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Alabama NFL roundup: No Jalen Hurts, no problem for DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

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Alabama NFL roundup: No Jalen Hurts, no problem for DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles


Philadelphia wide receiver DeVonta Smith has played in five of his 68 NFL games without former Alabama teammate Jalen Hurts as the Eagles quarterback, including on Sunday. In two of those five games, Smith has caught two touchdown passes, including on Sunday.

In the Eagles’ 41-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Smith had six receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns even though Hurts missed the game after sustaining a concussion in last week’s 36-33 loss to the Washington Commanders.

While Hurts has been on the throwing end of 23 of Smith’s 27 TD catches, the former Alabama All-American has had two of his three two-touchdown games with Hurts’ backups on the field.

Against the Cowboys, Smith caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kenny Pickett as Philadelphia took a 14-7 lead with 6:38 left in the first half.

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After Pickett left with a rib injury, Smith caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Tanner McKee with 10:03 remaining.

Smith caught two touchdown passes from Hurts in a 30-13 victory over the Denver Broncos on Nov. 14, 2021, and two touchdown passes from Gardner Minshew in a 40-34 loss to Dallas on Dec. 24, 2022.

Smith’s second 100-yard game of season was the 11th of his career. He has two more in postseason play.

By improving to 13-3, the Eagles clinched the NFC East title and the accompanying home game in the first round of the postseason.

WHAT DOES JALEN HURTS HAVE TO DO TO PLAY QUARTERBACK AGAIN FOR THE EAGLES?

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Smith was among the 32 former Alabama players who got on the field on the 17th Sunday of the NFL’s 105th season.

Six other former Alabama players were involved in the Dallas-Philadelphia game:

Landon Dickerson started at left guard for the Eagles.

Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was designated as a game-day inactive. Hurts sustained a concussion in Philadelphia’s previous game.

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Eagles cornerback Eli Ricks did not record any stats.

Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen did not record any stats.

Eagles defensive tackle Byron Young is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

In the other Sunday games:

Buffalo Bills 40, New York Jets 14

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Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper had three receptions for 56 yards and one touchdown. Cooper caught a 30-yard pass from quarterback Josh Allen as Buffalo took a 19-0 lead with 5:13 remaining in the third quarter. The receptions boosted Cooper’s career totals to 711 catches for 10,033 yards and 64 touchdowns. Cooper became the 57th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 receiving yards in regular-season play.

Bills safety Kareem Jackson is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley (Theodore) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers caught a 69-yard touchdown pass. Buffalo elevated Shavers from its practice squad to make him eligible to play on Sunday for the third time in his NFL career. The only pass by Bills backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky on Sunday went to Shavers, and he turned his first NFL interception into a long-distance touchdown even though he caught the football behind the line of scrimmage.

TYRELL SHAVERS SCORES 69-YARD TOUCHDOWN ON HIS FIRST NFL CATCH

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Quinnen Williams (Wenonah) started at defensive tackle for the Jets. Williams made two tackles.

Jacksonville Jaguars 20, Tennessee Titans 13

Mac Jones started at quarterback for the Jaguars. Jones completed 15-of-22 passes for 174 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran six times for 22 yards. Jones threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Parker Washington as Jacksonville took a 10-0 lead with 8:59 left in the first half and an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. as the Jaguars went ahead 20-10 with 7:05 to play. The Thomas TD came at the end of a 16-play, 74-yard drive that took 9:11. Jones made his fourth start since Trevor Lawrence went on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Jones had a 66.6 passing-efficiency rating in the first start – a 10-6 victory over Tennessee on Dec. 8. His rating has improved each game since, reaching 122.2 on Sunday for the fifth-best showing of his career. The Jaguars converted on 8-of-13 third-down snaps, and Jones got half of the conversions on the ground with three quarterback sneaks and a 9-yard scramble.

J.C. Latham started at left offensive tackle for the Titans. Latham became the 16th rookie to start at least 16 games for Tennessee. In the Titans’ regular-season finale next week, he could join cornerback Roger McCreary, a former Williamson High School and Auburn standout, as the only players to start 17 games as rookies for Tennessee.

Calvin Ridley started at wide receiver for the Titans. Ridley had five receptions for 84 yards and one rushing attempt that gained 7 yards. Ridley will go into the final game of the season needing 59 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for the 2024 campaign.

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Jaguars running back Keilan Robinson did not record any stats.

