On the surface, this is a story about data and numbers. These things are important. Vital, actually. They tell stories. They tell truths that are often undeniable. But ultimately, numbers and statistics like the one you’re going to read are about people. Real human beings denied real opportunities to do what they really love.

This story about data and numbers actually begins over 25 years ago. It was Super Bowl XXXII between the Packers and Broncos in January of 1998 and one of the biggest stories of that week was a mild-mannered man named Sherman Lewis.

Lewis was the offensive coordinator for the Packers, one of six Black offensive coordinators in the NFL that year. Lewis had a strong football pedigree. He was third in Heisman voting in 1963 while playing on a Michigan State team that was futuristically racially blended at a time when segregation was king. He’d eventually enter into NFL coaching and by 1998 had coached in multiple Super Bowls as an assistant. He’d lead greats like Joe Montana, Brett Favre and Jerry Rice.

That week leading up to the game was stunning. That’s because not only was there a championship to play, but in many ways the NFL was on trial for how it treated its Black coaches. In fact, there’s rarely been such a guttural and aggressive public reckoning on the issue of lack of Black coaches like that moment.

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Lewis said at the time there was little else he could do to become a head coach, which never happened. ‘I can do no more. As an assistant coach, I can’t,’ Lewis said. He added: ‘I think I’ve served a hell of an apprenticeship, though.’

In the conversations I had with Sherman, privately then and in the years since, his largest concern wasn’t just what was happening to him, but the coordinator pipeline overall — and this brings us to that remarkable piece of data.

Lewis feared there weren’t enough Black coaches behind him in the offensive coordinator pipeline. And while he was hopeful, Lewis believed owners would ignore Black coaching candidates and that pipeline would dry up. ‘What will it be like in five years?’ he’d say. ‘I hope things change but I’m not so sure,’ he’d explain.

He was right to be concerned. If time is indeed a flat circle, we are at that place again, where Black coaches are being shunned at the most important coaching position in football.

Entering this season, there were no Black offensive coordinators in the NFL for the first time since 1988, according to an analysis by USA TODAY Sports. So, it was the first time in 36 years this had happened.

That Super Bowl year with Lewis, there were six: Lewis, Sylvester Croom (Lions), Jim Skipper (Giants), Jimmy Raye (Chiefs), Kippy Brown (Dolphins), and Ray Sherman (Steelers).

Several decades later, there were no Black offensive coordinators entering this NFL season. As of now, there is just one, Thomas Brown, and he only reached that position Tuesday after the Bears fired Shane Waldron.

The NFL did not make Jonathan Beane, its Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, available for an interview.

This story is problematic because it shows how the fight for equality in the NFL never seems to end. We could get the usual quotes from people on why this is, the usual comments, the usual excuses. But we know the answers.

So we’re going to state the obvious. The reason there were no Black offensive coordinators at the beginning of the season is systemic.

Primarily, though not exclusively, head coaches are hiring their buddies. The people they feel comfortable with. Often, when this happens, Black coaches lose out, because they aren’t part of the old boy network. There is a lack of comfort with them.

Why aren’t Black head coaches hiring Black offensive coordinators? That’s a fair question but there’s only six Black head coaches. It shouldn’t all be on them to balance things out.

This problem persists because race persists. It’s a powerful, corrosive force that is everywhere, but also nowhere, as some people refuse to even acknowledge its existence. You can’t blame the NFL for being incapable of solving a problem that world leaders and presidents can’t fix.

Also, in fairness to the NFL, the league continues to push for change. It has, in fact, made a steady and purposeful effort to diversify the league at many levels. Several years ago, the NFL enacted a rule requiring every team to hire a minority or woman offensive assistant coach.

“It’s a recognition that at the moment, when you look at stepping stones for a head coach, they are the coordinator positions,” Steelers owner Art Rooney II, the chairman of the NFL diversity, equity and inclusion committee, said in 2022. “We clearly have a trend where coaches are coming from the offensive side of the ball in recent years, and we clearly do not have as many minorities in the offensive coordinator (job).”

