Riley Green never planned on becoming known as the “mustache guy,” but a simple shaving decidson has since turned into the most defining part of his look. During a recent interview with the TODAY Show, the country star opened up about how the facial hair came to be and the buzz that surrounds it.
“[The] mustache for me was somewhat of an accident. I think every guy goes through that phase when they’re shaving and they try goatee and they try a mustache. It just stuck. And now it’s a whole thing,” he admitted.
Riley Green; Photo Via YouTube
These days, Green reveals he can’t get through a performance without seeing some real and fake mustaches in the crowd as a nod to his signature look.
“I didn’t know I was going to be the mustache guy, but here I am,” he added.
The Alabama native has found that there are a quite a few perks that come with having such a well-known mustache. Beyond making him instantly recognizable, Green believes that his mustache and cowboy hat could also give him a leg up when it comes to winning over contestants as a coach on Season 30 of The Voice.
“I’m the only one with a cowboy hat, so I think that’d be my way to get, especially those country acts…Mustache also helps,” he noted.
Continuing to speak on his new role on the singing competition series, Green admitted that his biggest competition is going to be Kelly Clarkson because she likely has the best chance out of all his fellow coaches in snagging the country contestants.
“It’s tough because…Adam [Levine’s] been there forever. Queen Latifah is very, very famous. I think probably Kelly Clarkson. She’s going to try to get some of my country acts on the show I know.”
When asked what the funniest thing that’s happened during the filming process for the show so far, Green instantly pointed to the host, Carson Daly’s humor.
“Carson’s had some funny moments backstage. I would say trying to figure out the coach’s song. We all do a song together. That creatively has been a lot of fun.”
The Voice will return to NBC for its milestone 30th on Monday, September 21 at 8/7c on NBC with returning coaches, Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson sitting alongside Queen Latifah and Riley Green who are both set to make their coaching debut.
Meanwhile, the “Worst Way” singer is currently in the midst of his largest headlining tour to date, his Cowboy As It Gets Tour, which will take him to major cities and arenas across the country through December.
Donald Trump is a Republican and self-avowed nationalist. That, apparently, is true in an Irish sense, too – even if those terms have very different meanings across the Atlantic.
On Sept. 12, 2026, while seated next to taoiseach, the Irish title for prime minister, Micheál Martin, the U.S. president stated that he would “love to see” Ireland unified and that it is “going to happen eventually,” so it “may as well happen now.”
The next day he called reunification “a cool thing” but noted, “No matter what you say or how you say it, there’s no good answer.”
While such comments may have been welcomed by some supporters of unification both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – or “republicans” and “nationalists” in Irish political parlance – Trump’s comments were generally denounced by all parties, including the taoiseach.
The comments likewise set off a firestorm among Northern Irish unionists, who wish the region to remain part of the United Kingdom, as well as British conservatives and Trump allies such as Nigel Farage, who likewise insist that Northern Ireland should always remain part of the United Kingdom.
Since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement – which politically resolved the rumbling civil war known as the Troubles and achieved cooperation between the North, the Republic, and the U.K. – U.S. presidents have formally adopted a policy of neutrality when it comes to the question of Irish unification. Instead, Trump’s intervention hearkens back to an earlier age in which American presidents were often more opinionated on the issue of Irish nationalism.
Irish blood in the White House
Ireland first became a colony of Britain in the 12th century and regularly faced discriminatory polices, such as 17th- and 18th-century penal laws, which prevented Catholics and, to a lesser degree, Presbyterians from entering the upper tier of the socioeconomic strata. That led to widespread anti-English sentiment on much of the island.
Irish nationalism, which called for independence from Great Britain, became popular during the late 18th century, around the same time American colonists defeated the British after declaring an independent United States. Many Irish had already emigrated to the American colonies, but immigration would increase dramatically during the 19th century as Ireland faced famine and disease.
Irish, and especially Irish-American, nationalists tended to look at America as a model and possibly an ally in obtaining independence. As such, they often promoted their agenda to U.S. presidents.
In an 1842 letter to Thomas Mooney, an advocate of Irish independence in New York, Jackson wrote: “That the Irish blood which flows in my veins will never cease, but with my life alone, to beat in unison with those who have at heart the very security of Irish liberty.”
