Hillary Clinton aide sought concussion advice from NFL after her fall: Report

The latest batch of email messages from Hillary Clinton on Monday show how a Clinton communications staffer asked the National Football League for help in hope of deflecting criticism from right-wing commentators after the former secretary of state suffered a concussion when she fainted and hit her head in late 2012.

One of Clinton's closest aides was called to put together an unusual group of allies to help manage the messaging fallout from her all-too-convenient “Benghazi flu” — including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former Republican Senate Leader Bill Frist, reported The Daily Beast.

Clinton's chief communications guru, Phillipe Reines contacted the NFL for help in alerting the press on the dangers of surrounding her December 2012 concussion. Buried among the hundreds of emails was an exchange about the injury on Christmas Eve that year, as she prepared to hand over the reins to John Kerry:

"Having a cracked head is no fun at all," Clinton emailed Reines.

"Speaking of your cracked head," he replied, "I reached out to both the Nfl commish (I remembered that his dad held your Senate seat) and Bill Frist. Frist responded wonderfully and is ready to help."

After Clinton assured Reines that she was "ok in the doctor department for now," he made his intentions clear.

"Sorry, didn't mean medically. Wouldn't ever do that," Reines wrote. "I meant I enlisted their help in my ongoing efforts to undermine the John Boltons and Laura Ingraham's of the world who are belittling your health." 

Clinton responded five minutes later: "That makes a lot of sense. As always, thanks for defending me, my friend."

Frist, a former Tennessee senator who served as U.S. Senate Majority Leader until 2007, is a Clinton-friendly Republican and a medical doctor.

The NFL, under Goodell, had been enduring years of public-relations setbacks as former players have died early or revealed traumatic brain injuries that they have said were a result of playing the sport of football.

Bolton, Ingraham and other commentators were quick to criticize Clinton as her concussion forced what conservatives saw as a too-convenient postponement of her first congressional testimony about the Benghazi attacks three months earlier.

Ingraham in particular suggested she was faking her injury in order to avoid an intense grilling on Capitol Hill.

Bill Clinton later said that it “required six months of very serious work” for his wife to get over the concussion.

Doctors had found a blood clot in her right transverse venous sinus related to her concussion, but ultimately determined that the clot caused no neurological injury. “No lingering effects,” Clinton told Diane Sawyer in 2014, when asked about her experience.

Monday's batch of released emails consumed more than 7,800 pages, mostly from 2012 and 2013. In all, 328 of the emails were deemed "classified," including one marked "secret."

That brings to 999 the total number of now-classified emails that once resided on Hillary's unsecured server at her upstate New York home.

Bill Belichick's playbook has more security.

Bill Belichick compares Rob Gronkowski to Giants great Mark Bavaro

When it comes to the highest accolades any New York Giants fans can muster the name Mark Bavaro always seems to enter the equation.

On Friday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick invoked the name of the Giants great when comparing Rob Gronkowski's blocking ability to one of the toughest tight ends ever.

Photo by Tony Mangia

“Yeah, he’s one of the best blockers,” Belichick said of Gronk. “I mean, I’ll put him there with Bavaro in terms of the guys I’ve coached. I mean, it’d be hard for me to put anybody past Bavaro just because of the number of times he blocked Reggie White with no help.”

Belichick is very familiar with both of the tight ends. He was a defensive coach with the Giants from 1979-90 and saw Bavaro battle the likes of Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.

“I mean, those were as competitive matchups and practices I’ve ever seen,” Belichick said. “I mean, it was awesome to watch players of that level compete the way they competed. All three of those guys were just tremendous football players. So, I have a lot of accolades for Rob and his blocking. I’m just saying it’s hard for me to put anybody past Bavaro based on Reggie White, Banks and Taylor.”

High praise indeed.

High school football team pulls off hidden ball trick on a kick return (VIDEO)

The hidden ball trick is one of the oldest deceptions in baseball, and the chances of pulling it off are almost slim and none.

But that didn't stop one California high school team from giving the old ploy a shot and executing it to perfection.

On a football field no less.

