Category: NFL
Catholic priest accused of changing the outcome of the last NFL game of the season
With everything on the line, a Catholic priest’s blessing may have changed the outcome of the NFL playoffs on Sunday.
The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium for “Sunday Night Football” with the season on the line. The game would decide who topped the AFC North and the final playoff spot.
‘The Catholic community in Pittsburgh is very strong.’
A perfect, dramatic ending was set up for the last game of the season, after the Steelers went ahead 26-24 with a late touchdown. After blocking their opponent’s extra point, the Ravens converted a pivotal fourth-down play to get into position for a 44-yard game-winning field goal.
However, kicker Tyler Loop pushed the ball right, and the Ravens lost in dramatic fashion.
Just after the game, NBC commentators Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth decided to sprinkle some Catholic lore on the ending and revealed that a priest may have been involved in the missed field goal.
At 6:15 p.m. local time, Tirico revealed, a priest was seen “spreading holy water” in the Steelers’ defending end zone, where the kick was missed.
“The Catholic community in Pittsburgh is very strong … and down at that end zone, Tyler Loop misses the … field goal … and allows the Steelers to win,” Tirico explained.
“So it’s not Tyler Loop’s fault,” Collinsworth laughed.
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The priest in question has since been named by local outlets as Father Maximilian Maxwell. Maxwell currently serves as the prior of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. According to WJCL, the Steelers have held their training camp at the college since 1966.
At the same time, Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Georgia, was quick to claim Fr. Maxwell as one of its own and proudly boasted on the school’s Facebook page.
“Check out former Benedictine Military School theology teacher Fr. Maximilian Maxwell blessing the Pittsburgh Steelers’ football field with holy water before the game Sunday night!” the school wrote.
Following the dramatic ending, Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward was asked about the potential blessed outcome.
“I’m not gonna ask questions,” Heyward said, per WJCL. “The good Lord made a good decision tonight. I’m thankful, and we keep moving on.”
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Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
On the other side of the ball, Ravens players still kept their faith, particularly Loop, who said he will be leaning on his religion to get him through the tough moment.
“I had written down a little prayer before the game. … Faith is a big part of my life and right now I’m reading the book of Romans, and in Romans 8 it says God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.”
Loop continued, “Ultimately, I’m here to love on the guys around me. I’m here to try and have their back … reminding myself that ‘hey, God’s got my back even when stuff sucks.'”
Ravens running back Derrick Henry told reporters that he advised Loop to keep his faith and trust in God’s plan.
“I just told him the story after this is gonna be great for him because God put him in this position to use him as an example,” Henry revealed.
The Steelers will host the Houston Texans in Pittsburgh on January 12.
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44-year-old Catholic father of 10 throws touchdown in NFL return: ‘Whatever God’s will, I’m happy with’
Philip Rivers knew the playbook going in.
When the 44-year-old quarterback got the call from the injury-plagued Indianapolis Colts, he already had a relationship with coach Shane Steichen. Almost a peer of his at 40 years old, Steichen was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers when Rivers last played in 2020.
‘These kind of things don’t come up.’
With Steichen using the same playbook with the Colts as he did when he was arm-in-arm with Rivers, the 44-year-old quarterback came out of retirement to plug the hole for the Colts as their promising season was falling apart.
On Sunday, the father of 10 stepped in the game and threw a touchdown in a hard-fought battle against the Seattle Seahawks, one of the best teams in the NFL this season. That single TD pass was one more than his opponent, and despite the Colts taking the lead with a late field goal, the Seahawks followed suit and kicked a field goal of their own with 22 seconds left to win 18-16.
At the postgame press conference, Rivers was asked why he wanted to come back after nearly five years away from the game, especially with a strong possibility of failure looming.
“I think about my own boys, you know, my own two sons, but certainly [the] high school team I’m coaching, but this isn’t why I’m doing it,” Rivers replied.
“These kind of things don’t come up. But obviously, this doesn’t come up every day. But I think, maybe it will inspire or teach [them] to not to run or be scared of what may or may not happen.”
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According to Catholic Vote, since retiring Rivers has been coaching the football team at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, where his son also played quarterback.
It was when talking about his high school team that Rivers began getting emotional in front of the NFL press.
“Certainly I think of my sons and those ball players that I’m in charge of at the school. They’ll say, like, ‘Crap! Coach wasn’t scared!’ You know what I mean. Shoot, sometimes there is doubt, and it’s real, and … the guaranteed safe bet is to go home or to not go for it. And the other one is, ‘Shoot, let’s see what happens,'” he said.
