Authentic Los Angeles Rams Todd Gurley II Jersey Womens/Youth/Kids Sale

“Are you asking if I get cold chills and then wake up yelling Tom Brady’s name?”

By Deyscha Smith July 12, 2019
The Celtics continue to dominate NBA Summer League, posting a 113-87 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The victory pushed Boston into the No. 1 ranking for Summer League, thanks to a strong performance from Robert Williams, who finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists, shooting 7 of 9 from the field, while newly-signed rookie Grant Williams finished with 21 points and Tacko Fall had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 17 minutes.

Todd Gurley on Tom Brady and Super Bowl LIII loss:

Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley II said he does “not think about” his team’s 13-3 loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. Gurely assured everyone that he has no resentment toward the loss, or even Tom Brady, despite this Instagram post (that Brady liked):

In a Q&A with The Athletic‘s Molly Knight, Gurley continued the light humor. “Are you asking if I get cold chills and then wake up yelling Tom Brady’s name?” he jokingly- asked, adding:

“Nah. I don’t think about the game too much, to be honest. I’ll see stuff on the internet and be like, dammit, we could have had it. It was one of those moments for me where I just looked at it like a blessing to be able to do something I always wanted to do. To play in the Super Bowl feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But also to come short is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

An injured Gurley had only 10 attempts for 35 yards during the championship game, but the opportunity to play made him feel like he had “won”. However, Gurley has not watched the film since the loss.

“Working out is the only time I torture myself,” he said.

More from Boston.com:

Patriots linebacker Elandon Roberts says he was harassed by police outside his home in Texas Here come the Dodgers: A perfect test, but the MLB dynasty without a crown Women’s World Cup champ Allie Long’s hotel room was burglarized ACC bowl game comes to Fenway:

The Atlantic Coast Conference (Boston College) will host a new game at Fenway Park during the 2020 season, as was announced on Thursday. The game will be run by ESPN.

The agreement, which lasts until 2025, will also add the San Diego County Credit Holiday Bowl to the list. Games will be hosted in Massachusetts, Alabama, California, Texas, Maryland, Florida, New York and North Carolina.

Steph Curry on Kevin Durant’s departure from Golden State:

At the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, Steph Curry discussed Kevin Durant’s decision to leave the Golden State Warriors. Durant, coming off of an

Achilles injury, will join Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. While on Golden State, he and Curry won two NBA championships together but lost this year in the Finals to the Toronto Raptors.

Curry: “I mean, the three years that we had were special. With K.D., we had three straight Finals appearances. We won two of them, and we accomplished a lot as a group…The beauty of free agency is everybody has a decision, everybody has a choice. You want to find your happiness wherever that is. The beauty of the NBA is everybody has that decision at some point, especially guys that deserve it, like KD and other top free agents. I like to look at what we accomplished and focus on that and be extremely proud of this run that we had. Now we are going to have to recreate it in terms of what it means going forward.”

One of the people who works closely with Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley confirmed that the All-Pro has arthritis in his knee.

Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported in March that Gurley is dealing with arthritis but there has been no confirmation from either the player or the team to this point.

‘Arthritic component’
Trainer Travelle Gaines, who owns the Athletic Gaines facilities, told CBS Sports that Gurley will be ready for the 2019 season.

“Everybody knew when Todd came out of Georgia that there would be some kind of arthritic component to his knee, which is part of every surgery whether it’s a shoulder, a knee,  an ankle,” Gaines said. “He’s now at the Year 5 mark; all we’re doing is managing that. If we can pound him less in the offseason while keeping his weight down, working on his  strength, working on his agility in short areas, that’s going to give him a better chance to be healthy Weeks 14 through 17 when they really count.”

Gurley tore his left ACL in 2014, while at Georgia.

The 24-year-old racked up over 1,800 yards from scrimmage through the first 14 games of the regular season last year before sitting out the 15th and 16th games. Despite that  rest, he played sparingly in the playoffs, getting just 34 touches over three games.

He was voted a first-team All-Pro in both 2017 and 2018.

‘Not one thing has changed’
The Rams drafted Darrell Henderson in the third round this year, which fueled speculation about Gurley’s health and status with Los Angeles.

But Gaines doesn’t seem worried for his client.

