Sports

Ryan Giggs and football: A very complicated relationship

Published

9 months ago

April 12, 2024

Ryan Giggs and football: A very complicated relationship

The celebration was almost as glorious as the goal itself. The fuzz of chest hair, the twirling shirt, the body swerve to evade the Manchester United fans who had run on the pitch in their euphoria.

On Sunday, it is 25 years since Patrick Vieira, a genuine great of Arsenal’s midfield, played a wayward pass amid the high drama of an FA Cup semi-final between the leading two English sides of the time.

Ryan Giggs took the ball and then he was off and running, picking up speed from inside his own half, slaloming past opponents, one by one.

Vieira tried to get back but Giggs, crossing the halfway line, dipped his shoulder to get away. Lee Dixon was next to come across. He, too, could not get near him.

Arsenal had the most famously parsimonious defence in English football — yet Giggs had magic in his feet. He was on his own, with everyone to beat, under the floodlights of Villa Park. Martin Keown went to block him. Dixon was still in the chase. Giggs shimmied between them both and suddenly, with a sway of his hips, he was in the penalty area, sizing up David Seaman, the Arsenal and England goalkeeper.

His shot was still rising as it flew into the roof of the net. It was pandemonium in the stands and Martin Tyler’s voice, commentating for Sky Sports, seemed to have gone up a few octaves.

“He’s cut Arsenal to ribbons,” summed it up rather beautifully.

It’s a Thursday night in Radlett, a well-to-do village in London’s commuter belt, and a beery, boisterous crowd has broken into song.

Ryan Giggs, now 50, has wandered onto the stage of the 300-capacity Radlett Centre. The venue is not full, but there is a racket anyway. He is greeted with a standing ovation and a song that will be familiar to United fans of a certain generation. It is an adaptation of the old Robin Hood classic.

Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, running down the wing
Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, running down the wing
Feared by the Blues, loved by the Reds
Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs!

It doesn’t take long, therefore, to realise that whatever else has happened in Giggs’ life in the last few years — most notably, the criminal trial that led to him relinquishing his position as Wales national manager — there is no shortage of people who regard him as football royalty.

He has already done Cleethorpes, Hull and Lincoln since being acquitted last year of being a violent and abusive boyfriend. There was a night in Belfast and an event in Chester. Another “Evening with Ryan Giggs” is scheduled in Northampton, plus two in Manchester alongside Paul Scholes, his former United team-mate. It is not quite Giggs on tour, but it does feel like a man putting himself back out there.

Is it what he imagined for himself at this stage of his life? Perhaps not, and the most decorated player in English football history will touch upon that when he is asked whether he is seeking a way back into management.

“There’s a bit of unfinished business,” Giggs tells the audience. “I was obviously enjoying coaching Wales. We had a pretty successful time. And yeah, I loved it. So I don’t see why not.”

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It is complicated, though, bearing in mind all the unpleasantness and excruciating detail that came out during the 2022 trial in which he denied subjecting his former girlfriend, Kate Greville, to three years of psychological and, at times, physical abuse.

It also seems to be understood why there are no follow-up questions. To go any further might involve having to explain why he had to stand down from the Wales job, why we rarely see him on television these days, why he does not tend to do interviews and why, it seems, potential employers might have reservations about taking him on.

To go further might involve having to ask why Giggs, a history-maker with an Order of the British Empire for his services to football and 13 Premier League titles, keeps being left off the competition’s Hall of Fame.

Giggs had been charged with controlling and coercive behaviour, headbutting Greville, 10 years his junior, and assaulting her younger sister, Emma. The jury at Manchester Crown Court could not reach a verdict. Then, shortly before the retrial was due to begin last year, Greville wrote to the court to say she no longer wanted to give evidence because she felt “worn down” and “violated” by the judicial process.

Ryan Giggs leaves Manchester Crown Court in August 2023 after the jury in his trial failed to reach a verdict (Cameron Smith/Getty Images)

The judge issued not-guilty verdicts on all the alleged offences. “The position is, he has always been innocent of these charges,” Chris Daw KC, representing Giggs, told the court. “Going forward, he now looks to rebuild his life and career as an innocent man.”

And so, there are around 240 people in Radlett — just a few miles from Arsenal’s training ground — paying between £90 and £250 ($113 and $314) to see him, with the more expensive packages involving a meet-and-greet and a professionally taken photograph.

