by | Jan 14, 2025 | Fox News
Heading into this 2024 NFL season, all eyes were on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Winners of back-to-back Super Bowls. Stars bigger than the game itself on the roster. Most importantly, NFL history on the line as the potential first team to ever win three straight Super Bowls.
The pressure was immense for this Kansas City squad, but when the regular season came to an end, the Chiefs came out as the No. 1 seed in the AFC, co-owning the best record in the NFL at 15-2.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
But throughout the season, there was a large contingent of fans that scoffed as the wins piled up, minimized the team’s success because of how close the wins were, and the ol’ “refs were on their side” conspiracy theory was amply used.
So, as the Chiefs get ready for their divisional round matchup this week against the Houston Texans, Fox News Digital wondered what the players themselves thought about their regular season amid this massive pressure and scrutiny, even with the record speaking for itself in the end.
What gets overlooked with this team?
SUPER BOWL LIX ODDS: LIONS FAVORED TO WIN IT ALL; RAVENS, BILLS RISE
“I’d say the resiliency of this team,” three-time Pro Bowl center Creed Humphrey told Fox News Digital while also discussing his role, alongside teammates Chris Jones and Xaviery Worthy, in Doritos’ “Crash the Super Bowl” ad campaign. “Battling close games, one-score games, two-minute drives to win games. Defensive stops to win games. All those situations where we’ve shown up and played our best ball. That comes with the work you put in through the offseason, through training camp, all those things.
“That resiliency you building through those dog days of camp and stuff. It’s shown week after week for us, and it’s something we practice a lot – those critical situations. I’m glad we’ve been able to step up.”
Jones, the Chiefs’ defensive captain and game-wrecking defensive tackle, agreed wholeheartedly with Humphrey, especially because of the injury bug forcing so many to step up during the season.
“We had a lot of players go down, a lot of important players go down throughout the season,” Jones explained, touching on the offense with Rashee Rice, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, and Isiah Pacheco all suffering serious injuries.
“We’ve been able to adjust and continue to build off that, and that’s not an easy task. When your best wide receiver goes down, your starting running back goes down. There’s a lot factors that can play within that. We’ve been able to continue to build, and we’ve faced a lot of adversity this season.”
One of those players is Worthy, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick who set a new NFL Scouting Combine record in the 40-yard dash. Worthy’s speed has been a weapon for head coach Andy Reid in his offense, and though it took some time to get acclimated to the NFL, his chemistry with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has gotten better by the week leading into this latest playoff.
Battling adversity in the NFL, specifically when a key player goes down, means the next man has to step up. That’s been Worthy, who is ready to continue building off a successful regular season.
“I’m just looking to be myself,” Worthy said of his first playoff trip. “Continue to build and grow as a player in this league. I feel like that’s the biggest thing, where guys get in trouble with it is [when] they look at the end goal versus their own journey. I just want to take it week by week and do what I do.”
2024 NFL ALL-PRO TEAM: LAMAR JACKSON, JA’MARR CHASE, JUSTIN JEFFERSON, MORE
Worthy is a prime example of what Jones pointed out about this group of Chiefs: Strong character.
Character has been built by winning 15 straight one-score games like the Chiefs had, dating back to last season. When the naysayers were viewing Kansas City’s games in a negative light, the team was the exact opposite.
The blocked field goal against the Denver Broncos to remain undefeated wasn’t a fluke. Nick Bolton crashing down on fourth-and-short against the Atlanta Falcons to ice a victory wasn’t because he knew what play was coming.
Sure, there is luck that has come the Chiefs’ way this season. Isaiah Likely’s toe out-of-bounds in Week 1 on a game-tying touchdown on the final play of the game? Yeah, it was a bit of luck that rolled the Chiefs way, but sometimes that’s just what happens in this crazy game.
The pressure, the naysayers and anything else that may be looking the Chiefs’ way in a negative light will only be heightened as they chase history.
But these Chiefs players will continue looking past what’s become a New England Patriots level villain role.
“I think it gives us a competitive edge, knowing everybody is against us. Knowing that nobody wants us to win,” Jones said. “…. For me personally, it feels like it gives us an edge against everybody else because it feels like us against the world.”
