NFL will run colorblindness analysis on new ‘Color Rush’ uniforms

The NFL will be taking a second look at the "Color Rush" uniforms that caused problems for fans who had difficulty distinguishing between the all-red Buffalo Bills and all-green New York Jets on Thursday night.

And especially for the color-challenged ones.

League spokesman Brian McCarthy said the NFL intends to incorporate a colorblindness test when designing its "Color Rush" alternate jerseys for next season.

"The standard television test did not account for colorblindness for fans at home that became apparent last night," McCarthy wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "We will enhance our testing to include a colorblindness analysis to better address this issue in the future."

McCarthy was responding to concerns raised by colorblind fans who couldn't tell which team was which during Buffalo's 22-17 win over the Jets — not to mention the ridicule the uniforms took via social media.

Here's what tonight's NFL game looks like to people with red-green colorblindness: https://t.co/xjGrDXiXI5 pic.twitter.com/2IRSKpqCGf

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) November 13, 2015

Coincidentally, various studies have found that red-green color blindness is the most prevalent and affects 10 million to 13 million Americans, most of them males.

The game was the first of four on Thursday night this season in which teams will wear the alternate uniforms.

Next week, the Tennessee Titans will wear all blue in facing the bold-gold-colored Jacksonville Jaguars. The other games will feature Carolina (Panthers blue) at Dallas (white) on Nov. 26; and Tampa Bay (red) at St. Louis (yellow gold) on Dec. 17.

The promotion will expand next season, when every team will wear the alternate uniforms on Thursday nights.

Let the Week 11 comparisons begin:

Former NFL star Eddie George to take on Broadway as Billy Flynn in 'Chicago'

Former NFL star Eddie George is trading in his spikes for a pair of spats as he prepares to make his Broadway debut next year in the musical “Chicago.” 

The 42-year-old Heisman trophy winner will take on the role of lawyer Billy Flynn, the Broadway part originated by the great Jerry Orbach and famously played in the movie adaptation by Richard Gere.

.@NFL Legend & Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George will make his Broadway debut in the role of Billy Flynn. pic.twitter.com/7ML5pL4Yll

— Chicago The Musical (@ChicagoMusical) October 26, 2015

George, who won the Heisman in 1995 and went on to a nine-year career in the NFL, leading the Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, will make his Broadway debut at the Ambassador Theatre beginning Jan. 11.

And putting the former running back on The Great White Way is not just some Hail Mary casting stunt.

George has shown some serious acting chops and has an impressive the on-stage resume since retiring from football. 

He's previously appeared in Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man at the Nashville Repertory Theatre, Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog at Amun Ra Theatre, also in Nashville, and played both Othello and Julius Caesar at the Nashville Shakespeare Festival.

You can hear George sing All I Care About until Feb. 28.

Sen'Derrick Marks' sack earns $600K bonus on final play of game (VIDEO)

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks needed half a sack in Thursday night's game against the Tennessee Titans to earn a nice $600,000 bonus. And, with 17 seconds left in the game, it looked like time was running out.

But, not only did Marks' game-ending, take-down of Titans quarterback Charlie Whitehurst for a 9-yard loss preserve the Jaguars' 21-13 victory, it gave him 600 thousand reasons give the money sign and celebrate with teammates.

Marks' current contract with the Jaguars included a bonus clause paying him $600,000 if he recorded eight sacks in 2014. His career high was four in 2013. His 7.5 sacks entering Week 16 of the season put him put him one-half shy of getting the money sack.

Ravens cheerleader injured after being dropped by teammates during routine (PHOTOS)

A Baltimore Ravens cheerleader was stretchered off the field after apparently landing on her neck during an aerial stunt on Sunday.

The woman, who has not been named, was reportedly thrown into the air during a routine at the Ravens' game against Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

Witnesses said she was dropped by her teammates and landed on her head and neck. 

She then reportedly did not move for several minutes as medical personnel rushed on to the field and attended to her, according to CBS Sports. 

Getty Images photographer, Rob Carr, who shot photos of the scene, said that although the cheerleader was very still, she could be seen hyperventilating and crying as the game went on.

And not everyone was happy that the game continued while medical personnel attended to the injured woman.

