Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham is recovering from right ankle surgery and could miss the team’s spring workouts, sources told ESPN.
Graham, one of the heroes of Super Bowl LII, had the procedure May 1 and is currently in a protective boot. While there is some hope he could participate in organized team activities or minicamp, the more concrete goal is to be ready for training camp in July, sources said. He is expected to report to the NovaCare Complex on Monday as the Eagles begin OTAs.
Sources said the goal is for Brandon Graham to be ready for training camp in July. Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire
After giving the ankle time to heal on its own, Graham opted for the minor procedure to help speed up the process.
Graham, 30, is in the final year of his contract. Despite some negotiations over the past several months, the two sides have been unable to strike a new deal so far. The former first-round pick paced the team with a personal-best 9.5 sacks in 2017.
Three sports memorabilia collectors who accused New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning of providing bogus “game-worn” equipment that was sold to unsuspecting fans settled their lawsuit against the Super Bowl-winning quarterback on Monday, days before the case was scheduled to go to trial.
A spokesman for the defendants, a group that included Manning, the Giants, two equipment managers and Steiner Sports, the company with whom Manning is under contract to provide game-worn jerseys and helmets for sale, said Monday night a settlement had been reached to resolve the claims. Details were not given.
The attorneys for both sides issued a joint statement that read: “[Plaintiffs] Eric Inselberg, Michael Jakab and Sean Godown have resolved all claims in their pending litigation against the New York Giants, Eli Manning, John Mara, William Heller, Joseph Skiba, Edward Skiba and Steiner Sports, in accordance with a confidential settlement agreement reached today. The compromise agreement, entered into by all parties, should not be viewed as supporting any allegations, claims or defenses.”
“All parties are grateful to have the matter, which began in 2014, concluded and are now focused on football, the fans and the future,” the statement added.
Inselberg, Jakab and Godown had sought triple the amount of their alleged losses — which totaled less than $20,000 combined — for buying two helmets billed as worn by Manning. They also had sought punitive damages, and claimed in court filings they would produce evidence that would “show that Manning engaged in a pattern of knowingly providing items to Steiner Sports that he misrepresented as having been game-used when he knew they were not.”
Manning and the Giants had denied the allegations and characterized the suit as “inflammatory and baseless” in court filings.
Jury selection was to have begun this week, but a death in the family of one of the attorneys had pushed that back to next Monday.
Fourteen lawyers representing all parties involved in the case gathered Monday at the Bergen County Justice Center for the first day of the civil suit that was set to be tried. The plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Brian Brook, said after the judge went over the logistics and housekeeping that he had been receiving the “silent treatment” from the other side. Brook said he had never experienced anything like it.
When they left the courthouse before noon, there was little optimism from all parties involved that a settlement would soon be reached. Nine hours later, however, it was finished.
Inselberg filed the lawsuit in 2014. The suit claimed two helmets purchased by Inselberg and the two other plaintiffs — including one purportedly used by Manning during the Giants’ 2007 Super Bowl season — were bogus. Inselberg alleged photographic experts using a technique called “photomatching” could not find evidence that the helmets were ever used in games.
The Giants and Manning contend photomatching is unreliable because it does not take into account that helmets are routinely reconditioned during or after a season, the evidence of which might be found on the inside of the helmet and not the outside.
The stakes were raised in the lawsuit in April 2017 when Inselberg’s attorneys filed court documents that contained emails between Manning and equipment manager Joseph Skiba, who also was a defendant in the lawsuit. In one email, Manning asks Skiba to get “2 helmets that can pass as game used.”
The email does not refer to the two helmets at issue in the lawsuit, but Inselberg alleged it indicates a pattern of fraud.
When the emails went public last year, Manning angrily denied any wrongdoing. In a court filing this month, Manning’s attorney wrote that the email was intended to ask Skiba for two game-used helmets that would “satisfy the requirement of being game-used.”
“Manning never instructed Joe Skiba to create any fraudulent memorabilia,” attorney Robert Lawrence wrote. “Rather, Manning believed that if he asked Joe Skiba for his helmets, he received his game-used helmets and that the helmets he received from Skiba were his game-used helmets.”
In the same court filing, Manning’s lawyer accused Inselberg of being “engaged in a decades-long memorabilia scheme” in which he obtained, without permission, game-used Giants equipment, including Manning’s, from Skiba and Skiba’s brother, Ed, as well as a local dry cleaner.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, Darren Rovell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SEATTLE — Chuck Knox, who has the second-most victories of any coach in Seattle Seahawks history and who also coached the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills, died at age 86 after suffering from dementia.
The Seahawks on Sunday confirmed the news of Knox’s death.
Nicknamed “Ground Chuck” for his teams’ run-first offenses, Knox went 80-63 during the regular season over nine years as Seattle’s coach. His debut season with the Seahawks in 1983 was highlighted by the first playoff appearance in franchise history; Seattle advanced to the AFC Championship Game against the Raiders with a road upset of Dan Marino’s Miami Dolphins in the divisional round.
Knox is the only head coach in the Seahawks’ Ring of Honor, having been inducted in 2005. His 80 victories with Seattle are second to Mike Holmgren’s 86. Pete Carroll is third with 79.
“The Seahawks family is saddened by the loss of Chuck Knox, and our deepest sympathies are extended to his wife, Shirley, and the entire Knox family,” the Seahawks said in a statement. “His presence projects an external toughness, but merited instantaneous respect by the genuine care and concern he held for his players. He was one of the great influences not only in football, but in life.”
