Mad Dog Game

The Penrith Panthers are about to face a raft of tough decisions over their roster, rugby league great Peter Sterling says, as they try to retain the best talent from their dominant 2020 side.

The Panthers lost just two games all year, one of them being Sunday’s grand final against Melbourne.

They remain almost intact for next season but have key players coming off contract on November 1, available to take bids from rival clubs for 2022 onwards.

Off-contract players include NSW State of Origin rookies Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton and Isaah Yeo, plus Matt Burton, Kurt Capewell, Mitch Kenny, Spencer Leniu, Josh Mansour, Brent Naden and Zane Tetevano.

Penrith have something of a salary cap double whammy: they face inevitable contract upgrades due to both a strong season and the rise of many young players. With another strong campaign expected next year, their cap pressure will only increase.

“They’re in really good shape next year,” Sterling told Wide World of Sports, reviewing the Panthers’ season with Mat Thompson.

“They obviously lose a real leader in James Tamou, who’s off to the Wests Tigers, but they’ve pretty much retained all those young players coming through.

“That will be the difficulty for them in the coming years, to keep everyone together, because they’re going to appreciate in value, these young players.

“But the nucleus of the squad is really there. They’ve got a young spine. Dylan Edwards was outstanding, he’ll have Charlie Staines putting pressure on him as well, so there’s pressure coming up from outside the group.

“Luai and [Nathan] Cleary were fantastic. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Matt Burton but if he’s there, he’s going to continue to put pressure and Luai.

“And to me, Api Koroisau was the buy of the year and has still got plenty of football left in him, and Mitch Kenny is a great understudy as well. So they’ve got an excellent run-on 13, they’ve got a great bench, but they’ve also got players that are going to keep pressure on that 17.

“The difficulty is going to be keeping all those young players because if Matt Burton’s not getting any footy, and he didn’t get any this year … I imagine he’s frustrated by that and other clubs see the value in a Matt Burton. He’d be snapped up, there’d be six other clubs, like ‘that’, that would be interested in Matt Burton.

“He’ll want to be a part of what’s happening at Penrith but if you’re not getting footy, all of a sudden pastures elsewhere can look a lot greener.”

Burton, 20, looks a genuine star but was kept out of the side by Luai’s excellent form. Luai will undoubtedly be a major priority for re-signing, having entirely justified his standing as Cleary’s preferred halves partner. Burton would still be up against tough competition at Penrith if he converted to a ball-playing back-rower, given that Yeo, Viliame Kikau and Liam Martin were all superb this season.

The Dubbo product has been touted as a potential target for the Bulldogs, where 2020 Panthers assistant Trent Barrett has just started as head coach. Canterbury just signed Kyle Flanagan on a three-year deal, after the young halfback was released by the Roosters despite a decent season.

Fullback prospect Staines was also touted as a possible Bulldogs target but re-signed with Penrith during the season, following an incredible four-try debut on the wing. Right centre Naden may be second-guessing his standing at Penrith after being benched for both the preliminary and grand final matches.

The player who replaced Naden in the starting side for those games, utility Tyrone May, remains unsigned for next season but it expected to stay with the Panthers. Back-up fullback Caleb Aikens is also unsigned, while fiery prop Jack Hetherington has joined the Bulldogs on a two-year contract.

Mansour seems another obvious re-signing priority, as a loyal Panthers clubman who is coming off a big season. Along with fellow winger Brian To’o, Mansour offered Penrith exceptionally powerful starts to sets coming out of their own end.

The problem, though, it fitting all their stars under the salary cap and they may rely on some taking ‘unders’ on new contracts. The obvious incentive for players to stick with Penrith is the chance to compete for premierships for the foreseeable future, yet coach Ivan Cleary and Panthers officials will likely encounter plenty of cap headaches.

For now, Penrith are sifting through the wreckage of their grand final loss, in which they trailed the Storm 22-0 at half-time.

“They’ll learn from that, they’ll be smarting from that. I can tell you that they’ll carry the loss forever, but they’ll carry the hurt through into the pre-season and that will be a huge motivator going into next year,” Sterling said.

“I have never been of the belief that you have to lose a grand final to win a grand final but in this instance, it’s a major education for the Penrith Panthers. What they learnt out of this game will carry them. They’ve just got to put themselves in a position like this again.

“That’s the disappointing thing: when you’ve been all good so year, you lose one game, you come into the grand final and you don’t play your best football. The Melbourne Storm gave us what we expected from the Melbourne Storm. We didn’t quite get what we were expecting and hoping for from the Penrith Panthers.

