WNBA star Angel Reese is one of the league’s most popular, visible and also occasionally controversial players, but she says she couldn’t make ends meet if her salary from the Chicago Sky was her only income.

In a recent Instagram Live video, Reese acknowledged the hate she receives from some fans not only fuels her performance, but also helps bankroll her lifestyle.

‘Hating pays them bills, baby,’ she said. ‘I just hope you know the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all. I don’t even think that pays one of my bills. Literally, I’m trying to think of my rent for where I stay at. Let me do the math real quick. I don’t even know my (WNBA) salary. $74,000?’

After a friend off-camera helped confirm her $8000/month rent for her luxury residence was more than her rookie contract pays, Reese exclaimed, ‘I’m living beyond my means!’

Reese, who led the WNBA in rebounding this season before suffering a season-ending wrist injury, has earned a substantial amount of off-the-court income, dating back to her college days.

As a senior at LSU, Reese signed a major endorsement deal with Reebok, one of roughly 20 agreements with companies such as PlayStation, Raising Canes, McDonald’s, Coach, Wingstop, Outback Steakhouse and Amazon worth an estimated $1.7 million.

‘Babe, if y’all thought … That WNBA check don’t pay a thing. Did that even pay my car note?’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t even be able to eat a sandwich with that. I wouldn’t even be able to eat. I wouldn’t be able to live.’

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The Tennessee Titans are parting ways with veteran safety Jamal Adams just a couple months after signing him to a free agent contract, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Titans placed Adams on the non-football injury reserve list on Saturday. When asked about the move, coach Brian Callahan said he preferred not to comment about the ongoing matter.

Adams and the Titans agreed on a 1-year, $1.125 million contract in July.

Adams missed most of training camp with a hip injury and played sparingly in the regular season upon his return, making four tackles in three games as a backup to safeties Quandre Diggs and Amani Hooker.

Adams is a three-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection but hasn’t played more than 10 games in a season since 2021.

All things Titans: Latest Tennessee Titans news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

Checking in for an NBA preseason game for the first time in 2 1/2 years, Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball received a standing ovation from the United Center crowd Wednesday night as he completed his comeback from extensive knee problems.

Ball began having issues with chronic soreness in his left knee during the 2021-22 season. Three surgeries and countless hours of rehab later, he took the court midway through the first quarter and hit his first shot − a 3-pointer from the left corner.

In 15 minutes of game action, Ball finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in Chicago’s 125-123 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ball said afterward he wasn’t thinking about his knee as he returned to game action for the first time in 1,006 days.

“That’s a positive thing,” he said. “I didn’t feel it at all. I felt like I was moving great. So now it’s just about building. Just continue to do it night in and night out.”

All things Bulls: Latest Chicago Bulls news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Ball’s return capped one of the more amazing comebacks in NBA history. He was averaging 13 points and 5.1 assists during his first season with the Bulls when he was sidelined by pain in his knee, making his last appearance on Jan. 14, 2022.

He underwent three different surgeries, the last one a cartilage transplant in March 2023 in an attempt to save his career.

In recognition of everything he went through to return, his Bulls teammates celebrated Ball’s return by giving him a game ball.

‘I had a goal to get back on the court,” Ball said. “And I knew it was a long journey, a long process. But it all paid off because this is what I was looking forward to. I’m just glad it’s here now and I can finally go out and do what I love to do.”

ATLANTA – Were you serious?  

Jerry Jones, the gregarious owner of the Dallas Cowboys, did not backpedal from the latest controversy as we talked for a few minutes before he left the NFL owners meeting on Tuesday evening. Jones fueled a stir with a testy exchange on Tuesday morning with the hosts of his twice-weekly radio shows on the Cowboys’ flagship station, 105.3 The Fan, the lowlight coming when he seemingly threatened to replace the three hosts. 

For real? 

“I don’t know,” Jones said, standing outside his waiting SUV. “I’ll tell you what: (Dale) Hansen and Brad (Sham) had to take a leave when they went too far, one way or another.” 

Hansen and Sham, media legends in the Dallas market, formed the Cowboys’ popular radio team for many years, except for the hiatus during the 1990s that was sparked when Jones became incensed by their criticism of his team. 

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Now with, well, more criticism intensifying for Jones and his team – based on performance – it’s rather tough to escape the hard questions.  

