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House Republicans have released a 111-page plan for reforming healthcare that they hope to vote on next week.

House GOP leadership aides also told reporters on Friday afternoon that they expected a vote on extending enhanced Obamacare subsidies to also happen next week as part of the amendment process to the final bill, called the ‘Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act.’ The subsidies have been the subject of fierce inter-party debate for Republicans.

‘We expect that there will be an amendment that I believe is being worked on, so the process will allow for that amendment,’ aides said.

The plan as-is includes provisions to codify association health plans, which allow small businesses and people who are self-employed to band together to purchase healthcare coverage plans, giving them access to greater bargaining power.

Republicans also plan to appropriate funding for cost-sharing reductions beginning in 2027, which are designed to lower out-of-pocket medical costs in the individual healthcare market. House GOP leadership aides said it would bring down the cost of premiums by 12%.

New transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are also in the legislation, aimed at forcing PBMs to be more upfront about costs to employers.

PBMs are third parties that act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical companies and those responsible for insurance coverage, often responsible for administrative tasks and negotiating drug prices.

PBMs have also been the subject of bipartisan ire in Congress, with both Republicans and Democrats accusing them of being part of a broken system to inflate health costs.

But the most divisive measure for Republicans is likely not yet fleshed out. 

A majority of House Republicans are against extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which were designed to get affordable health insurance for more Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democrats voted to pass the enhanced subsidies in 2021 and extended them through 2022 when they controlled Congress.

A group of moderate House Republicans has joined Democrats now in vehemently pushing for those subsidies to be extended again, as millions of Americans face near-certain healthcare price hikes beginning in January.

Two separate bipartisan efforts have been launched to force a vote on extending the subsidies in some form. But any such push would require support from virtually all House Democrats to succeed, and their leaders have not given their blessing to either plan.

‘We’re going to evaluate every single good faith proposal. But it has to meaningfully provide certainty to the American people who are at risk of having their health care ripped away from them,’ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Friday.

But conservatives have warned they would not support any such extension unless paired with significant reforms to what they view as a long-broken system that fuels healthcare price inflation.

‘I think that would be a disastrous plan. I mean, we’ve clearly seen that Obamacare is the Titanic. It’s going down. I think throwing money after it is just going to be wasteful,’ House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News’ Chad Pergram on Friday.

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A top Senate Republican argued that if allegations against ‘Squad’ member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that she married her brother to enter the U.S. were true, she’d be breaking several laws.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined the long-standing scrutiny against Omar Friday after President Donald Trump revived the allegations during a rally pushing his affordability agenda in Pennsylvania earlier this week.

In a post on X responding to a White House social media account that charged, ‘Yes, [Omar] married her brother,’ Cruz listed a trio of federal and state laws the progressive lawmaker may have violated.

‘If this is true, then Omar faces criminal liability under three different statutes,’ Cruz said.

Cruz argued that Omar could have committed federal marriage fraud, which stipulates that it is a felony to knowingly enter into a marriage to evade immigration laws, and could lead to up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and deportation.

Omar was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. in 1995 after her family was granted asylum. She became a citizen in 2000. Omar, who is Muslim, has been married legally three times, first in a religious marriage to Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in 2002, then to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009 before later divorcing and legally marrying Hirsi. In 2020, she married political aide Tim Mynett. 

Cruz noted that Omar could also be breaking Minnesota’s state incest law, a felony in the state punishable by jail time up to 10 years. He also contended that she could be liable for tax fraud, specifically if joint tax returns were filed while she was not legally married.

That violation would levy up to a $100,000 fine and up to three years in prison.

The Senate Republican’s legal analysis of the situation comes after Trump resurrected the unsubstantiated claims that Omar had married her brother for immigration purposes that have dogged the lawmaker since she entered politics nearly a decade ago. She has denied the allegations.

Still, Trump charged, ‘She married her brother to get in, right?’

‘If I married my sister to get my citizenship, do you think I’d last for about two hours or something less than that? She married her brother to get in,’ he said. ‘Therefore, she’s here illegally. She should get the hell out.’

Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back for comment from Omar’s office.

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Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark was limited to 13 games in her second season in the WNBA due to injuries, but Clark’s availability didn’t affect her ability to sell sports trading cards this year.

Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) revealed Clark is the most-collected active basketball player of the year, with over 136.7k cards graded. That’s more than LeBron James (59k), Stephen Curry (33k) and Anthony Edwards (30k) combined. Clark holds three of the top 10 most-graded cards this year, a clear sign of ‘a cultural phenomenon,’ PSA President Ryan Hoge said in a statement to USA TODAY.

“Collectors can’t get enough of Caitlin Clark,’ Hoge added. ‘Clark’s cards have generated record-breaking demand since entering the collectibles market 2.5 years ago. She’s risen to the No. 1 most-collected (active) basketball player, up from No. 6 in the top 10 in 2024. This kind of momentum in the hobby is only seen from the most elite athletes.’

Clark’s booming popularity, however, wasn’t enough to surpass Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. The six-time NBA champion was the top overall basketball player of 2025 with 206k graded cards. San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama rounded out the top three with 110.2k cards graded, a process in which a trading card’s condition is assessed before being encased and authenticated.

They both trail Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, who earned the title of the most-collected athlete of the year with 236.1k cards graded after leading the Commanders to the 2025 NFC Championship Game in his rookie season earlier this year.

Here’s an end-of-year look at the most collected athletes by sport, according to PSA:

Top Basketball Players of 2025

Michael Jordan: 206k cards graded
Caitlin Clark: 136.7k
Victor Wembanyama: 110.2k
Kobe Bryant: 74k
LeBron James: 59k
Cooper Flagg: 48.2k
Stephen Curry: 33k
Anthony Edwards: 30k
Shaquille O’Neal: 27.5k
Luka Dončić: 24.4k

Top Football Players of 2025

Jayden Daniels: 236.1k
Bo Nix: 115.2k
Caleb Williams: 99.1k
Drake Maye: 94.2k
JJ McCarthy: 89.4k
Michael Penix Jr.: 75.6k
Brock Bowers: 52.5k
Patrick Mahomes II: 52k
Malik Nabers: 42k
CJ Stroud: 38.4k

Top Baseball Players of 2025

Shohei Ohtani: 165.4k
Paul Skenes: 91.7k
Ken Griffey Jr.: 65.1k
Aaron Judge: 56k
Elly De La Cruz: 45.4k
Nolan Ryan: 37k
Bobby Witt Jr.: 35k
Jackson Holliday: 28.1k
Jackson Chourio: 28k
Bo Jackson: 27.3k

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Colorado’s new offensive coordinator, Brennan Marion, was hired by Deion Sanders despite not having a prior personal or professional relationship.
Marion overcame significant adversity, including experiencing homelessness in college and being raised by a single mother who sold roses to make ends meet.
He is known for his unconventional ‘Go-Go’ offense, a run-heavy scheme that helped lead Howard University to a major upset over UNLV in 2017.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders ventured outside his usual comfort zone to make arguably the most important hire of his coaching career. He hired somebody he didn’t personally know who didn’t play or coach in the NFL and didn’t come directly from another major college program.

His name is Brennan Marion, Colorado’s new offensive coordinator. And his unconventional Go-Go offense is just part of why he’s such a compelling pickup for Sanders.

This is a coach who overcame homelessness in college, who idolized Sanders as a kid and whose mom taught him the value of hard work by selling roses at nightclubs and bars.

Marion’s hiring was announced by Colorado Dec. 5. USA TODAY Sports spoke with his mom, brother and uncle to get a better sense of his story. Here are 10 things to know about him:

1. He was homeless in college

Marion, 38, was raised by a single mom in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. He went off to play junior college football in California, where the state’s abundance of junior college players often attracts the attention of major college recruiters. But he didn’t have the means to pay for his own apartment near DeAnza College in Cupertino, home of Apple, one of the world’s richest companies. So he lived in the team’s locker room or press box for a while eating electrolyte pills until a coach took him in. He later was recruited to Tulsa by assistant coaches Gus Malzahn and Mike Norvell, now the offensive coordinator and head coach at Florida State.