Giggs looks tanned, relaxed, trim — a regular, apparently, at Barry’s Bootcamp gym in Manchester — and his Salfordian accent seems more pronounced in a room mostly filled by southerners.

It is a friendly audience and, right from the start, Giggs reminds everyone that he has always been a crowd-pleaser. “The bar’s been open, has it?” is his opening line, as the most boisterous members of the audience have to be shushed down.

He talks about watching United’s FA Cup defeat of Liverpool at his mother’s house (“she hates Scousers more than anyone”) and why he believes Erik ten Hag should keep his job as manager. United, he says, have suffered from “crap” recruitment in the post-Ferguson years and he hopes INEOS will put that right.

The compere asks him to wish happy birthday to a United fan called Nina, who is in the audience with a group of friends. It is her 61st birthday and Giggs turns the charm on full beam. “I met her earlier,” he says. “She doesn’t look it.”

But he is here to talk about his own United career, for the most part, and the evening opens with a video montage reminding the audience why they cherished him so much as a player.

The footage shows Giggs, at 17, making his United debut in a shirt that seems a size or two too big for him. In between the mazy runs and spontaneous skills, there is a clip of Best himself, analysing the teenager. “One day,” he says, “they might say I was another Ryan Giggs.”

The video moves on to the goal at Villa Park — April 14, 1999 — that would be voted in 2004 as the greatest FA Cup moment of all time. Vieira gives the ball away and the audience start cheering. They know what is coming. So does the compere, Alan Keegan, usually United’s matchday announcer.

“Oh, this is the one,” says Keegan. “Keep going, keep going, keep going Ryan… wow! That is extraordinary.”

Ryan Giggs fires in his famous goal against Arsenal in 1999 (Shaun Botterill /Allsport

It would end up being voted the greatest goal in 50 years of the BBC’s Match of the Day. Giggs was 25 at the time and, incredibly, still had another 16 years ahead of him in United’s team.

“I left the ground on crutches,” says Giggs, whose Achilles had been damaged after a tackle by Dixon. “I thought my season was over. As I was getting on the bus, a reporter asked me: ‘Was that the greatest goal you ever scored?’.”

His answer, he explains, was that, no, he didn’t think it was. But he hadn’t seen it back at that point. “In my head, I was 30 yards out and I had beaten only a couple of players. It wasn’t until I got home, watching it on the news, that I realised I was that far out and that I’d beaten that many players.”

He leaves Radlett around 11pm and, by the following afternoon, he has made his way 190 miles north to watch Salford City take on Sutton United in League Two.

Giggs is the co-owner of Salford alongside Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and David Beckham. It is the fourth tier of English football and, at times, there have been some unexpected challenges for the group of ex-United players known as the Class of ’92.

“It’s different, especially when you have been in football at the top level,” says Giggs. “When we first took over, the manager had booked a two-week holiday in pre-season. ‘I book my family holiday at the same time every year’. But it’s your job, isn’t it? ‘I’m not changing it’. So yeah, we had a few things we had to get our heads around.”

Sutton begin the day in the relegation zone, dangerously close to falling out of the EFL. It is 87th versus 91st at the start of play, in a ladder of 92 clubs. And it is a bad day for Salford, in a game of blood and thunder, a fair bit of thud and blunder, and not a great amount of skill. Salford lose 2-1 and the home fans in a crowd of 2,983 go home disappointed.

Overall, though, it has been a story of near-unremitting success, involving four promotions, since the Class of ’92 took control of Salford 10 years ago, backed by the wealth of Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim.

“We love it,” Giggs tells the audience in Radlett. “Myself, Gary, Nicky, Scholesy. Phil and Becks are in America so don’t get to a lot of games. But the rest of the lads do. Roy Keane loves coming to home games. Steve Bruce comes because his son, Alex, is now assistant manager. So there’s a real United connection.”

Ryan Giggs takes his seat at Salford City, where he is director of football (Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)

The Athletic is there, too, though it is difficult not to get the feeling our presence is less welcome. Salford get in touch two days before the game to ask what we want to write about, which doesn’t usually happen. Giggs, we are told, is not expected to be there.

In the end, they approve our accreditation request. The only logical explanation, however, is that there are people at the club who are not keen on Giggs being the subject of interest.