According to YouTube, Concord (CA) High School's LeAndre Jones scored a touchdown on this kickoff return after huddling with his teammates in the middle of the field to obscure the ball.

Who coaches this team? Bill Belichick?

Tom Brady greeted by rousing cheers at Patriots camp (VIDEO)

Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady took to the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium Thursday shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday and fans greeted him, cheering and chanting, "Bra-dy! Bra-dy!" as he waved to his supporters.

The scene at #PatsCamp when #TB12 took the field. pic.twitter.com/vk7LUvMmVC

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 30, 2015

Despite being suspended four games for his role in Deflategate, Brady stretched on the sideline and wore his red practice jersey for the Patriots' opening training camp session. He took snaps under center, handing the ball off on his first repetition. Reserve quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo ran drills on the opposite side of the field as coach Bill Belichick looked on.

"Right now, we're preparing for today," Belichick said. "I'm not thinking about a month from now, a year from now, six months from now...I don't dream about something in the future."

#TomBrady waves to cheering fans as @Patriots camp opens by @MaryMurphyprojo @projo at: http://t.co/duIM10rtAf pic.twitter.com/gmG0tTRsg6

— Journal Photos (@ProjoPhoto) July 30, 2015

And speaking of "gates," here's the mad rush of Foxborough fanatics hoping to see Brady when the Pats opened theirs this morning.

Open Tryouts Started this morning to hold Tom Brady's Balls https://t.co/JeA9cnBZ3a

— Justin Hardie (@OrangeHardie) July 30, 2015

Bill Belichick talks about Deflategate with David Letterman (VIDEO)

Bill Belichick appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and got grilled, well... lightly roasted, about Deflategate once again. And the New England Patriots coach — almost unrecognizable without his trademark hoodie and frown —  had no problem playing straight man to his talk show host.

“I know you know exactly what happened. You know I know you know. And what it was was some kind of horseplay, am I right?” Letterman asked the four-time Super Bowl champion coach on Wednesday's show.

“No.” replied Belichick.

“Wait a minute I was told it was horseplay,” Letterman went on.

“Uh, no.” the coach said with a painful smile.

Letterman called the under-inflated balls controversy "nonsense" and then tried to get the coach to tell him where the allegations came from.

“Did it come from my Colts?” the Indiana native asked.

“Dave, we're just out there playing a game doing the best we can,” Belichick responded as the crowd broke out into applause.

Letterman then brought up the ballboy deflating the balls in the bathroom theory.

"I can't remember the last time I took a leak in 90 seconds," revealed the soon-to-be-retired host.

Even Belichick lost it at that point.

Bill Belichick's Super Bowl kiss with daughter gets Twitter treatment

Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick was photographed celebrating his fourth Super Bowl victory Sunday night with an intimate kiss on the lips with his 30-year-old daughter, Amanda Belichick — and it created quite a stir.

The awkward lip-locking happened after the Patriots 28-24 victory over the Seahawks when Belichick's son and daughter met him on the field.

While the icky moment has now been seen by millions and ridiculed by many, the kiss has been defended by some online users as a sweet, intimate moment between family. Others have branded it as "disturbing," "aggressive" and "making out."

And Twitter gave it the treatment:

When you see Bill Belichick kiss his daughter... #BillBelichick pic.twitter.com/SjfC619xAk
— E.J. Coughlin (@ejc) February 3, 2015

Bill Belichick, you just won the Super Bowl! What are you gonna do next? - Passionately make out with my daughter! pic.twitter.com/TH3SG3PrkB
— Mentality Mag (@MentalityMag) February 2, 2015

And don't ever mention deflated balls again.

Hotel fire alarm wakes Patriots in middle of the night: Report

The New England Patriots players and coaches were able to get out of Boston before the big blizzard shut down the airports but, getting a good night's sleep in advance of Tuesday's Media Day? Not so easy.

NFL Media's Jeff Darlington tweeted early Tuesday that a fire alarm at the Patriots' hotel went off for about 10 minutes at approximately 1:30 a.m. local time.