“This guy is fearless,” said Rich Gillcrese, Marion’s uncle. “I mean, nothing in front of him is unachievable.”

2. His mom sold roses to help pay the bills

His mom, Richelle Gillcrese-Hines, taught him the value of hard work at an early age when she would take him and his older brother with her while she sold roses at nightclubs and bars.

“I was showing them how to make money” instead of selling drugs, his mother said. Her children came along, she said, because they didn’t want a babysitter.

Marion’s brother D. Brandon Gillcrese is about six years older than Marion and remembers cutting the flowers and selling them during the wee hours of the morning.

“We’d try to sell the whole bucket, and that used to be a good night,” D. Brandon Gillcrese said. “Then we’d go to a diner and have breakfast at like 4 in the morning.”

3. He’s been sober for more than three years

This is according to a post from Marion on social media in July that alluded to his youth.

“3 years no alcohol, wine, beer nothing!” he wrote on social media site X. “I grew up in a bar I didn’t want to die in one! Just gotta go 1-0 everyday!”

Asked what he does in social settings instead, he said he drinks Shirley Temples, water and cranberry juice.

“I try to DJ & make sure everyone is having fun,” he said on X. “Stop thinking or worrying about the drinking.

4. He runs the Go-Go offense

It’s an uptempo and creative run-heavy triple-option-style scheme with a vertical passing game. In 2025, his Sacramento State team ran the ball 71.9% of the time and finished 7-5, one year after finishing 3-9 before Marion’s arrival.

Marion has been running versions of it since he coached high school football and beyond, including stops at Howard University and UNLV. His system helps give lesser talented or undersized rosters a better chance.

“He had to find a way to maximize the talent and kind of create a new way to be deceptive in his playcalling,” said Rich Gillcrese, Marion’s uncle.  

For example, as offensive coordinator at Howard, he led a massive upset against 45-point favorite UNLV in 2017, when the Bison won, 43-40. Sanders wants him to use it to revive a team that finished 3-9 in 2025.

5. He’s a cowboy

He wears cowboy hats and likes country music, according to his older brother. His time as a player at Tulsa and as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Baptist (2016) and Texas (2022) played an influence in this regard.

“He’s always loved country music, and he’s been all over the place in his football journey,” his brother said.

6. Deion Sanders is his childhood idol

He had Sanders’ trademark gloves, jersey and durag, according to his mom. She said his birthday cake at age 8 said “Neon Brennan” in honor of “Neon Deion.”

He played defensive back and wide receiver like Sanders did, too. He didn’t know him before recently, but now he’s working for him.

7. His mom came up with $25 for him to start football

She said she was making $4.35 an hour when Marion started his youth football career around age 7. She could barely afford the $25 fee for him to join a team. She paid it anyway, saying she threw the money on the floor and warned they might not have enough money for electricity and food.

But it was worth it. She said he scored five touchdowns in his first game.

“They kept saying Brennan Marion touchdown, Brennan Marion on the stop,” she recalled. “They did that five times.”

8. A knee injury derailed his NFL aspirations

It came in his final college game at Tulsa in 2008, all but ending a career that includes setting the all-time single-season record for yards per catch in 2007 with 31.9. He didn’t get drafted into the NFL but signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent before more knee trouble doomed his NFL chances.

Marion, who couldn’t be reached for comment, soon moved on to coaching at multiple levels, including high school and smaller colleges.

9. Video games influenced him

Playing football video games in his youth played a role in his development, too, according to his uncle, whose only about five years older than his nephew. He remembers one year “you could create your own formations and plays.”

“And I don’t think I ever saw him play the game other than that way after that,” Rich Gillcrese said.

It led him to figure out that he could “do his own thing.”