A few weeks back, it was revealed that Giggs had been working for Salford all season as director of football. As well as going to all the home games, it means he is there for the majority of their away fixtures, too. So he has plenty to keep him busy, even if it is noticeable that his appointment was not announced at the time.

Nor is he afraid to make the hard calls, judging by the story Robbie Savage, director of football at non-League Macclesfield Town, told recently about Giggs ringing him in February “to warn me that Salford City were poaching my manager”.

Savage, who was once in United’s youth system with Giggs, recalled the conversation in his column for the Daily Mirror newspaper. “I thought Giggsy was calling to arrange a game of padel tennis, which we play occasionally, but this time he opened the conversation with, ‘You’re not going to like this’.

“He said Salford wanted to speak to Alex Bruce, who had guided Macclesfield into the Northern Premier League play-off places and quarter-finals of the FA Trophy, two steps from Wembley. Laughing, but disappointed, I replied, ‘First you take my place in the 1992 FA Youth Cup final team and now you’re taking my manager?’.”

Is Giggs actively applying for managerial jobs of his own? His brief spell as United’s caretaker manager in 2014 was, he says, the proudest he has ever felt. It also left him convinced he could do the job full-time. But it is far from straightforward when, unfortunately for Giggs, it is also clear that prospective employers would have to consider the damage to his reputation.

Ryan Giggs called his spell in caretaker charge of United his proudest moment (Andrew Yates/AFP via Getty Images)

“George Best has a statue outside Old Trafford and his charge sheet off the pitch is much worse than Ryan’s,” says the writer and author Frank Worrall. “So if that’s the yardstick, Giggs should have one, too. Not that he ever will. Times and attitudes have changed. Best wouldn’t get one now, either — protest groups wouldn’t stand for it.”

In 2010, Worrall brought out a biography, Giggsy, that eulogised in the main about a player he regarded as “a personable guy away from the pitch and a genius on it”.

Worrall can vividly remember that epic semi-final against Arsenal when Keane was sent off, Peter Schmeichel saved Dennis Bergkamp’s 90th-minute penalty and Giggs’ wonder goal pushed United closer towards what was, back then, an unprecedented treble.

“The utter audacity of it,” says Worrall. “The interception, the dazzling dribble past bemused defenders, the hammer shot beyond David Seaman. The shirt off, twirling it in the air. The chest hair, the congratulatory hugs. The whole bloody miracle of a snatched glory in the face of 10-men adversity.”

Giggs, he adds, “is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend… a footballing legend”.

Over the years, however, Worrall has had to get used to the idea that “the Bobby Charlton-style, clean-as-a-whistle family man” was not the person he thought him to be. And that can be conflicting — “Sir Bobby he certainly ain’t” — when Worrall counts Giggs in his top five United players from the 1970s onwards.

“Ryan contributed as much to United as anyone ever,” he says. “Thirty-four trophies from 1991 to 2013, the most appearances (963), the first and last of the Class of ’92 to play for the club and United’s most decorated player… a winger-turned-midfielder genius who tore the opposition apart, again and again.”

Against that kind of backdrop, there are many people in football who think it is wrong, and certainly inconsistent, that the Premier League has excluded Giggs from the latest shortlist of possible Hall of Famers.

Yes, there are other stories about Giggs’ private life that will be held against him. And, yes, it only needs a cursory look through the internet to understand, for example, why his relationship with his younger brother, Rhodri, has suffered badly.

Yet the Premier League inducted Tony Adams into its Hall of Fame last year, even though the former Arsenal captain had previously served a prison sentence for drink-driving.

John Terry, the former Chelsea captain, is one of the 15 players on this year’s shortlist, despite being banned for four matches and fined £220,000 by a Football Association commission that decided he had racially abused Anton Ferdinand, then of Queens Park Rangers.

Perhaps the best way of summing it up is that Giggs may just have to accept that he is always going to polarise opinion but that, in football terms alone, his achievements are as solid as the foundations of Old Trafford itself.

“You cannot separate genius from Ryan Giggs,” Ferguson said after the 1999 semi-final against Arsenal that, 20 years later, was ranked No 38 in The Times’ 50 Greatest Football Matches.