The Irish revolutionaries the Fenians, also known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood in the United States, appealed to a succession of U.S. presidents for assistance without success. Formed in the late 1850s and popularized after the American Civil War, Fenians had hoped that Andrew Johnson, and later Ulysses S. Grant, would support an Irish revolution.
Hoping to benefit from American-Anglo tensions during the Civil War, in which the British unofficially supported the Confederacy, the Fenian Bernard Killian claimed that Johnson and his secretary of state, William Seward, had privately assured him that they supported a Fenian invasion of Canada, then a colony of Great Britain.
The Fenians hoped that a successful invasion might lead to a war between the U.S. and U.K., which would result in a free Ireland. But both Johnson and Seward publicly refuted Killian’s claim. But their need for Irish votes in the upcoming 1866 midterm election might explain their private support.
Regardless of the conflicting versions of the conversation, when the short-lived invasion took place in 1866, Johnson had many of the Fenians arrested for violating neutrality laws.
A depiction of Fenians, wearing green uniforms, attacking British troops in Canada at the Battle of Ridgeway, near Niagara, on June 2, 1866. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
Most 19th-century Irish Americans supported the Democratic Party because the Republican Party was widely seen as anti-Catholic and xenophobic.
However, Grant, a Republican, became president in 1869 with the support of many Irish Americans, especially Fenians who had fought for the Union in the Civil War.
They hoped that his frustration with the English during the war would lead to his support of independence in Ireland. Once again, they found a president unwilling to assist their conquest of Canada or even their filibustering excursions into Central America and Cuba, where rogue groups hoped to annex territories to become part of the U.S.
Distancing, then embracing Republicans
President Woodrow Wilson hoped that the mass slaughter of World War I would lead to dramatic reform that would prevent future atrocities. In his Fourteen Points, Wilson exclaimed, “It’s the principle of justice to all peoples of all nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another whether they be strong or weak.”
Supporting their wartime British ally, Wilson and the U.S. declined to support the Irish nationalists during the Irish War of Independence between 1919 and 1921. In 1922, the Anglo-Irish Treaty created the Irish Free State – now the Republic – and partitioned it from Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom. After a brief civil war in Ireland between pro-treaty and anti-treaty forces, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge established relations with the Free State government in Dublin, infuriating the anti-treaty Irish Republican Army.
John F. Kennedy, the president most associated with his Irish ancestry and the first sitting president to visit Ireland in 1963, mostly avoided the question of unification as president – although he was quite outspoken in favor as a senator. But he did note to the Irish parliament, “No people ever believed more deeply in the cause of Irish freedom than the people of the United States.”
During the Cold War, U.S. presidents were reticent to support Irish unification in order not to upset their British allies. But after the Cold War, President Bill Clinton invited Gerry Adams, the head of Sinn Fein – widely seen as the political arm of the IRA – to visit the White House, despite the protests of British Prime Minister John Major.
Eventually, Clinton would become an important part of the process that led to the Good Friday Agreement, partially due to his avowed neutrality on the question of unification. Presidents since have continued to adopt a policy of neutrality.
Trump, who has been compared to Andrew Jackson for his lack of conventional diplomacy, perhaps unsurprisingly has now agreed with Jackson that Irish independence would be good for the Irish people.
Although unlikely familiar with this history, he has perhaps unintentionally sided with past presidents as well as the people who live on the island. In a recent European Union poll, 63% of people in Northern Ireland said they would vote for unification, while 59% of the people in the Republic would support it.
Still, 29% of the Northern Irish and 22% of the Republic oppose it. And given the vocal opposition of the British government, unification is not likely to happen soon, no matter what the U.S. president wants.
Bryan McGovern does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
If you love the taste of Kerrygold Butter but not its steep price tag, here’s a cheaper alternative that tastes just as good for a fraction of the price.
A sign in support of Whittier’s Samoan residents is seen outside a harbor shot on July 17, 2025. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Following a ruling by the Alaska Court of Appeals, the Alaska Department of Law has dropped criminal charges against 11 American Samoan residents of Whittier who were accused of illegal voting.
