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Switch Hitting: The NFL’s New Tackling Dilemma?
Outside the Lines (Sunday 8 a.m. ET, ESPN2; 9 a.m. ET, ESPNEWS)
Credit: ESPN / Producer Greg Amante
Mark Fainaru-Wada studies video with Ryan Clark at Performance Enhancement Professionals in Scottsdale AZ
Before the NFL season even began, the league handed Washington’s Brandon Meriweather a two-game suspension for an illegal hit, and Houston’s D.J. Swearinger a penalty for his concussion-inducing hit on Wes Welker. Both incidents show the NFL means business regarding its stricter tackling rules, which penalize hits to the head and neck. However, some frustrated defensive players say that the rule is forcing them to tackle in a way that puts them and their opponents in more danger. Mark Fainaru-Wada reports.
“I think the NFL right now is more worried about concussions and the things they’re getting sued on, more than they are, you know, about how we tackle.” – Brandon Meriweather, Washington Redskins safety
“I think the game was different. I think we’re just at a different place. I think with equipment, the way our game is viewed — I think safety measures, with our safety committees — we just all see the game differently.” –Troy Vincent, NFL Exec. VP of Football Operations
Four Weeks in Ferguson
E:60 (Tuesday, 8 p.m., ESPN)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ysv6-vlL0k
It’s a story that’s divided a community along racial lines and captivated the country. In the wake of the August 9 Michael Brown shooting, E:60 follows the journey of the Ferguson, Mo., McCluer South-Berkeley High School varsity football team as the young men navigate their way through chaos, tension and unrest – and play their first home game four weeks to the day after the dissension began. Jeff Chadiha reports.
NFL: How to be a Saint
ESPN The Magazine (“Renegades” issue, on newsstands Friday)
ESPN.com
In ESPN The Magazine’s “Renegades” issue, Kevin Van Valkenburg writes that the New Orleans Saints’ Jimmy Graham is the highest-paid tight end in the NFL and has a signature goalpost celebration dunk. So why is he still struggling to find his identity?
“When I go out there on Sundays, I feel like a little kid. And sometimes I act like it.” — Jimmy Graham
Ndamukong Suh: The Great Unknown
ESPN The Magazine (“Renegades” issue, on newsstands Friday)
ESPN.com
Detroit Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh is on the cover of ESPN The Magazine’s “Renegades” issue. What drives one of the game’s smartest players to also be one of its dirtiest? Let’s just say it’s complicated.
“You wouldn’t guess he was a football player except for his size, would you? He does not seem like a guy who’s going to knock somebody on his rear end.” — Warren Buffett
ESPN Deportes’Reportajes Especiales
ESPN Deportes (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.)
https://youtu.be/F0TaGvDofIw
The second episode of the monthly investigative show Reportajes Especiales tells the story of Costa Rican soccer player Roy Miller, who journeyed to the nation’s capital to create awareness about millions like him who are forced to leave home in order to escape violence. Years later, the defender and his Costa Rica National Team would take the world by storm at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
In the Game: Michael Sam
espnW
Michael Sam, the first openly gay athlete selected in the NFL Draft, explains to Robin Roberts of Good Morning America what is driving him to overcome all odds to make his dreams come true. The interview is part of Roberts’ exclusive espnW series In the Game with Robin Roberts presented by Lexus.