Packers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling receives death threats, Pope Francis and NBA players discuss social justice, more sports news

Unfortunately in football, a player can make fantastic plays that keep your team in a game, but the one mistake that costs the team a win will often be remembered more. Packers wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling caught a rainbow deep ball from Aaron Rodgers amid three defenders on third-and-10 to keep Green Bay alive, but it was his fumble in overtime that received more attention.

Valdes-Scantling’s fumble led to a game-winning Colts field goal, but that wasn’t the worst part. The third-year receiver said he received death threats after the game.

“Death threats over a football game? Jesus you people need help,” Valdes-Scantling tweeted.

It was Valdes-Scantling’s first career fumble. It was a costly one, but no bad play should result in death threats. Valdes-Scantling was right about his teammates having his back.

Green Bay had several self-inflicted wounds before Valdes-Scantling’s fumble. Rodgers stared down Davante Adams when he had Robert Tonyan wide open for the game-winning touchdown, and the Packers had four total turnovers. Not to mention, the defense couldn’t come off the field in the second half.

Five NBA players and members of the NBPA met with Pope Francis to discuss social justice issues. Marco Belinelli, Anthony Tolliver, Jonathan Isaac, Sterling Brown and Kyle Korver were the players, along with executive director of the players’ union, Michele Roberts.

The group is an outspoken one that has been vocal in the past. Korver wrote a piece in the Players’ Tribune about recognizing his white privilege, Brown had an altercation with the Milwaukee Police Department which resulted in a $750,000 settlement, and Isaac was the lone player who didn’t kneel or wear a Black Lives Matter shirt when the NBA returned in the bubble.

Dabo Swinney is no stranger to boldly stating unpopular opinion, and just like other instances, he’s receiving a lot of blowback for it.

After Clemson’s game against Florida State was postponed due to COVID-19, Swinney believed that the Seminoles had no intentions of playing.

“This game was not canceled because of COVID,” Swinney said. “COVID was just an excuse to cancel the game.”

It’s not the best look for a coach who often speaks about how much his players mean to him and his safety-first approach. His projected first-round pick, quarterback Trevor Lawrence, just had COVID-19, and the Tigers lost a game without him.

As stated earlier, Swinney is no stranger to unpopular opinion. Among the things he’s said, he stated that paying collegiate athletes would lead to more entitlement.