According to Darlington, the front desk called the alarm "an anomaly." Thankfully, the hotel was not on fire.

Fire alarm lasted maybe 10 minutes. No big deal. Nothing these players didn't face during college away games once in a while. Just... loud.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) January 27, 2015

Just wondering if Bill Belichick mistook it for a burglar alarm.

Rob Gronkowski tweets logical reason why Patriots balls were soft

On Monday the NFL said it was investigating the alleged deflating of footballs during the Patriots lopsided victory over the Colts. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has said that his team will cooperate fully with the investigation of the Deflategate scandal until the tampering charges are cleared.

But he need not look any further than Rob Gronkowski for a logical explanation for the soft balls.

On his Twitter page, the tight end blamed the air loss on a simple theory that "Gronking May Cause Deflation."

Whoops lol pic.twitter.com/uLxN7A5cpq
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) January 20, 2015

And Gronk knows logic.

Somebody actually stole Josh Thomas' NY Jets playbook: Report

New York Jets backup cornerback Josh Thomas tweeted Monday that his playbook — stored on a team-issued iPad — was stolen.

According to a team spokesman, Thomas' iPad, which contained the playbook, and his passport were among several items taken. The incident occurred in New Jersey, but not at the Jets' facility. The good news is that the Jets were able to wipe the data from the iPad remotely.

But not before he issued a public appeal to have the items returned.

Please return stolen articles. At least return my passport and playbook. #Jets #JetsNation #HappyHolidays #Christmas
— Josh Thomas (@Josh_Thomas22) December 15, 2014

And it may be no coincidence that this Sunday's opponent is the Patriots.

In the offseason, you may recall, former Jets defensive coordinator and current Browns coach Mike Pettine said that Patriots coach Bill Belichick had gotten his hands on copies of the Jets' playbook in the past.

Can you say iPad-gate?

Peyton Manning explains the meaning of 'Omaha' … sort of (VIDEO)

The true meaning of "Omaha" still remains one of the best-kept secrets in the NFL — even after Peyton Manning offered an explanation on Wednesday.

Manning yelled the name of Nebraska's largest city 44 times during the Denver Broncos' 70 offensive plays as they defeated the San Diego Chargers in their AFC divisional-round playoff game on Sunday.

One reporter asked Manning the obvious question about the meaning of the repeated call during the quarterback's media presser yesterday. After Manning asked her if it was "a fan written-in question," the Broncos' quarterback delivered an answer that really didn't explain anything.

"I know a lot of people ask what Omaha means," Manning said. "Omaha is a run play, but it could be a pass play or a play-action pass depending on a couple things: when, which way we're going, the quarter and the jerseys that we're wearing. So it varies, really, play to play. So, that's — there's your answer to that one."

Remember Bill Belichick — it's the jerseys.

Here's each of the 44 "Omaha" calls in case you missed it.

ICYMI: How many times did Peyton Manning yell Omaha on Sunday? WATCH: http://t.co/2vaAjPx4gG #NFLPlayoffs
— NFL (@nfl) January 13, 2014

Jets owner praises Rex Ryan, won't discuss future with team

Woody Johnson admitted he is 'happy' with the job Rex Ryan has done with the Jets surprising 4-and-3 start, but the owner still refuses to make any commitment on Ryan's future with the club past this season.

“I will make a statement after the season,” Johnson said Thursday. “I never make any comments regarding contracts during the season.”

Last week's dramatic victory over the Patriots showed that Ryan can still coach but, maybe more noticeable was his back-and-forth with Bill Belichick this week over The Push which showed that Ryan still has the fire in his trimmed-down belly.

“We’re happy with Rex,” Johnson said. “Coaches have to be good teachers and good leaders and I think he’s both.”

The Jets meet the playoff-caliber Bengals and Saints the next two games leading into their bye week, so Johnson will probably have a clear picture where the team is headed by then. But, however successful, there will still be seven games left to self-destruct after that.

Ryan insists he isn't looking that far ahead but appreciates his boss' support after last year's Butt Fumble of a season.