American Samoans are U.S. nationals but not citizens and thus cannot vote in Alaska elections.
All 11 said they were unaware that they could not vote in local elections and said they were misinformed by local elections officials.
Smith, who was charged in 2023, sought to have her case dismissed. A Superior Court judge denied that request, but Smith appealed, and the Court of Appeals ruled this month that in order to convict someone of voting illegally, prosecutors must prove that someone intentionally sought to deceive elections officials when they cast an illegal vote.
The Department of Law had brought charges against Smith and others under a different standard, one that doesn’t require an intent to deceive.
Rather than appeal the Court of Appeals interpretation to the Alaska Supreme Court, the Department of Law dropped the charges.
“Our prosecutors have an obligation to follow the law as it is written and to apply it faithfully to the cases before us,” said Acting Alaska Attorney General Cori Mills in a statement published Friday. “It is sometimes the case that courts reach a different conclusion about what the law requires the state to prove, as the Court of Appeals has done here. This requires us to re-evaluate whether the state can prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt under the new standard, and after reviewing the decision and applying the facts, we don’t think we can do that.”
Attorneys for Smith and the other Whittier residents accused of wrongdoing said they were happy with the result but disappointed that it took years to resolve.
“We could not have been happier when we heard the news. This was a major stress. It feels like a dark cloud hanging over our heads has been removed. I could not help but worry about worst-case scenarios, and how to deal with not seeing my kids if I’m taken away to prison,” said Michael Pese, Smith’s husband and one of the 10 other American Samoans charged by the state.
“It feels good after everything we’ve been through. We are relieved to no longer have to worry about who will watch our kids if we are both put in jail,” Smith said.
“The state’s dismissal of charges is welcome, but these searches, arrests and prosecutions should never have been done in the first place,” said Charles Ala’ilima, an American Samoan attorney who represented Smith and Michael Pese, her husband.
“These prosecutions were traumatizing, not just for those charged, but for the entire American Samoan community in Alaska. It opens all of our eyes to the real difficulties we face as American Samoans because of our current ambiguous and, in my opinion, unconstitutional, noncitizen second-class legal status imposed by federal statute,” Ala’ilima added.
Week 1 gave us explosive offenses and a huge movement in the league rankings. Colin Cowherd dropped a whole new “Herd Hierarchy” on Tuesday’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” featuring a seismic shift in his top 10 teams entering Week 2. The Houston Texans and Denver Broncos weren’t the only ones left out of Cowherd’s top 10. The Los Angeles Rams also plummeted outside the rankings after a loss to the 49ers, followed by the news of Myles Garrett heading to injured reserve. Cowherd still believes in the Rams, but without Garrett on the field, he simply can’t keep them in his top 10 as there are too many question marks. Given how unpredictable Week 1 turned out, plenty of teams still have time to work their way onto the list. But for now, here are Cowherd’s top 10 teams heading into Week 2. Cowherd’s Thoughts: “The Eagles are maddening. Five three and outs… seriously? But it is the best roster in the NFL and Jalen Hurts leads the NFL in completions, touchdowns and pass attempts over 25-plus yards. I think they’re better without A.J. Brown. They’ll spread the ball around. I can’t keep [out] the best roster in football that I picked to win a division with one ugly outing.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “I have the Bengals as the second-most-improved team. I have them as a playoff team. I think Chase Brown is the best running back in the NFL. Nobody talks about his last six games. A touchdown and a half. They went and bought a defense and you could tell, much bigger, much faster and much more physical. Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, Cashius Howell. The defense is different and every time Joe Burrow gets you know a little help, he’s a playoff quarterback.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “I don’t care what any of you say. The Giants are talented. They have a culture issue, not a talent issue. Abdul Carter and Brian Burns on the edge. Tell me a better edge rushing tandem than those guys. [Malik] Nabers, Jaxson Dart, [Cam] Skattebo, Arvell Reese. How about Francis Mauigoa, the offensive lineman? 