HELPING DORITOS CHANGE A FAN’S LIFE FOR SUPER BOWL LIX
While Super Bowl commercials are always a highlight of the “Big Game,” Jones, Humphrey and Worthy can all agree they don’t want to see them until after they air. That means they were playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
But these Chiefs got to view some fan-created ads that are part of Doritos’ iconic Crash the Super Bowl campaign, which is a competition that challenges the fans to make better commercials than the advertisers because millions believe they can.
These Chiefs got to preview the semifinalists, including the three ads that were chosen as the finalists for this $1 million competition.
“There were multiple ads that I actually completely enjoyed.… I think all of them had their own special uniqueness about it,” Jones said. “It was a fun environment that we were able to pick them out as a team, laugh about it, critique each one of them. But also feel heavily involved in the process.”
Humphrey added: “Each person in the room likes different pieces of each commercial. So that’s the cool part about it. The fans did a great job this year making these commercials.”
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Click here to see original article
by | Jan 14, 2025 | Fox News
Eli Manning was named one of the semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s modern era ballot two weeks ago as he tries to get to Canton, Ohio, in his first year.
The former New York Giants star has a Hall of Fame worthy resume with two Super Bowl championships – both over Tom Brady and an undefeated New England Patriots team – as well as 57,023 passing yards and 366 touchdown passes. Those statistics were among the highest in the NFL ever when he retired from the sport after the 2019 season.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
However, getting into the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot is an uphill climb as he will have to last as long as Antonio Gates, Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne, Darren Woodson, Fred Taylor and a handful of others who have been on the ballot longer.
Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick appeared on ESPN’s “ManningCast” on Monday during the Los Angeles Rams’ playoff win over the Minnesota Vikings and threw his support behind the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
“Eli, you don’t look that good in that hoodie, but you’re going to look great in a gold jacket,” Belichick told Manning. “I’m sure that’s going to happen, and you deserve it so much to join Peyton in a gold jacket too.”
PACKERS’ KEISEAN NIXON DISPUTES EARLY FUMBLE IN WILD-CARD ROUND GAME, ARGUES EAGLES SHOULD HAVE BEEN PENALIZED
Manning told the New York Post last week he was not exactly so sure.
“I guess it’s different just because it’s all out of your hands, you’re not campaigning for it, you’re not trying to talk to people about it or prove your point,” he said. “If I get in, it will be an awesome, unbelievable few days down in New Orleans, and if I don’t, it’s not going to ruin it for me. I’m not going to be in a bad mood, I’m not going to be sulking around.
“Just to be included in the top 15 this year is a great honor, and so I look at all of this as positive and a fun experience.”
If he does get in, the announcement ceremony would take place in New Orleans – Manning’s hometown.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Click here to see original article
by | Jan 14, 2025 | Fox News
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued Sunday that social media and the political right exacerbated “culture wars and division” to promote an “anti-incumbency movement” worldwide.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki asked Trudeau about his decision to resign, announced on Jan. 6, and whether it had to do with a global trend of turning against incumbent leaders or his own low approval ratings.
Trudeau conceded it was “probably a bit of everything” but claimed there was “still a lingering frustration towards incumbents” from social media influence, despite the good work he had done.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S RESIGNATION MET WITH GLEEFUL REACTION FROM CONSERVATIVES ONLINE: ‘THE WINNING CONTINUES!’
“Where I lean in on is all the good things we were able to do,” Trudeau said. “We put forward policies that are going to make a difference for decades to come in Canada. And I think right now we’re seeing a time in politics where emotions and social media are carrying an awful lot of weight in how people feel about things.”
Psaki pressed on the criticism that Trudeau’s Liberal Party as well as the U.S. Democratic Party were “out of touch with the public” and whether there could be lessons from his term to counter that perception.
Trudeau urged progressives to stay focused on the economy and touted Canada as a success for ensuring “fewer barriers for minorities and women and vulnerable people to participate in the workforce.”
“You can easily turn that into a woke argument that says, ‘You’re just working for minorities and women, and you’re not taking care of the economy,’” he conceded.
“Well, the capacity of the political right and, quite frankly, social media to gin up that kind of dynamic can fall into culture wars and divisions that actually don’t stand up to the hard economic truth of the growth we’ve been able to create in Canada is part of the challenge we have,” Trudeau said.