“It’s never been told to me that there’s a plan to decrease his workload come Week 1. At the end of the day, you need solid running backs, and they grabbed a home-run running  back in the third round,” Gaines said. “If you watched the games last year, Todd typically sat out two to three series last year. I don’t see anything changing with that, so  you need a back who can catch, and I believe Darrell averaged around 9.0 yards per carry, a home-run type guy.”

Gaines has been Gurley’s offseason trainer for three years, and insisted that it was a reward of sorts that his workload was cut back.

“Not one thing has changed,” Gaines said. “Our routine has worked, he’s been strong, he’s been in great shape, he’s done well.

“He got a little tired toward the end of last year because he was carrying the ball a lot. Could he have played last year? Yeah, but when you already have the division and  seeding clinched, what was the point?”

Weight loss not related to knee
NFL Network’s Steve Wyche reported last month that Gurley was going to lose 6 pounds to play at 218 this year; Gaines said the weight loss is not because of his knee trouble.

“It was a collective decision for him to play a little lighter this year, not because of injuries, just because I just feel he’s one of the faster players in the league,”
Gaines said. “He doesn’t have to play at 224. 218 is only 6 pounds less, so I wanted to decrease his body fat a little bit and get him to the point where he’s a tad smaller so  he can be a tad faster and a little bit bigger from a lean muscle mass standpoint. He’s going from basically 10 percent body fat to 7 percent body fat.”

Gurley and the Rams agreed to a four year, $60 million contract extension on the eve of training camp last year, a deal that includes $45 million guaranteed.

Rams running back Todd Gurley has his eyes on the prize — both on and off the field.

Gurley and his team is looking to win a Super Bowl, but to do so, they’ll have to defeat the Cowboys in Saturday’s Divisional Round game, and the winner of Eagles-Saints to get to the Big Game.

And he’s also setting his sights on a popular person who has been in the news a lot this week.

MacKenzie Bezos, who will soon be awarded half of husband Jeff Bezos’ $137 million once the two finalize their divorce, got a shout out from Gurley on Twitter. Check out the Rams running back shooting his shot on Wednesday.

Aaron Donald became the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history early this year when he signed a six-year, $135 million contract extension with the Rams.

He’s putting that money to good use as he has helped power Los Angeles to its second consecutive NFC West title and continues to bolster his case for MVP with performances like Sunday’s. Against the Lions, his day was highlighted by a strip-sack forced fumble, which helped the Rams to a 30-16 win at Ford Field.

“I’m like that every play. I want to make that big play,” Donald said, via the Los Angeles Daily News. “Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games, and that’s what we want to keep doing it. When you have a bunch of guys flying around making plays, good things happen.”

Donald recorded two sacks and five tackles for loss and was also credited with four quarterback hits.

“It ain’t easy,” Donald said. “It’s definitely a lot of work. Just trying to find ways to help my team win and, when plays present themselves, take advantage of them.”

The four-time Pro Bowl player has already earned accolades for his work on the field. Last season, he won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year — which led to the multi-million dollar contract — when he finished the year with 11 sacks.

This season, with four games left in the regular season, he has already passed that mark with 16.5 sacks. But, winning the NFL MVP as a defensive player won’t be easy. The last defensive player to get that honor was linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986, and before him, the only other defensive player to win the award was Vikings defensive tackle Alan Page in 1971.

The MVP award almost always goes to quarterbacks or running backs, but teammate Todd Gurley II, who is one of the best rushers in the league, continues to be impressed with the fifth-year player.

“There ain’t really much to say,” Gurley said. “All you need to say is, ‘That damn A.D.’ He’s always making plays. That’s why I’m really never worried because we’ve got a guy like him back there to help make plays. He does it every week, every week, every week, every week. What’s understood shouldn’t have to be explained, honestly. You already know. You know what you’re getting with him.”

The Rams (11-1) will hope to clinch the NFC’s top playoff seed and a wild-card weekend bye in the coming weeks. The streaking Los Angeles team will face just one opponent with a winning record — the Bears on Sunday. The Rams other remaining opponents include the Eagles, Cardinals and 49ers.

Congratulations to those of you who have made the fantasy football playoffs!