It represented the first hiring mandate in the history of the Rooney Rule, which was named after Art Rooney’s father, and is designed to increase minority hiring at all levels of the sport.

The league also entered this season with a record nine head coaches of color. For those of us who have been covering this issue our entire adult lives, this was indeed a remarkable moment.

Still, despite that progress, something still isn’t clicking. Multiple things can be true. There can be progress but also moments like this one that are unacceptable. There should never be time in the 21st century NFL where heading into a season there are no Black offensive coordinators.

‘I can’t mandate that somebody hires me,’ Lewis said in 1998. ‘All I can do is keep winning and keep going to Super Bowls. I’ve got a good job. I think a lot of guys who have been head coaches in this league would love to trade places with me. This is my fifth Super Bowl. I’ve won four of them.’

This quote could easily apply today, to the lack of opportunities some Black assistant coach hasn’t gotten but probably deserved.

So, yes, on the surface this is a story about data and numbers. These things are important. Vital, actually. They tell stories. They tell truths that are often undeniable. But ultimately, numbers and statistics like the one you just read are about people. People denied real opportunities to do what they love.

Lionel Messi returns to action with the Argentine national team Thursday night for a 2026 World Cup qualifying match on the road against Paraguay. The match is underway, and is tied 1-1 in the first half.

While Messi has not declared he will play in the next World Cup, he is still playing games with Argentina to help them qualify for the tournament in the twilight of his legendary career.

Messi started the match to captain Argentina against Paraguay, which will be his second-to-last game in 2024. He’ll play one more match this year as Argentina hosts Peru next Tuesday in Buenos Aires.

Messi, the Inter Miami star in Major League Soccer, saw his historic MLS season come to an end with a first-round exit to Atlanta United last Saturday.

Argentina, the World Cup champions, sits atop the Conmebol World Cup standings leading the South American teams with 22 points, while Paraguay is tied for sixth with 13 points.

The big storyline heading into this Paraguay match: Will fans adhere to Paraguay’s ban of Messi jerseys to field a greater home-pitch advantage?

Follow along here for live updates from the match.

Antonio Sanabria scores bicycle kick goal: Paraguay 1, Argentina 1

You have to see this highlight: Paraguay’s Antonio Sanabria has scored on a beauty of a bicycle kick to tie this match in the 19th minute.

Lautaro Martinez goal: Argentina 1, Paraguay 0

Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez, the club’s leading scorer during their Copa America title run this summer, found the back of the net in the 11th minute to help his side take a 1-0 lead. Referees initially ruled Martinez was offside on the play, but the goal was allowed following VAR.

Diego Gomez misses shot near net in 8’: Paraguay 0, Argentina 0

Paraguay’s Diego Gomez, Messi’s Inter Miami teammate, missed a shot toward the net early in the 8th minute of the match. His shot was deflected and right of the net. Still, an early opportunity for the Inter Miami striker.

How many matches has Messi played with Argentina national team?

Messi’s start against Paraguay tonight is match No. 190 he has played with Argentina in his legendary career.

How to watch Paraguay vs. Argentina live stream?

The match will be live streamed on Fanatiz pay-per-view for $29.99.

What time is the Paraguay vs. Argentina match?

The match begins 6:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. in Argentina, and 8:30 p.m in Paraguay).

Is Messi playing tonight?

Yes, Messi is expected to start and captain Argentina in the match.

Argentina vs. Paraguay starting lineups

Messi will be a starter tonight. Here are the Argentina and Paraguay lineups for the match:

What did Paraguay say about Messi jersey bans?

Paraguayan Football Association manager Fernando Villasboa wants fans to support the home side in Thursday’s match. He issued a ban for Argentina jerseys, jerseys of Argentine clubs, and jerseys supporting Argentina players on other clubs around the world.

That includes Messi’s Argentina, Barcelona and Inter Miami jerseys (okay, maybe a few Paris Saint-Germain ones, too).

“We won’t allow the other team’s shirt. It’s not a problem against Messi. We respect the careers of all footballers. It’s just that the home ground is very important to us,’ Villasboa said at news conference on Wednesday.