Las Vegas Raiders 25, New Orleans Saints 10

Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry (Pinson Valley) started at right cornerback for the Saints. McKinstry made three tackles.

New York Giants 45, Indianapolis Colts 33

Colts defensive tackle Raekwon Davis made one tackle.

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Colts safety Ronnie Harrison did not record any stats.

Ryan Kelly started at center for the Colts.

Evan Neal started at right offensive tackle for the Giants.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Carolina Panthers 14

Buccaneers safety Marcus Banks is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

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Buccaneers outside linebacker Chris Braswell recorded the first full sack of his NFL career. The second-round rookie had a strip sack of Carolina QB Bryce Young on a third-and-5 snap at the Tampa Bay 33-yard line with 7:39 left to play. Braswell caused Young to fumble, but the Panthers recovered.

Panthers defensive end LaBryan Ray (James Clemens) made one tackle.

A’Shawn Robinson started at defensive end for the Panthers. Robinson made two tackles.

Bryce Young started at quarterback for the Panthers. Young completed 15-of-28 passes for 203 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran twice for 8 yards. Young returned to the Carolina lineup on Oct. 27 in a 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos and started a nine-game streak with at least one touchdown pass in that contest. For the first time in his career, Young had two or more touchdown passes in consecutive games after throwing for two TDs in last week’s 36-30 overtime victory against the Arizona Cardinals. On Sunday, Young threw touchdown passes to wide receiver Adam Thielen of 17 yards with 8:15 left in the first quarter and 40 yards with 50 seconds left in the first half. On third down, Young completed 1-of-5 passes for 10 yards, was sacked twice and scrambled for a first down.

Miami Dolphins 20, Cleveland Browns 3

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Browns cornerback Tony Brown is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Browns guard Javion Cohen (Central-Phenix City) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Jerome Ford started at running back for the Browns. Ford ran for 22 yards on six carries and returned a kickoff 23 yards before leaving the game because of an ankle injury.

Dolphins defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand made one tackle and recovered one fumble. Hand recovered a fumble by Cleveland quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson at the Browns 45-yard line with 5:23 left in the third quarter. Hand’s only other NFL fumble recovery came on Oct. 7, 2018.

Jerry Jeudy started at wide receiver for the Browns. Jeudy had 12 receptions for 94 yards. Jeudy reached a career high for receptions, surpassing his 11 catches in a 21-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 15.

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Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was designated as a game-day inactive. A hip injury kept Tagovailoa out of the lineup.

Dalvin Tomlinson started at defensive tackle for the Browns. Tomlinson made three tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.

Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was designated as a game-day inactive. A knee injury sidelined Waddle for the second game in a row.

Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Minnesota Vikings 27, Green Bay Packers 25

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Josh Jacobs started at running back for the Packers. Jacobs ran for 69 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. He extended his touchdown streak to seven games with a 2-yard run with 5:07 left in the third quarter as Green Bay cut Minnesota’s lead to 20-10. Jacobs also lost a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to a holding penalty.

Xavier McKinney started at safety for the Packers. McKinney made seven tackles.

Vikings kicker Will Reichard (Hoover) made 2-of-4 field-goal attempts after entering the game 19-of-22 in his rookie season. Reichard made a 25-yard field goal with 2:16 left in the first half and a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. Reichard had a 57-yard field-goal attempt hit the crossbar and a 43-yard field-goal attempt hit the left upright. Reichard also made three extra-point kicks on Sunday.

Cam Robinson started at left offensive tackle for the Vikings. Robinson’s 100th regular-season game was his 100th NFL start.

Vikings outside linebacker Dallas Turner recorded one sack. The sack was the third of the first-round rookie’s career.

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Washington Commanders 30, Atlanta Falcons 24 (OT)

Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen made one tackle. Allen returned from a nine-game injury absence and played in a reserve role for the first time in his 108 NFL regular-season games.

Falcons linebacker Rashaan Evans (Auburn High) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.

Falcons safety DeMarcco Hellams is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

Falcons running back Jase McClellan is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.

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Daron Payne (Shades Valley) started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Payne made two tackles.

Brian Robinson Jr. (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa) started at running back for the Commanders. Robinson ran for 60 yards on 13 carries and caught two passes for 7 yards.

Week 17 started on Wednesday, when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 and the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Houston Texans 31-2.

STEELERS’ NAJEE HARRIS HAS 4 1,000-YARD RUSHING PERFORMANCES IN 4 SEASONS

Week 17 continued on Thursday night, when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Chicago Bears 6-3.

