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Long after Los Angeles Rams practices in the late summer of 2021, Kevin O’Connell lingered on the field in a huddle with head coach Sean McVay, receiver Cooper Kupp and quarterback Matthew Stafford. Sweat poured off of each man and dripped into the grass as the players scuffed at it with their cleats. They gestured and debated with one another, the coaches writing notes on salt-slicked play cards.

McVay’s offense led the NFL when he became the youngest head coach in league history in 2017, but it had stalled over the previous two seasons. He and O’Connell were rebuilding it together.

O’Connell, a former star quarterback at San Diego State and then an NFL journeyman, translated Stafford’s 12 NFL seasons of football knowledge and married elements of what worked with McVay’s playbook. The head coach was drawn to O’Connell’s creativity and understanding of quarterbacks when he hired him as offensive coordinator in 2020, and after trading for Stafford in 2021 they charted new schematic territory.

Every day that summer was about adjusting tiny details with Stafford and Kupp. O’Connell wanted to prepare them for any potential problem a defense might present. “You try to give them the answers to the test before they have to take it,” he told The Athletic this summer. “There’s no such thing as a great game plan without the ability to adapt on the fly.”

In Super Bowl LVI, they all lived that.

McVay, battling an illness in the days leading up to the game, grew hoarse at times, so O’Connell quietly prepared in case he might have to actually call the game. He was also deep in the interview process with the Minnesota Vikings for their head coaching position. Star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was supposed to be the central element of the passing game against the Cincinnati Bengals but went down before halftime with a knee injury. No. 3 receiver Van Jefferson was playing hurt, and running back Cam Akers had just returned from an Achilles repair. The ground game wasn’t working. Stafford’s cast of skill players had changed dramatically from the first quarter, and so too had the Rams’ game plan.

It was, some players and executives recalled, as if McVay, O’Connell, Kupp and Stafford had resorted to drawing up plays on the sideline in the second half.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Rams’ fate hinged on a player who had hardly ever seen the field. Down four points, the offense faced fourth-and-1 from their own 30-yard line. Voices flooded into a wide-eyed McVay’s headset as he prepared the call.

Stafford and Kupp were about to run a play that had failed when they tried it together in practice over the two weeks of preparation for the game, a play they workshopped all the way up to the bus ride to the stadium. It was a sweep handoff to Kupp that started with a stutter-step motion from the left side of the formation. Kupp was supposed to cut the sweep short after he got the ball in order to scoot behind a crucial block on the right edge, then get upfield through that hole.

The block now would be assigned to second-year tight end Brycen Hopkins, a former fourth-round pick who was only in the game because the starters and backups were injured. There was no time to doubt whether he could do it.

It worked. The handoff, the block, the improbable conversion became one of the defining plays of the Rams’ championship.

O’Connell realizes now, as a third-year head coach whose 4-0 Vikings are the talk of the league, how similar the last two quarters of the Super Bowl were to the hot, grueling days of training camp. Then, he would sometimes daydream about one day installing his own offense as a head coach. He thought about the language he would use, how he would collaborate with his own assistants and players, how he would create answers to their questions.

Hours after winning the Super Bowl, O’Connell accepted Minnesota’s head coaching job. Later that week, he stepped off a parade bus sticky with beer and confetti and into his future. He brimmed with positivity, a sunbeam pouring into Vikings offices still cloaked in winter.

O’Connell had a vision. He had a plan. He had a playbook and a sound teaching process.

Yet he couldn’t have predicted how often he’d be reminded of football’s inherent chaos — and how crucial his knack for adaptation would be — over the next two seasons.

O’Connell’s young children are really into Legos. He and his wife, Leah, have a massive tub in their home containing hundreds of the little multi-colored bricks from dozens of separate sets.

The tub has no rules, nor order — the manuals for each set were thrown out long ago. The kids grab pieces — a couple of blocks from a disassembled “Cars” character, a few more from a “Star Wars” ship — and build whatever is in their imagination.

It drives O’Connell a little nuts. Building something real requires a plan, and part of him wants to know what all of the pieces do, or the different ways they might fasten to each other, before he starts to build. But the other part of him loves that his kids are having a blast creating like this, so he happily sits on the floor and fastens a racecar tire to a TIE Fighter.

He admits his two most dominant qualities — obsession with process and detail, and empathy — compete with one another, but in an NFL quarterback room one is needed just as much as the other, often at the same time. It’s why O’Connell’s teaching method has resonated with players.

As a play-caller, Kevin O’Connell specializes in providing answers for his players. (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)

With quarterbacks, he implements a layered approach that first explains why a play or broader concept will manifest in a certain way. This defense has a rule that says they’ll react to this formation with this type of coverage, so we will change our formation spacing to force them out of their rule and create our advantage instead of, we are lining up this way.

O’Connell installs a core alphabet for his system. Then he builds out the playbook and week-to-week game plans by tying a word players recognize in a concept or play to another word which brings them into a family of plays and eventually grows into an entire system. The player can easily jump between plays within a family and into the broader system because the words he recognizes escort him there. The point is to avoid rote memorization; everything links to something else. O’Connell calls it “dot-connecting.”

“Maybe it’s a concept that you take from an existing concept, and you say, ‘Here’s how we’re gonna change it, here’s how we’re gonna name it,” O’Connell explained. “It’s in a family of names that have sameness and likeness — big cats, sports cars — whatever it is, you name it, we’ve got a category for it. And if we don’t, we’ll have one soon enough.”

O’Connell asks his players for detailed feedback during the installation of his offense and subsequent practices. If a receiver feels more comfortable adjusting his route off a third inside step instead of a fourth, or if the quarterback wants to swap out one route for another while attacking the same space on the field, O’Connell changes his play.

“I’m not the one out there running the play,” O’Connell said. “If it doesn’t infringe upon the play-caller’s intent or the design of the play, ‘It’s yours, guys.’ I think that there is power in that, in this day and age … when they feel like they are a voice at the table, not just someone being talked to.”

“The way he connects, the way he talks with us, the way he understands us as players, I feel like it’s a really good characteristic as a coach,” said Vikings All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson.

Plus, when players feel like they have a say in the details of the plays they run, O’Connell is comfortable asking them to trust him when he adjusts the plan in real-time. He does this often and for good reason. Defenses come up with bespoke plans — at times outside their typical system — to try to slow down Jefferson. There sometimes is no precedent for how a specific opponent will try to mitigate him until they show their strategy in a game’s first few series.

When that happens, O’Connell and his staff workshop their own offensive counters on the sidelines and in the locker room at halftime. They come up with a list of “what-if’s”: If a defense does X, how will the Vikings respond?

“I think the best coaches see it live. They can make those in-game adjustments, they don’t have to wait until after the fact to do that,” said McVay, who watches cut-ups of Minnesota’s game film every week. “I’ve seen Kevin do that in his tenure there.”

O’Connell’s adaptability beyond game-planning has been tested. While his 2022 team won 13 games — 11 by one score — they were ultimately undone by a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league and lost in the wild-card round. To fix it, O’Connell hired former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, known for his complicated, aggressive, pressure-diverse scheme. A former quarterback hired a modern quarterback’s biggest fear.

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The Vikings lost their first three games in 2023, but just as veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins and the offense began to find their rhythm and put together a string of wins, chaos struck again.

Cousins tore his Achilles against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8. Minnesota traded for journeyman Josh Dobbs, but after starter Jaren Hall suffered a concussion the following week, O’Connell was essentially forced to install a playbook for Dobbs on the fly. The Vikings won that game and the next, but Dobbs’ production did not last. Minnesota rotated quarterbacks through the last several games of the season, and O’Connell stretched himself thin managing the different players and game plans while keeping the building encouraged about the future.

“It speaks to the whole of building a culture, systems, schemes, how he works with people, how he creates an environment for guys to grow together,” game management coordinator and pass game specialist Ryan Cordell said. “Last year, we’re battling injuries, and he didn’t change. He was the same guy.”

The Vikings parted with Cousins in free agency last summer with the plan to draft and develop their next quarterback. They also signed free agent Sam Darnold, the third pick in the 2018 draft who pinballed from dysfunctional to dysfunction until he repaired his bad habits and nursed his bruised confidence last season in San Francisco.

O’Connell leveled with Darnold and Vikings fans after Minnesota selected Michigan star J.J. McCarthy with the 10th pick in April’s draft. While McCarthy would be the future, O’Connell would still do whatever he could to help Darnold compete for the starting role in 2024 on a one-year deal, to reset the narrative and give him tools to help fulfill the potential many believed he’d never reach. All the better if that gave McCarthy — who, at just 21 was the same age as Darnold when the New York Jets drafted him — more time to develop as an NFL player.