Jones knows better whether he admits it or not. When he conducted his typical Tuesday morning phone call two days after the Cowboys suffered another embarrassing loss on their own turf at AT&T Stadium, a 47-9 blowout courtesy of the Detroit Lions, he was more in the line of fire than embattled coach Mike McCarthy, star quarterback Dak Prescott or any of the other high-profile faces of the franchise. 

Remember, the bucks stop with the team owner, in more ways than one. 

“But they’re my own folks,” Jones said of the hosts, Shan Shariff, R.J. Choppy and Bobby Belt. “That’s like Brad and Dale, putting it on us, during a ballgame.” 

The dust-up has, intended or not, surely raised the attention level for the radio station and crew – who can take a bow for being mentioned in the same vein as Hansen and Sham. And hey, the Cowboys are generating buzz on a bye week with this kerfuffle, which Jones probably hopes also deflects some of the scrutiny of his battered team. 

Maybe this blows away and the hosts remain intact, the drama sparking intrigue for the next show. After all, the last one was riveting radio.  

At one point, Jones shot back at Shariff, “What’s your damn counter?” 

The 28-minute segment began with a lighthearted tone as Jones drove to the airport for the trip to Atlanta. He described himself as “sick” by the debacle on Sunday – which incidentally occurred on his 82nd birthday and included the Lions essentially toying with the Cowboys by unleashing a deep bag of trick plays – and joked that it was the perfect time to lay low and get out of town. 

Yet the flow, and Jones’ responses, got heated after roughly 12 minutes. For several minutes, Jones sounded defensive when the hosts sought responses about the minimal moves by the Cowboys in the offseason, fan apathy and other related topics. 

“I don’t want to demean or undermine their credibility, but we were kind of set up for taking me to the woodshed,” Jones told USA TODAY Sports. “And I wasn’t ready for that. I was going to talk about the very things they wanted to talk about, but I didn’t want it before a tribunal. 

“They’re not the ones,” Jones added of the hosts. “Now the guys that are listening, my ticket holders and fans, they are the ones.” 

While this episode casts light on the expectations that sports teams (and in other cases, leagues and colleges) have when it comes to content distributed via media partners that invest with rights fees, it’s rather stunning that Jones wouldn’t acknowledge that the radio hosts are essentially voices for his fan base. 

Undoubtedly, he is the NFL’s most accessible owner, with a Hall of Fame bust earned to a significant degree by his business acumen and leaguewide impact that includes his ability to market his immensely popular franchise better than anyone else. 

Yet even for a man who has contended that no publicity is bad publicity, he probably has more to lose than to gain from an image standpoint by getting into a spat spilling out from an interview. Sure, if the Cowboys roll on this season to become a champion, their enormous fan base would likely be forgiving. But what are the chances of that happening for the first time in decades? 

In any event, even if his mood was affected by the results on the field – and that frustration is no excuse – Jones lost points when he made it personal with the hosts. Yes, make no mistake, he was demeaning. He called them “yay-hoos” and told them it wasn’t their “job” to ask a certain line of questions. 

“I’ll get somebody else,” he said during the segment. “I’m not kidding.” 

I thought the questions were fair – especially when considering the Cowboys haven’t advanced to an NFC title game in nearly 30 years – even if they were uncomfortable. The hosts are conduits, asking questions that the fans would. Right, Jerry? 

“Not really,” he said. “They set the tone. I have fans all the time that I communicate with. They have more of a right, really, than guys that, frankly, I’m paying to put a show on. 

“You and I both know what I might get criticized for when I say that,” Jones added. 

Criticized for what, trying to squash freedom of speech? 

“That’s never been us,” he said. “Free as a breeze here.” 

Which is exactly why this episode is so bizarre. Jones has displayed some thick skin from the moment he purchased the franchise in 1989 and was unfairly vilified as the man who fired the legendary Tom Landry. Through one crisis after another for Jones and his team, in the football realm and off the field, you can’t say he wasn’t willing to stand up (with toes on the line) and face the music and otherwise explain himself. 

“I go with the flow when it comes with the media,” he said. 

It’s just that this time, the typically affable Jones pivoted out of character on his own show. Or maybe he let his ego get the best of him. Or both. In pondering how it went down, he mentioned the three consecutive 12-win seasons the past three years and acknowledged the big playoff losses. He was mindful of the typical calls for him to relinquish his role as the team’s general manager and defended his position – as he has for 5, 10, 20, 25 years and counting. 

In the Cowboys’ structure, Jerry’s son, Stephen, the chief operating officer, and Will McClay, vice president of player personnel, are key voices of influence for the GM.