It was in that moment that Rivers’ faith shined through.
“I hope that in that sense that it can be a positive to some young boys or young people. … Whatever God’s will, I’m happy with,” he added.
Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images
Rivers also answered questions about self doubt in his abilities after being away from the professional game so long. He admitted that he initially felt some doubt last week, but he was “thankful to God” those doubts quickly dissipated.
“I’ve been very much at peace and just at peace with everything about it,” he revealed.
The Colts play the San Francisco 49ers next Monday in a game that will likely be a must-win if the Colts want to make the playoffs.
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Cowboys avoid fine for controversial celebration that football fans love
The confusing saga continues surrounding a Dallas Cowboys tradition that happens almost every year.
During a spectacular 31-28 Thanksgiving win against the Kansas City Chiefs, Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson somehow avoided a fine for performing a controversial celebration, but he may have gotten off on a technicality.
‘Nothing like a Zeke being dropped into one of our kettles!’
As announced by tattoo-laden singer Post Malone, the Cowboys continued their Thanksgiving- and Christmas-season partnership with the Salvation Army. This included the tradition of placing giant red kettles behind the endzones, directly in front of the first row of fans.
During the third quarter, Ferguson seemingly tapped his toes into the endzone for an epic touchdown, ran over to one of the kettles at AT&T Stadium, and jumped in. No flag was thrown on this play for excessive celebration, and the NFL has not announced any fines.
However, this is where things get confusing.
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott climbed into a Salvation Army kettle after a touchdown run in the second quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Richard W. Rodriguez/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
After a lengthy review, Ferguson’s touchdown was overturned and taken off the scoreboard, adding another curveball to an already convoluted situation given that the kettle celebration has been overlooked by the NFL at times, while also resulting in fines in some instances.
In 2024, the kettle’s use in post-touchdown antics caused such a stir that Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown boldly made the claim that the league was baiting players into getting fined.
With four kettles placed around the field, Brown apparently couldn’t help but jump into one during a matchup against the Cowboys. He was subsequently fined $5,481 by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The enforcement surrounding the celebration has been about as inconsistent as imaginable, dating back to former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott performing the act in 2016. That year, the celebration was so well received it even garnered praise from the Salvation Army.
“Nothing like a Zeke being dropped into one of our kettles!” the organization wrote on X, then Twitter.
Strangely, the following year the NFL started its own confusing tradition of going back and forth on punishing the celebration.
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ARLINGTON, TX – NOVEMBER 23: Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland (26) jumps into the Salvation Army Kettle after returning an interception for a touchdown during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders on November 23, 2023 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
In 2017, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Justin Coleman jumped into one of the kettles after returning an interception for a touchdown; he was not fined but got penalized during the game.
In 2018 though, Elliott performed the celebration again, but this time was fined $13,369 by the NFL.
Fast-forward to 2022 when the NFL managed to confuse players and fans even more. A Whac-a-Mole celebration in late November had three Cowboys players get into a kettle and see no discipline at all. One week later, the Cowboys, including Elliott, used a kettle in a different unique celebration. This time, participants Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott were fined $13,261 for unsportsmanlike conduct.
On Thanksgiving 2023, a seemingly preplanned celebration that involved four Cowboys players eating turkey legs that were inside a kettle did not result in any fines.
As the confusing tradition continues, the Salvation Army did not make mention of the celebration on its X account in 2025. The charity showcased only its partnership with the Cowboys, sharing a video of the aforementioned Post Malone.
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How NFL football became a Thanksgiving holiday tradition
Before the NFL had three Thanksgiving games — or any games at all — the tradition was already under way in one part of the country.
The northeast is credited with creating the Thanksgiving game tradition. But, no, it wasn’t the New York Giants or the New York Jets that started it. Rather, the tradition began in the upscale setting of Princeton and Yale.
‘People in this area … are used to having football with their turkey.’
Back in 1876, the two schools played what is considered to be the first college football game on Nov. 30. Just 1,000 fans sat through a 2-0 Yale victory in Hoboken, New Jersey, that would start a tradition for the ages.
Over the next two decades, the annual game grew in popularity, with Princeton winning 6-0 in front of more than 50,000 fans in 1892, according to History. While this was the last time the schools met on Thanksgiving, the tradition was in full swing as colleges, high schools, and clubs played around 5,000 games on Thanksgiving Day throughout the 1890s.