O’Connell structured most of the first-team summer reps around Darnold to help him adjust to his new system while gradually increasing McCarthy’s workload and preparing him to play in the preseason. O’Connell was mulish that he would not put McCarthy in a position he wasn’t ready for — at times bristling at questions about the rookie’s timeline.

A third-round pick of the Patriots in 2008, O’Connell’s NFL playing career fizzled out before it ever really began. (Jim Rogash / Getty Images)

That adamance (and how O’Connell expressed it) stemmed from his own tumultuous experience as an NFL backup. He understood how quickly a quarterback’s vibe can sour. O’Connell was an athletically gifted and smart prospect when he was drafted by the Patriots in the 2008 third round to back up Tom Brady. But New England cut O’Connell in 2009 and he bounced around several teams for the next three years, with a labrum surgery thrown in for good measure in 2010.

He used to view his playing career with some regret, but that perspective has shifted, especially as he got into coaching. He studied behind a future Hall of Famer in Brady and alongside blossoming young stars such as Stafford and shared position rooms with amiable teammates like Matt Cassel and Mark Sanchez. O’Connell understood what a young quarterback can learn when a position room is built thoughtfully. His experience ultimately helped inform him as a teacher and a manager of people.

That was also part of why the Vikings brought in Darnold — to show McCarthy what pro preparation and study habits look like, to give him a collaborator and to make sure a uniquely isolated position did not feel that way.

“I think back on different interactions and being able to be around some great players, coaches and humans throughout my NFL journey. I think about how I can shape our team, and my messaging to our team and our quarterbacks, to really do two things: challenge them but ultimately let them know that I have their backs and that everything I’m trying to accomplish is for them in conjunction with them achieving success,” O’Connell said.

On July 6, Vikings rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson was killed in a car accident in Maryland. “It has been a significant time in our organization, losing a player,” O’Connell said. “You are personally working through your process of dealing with something like that — while also knowing that my role is to be there… for anyone that might need support, and love, and guidance.”

Players were away from the facility during the brief break in the NFL’s calendar. O’Connell got on the phone with anybody who needed to talk, checking on players and coaches and grieving privately.

“He has a heart for people,” said McVay. “He really pays close attention to what people need, (and) he’s that for them.”

The Vikings contributed $20,000 to funeral expenses and paid out Jackson’s signing bonus to his estate. O’Connell spoke at the funeral in Jackson’s hometown, and the team also had a private memorial service with Jackson’s family in Minnesota. They keep Jackson’s locker open, and players wear decals of his initials on their helmets. O’Connell wears a pin above his heart that says “KJ.”

O’Connell told the team what he had learned through two years as a head coach and decades as an assistant and player before that: Life is a combination of success, adversity and chaos. They would all mourn as football’s unforgiving clock ticked on.

The season approached. In August, after the Vikings’ first preseason game, McCarthy tore his meniscus. His rookie season was over before it began, and for a moment, the injury soured Minnesota fans’ hopes for 2024.

But O’Connell believed in Darnold.

O’Connell’s belief in Sam Darnold (right) has manifested in Minnesota’s 4-0 start to the season. (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)

The Vikings are 4-0 with wins against postseason favorites like the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans and Packers. Darnold is playing better than ever. He has thrown for 932 yards and a league-leading 11 touchdowns with three interceptions while completing 68.9 percent of his passes. He also ranks third in the NFL in completion percentage above expectation (5.7), a measurement that takes into account the situational context of a passing play.

O’Connell’s fingerprints are all over Darnold’s renewed confidence and resurgent play, which has featured help from a steady run game, skilled receivers and Flores’ No. 1-ranked defense. But O’Connell doesn’t smother the young quarterback. Instead, he provides Darnold with multiple answers on every play, giving him a manual and an understanding of how the pieces might fit together.

Against the Giants in Week 1, a 22-yard pass to tight end Josh Oliver was designed to give Darnold two options depending on how the defense covered Jefferson. If New York’s defense stuck to its system’s rules for the concept and personnel the Minnesota offense showed, a safety and extra linebacker would flow toward Jefferson’s route, leaving Oliver open up the right hash if he got behind just one other linebacker. If the defense “broke” its own rules for that look, Jefferson would be wide open.

“With the proper amount of structure, coaching and clarity that you can give these players, you can make this very difficult or you can make the complex simple,” said O’Connell. “You’re constantly trying to find that balance, and the balance is in how you’re coaching it. I never want to be a Monday morning ‘clicker coach’ where I am holding the clicker … saying, ‘You should have done this, this and this.’ If I’m saying those things, I probably didn’t coach it very well.”

Perhaps Darnold’s true “arrival” this season came on a third-and-9 pass in a Week 2 win against the 49ers after Jefferson left the game with a quad injury. Darnold threaded a pass to receiver Jalen Nailor between three defenders, letting the ball go at the perfect moment where a fraction early or late would have almost certainly led to a turnover.

In that game, Darnold threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns plus an interception and ran for 32 yards. His 97-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson was so electric that O’Connell sprinted down the sideline to celebrate, headset cord streaming behind him like a banner.

“The amount of work that goes into that position, on your quarterback journey, when everybody decides that you cannot play … ” O’Connell said after the game. “We always believed in him. Awesome to watch him go do that thing. I am really proud of Sam Darnold.”

O’Connell fought to control his voice, but it cracked with emotion as he thought about a young quarterback who got another chance and what he was building with him.

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; photos: Adam Bettcher, Nick Cammett, Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

MILWAUKEE — In the chaos of elation, the New York Mets momentarily allowed the star of the celebration to get away Thursday night.

Quickly, someone yelled, “Where the f— is Pete?”

The search lasted mere moments.

“He’s over there!” someone else shouted.

Another Mets player then loudly gave instructions: “Everyone attack Pete!”

Within seconds, several Mets players took turns draining their champagne bottles over Pete Alonso. “Pete! Pete! Pete!” they chanted.

Alonso savored the moment. With one hand holding a can of beer and another gripping a bottle of Champagne, he wrapped his arms around Jose Iglesias and squeezed him in a bear hug.

In the embrace, Iglesias told Alonso, “Thank you for listening.”

The second baseman was referring to the message he delivered just before the bottom of the eighth inning. That’s when Iglesias, from his position at second base, told Alonso, “Next inning, you’re going to hit a home run.”

What happened next is already etched in Mets lore. In the ninth inning of the deciding Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, the Mets trailed by two runs. With one out, they had runners on first and third. Carrying a weeks-long slump with calmness, Alonso came to the plate. He hit a three-run home run off Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams to save the Mets’ season and send New York to the Division Series.

Pete Alonso struggled early but before this three-run home run he told his hitting coach, “I feel like I am right there.” (Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)

“It was meant to be,” Iglesias said after the 4-2 victory. “I’ve seen walk-offs and stuff, but this is one of my happiest moments. It’s a dream come true.”

Throughout the day, Iglesias, one of the Mets’ clubhouse leaders whose catchy song “OMG” morphed into a season’s rallying cry, had offered Alonso encouragement.

“He was feeling a little off,” Iglesias said. “I just told him, ‘Be on time. Timing is everything.’ And now? Man, I feel so proud of him.”

Later, in a rare moment on the field when he didn’t attract a crowd, Alonso said Iglesias’ simple yet consistent messaging, “Meant a lot. Really, a lot. It meant so much to me.”

For some time, the Mets needed Alonso to come through. Big time. His walk year had been devoid of special moments. But club officials always said the same thing, that, with his power, he could change a game in an instant. Still, his last extra-base hit was Sept. 19. Before the home run, Alonso was 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the seventh inning. No matter. He still believed.

In the seventh inning, Alonso used a relaxed tone when he told Mets co-hitting coach Eric Chavez, “I’m just swinging right through these pitches. I feel like I am right there. One swing away.”

Recalling the conversation, Chavez said, “He was more calm than I was.”

Players often tell coaches such things, so Chavez didn’t know exactly how to interpret the message. He noticed at least one thing, though, that he’d later say would be important. Alonso, despite the slump and the heaviness of his Mets career possibly ending Thursday night, remained positive.

