Latest news with #PFTPM
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
The Malik Beasley gambling investigation started 18 months ago
On Sunday, it came to light that federal authorities are investigating Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley for possible gambling-related crimes. It's not a new development. Beasley's lawyer, Steve Haney, told the Detroit News that the investigation began roughly 18 months ago. It's being overseen by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. ESPN reported that an unnamed U.S. sportsbook detected heavy betting action on Beasley's statistics in January 2024, or thereabouts. With the American gambling industry still in a distinct and extended wild west phase, it's unclear whether and to what extent sportsbooks routinely monitor betting for suspicious trends and, if detected, whether they alert the authorities. The NFL has justified its dramatic about-face on gambling in part by explaining that the sportsbooks who pump the league's coffers with cash can let the league know when players or league/team employees are potentially violating the league's gambling policy. Here's something that occurred to me while discussing the Beasley case during #PFTPM. Are there occasions when the sportsbooks perhaps don't tell the league what's happening if/when such knowledge could lead to a potentially major scandal? It's fair to wonder, given that the NFL has yet to have a significant gambling scandal since the Supreme Court set the stage for an explosion of legalized sports betting in 2018. Is the league lucky? Are the league's educational methods sufficiently solid to keep players from serious issues that would undermine the integrity of the game? Or is the league able to essentially catch any kill and potential problems before they become the kind of thing that could create a wide range of consequences, from P.R. to legal to political? Maybe it is dumb luck. But, as it happens for every person who ever bets, at some point the luck runs out.
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Who's on the hot seat entering the 2025 season?
During Thursday's episode of #PFTPM, someone asked for a list of the coaches on the hot seat. I started to rattle off names before deciding to take the issue under advisement, Wapner-style, until Friday's episode. And then I nearly forgot to do it. During my extensive prep (i.e., none whatsoever) for Friday's show, I came up with a list of five and counted them down. Or up. If I simply wanted to push you to the attached video, I'd say, 'They're in the attached video.' But that's not my style. Especially when I need to type enough words to justify a full post. So here they are, from No. 5 to No. 1. And this is my own assessment of the broader, 32-team situation. I'm not reporting anything. I'm identifying the guys whom I believe are under the biggest cloud of uncertainty as the season approaches. 5. Panthers coach Dave Canales. There's a glass-half-full vibe around the Panthers, given that they finished relatively strong in 2024 after a disastrous start. If that comes to fruition for the 2025 Panthers, all will be well. If the wheels come off, it could spell doom for Canales, who enters his third season on the job. The key becomes owner David Tepper. Will the hard-charging, results-demanding, drink-throwing (at least once) owner tolerate, say, a 4-13 finish? It won't be easy for Canales, if that happens. Mainly because of the guy who signs the checks, and who issues the pink slips. 4. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer. The key to knowing Schottenheimer's job security is to know whether and to what extent he has guaranteed money beyond 2025. Usually, head coaches enjoy at least three years of guarantees. But there's nothing usual about the hiring of Brian Schottenheimer. He was on exactly zero teams' short lists during the latest hiring cycle. For the Cowboys, who wanted to have offensive continuity for quarterback Dak Prescott, it was either Schottenheimer or Eagles offensive coordinator (new Saints coach) Kellen Moore. Schottenheimer came cheaper. How cheap? So cheap that there would be no buyout if he's fired after one year? If so, Schottenheimer could need to do enough in 2025 to earn his employment for 2026. 3. Colts coach Shane Steichen. Through two seasons, Steichen is 17-17 with no playoff appearances. His non-interim predecessor, Frank Reich, went 40-33-1 with a pair of playoff berths and was abruptly fired. The swing and miss (so far) on quarterback Anthony Richardson is on Steichen's record. The failure to develop Richardson is on Steichen's resume. As the 2024 season ended, there was a haze of confusion as to whether big changes would be made in Indianapolis. Now that an ownership change has happened following the passing of Jim Irsay, it remains to be seen how Carlie Irsay-Gordon will run the team. And, most importantly, whether she'll want to hire a coach of her own after her first season in charge. How the team performs in 2025 becomes a massive factor in resolving what currently is a major unknown. Which puts pressure on Steichen to win enough games to make the answer an obvious 'yes.' 2. Giants coach Brian Daboll. On one day, Giants co-owner John Mara said he'd be sticking with G.M. Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll. Then, Mara said he's running out of patience. It's a mixed message to Daboll as to the potential impact of the upcoming season, and it necessarily puts him on the hot seat. It shouldn't. The Giants are in a difficult division. They need plenty of help from a talent standpoint. Mara should give his current regime more time. And not just a commitment that ultimately feels temporary. That's precisely how it feels in New York. 1. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel. Even at a time when everyone is 0-0 and all teams have plausible hope, it feels like the window has closed for a Dolphins team that could end up flying straight into the glass in 2025. There's dysfunction. There's turmoil. There's an unsettled situation with a star player who received a market-level contract in September 2024, and another star player who has said he wants out and who may feel the same way all over again if the 2025 season starts poorly. It all comes back to Tua Tagovailoa. Can he play well? Can he stay healthy enough to play well? Can the Dolphins win enough games to make it to the playoffs? Along the way, can they shed the narrative (as confirmed by linebacker Jordyn Brooks) that they go soft as the weather turns cold? Ultimately, it comes down to whether Stephen Ross will demand a major change if 2025 ends up being another disappointing season. Thirty years ago, the late Jets owner Leon Hess fired Pete Carroll after one season by saying this, 'I'm 80 years old. I want results now.' Stephen Ross is five years older than Hess was when he said that. The video mentions a few others who didn't make the top five. I'll defer to it for those. Mainly because I got to 800 words without having to do that.