Messi had hat trick in his last match with Argentina

Paraguay vs. Argentina puts Messi against Inter Miami teammate

The match also puts a spotlight on Paraguay’s Diego Gomez, the No. 1 player on the MLS 22 under 22 list from this season and Messi’s Inter Miami teammate.

It’ll be their first match against each other in international play.

What’s next for Messi in 2025?

Messi posted a farewell to the 2024 MLS season on his Instagram account this week, following Inter Miami’s playoff exit.

“A season ended in which we continued to grow as a club and, although we achieved some goals, we wanted more,” Messi wrote on Instagram Monday. “Thanks to all the people who joined and supported us. Now let’s get ready to come back stronger next year.”

Here’s more on what’s next for Messi next year and beyond.

DENVER – The federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy case of Colorado football player Shilo Sanders asked several questions last week about a critical issue in this whole strange saga.

Why did Shilo Sanders not show up for his trial in Texas in 2022 after being sued by a security guard at his school in Texas?

His no-show at trial led to a $11.89 million default judgment against him, which in turn led him to file for bankruptcy last year.

If he had shown up or hired an attorney to help, he could have defended himself or negotiated a settlement to avoid this worst-case outcome. He’s instead had to resort to trying to get that debt erased in bankruptcy court.

The bankruptcy judge held a court hearing in the case last week.

“It was a default trial; my client did not have a chance to share his side of the story,” Shilo’s attorney, Victor Vital, told the judge in the hearing.

“He didn’t have a chance?” Judge Michael Romero asked. “He intentionally chose not to show up.”

“I don’t agree with that, Your Honor,” Vital said.

Sanders is the son of Colorado coach Deion Sanders. What he did or didn’t do in that Texas court case now has him in a financial jam that’s led to an inspection of his apartment and a pursuit for more information about his property.

How it got to this point

Shilo Sanders, now 24, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year in an effort to discharge the debt he owes to John Darjean, a former security guard at his school in Dallas. Darjean accused Sanders of throwing an elbow into his upper chest area and punching him when Darjean tried to confiscate his phone at school in 2015, when Shilo was 15 years old. As a result of the alleged assault, Darjean claimed he suffered severe and permanent injuries to his spine, leaving him incontinent.

Darjean sued Shilo and his parents for damages in 2016 – a civil lawsuit in Texas that they fought for years, including in deposition testimony by Shilo and counterclaims filed by Shilo against Darjean. Deion and Shilo Sanders described Darjean as the aggressor, not Shilo.

But after both parents were dropped from the case by early 2019, Shilo went off to college in South Carolina that year as the sole remaining defendant in the case at age 19.

‘There was no evidence he was aware of the trial’

In 2020, he dropped his attorneys in the Texas civil case and didn’t hire new ones until long after the trial was over. His previous attorneys told the court in 2020 that they had “been informed by Sanders that he is unwilling or unable to continue funding the defense of this case.”

Trial notices later went to his email address and address in South Carolina after he had transferred to play football for his dad at Jackson State, according to court records. If he had kept an attorney to receive notices for him, he wouldn’t have missed it.

“Did he notify the court of his whereabouts at all so he could receive notice of the trial?” Judge Romero asked.

“I’m not aware of that,” Vital said. “I know that mailings went to him that were returned undeliverable.”

“It’s his duty to notify a court when he moves so he can receive official notices… is it not?” the judge asked.

“It’s incumbent upon a party to notify the court of his whereabouts,” Vital said. “What I will say, Your Honor, in response to what you’re asking, there’s no evidence he was aware of the trial.”

No-show leads to default judgment against Shilo Sanders

The Texas case instead went to trial without him in 2022, where the judge considered evidence in the case: 76 exhibits and six witnesses, according to Darjean’s attorney, Ori Raphael.

The judge then issued the $11.89 million default judgment against Sanders, along with findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Shilo was in his teens when much of the litigation happened and just 22 when it went to trial.

