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Docuseries led by Michael Vick pays homage to Black quarterbacks past and present

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Docuseries led by Michael Vick pays homage to Black quarterbacks past and present

The NFL has evolved to a point where a record 15 Black starting quarterbacks started Week 1 of the 2024 season.

That’s a far cry from when Warren Moon chose to sign with the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos after a standout college career at Washington because he felt he wouldn’t get a fair opportunity to run an offense in the NFL. Similarly, Tony Dungy’s college days as a quarterback at Minnesota were for naught — as were others — as the NFL converted him into a defensive back.

It took until 2001 for the NFL to have its first Black quarterback selected No. 1 in the draft, when the Atlanta Falcons chose Michael Vick out of Virginia Tech. Fittingly, Vick wanted to find a way to highlight the Black quarterbacks who came before him and those who now are excelling.

The result is a three-part docuseries, “Evolution of the Black Quarterback,” which premieres Tuesday on Amazon Prime Video. The 13-year NFL veteran and current analyst for Fox Sports chatted with trailblazers such as James “Shack” Harris, the first Black quarterback to begin a season as the starter in professional football, and Doug Williams, the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Vick also spoke with contemporaries such as Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott.

“I learned I pretty much had it easy. Those guys (back then) had it rough,” Vick said. “Shack, Doug, Warren, Donovan (McNabb) … in a lot of ways, the hate mail, it wasn’t a smooth transition.”

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Vick, who is an executive producer on the projects, says the idea of the docuseries stemmed from his wife, Kijafa, and director Anthony Smith. He wanted to host the series to not only honor many of his heroes but also pay homage to the current players by visiting them around the country.

He interviewed Charlie Ward, the 1993 Heisman Trophy winner who led Florida State to a national championship. Ward, a two-sport athlete in college, opted to go to the NBA and played 11 seasons with the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.

Prior to the filming of the docuseries, Vick and Ward had never met in person. Vick credits Ward for being a big inspiration on his football career. Ward said he’s still “blown away” when players like Vick talk about how he meant so much to them.

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“I didn’t understand it at the time,” Ward said. “Giving people hope that they could do the same thing that I was doing as a Black quarterback, or just inspiring people that you can do what you want to do. Making decisions based on what you feel is best for you at that time. It’s great to hear that you were able to be an inspiration to those that were watching.”

Ward said he was able to excel in college as a quarterback because his coach, Bobby Bowden, changed his system to suit Ward’s style, which wasn’t the case in many other programs. Ward was a mobile quarterback. There was a time when critics found fault in those who didn’t stay in the pocket. An anonymous NFL defensive coordinator said Mahomes played “streetball,” and another league coach said Lamar Jackson struggled to read defenses in a 2022 article on quarterback tiers published by The Athletic.

Mahomes wouldn’t go so far as to say Black quarterbacks are evaluated differently because of race. In 2022, he said Black quarterbacks daily are “proving that we should’ve been playing the whole time.” Having nearly half of the league with a starting Black quarterback shows progress.

“I think we’ve been able to overcome a little bit of it from those times just because of the evolution of our culture, the mindset,” Ward said. “Racism is still a part of our culture. We’re not going to put our heads in the sand and say that it’s not the case, but it has come a long way.”

Telling the story of Black quarterbacks allowed Vick to examine his place in history. The first episode begins with Vick acknowledging he is viewed as a game-changer on the field. Many, however, will never forget Vick pleading guilty to charges related to a dogfighting ring in 2007 and spending 18 months in federal prison.

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Vick said the ordeal was especially tough as he reflected on his grandmother, Caletha, who introduced him to football and died while he was incarcerated. Caletha had dementia when Vick went to prison, so he lied to her about his whereabouts. Before his sentence, he told her he was going to NFL training camp — even though it was during the fall.

“That was probably one of the toughest times of my life,” Vick said. “Having to leave and go away and to lie to my grandmother and tell her I was going to training camp when I was going to prison camp.”

Vick’s return to the NFL in 2009 also is covered in the docuseries. He ended up with the Philadelphia Eagles and became teammates with McNabb, who he drew inspiration from as the No. 2 pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. Vick was a freshman at Virginia Tech when McNabb was drafted. Seeing McNabb play college ball at Syracuse gave him a new perspective, as Vick, while in high school, once thought playing defensive back — not quarterback — would be his ticket to the NFL.

“I changed the game and fought for a right to be a dual threat and to make it a real thing,” he said. “Now you can draft a quarterback knowing that he’s going to be your dual threat, and you can feel comfortable knowing you’ve got a quarterback that’s going to give an opportunity (to win) every week.

“This project is about paying homage to those who came before me who allowed me to have that confidence to keep doing what I do.”

(Photo of Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb: Len Redkoles / Getty Images)

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Packers’ head-coaching situation thrust into spotlight after playoff loss

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Packers’ head-coaching situation thrust into spotlight after playoff loss

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The Green Bay Packers’ playoff exit on Saturday immediately put added focus on what the organization will do with head coach Matt LaFleur.