“It’s all there. They just need to continue to work hard, learn from this experience, get better in all areas of the game.

“I think they did get flustered by the scoreboard to some degree. A lot of play-the-ball mistakes and in your haste to get back into the game, those are the kind of errors that occur, so you just need to be mentally tougher.

“They maintained their belief, they maintained their energy, they just got a little bit loose in trying to get back into the game. You have to go through that to learn from it.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton is approaching this week as if his job is in jeopardy after being pulled early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 33-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

“The first thing I said to myself coming home was, ‘You keep playing games like that, bro, and it’s going to be a permanent change,'” Newton said Monday morning on Boston sports radio WEEI.

“You don’t need to tell me that for me to understand that. I get it loud and clear.”

Coach Bill Belichick had said he took Newton out of the game, with the Patriots trailing by 27 points, to give second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham more experience. Belichick also said he’s “absolutely” sticking with Newton as his starter.

“For any type of competitor, do you feel embarrassed? Yeah,” Newton said Monday during the radio interview. “I don’t feel offended by what was done. I don’t feel offended having this type of conversation. I’m a realist.

“I don’t fear my position stability more so than controlling the locker room. Performances like yesterday jeopardizes [that]. It’s like, ‘Oh my God!’ Players talk, and that’s what’s most important to me. Knowing you have your coaches’ belief [is good], but my belief is that I want to have the whole facility. … It doesn’t start with no miraculous play. It’s a whole body of work that goes into performing on Sunday.”

Newton finished 9-of-15 for 98 yards with three interceptions, and he said after the game that he felt he was pressing too much. He explained what unfolded when Belichick pulled him from the game, saying he wasn’t surprised.

“I’m coachable,” Newton said. “I didn’t want to put up a [fight]. How bad would that have been? ‘No, I’m not coming [out]!’ He came and said, ‘Stidham is finishing’ and I agreed.

“Whatever type of way we have to motivate ourselves, I’m honest with myself. That leaves no type of miscommunication with others. When the change happened, I’m stuck on the sideline listening to plays and saying to myself, ‘Listen, is this really how you want to do things?’ Until you make that step to get better, then that’s what it’s going to be.”

Asked if he’d agree that he might look nervous and scared at times on the field, Newton said: “Nervous? No. Scared? Absolutely not. Thinking? Now that’s something I could probably finger-point [as an issue]. … I don’t think we’re a six-point offense. If anybody is a competitor, they take it personal. Which I do.”

Asked whether he has experienced any COVID-19-related “fog” since his return to the team after missing a Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Newton said: “No. My goodness. I’m hearing a lot of ‘what it could be.’ It’s simple. I have to play better.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov made a mid-fight decision to submit Justin Gaethje with a triangle choke rather than an armbar so that he didn’t hurt him in front of his parents.

That staggering revelation came from Khabib’s former teammate and two-division champion Daniel Cormier, after Nurmagomedov finished Gaethje in the second round at UFC 254 on Sunday (AEDT) to retain his lightweight title.

Nurmagomedov (29-0) then retired post-fight, saying that he did not want to compete again without his father Abdulmanap, who died of COVID-19 complications this year.

Nurmagomedov, one of the most savage competitors ever to grace the Octagon, was emotional about his father after the fight. And he apparently granted Gaethje (22-3) and his parents – John and Carolina Gaethje, who were cageside in Abu Dhabi – an extraordinary act of mercy as the bout ended.

“He told me when he was watching the interviews over the course of the week, he saw that Justin said he would never tap,” Cormier told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

“And so when he was going to the submission … it (triangle choke) is his dad’s favourite submission, right. He got a mounted position; go into the armbar, [or] go into the triangle.

“He said it was his father’s favourite submission, so when he got there, he was going to do the armbar but he had heard Justin all week say he would never tap. And he didn’t want to hurt him in front of his parents, so he went to the triangle and just kind of put him to sleep.

“I promise you, he actually told me that. He goes, ‘I didn’t want to hurt him in front of his parents, so I said I’m gonna put him in a triangle and if he goes to sleep, you go to sleep, you wake up, you’re fine’.

“That’s exactly what he told me. That’s crazy, right? He did not want to hurt Justin in front of his parents.”

Helwani responded: “What? That gives me goosebumps.”