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Three games were played on Saturday: The Los Angeles Chargers defeated the New England Patriots 40-7, the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Denver Broncos 30-24 in overtime and the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals 13-9.

Week 17 concludes on Monday, when the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers square off at 7:15 p.m. CDT at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. ABC and ESPN will televise the game.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.





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Alabama’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort recognized as one of the best | WKRG.com

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Alabama’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort recognized as one of the best | WKRG.com


SPANISH FORT, Ala. (WKRG) — Beneath thousands of headstones, a life of service and sacrifice is honored at the Alabama State Veterans Cemetery in Spanish Fort.

“It is pretty profound the sense of pride in the work,” said cemetery director Joe Buschell.

“The beauty is just overwhelming, and there is so much honor here for our veterans for the community,” said Commissioner of Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Jeff Newton. “It’s just a solemn place.”

Buschell accepted the Excellence in Veterans Cemetery Operations recognition, but he says it is a team effort.

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“We’re going to do whatever it takes. When the day starts, our obligation is to honor that veteran and their family,” Buschell said.

The only state veterans cemetery in Alabama is the final resting place for almost 5,000 veterans and their spouses.

“They truly care for the veterans of the state of Alabama,” said Glenn Powers, Deputy Under Secretary of Cemetery Operations for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that sets the standards for all 124 state veterans cemeteries across the U.S. “They do exactly what we want them to do, what the American citizens want them to do, take care of our veterans, honor them in perpetuity.”

Established in 2013, the 130-acre property off Highway 225 has room to expand for generations to come.

“They gifted everybody at least a part of their life, said Buschell. “At this cemetery, we have at least a couple that gifted the whole thing, so that means a lot.”

A debt of gratitude that can never fully be repaid.



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Alabama elections 2026: Who is running for U.S. Senate and House?

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Alabama elections 2026: Who is running for U.S. Senate and House?


Alabama residents will make their choice for U.S. Congress during the May 19 primary, and officials are urging people to vote despite an ever-evolving situation surrounding the state’s congressional maps.

Currently, there are legal disputes surrounding the Congressional districts map in use in Alabama. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in late April on a redistricting case in Louisiana, Alabama asked for the preliminary injunction which barred them from redrawing their maps until 2030 to be lifted, which the courts have granted as of May 11.

Though there’s been some confusion in the face of ongoing legal motions regarding the maps, what is certain is that primary elections will go on as planned despite Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey calling for a special election in August for the affected congressional districts — Districts 1, 2, 6 and 7.

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The Northern District Court of Alabama, which originally issued the injunction, still has to reconsider the case. The court asked state officials in a May 12 order to explain the plan for the 2026 elections and to explain how they plan to “ensure that all Alabamians may timely and efficaciously exercise their constitutional right to vote.”

There are two more elections after the primaries this month. On June 16, the state will hold primary runoff elections, and on Nov. 3, the state will host the general election. Additional candidates could come up after the primaries conclude, so once the names are finalized, the ballots may appear differently in November.

The special election in races affected by new congressional maps is currently planned for Aug. 11, though officials — including Ivey — have encouraged all voters to cast their ballots in the regular May 19 primary.

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Who’s running for U.S. Senate?

The seat currently held by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville is up for election. Tuberville, who has thrown his hat in the governor’s race, will not be returning to the position, so all candidates listed would be new to the Senate. The other seat is held by U.S. Sen. Katie Britt and won’t be open until her term expires in 2028.

Republican candidates

  • Seth Burton
  • Dale Shelton Deas Jr.
  • Jared Hudson
  • Steve Marshall
  • Barry Moore
  • Rodney Walker

Some names on this list are already serving in federal and Alabama state government positions, with Marshall currently serving as the state’s Attorney General, and Moore currently representing Alabama’s 1st District in the House of Representatives and previously representing the 2nd District. Of the candidates, President Donald Trump has endorsed only one, which is Moore.

Hudson is the only candidate who has attempted to run for another position, albeit unsuccessfully — he ran for sheriff of Jefferson County in 2022, but lost to incumbent Sheriff Mark Pettway.

Democratic candidates

  • Dakarai Larriett
  • Kyle Sweetser
  • Everett Wess
  • Mark S. Wheeler II

Who’s running for House of Representatives?

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell is running unopposed in District 7. Voters in every district have candidates from both sides of the aisle to consider.

Considering the special election that is now on the horizon, candidate names may appear differently on ballots in August if different maps are approved. For the May 19 primaries, the following is how candidate names will appear.

