Sportsnet
  • AHL:
    • Utica Comets (Canucks) at Toronto Marlies (Leafs) – 7:00PM | TSN2
• NBA:
  • Pacers at Celtics – 7:00PM | TSN4
  • Bucks at Rockets – 8:00PM | ESPN / Sportsnet1
  • Pistons at Lakers – 10:30PM | ESPN / Sportsnet1
• NCAA:
  • Georgetown at Xavier – 6:30PM | FS1
  • Auburn at Mississippi – 7:00PM | ESPN2 / TSN
  • West By-God Virginia at Kansas State – 7:00PM | ESPNU
  • Butler at Seton Hall – 8:30PM | FS1
  • TCU at Kansas – 9:00PM | ESPN2 / TSN
  • Virginia at Boston College – 9:00PM | ESPNU

We had school visitors today, so I couldn’t get much completed on the post save for basic details. SORRY!