The revelation speaks to two things: Nurmagomedov’s respect for Gaethje’s incredible toughness and willpower, and also Khabib’s supreme state of mind in the Octagon. To contemplate such a thing against a dangerous opponent in the midst of a championship fight is extraordinary.

“To be comfortable enough to think about this in the moment … that’s crazy,” said Cormier, the UFC’s former light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion.

“He didn’t want to break his arm, because if Justin’s not going to tap, he’d have to break it and he didn’t want to do that in front of his mum and dad. He said if I put him to sleep, he’ll wake up and everything will be OK.”

Nurmagomedov, 32, actually told Gaethje post-fight to treasure his relationship with his parents, still grieving the devastating loss of his beloved father and coach.

“Be close to your parents because one day it’s going to happen. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, you never know,” he said.

Gaethje, interim 155lbs champion going into the fight, was Khabib’s third big-name finish in a row inside the Octagon. He beat Dustin Poirier by rear naked choke and Conor McGregor by neck crank in his previous two fights.

The greatest referee in rugby league history, Bill Harrigan, has declared he would have sin binned Storm legend Cameron Smith for his antics in Sunday’s grand final win.

As the Panthers mounted their late comeback, Smith was heard on ground microphones saying to referee Gerard Sutton: “The last three or four penalties they have got, (they’re) little, very picky stuff and we have got nothing, mate.

“I get it, everyone wants an exciting finish. But we are just the same as them. Stop trying to pick little things out of our game to make an exciting finish.”

Sutton ignored the comments but the NRL aren’t happy, with boss Andrew Abdo set to make a call to Smith to express his disapproval.

But Harrigan, who refereed a record 10 grand finals and 21 State of Origins, would have gone one step further.

“He wasn’t accusing the ref of cheating, but he came close,” Harrigan, who famously sent off Gorden Tallis in an Origin match for calling him a cheat, told Wide World of Sports.

“It was close to the mark and I would have said to him: ‘I don’t like what you are implying – go and have 10 minutes in the bin.’

“I have nothing against the bloke and admire the way he does whatever it takes to win – it’s terrific.

“But he clearly has the referees bluffed and they don’t stand up to him.

“In my day, I didn’t care who the player was – I sent the likes of Gorden Tallis, John Hopoate, Geoff Toovey and Peter Jackson off for calling me a cheat.

“There are some things that just aren’t on.”

The Storm had two players binned by Sutton and had Smith also gone off the field, the Panthers’ late fightback may have resulted in something more than just an exciting finish.

Ride the last six minutes of the NRL Grand Final with Craig Bellamy

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton is approaching this week as if his job is in jeopardy after being pulled early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 33-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

“The first thing I said to myself coming home was, ‘You keep playing games like that, bro, and it’s going to be a permanent change,'” Newton said Monday morning on Boston sports radio WEEI.

“You don’t need to tell me that for me to understand that. I get it loud and clear.”

Coach Bill Belichick had said he took Newton out of the game, with the Patriots trailing by 27 points, to give second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham more experience. Belichick also said he’s “absolutely” sticking with Newton as his starter.

“For any type of competitor, do you feel embarrassed? Yeah,” Newton said Monday during the radio interview. “I don’t feel offended by what was done. I don’t feel offended having this type of conversation. I’m a realist.

“I don’t fear my position stability more so than controlling the locker room. Performances like yesterday jeopardizes [that]. It’s like, ‘Oh my God!’ Players talk, and that’s what’s most important to me. Knowing you have your coaches’ belief [is good], but my belief is that I want to have the whole facility. … It doesn’t start with no miraculous play. It’s a whole body of work that goes into performing on Sunday.”

Newton finished 9-of-15 for 98 yards with three interceptions, and he said after the game that he felt he was pressing too much. He explained what unfolded when Belichick pulled him from the game, saying he wasn’t surprised.

“I’m coachable,” Newton said. “I didn’t want to put up a [fight]. How bad would that have been? ‘No, I’m not coming [out]!’ He came and said, ‘Stidham is finishing’ and I agreed.

“Whatever type of way we have to motivate ourselves, I’m honest with myself. That leaves no type of miscommunication with others. When the change happened, I’m stuck on the sideline listening to plays and saying to myself, ‘Listen, is this really how you want to do things?’ Until you make that step to get better, then that’s what it’s going to be.”

Asked if he’d agree that he might look nervous and scared at times on the field, Newton said: “Nervous? No. Scared? Absolutely not. Thinking? Now that’s something I could probably finger-point [as an issue]. … I don’t think we’re a six-point offense. If anybody is a competitor, they take it personal. Which I do.”