District 1 Republican Candidates

  • Jerry Carl
  • James (Jimmy) Dees
  • Rhett Marques
  • Joshua McKee
  • John Mills
  • James Richardson
  • Austin Sidwell

District 1 Democratic Candidates

Senate candidate Moore currently holds the District 1 position, so no candidates are incumbents. A few of the candidates in this race have previous political experience. Carl is a former member of the U.S. House and used to represent District 1, with his tenure in office lasting from 2021-25. Marques is a current Alabama State House representative.

District 2 Republican Candidates

District 2 Democratic Candidates

U.S. Rep. Figures currently holds the District 2 position.

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District 3 Republican Candidates

District 3 Democratic Candidates

U.S. Rep. Rogers currently holds the District 3 position.

District 4 Republican Candidates

  • Robert B. Aderholt
  • Tommy Barnes

District 4 Democratic Candidates

  • Amanda N. Pusczek
  • Shane Weaver

U.S. Rep. Aderholt currently holds the District 4 position. His one Republican opponent, Barnes, has a history in public service, serving as a Colbert County Commissioner.

District 5 Republican Candidates

District 5 Democratic Candidates

  • Jeremy Devito
  • Candice Dollar Duvieilh
  • Andrew Sneed

U.S. Rep. Strong currently holds the District 5 position.

District 6 Republican candidates

District 6 Democratic candidates

U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer currently holds the District 6 position.

How do I check my voter registration status?

To vote in the primary election, voters need to have been registered to vote in Alabama for 15 days before the election is scheduled to happen.

To check your registration status, visit vote.gov.

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Sarah Clifton covers business for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can reach her at sclifton@montgome.gannett.com or follow her on X @sarahgclifton and TikTok @sarahgcliftonTo support her work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.



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‘Maverick Act’ aims to preserve three F-14 Tomcats with restoration in Alabama

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‘Maverick Act’ aims to preserve three F-14 Tomcats with restoration in Alabama


PENSACOLA, Fla. — A bipartisan bill is making its way through Washington that would preserve and possibly restore a famous piece of naval aviation history.

The F-14 Tomcat was in service with the Navy for more than 30 years and was famously used in the original “Top Gun” movie.

But when the aircraft retired in 2005, the U.S. government destroyed a majority of the airplanes that were here in the U.S. This made the prospects of the jet returning to the skies next to impossible.

The “Maverick Act” hopes to bring a jet that inspired a generation back to life.

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“The Maverick Act got a lot of support,” “It passed the Senate unanimously. It now heads to Congress for a final vote.”

Pensacola Navy veteran Dan McCort can still feel the raw power the F-14 Tomcat brought to naval aviation.

“It was a blast to fly. I gotta tell you I got it,” McCort said. “I love the airplane. I love the missions because it came with a huge mission set.”

The only country in the world flying the jet was Iran. The jets were given to Iran in 1979. But when the government was overthrown, the jets fell into the hands of an anti-American government.

Because of that, when the jet retired in 2006, the U.S. ordered most of the aircraft and its parts be destroyed.

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During Operation Epic Fury, American and Israeli pilots destroyed Iran’s entire Air Force, including all the remaining flyable F-14s.

“We had to take them out, but boy that was hard for me to watch,” McCort said.

A bill dubbed the “Maverick Act” was introduced through a bipartisan effort. The legislation would preserve and restore three F-14s sitting in our nation’s boneyard.

“That airplane inspired an entire nation, partly because of the movie, partly because of the times it was hard Cold War, and it represented frankly American air power,” said McCort.

“A fantastic piece of equipment that served our country well,” Congressman Jimmy Patronis said. “But I can’t help but poke fun at it simply because of what Tom Cruise has done with the most recent ‘Top Gun’ movies.”

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The bill calls for the Navy to donate the Tomcats to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where they will be restored. If there’s enough spare parts, the bill calls for one of them to be restored to flight status to be flown at airshows across the country.

All of this would be funded by private donors, and not American taxpayers.

“If there’s no taxpayer dollars being used to restore these things then put it on the table,” said Patronis.

McCort says restoring the airplane will cost millions of dollars.

“A foundation that could generate some donations to defer the costs of making this thing fly because it will not be inexpensive,” said McCort. “I believe we’ll pay dividends down the road, both for the museum as well as a recruiting opportunity… as well as a recruiting opportunity for the country in general, and for the Navy frankly.”

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