“And that’s part of the challenge we’re facing as a world right now where people are very much in a place where affordability, where reasonable answers, where medium- and long-term policies aren’t what they want to hear about.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
He continued, “They want things to get better right away. And you do have people promising to make things better right away, which is very attractive sometimes, even if the ability to do that isn’t always clear.”
Over the last year, Trudeau began seeing record low approval ratings and mounting criticism from his own party over high prices and rising inflation.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Click here to see original article
by | Jan 14, 2025 | Fox News
An ancient structure uncovered on the eastern slope of the City of David inside Jerusalem Walls National Park is believed to have been used for ritual practices during the time of the First Temple, according to a new study.
The structure contained eight rooms containing things like an altar, a standing stone, an oil press and a wine press.
Excavation director Eli Shukron said in an article published in the scientific journal Antiqot that the uncovered structure may have been used by residents of Judah for cultic or religious practices.
The study suggests the structure, which is in overall exceptional shape, dates to the First Temple period and was revealed during excavations performed by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David.
ANCIENT TOMB BELONGING TO DOCTOR WHO TREATED EGYPTIAN PHARAOHS DISCOVERED BY ARCHAELOGISTS
“When we began excavating the City of David in 2010, we discovered that the site had been sealed with fill from the 8th century BCE (Before the Common Era), indicating it had fallen out of use during that time,” Shukron said. “The standing stone we uncovered remained upright in its original place, and the other rooms in the structure were also well-preserved.”
Shukron’s article proposed that the structure, comprised of eight rock-hewn rooms, was used for ritualistic purposes, not far from the Temple on the Temple Mount, nearly a few hundred meters away.
It is also the only known structure of its type from the period in Jerusalem and one of only a few found in Israel.
HIDDEN STAIRCASE IN CHURCH LEADS ARCHAEOLOGISTS TO UNEARTH 400-YEAR-OLD BURIAL VAULT
The structure itself covers an area of about 220 square meters and has eight rooms, each used for different purposes.
One room contained an oil press for producing oil. Another contained a wine press for making wine.
Other rooms contained things like a carved installation with a drainage channel, which researchers identified as an altar; a large standing stone; and a floor with V-shaped carving marks, though researchers remain puzzled about the carvings’ purposes.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Shukron hypothesized that the carvings may have been used as a base for a tripod used during ritual activities.
On the edge of the structure is a small cave that includes a cache of items dating to the 8th century BCE. The items in the cache included cooking pots, jars with fragments of ancient Hebrew inscriptions, loom weights, scarabs, stamped seals and grinding stones for crushing grains.
Shukron and his team believe the structure was used until the 8th century BCE, when the Kings of Judah ruled.
ARTIFACT WITH STRANGE INSCRIPTION DUG UP AT HOLY SITE IN JERUSALEM: ‘UNUSUAL LOCATION’
“The structure ceased to function during the 8th century BCE, possibly as part of King Hezekiah’s religious reform,” Shukron said.
The Bible says Hezekiah wanted to centralize worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, and in doing so, he abolished the ritual sites located across the kingdom.
It also describes that during the First Temple period, other sites used for rituals were used outside the temple, and Kings Hezekiah and Josiah implemented reforms to eliminate the sites.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS STUMPED BY STRANGE ALIEN-LIKE FIGURINE DATING BACK 7,000 YEARS: ‘RAISES QUESTIONS’
“Nearly 3,000 years later, Jerusalem’s Biblical heritage continues to be unearthed in the City of David, and with the passage of time, its relevance and meaning only continues to increase, with significance to billions, not just millions, around the world,” Ze’ev Orenstein, the director of internal affairs at the City of David, told Fox News Digital. “Unlike most sites of antiquity, Jerusalem’s Biblical heritage remains both timeless and timely – not limited to museums & history books – but a necessary component in understanding the world today – past, present and future.”
The northern part of the structure was uncovered in 1909 by British explorer Montague Parker, who searched in Jerusalem for the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple treasures.
It was not until 2010 that Shukron began to excavate the property, which lasted over several excavation seasons.
“This discovery in the City of David once again affirms the Jewish people’s ongoing 3,000+ year-old bond with Jerusalem – not simply as a matter of faith, but as a matter of fact – from Bible times to the modern day,” Orenstein said.