That genius has been tarnished over recent years. In football, however, where there is genius, there will also be adoration. And, however complicated it can be in the rest of his life, Giggs will always be guaranteed that in a room filled with United fans.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

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Those who never doubted Cameron Skattebo share validation: ‘No one understood what we were looking at’

Published

2 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Those who never doubted Cameron Skattebo share validation: ‘No one understood what we were looking at’

Arizona State was picked to finish last in the 16-team Big 12. The Sun Devils are now meeting Texas in the Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. The player who sparked that incredible run also epitomizes it.

Cameron Skattebo — 1,568 rushing yards, 19 rushing touchdowns, 506 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns — went from high school graduate with no FBS offers to fifth-place finisher in the 2024 Heisman Trophy voting. The running back has gone from cult hero to folk hero, displaying an uncanny knack for breaking tackles and for blowing people’s minds.

Leo Skattebo III (Cam’s father): Before he turned 3, we got him a bike for Christmas.

Becky Skattebo (Cam’s mother): He (Cam) argued with my dad (Cam’s grandfather) to take the training wheels off. “I don’t want em! I don’t want em!” wouldn’t take no for an answer. My dad popped them off. “Welp, he’ll eat dirt a couple of times and then he’ll figure it out.”

Leo Skattebo IV (older brother): They took him out on the bike. He goes down the street, and within two minutes, he’s full speed pedaling back and goes, “Watch this!” And he stands up on the seat of the bike coming down the street.

Becky: He’s going, “I don’t have to hold the handlebars!” The neighbors just stood outside hysterically laughing.

Leo III: I think that’s when I knew he was gonna be different.

Becky: At about 18 months, we were sitting at the dinner table and a neighbor knocked on the door. She’s standing there with Cam in a diaper. He had climbed over the fence and dropped over the other side to play with her kids.

The scariest thing he ever did was when he was 2. We were watching his dad play softball. He had been standing next to me and we were watching his dad at bat. It seemed like a split-second but when I turned and looked. He was gone. I started to panic. Everybody was yelling his name. His brother ran to the bathroom and was calling his name. People are looking under the bleachers. Then, the umpire says, “Well, there, he is!”

We looked straight up above us. He had crawled all the way up the chain-link backstop and was looking down on his dad that was at bat. It was like 14 or 16 feet up on those rounded backstops. One of the guys started to climb the fence and Cameron turned around but instead of backing down like a normal person, he came down head first, like a little Spiderman. He’s been doing things that are inexplainable from pretty much Day 1.

Leo III: Yeah, he did a lot of weird things.

Leo IV: All he ever cared about was winning. It didn’t matter if we were playing a video game, or wrestling on the trampoline. He wanted to beat me.

Becky: We had many holes in the sheetrock from the boys wrestling, slinging each other around the house. They never took it easy on him. They tossed him around pretty good, and he’s just always been able to handle it.

Leo IV: I was six years older than him and he wanted to beat me in everything. I didn’t take it easy on him.

Becky: He’d always competed with older kids, whether that was wrestling in the front yard or on the field. When he says he can do something, it’s real hard not to believe that he can do it.

Jack Garceau (Rio Linda (Calif.) High School coach, Skattebo’s coach from 2017-19): I’ve known Cam since he was a little boy, because I coached his older brother, so we’ve always heard about Cam coming up in our youth program. We’d go watch him. He was just a little ball of muscle. He had that little mohawk and it just always fit his image.

I became the head coach when he was a sophomore. It was the first day of spring ball. It was a blocking drill. No pads and he just was not going to lose. If he got beat in any one-on-one drill, he was going again. I came home and told my wife, “This guy is way different than anybody we’ve ever had.”

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In 2018, Rio Linda won its first section title in 14 years, led by Skattebo. The junior running back scored seven touchdowns and ran for 313 yards in a 63-12 win over Casa Roble.

Chris Horner (Casa Roble (CA) High School head coach): After that game, I saw him by the bus. I remember dapping him up. I said, “Bro, you were so fun to watch. I’ve never seen anything like that. Good luck. I’m a huge Rio Linda Knights fan from here on out.”

Skattebo had a prolific high school season but struggled to gain traction with major FBS programs. (Photo: Aaron M. Sprecher / Getty Images)

A few weeks later, on Rio Linda’s opening series of the CIF State Division 5-AA Title Game against San Gorgonio, Skattebo had a 67-yard touchdown run where he broke 11 tackles. He finished with 396 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries in a 38-35 win. He was doing it all through his parents’ divorce.

