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USA Today
29 minutes ago
- USA Today
Ravens hire NFL referee Tony Michalek to work with the team on rules interpretations
The Ravens have hired longtime NFL referee/umpire Tony Michalek to work with the team and help out with rules interpretations/penalty explanations, and prevention, Jeff Zrebiec reports. Baltimore was one of the most penalized teams in the NFL last season, and with John Harbaugh looking to be more efficient, the Ravens have hired longtime NFL referee/umpire Tony Michalek to work with the team and help out with rules interpretations/penalty explanations, and prevention, Jeff Zrebiec reports. Michalek has been with the team throughout training camp. According to Sharp Football Analysis, the Ravens finished the 2024 season ranking fourth in penalties per game average. Baltimore's per-game average declined in the second half of the season, and hiring Michalek could be a part of the carryover from the improvement. The move is similar to what the Buffalo Bills did in hiring John Parry last year. According to Football Zebras, Michalek retired from the NFL back in April after 23 seasons as an umpire. He wore number 115 his entire career, serving on crews led by Gerry Austin, Bill Carollo, Bill Vinovich, John Parry, Gene Steratore, Ron Winter, Jerome Boger, John Hussey, Brad Rogers, and Tra Blake. During his career, he worked 12 playoff games – three wild card games, six divisional playoffs, two conference championship games, and Super Bowl XLII.
New York Post
29 minutes ago
- New York Post
NYC gunman Shane Tamura's former football coach, teammate recall killer as ‘gifted' athlete who became ‘completely different' person
A former high-school football teammate of Shane Tamura said the Park Avenue killer had become a 'completely different' person since his star-athlete glory days. 'Nine years ago, he was a completely different Shane,' the 28-year-old ex-colleague told The Post on Tuesday — the day after Tamura shot up a Manhattan skyscraper in a failed attempt to target NFL headquarters, which he blamed for alleged brain injuries despite never playing in the league. 'Compared to what's on the news, I don't think any one of us, none of my teammates, sensed anything like this from Shane,' said the man, who asked not to be identified and noted he wasn't close with Tamura and hadn't spoken to him since high school. Advertisement 'He was very devoted to football, he was a very good player, but off the field he was very like, nice, positive. He never really had conflict with anyone,' the man said. 3 Walter Roby, 60, who coached Tamura during his senior year at Granada Hills Charter High School, told The Post Tamura was a 'gifted' athlete and said he was 'heartbroken' to learn the news he perpetrated a mass shooting. FOX 11 Tamura was a standout running back at Granada Hills Charter and Golden Valley high schools in Los Angeles County, garnering numerous accolades including being named player of the game five times during his junior year in 2015. Advertisement 'He was very quiet. He led by his actions more than his word. He was athletically gifted. One of the best running backs that I coached,' said Walter Roby, 60, who coached Tamura during his senior year at Granada Hills, to The Post. 'He was coachable, meaning when you can ask him to do something he would do it. He was quiet, humble. He knew his athletic ability but he wasn't boastful about that.' Roby said he was 'heartbroken' at the news his former player had perpetrated the heinous mass shooting. 'It's just shocking. It took me a while to come to grips with it. that was tough,' the coach said. Advertisement Tamura took his own life after his shooting spree, in which he killed three office workers and an NYPD officer as he stormed 345 Park Ave. in Midtown with an AR-style rifle Monday evening, apparently targeting the NFL, Mayor Eric Adams said. Police found a rambling three-page note stashed in Tamura's wallet in which he blamed football for his alleged struggle with CTE — the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy — and begged for his brain to be studied after his death. The note also included an apology to someone named Rick, who NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed was Tamura's supervisor at the Horseshoe Las Vegas Casino. Rick was the owner of the crucial part of the gun that Tamura used. Detectives have located Rick and are currently questioning him, as well as the seller of the weapon's lower receiver, which an NYPD spokesman described as 'what makes the rifle fire.' Advertisement Investigators are still working to determine Tamura's exact motive, but sources said he is believed to have suffered at least two mental health incidents in 2022 and 2024. He received his gun permit in 2022, and a short time later notified police he was having suicidal ideations — which are not grounds for having a permit revoked, a source told The Post. 3 (Clockwise from top left) Blackrock exec Wesley LePatner, security guard Aland Etienne, NYPD cop Didarul Islam and Rudin employee Julia Hyman were killed in the July 28 massacre. Blackstone; Facebook; Obtained; Linkedin In 2024, Tamura had a second mental health contact. Sources told The Post police found the prescription medication Sumatriptan, used for relieving migraine symptoms, in Tamura's BMW, which he had double-parked outside 345 Park Ave. before waltzing into the building with his assault rifle. The gunman's former high school teammate told The Post he never saw any indication Tamura was struggling with mental illness. He conceded, however, that people sometimes change over time. 'You might know someone 9, 10, 12 years ago in general life and time can change a lot of things. I don't know what happened. It could have been some sort of mental illness, some kind of stress, something could have happened, I really have no idea.' Advertisement 3 Tamura played high-school football and blamed the NFL for his alleged degenerative brain condition, despite never playing in the league. DailyNews PrepSports As for whether Tamura ever got banged up enough on the field to wind up with a CTE diagnosis — as has afflicted a number of high-profile NFL players — Roby said he couldn't recall anything but an ankle injury that sidelined him for a single game. Asked whether he was good enough to have a chance to get drafted into the NFL one day, Roby said it was tough to say. Advertisement 'Did he have the ability to play at the college level? Definitely had that athletic ability. As far as the NFL, I don't know. Being in the NFL, you're talking about the 1% of the 1%. I don't know if he had that type of skill set.' Additional reporting by Tina Moore