The NFL coaching cycle has been the wildest in recent memory, with veteran coaches like John Harbaugh and Pete Carroll being shown the door. Packers fans seemingly put LaFleur on the hot seat following their crushing defeat to the Chicago Bears.

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur reacts during the wild-card playoff game against the Bears Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Sunday that the Packers will have a major decision to make.

“The Green Bay Packers and their new president, Ed Policy, have a significant decision to make here in the coming days – and that is whether to extend Matt LaFleur’s contract. He’s currently got one year remaining, or to move on from him,” Schefter said. “If they moved on from him, he would automatically go near the top of coaches available and shakeup this current head-coaching cycle yet again.”

Schefter added that Harbaugh could be one of the names that would interest the Packers’ organization.

BEARS’ BEN JOHNSON GIVES FIERY MESSAGE TO TEAM AFTER PLAYOFF WIN: ‘F— THE PACKERS!’

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur talks after the playoff game, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

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“Notice how we said this belongs to the Packers’ president, Ed Policy. Well, the Packers’ former president from the back in the day was a man by the name of Bob Harlan,” Schefter explained. “Bob Harlan’s son, Brian Harlan, represents John Harbaugh. John Harbaugh is a Midwestern guy, who has a home in the Upper Peninsula, and a lot of people around the league have been wondering if the Packers decide to go in a different direction, if all of a sudden the Green Bay Packers might fall to the top of John Harbaugh’s list as the top available choice for him.

“This has been a wild, crazy coaching cycle, and we may be just scratching the surface.”

Green Bay Packers’ Matthew Golden celebrates his touchdown against the Bears Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

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Green Bay finished 9-7-1 this season. LaFleur is 76-40-1 as the Packers’ head coach with a 3-6 record in the playoffs.

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Crossroads students begin push to make pickleball a varsity sport

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Crossroads students begin push to make pickleball a varsity sport

For brothers Boone and Ford Casady, pickleball is more than just a game, it is a passion. The 16-year-old twins are among the top junior players on the planet, but more important to them than trophies and medals is a desire to spread the fastest-growing sport in America to high schools and colleges.

Their vision, combined with the persistence of fellow Crossroads sophomores Samantha Leeds and Hannah Carey, has birthed the L.A. High School Pickleball League, the first of its kind in California. The first match will be Jan. 24 at the Santa Monica Pickleball Center.

Teams from Crossroads, Brentwood, Windward, Palisades, Notre Dame and Santa Monica Pacifica Christian will participate, and possibly several more.

Matches will be biweekly with all schools competing at the same shared location. The match format is loosely based on high school tennis with three doubles lines, one singles line and “friendlies” — ensuring that beginners, alternates and developing players all get playing time. The season culminates with semifinals and a league championship.

“My brother and I grew up playing competitive tennis and baseball,” Boone said. “We’d been playing tennis since we were about 3 and in eighth grade we moved to Barcelona to train at the Emilio Sánchez Academy for tennis. We were first introduced to pickleball earlier while we were in Mexico playing with friends and we immediately fell in love with it. We entered our first tournament in Palm Springs and realized we’d found something special.

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“We noticed that so many juniors were training and competing individually but there wasn’t a school-based structure like you have in other varsity sports. We decided to change that. We wanted girls to be involved from the start — it was important to us that the league be coed and inclusive to reflect how competitive girls pickleball already is. We’re also co-founders of the Crossroads Pickleball Club along with Samantha and Hannah and we’re working to grow participation on campus and across L.A.”

The four founders of the L.A. High School Pickleball League play mixed doubles.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Unlike most youth sports initiatives, the league was not created by adults or administrators, it was built entirely by students. Over the last two years they have coordinated with the Southern Section for recognition and guidance, worked with Crossroads administrators to establish pickleball as a school-sanctioned varsity sport, organized early intramural and inter-school tournaments, built communication networks among local high schools and helped other schools begin turning their club teams into varsity programs.

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“In high school sports, students usually join a system that already exists,” Leeds said. “With pickleball, we had to build the system ourselves.”

Boone defeated Ford to earn the No. 1 seed at the 2024 Junior PPA National Championships, but they met again for the gold medal and this time Ford won. They also took the gold in doubles and finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the country in the 14s division.

At the 2025 Junior PPA National Championships, the brothers took silver and bronze in the Boys U16 singles and partnered for silver in doubles. They were also presented the Community Assist Award to acknowledge their initiative in starting the Los Angeles High School Pickleball League. They are straight-A students and play shortstop and third base on the varsity baseball team.

So far, their toughest competition in pickleball has been each other.

“Boone and I practice together all the time and we play against each other constantly,” Ford said. “Boone knows the part of my game to attack and I know what to do against him so we always have great matches. No matter who wins, we hug it out at the end.”

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The siblings played in their first pro event of the year Saturday — the Masters Tournament in Palm Springs.

Leeds and Carey were introduced to pickleball in eighth grade.