Leo IV: My mom and dad had been together for about 20 years. That was hard. It was hard on Cameron. I was away at college. I lived in Ohio, had a son. I wasn’t there to be the big brother for him. And at the most formative moment for him — he’s 16 and everything around him is falling apart. Somehow on Friday nights, he was able to tune out all that emotional distress, when he was falling apart on the inside, and still be the best player in the state. A lot of kids can’t handle that. That showed me this kid has something different than other kids have mentally.

It’s very easy to let that affect you, and start lashing out at other people around you. He just didn’t do that. He continued to be a leader.

Becky: When we split up, his coach was really instrumental in keeping him focused and letting him vent, giving him room when he needed. I don’t think we’ll ever really know if it fueled him or if it almost derailed him.

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That same year, Skattebo led the Knights to the California 5-A state title by rushing for 3,550 yards and 42 touchdowns. He averaged almost 12 yards per carry but he was still a zero-star recruit who had no scholarship offers.

Garceau: Bigger schools did come. We had UCLA, USC. Utah, Air Force but they just passed on him. It made us all kind of doubt ourselves.

Cam Skattebo: I went to UCLA right after my junior year. They told me that I wasn’t good enough for this level. I can’t remember who I was sitting with at the time. It was (Bruins running backs coach Deshaun) Foster’s assistant. Bjian (Robinson) was at the facility and that was their focus. They spelled my name wrong on my name tag. It was just an unofficial visit there. I was just sitting in the back, hanging out. Me and my father. It was a humbling experience.

Troy Taylor (Stanford head coach, former Sacramento State head coach 2019-22): We were evaluating players. I couldn’t really find anybody who said we should go on the kid. I put on the tape. You could see the anger when he ran and the determination. I was five or six clips in and I said, “We’re taking this guy!”

I remember specifically that run (where he broke 11 tackles in the state title game). I just couldn’t believe that no one else would go on the kid. I’m not always right but I decided on the spot. We were his only offer. Everybody missed on that one.

Cam Skattebo: I wasn’t too worried because I knew at some point in my life I was gonna take that next step even if I had to go the juco route. I knew I was gonna make it. But I definitely sat around a lot of days hoping for a text from somebody, which never happened. I finally got Sacramento State, and I was the happiest kid in the world.

Taylor: Then he came to our camp and he was kind of a prick when he competed. It was one-on-ones against the linebackers. He would win the rep and then get up and cut in line and take another rep. He just had that attitude that you don’t want to compete against this kid. I just fell in love with him.

Malcolm Agnew (Sacramento State running back coach, 2021-22): In 2021, he was unbelievable in spring ball because of how physical he was, and because of how competitive he is. It was practice No. 6. This kid touched the ball probably around 10 times that practice, and he scored every time. And we had a pretty good defense.

My favorite play was when we ran this middle screen with him. It was a poor throw, but the dude caught it with his left hand like down towards where his knees are — and he played baseball so he’s really good at tracking the ball — and had the ability to make a guy miss as he was turning and catching it. Then, he made another guy miss and scored. I said to our head coach, “That is one of the best plays I’ve ever seen.”

Taylor: His first game, it looked like he was playing with younger people who didn’t belong on the field with him.

Jason Eck (New Mexico head coach; then-Idaho head coach): He killed us (Idaho) in 2022. He reminds me of Jim Brown highlights.

Agnew: I’ve seen this kid hit standing backflips. I’ve seen this kid broad-jump almost 11 feet. He did a 10-7. I’ve seen him throw a baseball 95 miles an hour to the point where the Sac State baseball coach asked him if he wanted to play in the offseason. We didn’t let him.

Skattebo is the heart and soul of Arizona State’s turnaround. (Photo: William Purnell / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In Skattebo’s first season at Sacramento State, he ran for 520 yards, averaging over 9 yards per carry, scoring six touchdowns. In his second year, he had almost 1,900 all-purpose yards and was named Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year, helping the Hornets go 11-0 in the regular season. But after Taylor left to become Stanford’s head coach, Skattebo opted to enter the transfer portal.