On a 3-1 offering from Williams, Alonso sent a changeup that got too much plate 367 feet, over the wall in right field. He said he knew right away it was a home run. On first base, Brandon Nimmo said he wasn’t too sure. After all, the Mets hadn’t hit a home run in the first two games of the series. So, Nimmo said he was simply hoping the ball would get over an outfielder’s head. But Alonso kept running toward Nimmo. So Nimmo looked over to the outfield once more, and said to himself, “Oh my God.”

By the time Alonso had reached second base, nearly all the Mets’ players had left the dugout.

“Words can’t explain,” Alonso said. “This is unreal.”

Mets owner Steve Cohen attempted to construct a couple of sentences.

“Great players, they come through in the clutch, right?” Cohen said. “Just an incredible moment for him, for the team.”

The Mets had gone far without Alonso putting them on his back. If he’s hot, the Mets are all the more dangerous heading into their matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies starting Saturday afternoon.

Before the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza maintained faith in Alonso yet again and said, “We’re waiting for that one swing. Hopefully today is the day.”

Well worth the wait.

“Proud of him,” Mendoza said after the game. “It’s a dream come true for him and for all of us.”

Seven minutes after the Mets advanced, and as the team celebrated on the field, the sections of fans behind New York’s dugout at American Family Field began loudly chanting, “Pete A-lon-so! Pete A-lon-so!”

It’s a name now deeply etched in Mets playoff history.

(Top photo of Pete Alonso: Credit: Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)

The handwriting is on the wall. NFL owners want to eventually expand the regular season from 17 games to 18. The owners usually get what they want, so it seems like a matter of when, and not if, we see an expansion.

The current collective bargaining agreement runs through 2030, but NFL owners, officials and leaders of the NFL Players Association have already begun very preliminary discussions on what an 18-game season would look like and what kinds of concessions each side would have to make to facilitate such a change. But the two sides are nowhere close to hammering out an agreement.

For now, the majority of NFL players we spoke to oppose the idea of an 18-game season. Of the 108 players who answered when asked for The Athletic’s second anonymous player poll, 64 said they are not in favor of the league adding an 18th game. Meanwhile, 29 players said they would be in favor of the move and 15 described themselves as undecided.

Those opposed to the idea are staunchly opposed.

“No. Hell no,” one player said. “It’s too much on our bodies.”

“F— no. F— no,” a second player responded. “For what? F— no. F– no. F— no. Make it shorter.”

Said a third, “No. The money’s not worth it. And it doesn’t affect the playoff bracket. One more extra game is not gonna affect the playoff bracket.”

More football sounds great to fans and owners, but many players have other factors to consider.

“No, because players barely make it through 17, so adding 18, we don’t know what type of implications that’ll have long-term,” one player said, “because you’ll see guys have high use one year and the whole next year they battle injuries. Physically, I think it’s too much, and I know from the standpoint of the NFL, they see the money, but they’re gonna lose a lot of star players to injuries.”

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Another player worried that continued expansion of the schedule would decrease the magnitude of each game.

“What makes football great is there are so few games, and each game matters like 10 baseball games and five basketball games. So they all matter,” he said. “And 17 is kind of nice, because nobody is going to be .500. We’re not doing ties. You’re either over .500, or under .500. If it ever does happen, it has to be mandated grass (fields) across the league.”

Players always take issue with the NFL’s claims of caring about player safety when they also hear of owners wanting additional games. But they understand the driving factor behind such a decision.

“The NFL is all about making money, so they’re going to add another game of course,” one player said. “It’ll be more money coming in.”

He hit the nail on the head: The NFL is all about making money. Conversely, the players want to increase their earning potential as well. Because of that mutual desire, even players who strongly oppose the idea of the expansion to 18 games acknowledge they may have to relent to continue to grow their portion of the economic pie.

“I get it, it’s the money side,” a player said. “You know, get the money while you can, you just keep on adding games. But I think it has more wear and tear on the body. If they’re going to make an 18th game, they’re going to have to change something somewhere else. So I’ll be curious to see what they would do.”

Players are concerned about adding more wear and tear to their bodies if the NFL ultimately adds an 18th game. (Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)

Said another, “No. Unless they’re giving us some more money, then no. This is a long season as it is, you know? Adding the last one, it was what, 16 at first, and then to 17. Eighteen is just crazy.”

Players currently receive 48.8 percent of all revenue and the owners take in the remaining 51.2 percent, but that split would most definitely have to change if the league expects to sway players on the 18th game. Players were also asked a follow-up question as to what the NFL would need to adjust to accommodate a potential 18th game. The most common response was an additional bye week, while others cited changes to the preseason and offseason schedule and, of course, more money.

“I am in favor if that means more revenue share for the players and if there’s an additional bye week worked in within the season,” one player said.

“If it means more money, I’m down,” another said. “A lot more money, though. Not just another game check. (And) two bye weeks.”

Another player, thinking of the earning potential, also said he would sign off on an 18th game.

“Yes, if the salary, regardless of inflation, is gonna reflect it, and you up the amount of practice squad players per team,” he said. “Just because I always think about the little guys, so I’m looking at minimum salaries and practice squad players. I just want the bread. I just want another $100K or $200K. I’m not tripping off getting extra rest as long as it’s all the same playing field and everybody else get the same rest. It’s cool with me, but then again, I’m a grinder. I’ll play 20 games for another $500K.”

A few players liked the idea of an 18th game simply because they enjoy playing.

“Love the game,” one said. “You wanna add more? Add more.”

They believed with proper adjustments to the preseason and with the implementation of a second bye, players would find ways to manage and adjust to the additional wear and tear.

“Two real bye weeks,” one player said. “Not a three-day week that the league tries to get away with after Thursday games. Two full weeks and that gets you to the Presidents Day holiday for the Super Bowl like they want.”

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Players surveyed seem to know that no matter their reservations, an 18th game is coming, and there is little they can do aside from work to negotiate the best possible financial and benefits package.

As one veteran said, “I hope by the time we get to the point, way later down the road, that I’m out of the league. But I know it’s coming.”

(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Ryan Kang and Chris Unger / Getty Images)

With the NFL entering Week 5 — can you believe we are coming up on 30 percent of the regular season completed? — I thought it was a good time to answer NFL-specific media questions.

Questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length. Let’s go.

If you would have told me we’d be raving about Bill Belichick and raking Tom Brady over the coals, well, most would have thought the other way around. What’s your take on all the “rookies” (in broadcasting) this year? — Tom R.

What grade do you give Tom Brady four weeks into his broadcasting career? Where else does he need to improve? — Deven B.

I first wrote in 2016 while working at Sports Illustrated that I thought Belichick had all the traits to be a successful NFL broadcaster. Then came this piece for The Athletic in 2023 and this piece in January. So I’m not surprised in the slightest, and I would also not be surprised if he stuck with it after this season.

I wrote after Brady’s debut and his second game, and then last week I watched him call the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Philadelphia Eagles. The progress is there. It’s incremental, but he’s already a different broadcaster after four games versus his Sept. 8 call. It’s an increased comfort level that’s most obvious. I would grade him a B-minus after four weeks, and I’d consider that grade a success.

Where Brady has to improve is he’s still coming to the commentary after plays a little late, he offers little if any criticism of coaches, and we still don’t get enough second-level analysis, which for my definition is teaching me something new about the game that I didn’t see if I was following the ball. But the work in progress is heading in the right direction.

Has the NFL considered shutting out the networks and running the broadcasts themselves? Would they make more money if they broadcast themselves via NFL.com and potentially lease their stream to third parties like ESPN and others? — John B.

It’s the opposite. The NFL has been looking to shed media assets, including running the NFL Network. The financial outlay to produce the games themselves — think of all the hires they’d have to make in production and elsewhere — and then sublicense the games to another broadcaster would be so great that it’s not worth it. Also, they have existing rights contracts with companies, so the league could not even consider it for years.

I think the NFL will look to be involved in more one-off media projects rather than big-scale broadcasts, which is why I would not bet long on NFL Network doing games next decade, at least under the NFL Media banner.

Which current players are most sought after for post-retirement careers with the major networks? — Paul E.

The name that always comes up among networks isn’t a player but a coach: Mike Tomlin. The Pittsburgh Steelers coach would be hired immediately if he wants to be. All the networks love him.

If the NFL goes to a schedule with every team playing an international game each season, could that package of games, largely confined to Sunday mornings currently, dare expand to Saturday mornings? — Mark B.

What are the chances the NFL carves out a package for international games, and if so, who might be in the running for it? — Pete G.

Never say never with NFL owners, who worship money above all. But I can’t see them in the immediate future playing on Saturdays for competitive reasons. Also, the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act effectively bars the NFL from airing a major part of its schedule Friday evenings or on Saturdays between the second Friday in September and the second Saturday in December.