Asked whether he has experienced any COVID-19-related “fog” since his return to the team after missing a Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Newton said: “No. My goodness. I’m hearing a lot of ‘what it could be.’ It’s simple. I have to play better.”

Can Paul Pogba become a key player in Manchester United’s midfield alongside Bruno Fernandes?

That was the question Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher debated passionately on Monday Night Football, after the France midfielder was left out of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s starting XI against Chelsea on Saturday.

Neville had explained earlier in the show how Solskjaer had gone “back to basics” with Scott McTominay and Fred anchoring the midfield, with Bruno Fernandes ahead of them, and how that boosted United’s defensive cover while also freeing up the Portuguese playmaker.

But Neville also believes Solskjaer will come under pressure to reinstate United’s record-signing Pogba to the team – and that Pogba can be successful in a midfield unit with Fernandes.

However, Carragher disagreed – and suggested Pogba was “a great talent” but his lack of positional discipline prevented him from being a great player.

Here’s what each pundit said…

Gary Neville: At some point, Pogba will have to come into the team. I do think he’s a brilliant player for Manchester United. He can be a fantastic player, I do think he can impact games, he’s got the courage and skill and experience and winning mentality to play in these games.

Jamie Carragher: You’ve said to me when we’ve debated this, about David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, not ever expecting them to be able to do what they did [in terms of improving their tactical discipline]. What you’re taking about in terms of Pogba to the left and Fernandes to the right, you’ve still got to have discipline in those roles. Silva and De Bruyne had that. When Nemanja Matic gets the ball, let’s say it’s Fernandinho, he doesn’t have to look up and he knows De Bruyne would be there, Silva would be there. Those players had great discipline within that shape. The players you’re talking about don’t have that. If Matic or Fred is in that position, Fernandes could be on the wing, Pogba could be at centre forward.

The first time I analysed Paul Pogba, four years ago, it was in a Manchester derby and he was playing central midfield, and he was standing on the left wing for goal kicks, and I said on that show I can’t understand how a world-class talent doesn’t understand where he needs to be for a goal kick.

You’ve just said Pogba’s a great player, I’d say he’s a great talent. Unbelievable talent, there’s nothing he can’t do in some ways, but a great talent doesn’t always make a great player. I don’t think his understanding of the game is amazing and I think that’s what defines a great player and I think that’s what makes him a great talent rather than a great player.

Neville: He’s played wide-left in a four for Juventus, he played on the left and did that regularly and did it very well. I find it really difficult to understand how a player who’s played at Juventus in a brilliant team and won many titles, goes on to play in a brilliant French team in a World Cup and wins a World Cup, and he’s a star in that team, can’t be regarded as a great player?

I don’t think Manchester United have been a great team in the last few years, I don’t think Paul Pogba’s played brilliantly for Manchester United. But the idea he can’t be a great player because he lacks a bit of discipline…

If you’d have said to me De Bruyne would turn into what he has under Pep Guardiola, I’d have said there was no chance. There’s no way he can be as good defensively as he is in an attacking sense, which is what he’s done. He was a massive luxury player in the sense he was a brilliant player, but on the ball not off the ball. He was coached and moved into a position he made his own.

I don’t give up hope Matic, Pogba, Fernandes can’t play together in that three, there’s going to come a point whereby the burden of having Paul Pogba on your shoulder is going to shine brightly on Ole. He’s going to have to get him into the team alongside Fernandes, like he did post-lockdown where they did well together, had some good results.

I think it can happen again. I don’t share your pessimism about him.

Carragher: How, after four years at Manchester United, are you still talking about finding Pogba’s best position and can Ole get more out of him, can he add discipline to his game? He’s been there for four years!

If he’s as good as you think or that Ole can get more out of him, why are we still having these conversations now, almost hoping or believing he can be something he hasn’t shown for four years? I don’t understand.

Neville: This debate about whether they can play together or if they can play in the team together… If you’d have said to me 10 years ago, I’d have said ‘no, forget about it’. But the way teams develop now with players, Manchester City won the league with Aguero, Sterling, Sane, De Bruyne, Silva and Fernandinho as a front six.

Carragher: They’ve got discipline! They won leagues before Pep Guardiola got there.

Neville: Pogba’s had seven or eight months with Fernandes, three of those have been in lockdown. Two have been pre-season, he had Covid about four weeks ago, I don’t think they’ve been in a position to play together that much.