Taylor: (Then-Arizona State offensive coordinator) Beau Baldwin called me: “We’re trying to figure out whether to go on Skatt. What do you think?” I said, “Beau, he’s an incredible player. You guys would be crazy not to take him.” Beau pulled the trigger.

The Sun Devils were in the midst of a massive rebuild. They finished 3-9 in 2022 and subsequently hired 32-year-old Kenny Dillingham, an ASU graduate, to lead the program. They were an undermanned team in 2023, but Skattebo emerged as the backbone of the overhaul. He did almost everything for the Sun Devils. He was a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation’s most versatile player. He’d run for 788 yards, but also played some quarterback, completing six passes on 15 attempts for 150 yards and a touchdown. He averaged over 42 yards per punt. He lined up at receiver for another 100-plus snaps.

This year, the Sun Devils were seeded fourth and got a bye in the first iteration of the 12-team College Football Playoff. They will play 5-seed Texas in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 1 for a spot in the Playoff semifinals.

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Marcus Arroyo (ASU offensive coordinator): I think (former USC analyst Kliff) Kingsbury was the first guy who told me about him (Cam). Kliff’s like, “Dude, they got a back down there that is bananas. This little sawed-off White guy.”

Joe Connolly (ASU strength coach): Last season, we saw a lot of flashes of unbelievable balance, unbelievable body awareness. He was our starting quarterback at one point, our starting punter, our starting running back, often playing wide receiver. One of the biggest things we did this offseason was tightening the nutrition, the consistency. He was north of 230 pounds and now he’s around 218. He’s increased his speed and his quickness. All those things really showed this year. He never has to come off the field. He is absolutely relentless.

Cam: I think my top speed was the high 19s (miles per hour on the GPS) last year. Right before training camp this year, I almost hit 21.

Arroyo: The guy can really run. He’s hitting 20 MPH on his GPS in the game. It’s crazy where he doesn’t look like he’s moving that fast sometime. When you see guys go up against real guys, and you’re like, “OK, let’s see what this looks like?” And every time, he takes the torch. God-dang, these guys just can’t even tackle this guy. Against Utah, those guys are really big and fast and talented, and he ran over those guys. He was absolutely insane against Iowa State.

Morgan Scalley (Utah defensive coordinator): For as much punishment as he dishes out, and as much as he takes, he is so durable. His shirt get ripped and all the crap he takes, and he just keeps coming back. He’s like Rocky.

Taylor: I always said he was like a Viking. A couple of hundreds years ago, he’d have been at the front of the boat with horns on his helmet, ready to jump onto the other boat to take it over.

Horner: Our coaches (at Casa Roble) had a text chain while we were watching what he was doing to Iowa State (in the Big 12 title game). It was another level. When we lose to a guy like this doing what he’s doing to a college team, it should make us feel a lot better about that drubbing that he put on us in his junior year of high school. Yeah, we lost to Cameron Skattebo, but so did everybody else!

Taylor: He’s been doubted at every single level, and they’ll doubt him again for the NFL, but watch, he’ll end up being an NFL player — and a good one.

Leo III: Whoever drafts him or wherever he ends up, if he just plays in the preseason, he’ll earn his spot on the team. But if they get him on the field and give him the opportunity, he’s going to make somebody very smart.

Garceau: Now, we all feel validated. We knew exactly what we were looking at and nobody else understood. We would hear everything from he’s too small, he’s too short, he’s not fast enough. There was the stigma of the White running back; the fact that we weren’t a giant school. There was just always that one little thing. I am just glad he got the opportunity to show everybody what he can do. But if you change that, and he maybe he gets a big ride out of high school, maybe we’re not here today.

(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)

Sports

NFL Hall of Famer calls out George Pickens amid Steelers three-game slide

Published

3 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

NFL Hall of Famer calls out George Pickens amid Steelers three-game slide

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens was singled out by NFL legend Terrell Owens after the Steelers dropped three straight games, including a lopsided loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Christmas Day.

Returning from a three-game absence after a hamstring injury, Pickens was expected to have an impact against the defending champions.

Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid (20) hits Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) during the second half Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

But after just three receptions for 50 yards, the third-year wideout faced scrutiny for his lack of production. Among those calling him out was Hall of Famer Terrell Owens.

