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David Johnson, 32, played five games for New Orleans in his final NFL season in 2022. The team signed him off its practice squad on Nov. 16 and elevated the running back to the active roster on Dec. 12 when Mark Ingram injured his MCL. Despite limited opportunities in a backfield with Alvin Kamara, he had 12 rushes for 24 yards and three receptions for 47 yards, including a 21-yard reception. Before his tenure with the Saints, Johnson spent two seasons with the Houston Texans.

The Arizona Cardinals chose the Northern Iowa product as the 86th overall pick in the 3rd round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Johnson made the 2016 AP All-Pro selections twice: First-Team flex and Second-Team running back. Fans voted him into the 2016 Pro Bowl as well that season.

NFL Network’s coverage is highlighted by “Schedule Release ’24 Presented by Verizon” at 8 p.m. ET which breaks down the 2024 NFL regular season schedule, division by division, analyzing the top matchups and primetime games. Rich Eisen and Colleen Wolfe host the three-hour show, joined by Maurice Jones-Drew, Michael Robinson and Cynthia Frelund.

Featured guests on “Schedule Release ’24” include:

·       NBC “Sunday Night Football” play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico
·       CBS play-by-play broadcaster Jim Nantz
·       ESPN “Monday Night Football” play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck
·       Prime Video “Thursday Night Football” play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels
·       Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson
·       NFL vice president of broadcasting Mike North

NFL.com and the NFL app will provide complete team-by-team and weekly schedules of all regular season games, listing opponents, sites and times.

Earlier today, it was announced the NFL Kickoff game on Thursday, Sept. 5 will feature a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship Game when the Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens on NBC and Peacock, and available on mobile devices with NFL+.

A special two-hour Schedule Release edition of “Good Morning Football” airs on Wednesday beginning at 7 a.m. ET on NFL Network, with hosts Jason McCourty, Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt and Sherree Burruss. The 2024 International Games will be revealed during the show ahead of the full schedule announcement Wednesday evening. The Emmy Award-winning “Good Morning Football” returns to its weekly Monday-Friday schedule this summer, with further details to follow.

Additional coverage is provided by “NFL GameDay View: Schedule Release” at 10 p.m. ET on the NFL Channel and YouTube, a one-hour show hosted by Patrick Claybon, Cynthia Frelund and Gregg Rosenthal analyzing the 2024 NFL schedule. The NFL Channel is available on the NFL App on mobile and connected TV, FAST streaming platforms such as Peacock, Roku, PlutoTV, Vizio WatchFree, Tubi, LG, Xumo Play, TCL and Plex, and at NFL.com/nflchannel. “NFL GameDay View: Schedule Release” will also air at 11 p.m. ET on NFL Network.

NFL+ will offer fans exclusive content with “Secrets of the Schedule,” which features key decisionmakers from around the league sharing insights into creating this year’s schedule. Fans will also get exclusive insights into their respective teams’ win/loss record with “Projected Team Win Totals presented by Courtyard by Marriott” featuring Cynthia Frelund, who shares her projected win total for each NFL team.

ESPN will also have a two-hour primetime special highlighting the release of the 2024 regular season schedule on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and simulcast on ESPN+. Host Kevin Negandhi along with Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Mina Kimes and Adam Schefter anchor the coverage, with multiple guests expected.

Individual game tickets will go on sale immediately through Ticketmaster, the Official Ticketing Partner of the NFL, once each game is announced. Tickets will also go on sale through SeatGeek and Sports Illustrated Tickets, members of the NFL Ticket Network. For more information, visit NFL.com/tickets.

The NFL uses the power of Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its schedule-making process. There are approximately a quadrillion possible schedule combinations each NFL season and over 26,000 factors to take into consideration such as stadium availability, travel requirements, primetime games, competitive fairness and division rivalries. The NFL uses AWS to run high performance computing workloads to find the best possible schedule each year. For more information, click here.

Courtyard by Marriott is also helping fans traveling to games find accommodations in close proximity to each respective NFL stadium with a new hotel booking button on the NFL.com schedule page. The button will direct fans to recommendations for nearby Courtyard by Marriott hotels, or other hotels within the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio, during the specific game weekend they are attending.

For additional information regarding the release of the 2024 NFL schedule, click here.

According to beat reporter Nick Underhill, the club reduced its 2024 salary cap number “from $12M to about $5.5M” in the team’s effort to comply with the league’s mandated rules.

Mathieu, 31, is a native of New Orleans and has been with the team since signing a free-agent contract before the 2022 regular season. He’s brought stability and leadership to a young corps of defensive backs who performed well in 2023.   

The All-Pro defensive back and cornerback Paulson Adebo each had four interceptions for the New Orleans Saints in 2023-24. Mathieu started all 17 games last season while recording 75 tackles, nine passes defended, a QB hit, and pick six.

In two seasons with the Saints, he’s contributed 34 game starts, seven interceptions, 166 tackles (114 solos), 17 passes defended, three tackles for losses, two QB hits, one fumble recovery, and a touchdown.

RELATED

ERIC BIENIEMY REMAINS, SEEKING OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING?