It’s a long and difficult road to qualify, and while we seem to say this every year, it seemed like it was tougher than ever this season. Judging by the list of most common players on the rosters of 2018 ESPN fantasy football playoff teams, found below, your in-season moves seem every bit as important as how well you drafted.

These days, your in-season management might be even more important than your draft, considering that this season, five of the 25 most common players on the list below went undrafted, and another 10 were selected outside the top 100 in ESPN leagues. That comes on the heels of a 2017 season when 10 of the top 25 went undrafted and another six were selected outside the top 100.

Here are the 24 players who reside on rosters of playoff teams in at least 30 percent of ESPN 10-team standard PPR leagues, along with their preseason ADPs (average draft positions).

Unsurprisingly, the top two “players” — OK, a player and a team defense/special teams — were selected in the final rounds of ESPN leagues this season, James Conner (selected in 76.0 percent, in addition to the ADP rates in the chart above, in the seven days leading up to the NFL kickoff game) and the Chicago Bears defense/special teams (selected in 40.2 percent). Conner, who sprung to prominence as a result of Le’Veon Bell’s season-long holdout, has been a top-25 running back in 10 of his 12 games, a top-10 back in seven and top-five back in four of those games. The Bears D/ST, meanwhile, has been a top-10 defense in eight of 12 games and top five in five of those contests, both of those numbers the most at the position.

Despite those draft percentages, the vast majority of ESPN playoff teams who have Conner or the Bears D/ST acquired them via waivers, free agency or trade. Conner was drafted and held by only 3.6 percent of the ESPN playoff teams who roster him. That number is 8.4 percent for the Bears D/ST, meaning that either player came to the remainder of those teams via waivers, free agency or trade. (Many thanks to Sean Comerford, who oversees our League Manager product, for these findings.) Through 13 weeks, Conner is the fifth-highest-scoring running back, and the Bears are the highest-scoring D/ST (by 30 points over the second-place Houston Texans).

Draft-day success, though, isn’t entirely meaningless. The Nos. 1 (Todd Gurley II), 6 (Saquon Barkley) and 7 (Alvin Kamara) preseason selections on average all reside on at least 53 percent of ESPN playoff rosters, and eight of the top 10 picks in terms of ADP — as well as 17 of the top 25 — can be found on at least one-third (33.3 percent) of rosters.

If you’re of the mindset that the fantasy football MVP needs to not only be one of the highest-scoring players but also one selected somewhat later, then it was a good year for three in particular: Sophomore Patrick Mahomes, the top-scoring quarterback in the midst of a historic season; Christian McCaffrey, a preseason second-round pick, who is the No. 3 PPR scorer at his position thus far and the highest-scoring player in either scoring system in the past five weeks (164.3 using PPR, nearly 30 more than anyone else, and 128.3 using non-PPR); and Adam Thielen, the top-scoring wide receiver, who had one of the best eight-week, season-starting runs of any player at his position in history.

Let’s not overlook the late-season additions who landed on many playoff teams, illustrating the importance of attentiveness from the first day to the last: Spencer Ware, who made his first start of the season in Week 13, was found on the third-highest percentage of ESPN playoff rosters, while Josh Adams, who only moved into the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting lineup in Week 11 and still doesn’t place among the 50 highest scoring running backs, was found on 49.6 percent of playoff teams. We’ll see whether either helps propel their teams to a championship.

Here are the five most popular players at all six standard positions on the rosters of ESPN playoff teams:

Shifting our attention to the season’s biggest busts, the inverse of the above list is one strong identifier. Among only top-100 ADP players, here are the players who found themselves on the smallest percentage of ESPN playoff rosters, excluding those who suffered season-ending injuries, like Delanie Walker, Devonta Freeman, Marshawn Lynch and Will Fuller V, most notably:

The aforementioned Bell stands out the most on the list above and is arguably the season’s biggest bust thanks to his unexpected, season-long holdout. It’s remarkable, actually, that a player who scored zero fantasy points placed on 3.5 percent of playoff rosters, though that was (not surprisingly) by far the worst among first-rounders. It was second-worst among healthy players behind only Alfred Morris’ 2.4 percent.

Once we reach the championship round in ESPN 10-team standard leagues — that encompasses Weeks 16 and 17 — we’ll update you on which players reside on the most finalists’ rosters, and we’ll also check back at season’s end with the players most commonly found on championship teams. Last season, it was Gurley, Kamara and Dion Lewis who not only carried their teams into the postseason, but also helped lead their teams to a good share of championships. Who will it be this year?