“When he started coaching, I was the least surprised person in the family,” Gillcrese said.

10. His brother is a basketball coach

Marion has one brother, who now lives in Los Angeles. He is a chef and a basketball coach of the California Storm women’s youth basketball team.

Both have come a long way from those humble beginnings near Pittsburgh with their mom selling roses.

“That’s what fed us,” D. Brandon Gillcrese said. “We saw the streets from a different lens. We saw a lot of things, but I think it shaped us.”

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

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-28 with a field goal on the final play.
Tampa Bay’s loss dropped them from first place in the NFC South, allowing the Carolina Panthers to take the top spot.
Several Falcons players, including Kyle Pitts and Kirk Cousins, had career-best or season-best performances.
Both teams wore throwback uniforms, with the Bucs in their ‘Creamsicle’ jerseys and the Falcons in their 1966 black jerseys.

Thursday night produced a fantastic-looking football game … and the quality of the contest was fairly gripping, too, by the end of the fourth quarter – keep reading, I’ll explain.

Big picture, the Atlanta Falcons converted a field goal on the night’s final play, overcoming a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-28 and knocking the Bucs out of first place in the NFC South. Losers of five of their past six since a Week 9 bye, the Buccaneers dropped all the way to ninth place in the conference – though their prospects of winning the division for a fifth straight season are hardly shattered.

It was a night with a range of winners and losers beyond the final result. They are as follows:

WINNERS

Kyle Pitts’ free agency outlook

Drafted fourth overall in 2021, the earliest a tight end had ever come off the board, Pitts hasn’t exactly lived up to those lofty expectations during his five NFL seasons – though the Falcons’ instability at quarterback during his tenure certainly hasn’t helped. But he had a career night Thursday, finishing with 11 receptions for 166 yards and three TDs, all career highs. Scheduled to reach free agency early next year, Pitts certainly showcased his talents anew on a national platform and might have rekindled visions of the type of impact player he could be in the right situation.

Bijan Robinson’s fantasy owners

The fantasy football playoffs have started in most leagues, and the Falcons tailback was probably a top-three pick in nearly all of them. And while a third-quarter fumble was a minor blemish, Robinson wound up with eight receptions, 175 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown – stats that should get the owners around the country who aren’t paying him a dime off to a good start.

Kirk Cousins

Atlanta’s 37-year-old quarterback had what was easily his best game of the season, passing for 373 yards and three TDs while orchestrating a 15-point fourth quarter and the game-winning field-goal drive in the final two minutes. Whether or not he’s a member of this organization in 2026, like Pitts, Cousins provided the kind of performance to the rest of the league that suggests he’s got a lot more good football left in him.

Spectacular throwback uniforms

The Bucs, who are celebrating their 50th season in the NFL, wore their “Creamsicle” jerseys for the first time this season. The Falcons, who are in the midst of their 60th NFL season, broke out the black jerseys and red helmets from their inaugural season in 1966. It was a pleasing visual aesthetic in the rare game when both teams were allowed to wear colored jerseys. Of further note, it was the first time these longtime rivals had ever met in a game with this particular combination of uniform eras. More, please.

Bucs’ pirate ship

While much of Raymond James Stadium was decked out in Florida Orange, aka “Creamsicle,” to capitalize on the throwback vibe, the pirate ship that rests in “Buccaneer Cove” behind the north end zone was not. Instead, it got a sweet holiday treatment, the masts adorned in Christmas lights.

Carolina Panthers

Sitting at 7-6, they backed into first place in the NFC South with Tampa Bay’s latest loss. Still, Thursday night’s outcome was basically incidental to the Panthers, who haven’t played since their 31-28 upset of the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 30. If Carolina, which plays the Bucs in Weeks 16 and 18, sweeps those two games, it wins the division regardless of any of those teams’ other results.