The Washington Commanders under Ron Rivera hired Eric Bieniemy as the offensive coordinator. Since Rivera’s dismissal, the organization hired a new president and general manager. Could Bieniemy, as the head coach, be a foregone conclusion? No. Not so fast.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is locked in the Commanders’ front office’s radar as its new head coach. Although several interviews were scheduled for other candidates and teams are extending offers to other offensive coordinator candidates, Bieniemy could be the “odd man out” for the position.

Johnson and Detroit lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s 2024 NFC Championship Game. Therefore, Washington could offer Johnson the position this upcoming week.

Raheem Morris (Atlanta) and Jerod Mayo (New England) are the two new head coach hires in the league. Still, Washington Commanders, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, L.A. Rams, N.Y. Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, and Seattle Seahawks have never installed a black head coach.

Progress?  You make the call.

NATIONAL BLACK PLAYERS COALITION LETTER TO THE COMMANDERS

The Washington Commanders football team was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves. As part owner, George Preston Marshall renamed the team the Redskins in 1933, and moved the team to Washington, DC in 1937, becoming the Washington Redskins. Throughout its 92 years of existence the team has never hired a full-time Black Head Coach. The team holds the hideous reputation as being the last NFL team to integrate its players – and only by force – by 35^th President John F. Kennedy’s Administration in 1962.^[i] This notorious tradition has carried over at the head coaching position to this day!

Soon after purchasing the Washington Commanders from former embattled owner Dan Snyder, new owner Josh Harris and the team’s ownership group sent an open letter on July 23, 2023, to Washington, DC fans promising among other things to “…earn your trust” and “…strive every day to ensure that we are a franchise you can be proud of.”  In our August 14, 2023, Open Letter to Josh Harris, the National Black Players Coalition stated that “As the new owner of the Washington Commanders, you and your partners now have the responsibility to not only address the sexual harassment issues that plagued the organization under its former owner, Daniel Snyder, but hopefully you and your partners will also take leadership in addressing the racial discrimination issues… that exist inside your organization.”

One of the most key issues is the fact that the Washington Commanders and its predecessors have never hired a full-time Black Head Coach in a predominantly African American community! Shamefully, the Washington Commanders remain among the now 11 NFL teams that have never had a Black full-time head coach: Buffalo Bills; Baltimore Ravens; Tennessee Titans; Jacksonville Jaguars; Dallas Cowboys; New York Giants; New Orleans Saints; Carolina Panthers; Los Angeles Rams; the Seattle Seahawks; and the Washington Commanders. Historic and most recently, the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons broke their color barrier and hired their first full time Black Head Coaches (Jerod Mayo and Raheem Morris, respectively). The Las Vegas Raiders just hired their third Black Head Coach, Antonio Pierce! Will it take 100 years for Commanders fans to get their first Black head coach?

On September 14, 2022, the NBPC issued a comprehensive “Open Letter To NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell” and all 32 owners. See: (https://t.co/d1g2CjhY2g)  In that letter, among other issues, the NBPC called upon the NFL to hire at least half (16) Black head coaches. At this writing, the NFL hired 3 new Black head coaches bringing the total to 7 including Mike McDaniel of the Miami Dolphins. Now is the time for the Commanders to also make history by joining these teams in hiring their first full-time Black Head Coach!

The postseason newcomers were expected to enter and exit early in the AFC and NFC Wildcard games. It doesn’t look like they read the memo for their early demise.

Instead, Stroud and the Texans soundly defeated a Joe Flacco-led Cleveland Browns team, 45-14. Stroud ended his day having 16/21 passes for 274 yards, and three touchdowns without an interception and a 157.2 passer rating. His leadership and composure as a quarterback was a thing of beauty in his historic playoff debut.
Love and the Green Bay Packers barely made an appearance to the Big Dance.

However, when they finally arrived in Big D to face Dak Prescott and the NFC East Division champions, nobody expected a lopsided upset at Jerry’s World. But it happened anyway.

C.J. STROUD & JORDAN LOVE

Love, like Stroud, tossed a 16/21 passing game for 272 yards, three downs, and a quarterback rating of 157.2. The young field general had a better performance in his first playoff game than legendary Green Bay NFL MVPs Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

During the NFL Wildcard weekend, C.J. Stroud and Jordan Love achieved a passer rating of 157.2, which is the third-best rating in the NFL Playoff history.
It is worth noting that two young black quarterbacks have been able to achieve such a feat, with Peyton Manning and Josh Allen holding the top two positions in the record books.

Unfortunately, Jordan Love’s final incompletion led to a deflation of his perfect passer rating to 157.2.
The upcoming AFC and NFC Divisional Round games will be affected by football weather. Stroud will be playing in Baltimore where it will be partly cloudy and windy with a kickoff temperature of 25 degrees.

Meanwhile, Love and the Packers will be playing in a rainy weather forecast of 70% chance of rainfall and a temperature of 59 degrees at the start of the game.
Despite negative narratives about black quarterbacks, the presence of Stroud and Love, along with Mahomes and Jackson, dispels such connotations in today’s NFL.

Original Article On HBCU Legends