Cheerleader bounces off her head, medics on scene but game goes on! Way to show your respect @Ravens
— Eliza Graham (@ElizaGlam) November 9, 2014

On Sunday evening, a Ravens spokesman told the Baltimore Sun that the "precautionary" tests on the cheerleader's neck had come back clean and she was OK.

Madden '15 glitch renders Browns' Christian Kirksey as 14-inches tall (VIDEO)

A programming glitch in a popular football video game shrunk a 6-foot-2, 230-pound NFL linebacker to a less-then-intimidating 1 foot, 2 inches tall munchkin.

It's in the new Madden '15 in 'Solo Challenge' mode where a minuscule Cleveland Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey is dwarfed during game play by all other players and even the ball.

Gamemaker EA Sports also happened to have the digital Kirksey play for Tennessee instead of the team that actually drafted him in 2014, leading many to come up with the same nickname: the Tiny Titan.

But the football-sized Kirksey still goes about trying to make plays among the field of giant NFL players. And hilarious grabs from the game show the rookie being stepped over as he goes for a tackle or getting squashed like a bug by his normal-sized virtual opponents .

Fans of the popular game have had a ball posting grabs of the shrunken avatar as he makes tackles and celebrates.

Kirksey himself had fun with the glitch and even  tweeted some words of wisdom for the amused gamers:

"No matter how small you are, have big dreams, and live big! #1'2"

No matter how small you are, have big dreams, and live big! #madden #glitch #1'2 #reallyLOL #goodmessagetho
— Christian Kirksey (@chriskirksey20) September 2, 2014

Why Kenny Britt won't drive expensive cars his home state of New Jersey anymore

Former Rutgers and current Tennessee Titans receiver Kenny Britt spoke to USA TODAY for a feature on racial profiling of NFL players. It's suffice to say, it sounds like the Bayonne native doesn't heart the Garden State anymore.

Britt said "it's safe to say" racial profiling happens. "Because people are human, and it is not just policemen," he told the newspaper.  "You can't just say it's cops. But they make their own judgments, and some of them use their power. ... It definitely makes you leery about where you go and who is watching for you."

The receiver then added that, because an African-American male in a high-end vehicle can lead to profiling, "I don't bring ... my (expensive) cars to New Jersey anymore."

Britt has been arrested or faced charges in four traffic stops since 2010 — two for license issues, one drunken-driving case and one case of eluding police. He paid fines in two of those cases, was acquitted of the DUI charge and saw one license case get dismissed. Two of those incidents were in his homestate of New Jersey, where the state police were embroiled in a scandal in the 1990s that resulted in authorities agreeing to a consent decree that expressly barred racial profiling in traffic stops. The decree was dissolved in 2009.

Britt also said in a separate post he records the police during traffic stops with his cell phone and has been let go because of his actions.

Back in July, The Tennessean's John Glennon noticed Britt didn't spend much of his offseason in New Jersey and asked him about it and Britt piled it on:

"It was just to get away from everything and try something new in the offseason. Just to get out there and get some fresh air because the New Jersey air is horrible, especially around my area. It stinks around there. My wife says it all the time because she's from south Jersey and the air is a little cleaner there."

Sorry Kenny. That's just the Jets out in the Meadowlands.

Chris Johnson pays tribute to Newtown victims on 'MNF'

It must have been an emotional few minutes when Chris Johnson sat down and wrote down the first and last names of all 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on his shoes before Monday night's game against the New York Jets.

Like the Jets players who wore SHES decals on their helmets, the Tennessee Titans running back made  a small gesture to pay tribute to the innocent victims of the shooting that meant something bigger than the game.

"Kind of heartbroken, so just something to try and give back and show tribute to those families knowing how much they hurt," Johnson said.  "And a situation where on "Monday Night Football" everybody around the world is watching."

Johnson wrote the names of each of the victims on his shoes along with "RIP SHES" and a cross on each one.

Whether it was some sort of coincidence or a message from above, those same cleats led Johnson on an amazing 94-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

They were the deciding points in the Titans 14-10 victory.

Braylon Edwards sued for child support again

Braylon Edwards will be returning to the field dressed in New York Jets green once again tonight and it sounds like this won't be the only return engagement he will have coming up.

The wide receiver is being sued for child support again after fathering a second love child with yet another woman, according to Page Six of The New York Post.

Edwards — who was picked up on waivers by the Jets from the Seattle Seahawks — is being sued in Manhattan Family Court by the fashion blogger Ashton Whittington after she gave birth to a son 18 months ago.