Thanksgiving Pros
While most associate the start of the Thanksgiving tradition in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, there was more than a decade of games on the holiday before it became a fixture in the Motor City.
On Thanksgiving 1920, teams like the Akron Pros and the Dayton Triangles shut out the Canton Bulldogs and Detroit Heralds, 7-0 and 28-0, respectively. Even non-league teams like the Elyria Athletics and Chicago Boosters played that Thanksgiving.
In 1922, the Chicago Bears played their first of 17 consecutive Thanksgiving games. One of those games was against the Lions in 1934 after entrepreneur George A. Richards bought the Ohio Spartans for just under $8,000 and moved them to Detroit. In order to draw fans, he invited the champion Bears for the Thanksgiving game.
A record 26,000 fans watched the game at the University of Detroit Stadium, setting a record for a football game in Detroit. Even though the Bears won 19-16 — finishing with an undefeated season — it sparked a Lions tradition that continues to this day.
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Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Lions and Cowboys and Cardinals, oh my!
Since the Lions became the Lions, they have hosted a Thanksgiving game every year — except between 1939 and 1944 during World War II.
The first televised game came in 1953 for the Green Bay Packers-Lions game, but fans would have to wait another 13 years for a second Thanksgiving game to come on the airwaves.
On November 24, 1966, the Dallas Cowboys became the second team to host a televised Turkey Day game. They beat the Cleveland Browns 26-14 at the Cotton Bowl in front of more than 80,000 fans that day.
The area was thirsty for the tradition to continue. Cowboys General Manager Tex Schramm remarked at the time that Texas football fans had become accustomed to the holiday game.
“People in this area, because of the Texas-Texas A&M game, are used to having football with their turkey,” he said.
For nearly a decade, the Cowboys hosted the second game. However, in 1975 the NFL wanted to showcase the St. Louis Cardinals’ highly-touted offense and gave the team a few years to show it off. They lost in 1975, 1976, and 1977 — including a loss to the Cowboys in ’76 — before the league asked the Cowboys if they wanted to take the tradition back for the 1978 game.
“I said only if we got it permanently,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1998, according to History. “It’s something you have to build as tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.'”
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Turducken and a third game
Late and great coach-turned-commentator John Madden has brought the football world so many things: Madden video games, hilarious telestrator segments, and, of course, his sideburns.
Another addition in his 85 years was bringing the joy of eating to the Thanksgiving Day broadcast.
Calling 22 straight Thanksgiving games starting in 1981, Madden’s three-bird roast was born in the lead-up to the 1996 broadcast, according to ESPN. Along with his annual Turkey Leg Award for player of the game that started in 1989, the turducken became an annual staple, with Madden explaining his complex process on how to cook, cut, and even eat the birds.
In 2002, he even tore the roast open with his bare hands to create a working diagram.
“It’s a deboned chicken stuffed in a deboned duck stuffed in a deboned turkey, with dressing between the chicken and the duck, and the duck and the turkey. So as you cut down that way, you go turkey, dressing, duck, dressing, chicken,” he instructed.
Unfortunately, Madden retired just a few years after the NFL expanded its Thanksgiving schedule to three games in 2006, which would have offered a lot more opportunities to spread his turducken joy.
Although no specific host team is used for the third game, players have recently carried on Madden’s tradition by eating turkey on the field after the game — or even just a carrot.
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Panthers transgender cheerleader gets cut from team — then blames exactly what you’d expect
The first transgender cheerleader in the NFL has been ousted from the organization over his gender identity, the dancer claimed.
While male cheerleaders recently sprung into existence in the NFL, Justine Lindsay became the first alleged transgender cheerleader in the league for the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
‘Why the hell would I not wanna come back.’
At the time, the Panthers organization defended the move, saying the TopCats cheer squad members are “hired based on their qualifications and abilities.”
The team told NPR, “We wish all the TopCats, including Justine Lindsay, an incredible season.”
Now more than halfway through the 2025 season, Lindsay claims the reason he was let go by the organization was because he is transgender.
“I was cut because I’m trans,” the cheerleader said during an Instagram live broadcast, according to Them.
“I don’t wanna hear nobody saying ‘She didn’t wanna come back.’ Why the hell would I not wanna come back to an organization that I’ve been a part of for three years?” Lindsay added.