Zane Gonzalez

Atlanta’s third kicker of the season, his 43-yarder at the gun won the game. The last time Gonzalez kicked at Raymond James, as a member of the Washington Commanders in January, he also drilled a field goal on the final play – that one ending the Bucs’ 2024 season in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris

Atlanta’s general manager and head coach, respectively, seem to find themselves on increasingly warm seats given the Falcons were eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend for the eighth consecutive season. But give Morris, only in his second season on the job, credit for having his team ready to play on the road in a short week and effectively playing spoiler. Fontenot, who’s been in his role since 2021, could have a larger burden of proof to overcome given some of his unconventional personnel moves in recent years and ahead of owner Arthur Blank’s plans to re-evaluate the football operation after the season. But, for one night anyway, this group lived up to its estimable potential.

Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan

The Bucs basically had a full receiving corps for the first time this season on Thursday night. Evans, the likely future Hall of Famer, had a team-high six catches for 132 yards in his first game since Oct. 20, when he suffered a concussion and broken clavicle in a loss at Detroit. McMillan, who had 37 catches (8 for TDs) as a rookie last year made his 2025 debut after suffering a serious back injury in the preseason. He had two catches for 38 yards. The challenge moving forward could be finding a rhythm given Chris Godwin has only been back for a few weeks, while rookie Emeka Egbuka’s role is also bound to shift after he’s carried much of the receiving load up to this point.

LOSERS

Tampa Bay’s offensive line

LT Tristan Wirfs was back after missing Sunday’s loss to New Orleans, yet a battered group is still searching for the right combination − especially on a night when QB Baker Mayfield absorbed a season-high five sacks while the run game spent most of the night in neutral.

Sloppy Falcons

Atlanta committed 19 penalties (for 125 yards), the most in a game during their six-decade existence and the most by a team in a single game in the 2025 season.

Los Angeles Rams

Owners of the Falcons’ 2026 first-round pick, another loss by Atlanta would have improved LA’s chances of landing in the top five. Alas.

Baker, Bowles and the Bucs

Tampa Bay is in a tailspin that QB Baker Mayfield and coach Todd Bowles, who had an expletive-laden press conference after the game, can’t seem to stop. And while the team has most of its best players back in the fold, it’s playing its worst football at the worst time. Still, similar to the Panthers, Tampa Bay still controls its own fate – two wins over Carolina guaranteeing a fifth straight division championship.

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President Donald Trump is being sued by a historic preservation group seeking to stop construction of his new White House ballroom.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit Friday against the Trump administration, arguing that it skipped mandatory reviews and failed to seek congressional approval before demolishing the East Wing of the White House.

‘No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,’ the lawsuit stated. ‘And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.’

Attorneys for the nonprofit argued Trump’s project ‘should be immediately halted’ and work on the 90,000-square-foot ballroom project should be paused until the reviews are completed.

When reached for comment, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital, ‘President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate and beautify the White House – just like all of his predecessors did.’ 

Construction on the ballroom started in October, leading to the demolition of the White House’s historic East Wing. The project is being privately funded at an estimated cost of $300 million, up from a $200 million estimate in July when the project was unveiled.

The lawsuit claims the Trump administration failed to submit its demolition plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress before construction began, arguing it is ‘depriving the public of its right to be informed.’

Additionally, the National Trust said the project violates numerous federal statutes, including the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, and claimed Trump circumvented the Constitution. 

‘The President, acting unilaterally, is wholly without constitutional authority to build or demolish anything on federal Grounds,’ the lawsuit stated.

The National Trust is requesting that a federal judge prevent the Trump administration from continuing work on the Ballroom project until the necessary federal commissions have reviewed and approved the project’s plans, an adequate environmental review has been conducted and Congress has authorized the ballroom’s construction.

The White House is expected to submit plans for Trump’s new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the end of the year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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When Myles Garrett continues his pursuit of the NFL’s single-season sack record on Sunday at Soldier Field, it will be nothing less than must-see TV for one notable observer.

Bruce Smith, the NFL’s all-time sack leader, will be watching from his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, eager to witness what the Cleveland Browns megastar does next. Garrett, leading the NFL with a career-high 20 sacks, needs just three sacks to break the NFL record of 22 ½ sacks shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.