“I don’t know many early-20s individuals who would be well-versed in understanding the consequences of their actions in a legal proceeding,” said attorney Kate Buck of the firm McCarter & English, who is not involved in this case but has worked on bankruptcy and sports cases.

“I just wonder where it went wrong that he didn’t have the guidance to understand the importance of his participation in trial and to have representation all along the way,” Buck said. “There may have been any number of reasons that things went the way they did, but it does seem sort of like a parade of horribles in a sense that something he did as a minor continued to follow him into adulthood.”

Vital told the judge he only knows the notices were returned as undeliverable.

“I’m not aware of what he did or did not do,” Vital told Romero. Shilo himself said in July that ‘everybody is gonna know the truth about everything’ someday but declined to get more specific. The University of Colorado said he and his father would not comment further on the pending case.

Was he ‘willful and malicious’ in 2015?

The judgment and findings from the Texas court left no doubt about who was found responsible for Darjean’s injuries.

“The Court finds that John Darjean’s injuries and damages were a foreseeable consequence of the physical assault perpetrated by Shilo Sanders,” said the findings and conclusions signed by a judge in Texas in April 2022.

A big question about that now is what to read into that judgment and findings. Darjean’s attorneys have asked the judge to rule in summary judgment that the debt is not dischargeable under the law because it stems from a “willful and malicious” injury from the debtor – a specific exception to discharges in bankruptcy law.

But those exact words don’t appear in the default judgment and findings against Shilo Sanders, leading the judge to question whether there might need to be a trial to answer that question: Was Sanders acting willfully and maliciously then? This relates to his state of mind at the time.  

Raphael told the judge Shilo already had his chance to defend himself in court and shouldn’t be allowed to relitigate what happened in 2015. He wants his client to collect on all of his debt.

“That lawsuit carried on for six years,” Raphael told the judge. “There was substantial participation by Mr. Sanders. He filed four amended answers, multiple counterclaims. He was very involved.”

‘He quit the game’

After not showing up for trial, Shilo Sanders also did not appeal the Texas judgment.

“He had the chance for six years to raise it, to come to trial and do it,” Raphael told the judge. “The game started. He got on the field. He left before the whistle blew. He quit the game.”

The judge poked fun at the football analogy.

“It’s not appropriate to bring in a football (analogy) in this particular instance,” the judge said.

The judge could rule on that issue in coming weeks. If the judge sides with Darjean, Shilo would be on the hook to pay back the debt, including from future earnings. If the judge sides with Shilo, the issue could go to trial about whether he acted willfully and maliciously in 2015.

Shilo Sanders, a starting safety for Colorado, was not required to attend the hearing last week and did not. His team is 7-2 this season and plays Utah Saturday in Boulder.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

Week 11 of the 2024 NFL schedule promises to be a consequential one.

It starts Thursday night, first place in the NFC East on the line when the Washington Commanders invade Philadelphia to face an Eagles team that moved atop the division Sunday.

Same story in the AFC North, where the Baltimore Ravens are currently a half-game out of the top spot but can claim it by vanquishing their archrivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the Sunday’s early window of games. Playoff implications will also be at stake in the other prime-time games, the Los Angeles Chargers hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night, while the Houston Texans visit the depleted Dallas Cowboys on Monday for Lone Star State bragging rights.

But the game of the week will kick off late Sunday afternoon, when the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills resume their spirited rivalry in Western New York. If the reigning – and still undefeated – Super Bowl champions run their record to 10-0, their margin over most of the teams chasing them for home-field advantage in the playoffs will begin to approach an insurmountable cushion. But if the Bills can win their sixth straight, the head-to-head tiebreaker would pull them within one game of supplanting K.C. for the conference lead.

What will happen? Our panel of NFL experts renders its predictive verdicts:

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(Odds provided by BetMGM)

Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles
Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
Jacksonville Jaguars at Detroit Lions
Las Vegas Raiders at Miami Dolphins
Los Angeles Rams at New England Patriots
Cleveland Browns at New Orleans Saints
Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans
Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets
Atlanta Falcons at Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals at Los Angeles Chargers
Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys

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