36 pass blocking snaps, didn’t allow a hit. Talent is not the issue. They could use another corner. It was a coaching, culture, and health issue. Jaxson Dart, Skattebo, Reese, Burns, Abdul Carter, Andrew Thomas. Dudes are not the problem. I had them as the most improved team.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “Kansas City. Listen, maybe they’re low, but what I watched last night was something called a run game. You got to go back to Priest Holmes and Jamaal Charles. Like, wow. I mean, I like Kenneth Walker when he’s healthy. I thought it was really smart. They didn’t have [Patrick] Mahomes throw the ball down the field much. I thought it was a really smart, intentional game plan. Now, how much of it is like Bo Nix may not be the guy, and how much is the defense? We don’t know that. But it was Andy Reid off a bye, or Andy Reid in September is just no fun to play, but you got to admit, and many of you don’t want to… that was impressive.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “Listen, [Kyle] Shanahan’s 12-7 against [Sean] McVay, but again, it’s not that they won. We know they’re talented. We just don’t know if they’re going to last. I compared them to “Game of Thrones”. Great early, good in the middle and a lot of your favorite characters won’t be around at the end. I don’t know how healthy they’ll be, but their starters: Deebo [Samuel] and Mike Evans had 12 catches. They knocked the Rams on their keister for three and a half hours. There was nothing not to like. In Week 6, they could be out five starters, but today, Herd Hierarchy week one, I’ve got them at six.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “I mean, I’m sorry, folks. What do you want me to say? The last 10 regular season games, they’re beating the you know what on everybody. I mean, I know Cleveland’s bad, but it’s not just Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence. Go look at their defense. They have six games allowing 10 or fewer points since the start of last season. They’re doing it on both sides. We don’t talk about them. We don’t want to talk about them. But it was that last year when they went to Denver and blew out the Broncos. It was like, yeah, I think they’re good. If they were in New York, if they were in Dallas, would we struggle looking at this team and saying they’re five? No, of course. They’re good. We got to own it.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “The first team with six rushing touchdowns in a season opener since the 1922 Canton Bulldogs. Here’s the thing: first it was Bill Walsh, then it was Andy Reid for 20 years, then it was Shanahan and McVay. We have found our next great offensive coach. Ben Johnson is different. I said I went to one practice and it was like whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. What am I watching? Rome Odunze now is healthy, folks. To drop 59 points is one thing. No defensive touchdowns. Colston Loveland didn’t have a catch. Now I don’t know if they can generate the kind of pass rush that can put great quarterbacks in discomfort. I don’t know if they can do that, but I said it last year. Caleb [Williams] is different. Ben Johnson’s different. This is different. This could be a Reid-Mahomes thing we’re talking about. It’s not just good. I’ve seen good. DeMeco Ryans, C.J. Stroud. Oh, I like those two working together. Now, this is not good. It’s special.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “Outgained the Colts by 255 yards. Daniel Jones looked like they didn’t want to get hit. I think everybody – Chris Ballard, Shane Steichen – everybody’s under pressure. It was impressive. I’ve fallen in love with Baltimore a lot in week one, two and three when Lamar’s healthy. But Jesse Minter, go look at the Chargers’ defense. He left. Go look at the Ravens’ performance. He arrived. I put them at three.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “I [would] put them at one, but Sam Darnold’s not healthy. Seattle’s the only team in the league that can have 10 penalties, multiple turnovers, not play well and beat good teams. They did it last year against the Rams and the Texans. They didn’t play particularly well: 10 penalties, new offensive coordinator, out of sorts and they beat the Patriots and really shut them down totally in the fourth quarter. So I think between coach and general manager and depth of roster and speed, they’re not a top team with Drew Lock. “But Drew Lock’s now been around. Now he gets first team snaps for the last eight to nine games because they played on Wednesday. So I think they drop to a number two or three team. If Sam plays, I put them at one.” Cowherd’s Thoughts: “I have Buffalo in the Super Bowl. So again, like the Bengals and the Giants, I have Buffalo in the Super Bowl. Offensive coach, a greater sensibility, feel, touch and nuance with their star quarterback, told you D.J. Moore would fit. They drafted a lot of defensive guys in the last couple of years. Let’s see if they can play. But two touchdown drives of 96-plus yards. I thought they were the best team I saw, considering the opposition. Nobody does that to the Texans’ defense. Nobody does that to DeMeco Ryans. I mean, be honest… nobody does that. Josh Allen and the Bills did.”Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Let’s kick things off with a few things I didn’t see coming. New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough is the NFL’s passing leader. Jordan Love threw for 387 yards (second-most) behind a bottom-10 offensive line — and still lost. Jacoby Brissett looked like Jared Goff. Drake Maye threw three interceptions, including one that sealed the Pats’ loss to the Seahawks. But Jaxson Dart took no unnecessary hits — and took care of himself and the ball — en route to the Giants’ decisive win over the Cowboys. Caleb Williams looked like he could soon be the best QB on the planet. Trevor Lawrence also looked like he could soon be the best QB on the planet! And last but not least, Patrick Mahomes got the ball out in 2.27 seconds on Monday night — fastest in the NFL among QBs taking five-plus dropbacks. He’s still the fastest gun in the (AFC) West. He wasn’t brilliant, but he remains great, overcoming the ACL injury, overcoming left tackle issues and overcoming the Broncos’ elite defense. Welcome back to the QB Stock Market. This isn’t your typical QB rankings. I’m focused on monitoring the fluctuations of starters’ performances throughout the season. No one — not even Josh Allen — is safe at the top. No one — not even Deshaun Watson — is stuck at the bottom. There is room for quick ascent — and rapid decline. We only have one week to evaluate, and so these rankings might surprise folks. One question holds most important: What have you done for your team lately? Previous: Offseason | Preseason | Week 1 In Week 1, Drake Maye’s performance against the Seattle Seahawks was reminiscent of how Josh Allen used to play against the New England Patriots. Going back to 2018, Bill Belichick drew up nasty and exotic blitzes to spin Allen’s head. And because Allen couldn’t make sense of those blitzes, game after game, Belichick kept sending them. You could see how much joy Belichick took in the game plan, with disguises and wrinkles and eccentricity, specifically designed to beat up on Allen. Belichick must’ve looked forward to it. And then their fifth matchup rolled around. It was 2020. Belichick thought he could fool Allen, as usual. But Allen passed for 320 yards and four touchdowns. It flipped the paradigm in the AFC East. Allen never looked back. And it was one of the many things that cost Belichick his job. The Seahawks-Patriots rivalry feels like the same dynamic, with coach Mike Macdonald burying Maye with brain-twisting blitzes and disguises. To make matters worse, Maye’s three interceptions in Seattle were not overly complicated reads. They were simply egregious mistakes. The final interception was, easily, the worst decision of Maye’s career — nosediving the team’s chances in the worst way. It’s not just the Seahawks, though. Complicated defenses have a tendency to overwhelm Maye. So this feels like the same dynamic — except that we don’t know if it’ll end like it did for Allen. I expect Maye to jump back into the top 10. But it’ll depend completely upon an “aha” moment. It’ll depend completely upon Maye completing the Allen comparison, with that final developmental leap, not just by winning with talent — but by outsmarting defenses. C.J. Stroud lost it for the Texans. That hurts to say, because he got the Texans in position for a win against the Bills. He kept it close the whole way, with 274 passing yards and two touchdowns. It was a good game until that last drive. Trailing with minutes left, he drove Houston into scoring position — only to take a pair of sacks that ruined everything. For those two plays, he looked like the same deer in headlights that we saw in the playoffs against the Patriots. For those two sacks, he looked like the guy who was not deserving of a contract extension. How do we reconcile those two plays with the rest of his performance? Let’s start with the sack that was most egregious. And it wasn’t the one that ended the game. On first-and-9 with 30 seconds left and goal-to-go, Stroud took a sack from Bills defensive lineman Deone Walker. The Texans’ win probability took the most pronounced hit of the entire game, sinking a full 38.7%, per Next Gen Stats. Stroud held the ball for 3.8 seconds — way, way too long. Because this wasn’t blindside pressure. It came right up the middle. Stroud watched Walker close in, and ducked into the sack, rather than throw the ball away. Stroud didn’t look mentally ready for the play, which flipped the game in