“I’ve seen a lot of general managers come and go,” Jones said, alluding to the NFL landscape. “But for our situation, I’m the best one to ultimately make the call. I’m the one that’s paying the bills.” 

Which is exactly why he should be first and last in line when it comes to accountability. 

On top of their massive annual salaries, college football coaches often receive bonuses at the end of every season − extra money based on their team’s academic performance or appearance in a bowl game.

Last year, though, at least three Power Four coaches gave up parts of bowl bonuses to which they were entitled.

LSU coach Brian Kelly and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham each signed amendments to their contracts that reduced their bowl bonuses for the 2023-24 season only, with Kelly foregoing $400,000 he was scheduled to make and Whittingham’s bonus being reduced by $100,000. Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell also could have received a portion of the team’s bonus for winning seven games, but the school said he did not receive any bonus money in 2023-24.

LSU athletics department spokesperson Zach Greenwell said in a statement that Kelly reduced his bowl bonus to offer additional support ‘following an increased investment into our football program.’

‘Brian and (wife) Paqui Kelly have been generous supporters of LSU Athletics since they arrived in Baton Rouge,’ Greenwell said in a statement on behalf of LSU athletics, which did not specify whether the money was redirected toward a specific project or fund.

‘This is not the first time they supported LSU financially in an impactful way. The Kelly family previously committed $1 million in support of an improved athletic training room and recovery suite. … We are grateful to the Kelly family for their commitment to LSU.’

Utah spokesperson Paul Kirk, meanwhile, declined to provide any additional information on the one-time reduction to Whittingham’s bowl bonus. He also declined to make Whittingham or athletics director Mark Harlan available for an interview.

While bonuses generally make up a small portion of a college football coach’s annual pay, they can be lucrative in some cases. According to USA TODAY Sports research, Football Bowl Subdivision coaches pocketed more than $15.5 million in bonuses last season, led by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who got $3 million for helping lead the Wolverines to a national championship. Kalen DeBoer, who spent last season at Washington before taking over for Nick Saban at Alabama, also took home more than $1 million in bonuses.

Many six-figure bonus provisions are also all but automatic, such as the $500,000 that Kelly is due to receive every year for participating in a bowl game, a feat that LSU has achieved in 23 of the past 24 seasons. Last year, however, Kelly agreed to receive only $100,000 of that amount.

Whittingham, meanwhile, signed an amendment last October that reduced his bowl bonus to $175,000 from $275,000. The Utes finished 8-5 and lost to Northwestern in the Las Vegas Bowl last season.

Fickell’s bowl bonus provision is the most complicated of the group. Under the athletics department’s bonus policy, the team’s coaching staff earned a collective bonus of about $265,000 − roughly 4% of their combined base salaries − for the program’s seven-win season. If he had taken a proportionate share of the bonus pool, Fickell would’ve received $40,000. Wisconsin spokesperson Patrick Herb said the coach instead chose to distribute that money to the rest of his staff.

Follow the reporters on social media @Tom_Schad and @ByBerkowitz.

It was in 2021 when Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. The gravitational force of that moment changed everything. Nassib was then, and now, a hero. One example of his impact came not long after Nassib’s announcement when his father was approached by a crying woman.

Nassib’s father knew her but they weren’t close. It didn’t matter. Her son had watched Nassib’s video. That video in turn was the catalyst for the woman’s son to also come out. In this case, to his family. She relayed the entire story to Nassib’s father, who in turn told Carl. It was a remarkable moment. The beginning of many for Nassib and his impact.

Nassib didn’t just create a permission structure for any future NFL players who might want to make the same decision. He created that structure for anyone. To say that what Nassib did is historic is an understatement. But he isn’t done with trying to have a positive impact.

Nassib has continued to fulfill one of his biggest goals: creating a safer world for LGBTQ+ youth.

Nassib recently announced the NFL was again donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people. Its mission is to end suicide among that group.

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‘So when I came out back in 2021, I knew that would get a lot of attention,’ Nassib told USA TODAY Sports. ‘I wanted to make sure that attention was redirected to a really good cause.’

‘What I want to do is make sure everyone knows the facts about LGBTQ youth,’ Nassib added. ‘People don’t know that LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to harm themselves than their friends. They don’t know that the studies show if these kids have one affirming adult in their life, the risk of suicide goes down by 40 percent. So if you’re an uncle, aunt, coach, you can be that one adult and possibly save a kid’s life.’