As for the international package: It absolutely will happen. Kansas City Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt told Sports Business Journal’s Ben Fischer in September that, “in the short to medium term, it’s realistic to think the league might play as many as 16 games overseas.” It seems like the obvious time slot will be the Sunday morning window to create a new media-rights package, and I think you’d look to streamers such as Amazon, ESPN+, Netflix and Peacock as being interested.

Expect the NFL’s international games to become their own separate broadcast package in the future. (Vincent Mignott / DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

When do you think (Los Angeles Rams head coach) Sean McVay leaves to join TV? He has indicated that he wants to spend time with his growing family. Also, I’ve heard analysts say he would be great on TV, which I think he would, too. Yes, the money is better in coaching, but the stress is significantly less in television. Do you think he’s tied to (quarterback) Matthew Stafford in terms of playing/coaching, with the Rams’ championship window closing? — Joshua B.

Thanks, Joshua. I forwarded your question to our Rams writer, Jourdan Rodrigue, who is uniquely positioned to answer this. Here’s what she said:

“It’s a great question. Ever since McVay genuinely considered stepping away from coaching in 2022, it’s fair for people on the outside to wonder how long he will stay in that world. My experience and impression, though, is quite different than those who think he’s ready to jump at any time. I don’t think he feels tied to Stafford’s own career timeline, although it’s certainly possible he once felt that way.

“I have written in-depth about how McVay got himself back to coaching after a mental burnout in 2022 — and through those conversations and that reporting, I believe he at minimum wants to stay committed to his current contract, which runs through 2026, if not longer. McVay knows the booth will be waiting for him at any time, the prices keep going up all the same, and I believe he genuinely wants to be the type of coach who has a reputation for overcoming adversity and developing players. I believe he now understands that his legacy as a coach and reputation among his peers is about a lot more than becoming the youngest NFL head coach or that Super Bowl win.”

When will the NFL purchase the Canadian Football League to expand its base? — Leslie G.

Can’t see this happening. There’s no economic reason for the NFL to buy the CFL. Canada isn’t a market the league has targeted for expansion — the Toronto/Buffalo Bills experiment was not a success — and the NFL has made clear that Europe and Mexico are where its immediate desires sit. Also, what would the NFL be buying? None of the CFL teams would become NFL teams. Then, on the other side, the CFL prides itself on being Canadian-owned and run. I just don’t see it.

With all the money paid to the top commentators for Sunday afternoon games, is there any thought by those networks on the number of viewers they are losing to RedZone or Sunday Ticket? — Matt L.

First, you have to remember that the salaries paid to broadcasters by companies such as Disney, Comcast or Fox Corp. amount to rounding errors for the companies. That even goes for Brady at Fox. As far as RedZone: The best estimates are that the channel draws about 1 million viewers each Sunday. It’s not a significant loss for the networks given the early windows for the networks will average 17 million to 20 million viewers and the late-afternoon window usually pops 25 million.

What led NBC to extend Cris Collinsworth for another half-decade knowing a younger, superior talent (Greg Olsen) was available? I’d understand it if the incumbent was better — or even as good — and I know it’s highly subjective. I don’t think that’s the case here. Thoughts? — Barry S.

It’s subjective is the short and long answer. Is Olsen a better analyst? I think he is, but this is where subjectivity plays in. Relationships play a big role here. NBC Sports leadership likes Collinsworth, and he has deep relationships with the people charged with hiring. It’s also a big swing to bring in someone from the outside who has never worked with your production group. Collinsworth has been associated with NBC since 1990 and has been the lead analyst on “Sunday Night Football” for 16 seasons. That’s a lot of equity.

Now, the subjective part. I have written many pieces praising Collinsworth, but I do think over the last couple of years he’s become more and more a spokesperson for the NFL where once upon a time he really was a maverick in terms of being critical of the league. Maybe that happens when the years build up and you get tighter with Roger Goodell and the fellas. But as far as preparing for broadcasts and the enthusiasm for football, he still gets high marks in both categories from my perspective.

GO DEEPER

‘I almost gave up on life as I knew it’: Mike Pereira on the pain of his lost season

(Top photo of Tom Brady: Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images)

Can the Florida Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup champions or is it the Edmonton Oilers’ turn to go from runners-up to No. 1? What will happen in the Eastern Conference wild-card race?

After kicking off The Athletic NHL staff’s season predictions Thursday with individual awards, today we look at team expectations. Who makes the playoffs? Who are the potential dark horses? Which fan base is bound for disappointment?

To pick apart the results of our polling, provide context and give us a healthy critique, we’ve brought in NHL senior writers James Mirtle and Sean Gentille, analytics know-it-all Shayna Goldman and betting expert Jesse Granger.

GO DEEPER

NHL 2024-25 awards predictions: Staff picks for Calder, Rocket Richard, Hart and more

Who will win the Stanley Cup?

Mirtle: I feel special with the lone Hurricanes pick. Maybe this is finally the year?! Right?

Goldman: Lose in the Stanley Cup Final then return to win the next year. I think I’ve seen that script before.

Gentille: I picked the Stars last season. The Devils don’t quite seem ready. The Leafs are the Leafs. The Avs have loads of question marks. It’s Edmonton by default.

Granger: I think the Devils are the perfect combination of talent, motivation and rest from a longer summer than they’d hoped for, with, finally, the addition of a top-flight goalie in Jacob Markstrom.

Who will be the runners-up?

Gentille: In other words, most of us think the Rangers will find a new way to disappoint their fans in the playoffs.

Granger: Our consensus Cup Final pick is Oilers over Rangers. You can bet that exact result at 66-1 odds.

Will Connor McDavid and the Oilers face Mika Zibanejad and the Rangers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final? (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

Who will finish in last place?

Mirtle: Pray for Yaroslav Askarov, friends.

Granger: And Mackenzie Blackwood.

Gentille: The Sharks added several real, live NHL players this season. That doesn’t mean things will change all that much.

Who will be the biggest disappointment?

Must be projected at 100-plus points by Dom’s model at the start of the season. Projected point total in parentheses.

Goldman: I didn’t vote for Carolina, but it actually makes some sense here. Year after year, they’re one of the Eastern Conference favorites. But the results just don’t match the hype in the end, so it feels like the pressure is starting to amp up there.

Granger: Thatcher Demko’s injury has me very concerned for Vancouver. He covered up a lot of holes on that team with heroics in net, shown by his sky-high .845 save percentage on high-danger shots. If he ends up playing the majority of the season, the Canucks should be fine, but if not, it’s a lot to ask from Kevin Lankinen and Artūrs Šilovs.

Who’s your dark horse Cup contender?

Must be projected as a middle-of-the-pack team, between 85 and 100 points by Dom’s model at the start of the season. Projected point total in parentheses.

Granger: The Devils are my pick to win the Cup, so I kind of had to pick them here.

Mirtle: I threw Vegas my vote here as (a) the Devils are the easy choice and (b) everyone is sleeping on how good the Golden Knights remain, which includes, perhaps, the NHL’s best blue line. Plus they’re going to add two $10 million forwards at the deadline, anyway.

Goldman: I forget if I picked Tampa Bay or Nashville here, honestly. The Lightning have depth issues but aren’t dead yet. And the Predators had a really interesting offseason. They’re my two dark horse contenders to watch because Mirtle’s right, the Devils are the easy choice here.

Gentille: Someday, I’ll be done treating the Lightning as a true contender. Today is not that day.

Who’s your surprise playoff team?

Must be projected below 85 points by Dom’s model at the start of the season. Projected point total in parentheses.

Goldman: Detroit feels like the only legitimate pick here, especially if it can build off its level from that late-season push. Even if the Flyers go on a run like last year, their deadline moves likely take them right out of the conversation again.

Gentille: Yep, it’s the Red Wings by default for me, too. Their path feels realistic, at least, especially if a couple of their prospects pop.

Who will be the first coach fired?

Mirtle: Nearly half the league being mentioned sounds like the NHL.

Goldman: The average tenure of an NHL coach is less than 2.5 years, so it’s really anyone’s game here.

Gentille: There’s been so much turnover the past couple of years that we’re short on actual candidates.

East playoff field

We asked each voter to pick the eight East playoff teams. Here is the percentage of the votes received by each team. (Note: * playoff team in 2023-24)

Goldman: Sorry Atlantic Division disruptors, it apparently still is not your time.