a matter of seconds. A few plays later, it was over. Bills edge Gregory Rousseau strip-sacked Stroud to end the game. It was a third-and-18, and the Texans, essentially, sent their receivers for the end zone. Nobody was open. Stroud held the ball for almost four seconds (which is way too long). But you can’t blame him, given that he had just one more down and 25 more seconds to score. Should he have thrown it away? Of course. Hindsight shows that, clearly. But I also understand why he wanted to make something happen — and risk the incoming pressure — by holding the ball a little longer. He wanted to eke out every opportunity to score on this play. I get that. In a weird way, I view this play differently than I did at the end of the game. So did the advanced stats, showing the Texans’ chances slipping 10.7% on the fumble. The rest of the game, Stroud was efficient. He battled with one of the league’s best teams and quarterbacks. The body of work — on the whole — was good. It’s just that Stroud’s errors on the final drive were irreconcilable. And the brutal truth is that those errors are the only plays we’ll remember from this game. Leave it to the Dallas Cowboys to put together the worst defensive series in all of football in Week 1. The Cowboys were worse — on the whole and on the Giants’ final scoring drive — than the Panthers, who allowed 59 points in Week 1. Dallas’ defensive expected points added per play was .363 (32nd). That’s because the Cowboys refused to cover the Giants’ checkdown option. So that’s exactly who Jaxson Dart threw to — three times in a row, including for a touchdown. Yes, seriously. Giants running back Devin Singletary had three catches in the flat on three consecutive plays. And the third was a 9-yard touchdown. It was pretty similar with every target to tight end Isaiah Likely, who had more room than he should have to operate in the middle of the field. Dart was 8 of 8 for 78 yards and two touchdowns when throwing to his new tight end. But after a season where I faulted Dart constantly for doing the wrong thing (constantly), I have to give him his flowers here. He took what the defense gave him. That’s basically the first rule of quarterbacking. His completion percentage over expected was +10.9%, and he attempted a fairly modest 17.2% tight-window throws. His time to throw was just 2.64 seconds, showing he was quick to get the ball out of his hands. It all speaks to a low-difficulty game plan against a low-talent defense. Dart did what he had to do to get the W. And in this case, he didn’t have to do much. It wasn’t totally Jared Goff’s fault that the Saints got back into their opener in Detroit, eating away at a 14-point lead and sending the game to overtime. The Lions defense shoulders plenty of that blame. But when looking at Goff’s fourth quarter, you can see a series of failed third-down conversions where he made mistakes. That let New Orleans back into it. On two third downs in the fourth quarter, Goff threw a pair of targets to Jameson Williams. In both instances, Goff made the catch more difficult than it needed to be. And there was a target for Amon-Ra St. Brown (another fourth-quarter third down) when Goff should’ve looked him off and found the second man in the progression. Williams, in particular, could’ve had a much bigger game if he and Goff had a cleaner connection. He had just four catches on his nine targets, and finished at a catch rate of 44.4% — 13.9% lower than expected, per Next Gen Stats. If Goff and Williams can figure out why, exactly, their connection grew frayed in this game, then this offense will benefit enormously. But Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown are incredible in pressure moments, including in overtime when Goff fired what seemed like a dangerous ball for St. Brown — only for the All-Pro wideout to snatch the ball away from a DB on the way into the end zone. Goff can be as precise as any quarterback in the NFL. But when he slips, even for three different third-downs, it can cost the Lions. Pocket passers — even good ones — have such a small margin for error. I think we’re past the point of thinking that Brock Purdy is simply a product of his supporting cast. I think we’re also seeing that his supporting cast can thrust him into the top 10. This 2026 roster might be better than the one that helped Purdy break out in 2023. While Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle are absolutely superstars, I’m not sure we all view Brandon Aiyuk — or even Deebo Samuel — in that same light as we once did in 2023. Perhaps Purdy didn’t get the respect he deserved for helping those two receivers play at their peak. The crazy thing about this year’s team is that they’re sustaining the insane rate of injuries that’s typical only for San Francisco. For now, the 49ers are deep enough to withstand the