We’ll find out in a few weeks!

This year, the third annual Taste of the Rams event will be held on Monday, November 5 at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. Join Todd Gurley II, the Taste of the Rams Honorary Chair and the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, to help raise funds and awareness for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Enjoy samples of LA’s finest food from our city’s award-winning chefs while mingling, taking photos, and getting autographs from your favorite Rams players.

This event has raised more than $310,000 for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, supporting the Rams mission to fight hunger in LA County. Every dollar donated enables the Food Bank to provide four meals to Angelinos in need. The Taste of the Rams event has provided more than 1.2 million meals for our neighbors in the Los Angeles community.

This year’s event will feature 15 of Los Angeles’ Top Chefs including: Steve Samson of SOTTO and Rossoblu, Neal Fraser of Redbird and Vibiana, Ted Hopson of The Bellwether, and Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken of Boarder Grill.

Please visit lafoodbank.org/RAMS for more information and to purchase tickets.

As the Los Angeles Rams cap off Week 11 by hosting the Kansas City Chiefs, Todd Gurley should have little trouble extending his impressive touchdown streak dating back to last season.

After an exciting Sunday filled with plenty of action, Todd Gurley and the Los Angeles Rams will help wrap up Week 11 when the Kansas City Chiefs come to town for what should be an epic Monday Night Football showdown.

Originally, this game between the two Super Bowl contenders was supposed to take place in Mexico City, but with the poor field conditions drawing concerns over player safety, the league made the obvious decision to move the game back to Los Angeles.

Now, the Rams have an opportunity to keep their undefeated streak at home alive, although that’s always easier said than done when looking at the high-powered offense the Chiefs possess thanks to Patrick Mahomes II.

When seeing how Los Angeles has a high-powered offense of their own thanks to Gurley and the rest of his teammates, it’s easy to understand why this game is expected to end up with the most points from Week 11.

Speaking of Gurley, it almost seemed nearly impossible that the former Georgia star would be able to top last year’s crazy numbers in which he recorded 2,093 yards from scrimmage to go along with 19 touchdowns.

Turns out, Gurley may end up topping those numbers after all when seeing how the star running back enters Monday’s game with 1,390 yards from scrimmage to his name to go along with 17 total trip into the end zone.

Even more impressive, Gurley has not only managed to find the end zone in every game so far in 2018, but dating back to last season, he actually has 13 games in a row with at least one touchdown.

There’s a popular saying about how all things must come to an end at some point, but the Rams shouldn’t expect Gurley’s streak to end on Monday, even if the Chiefs focus some extra attention on him at all times.

One of the most impressive things about Gurley is even when he isn’t having the best of games numbers wise, he’s still managed to find the end zone for Los Angeles when it matters the most.

Facing arguably the toughest team in the AFC means the Rams may end up needing all of the possible points they can get if the defense struggles stop the Chiefs’ offense, which is where Gurley comes into play.

With all due respect to Kansas City, Los Angeles is well aware the Chiefs aren’t exactly the most impressive team on the defensive side of the football. So if Gurley is given the opportunity to find the end zone, the Rams running back should have little trouble doing extending that touchdown streak to 14 games.

There’s been a decent amount of talk of Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley being in the mix of the MVP race in 2018 that has grown louder today thanks to a piece at the Ringer by Robert Mays.

But that talk is misguided.

Todd Gurley shouldn’t be in the MVP mix right now because Todd Gurley isn’t even the most valuable player on his own team.

No, that designation as of now goes to QB Jared Goff.

Through seven games, Gurley is averaging just shy of 100 rushing yards per game and just under 40 receiving yards per game. Last year, those averages were over 100 and 40. So in terms of yardage, he’s dipped just slightly, but that’s not worth criticizing as he remains arguably the best two-way threat in the entire NFL. The real difference between his 2017 and 2018 seasons to this point is touchdowns. Through seven games last year, JTG had five rushing touchdowns and three receiving TDs; this year, those numbers are 11 and three.