I don’t think we should be writing it off today. At Christmas time, if they can’t play together, if the results don’t improve with them both in the team, fair enough. But it’s too early.

Carragher: If United were playing in a big game against City or Liverpool, would you play those two in midfield?

Neville: I wouldn’t have a problem playing them both in midfield.

Analysis: Why Solskjaer went ‘back to basics’ with midfield v Chelsea

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has “gone back to basics” and returned to his trusted midfield set-up to solve the team’s defensive problems and help Bruno Fernandes, Gary Neville told Monday Night Football.

United went into the international break earlier this month on the back of a 6-1 thrashing at home to Tottenham, having already lost 3-1 at Old Trafford to Crystal Palace and scraped past Brighton 3-2 with a late, late penalty.

But since the Premier League has resumed, United have beaten Newcastle 4-1 and drawn 0-0 with Chelsea, as well as picking up an impressive 2-1 Champions League win at Paris Saint-Germain.

Sky Sports pundit Neville explained Solskjaer’s return to playing two holding midfield players behind Fernandes – opposed to trying to play Paul Pogba along with just one defensive midfielder and Fernandes – is key to the turnaround.

Read the analysis here

Storm icon Cameron Smith had constant painkilling injections in his shoulder during the final two months of a triumphant NRL season, a new report has revealed.

Melbourne won the grand final over Penrith on Sunday, ending a painful and courageous run for their veteran captain.

Smith injured the AC joint in his left shoulder during a round 12 win over Newcastle and missed three games, yet the joint never properly healed, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. It was too painful for him to swing a golf club but he still managed to lead his team to a premiership, while the club kept the problem a secret.

“He had to get needled every game to play out the season,” Storm football manager Frank Ponissi told the Herald.

“He even had to get needled at times so he could train. The injury was more annoying than anything, but it never really had the chance to heal. He kept whacking it in games and it lingered throughout the rest of the season. He’s been carrying it for a while.”

The revelation will only add to Smith’s legend. The champion hooker was one of Melbourne’s best as they defeated the Panthers 26-20, which gave Smith his third premiership; and a fifth grand final win, taking into account the Storm’s stripped titles from 2007 and 2009.

Smith, 37, refused to confirm his future plans post-match. It has been widely tipped that he will retire, having played an unprecedented 430 games, but he decision has not been locked in due to his ongoing excellent form.

Collingwood is under fire for its treatment of Adam Treloar, having reportedly told him he’s unwanted at the club despite having five years remaining on his bumper contract.

Treloar, 27, was given blunt feedback when he recently asked the Pies if they wanted him to stay. Despite speculation over his future, with fiancee Kim Ravaillion moving north with their young daughter to play netball for the Queensland Firebirds, Treloar publicly committed to remaining a Collingwood player.

The commitment is not mutual, despite a contract running until 2025. Apart from being told that he was unwanted, Treloar was reportedly informed that he’s difficult to coach and that Collingwood is prepared to subsidise his salary – close to $900,000 per season – for a new club. Gold Coast has been touted as a trade destination.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd slammed Collingwood’s handling of Treloar, who was traded to the Pies ahead of the 2016 season by GWS Giants.

“I don’t think there is [any coming back]. It’s interesting they’re talking about Adam’s well-being and all those sorts of things — If a club wants you enough, they will work with you to make it work,” Lloyd told AFL Trade Radio.

“Can you imagine in theory a Dustin Martin or a Marcus Bontempelli’s wife signs a contract with a netball team and he says, ‘I still want to play and we can work through it’. They’re not going to say, ‘Nah, nah, nah, for your well-being, you go, you go to Gold Coast’. They’d do everything in their power [to keep him] … they do anything for you if they want you enough.

“Collingwood … they’d free up money, they’d get pick five from the Gold Coast Suns and he (Treloar) has got a contract that is back-ended. They (Collingwood) have got themselves in this problem.

“They’ve got themselves in a bit of a salary cap mess here and Adam Treloar is the collateral damage.”

Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes also said that Treloar had been poorly treated.

“The treatment of the player is bordering on disgraceful really, when you look at the way it’s been done,” Cornes told AFL Trade Radio.

“There’s been no one from the club that has come out and spoken on this. If this was untrue, you’d think the Collingwood footy club would be jumping on the front foot … saying, ‘This is incorrect, Adam Treloar is a valued member of the team, we want him, we signed him for a reason and we’ll make it work’.

“We haven’t heard anything, not one person from the club has spoken on Adam Treloar’s future, so the way that they’re treating him is really disgraceful.”