If anyone can relate to Garrett’s spectacular run at history it is Smith, the Hall of Famer who bagged 200 career sacks. You know. Greatness knows greatness.

“It’s so impressive,” Smith told USA TODAY Sports. “I’ll make sure I’m in front of the TV to watch him play whenever I can, to see how teams are blocking him and see how he is reacting to the double-teams and all the different types of blocking schemes that teams are putting in their gameplans to try slowing him down.”

Smith was quick to identify the game-within-a-game as he expressed appreciation for the art of hunting quarterbacks. It’s one thing that Garrett, whose 30th birthday is Dec. 29, is the first player in NFL history to post at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons and can notch the longest streak of his career against the Bears with a sack in his eighth straight game. It’s another whole matter that week after week, Garrett draws double-team blocks on roughly 30% of passing downs. Add the high rate of chip blocks, as running backs and tight ends help before releasing into pass routes, and the extra help probably rises to the neighborhood of 70% in trying to account for the favorite to earn his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award.

“The only thing that kind of slows him down is when they double- and triple-team him or use chip blocks – and he has found a way to anticipate when they are coming,” Smith said.

Last weekend, when Garrett had a sack and three tackles-for-loss, it was considered a major win for the Tennessee Titans that he was limited to a 4.27% pass-rush win rate that matched his lowest of the season. Against a quarterback, Cam Ward, sacked more than anyone in the league. Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, though, pointed to the Titans’ running game (35 rushes, 184 yards, 5.3 per carry) as the essential weapon.

“It’s hard to get a sack when it’s a run play,” Schwartz told reporters at Browns headquarters. “And even though I keep beating on my same horse, beating on the same drum, whatever the expression is, Myles had those tackles for losses in the run game. You know, what’s the difference? I mean, it’s a little bit like the 65-yard run, give up a 65-yard pass – same result. Probably gets a little less attention, but defensively, a run is a strike to your physicality and mentality and things like that.”

Now the Bears are similarly motivated to avoid having Garrett (6-4, 272) achieve the record on their watch, a week after not allowing Micah Parsons a sack in a loss at Green Bay. Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams said that Parsons, who had five hurries and two quarterback hits, was the ideal preview for what’s coming with Garrett.

“You just have to make sure that every single snap, every single play, everything is not allowing them to wreck the game,” Williams told reporters. “That’s something he can do. That’s something he’s done his whole career.”

Williams went on to marvel at Garrett’s “deep bag of tricks,” which includes a so-called “Euro step” basketball move that begins with a stutter-step, speed rushes, power moves, alignment wrinkles and then some.

Smith’s assessment?

“He is rare,” he said, warming to the theme. “It’s the way he bends. He’s got the patented move where he gets off the line of scrimmage quicker than anybody, particularly for that size, when he gets in arm’s-length reach of an offensive lineman, he bends. He ducks under the stab of the offensive lineman, and he’s still able to get leverage. It virtually makes him unblockable.”

It’s striking to hear Smith’s description. In his heyday with the Buffalo Bills, when Smith was in the midst of seven consecutive double-digit sack seasons, the big-man agility that complemented his strength was a signature trait.

“I would slap the hands and create separation,” Smith said. “His is a variation. He dips under the lineman’s grab-and-stab move, and is able to turn the corner with leverage. Those are two distinct and different pass-rush moves, but extremely effective.”

It’s too bad that for all of Garrett’s impact, the Browns (3-10) are nowhere near the NFL’s playoff picture. He could become the first player from a team with a losing record to claim the top defensive honor since Miami’s Jason Taylor in 2006. The losing has certainly taken a toll. In February, Garrett publicly requested a trade, which the Browns never considered – yet moved to sign him to a four-year, $160 million contract extension that at the time was the biggest for a non-quarterback in league history and ties him up through 2030.

Hey, he’s already outplaying his contract, so to speak.

As Smith put it, “He is a stud.”

