FOOTBALL

Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes share Madden ’22 cover

After fighting it out in the Super Bowl, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are sharing the cover for Madden ’22.

The video game released in August is one of the most popular sports titles with a segment of fans who admittedly take a day off for the on-sale date.

“Whenever you first get on the cover, that’s a special moment,” Mahomes told ESPN. “So to be on it again, twice, with an all-time great like Tom Brady, it’s a special moment that I’m glad that I’m able to do so soon after I had done it the first time.

“I’ll be able to have it for the rest of my life and be able to show my kids and my kids’ kids that I was on it two times.”

Brady and Mahomes are each on the cover for the second time, with Brady (then with the New England Patriots) gracing Madden ’18 and Mahomes on Madden ’20.

Brady was MVP of Super Bowl LV as his Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in February. Mahomes led the Chiefs to a win in the NFL title game the previous season and won MVP honors.

The last time two players shared the cover was Madden ’10 with Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.

Brady debuted in Madden ’01 with a player rating of 57, but not by name. He was listed as QB No. 12 and fourth-string with the Patriots.

Mahomes was a member of the “99 Club” last year, a nod to the near-perfect rating given to only a select class of NFL players. He has been the top-rated quarterback in Madden the past two years.

Travis Kelce: Browns ‘neck and neck’ with Chiefs in AFC

Tight end Travis Kelce believes the Cleveland Browns are serious challengers to his Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC entering the 2021 season.

Kelce, a native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was at Browns receiver Jarvis Landry’s celebrity softball game in a suburb of Cleveland. Kelce told the Akron Beacon Journal that he sees the Browns as “definitely a contender” coming off their first playoff appearance in nearly 20 years.

“It’s definitely there,” Kelce said. “Baker (Mayfield) and the gang have upped the ante, made this team an unbelievable team and a team you have to prepare for and take serious. I think that moving forward without a doubt, I can see a lot more playoff games between us, and I’ll just take it one day at a time and hope for it.

“I think the Browns and Chiefs are definitely neck and neck,” he added.

Kelce’s Chiefs defeated the Browns 22-17 in last season’s AFC Divisional Round on their way to their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance.

Despite that loss, 2020 was Cleveland’s best season in recent memory after being bottom-feeders for years. The Browns finished 11-5, their best record since 1994, and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round for their first postseason win since that same season.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, have built one of the league’s best teams with former MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the center of it. Kansas City owns the winningest regular-season record in the NFL over the past five seasons, 60-20.

The Chiefs are scheduled to host the Browns at Arrowhead Stadium to open the 2021 season.

“It’s impressive to see where they’ve come from and where they are now because it’s a legit contender,” Kelce said, “and every team’s going to have to bring it.”

Report: Chiefs OL Kyle Long (leg) likely to miss training camp

Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Kyle Long sustained a leg injury that could keep him off the field until just before the start of the regular season, NFL Network reported Thursday.

The injury occurred this week at the Chiefs’ voluntary OTAs, and the report said signs point toward a fractured kneecap. He likely will miss training camp.

Long, 32, is making a comeback after sitting out the 2020 season after the Chicago Bears declined his option. He signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract in March.

Long missed 34 games over his final four seasons in Chicago due to injury, including the final 12 games of 2019 with a hip issue. Prior to that, the 2013 first-round pick reached the Pro Bowl in his first three seasons while missing just one of 48 games.

His father is Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, and his brother, defensive end Chris Long, played 11 seasons with three teams, winning two Super Bowls.

Britt Reid pleads not guilty to DWI, is allowed to drive on bond

A judge ruled Monday that Britt Reid can drive — with conditions — on the day the former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a February accident that critically injured a young girl.

Reid awaits trial on a felony charge of driving while intoxicated after he crashed into two cars on an entrance ramp along Interstate 435 in Kansas City on Feb. 4. The wreck left Ariel Young, 5, with a traumatic brain injury.

Jackson County Judge Jessica Agnelly modified Reid’s bond that will allow the son of Chiefs coach Andy Reid to drive with an interlock device, which has to be blown into before a car will start. If alcohol is detected, the car won’t start. Agnelly said the no-driving condition was mistakenly added to the conditions of Reid’s bond.

Reid waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He was charged on April 12. If convicted of the Class D felony, Reid could be sentenced up to seven years in prison.

Kansas City prosecutors say Reid had a blood alcohol concentration of .113 from a sample taken two hours after he barreled into a disabled vehicle on I-435. Reid was driving 83.9 miles per hour — in a posted 65 — 1.9 seconds before slamming into the vehicle, per the probable cause statement form.

Reid “operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and acted with criminal negligence by driving at an excessive rate of speed,” Jackson County (Missouri) prosecutors said in the filing.

Reid suffered blunt force trauma to his groin in the accident which required emergency surgery, per the filing.

He was initially placed on administrative leave by the Chiefs before the organization decided against renewing his contract. He’s no longer with the team.