Treloar slammed claims of a possible move earlier this month, when Ravaillion’s Super Netball club switch was confirmed.

“I’ve never considered going anywhere and I never would,” he told Fox Sports.

“Never in my mind have I ever floated playing for a different team.”

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Jalen Ramsey is riding to the Los Angeles Rams‘ practice facility and is about to cry.

The star cornerback is on a videoconference with Jayce Parker, a fourth-grade student.

“I don’t know what my future holds,” says Jayce, who is 10 years old. “But I know that because of Purpose Prep and people like you, my future is going to be bright. Thank you again, Mr. Ramsey.”

Ramsey smiles. A day earlier, he announced a $1 million pledge to Purpose Preparatory Academy — a charter school in his native Nashville, Tennessee, where Parker is among 400 students.

“Jayce, you are welcome and everybody is welcome,” Ramsey says earnestly. “I’m proud of you, I’m proud of everything you are doing. Just keep up all the good work.”

On the football field, Ramsey is known as a lockdown cornerback, an elite trash talker and a fierce competitor whose sole focus is winning. But when he speaks about children and education, Ramsey reveals a softer side. His competitive nature fades, his tone softens yet grows eager, and he’s overcome with humility.

“To me, this is way more important than any play that I can make for the Los Angeles Rams,” Ramsey said. “I play a kids’ game professionally and I love it. … But this is real life.”

At Purpose Prep — a publicly funded, kindergarten-through-fourth-grade charter school that is free to attend for any student within the school district and whose student body is 98% Black, with more than 75% of its students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches — Ramsey isn’t widely known as an NFL All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl selection. Instead, he’s someone who is contributing time and money to make a generational change.

“I know he’s perceived as an athlete,” said Lagra Newman, who founded Purpose Prep in 2013. “But we’ve had a very different opportunity to get to know him as somebody who really cares about education, our community in Nashville and our children.”

‘I wanted to do something that would have a lasting impact’

When the country shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Ramsey isolated at home. He spent the time reflecting about his faith and self-improvement.

“It helped me put a lot of things about life in perspective about what’s really important,” said Ramsey, who turned 26 on Oct. 24. “That’s family, love, showing love, the youth and a few other things.”

Then, a couple of months into the pandemic, came the social justice uprising that Ramsey says pushed him over the edge. He conversed with his inner circle, including his agent, financial adviser, mom, dad and brother — who he says is the most influential person in his life.

But Ramsey grew impatient with the conversations.

“I said, ‘I’m not doing any justice. I’m not taking any action myself.’ So how could I speak up about wanting change or trying to effect change when I’m able to do something in my community and I haven’t done it yet,” Ramsey said.

He decided to take a leap he had thought about and researched for more than four years.

“I’m just kind of sitting on it and sitting on it, waiting for the perfect time,” Ramsey said. “Then I kind of told myself, I said, ‘There will never be a quote-unquote perfect time.'”

Ramsey was first introduced to Purpose Prep at a 2016 school gala, where he grew more impressed as the evening wore on. His financial adviser arranged for Ramsey and other clients to attend as an opportunity to network and take part in the greater community.

He sat in the audience and watched several students including Jayce, then a kindergartner, don formal attire to speak in front of hundreds of adults about their experience at the school.

“They were dressed up, they had on like black suits and they were super, super impressive,” Ramsey said.

Newman, under whose guidance Purpose Prep was named a Tennessee Reward School for Academic Performance, equally impressed Ramsey as she spoke about the school’s goals and success.

“People ask me all the time, ‘What’s the secret sauce?'” Newman said. “I really think it comes down to high expectations. When children walk into your door, do you believe they can achieve at the highest levels? We do at Purpose Prep.”

A Vanderbilt graduate who taught in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington with Teach for America, Newman aspired to open a school in a low-income community and settled on north Nashville after witnessing the inequalities in the school district through her time spent tutoring in the area.

“North Nashville has an incredible cultural richness and just a very special history in this city,” Newman said. “Yet the schools are abysmal, abysmally low-performing and it’s an injustice. They’re Black and brown children that are just clustered in schools, going to school every day and are leaving without critical skills, and so I wanted to create a school in this community and I wanted to really prove what was possible. That’s what we’ve been able to do.”

“It has been an amazing experience,” Jayce’s mother, Onya Parker, said about her son’s nearly five years at Purpose Prep. “He’s so confident in his academics, even speaking in front of audiences. Just being a scholar at Purpose Prep has just prepared him in a way I know that he wouldn’t have received the same preparation at another school.”