The connection traces to Garrett’s NFL entry. When the Browns prepared to draft Garrett from Texas A&M with the No. 1 pick overall in 2017, Smith visited him in his hometown of Dallas and watched film with him. A few months later, when Garrett went to his first training camp, then-Browns coach Hue Jackson invited Smith, who played 19 NFL seasons, to spend time in camp for a few days to work with the prized pick.

And look at him now. With 122 ½ career sacks, Garrett ranks 22nd on the NFL’s all-time list. He’s averaged 16 sacks per 17 games. At this rate, in the coming years there might be a different conversation about Garrett chasing a coveted sack record.

Think he’s got a shot at topping 200 to break the all-time record?

“There are a lot of factors that will eventually come in play,” said Smith, who set his milestone during his final season, with Washington, in 2003. “But if anybody’s got a chance to do it, it would be Myles Garrett.”

Which another way of saying that game surely recognizes game.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell

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Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore is facing three criminal charges following his arrest hours after being relieved of his duties.

According to court documents released Dec. 12, Moore faces criminal allegations of felony third-degree home invasion, misdemeanor stalking-domestic relationship, and misdemeanor breaking and entering. Bond was set at $25,000.

Reached for comment by USA TODAY Sports after Friday’s court hearing a Michigan spokesman said the school had, ‘No additional comments at this time.’

Moore was taken into custody and booked into Washtenaw County Jail in Michigan at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 10, according to online courts records.

Police in Pittsfield Township, located just south of Ann Arbor where the University of Michigan is located, said in a statement that it responded to a location at 4:10 p.m. local time ‘for the purposes of investigating an alleged assault.’ The incident occurred approximately 30 minutes before Michigan announced it had fired Moore for cause. The Pittsfield Police Department said a suspect in the incident was taken into custody, but did not name the suspect at the time.

‘This incident does not appear to be random in nature, and there appears to be no ongoing threat to the community,’ the Pittsfield Township Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday, Dec. 10. ‘The suspect was lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail pending review of charges by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor. At this time, the investigation is ongoing.’

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said a university investigation found ‘credible evidence’ that ‘Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.’

Moore, 39, had just finished his second full season leading Michigan football after taking over the program from former coach Jim Harbaugh, who left to return to the NFL as the Los Angeles Chargers coach. Moore was an assistant on Harbaugh’s staff and part of the program’s sign-stealing scandal. Moore served as interim head coach when Harbaugh was suspended for four games during Michigan’s 2023 national championship season.

Moore was also suspended for three games – two in 2025 and another slated be served in 2026 – for deleting text messages sent to former Michigan analyst Connor Stalions in the sign-stealing scandal. Moore went 18-8 as head coach and led Michigan to a 9-3 finish in 2025, ending the regular season with a No. 18 ranking in the College Football Playoff poll.

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Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was fired for an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
This follows similar scandals involving the university’s president in 2021 and provost in 2020.
Moore’s alleged conduct apparently violates a university policy that was created in response to the 2020 provost scandal.

The University of Michigan has been down this road before.

In 2020, it was the university provost. In 2022, it was the university president. In 2025, it’s the head football coach.

All were accused of inappropriate behavior involving other people at the university. And now the university is using a law firm to investigate football coach Sherrone Moore – the same law firm that had helped it investigate university president Mark Schlissel just a few years earlier.

Moore was fired on Dec. 10, when athletic director Warde Manuel said “credible evidence was found that Coach Moore engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.” Manuel said Moore’s conduct “constitutes a clear violation of university policy.”

The three scandals are connected in various ways and involve some of the highest-ranking and highest-profile positions at one of the most prestigious schools in the Midwest. While it might imply problems with the leadership culture there, it also allegedly shows lines keep getting crossed even after the university responds with action.

How all the Michigan leadership scandals intertwine

The university didn’t say which policy Moore allegedly violated, but it appears to be Policy No. 201.97, which was implemented in response to the sexual harassment scandal involving former provost Martin Philbert, the second-highest administrator at the school.