“I like the fact that my boss said some nice things about me,” he said. “I said it before, it’s not about me. Right now, it means nothing to me other than the fact that he had some nice comments to say. My situation is the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s where my attention is.”

Ryan’s contract, at about $3 million per year, runs through 2014. Teams generally don’t let coaches go into the last year of their deals — they either get fired or extended. 

Is Johnson anticipating an extension of Ryan's contract?

"I don’t make any statements like that," he said. "The only thing I’ll say is I’m happy with him. I think he’s a great teacher, a good teacher, maybe a great teacher, and a good leader... That's what we hired him to be. We're happy with that."

'Now we're murderers' T-shirts mocking Patriots are for sale in Pittsburgh

A T-shirt for sale at a place called Yinzers in Pittsburgh is emblazoned with "New England: We used to be cheaters, now we're murderers" on the front.  It's a crude reference the Aaron Hernandez murder case and takes liberties with clumping the rest of the Patriots team in with the accused killer.

The tee might be funny to many NFL fans and tasteless to some, but was probably meant to just mock the Steelers' AFC rival and Hernandez in particular.

Bill Belichick isn't going to like this one bit — at least the cheating part.

Great shirt being sold in Yinzers in Pittsburgh @darrenrovell @Deadspin pic.twitter.com/3StJFphonk
— Jimmy Crivella (@BSJimmy) September 2, 2013

Tom Brady leaves practice after apparent knee injury

That collective sigh you heard from Maine to Connecticut was hopefully just a exhale of relief after the worst news — outside of the Red Sox trading for A-Rod — travelled throughout New England Wednesday afternoon.

According to multiple reports, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady just felt something in his left knee in practice, and then left the field after consulting with coach Bill Belichick.

An amateur videographer caught the moment Brady (in red Shirt) went down during a scrimmage on the clip below.

During their joint practice with the Buccaneers, Brady grabbed his left knee, limped off, but then rejoined practice a play later. But that didn’t last long, and he ended up heading out again with a trainer.

The left is the same knee as the torn ACL that ended his 2008 season.

Not to worry, there's always Tim Tebow at backup.

Patriots experiment with helmet camera on quarterbacks

Whether it's Google Glass, iPhones or whatever the latest technological innovation is these days, miniature video cameras have made it easy to bring even the most obscure activity to your computer. NFL teams are now scrambling to figure out ways the new technologies can help them gain an advantage before the season starts.

While Rex Ryan is flipping a coin between Smith or Sanchez, Bill Belichick — one of the great NFL innovators over the past decade or so — has been utilizing the miniature technology with the New England Patriots by installing tiny cameras on the helmets of the quarterbacks during training camp for the past week or so —including Tom Brady.

"It's something we haven't done before so we'll take a look at it and see how effective it is or what we can get out of it," coach Bill Belichick said Sunday. "I'm not sure exactly how effective that will or won't be but it's something we're trying that's a little bit new. We'll see how it goes."

Probably thinking back to Spygate, that was all anyone got out of Belichick when questioned further about the use of the secret agent-type technology during camp.

Not surprisingly, the helmet cam provides an interesting perspective (think Go-Pro) that can give coaches insight into exactly what a quarterback is seeing as he goes through his pre-snap and post-snap motions. It sounds like a amazing tool to help rookie QBs adjust to reading pro defenses.

With aerial views, miked-up players and halftime locker room cams being mandated this season, why limit the little spy-cams to preseason practice?  How long before networks put these gizmos on position players' helmets for a true NFL experience during games?

Oops. Forgot about that whole XFL thing.

Bill Parcells admits he regrets leaving Patriots too soon

Bill Parcells isn't the kind of man to admit many (if any) regrets publicly. The former New England Patriots coach may wear his New Jersey roots on his sleeve but not so his personal feelings.

That's why it was uncharacteristic for Big Tuna to admit that he left the Patriots after their forgettable Super Bowl XXXI loss after a power struggle with owner Robert Kraft and could only watch after his protege Bill Belichick took over — after a disappointing reign under Pete Carroll — and form an NFL dynasty which surpassed even Parcells' impressive accomplishments.

