Juwan Johnson and the Cheerful Apocalypse of the Global Touchdown By Our Man in the End-Zone, filing from a bar with suspiciously sticky floors in Paris It is 3:17 a.m. Central European Time when Juwan Johnson, 6’4″ and technically a New Orleans Saint, hauls in his seventh touchdown catch of the season somewhere above the…
The Atlanta Falcons: A Tragicomic Case Study in Globalized Masochism By Our Correspondent, filing from an over-air-conditioned airport lounge in Doha where the only thing colder than the AC is the NFL playoff memory bank If you mention the Atlanta Falcons to a sommelier in Bordeaux, he’ll swirl his glass, sigh theatrically, and mutter something…
The Detroit Lions Schedule as Seen from the Edge of the World By L. Marais, Senior Correspondent, Dave’s Locker Global Desk It is 3:47 a.m. local time in Reykjavik when the first PDF of the Detroit Lions 2024 regular-season schedule leaks onto a Mongolian message board devoted to yak-milk futures. Within minutes, currency traders in…
Giants vs. Commanders: A Microcosm of Empire, Ego, and the Eternal Art of Missing the Point By Our Correspondent, filed from a press box that smells faintly of spilled lager and geopolitical anxiety The contest between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders is, on paper, a mid-table NFC East scuffle with playoff implications…
Mike Evans and the Mirror He Holds Up to a World That Can’t Catch By the time Mike Evans’ latest one-handed, gravity-defying grab hits the highlight reels from Lagos to Lisbon, three things are already certain: (1) the Earth will keep turning, (2) Tom Brady will still be playing somewhere, and (3) at least one…
Baker Mayfield and the Global Theater of Quarterbacking Dave’s Locker International Desk | June 2024 From the upper deck of Raymond James Stadium you can spot cruise ships gliding toward the Gulf of Mexico, their passengers clutching watered-down margaritas and pretending Florida is still exotic. Down on the field, Baker Reagan Mayfield—6-foot-1, 215 pounds, and…
Chargers vs Chiefs: A Micro-Melodrama for a Planet That’s Already on Fire By Diego “No Refunds” Morales, International Desk The game will be played in Kansas City on Sunday, but the real action is everywhere else. From a windowless bar in Manila where the feed lags exactly six seconds behind Lagos—just long enough for a…
Cam Newton and the End of the American Colossus By L. Marchetti, Senior Correspondent, Dave’s Locker Global Desk From a rooftop bar in Lagos, where the Naira performs daily acrobatics against the dollar, the highlight reel looks different. Cam Newton—once the NFL’s grinning, Versace-clad demigod—appears in pixelated bursts on a cracked Samsung screen, stiff-arming ghosts….