Gentille: Very funny to see the Capitals, a team that actually made the playoffs last season and then improved over the summer, that far down the list.

Granger: The funny thing is, the oddsmakers agree. Washington is a minus-190 favorite to miss the playoffs, and plus-155 to qualify for them.

West playoff field

We asked each voter to pick the eight West playoff teams. Here is the percentage of the votes received by each team. (Note: * playoff team in 2023-24)

Mirtle: Vancouver at 100 percent with Demko’s injury issues is bold, but then again, the Pacific is no murderer’s row.

Goldman: This is Utah erasure, wow. I’m a little surprised there isn’t more confidence behind the Jets — Connor Hellebuyck can get his team there, the rest is just a little fuzzy.

Gentille: Glad to see we’re all predicting another year of the best new tradition in the sport — the Kings losing to Edmonton in the first round.

Granger: With Drew Doughty going down in the preseason and the uncertainty with Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich in net, it makes sense that the Kings are the closest to slipping out of playoff position, even if they are still deep up front.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Ric Tapia, Richard A. Whittaker / Icon Sportswire; Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)

First, a sizeable yellow metal office container appeared outside turnstiles 42 and 43 of the East Stand, partly blocking those two entry points into St James’ Park.

On the second weekend of August, as fears grew that the far-right riots that had broken out across the UK could soon reach Tyneside, almost 66,000 Newcastle United fans attended back-to-back pre-season friendlies against Girona and Brest.

For hundreds of fans sitting in that section of the East Stand, and the many thousands who walked along Leazes Terrace before and after both matches, the container provided an additional obstruction in an area that is already a pinch point on matchday, given how narrow Magpie Lane is, which leads down by the stadium, to the left of the metal box.

By the following weekend, when Newcastle hosted Southampton in their Premier League opener, the container had disappeared.

Nobody knew the purpose it had apparently served.

The situation became even more curious less than a fortnight later. In the week leading up to Newcastle’s home match against Tottenham Hotspur, a three-foot-high fence, leading nowhere in particular but apparently designating five car-parking spaces, appeared.

We have been made aware that there is the following fence/parking area being constructed in front of the East Stand by the owner of the land. pic.twitter.com/aHyDxKpJLu

— Newcastle United Supporters Trust (@nufctrust) August 29, 2024

The fence stretched about 8m alongside the perimeter of the East Stand, in almost precisely the spot where the container had previously stood, while at one end it jutted three metres out on to the road, parallel to other on-street parking spaces that are marked out by white-dashed lines.

By the evening of August 31, on the eve of the Spurs match, the peculiar fence had been removed and was not present on the day of the game. In the days that followed, some of the fence then appeared back in that spot, but rather than erected, the sections were piled on top of one another.

(Chris Waugh/The Athletic)

Once more, before Newcastle’s next home match — against Manchester City last Saturday — the wooden posts were nowhere to be seen.

As of Tuesday evening, when Newcastle welcomed AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup third round, Leazes Terrace was back to being unobstructed.

(Chris Waugh/The Athletic)

Theoretically, however, further obstacles could yet appear in that same awkward spot in the future.

The land is not owned by Newcastle United, or even Newcastle City Council. Instead, as notices placed by the club above turnstiles 42 and 43 outline — and which remain in place — the plot “is owned and controlled by St James Terrace Land Ltd, Company No. 15599599”.

(Chris Waugh/The Athletic)

While public safety on matchday was cited by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) and Newcastle United as a key concern arriving from these perplexing episodes, for the club this is also one of myriad factors that makes the potential expansion and redevelopment of St James’ Park extremely complicated.

The Grade-1 listed buildings on Leazes Terrace and the Grade-2 listed buildings on the adjoining St James Terrace already make extending the East Stand problematic.

Yet, even if Newcastle United’s stadium feasibility study — which began a year ago and the results from which Darren Eales, the CEO, claimed were “imminent” as far back as July — outlines a potential workaround to those delicate issues, the club would still need to acquire this strange island of land. And, given the price the present owner paid for the plot, Newcastle may need to fork out an eye-watering sum to do so.

Located directly adjacent to the East Stand, the strip is shaped like two triangles pointing inwards towards one another (as shown below in red, but not including the green section), and begins outside turnstiles 42 and 43 on Leazes Terrace and stretches about 8m-10m down Magpie Lane, along the side of No 4 St James Terrace.

The current owners acquired the plot on April 5 this year, as the club’s feasibility study was still ongoing.

St James Terrace Land Ltd was only incorporated as a company on March 28 but then, eight days later, according to Land Registry records entitled “Land lying to the south-west of 4 St James’ Terrace”, it paid £180,000 ($239,000 at present exchange rates) to buy the land.

Robbie Kalbraier is the sole director of the company. Although Mr Kalbraier’s correspondence address for St James Terrace Land Ltd is Great Portland Street in London, he is an active director of seven other companies — ranging from construction to flat rental and advertising firms — some of which are registered in Jesmond, Newcastle.

The Athletic, having failed to reach Mr Kalbraier or his companies via email or phone, visited Tyneside Developments Ltd, his company that has headquarters at Blue House. An iconic 19th-century building, which has exposed red bricks on the outside of the ground floor and a white-and-blue checked facade on the outer first floor, it belongs to the Freemen of Newcastle and is situated just off a busy roundabout in the middle of Newcastle’s famous Town Moor.

Mr Kalbraier acknowledged receipt of The Athletic’s questions — which included queries on how he came to own the land on Leazes Terrace, why he had been placing obstacles on it, whether he will continue to do so going forward, and if he had spoken directly with Newcastle United regarding this — but he politely declined to answer them.

There has been contact between the club and the landowner, although the rationale behind why those obstructions were placed there and whether more will be positioned there in the future remains unclear.

Newcastle United said: “The landowner is not associated with or affiliated to the club in any way whatsoever.

“In the interests of continuing to provide uninterrupted access for our fans and others using St James’ Park, particularly on matchdays, we have offered alternative nearby sites to the landowner for the safe storage of their items and will continue to seek to engage in constructive dialogue with the landowner on this matter. We will monitor the situation and will work closely with our partners to find a sensible way forward.”

The NUST described the actions of St James Terrace Land Ltd as “disgraceful” and “openly petty”.

“We strongly urge the landowner to remove the current structure (fence) and to stop putting structures in place which could compromise the safety of our supporters on matchday,” NUST said in a statement last month. “Naturally, we are concerned about the serious health and safety concerns that the structure poses, given the impact this would have on queues when accessing and departing the East Stand.

“The area of the ground right by where this has been constructed is a very busy area on matchdays and putting obstacles in the way of supporters could have dangerous consequences and result in significant overcrowding.”

The club did contact Newcastle City Council, which began an investigation while the container and then the fence were in place, but that ceased once the obstacles were removed.

A council spokesperson said: “We are aware a fence was erected, however that is no longer there. This is a matter between the landowner and the club. The council will only become involved if a risk to public safety arises or work requiring statutory permission is proposed.”

While Northumbria Police were made aware of the situation, the force has not been involved or begun an investigation as it is considered a civil matter.

Regardless, just how did a private company came to own this pocket of land immediately behind the East Stand?

Four of Mr Kalbraier’s companies comprise Tyneside Group Limited, which specialises in the redevelopment, management and rental of properties in Newcastle.

One of those companies, St James’ Central Investments Limited, lists on its website that: “Early in 2014, an opportunity arose to purchase 1, 2, 3 St James Terrace and 17 St James’ Street”. Those properties were redeveloped and, collectively, according to the company, “sold for £2.05million” ($2.72m at present exchange rates), although it does not specify when those sales happened.

According to Land Registry documents, separately, on March 4, 2016, No 4 St James Terrace was bought for £300,000 by St James Partners Limited. Their sole director is Kashif Mumtaz, a businessman and Newcastle supporter who also owns Nos 1 to 3 on the same street — previously redeveloped by Mr Kalbraier’s St James’ Central Investments Ltd — meaning he possesses the entire block.

A week after No 4 was purchased, on March 11, 2016, the strip that St James Terrace Land Ltd now owns was separated from the title for No 4 St James’ Terrace, as was the land immediately behind that property (as shown on the map above in green). The property’s description was then altered with the Land Registry to reflect the change, which is why it is now “land lying to the south-west of 4 St James Terrace”.

The Athletic attempted to contact Mr Mumtaz to confirm these details, but received no response.

For now, Leazes Terrace is back to normal. But St James Terrace Land Ltd can continue to use the plot how it sees fit — and theoretically could place further obstacles on it in the future.