That policy prohibits most supervisor-employee relationships and was put in place in 2021, shortly before Schlissel was fired in early 2022. Michigan fired Schlissel then after receiving information about an alleged sexual affair with a subordinate and determining that interactions with the subordinate “were inconsistent with promoting the dignity and reputation of the university.”

Nearly four years later, Michigan is back at it with Moore.

“This breach of trust by Coach Moore is painful for many in our community, first and foremost, the individuals directly involved in this situation,” interim university President Domenico Grasso said in a statement on Dec. 10. “Yet our swift and decisive action reflects the University’s staunch commitment to a campus culture of respect, integrity and accountability. All of the facts here must be known, so the University’s investigation will continue. I encourage anyone with information about this matter to confidentially contact UMconcerns@jenner.com.”

Michigan engages same law firm as last time

The latter email address belongs to the law firm of Jenner & Block, the same firm that the university engaged in December 2021 to investigate Schlissel.  That law firm’s website says it “helps educational institutions navigate large-scale matters that carry significant legal, political, and reputational risk.”

When the University of Michigan Board of Regents fired Schlissel on Jan. 15, 2022, it sent a letter to him noting his conduct was “egregious” in light of how he had committed to improve safety after the scandal involving provost Philbert. An investigation in 2020 had found that Philbert had sexually harassed multiple members of the university community, including university employees and graduate students who worked in his lab.

Schlissel sent a message to the university community about it on Aug. 3, 2020.

“The regents have been stressing with campus leadership the importance of diminishing sexual harassment and misconduct for many years,” Schlissel said in the message.

Michigan enacted policy in July 2021

The university looked into the Philbert case with a different law firm, WilmerHale. That firm recommended establishing a policy that became known as Policy No. 201.97, which forbids most supervisor-employee relationships.

It became effective in July 2021. But Schlissel apparently didn’t heed it, or at least the broader spirit of it. And neither apparently did Moore, according to the university.

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

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The White House accused Democrats from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of spreading a ‘cherry-picked’ and ‘false narrative’ Friday after they released another batch of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, this time featuring prominent figures including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Woody Allen.

The release comes about a week after the same group said it ‘received never-before-seen photos and videos of Jeffrey Epstein’s private island that are a harrowing look behind Epstein’s closed doors.’

‘Oversight Dems received 95,000 new photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate. These disturbing images raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. Time to end this White House cover-up. Release the files!’ Oversight Dems said Friday on X.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Democrats of ‘selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative.’

‘Here’s the reality: Democrats like Stacey Plaskett and Hakeem Jeffries were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein AFTER he was a convicted sex offender,’ she added. ‘The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked, and the Trump administration has done more for Epstein’s victims than Democrats ever have by repeatedly calling for transparency, releasing thousands of pages of documents and calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends.

‘It’s time for the media to stop regurgitating Democrat talking points and start asking Democrats why they wanted to hang around Epstein after he was convicted.’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., previously has fired back at accusations that he may have had dinner with Jeffrey Epstein or solicited donations from the disgraced financier. A House GOP effort to censure Plaskett also failed in mid-November.

A White House official also told Fox News Friday that the House Democrats selectively chose some of the photos to release, with random redactions intended for political purposes. None of the documents, the official added, have ever shown any wrongdoing by Trump.

Representatives for Clinton, Gates and Allen did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

Other images released Friday included photos of sex toys. 

On Wednesday, a federal judge cleared the Justice Department to release secret grand jury transcripts from Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman reversed his earlier decision to keep the transcripts under wraps, citing Congress’ recent action on the Epstein files. Berman had previously warned that the contents of the roughly 70 pages of grand jury materials contain little new information.

That move came just one day after Judge Paul Engelmayer granted the DOJ’s motion to unseal separate grand jury transcripts and exhibits in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal case.

Fox News’ Kate Sprague, Anders Hagstrom, Diana Stancy, Emma Colton and Leo Briceno contributed to this report.

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