"I regret leaving New England. Had we done things differently ... " Parcells told USA Today. "I had a good young team there. I hated to leave that team, because I knew what we could do.

"I was absolutely too headstrong. And he might have been a little headstrong, too. I think both Kraft and myself, retrospectively, would have done things a little differently."

The Patriots have won three Super Bowls and reached two others under Belichick, who, without the New England job available, might have remained head coach of the New York Jets for more than a day before resigning and heading to Foxborough.

Parcells' surprising revelation that he left the Patriots — against his better judgement and after the Super Bowl loss to the Packers — never to reach the glorified status he had up until that point because Kraft wouldn't give Parcells final say on building the Patriots roster.

The well -respected Parcells would go on to good but not great seasons with the Jets and Cowboys before retiring. He won just one more playoff game and one more division title in seven post-Patriots seasons, both in 1998. That Jets team gave Denver a pretty good run in the AFC championship game but came up short and Parcells never living up to loftier expectations.

It's interesting to ponder whether the Patriots would have had a similar run over the last dozen years had Parcells stuck around longer? Or if Parcells would have even wanted to draft the mostly overlooked Tom Brady if he was in charge of the Patriots in 2000.

Parcells is a Pro Football Hall of Fame coach – he's being inducted this summer – but it's impossible to say if he could have achieved what Belichick has with the Patriots. 

At least one person in this saga has regrets.

Belichick: 'You'll have to deal with me again next year'

Bill Belichick gave fair warning Monday — even when no one asked — that he and his gray hoodies will still prowl the sidelines of the New England Patriots or at least another season.

At the head coach's season-ending press conference Monday— a day after the Patriots got trounced by the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game — a glum Belichick told the media:

"I'll be here.  You'll have to deal with me again next year.  I know that's disappointing for a lot of you.  Until I'm told otherwise, I plan on being here."

Belichick — the longest-tenured coach in the NFL is reportedly signed through next season and was paid $7.5 million this year — had led the Patriots to three Super Bowls in his first five seasons but has gone 0-2 in the big game since.  His last championship trophy was hoisted in 2004 — eight seasons ago.

"We won 13 games. We're playing in the AFC championship game," he said.  "Not a whole lot of teams are saying that."

Terrell Suggs calls Patriots 'arrogant f---ers'

There was a lot of fans who found pleasure in watching the Baltimore Ravens beat up on the New England Patriots Sunday night — hello Jets fans — but no one was more happy to see the Pats get laid out on their home turf than linebacker Terrell Suggs.

When the dust settled, after the Ravens convincing 28-13 AFC Championship Game victory, Suggs didn't mince words and unleashed his bottled-up hatred of the team by saying:

"Tell them to have fun at the Pro Bowl.  Arrogant f---ers."

The Ravens' defensive stalwart saved his most succinct jabs for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and the supposed football genius's Super Bowl dry spell since the infamous Spygate incident — when the team were caught videotaping signals of Jets' defensive coaches during an early-season game in 2007.

"These are the most arrogant p----- in the world starting with (Bill) Belichick on down ... ever since Spygate they haven't been able to win," he told Yahoo! Sports.

Belichick was fined $500,000 for his underlings taking the X's and O's-rated video.

The surly Belichick hasn't won a Super Bowl since the 2004 season and the hooded sore loser didn't make any new friends yesterday when he snubbed CBS sideline reporter Steve Tasker after the loss.

Suggs' choice of words shouldn't be a big deal.  He just saying what a lot of fans think anyway.

Rex Ryan jokes about 'overrated' label

Leave it to Rex Ryan to give a funny response to being voted the most overrated NFL coach in an anonymous player poll this week.  The New York Jets head coach did what he does best and turned a press conference into a comedy monologue Tuesday after he was asked about the Sporting News poll.

"My first thought," Ryan said Wednesday, "was I looked and I saw who was second [Patriots head coach Bill Belichick] and I was like, 'Hey, I finally beat Belichick at something.  I got him. I knew it would take time, but I got him.' Golly, like it hasn't been a tough enough year."