The Trevor Project says that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ youth (ages 13-24) seriously consider suicide each year in the United States and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds.

The group’s research also found that 68% of LGBTQ+ young people reported that they had never participated in sports, with many citing concerns of discrimination and harassment from peers and coaches, fears of how others would react to their LGBTQ+ identity, and policies preventing them from playing on the team that matches their gender identity.

Nassib wants to change all of this. It’s his greatest fight.

It’s all been a part of Nassib’s journey which he describes this way:

‘It’s been incredibly rewarding. It’s invigorating. I’m a solution-oriented person. I hope there’s a world in the future where no kids are harming themselves. They feel like they don’t have to come out. They can be themselves. They can live their truest life.

‘I am every day very lucky to live the life that I live and be who I am. And that’s only because of all of the great people that have come before me in my community, and all the allies that have come before me. I have been afforded all of these privileges and rights and opportunities, and I feel especially charged to do my part to make sure that continues, because I want the next generation to have it better than I had.’

Wanting this is one of many things that makes Nassib special.

Kirby Smart’s coaching peers anointed him after Nick Saban retired, but Texas quietly became the bully of the block.
Steve Sarkisian accelerated Texas Longhorns with big linemen and fast wide receivers.
‘Heck of a challenge,’ Steve Sarkisian says of facing Georgia.

Kirby Smart’s coaching peers gave him his flowers after Nick Saban retired, and whether a show of admiration or an attempt to ramp up pressure on Georgia’s coach, no one disputed that Smart stood first in line to rule college football in Saban’s absence.

Saban, Smart’s old boss, had been the one coach Smart couldn’t beat consistently.

With the GOAT on Retirement Avenue, who was going to stop Smart’s mean machine from rumbling unabated down the track?

Brian Kelly joined Kiffin in anointing Smart the apparent ruler.

“I think the mantle has been passed to him,’ LSU’s coach told me before the season.

Heavy lies the crown.

Georgia, ranked No. 1 in the preseason, looked vulnerable throughout the first half of the season.

While Smart struggles under the weight of royalty, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian chowed down on a corndog Saturday, totally at ease, after his Longhorns embarrassed Oklahoma, 34-3.

With the fried fair food polished off, next up for Texas: Chow down on the Dawgs.

No. 1 Texas will host No. 4 Georgia on Saturday.

‘Heck of a challenge,’ Sarkisian said of facing Georgia.

No argument on that, but the Longhorns are favored.

For a three-year span from 2021-23, college football featured no better coach than Smart, and when Saban and Jim Harbaugh departed the scene after last season, Smart’s coronation began. Meanwhile, Sarkisian’s team inched closer to becoming the bully of the block. The Longhorns ascended quietly – at least, as quietly as anything can happen in Texas.

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Alabama knocked out of playoff in favor of SEC team

SMART MONEY: Why Georgia has the highest-paid college football coach

Smart elevated Georgia to a national championship game appearance in his second season.

Sarkisian marched the Longhorns up the mountain at a more gradual, but steady, pace.

2021: 5-7.

2022: 8-5.

2023: 12-2, College Football Playoff appearance.

2024: 6-0, No. 1 ranking.

When Sarkisian took the Texas job after two seasons as Saban’s offensive coordinator, he asked himself how the Longhorns needed to evolve to compete with Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Notre Dame.

“Those were the (five) teams that were rotating in the College Football Playoff,” Sarkisian said. “What type of team do we need to have to (compete with them)?”

Sarkisian developed a two-prong strategy. He wanted to transform Texas at the lines of scrimmage and make the Longhorns bigger and more physical. And, he aimed to increase Texas’ speed at wide receiver.

When Sarkisian learned in 2021 that Texas would join the SEC three years later, he didn’t need to alter his strategy, because big linemen and speedy wide receivers are a winning recipe in the SEC, too.

Sarkisian used transfers to reload with a good batch of wide receivers before this season, while developing the SEC’s best offensive line, of which even Smart sounds envious.

“The (Longhorns’) offensive and defensive lines are big and extremely physical,” Smart acknowledged. “… You rarely see the combination of offensive and defensive lines with depth at that size.”

Smart earned his crown, but retaining power can prove as difficult as attaining it.

Here’s what else I’m eyeing in this ‘Topp Rope’ view of college football:

Future of Alabama-Tennessee rivalry in jeopardy?