Ramsey, who grew up in a Nashville suburb and attended a private high school, understands the impact of sound schooling.

“I always, always had that value instilled in me by my parents that education was key and education was the most important because that’s something nobody can take from you,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey, joined by his inner circle, initiated a couple of videoconference meetings with Newman and board members in August to discuss the school’s future but left few hints that he intended to make a significant financial contribution.

A few financial numbers were mentioned that would be considered a major boon to help the school during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced students into distance learning.

But Ramsey, who was still playing under his rookie contract at the time and had yet to sign a five-year extension worth up to $105 million that made him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history, thought the figures weren’t substantial enough.

So he multiplied them — several times over — to $1 million.

“I didn’t want to just get in there halfway; I wanted to be all-in. I wanted to do something that would have a lasting impact,” Ramsey said. “That number amount was just something that was put in my heart.”

Newman was brought to tears when Ramsey called to inform her. “When he told me the amount, I couldn’t even fathom what that meant,” she said. “It’s transformational.”

His donation is the largest in school history by far, and Newman says it comes without conditions. Ramsey’s only request is that Purpose Prep continues on the path it set.

“To see how she’s been sustaining and doing extremely well for these kids for years and years, it gave me a lot of — a ton of hope that she will do the right thing when a lot is entrusted in her,” Ramsey said.

‘I was overwhelmed at the generosity’

When Onya Parker heard about Ramsey’s donation, it quickly dawned on her that Ramsey was in the audience when her son, Jayce, spoke at the gala more than four years earlier, and that Ramsey later posed with him for a photograph.

Back then, she didn’t know much about Ramsey, only that he was a professional athlete. And she certainly didn’t foresee Ramsey impacting her son’s education in the years to come.

“I was overwhelmed at the generosity,” said Onya, who grew emotional as she reflected on her son’s opportunity to receive a high-quality education. “[Ramsey] saw something in these children and wanted to contribute to making their futures brighter.”

Ramsey’s donation enabled Purpose Prep to turn entirely virtual to accommodate distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic. Every student, including Jayce — who loves math and aspires to be a sports agent — was provided a computer and internet hotspot to ensure they would not miss a day of class. With the added technology came the need for tech-savvy staff members who could help the kids and families navigate any technical issues at home, which the donation also covered.

“In the immediate, certainly Purpose Prep is able to get out of survival mode as we think about overcoming ourselves in this pandemic,” Newman said.

Because of Ramsey’s generosity, the school’s leaders can think about its long-term future.

“That’s just so many challenges that come with creating this school,” Newman said. “And I think to have somebody to invest to that extent, it opens up a few different things.”

Ramsey’s donation will help fund field trips to colleges, a staple on the school-year calendar before the pandemic and critical to the students’ ability to learn about higher education at a young age.

It will provide enrichment opportunities beyond the bare minimum of a high-quality education, said Newman, who dreams of the day when every musician in the school can play his or her own instrument and the band can practice in a space that’s not a conference room. She envisions Purpose Prep’s physical education classes taking place in a gymnasium instead of the cafeteria. She hopes additional technology can be incorporated into everyday learning.

“Only now have we been able to really think big and think like, ‘Wow, what could school for our children be when we actually have the resources to support the type of education that they actually truly deserve?'” she said.

In it for the long haul

When he’s not preparing for a football game, Ramsey joins Zoom conferences to participate in school board meetings. He keeps in touch via text messages and is “super personable,” Newman said, adding that he’s quickly becoming family.

“He’s somebody who is really in tune with what’s happening socially,” Newman said. “He sees this as his opportunity to also be a part of social change and making an impact and leading in that way.”

In board meetings, Ramsey is described as engaging, a good listener and participant.

“He’s not just there to just dump off a lump sum of money and say, ‘Bye,'” said Lara Henley, a school board member who helps oversee fundraising. “He’s very adamant about the fact that he’s in it for the long haul.”

Ramsey provides ideas and feedback, but also emphasizes his trust in Newman.

“I wouldn’t have done that [donation] for just anybody,” he said. “They were doing right by the kids and the teachers trying to bridge the gap.”

A father of two young daughters, Ramsey says he wants his girls to attend Purpose Prep, “100 percent,” and he wants other children, even those outside of Nashville, to experience the same high-quality education.