The poll came out Monday and attracted a lot of attention as the Jets (3-5) gear up for the Seattle Seahawks.  Ryan claims being painted in a negative light by the 103-player poll doesn't really bother him.

"The next question is well, where was I rated ?" said Ryan.  "If I was rated really high ... if you're rated down at whatever level and you're still overrated that would really bother me.  I wasn't offended by it."

Ryan joined a couple of Jets players who were recently tagged with the same overrated labels.  Quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez were recently named the No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, most overrated NFL players in a Sports Illustrated poll.

The high-profile Ryan lumps himself in with other players' coaches and believes most guys will still line up to play for him.

"I think if you poll the same players about who they want to play for I'll probably end up where I always am — right at the top with [Steelers coach Mike] Tomlin," Ryan said.  "It's either me or Mike Tomlin that's 1 or 2 guys want to play for.  I don't think that will change.  As long as they want to come here and play and I'm overrated, that's fine."

The negative publicity did nothing to lessen Ryan's huge ego.

"At the end of the year, we'll see who's overrated," he said.

NFL players survey says Rex Ryan most overrated coach

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan may be the head coach of a third-place team but, when it comes to being numero uno in one area, an NFL players poll says Ryan is tops at being the most overrated coach in the league.

Finally, Ryan gets to be ranked ahead of Bill Belichick in something.

The Sporting News polled 103 players from 27 teams, with players not permitted to name their own coaches.  Sorry Tim Tebow.

Ryan was named on 35 ballots as the league's most overrated coach surpassing Belichick's 16 votes for second-place.  They were followed by Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid with nine votes and the Washington Redskins Mike Shanahan with eight.

"His coaching style is over the top," an unnamed AFC player said of Sexy Rexy.  "Some of the things he does in front of the cameras are way over the top.  You must put that with the New York media and he has a pretty big reputation, I guess."

The anonymous player suggested that Ryan's recent record might even make the coach's new title irrelevant.

"I don't even know if you'd call him overrated anymore because it's going to be a couple of years since he was in the AFC finals.  He's pretty funny, and he's a pretty good coach.  But not that good."

Rex Ryan backs away from Obama's QB controversy comments

Even Rex Ryan knows there are some people you shouldn't get into a verbal debate with.  Bill Belichick is one thing, the President of the United States is another.

In sticking with this year's new slimmer and quieter version of himself, the New York Jets head coach was quite demure in his response to President Obama's comments about the team's quarterback controversy.

Yesterday, Obama told 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, Ohio that he would be "pretty nervous" if he were a Jets fan because of the controversy surrounding Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez this summer.

 Ryan's response to the President was out of character for the bloviating coach.

"It shows how popular our game really is," said Ryan.  "Every single person has an opinion on our football team.  But it's amazing, this is the president of the greatest country there is, and he's talking about the New York Jets football team.  I'll say this, I respect President Obama, and I respect the fact  that this is his opinion."

No wigs, no props.  Not even a cutting remark.  When reporters pushed Ryan for something more, he wouldn't bite.

"That's it," the grinning Ryan said.

Considering this is a coach who predicted Super Bowls for the Jets two years running, it was surprising he didn't predict a Jets visit to the White House with the Lombardi Trophy next winter.

"Don't get me going with the president comments," Ryan said. "You know me."

One day after Obama told the call-in radio show hosts that Sanchez was a "clear cut starter" and Tebow was a "special talent," Ryan was not distracted by the Leader of the Free World's comments.

It's still too early in training camp to know what Ryan has in store for his dynamic duo but he has Tebow working on the Wildcat offense since yesterday.

"All I know is they have to prepare for him, and I know what that does to your preparation time," said Ryan.  "When you start running the Wildcat and what that does, you can't just slough it off.  A lot of coordinators will be like, 'Oh, it's no big deal.'  Yes it is.  You really can't tell that lie, because I have been there in your shoes."

If the Jets do visit the White House,  Woody Johnson will have a bigger smile for the cameras with Mitt Romney in the Oval Office.  The team owner is a big Republican Party fund raiser and supporter.