Alabama and Tennessee will play in the third Saturday in October rivalry that regained steam after the Vols revived under Josh Heupel a few years ago. Tennessee’s 2022 upset to snap a 15-game losing streak to Alabama remains one of the top college football moments of this decade.

As Heupel put it Monday, Nick Saban retiring shouldn’t reduce this rivalry.

“This rivalry has been around a long time before Nick Saban or I was a part of it,” Heupel said. “The magnitude of this rivalry is the historical nature.”

Would the SEC be willing to put history on the shelf?

This game is not guaranteed beyond next season. The SEC has not approved a schedule format for 2026 onward.

Rivalries like the Iron Bowl and Egg Bowl will persist no matter what, but second-level rivalries like Alabama-Tennessee and the LSU-Ole Miss Magnolia Bowl, which delivered an instant classic last week, could be in jeopardy unless the SEC increases from eight to nine conference games in 2026.

A ninth conference game would allow the SEC to earmark three annual rivals for every team, while rotating the six other opponents.

The feeling around the league is that the SEC will increase to nine conference games in 2026, but it expects a pot sweetener from media rights partner ESPN in exchange for the extra SEC game and preserving annual rivalries like Alabama-Tennessee.

An additional conference game would stiffen the schedule. Would the College Football Playoff selection committee reward that? The SEC and Big Ten could put their heads together to possibly recalibrate the playoff format if they’re not satisfied that their scheduling will be otherwise rewarded.

It’s hard to imagine that, when push comes to shove, the SEC would let Alabama-Tennessee slip off the annual schedule.

Emails of the week

My column on potential Florida coaching candidates if the Gators fire Billy Napier and can’t or won’t land Lane Kiffin stirred up quite a response. Here’s a sampling:

Gary writes: I read your article and noticed you didn’t mention Dan Lanning at Oregon as an option to replace Napier.

My response: I’m living in the land of the reasonable. Lanning would be a dang fool to leave Oregon for Florida. With Phil Knight’s checkbook at his disposal, Lanning is well taken care of at Oregon, both in terms of his own paycheck and Oregon’s NIL machine.

Chip writes: You missed the obvious potential candidate to replace Napier if Kiffin says no. Kliff Kingsbury!! That’s who most smart and informed Gator fans want if we can’t get Lane. … In his first year with the Commanders (as Washington’s offensive coordinator), he’s got one of the NFL’s top offenses, and he’s doing it with a rookie quarterback. No Lane? Let’s get Kliff!

My response: If Florida needed an offensive coordinator to scheme plays for Jayden Daniels, then I’d agree Kingsbury would be a good choice. But, that’s not the job. Kingsbury got fired from his two head coaching jobs, at Texas Tech and then the Arizona Cardinals. His career coaching record across college and the NFL is 63-77. Yikes. The only way this hire would make sense is if he could bring Daniels with him.

Three and out

1. How about this: Army and Navy are undefeated.

Playoff selection will occur before the Army-Navy game on Dec. 14. Theoretically, Army or Navy could win the American Athletic championship game, earn the Group of Five playoff bid, and then lose the Army-Navy game before appearing in the playoff.

Army coach Jeff Monken isn’t sweating Navy just yet.

“Do they still have a football program at that school?” Monken quipped about Navy during an interview with ESPN.

Memphis can attest that they do.

2. West Virginia coach Neal Brown stuffed his foot in his mouth following the team’s home loss to Iowa State that dropped the Mountaineers to 3-3.

Win or lose, Brown said, fans ought to have enjoyed the atmosphere they supplied.

“I get that they want to win, but what I would say is, did they have a good time?” Brown said. “Did they enjoy it? It was a pretty good atmosphere. You know, I’m assuming they probably had a pretty good time tailgating.”

Sure, I’d bet the tailgate was fun, but Busch Light goes down just as smoothly tailgating in your garage before watching the home team lose on TV. It’s cheaper, too.

3. Oregon’s Dan Lanning sent 12 defenders on the field in the final seconds of the Ducks’ 32-31 victory over Ohio State, willing to trade a 5-yard penalty, while time drained off the clock, in exchange for an extra defender to help prevent the Buckeyes from hitting a big play. A clever move, which caused the NCAA to adjust its rules.

Elsewhere, Florida’s Billy Napier accidentally sent 12 men out for a field goal just before halftime of the Gators’ 23-17 overtime loss to Tennessee. The Gators were flagged, assessed yardage and a clock runoff, preventing them from trying the field goal again.

The duality of man.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

The ‘Topp Rope’ is his football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network.

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