rolling absences. Even with rookie receiver De’Zhaun Stribling exiting the opener in the first half, the 49ers stayed afloat with ample targets for Mike Evans and Samuel. And with rookie running back Kaelon Black looking more than capable in a (surprising) timeshare with McCaffrey, the All-Pro veteran will undoubtedly have fresher legs into December and January. This is all great news for Purdy. He’s never going to land in the tier of QBs who defy circumstance: Lamar Jackson, Allen and Mahomes. (The tier that’s in reach for supertalents such as Drake Maye, Caleb Williams and perhaps even Trevor Lawrence.) But Week 1 against the Rams reminded that, even when things are imperfect (a good defense, a bad set of injuries, a brutal travel schedule in Australia), Purdy can be dangerous. He’s often going to exceed expectations. There are a lot of throws that Caleb Williams makes that leave me in disbelief. But there was one throw on Sunday that left me wondering if he’s the only person on the planet who could’ve completed it. Allen and Mahomes could maybe pull this one off. But that uncertainty — that maybe — speaks to just how special it was. “He couldn’t have put it in a better spot,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said of the pass. OK, so let’s take a look. It’s a 22-yard touchdown to Cole Kmet. Williams rolled to the right — increasing the necessary air yards for the throw to 42.3 yards, per Next Gen Stats. And he had a 32% chance of completing the pass. There was even a pass-rusher closing in on the throw. Despite all that, Williams made this look effortless. It’s why so many Bears players and coaches told me there’s “no limit” to the offense when the 2024 No. 1 overall pick is at the helm. It’s why I’m bullish on the Bears having a real shot at making a run at making history and topping the 2013 Broncos’ scoring record. Williams was sensational (and so was the Bears’ run game). He didn’t even have to get Colston Loveland involved. Loveland, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden didn’t have to score a touchdown for Williams and Co. to put up almost 60 points. Williams and Ben Johnson already had the NFL’s attention. Soon, they’ll have the NFL’s respect. And by the season’s end, 31 teams will be studying the Bears to figure out what they can copy.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs dismantled the Denver Broncos on Monday night.
And as expected, Taylor Swift skipped the Emmys to cheer on her man — and she was seated next to Tom Cruise, for some reason.
But even more surprising than the Jerry Maguire cameo was Travis’ pregame interaction with an aggressive fan.
Travis Kelce attends the Amazon 2025 Upfront at Beacon Theatre on May 12, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Yes, Travis is apparently willing to share a lot with the Arrowhead faithful. His game day gloves, however, are where he draws the line.
The Hall of Famer had an awkward encounter when a spectator appeared to reach for one of his gloves.
Kelce was making his way toward the locker room when he stopped to acknowledge fans sitting near the field.
He had removed his gloves and was holding them in his hand while offering high-fives and fist bumps.
That’s when one fan apparently decided he was going to take things a little further.
As Kelce reached toward the crowd, the fan appeared to grab for one of the gloves. Kelce immediately swatted the person’s hand away and shot a displeased look toward the crowd.
According to Page Six, Kelce “slapped away” the attempted glove theft.
The moment was captured on video and quickly made its way around social media, where fans had decidedly different opinions about what happened.
Some viewers argued that the fan may have genuinely believed Kelce was handing over the glove as a souvenir.
Others were considerably less sympathetic toward the spectator.
“He shouldn’t have held it in that hand, but also why would anyone think he’s giving his gloves away pregame? Lol,” one user said.
“It look like he was handing it I can see why the fan thought it too,” another added.
Either way, Kelce clearly wasn’t interested in donating part of his uniform before he had even played a snap.
The awkward moment was ultimately just a minor blip in what turned out to be a very successful night for the Chiefs star. Kansas City defeated Denver 31-10, while Kelce contributed three catches for 71 yards in his first game of the 2026 season.
The game also marked Kelce’s first NFL appearance since marrying Taylor in July, which was no doubt a matter of considerable symbolic importance for Trav.
So, ultimately, the glove survived, Kelce survived, and the Chiefs won their season opener.
The fan, meanwhile, has presumably learned an important lesson: When Travis Kelce is holding his glove, it is probably best to admire it from a respectful distance.