“We want to do this in Texas, in California,” Ramsey said, clarifying “this” means establishing more Purpose Prep-inspired schools. “We want to continue to do this with everybody in our kind of friend group and within our family group. We want to continue to do this.”

‘I’m excited to be in the presence of a hero’

On that August day when Ramsey rode to the Rams’ practice facility, he thought he was joining a school board meeting. He had no idea a kindergartner whom he met years earlier would appear on screen, then deliver a speech that would leave him practically speechless.

“Who knew that when I took a picture with you in kindergarten at the gala that our paths would cross again. Back then I was excited to be in the presence of an NFL player, but now I’m excited to be in the presence of a hero.”

Jayce Parker, a 10-year-old student at Purpose Prep Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, to Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey

“Who knew that when I took a picture with you in kindergarten at the gala that our paths would cross again,” Jayce said to Ramsey. “Back then I was excited to be in the presence of an NFL player, but now I’m excited to be in the presence of a hero.”

The moment filled Ramsey with joy.

“This means more to me than the contract or some of the other blessings that have been coming in my life,” Ramsey said. “I genuinely believe in the youth. I think the youth is our future and them having a great upcoming will be what changes the world. Maybe I won’t see it in my generation, but maybe in my daughters’ lifetime they see it, or maybe their kids, long from now, will see it.”

Are Tottenham genuine contenders for the Premier League title?

It was the burning question that surfaced in the aftermath of Spurs’ late 1-0 victory at Turf Moor, as Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane combined for the ninth time this season to see off Burnley on Monday Night Football.

Tottenham’s third consecutive away victory moved them to within two points of the Premier League summit and prompted Kane to declare Spurs could achieve something special.

Gary Neville thinks the Premier League title may be beyond Spurs this season but accepts their unprecedented summer recruitment drive and Jose Mourinho’s winning mentality has got the club dreaming of the unthinkable.

“When Harry Kane said Spurs could ‘achieve something special’, he wasn’t talking about going and winning the FA Cup or the Carabao Cup, he’s talking about the Premier League or a big European trophy,” Neville said.

“I don’t think they can win the league, I really don’t, but because Jose Mourinho is there, there will be an element of thinking he can do the unthinkable.

“I never expected Tottenham to invest like they have done this summer, never at all. They’ve had to borrow money from the bank after the overspend on the stadium, so to go and do that this summer… Jose Mourinho is the kind of manager who will have gone in there and demanded it.

“Spurs have been criticised for not following through in the transfer market in the past, but they have seen it through and delivered this summer and now have a squad that can go and challenge.

“They have got some unbelievable attacking players and it is a strange season, but I don’t think they can win the league purely because they haven’t done before and the game at Burnley could have swung either way.

“To finish third ahead of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea would be an unbelievable achievement. I didn’t have them in my top four at the start of the season, but we are now including them, so that is a massive shift in only a few weeks.”

‘Jose brings ruthless, clinical, horrible mentality’

Neville added: “The idea of Mourinho winning the league with Tottenham is an unbelievable story.

“I don’t think it will happen, but the fact he is there will give them belief they wouldn’t have had before because the only thing he thinks about is winning.

“He will do anything to win, and that’s the mentality those Tottenham players need. Over 30, 40, 50 years they have struggled to have a ruthless, clinical, horrible mentality, and that is what Mourinho brings.”

Carra: I’d love to see Jose win again

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher admitted he would relish the prospect of Mourinho getting his hands back on the Premier League trophy after being subjected to criticism in the five years since his last title-winning campaign.

“I obviously want Liverpool to win the league, but if someone else were to win it, I’d love to see Jose Mourinho win again,” Carragher told Monday Night Football.

“Mourinho has had so much thrown at him recently; accusations that he’s yesterday’s man, his football is from a different era. I’d love to see him win again and almost stick two fingers up at pundits and the press, whoever.

“It would be a good story for Mourinho to do that again. After what he’s achieved in his career, he still gets a lot of criticism because he rubs people up the wrong way at different times, but it would be nice to see him win again in a different way.”

Carragher added: “There was no bigger fan of Mauricio Pochettino than me, but his team was done, and it needed to evolve and change.

“When Jose came in things were a bit stop-start last season, and don’t think for one minute that anyone involved with Tottenham – from Daniel Levy, to Jose Mourinho and his players – thought about challenging for the title this season, it would have all been about getting into the top four.

“But because this season has been so strange – Liverpool losing Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City not looking right and having already dropped eight points – if there is ever going to be a chance when someone does do something, this will be the season.”