The controversial and often-troubled NFL star — who tweeted that the Jets decision makers were "idiots" before rejoining the team — will make his repeat performance with Gang Green tonight against the Tennessee Titans.

It looks like Edwards doesn't learn from past experiences.  He was already sued in 2010 by "America's Next Top Model" contestant Nik Pace with whom he had a son, Braylon Jr., now three years-old.  And he was let go by the Jets after the 2010 season

Page Six reports that Edwards and Whittington had a relationship around the time he was arrested in September 2010 [for DWI], and she became pregnant.

They are no longer together and Edwards pays for interim child support, but Whittington is suing for a more formal child support agreement.

Pace was suing Edwards for child support in 2010 and he tried to have the case heard in Georgia, hoping to "pay less money," said the Post story.  They later settled for much lower than Pace's reported $70,000-a-month demand.

In March, Edwards tweeted his devotion to his his most recent girlfriend Victoria Bow with these sweet words: "I will never let you down.  You are my world ... My twin, my soul, my earth, my beginning and my end.  Damn, I am on top of the world."

The Jets are a lot easier to romance.  In his tweet to the team, Edwards had them at "idiots."

Jets' Ryan confident that Braylon will play Monday night

Receiver Braylon Edwards is listed as questionable for his first game back with the New York Jets — while he deals with a hamstring injury that limited his practice all week — but Rex Ryan is confident that his new acquisition will be on the field Monday night against the Tennessee Titans.

"How much he'll play we'll see," the head coach said."  But I remain optimistic for Monday night."

The Jets will need all the help they can get for quarterback Mark Sanchez as the team clings to its slim chances for a playoff spot.  TE Dustin Keller  and WR Stephen Hill are listed as doubtful and did not practice Friday — making them almost a sure bet not to suit up.  Ryan's offense is starved for a passing game.

The Seattle Seahawks waived Edwards, who last played for the Jets in 2010, last week because of what they thought was a more serious hamstring injury.  The Seahawks believed Edwards would miss at least three weeks but the Jets took a chance on the talented wideout — even after he called Jets decision-makers "idiots" — and it looks like the old sticks and stones refrain just might be true.

Ryan later updated his receiver's status.

"I believe he will play," said Ryan.

Titans Marc Mariani's gruesome leg break brings back memories of Theismann and LT

Nobody likes to see an athlete's season— or even career— cut short but, if you are old enough to remember Lawrence Taylor's infamous hit on Joe Theismann on a Monday Night Football game in 1985, Tennessee Titans Marc Mariani's gruesome broken leg injury injury brought back those same nightmares.

Mariani broke his left leg while returning a punt against the Arizona Cardinals.  Replay showed he snapped his leg near the calf as he went to the ground at the end of a 14-yard return with 9:40 left in the first quarter Thursday night.

He remained on the ground for several minutes as a team doctor put an air cast around his broken leg.  He was carted off the field after a few teammates came over to comfort him.




Not surprisingly, he did not return to the sidelines.

Mariani, a seventh-round draft pick out of Montana, was a Pro-Bowl returner in 2010.

Best wishes for a speedy return— in more ways than one.

Kenny Britt vents frustration at Titans' $9,915 fine via Instagram

Tennessee Titans receiver Kenny Britt took to social media on Wednesday to air out his frustration over a fine for missing a scheduled injury rehabilitation session.

On his Instagram page, the former -Rutgers star posted a picture of a $9,915 fine on a receipt that says "2012 Tennessee Titans Fine Sheet" across the top.  Under the photo, Britt wrote:

"Yu gotta be (expletive) kidding me .. Walk back to dis .. Don't dey know I have kids .. I'm tired of dis (expletive)"

Britt, the fourth-year receiver for the Titans is no stranger to trouble, already has eight run-ins with the law since he was drafted by the Titans in 2009.  He was in New York Monday to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about his most recent DUI.

Britt is currently on the "unable to play" list and has been going to rehab for his surgically repaired knees.  He missed his scheduled session on Tuesday.

The talented player keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons and it looks like he might get another chance to post some more Titans' fine sheets in the near future.

Tennessee dining chain offers Peyton free pancakes to sign with Titans

A Nashville-based restaurant chain has stacked the deck in favor of Peyton Manning signing with the Tennessee Titans— more like stack the plate with pancakes.

