Detroit Free Press

MOBILE, Ala. — The agent for former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said the Lions conducted a sham interview with his client only to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule. Austin, Lions defensive coordinator in 2014-17, was one of two in-house candidates and two minorities who interviewed for the head coaching job after Jim Caldwell

MOBILE, Ala. — The first time Bernhard Raimann picked up a football, he threw it like a shot put. “The worst throwing form you’ve ever seen in your entire life,” Raimann said. Raimann was 13 at the time. He had just moved to a suburb of Vienna, Austria, his hometown, and had never before seen

MOBILE, Ala. — The defense the American team runs at the Senior Bowl this week will only modestly resemble the defense Aubrey Pleasant will employ when he gets a chance to be a defensive coordinator one day. Pleasant, the Detroit Lions secondary coach who is serving in an elevated role as coordinator this week, said

MOBILE, Ala. — Sean Payton may be temporarily retired from the NFL, but Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell plans to put his old mentor to work this spring. Campbell said he hopes to use Payton, who resigned as New Orleans Saints coach last month, as a sounding board this offseason. “Yeah, certainly I could,” Campbell said

MOBILE, Ala. — Jim Harbaugh could be leaving Michigan football to return to the NFL, news that does not come as a surprise to one of the most prominent linemen on last year’s college football playoff team. “I heard the rumors,” former Michigan tackle Andrew Stueber said Wednesday at the Senior Bowl. “I’ve kind of

MOBILE, Ala. — More than Xs and Os, more than managing personalities, the job of a head coach in the NFL is to be the face of a franchise. “That’s a huge responsibility,” Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. And it’s one both Glenn and his current boss say he’s ready for. Glenn is scheduled

We always knew we’d be summing up Tom Brady’s career one day when he finally — finally — called it quits. On Tuesday, when the 44-year old Brady made it official, writers across the nation plopped down to put the most stellar career in NFL history into words. Good luck. I’ll start not with a

MOBILE, Ala. — Two prominent Detroit Lions assistants said they have not experienced the discrimination former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores alleged in an explosive lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams Tuesday. Flores alleged in a proposed class-action suit filed in Manhattan federal court that the league exhibits widespread racism in

MOBILE, Ala. — Dan Campbell plans to interview multiple candidates for the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator position during the Senior Bowl this week, though tight ends coach Ben Johnson remains the leading candidate for the job. “Ben is certainly, he’s in this conversation,” Campbell said Tuesday. “I’ve started the process this week. And so I’ll have

Former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams, alleging racial discrimination by the league’s teams in hiring practices. Flores’ suit comes on the first day of Black History Month and on the heels of the New York Giants’ selection of Brian Daboll over

MOBILE, Ala. — As great as he has been on the field in the Cincinnati Bengals’ run to the Super Bowl, Joe Burrow’s most exceptional quality as a quarterback might be the confidence he exudes off it. And Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said he sees Burrow-like qualities in one of this year’s top

Detroit Lions fans have been pouring their love and support on Matthew and Kelly Stafford — and they’re feeling it. As the team’s former quarterback clinched a spot in Super Bowl 56,  one year after the blockbuster trade to the Los Angeles Rams, Michiganders flooded social media with excited posts over his success and 20-17

Quarterback Tom Brady — a seven-time Super Bowl champion, 15-time Pro Bowler and three-time NFL MVP (in case you’re just hearing of him) — officially retired from pro football Tuesday morning, after a weekend of nationwide confusion over whether he was actually retiring. After 22 NFL seasons (and a few extra days of offseason), his

Mark your calendars, Detroit Lions fans, because Feb. 13 is going to be a doozy. That’s the day Super Bowl LVI — or 56 for those of us who, you know, don’t walk around wearing togas and laurel wreaths anymore — will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Feb. 13 is also the

MOBILE, Ala. — Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes will get his first up-close look at three of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft when Senior Bowl practices begin Tuesday. “They’re all different,” Holmes said. “They all offer different flavors and capabilities and what was kind of cool about all three of those

LOS ANGELES — Matthew Stafford sat alone on a bench on the Los Angeles Rams sideline, unable or unwilling to watch the biggest drive of his football career. Stafford, the long-suffering Detroit Lions quarterback who found new life in L.A. this season, had just given the Rams their first lead over the San Francisco 49ers since

The Detroit Lions are headed to Mobile, Alabama, to coach the Senior Bowl this week. Historically, coaching the game has given teams a leg up on evaluating the prospects they work with. The Lions moved up to draft one of their best offensive linemen, Jonah Jackson, after coaching him in the 2020 Senior Bowl, and the

On Jan. 30, 2021, the Detroit Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the LA Rams. One year later, Stafford and the Rams are headed to the Super Bowl. Facing a 10-point deficit with just less than a quarter remaining in the NFC championship game, the Rams’ quarterback directed the 44th fourth-quarter comeback of his career —

Duce Staley will get his first crack at being a head coach next week, and Ben Johnson will get a trial run at offensive coordinator, perhaps in preparation for the real thing. Staley, Johnson and secondary coach Aubrey Pleasant will take on elevated coaching roles at the Senior Bowl, the college all-star game announced Friday. The

Amon-Ra St. Brown can’t turn on the NFL playoffs without seeing a hint of himself on the screen. In rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s big plays for the Cincinnati Bengals. In Cooper Kupp’s bone-rattling blocks for the Los Angeles Rams. And in the creative ways the San Francisco 49ers use do-everything star Deebo Samuel. “I think