NBC Sports
18-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
PFTPM returns today
The PFT Live hiatus began on Friday. I've promised to do #PFTPM during the break. And, yes, I've heard from more than a few of you that we've yet to post a new episode. I should have explained that the first order of business on Monday was to have my annual physical in Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, it was back to Pittsburgh for a non-serious medical issue that has been properly diagnosed and soon will be resolved — hopefully. So far, those are the only two things on the docket that will keep me from doing #PFTPM every weekday until PFT Live returns on July 28. Which means we'll get started today. If you have any specific questions or topics you'd like to see addressed, drop a line at florio@ We'll tape late this morning (which in that respect makes it not #PFTPM) and post in the afternoon (which in that respect absolutely makes it #PFTPM).
NBC Sports
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC Sports
The annual PFT Live hiatus starts now
We do it every year, right around now. The two-hour weekday show devoted to all things NFL embarks on a hiatus. This year's break begins today. PFT Live returns on Monday, July 28. Obviously, nothing changes here. We'll have many daily updates, every single day. I'll also be doing #PFTPM episodes on most of the weekdays during the upcoming break. Only days after we return, we'll be in Canton for the Hall of Fame game. And then comes the preseason. And the regular season. And on and on it goes, through Super Bowl LX on NBC and Peacock. Since the last hiatus ended, we've had a cast of co-hosts including Chris Simms, Devin McCourty, Rodney Harrison, Michael Holley, Charean Williams, and Myles Simmons. With a dash of Peter King. Thanks to all of them for helping to deliver a show that provides an authentic look at pro football, from various perspectives. And thanks to those of you who regularly consume the show, on Peacock or SiriusXM 85 or NBC Sports Now or Sky Sports or YouTube or clips on the website or via podcast.I'll be wide awake tomorrow morning, itching to do the show.
NBC Sports
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC Sports
Pablo Torre's Bill Belichick reporting sparks a fresh feud with Bill Simmons
The story that keeps on giving keeps finding new ways to give. Pablo Torre's thorough and detailed reporting on former Patriots coach Bill Belichick's decidedly un-Belichickian late-career turn has generated plenty of attention. And, as Belichick and Jordon Hudson have learned, with attention comes scrutiny. Ben Axelrod of explains that Boston native, Patriots superfan, and ultra-popular podcast host Bill Simmons took a few shots at Torre during a study of the ridiculously far-fetched 1978 football film, Heaven Can Wait, in which Warren Beatty's character (Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton) dies too soon, enters the body of multimillionaire Leo Farnsworth as rectification for the error, buys the team, and makes himself the starting quarterback in advance of the Super Bowl. 'Pablo Torre would've done a long podcast about Leo Farnsworth trying to practice with the team, and then done a media tour about it afterwards,' Simmons said. 'I've never seen anybody dine on a stupider story for a week and a half while pretending you're a journalist. What the fuck was that? Seriously.' Added Simmons: 'Belichick's dating a girl. 'Oh, let me do nine shows about it.' Settle the fuck down.' The Torre media tour wasn't planned. People wanted to talk to him about the Belichick story. That's how he ended up on #PFTPM last week; I asked him to do it. The reason was simple. People can't get enough of the story. Our traffic proves it, over and over again. For instance, our top four stories for May 2025 related to Belichick and his 24-year-old girlfriend/handler/publicist/idea mill/creative muse Jordon Hudson. But while a certain amount of flak from others in the media is to be expected for anyone whose success sparks natural and predictable resentment, Torre appears to be ready to engage Simmons. 'Since you have such a strong public opinion about my work,' Torre said to Simmons on Twitter, 'I happen to have a few questions for you, specifically. Unless you're afraid of [Pablo Torre Finds Out] and someone just 'pretending to be a journalist,' of course.' We don't know what the questions are. We don't know whether Simmons will answer them. But we know that, if Pablo Torre becomes sufficiently curious about something, he'll make it his mission to find out.