“I remember leaving PE after playing pickleball, heading to soccer practice and honestly feeling kind of bored,” Leeds recalled. “All I wanted to do was keep playing pickleball.”

“Samantha and I got randomly paired to do pickleball in PE,” said Carey, who lost her home in the Palisades fire. “Most kids would sit out, look bored, or try to skip but as the pickleball nets went up our peers were engaged, exhilarated and connecting over their love of pickleball. So Samantha and I started making petitions to create a league.”

The girls, then 13, had a meeting with Anthony Locke, head of school at Crossroads, and made a pitch deck. Using her skills as a filmmaker Leeds created a short sizzle video to help show what pickleball could look like as a real school sport.

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“We were told that forming school-based teams and leagues is a necessary first step towards eventual CIF recognition,” she said. “I created a Varsity Team Starter Kit, outlining the steps we used to establish pickleball as a school-sanctioned varsity sport. Leaders at other schools are actively using it to establish their own teams.”

Added Carey: “We connected with Boone and Ford, which was such an honor considering their talent and passion for the sport. We decided to join forces and use our resources together to further our process of creating a league.”

The inaugural season runs from January to March but beginning in the 2026-27 school year the plan is to move to the traditional winter sports window, November through January.

“Pickleball has the potential to become a true varsity sport at both the high school and college levels,” Boone said. “We’re so excited to help push it forward.”

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US figure skating power couple makes history with record breaking seventh national championship

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US figure skating power couple makes history with record breaking seventh national championship

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U.S. figure skating stars Madison Chock and Evan Bates made history on Saturday with their record-setting seventh U.S. Figure Skating title in their final competition before the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The three-time reigning world champions, performing a flamenco-style dance to a version of the Rolling Stones hit “Paint It Black” from the dystopian sci-fi Western show “Westworld,” produced a season-best free skate and finished with 228.87 points.

“The feeling that we got from the audience today was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before,” Chock said.

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Madison Chock and Evan Bates of United States perform during ISU World Figure Skating Championships – Boston, at TD Garden,  on March 28, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts.  (Jurij Kodrun – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images)

They’ll be the heavy favorites to win gold next month in Italy.

“I felt so much love and joy,” Chock continued, “and I’m so grateful for this moment.”

U.S. Figure Skating will announce its selections on Sunday.

Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik were second with 213.65 points and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko were third with 206.95, making those two pairs the likely choices to join Chock and Bates on the American squad for the upcoming Winter Games.

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The men’s medals also were to be decided on Saturday, though two-time world champion Ilia Malinin had built such a lead after his short program that the self-styled “Quad God” would have to stumble mightily to miss out on a fourth consecutive title.

The U.S. also has qualified the maximum of three men’s spots for the Winter Games, and competition is tight between second-place Tomoko Hiwatashi, fan favorite Jason Brown, Andrew Torgashev and Maxim Naumov to round out the nationals podium.

The last time Chock and Bates competed in the Olympics in 2022 in Beijing, they watched their gold initially go to an opponent who was later disqualified for doping violations.

Chock and Bates initially had to settle for team silver with their American teammates on the podium at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Team Russia and Kamila Valieva, who was 15 at the time, stood above them with their gold medals. 

It wasn’t until the end of January 2024, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found Valieva guilty of an anti-doping rule violation, when Chock, Bates and the U.S. were declared the rightful 2022 gold medalists. 

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UN URGES COUNTRIES TO HONOR TRUCE DURING WINTER OLYMPICS, NOT DENY VISAS TO ANY NATION’S ATHLETES

Madison Chock and Evan Bates compete in championship ice dance at the U.S. figure skating championships Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.  (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance, during an anti-doping test at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in December 2021. She was suspended for four years and stripped of all competitive results since that date.

Chock and Bates spoke about what their message to Valieva would be today during an interview at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee media summit in October. 

“It’s hard to, I think, imagine what a 15-year-old has gone through and under that kind of situation,” Bates said. “And I know how stressful it is, being an elite athlete as an adult, as a 36-year-old. And I think that grace should be given to humans across the board. And we can never really know the full situation, at least from our point of view. … I genuinely don’t know what I would say to her.”

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Chock added, “I would just wish her well like as I would. I think life is short. And, at the end of the day, we’re all human just going through our own human experience together. And regardless of what someone has or hasn’t done and how it has affected you, I think it’s important to remember we’re humans as a collective, and we’re all here for this, our one moment on earth, at the same time. And I just wish people to have healthy, happy lives, full of people that love them.”

Chock and Bates had to wait more than two years after the initial Olympics to get their rightful gold medals, and they were finally presented with them during a ceremony at the Paris Olympics last summer.

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Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA perform in the Gala Exhibition during the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final Nagoya at IG Arena on December 07, 2025 in Nagoya, Japan.  (Atsushi Tomura – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images)

Chock, Bates and teammates Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou were given a specialized gold medal ceremony to receive the medals in front of more than 13,000 fans. 

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Chock and Bates became the first ice dancers to win three consecutive world championships in nearly three decades in March when they defeated Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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