Although the site has (temporarily) been used to house a metal office and a fence apparently demarcating parking spots, it is not a prime storage position, while the parking spaces cannot be used on matchday when the road is closed.

Its significance and value to St James Terrace Land Ltd is unclear. But if Newcastle United ever want to expand the East Stand, they will need to acquire that small strip of land.

When it comes to redeveloping St James’ Park, it seems nothing is ever straightforward.

(Top photos: Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust, Chris Waugh/The Athletic)

This article is part of our Origin Stories series, an inside look at the backstories of the clubs, drivers, and people fueling the sport.

As Chloe Chambers navigated the final lap of Race 2 in Barcelona on her way to her first win in F1 Academy, she took a different approach.

The American driver was laser-focused, making sure to keep the lap clean. But with the gap she built to the rest of the field, she could take the final corner around Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya slower than usual.

“I just drove that last lap and took the time to realize what had happened in the race because, of course, while you’re racing, you don’t really think about that,” Chambers said. “You just think about the next thing coming up the next corner. And so I was able to use that last lap to think about things, think about what I was going to say on the radio. That’s always important.”

Chambers is proof that a driver can thrive in motorsports without making the full-time Europe jump. Haas supports the 20-year-old in F1 Academy, the all-women racing series that is the latest addition to the Formula One pyramid. She climbed to that point while still residing in the United States.

Waiting for her in parc ferme after her first F1 Academy victory, aside from Campos Racing and members of Haas, was her father, who she describes as “a very emotional guy.” She added, “I don’t know if you saw the video of him in Barcelona, but he was a mess after my win.”

The hard work and waiting for the right moment paid off. Chambers sits fourth in the standings with four races to go in 2024 but feels finishing in the top three “is a reasonable goal.” And she already knows she’ll be on the grid next season, sporting blue as part of Red Bull Ford.

Chambers has found a way to live a balanced life, furthering her education while pursuing her motorsports career. Her goal? Reach the pinnacle of motorsport—her own way.

“I hope that (my story) gets people involved in motorsport. I think a lot of people assume that you have to be rich and come from money and be from Europe to be involved in motorsport, especially on the F1 side,” Chambers said to The Athletic, later adding, “This year has been the best year for my racing, and, of course, for me having fun as well. I’ve had the most fun this year driving than I ever have.”

Chloe Chambers has had a successful first season in F1 Academy. (Pauline Ballet/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Chapters of Chambers’ life may surprise fans.

She appeared on a 2019 episode of David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, which also happened to include Lewis Hamilton. Most know Letterman for his T.V. work, but Chambers knew him for his IndyCar ties. She and one other karter raced with Letterman in go-karts, spending an entire day at the track.

“He was really trying,” Chambers recalls. “He was trying so hard. He even spun out and hit the wall, and they actually showed it on the episode.”

Then, before she jumped to single-seaters in 2021 for a partial season in the F4 United States Championship, she became a Guinness World Record holder at 16 years old for the fastest vehicle slalom. Looking back, she realized, “I don’t think I’d ever driven any car at that point.” She only had her permit when she drove a Porsche 718 Spyder at a record-breaking time of 47.45 seconds.

Chambers says many people notice that she comes from an adoptive family, likely because she attends most of her races without them by her side.

She was born in Guangdong, China, a southeast coastal province that borders Macau and Hong Kong. At 11 months old, she was adopted and originally started living in Texas. Her younger siblings are also adopted — her sister is from northern China, and her brother is from Ethiopia.

“I can remember when they started the process with my brother, but with my sister actually, it’s kind of a unique thing where it actually ended up taking them, like, seven years or something like that, to get it all finished,” Chambers said. “I can’t remember exactly what happened, but originally, my sister was supposed to only be a couple years younger than me. And then I think that was about the time when there were a bunch of just issues happening in China with the social climate and everything. So they halted adoptions for a little bit.”

This detail of her life story remains at the top of her mind as her motorsports career grows, as she’s been an ambassador for the Gift of Adoption Fund since 2021. “We try to help out wherever we can,” she said. “Of course, having their logo on my suit and being able to spread the message as I go through my travels and everything has been something that I’ve been able to continue on with.”

After living in Texas for a year, Chambers’ family moved to the northeast, spending over a decade in New Jersey and New York. This is where Chambers’ motorsports journey began. Though living with an American family, NASCAR and IndyCar weren’t the series that caught her eye. Her family didn’t watch much of either, aside from the Indianapolis 500, of course.

But Chambers remembers watching F1 with her father.

“My dad was always a big motorsport fan since he was young,” she said. “He grew up in the U.K., so it was a little bit more in their culture than it was for us, but I grew up with it.”

Her dad took her to her first karting outing, and Chambers remembers it being right before the track closed for winter. She was seven years old, “when you’re trying out every sport ever to see which one you like if you like any.” She fell in love with it and asked throughout the winter months when she could return.

“My dad took me to some indoor tracks during the winter time. I didn’t like that very much. And then, as soon as the track opened again in April, we were there, and we did that full season together.”

As Chambers puts it, her father was “a mess” after her first F1 Academy win at Barcelona this year. (Pauline Ballet/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Chambers began competing at age eight and won numerous regional and national championships across the next nine years. But motorsports wasn’t the only sport in her life. Though shorter in stature, swimming has also been a passion.

“I liked the racing, so to say. But I wanted something a little more and something that wasn’t so heavily up to physical attributes as swimming is,” Chambers said. “I knew I was never going to be the tallest person ever, so swimming was probably going to end at some point. So that’s where I found racing, and it kind of made up for all the things that I was lacking when I was swimming.”

From swimming, she learned the coaching style that works best for her. Chambers said she went through numerous coaches, some of whom she liked more than others, and learned how key it was to have the right people surrounding you to extract the best performance.

Unlike other drivers across different series, especially those who end up in the F1 pyramid, Chambers never made the jump to living full-time in Europe. Instead, she competed in karting mainly in the United States and  Canada and lives full-time in Indiana. She described European karting as “the pinnacle of karting” but says, “I think that there are a lot of drivers in the U.S. as well that have a lot of talent and can race on the same level as the European racing can.”

Not making that jump to Europe did raise a few questions. Chambers’ partial F4 season happened at the end of her junior year of high school and the beginning of her senior year, prime time for college applications. The world was still bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My parents and I said we’ll continue on racing as long as we can, but being in the U.S., not quite making it over to Europe yet, and being able to get some of the European sponsorship as well, we weren’t sure how long I would be able to race for. And even if I did continue on, you’re not going to be able to drive forever.”

Chambers delivered Haas its first Formula series win this season. (Pauline Ballet/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

So she continued applying to colleges and ended up at Arizona State University, pursuing a fully online degree in Business Administration and Management. Chambers grew up managing her career alongside her parents, so this degree was a natural fit. Given that she did not know the future of her racing career, Chambers did apply to different universities as if she would be in person. However, the online format provided flexibility for when W Series eventually came knocking for her to test at the end of 2021 in Arizona.

Her racing career continued with the W Series in 2022 when she teamed up with series champion Jamie Chadwick at Jenner Racing. The following year, she competed in the 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand. In the latter series, she became the first woman to secure pole position and win in its history. She believes that moment helped her get to F1 Academy in 2024 with Haas F1 Team and Campos Racing.

But she is still pursuing her college degree, balancing the travel, competition and pressure of online exams.

“I find the great importance in (that balance),” Chambers said, “and it’s also something that’s very unique within racing drivers.”

F1 Academy debuted in 2023, and Marta García won the inaugural championship. Many questions surrounded F1 Academy, especially considering the other all-women series, the W Series, didn’t finish the 2022 season and entered administration in 2023.

Chambers wanted to see where F1 Academy would go in its first season, a decision she still stands by. The category only allows women to compete for two years, and over half of the grid, including points leader Abbi Pulling, will not compete in 2025. Chambers is the first move in the drivers’ market for next season, moving from Haas to join Red Bull Ford.

She’s been sitting on the news for quite some time. Conversations with teams about 2025 began to pick up around mid-season, around when Chambers’ F1 Academy results started picking up. She finished third and fourth in Miami and came in third and first in Barcelona in June.

Chambers will race F1 Academy for Red Bull Ford in 2025. (via Red Bull)

But she had been on Ford’s radar before her first F1 Academy win. Chambers competed in the first round of the Mustang Challenge earlier in June, stepping in for a driver who was injured earlier in the year. She said, “When given the opportunity to go drive a race car, I always say yes. So I went and did that just for fun and, of course, to get some experience in a different kind of car. And it turned out to be something even bigger.”