Shoney's, the popular southern dining spot, wants to sweeten the team's offer and will give the free agent quarterback and former-University of Tennessee legend a free stack of the griddle cakes every day throughout his career in Nashville if he signs with the Titans, according to a press release and ad placed in the The Tennessean last week.

The sign reads: "Peyton, Sign here and Tennessee Would Really Be Stacked" in white letters with a picture of a stack of pancakes dripping with syrup and butter.

Below the pancakes, the ad says "Shoney's CEO wants to sweeten the deal.  Sign with our hometown team and you'll receive FREE PANCAKES EVERY DAY throughout your career here in Nashville.  Let's win.  And Let's Eat."

If Manning does sign with the Titans, the offer would stand for any of the Nashville area Shoney's only.  But with the Titans owner Bud Adams offering the sought after quarterback a $60 million contract, I don't think limiting the number of Shoney's where Manning could scarf down the wheat cakes covered in maple syrup would be a deal breaker.

A follow-up ad is being considered but the company had better hop to it.  I hear a San Francisco restaurant chain is offering Manning a lifetime supply of sourdough bread if he signs with the 49ers.

NFL Will Not Fine Players For Wearing 9/11 Tribute Gear On Anniversary

The NFL players who wear special cleats and gloves to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks this weekend will not have to shell out a fine for breaking uniform rules according to Yahoo! Sports.

Players from Redskins tight-end Chris Cooley to Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who had tweeted photos of the colorful Reebok gear, expected to pay fines for wearing the special cleated shoes and gloves in Sunday's games.

On Friday afternoon, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said that the players would not be fined for wearing the tribute gear, despite breaking the league's strict uniform policy.

"We have extensive plans for Sunday to respectfully recognize the significance of the day," Aiello said.

All NFL players, coaches and sideline crews will be wearing special 9/11tribute ribbons on their apparel during the opening Sunday of the season.

The colorful equipment was spotted inside the New York Jets locker room this week and center Nick Mangold and tight end Dustin Keller said they plan to wear the cleats and gloves.

Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs posted on his Twitter account about the possibility of having a fine levied against him for donning the red, white and blue gear.

"So once the breast cancer game is played, players can wear pink gloves and shoes as much as they like," Briggs tweeted.  "For the anniversary of 9/11 game, why is it if I wear shoes and gloves that are the colors of our nation's flag...I will be fined by the league."

"Reebok did a great job on these gloves and shoes...looks like I'm getting fined this week.  Lol!"

All the players who chose to wear the gear in honor of the day won't have to worry about getting fined this week, but let's see what happens after all the ceremonies and tributes are done.

Chris Simms Hands-Off Pot Bust Blame to Backseat Pal

Tennessee Titans quarterback Chris Simms is passing his smoking-and-driving pot bust to a friend who was in the back seat of the car when it was pulled over last summer.  Simms, the son of popular former-New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, smelled like marijuana and refused to take a blood test, according to the arresting officers.

Yesterday, Simms' lawyer said that the 30 year-old QB--who was driving a Mercedes SUV back from a party in a with his wife Danielle, friend Charlie Granitell and another man in the back seat--noticed Granitell starting to toke up.

"Get rid of that stuff!" Simm's lawyer told the jurors Simms screamed at Granitell right before they were pulled over at a Manhattan DWI checkpoint on July 1.

Police Officer Francisco Acosta said Simms was pulled over for speeding and driving erratically and testified that Simms admitted he had smoked marijuana.

Acosta said, " He [Simms] was out of it, like a zombie.  He was very, very unsteady on his feet."

The QB's defense attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said the officer got it wrong and that Simms said his friend, Granitell,  had been smoking the weed.

Granitell will take the stand today in Simms defense of the misdemeanor stoned-driving charge and admit he was the guilty party according to Steinberg.

Simms' wife, who was eight months pregnant at the time of the arrest, will also testify.

Acosta told jurors, "She [Danielle] was telling him, 'Don't say a word!  Don't tell them anything!  Don't take any tests!'" during the arrest.

Simms is facing one misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs.  He claims he was not stoned and would not jeopardize his wife and unborn baby by driving while impaired.

Simms faces a year in jail and a fine if convicted.  He is not expected to testify.

If he can pass the blame to his friend, it might be the biggest completion of his career.