Despite reportedly being “devastated” and “hurt,” the cheerleader pinpointed one person within the organization who was to blame.
(L-R) Justine Lindsay and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attend a Night of Pride with GLAAD and NFL on February 8, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for GLAAD)
Lindsay fingered a new Panthers cheerleading coach as the reason for the departure, citing prior interactions with the woman.
“When she came over to our organization, I was like, ‘Oh hell, here we go. Imma have to deal with the same mess that I dealt with two years prior,'” Lindsay claimed.
The 33-year-old accused the team of not “looking at the bigger picture” as far as who the cheerleader was “changing lives for.”
“It was like a big slap in the face to not only me but for the youth,” Lindsay added, before allegedly saying he was cut off after President Trump’s re-election.
The North Carolina native confirmed in August that he had been released by the team but did not provide details surrounding the move. Instead, he provided the following statement to OutSports and insulted the president.
“For now, I’m focusing on my pageantry work and community involvement, striving to be recognized not just as an NFL cheerleader, but as someone making a positive impact, especially during these uncertain times,” he said.
Lindsay called being in the NFL a “stepping stone” before adding, “Don’t let a president who is delusional stop them from reaching their goals whether they are trans, African-American, not American, etc.”
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Carolina Panthers cheerleaders prior to the NFL 2025 game against the Atlanta Falcons at Bank of America Stadium on September 21, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by Kara Durrette/Getty Images
In 2023, Lindsay said he wanted to influence youth through his position and compared his fight to become an NFL cheerleader with becoming a doctor.
“Everything that I’m going through now, it’s bigger than me,” he told Elle. “I’m setting things up for the younger generation. No one is going to stop this show.”
“I want to change the narrative for my trans sisters and brothers, just to [let them] know that if you have a goal, go for it,” he said. “Turn that dream into a reality. Be an NFL cheerleader or a doctor or a nurse or whatever you set your mind to.”
Lindsay says his exodus from the Panthers “doesn’t mean I’m not still with the NFL” and claimed he still has “a lot of great connections” in the league.
“It’s just a slap in the face,” he complained.
Panthers ownership group Tepper Sports Entertainment did not respond to a request for comment.
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NFL player apologizes over backlash for doing Trump dance: ‘I did not mean to offend anyone’
A Detroit Lions player says he is sorry if he hurt anyone’s feelings.
The Lions crushed the Washington Commanders 44-22 in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday, in a game that featured a flyover from President Trump in Air Force One.
‘It had nothing to do with who the president was.’
The event included the president in the commentary booth, and Trump swore in members of the military over a chorus of boos from Commanders fans.
Fans were likely equally as perturbed when Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown celebrated a touchdown with Trump’s signature dance, which was a massive trend among athletes in 2024.
Evidence of displeasure from fans was apparent on social media following the game. Detractors called Brown “a f**king disgrace” and a “hoe ass n***a,” while claiming he is “supporting an orange racist, sexist, felon currently stopping people from receiving food.”
On Wednesday, St. Brown took to his podcast to address the controversy. His brother, Equanimeous, brought up the “elephant in the room” less than six minutes into the episode.
“You had a touchdown celebration. Talk about it,” Equanimeous prompted his brother.
Amon-Ra then immediately apologized.
“First of all, if I offended anyone, I do apologize. I did not mean to offend anyone. It was just we’re having fun,” he said on the “St. Brown Podcast.”
The 26-year-old added, “If any president was at that game — if they had a dance, I would have done it. It had nothing to do with who the president was.”
While it seemed that St. Brown was deliberately fence-sitting, he commented on the historic nature of Trump’s appearance at the Commanders’ venue.
“Even after the game, I found out — someone told me that was the first game that a president has been to in over 40 years. So first regular-season game, which is crazy,” he said.
The receiver said the controversy was simply a case of him and his teammates “having fun doing the dance”; “nothing more, nothing less.”
Backing his brother, Equanimeous equally described the “quick shimmy” as “nothing serious, nothing political.”
Trump has become intertwined with the Commanders franchise during his second term, as the team hopes to move back to D.C. and a $2.7 billion stadium.
Trump, the NFL, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) praised the plans in May while announcing that the city would also host the 2027 NFL Draft.
The president subsequently threatened to suspend the whole deal if the Commanders refused to change their name back to the Washington Redskins. The team abandoned the moniker in 2020, going as the Washington Football Team until rebranding as the Washington Commanders in 2022.
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