It was the first race of the year, and numerous “big people from Ford” attended that weekend. Jim Farley, the CEO who also competed, and  Ford Performance Motorsports Global Director Mark Rushbrook met Chambers and hosted a dinner for the competitors.

“It’s also big news when an F1 Academy driver goes and does other racing elsewhere. So I think, of course, there were a lot of eyes on me that weekend regardless.”

Chambers said you must adapt your driving style to a heavier car like the Mustang, similar to jumping between open-wheel racing and another motorsports category. While there is the hope of competing in other series outside of F1 Academy, she said there haven’t been a whole lot of discussions around it. However, “Ford being Ford, I think (they) would love to have me back in Mustang again. It’s one of their most iconic cars ever, an American race car as well.”

Chambers put pen to paper in August, before F1 Academy’s race weekend at Zandvoort. But she had to keep it under wraps aside from sharing the news with her family and close friends. She said the company filming a docuseries on F1 Academy, Hello Sunshine, knew and did attempt to fish it out of her.

A big move is on the horizon for Chambers. And she’s got aspirations to race for wins and championships at “the pinnacle level of motorsport” — in any given series. The American driver’s current focus is the open-wheel racing path, like F1, but she’s open to the World Endurance Championship, IMSA and the prestigious Le Mans.

She’s a racer at heart.

“My idea of success is having a nice long career, maybe some good results here and there. But I’m not somebody who thinks winning is the only way to see success for me,” Chambers said. “Ever since I started racing karts, my dad always told me that the weekend will be a success in our book as long as I drove to my full potential. So even though that weekend might not have been my best weekend results-wise, if I drove to my full potential and didn’t leave anything else on the table, then that’s a good weekend for us, and I think that kind of can be said for my career as a whole.

“As long as I continue on with my career and continue performing at whatever my potential is, then I think that’ll be something that I’m happy with.”

Origin Stories series is part of a partnership with Chanel.

The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Top photo via Red Bull Racing

It may seem like it, but 432 minutes isn’t that much time.

That’s how much playing time Toronto Raptors starting point guard Immanuel Quickley and centre Jakob Poeltl got to play together last season.

In a disappointing campaign where Toronto’s roster underwent a significant overhaul, Quickley and Poeltl had just the 25th most of minutes all possible Raptors pairings last season.

They’ve been working on making up for that this past summer.

“He’s a very smart basketball player,” Quickley said, adding that he texts Poeltl almost every day. “I don’t know if a lot of players know that, but just the intelligence he has, especially when you talk to him, you can understand how he’s a very smart player.

“I’m just really trying to pick his brain, see where he likes the ball.”

Quickley was traded with RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., from the New York Knicks to Toronto on Dec. 30 in a deal that sent O.G. Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn the other way. Quickley began to transition from the two-guard to point after the move, making him pick-and-roll partners with Poeltl.

They had just 18 games together before Poeltl dislocated his left pinky finger. He needed surgery to repair that injury, ending his season.

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Quickley and Poeltl averaged 24 minutes per game together over that 18 game span. They combined for 60.4 points per game, with a 49.7 per cent field goal percentage and 40.9 per cent three-point shooting. They averaged 22.3 rebounds — 16.8 on the defensive end — with 15.3 assists.

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As a comparison, backup centre Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, B.C., and shooting guard Ochai Agbaji both joined Toronto after the Quickley trade, but managed to play more time together with a total of 451 minutes.

New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson and centre Julius Randle, who has since been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, led the NBA with an average of 31 minutes per game together last season.

“It was something we’re working on,” said Poeltl on Monday at the Raptors’ media day. “I’ve had individual conversations with Quick as well, trying to figure out what would be the best way for us to get our chemistry going as fast as possible.

“I think we were off to a pretty good start last year, it felt fairly natural. But we’re working on those nuances.”

There are some statistics that back up Poletl’s impression of his partnership with Quickley.

They had a 3.3 plus/minus rating per game, the best of the Raptors’ top 25 pairings. Their average of 60.4 points per game together last year is second-best of still viable pairings Toronto, behind Quickley and Barrett’s average of 63.4.

Also, for 24 of their precious few 432 minutes together, Dennis Schroder was also on the floor and would have been the Raptors’ point guard.

Poeltl and Quickley have tried to make up that deficit of court time together working together extensively at Raptors mini-camps in Miami and Spain this off-season.

“We had a couple times after practice where we’d get together just the two of us with a couple coaches and go through some reps,” said Poeltl. “We had some time in Miami as well working out with the same trainers, just getting a little more experience in.

“That’s really all it’s about, just being out there on the court together, and you’ll pick things up or you’ll learn more and more about each other, and it will get better and better from there.”

Quickley agreed with Poeltl.

“Obviously, a lot of his scoring is off of pocket passes and he has a great touch around the rim,” he said. “Just trying to understand where my teammates like the ball and where I can help them be successful.”

Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic wants to see Quickley drive to the net more often this season, a critical final option for a successful pick-and-roll with Poeltl. That means understanding where the big man will be moving to after setting his pick to clear out space and possibly getting in position for a rebound if Quickley misses his layup.

“We’re making the effort to try to perfect it in a way,” said Quickley. “It’s not going to come easy.

“You’ve got to hit the hammer every single day that you that you come in, and I think we’ve done that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2024.

&copy 2024 The Canadian Press

In difficult times during the regular season, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone often remarked that the team’s path to the playoffs remained wide open, saying, “it’s right in front of us.”

The same can now be said of the American League title.

After 14 years of wandering through the October desert, the Yankees have stumbled onto an oasis. Or maybe the upsets of the Baltimore Orioles and especially the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Series are more like a baseball parting of the Red Sea.

The Yankees suddenly loom as favorites to capture their first AL title since 2009, the year they last won the World Series. Boone might not say it out of respect for the competition, but yes, it’s right in front of them. The Yankees will have no excuses if they cannot survive an AL field that includes three Central clubs with payrolls approximately one-third of their own.

Of course, big-money teams don’t always prevail, not in the regular season, not in short postseason series. The Astros, fielding a payroll more than double that of the Detroit Tigers, got swept at home. The Yankees’ Division Series opponent, the Kansas City Royals, features the likely AL MVP runner-up, Bobby Witt Jr., and two potential top-five finishers in the AL Cy Young voting, Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo. The other AL team with the bye, the Cleveland Guardians, won only two fewer games than the Yankees during the regular season.

Think Yankees fans want to hear it?

The Yankees are mostly healthy. They feature two of the game’s biggest stars, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. And no longer must they deal with the Astros, who defeated them in the ALCS in 2017, 2019 and 2022, going a combined 8-1 at Minute Maid Park.

Yes, the 2017 triumph occurred during a postseason in which the Astros stole signs illegally, but in four games at Minute Maid, the Yankees scored three runs. Some Yankees fans would like to believe the 2019 ALCS also was tainted, but the Jose Altuve buzzer controversy was never proven to be anything more than a social media creation. And in 2022, the Astros swept the Yankees in four straight, erasing any doubt about their superiority once and for all.

This season was shaping up as more of the same. An eighth straight ALCS appearance by the Astros – and fourth showdown with the Yankees – looked quite possible. The Orioles are 15-11 against the Yankees the past two years but did not appear a serious threat, fading for months, scoring only one run in two games against the Royals. The Astros, once again, figured to be another matter.

After starting the season 12-24, Houston rallied to finish 76-49 and win its fourth straight AL West title and seventh in the past eight years, the only exception coming in the shortened 2020 season. But after its shocking loss to the Tigers, a team that sold at the trade deadline and has virtually no starting rotation beyond AL Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal, the end of the Astros’ dominance finally might be near.

Third basemen Alex Bregman seems likely to depart as a free agent. Right fielder Kyle Tucker and left-hander Framber Valdez are eligible to hit the open market after next season. The Athletic’s Keith Law in February ranked the Astros’ farm system 27th out of 30 – and at the deadline, the team traded three young players for left-hander Yusei Kikuchi.

The Astros owe a combined $32 million in 2025 to first baseman José Abreu and reliever Rafael Montero, two players they signed while owner Jim Crane was operating without a general manager, then released in the second year of three-year deals. The return of Justin Verlander at last year’s deadline cost the team Top 100 prospects outfielder Drew Gilbert and outfielder/first baseman Ryan Clifford. Verlander, since rejoining the team, had a 4.55 ERA in 28 starts.