Responding to a social media post about Cam Hayward’s postgame comments in which he said, “When 10 guys do their job and one guy doesn’t, we are screwed,” Owens agreed there was a similar issue on offense.

“Same on offense as well when you got #14 not running his routes causing [interceptions,]” Owens said in a post on X.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) makes a catch against Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams (2) during the second half Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Owens seemed to be referencing a play at the end of the first quarter. With the Chiefs leading 13-0, veteran quarterback Russell Wilson threw an interception in the end zone. While taking ownership for the mistake, Wilson acknowledged Pickens was supposed to run another route.

“Yeah, you know, I think he was going to go vertical. But, at the end of the day, it can’t happen. It’s on me,” Wilson said, via FOX 8. “I was trying to give Pat [Freiermuth] a chance. He’s done a good job for us down in the red zone, and they made a good play.”

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) runs into the end zone for a touchdown against Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal (54) during the first half Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

The Steelers have lost three games in 11 days.

“The bottom line is the junior varsity is not good enough. We’ve got to own that,” head coach Mike Tomlin said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sports

Pete Carroll wants to mentor Caleb Williams, coach Bears and teach at USC? He's a young 73

Published

3 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Pete Carroll wants to mentor Caleb Williams, coach Bears and teach at USC? He's a young 73

It certainly seems calculated. Pete Carroll, scheduled to begin teaching at USC this spring, has reportedly expressed interest in the Chicago Bears’ head coaching job.

Likely of no coincidence is that the Seattle Seahawks — the team Carroll coached for 14 seasons — visit the Bears on “Thursday Night Football.” The broadcasters are spoon-fed a talking point while noting that the Bears have lost nine games in a row, including all three under interim coach Thomas Brown.

A delicious detail is the shared USC history of Carroll and Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Carroll coached the Trojans from 2001-2009, posting a 97-19 record and winning national championships in 2003 and 2004. Williams was an appendage to new Trojans coach Lincoln Riley, transferring to USC as a sophomore in 2022 and winning the Heisman Trophy. Although 2023 didn’t go as well, Williams was the first pick in the NFL draft.

Chicago needs an impact coach. Carroll is one, or at least was for a long time, leading the Seahawks to nine consecutive winning records, 10 playoff berths and a Super Bowl title. He is one of four head coaches — Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson and Jim Harbaugh are the others — to have led teams to a college national championship and a Super Bowl appearance.

But Carroll is 73 and appeared done when he was nudged out the door by the Seahawks after the 2023 season.

In August, he seemed lukewarm, replying to a question about his coaching future on a Seattle radio station by saying, “I could coach tomorrow. I’m physically in the best shape I’ve been in a long time. I’m ready to do all the activities I’m doing and feeling really good about it. I could, but I’m not desiring it at this point.”

Yet sitting at home watching 17 weeks of football apparently rekindled the fire. Carroll initiated this story. He wants it known. He’s interested in coaching the Bears, according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Remember that in his final days in Seattle he repeatedly said he wanted to continue coaching, putting an exclamation point on his intentions shortly after his last game by saying those comments were “true to the bone.”

NFL head coaches have been skewing younger. If Carroll were hired, he’d be seven years older than the current oldest NFL head coach, Andy Reid, although it bears mention that Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs are 15-1 and defending Super Bowl champions. Carroll has always appeared younger than he is, exhibiting boundless energy and enthusiasm in a profession that can jade men.

The Bears are one of at least three teams — the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets are the others — that will be shopping for a head coach when the season ends. Chicago fired Matt Eberflus on Nov. 29, one day after a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions that concluded with perplexing clock mismanagement by the coach and his quarterback.

Williams has had a roller-coaster season, mixing brilliant plays with poor decisions. He’s been sacked a league-leading 60 times yet hasn’t thrown an interception in nine games. Working under Carroll, who developed Russell Wilson even though the pair had their share of differences, could accelerate Williams’ improvement.

All of a sudden, the USC class Carroll is scheduled to co-teach this spring is in jeopardy. The Marshall School of Business offering is called “The Game Is Life: a new course designed to help students develop their personal game plan for life after graduation, while using their USC education to conquer challenges along the way.”

Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit can unpack it all Thursday night while the Bears try to win for the first time since Oct. 13 against the Seahawks, whose sideline still seems strange without Carroll bounding, grimacing and grinning.