Carroll along with former players Jack Youngblood and Brian Bosworth, who both played under Knox, were among those who paid tribute on Twitter.
Sending out heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and former players of Coach Chuck Knox- a true Seahawks legend and a man who had a great impact on so many.
— Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) May 13, 2018
Chuck Knox was one of the most influential men in the early days of my career. Great coach and an even better man. #RIPChuckKnox pic.twitter.com/tIVnFT1kmg
— Jack Youngblood (@theblood85) May 13, 2018
Embracing this man was a moment I have never forgotten. Coach Knox was a man made of stone & grit but had heart for the game & his players that defined what playing in the NFL was all about..it was my Honor to share the game you loved & thank you for being my COACH. @Seahawks pic.twitter.com/PjscjipWB5
— Brian Bosworth (@GotBoz44) May 13, 2018
Born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, Knox compiled a regular-season record of 186-147-1 and went 7-11 in the playoffs during his 22 seasons as a head coach. He coached the Rams (54-15-1) from 1973 to 1977, the Bills (37-36) from 1978 to 1982, the Seahawks from 1983 to 1991 and the Rams (15-33) again from 1992 to 1994.
He was named the AP Coach of the Year in 1973, 1980 and 1984 and also won the UPI version of the award in 1983 and 1984.
“Chuck Knox was the best coach I ever had,” Tom Mack, a former Rams guard and Pro Football Hall of Famer, was quoted as saying in a 2016 Los Angeles Times story. “He always took the time to know each player well enough that he could talk to each player and hit their hot buttons. I never saw another coach like that.”
In their statement, the Rams said that Knox “established a winning culture and a legacy that will never be forgotten, being the only coach to lead the Rams to five consecutive double-digit-win seasons. The memories and accomplishments that Coach Knox left behind will continue to inspire us and Rams fans.”
Detroit Lions team president Rod Wood said Saturday that his team followed the law when it came to how it approached the hiring process for first-year head coach Matt Patricia earlier this year, even if they didn’t uncover a 22-year-old aggravated sexual assault indictment that has since come to light.
Lions coach Matt Patricia passionately expressed his innocence in regard to a 1996 aggravated sexual assault indictment that he says was brought up to hurt him and those around him.
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“We always err on the side of hiring a firm who understands all the laws, follows them, state and federal,” Wood told ESPN on Saturday, “so that we don’t happen upon something that we’re not entitled to have nor would we be able to use.”
In this case, it meant following both federal law and the state laws of Massachusetts and Michigan. The Fair Credit Reporting Act does not allow felony arrests that did not result in convictions beyond seven years old to be considered in possible employment, so most search firms do not include that information on the background checks they provide to employers — and that includes the Lions.
This is all in response to a 1996 aggravated sexual assault indictment after an alleged assault in South Padre Island, Texas, on spring break, when Patricia was a 21-year-old student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The indictment was brought by the grand jury, but Patricia never stood trial, and the case was dismissed in January 1997, when the woman who made the accusation declined to testify.
On Thursday, Patricia maintained he believes he did nothing wrong. He declined during the news conference to go into the specifics of that evening.
“I was innocent then, and I am innocent now,” Patricia said. “I was falsely accused of something that I did not do.”
Wood declined to say what firm the team used for the background check other than to say “they are a well-regarded, national professional background screening company.” He also said he was unaware of APG Security, the firm the Detroit News reported this week had requested the indictment and dismissal forms from the Cameron County prosecutor’s office in January. Wood said the Lions had not employed that firm for their background check.
Wood knows there are other ways for information like this to be found — it is publicly available in Nexis searches and on the Cameron County open records website — but for employment purposes, it could not be considered anyway. And Wood said his franchise wanted to follow the law.
“There might be ways for companies, teams in our case, to find information out about a prospective employee through other means than the legal means,” Wood said. “I guess if others wanted to do that, that’s their prerogative. I’m only in charge of what the Lions do, and I want to do it the right way.”
Additionally, because the Lions were following both Massachusetts and Michigan law, they were not allowed to ask Patricia about any felony or misdemeanor arrests that didn’t lead to convictions. By Michigan law, they could have asked about felony arrests, although Ann Arbor, Michigan-based employment attorney Nicholas Roumel told ESPN he wouldn’t advise companies to ask about arrests that didn’t result in convictions.
Wood did not disclose what questions the franchise asked Patricia other than saying that the answers he gave to their questions were truthful. Wood declined to answer other questions about Patricia and the allegations on Saturday other than the background search and search process.
“There’s been a lot of criticism of people interviewing and questions that were asked that are inappropriate, at the combine and et cetera. And we’re not one of those teams that are going to do those kind of things, whether it’s a player, a coach or an employee,” Wood said. “We’re following the rules, and I’d rather follow the rules and maybe end up where I’m at, although we’re not happy to be dealing with this, there’s no doubt about that.
“But I’d rather be doing that than have broken the rules and had an issue that we were in an unlawful position by having some information. So there’s no doubt it’s a tough spot to be, but I’ll take the tough spot by following the rules versus not following the rules and being in an unlawful position.”
Wood said they did more than just a standard background check and interview in vetting Patricia. They spoke with coaches who had hired him and worked with and for him, along with players who have played for him. Everything, Wood said, came back positive within the reference checks the team sought.
When asked if he had any regrets with how he and the Lions went through the screening process, Wood said they are always looking at how to improve things.
“I would say I’m always trying to get better and the organization is always trying to get better,” Wood said. “But I’m not sure what specific changes, if any, we would make based on this. Always trying to improve every process.”