The Yankees’ foundation is not exactly solid, either, not with Soto unsigned beyond this season. That’s why it’s incumbent upon this team to seize the moment. The Orioles and Astros had the third- and fourth-best records in the AL, respectively. And now they are gone.

Mind you, the Yankees are far from flawless. Their rotation of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt might be as good as any remaining in the postseason. But their bullpen will require deft managing by Boone. Their offense led the AL and ranked third in the majors in runs, but beyond Judge and Soto, the combined OPS of their hitters was a Miami Marlins-like .676. The team also is prone to sloppiness at times, both on the bases and in the field.

Likewise, the Central teams warrant more respect than they received playing in the same division as the Chicago White Sox, whose 121 losses were the most in AL/NL history. True, the Royals were 12-1 and the Tigers 10-3 against the White Sox, while the Guardians were a mere 8-5. True, none of those teams boast strong offenses – the Royals ranked 13th in the majors in runs, the Guardians 14th, the Tigers tied for 19th. Each, though, has shown a certain pluckiness, a knack for winning. Witt Jr. and the Guardians’ José Ramírez, like Judge and Soto, are top-10 players in the sport.

Underrated as the competition might be, Yankees fans won’t settle for another October collapse, not when the Yankees’ payroll is $302 million, compared to $114 million for the Royals, $104 million for the Tigers and $103 million for the Guardians. (Two Tigers players earning a combined $39 million, shortstop Javier Báez and righty Kenta Maeda, are not even on the team’s postseason roster.)

Could the Yankees have asked for anything more than the early eliminations of two of their biggest rivals? Call it an oasis. Call it a baseball parting of the Red Sea. But enough about water. For the Yankees, the American League playoffs had better end in champagne.

(Top photo of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton: Luke Hales/Getty Images)

Having etched her name across the record book during the 2024 WNBA season, Caitlin Clark has been named the league’s Rookie of the Year, receiving 66 of 67 total votes, the WNBA announced Thursday. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received one vote from the national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Clark and Reese were also named to the 2024 All-Rookie Team on Thursday, along with Los Angeles Sparks forward Rickea Jackson, Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso and New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich.

Your 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team 🙌

Caitlin Clark (IND)
Rickea Jackson (LAS)
Angel Reese (CHI)
Kamilla Cardoso (CHI)
Leonie Fiebich (NYL)#WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/TgU5hoEztP

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 3, 2024

That Clark won the Rookie of the Year award came as little surprise considering how prolific her debut season was.

Clark broke both the WNBA’s single-season and single-game assist records. She scored the most points by a rookie ever, and the most points by a point guard ever. She became the first rookie to record two triple-doubles and the first Fever player ever to record a triple-double.

GO DEEPER

Caitlin Clark grades her rookie season as ‘solid’ after playoff exit

Those are just some of her many accomplishments among averaging 19.2 points and 8.4 assists per game — numbers that were even better in the second half of the season — and led the Fever to their first postseason appearance since 2016. Indiana also improved its win total by seven in 2024.

“I am incredibly honored to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am grateful to everyone that supported me throughout this past season — my family and friends, my teammates, the Fever organization and everyone that cheered us on all season,” Clark said in a statement Thursday. “I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds.”

Clark, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, entered the league as the most-anticipated rookie in league history. She flourished at Iowa for four seasons, leading the Hawkeyes to two Final Fours and setting the women’s NCAA Division I and major college women’s basketball scoring records.

The spectacle around Clark followed her to the professional ranks. While Clark dazzled fans and tormented opponents, she also played an instrumental role in a season of explosive growth for the WNBA. Six different league television partners set viewership records this year for its highest viewed WNBA game, and all six included the Fever.

Attendance in Indianapolis hit a record high, with an average of 17,036 fans packing Gainbridge Fieldhouse for home games. Indiana led the league in attendance for the first time in WNBA history.

Thursday’s news, however, is not a reflection of the off-court Clark Effect, but her successes between the court’s four lines.

“She’s been special,” Indiana coach Christie Sides said ahead of the playoffs. “She came into the best league in the world, the best women’s basketball league in the world. She found her footing. She’s continued to get better. She’s put herself in position to be called one of the best players in the league. That’s incredible for a rookie.”

GO DEEPER

From shaky start to playoff bound, how Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever revived their season

For the first half of the season, the Rookie of the Year race seemed as if it would be among the tightest ever. Through the first two months of the season, Reese helped the Sky remain in playoff contention. She had 14 double-doubles in 20 games and broke Candace Parker’s consecutive double-double streak.

Reese, like Clark, earned All-Star honors and was awarded WNBA Rookie of the Month in June. She set the league’s single-season total rebound record (446) and recorded the highest per-game rebound average in WNBA history (13.1).

The No. 7 draft pick, Reese would have become only the third player taken after No. 6 in the WNBA Draft to win Rookie of the Year. But her second half proved different than her first. Chicago slumped and Reese eventually was ruled out for the rest of the season on Sept. 8 with a wrist injury. The Sky missed the postseason.

During the season Clark and Reese downplayed the importance of the race.

“I’m sure (Angel) would give you the same exact answer—I’m sure she has given you the same exact answer,” Clark said in late August. “So for us, everybody can write that, but our focus is on winning basketball games. It’s as simple as that.”

Said Reese: “We don’t either care about Rookie of the Year. I think you guys have made it a big thing. We haven’t. We both want to win. We’ve been wanting to win, and that’s what we’ve done in our collegiate career.”

Clark became the third consecutive No. 1 pick to win top rookie honors.

“I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve,” Clark said after the Fever were knocked out of the playoffs by the Connecticut Sun. “I feel like I had a solid year, but for me, the fun part is I feel like I’m just scratching the surface.”

Evaluating the All-Rookie Team

Despite Los Angeles failing to make the postseason, Jackson was productive throughout the year. She was efficient, averaging 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and nearly 35 percent from 3-point range. She also became the first WNBA rookie, and sixth WNBA player ever, with a game of at least 25 points, three three-pointers and three blocks.

Cardoso, the No. 3 pick in April’s draft, missed the start of the season due to injury. But upon her return in early June, she also made an instant impact. Cardoso led all rookies in field goal percentage (52.1 percent) and averaged 9.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. On June 23 against Indiana, Cardoso and Reese became the first rookie duo in league history since 1998 to record double-doubles over multiple games in the same season. They later also became the first rookie teammates since 2010 to record more than 10 rebounds in the same game.

Fiebich elected to join the Liberty this season, having most recently been the MVP of the professional league in Spain. The 24-year-old German averaged 6.7 points, 3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from deep. During the regular season, she recorded the second-highest plus-minus by a rookie in WNBA history. She has continued to make a key impact this playoffs, where, now in the starting lineup full-time, she has led the Liberty in plus-minus in three of their first four postseason games.

Collier wins DPOY award

From the beginning of the regular season until its conclusion, the Minnesota Lynx had one of the WNBA’s top defenses. And that defense now boasts the league’s top defender after Napheesa Collier won the 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the league announced Sunday.

Collier received 36 of the 67 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson finished in second (26 votes).

The Lynx finished the year first in opponent field goal percentage (41), first in opponent 3-point percentage (30.1), first in opponent assist rate (18.6), and a close second in defensive rating (94.8). Collier’s versatility was key to all their success as an anchor of Minnesota’s defense.

Often Collier was tasked with guarding an opponent’s top frontcourt players. At other moments, she rotated over to provide crucial help.  She was especially impactful against top competition as the Lynx went 7-4 against the other top-four playoff seeds, including Minnesota’s Commissioner’s Cup victory.

Collier finished second in the WNBA in steals per game (1.9) and eighth in blocks (1.4 per game). According to Synergy Sports, opponents shot only 34.3 percent against her.

“I’m so proud of Phee’s defensive work in 2024. Her commitment to all aspects of our defense — deflections, denials, steals, blocks, rebounds — anchored one of the top defensive teams in the league and led to her best season yet as a pro,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve told the AP.

Minnesota finished second in the WNBA standings and swept the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs. The Lynx, winners of four WNBA titles, will be looking to win their fifth this postseason. If they do, they would move into first place for titles won by an active WNBA franchise, breaking a tie with the Seattle Storm.

Tipoff for Game 3 of their semifinal series against the third-seeded Sun is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday. The series is tied 1-1.

2024 WNBA All-Defensive Teams

The WNBA also announced the first and second All-Defensive Teams on Sunday.

First Team:

Second Team:

Required reading

(Photo: Dylan Goodman / NBAE via Getty Images)