Indianapolis Star
31 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
From Austria to U.S., from tight end to tackle; Colts' Bernhard Raimann is a $100 million left tackle
$60 million of Bernhard Raimann's new 4-year, $100-million contract is guaranteed Bernhard Raimann: 'I've always believed in myself. But I don't think I've ever thought it all the way through (financially), to be honest.' Raimann told his agent he wanted to be a Colt and he wouldn't holdout during negotiating WESTFIELD, Ind. — Colts left tackle Bernhard Raimann has always known where he wanted to get in his career. But he never thought about the implications. Not until Monday. Raimann signed a four-year contract extension on Monday worth $60 million guaranteed and up to $100 million overall, numbers that never seriously crossed his mind as he made his way from Austria to the United States, from high school football to Central Michigan, from tight end to tackle and finally from a raw prospect to one of the NFL's highest-paid offensive linemen. The big left tackle got to this point by staying focused on the task in front of him. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. 'I've always believed in myself,' Raimann said. 'But I don't think I've ever thought it all the way through, to be honest.' Raimann has always had big goals. But those goals were more about the football than the financial. 'The goal was always to be the best tackle in the league,' Raimann said. 'No doubt about it.' Raimann's work ethic was a big reason why Indianapolis drafted him. An even bigger reason why the Colts were comfortable handing him a contract that ties him for the sixth-biggest deal given to a tackle by average annual value. The first time Indianapolis offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. met Raimann, it was in the facility in the middle of winter. The dead part of the offseason, the days when a lot of NFL players are on vacation, resting their bodies in preparation for the work ahead. Raimann emerged from the Colts' indoor facility drenched in sweat, exhausted from putting himself through the paces. A lot of players talk about the importance of making daily improvements on their own; Raimann has put it into practice. When Central Michigan asked Raimann to switch from tight end to left tackle after his sophomore year of college, the world was shut down as a result of COVID-19. Raimann essentially had to learn the position on his own, and he laid the foundation to become a third-round pick. Raimann has never lost that devotion to his craft. 'The way he goes about his business and works to improve (stands out),' offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. 'He's done such a nice job of representing himself and representing what we want this program to be.' Handing a major contract to a player with that kind of work ethic is always a little easier ... even if this negotiation had its challenges. Raimann's agent, Chase Callahan, and the Colts talked about the left tackle's contract extension throughout the offseason. For a long time, the two sides were not close on the numbers; Raimann opened training camp by telling Jake Query of 107.5 The Fan's 'Query and Company" that the two sides weren't on the same page. Despite the comment, Raimann had tried not to think about it. He'd given his agents two requirements for his next contract. No. 1, Raimann wanted to be a Colt. He did not want to test free agency. No. 2, Raimann wanted to keep practicing. A holdout was never a possibility. When training camp opened without a new deal — NFL teams typically offer extensions to their best young players after their third season, when an extension is possible and a year remains before they hit free agency — Raimann tried to focus solely on football. 'You think about it,' Raimann said. 'You know you want to be here, you know you want the security for your family, but at the same time, you have a season to focus on.' Outside of his radio interview last week, when Raimann was asked a direct question about his contract negotiations, he had tried to keep his thoughts to himself. 'I tried to stay out of it as much as I could,' Raimann said. In reality, a deal was likely always on the way. Under general manager Chris Ballard, the Colts have almost always locked up their extension candidates before the final year of their contract began, even if it meant taking it all the way down to the wire — All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson agreed to his big-money deal the night before the 2022 season opener. Ballard has also always prioritized his offensive line, and after two years of uneven play at left tackle following Anthony Castonzo's retirement, the Colts know exactly how important the left tackle position is to a team. Beyond the quarterback, there is arguably no offensive position more important than the man who protects the blind side. A great left tackle presents an enormous problem for opposing defenses, who have to decide whether or not to sacrifice their best rusher at the altar of trying to get to the quarterback's back. 'It's kind of like running into a brick wall,' defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. 'Do you want to do that all day? It makes you think, take it to the next level setting up your rushes and your blitz packages to stay away from that guy.' Raimann is still developing. But he has improved by leaps and bounds every season. Raimann gave up nine sacks in 11 games as a rookie, seven in 15 starts in 2023 and just four in 14 starts a year ago. The way he's worked on his own, Raimann might be on the cusp of putting himself in discussion among the game's best offensive tackles if he can take another leap. And that made him a high-priced commodity, handing him the sort of contract that never crossed his mind when he was focused on reaching the next step. Raimann signed his deal on Monday, then headed right into practice on Tuesday, supported by the celebration of the team at the news he'd been given an extension. 'Honestly, I haven't even had much time to sit down and realize it,' Raimann said. 'It all seems a little bit like a dream right now.' Indianapolis has an off day on Wednesday, giving Raimann a chance to sit down with his wife and take it all in Tuesday night. To realize just how far he's come.