Click here to see original article
by | Jan 14, 2025 | Fox News
Jewish students at Rutgers are accusing the Biden administration for cutting what they see as a sweetheart deal with the university that lets it off the hook for allowing a persistent culture of antisemitism.
The settlement, announced by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on January 2, requires Rutgers to take a series of actions to combat discrimination on campus after 400 reports of hateful incidents on campus were filed between July 2023 and June 2024, nearly three fourths of which alleged discrimination and harassment against Jews or Israelis.
In one such incident, a student penned an inflammatory post on social media encouraging violence against an Israeli attending the university with information on how to find them. In another report, a Jewish student’s dorm room was found to be vandalized with a Swastika drawn outside their dorm and their mezuzah defaced. Members of a Jewish fraternity alleged they were threatened because of their faith in another report.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT SET TO RESIGN AFTER CONTENDING WITH PANDEMIC, ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS
As part of the settlement, Rutgers has agreed to issue a statement to students and employees saying that discrimination isn’t tolerated on campus, and to review past reports of discrimination to determine if further action needs to be taken in order to be Title IX compliant.
However, many students at Rutgers feel that the agreement falls far short of what is necessary to protect them from the relentless onslaught of antisemitism unleashed on the campus since Oct. 7.
Camilla Vaynberg, Vice President of Rutgers Students Supporting Israel, tells Fox News Digital that the measures agreed to by Rutgers aren’t likely to stem the tide of antisemitism on campus, and may not even end up being enforced after its current president Jonathan Holloway steps down.
“I personally think the university is being let off the hook, it’s a promise that we had before.” Vaynberg said.
“Will the agreements reached between [Holloway] and his faculty and the Department of Education remain the same regardless of who is taking his place?”
“A lot of what Rutgers agreed to involves ‘statements’ and ‘reviews’ but they have been stating and reviewing things right and left since October 7th and yet, the rate of antisemitic incidences at Rutgers continues to rise,” Ben Stern, 20, a sophomore at the school majoring in Political Science told Fox News Digital.
“The DOE sat on over 400 reports of discrimination for a year, and on the way out the door signed another toothless agreement that literally does nothing to protect anyone. It is official; this administration utterly failed the American Jewish community,” National Jewish Advocacy Center Director Mark Goldfeder said.
“I think this settlement falls miles short of what needs to happen in order to address the issues of antisemitism at Rutgers,” Stern lamented.
RUTGERS STUDENTS CHANT ‘USA! TO COUNTER ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS
Some critics allege that the settlement was an attempt by the Biden administration to hamstring the incoming Trump administration from taking far more punitive action against the university.
“It’s disgraceful that in the final days of the Biden-Harris administration is letting universities, including Rutgers… off the hook.” House Education Workforce Committee Chairman Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said in a statement Thursday.
Trump vowed that his administration would strip colleges of accreditation and federal support if they do not stop teaching “antisemitic propaganda,” at the Combatting Antisemitism conference in Washington D.C. in September.
“The Biden administration has proven once again that it doesn’t give a dam about antisemitism in America. It’s not a coincidence that [they] released these long-awaited decisions just 2 weeks before leaving office,” said former Rutgers Hillel Director Andrew Getraer.
“It’s a weak deal,” Rutgers junior Joe Gindi told Fox News Digital.
“I am incredibly disappointed by the Biden administration for cutting this deal with Rutgers. This deal is far from the end of hate at our state university,” Gindi said.
Jewish students have been sounding the alarm about persistent antisemitism at the university in the year since Hamas launched their genocidal Oct. 7 attacks in which the terrorist group killed over 1,200 and kidnapped a hundreds more.
LGBTQ Orthodox Jewish student Rivka Schafer sued the school after their face was featured on an anti-Israel flyer plastered right outside their dorm.
“The message to Schafer and other Jewish students was clear: ‘Don’t support Israel, we know where you sleep,’” their complaint read.
New Jersey lawyer Rajeh A. Saadeh, a member of Rutgers University’s Center for Security, Race and Rights, routinely shared sickening videos of Hamas terrorists killing IDF soldiers on his Instagram, declaring it “hunting season” in the captions, the New York Post reported.
Rutgers, The Biden White House and the Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Click here to see original article