So really if we’re making a case for Gurley as the MVP, it’s largely on the back of the increase of his touchdowns. At the midpoint last year, I thought LT Andrew Whitworth was the team MVP. I’d still have Whitworth above Gurley in terms of MVP, but I’d press harder on the offensive line as a whole as the unit overall is much better and looks absolutely stellar through seven games. But the main reason Gurley has that half dozen more touchdowns?

The passing offense has put him in position to pick them up.

Through seven games a year ago, Goff had 1,719 passing yards averaging just more than 245 yards per game. This year, that number’s up to 2,130 with Goff averaging more than 300 yards per game. Whether it’s the system or the system QB, the passing game has taken a huge leap this year.

And there’s no getting around how much more valuable that is.

So while I’d make a case for the offensive line on principle and Gurley’s getting much of the acclaim, the most valuable player on the Rams in 2018 has been Goff. And it’s not close.

Take this line from Mays’ piece in which he lauds Gurley for his skill, performance and versatility (and rightfully so):

If the trophy goes to the most valuable player, then, based on the structure of the modern game, a quarterback has to win.

And that’s ultimately true.

What made an impressive case for Gurley last year was how impressive he was down the stretch and how relatively unspectacular Goff was for much of the final run. And what’s different this year is that Goff has been quite spectacular at times and even when he hasn’t, for the most part, has been very good.

So we can and should praise Just Todd. He’s a damn fine running back and maybe the best weapon in the entire sport. But the most valuable player this year has been Goff.

Mike Davis essentially stiff-armed the question.

It’s important to explain, before this goes any further, that the Seahawks’ second-year running back once shared the same recruiting class as Rams running back Todd Gurley II. According to Rivals, Gurley was the No. 5 running back in the 2012 class, while Davis ranked No. 7 at the position. As you’d expect, the highly touted four-star prospects were being pursued by many of the same schools, and because of that, they became familiar — even friendly.

In the SEC, Davis (South Carolina) and Gurley (Georgia) met three times, with the most memorable collision coming in 2013. In a 41-30 Georgia victory, Davis piled up 198 total yards and a touchdown, and Gurley countered with 140 total yards and a pair of scores.

To this day, they share a group chat with other notable running backs, appropriately titled, “The RBs.” According to Davis, “We always communicate.”

So, back to that question …

“No!” Davis responded emphatically, standing in front of his locker on Wednesday. “We’ve already been talking smack to each other. It doesn’t shut down during the week. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”

To this point, at least, there’s been plenty of smack to go around. In his first start of the 2018 season last week, the 5-foot-9, 217-pound Davis rushed 21 times for 101 yards and snared his first two NFL touchdowns.

And Gurley? Well, all the former first-round pick has done through his first four games is rank second in the NFL in rushing yards (338), second in rushing touchdowns (4) and fourth in running back total yards per game (133).

Moreover, the Rams are undefeated. And the running back they gave a four-year, $60 million contract extension to this weekend is a primary reason why.

“Todd has always been a good player,” Davis said. “Especially in college, oh my God. You just see it, and he’s kept it up, ever since high school, college and the NFL.”

The Seahawks know this better than most. In a 42-7 drubbing at CenturyLink Field last December, the 6-1, 224-pound Gurley wrecked Seattle to the tune of 180 total yards and four touchdowns.

The Rams running back won’t surprise the Seahawks on Sunday.

But that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to successfully slow him down.

“You’ve seen the film. He’s special,” said Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. “He’s a receiver. He’s a runner. He’s powerful. He’s explosive. He has great vision.”

Added middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was limited by a hamstring injury for the Gurley game last December: “We know they’re going to give him the ball. They’re going to get (it to) him with screens. They’re going to get (it to) him with runs — outside runs, inside runs.

“Our goal is to meet him everywhere. My goal is to meet him everywhere he goes.”

Davis’ goal, on the other hand, isn’t simply to add some extra group chat ammunition. He’ll also be looking to find the end zone for the second consecutive week. The fourth-year pro is expected to rotate with returning running back Chris Carson (hip) and first-round rookie Rashaad Penny.

The Seattle offense, which has rushed 73 times and produced a pair of 100-yard rushers in the last two weeks, will have to bulldoze through a black hole in the middle of the Rams’ defensive line.

“These three inside guys that they have are as good as you get,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said on Wednesday. “(Ndamukong) Suh’s right there on the center, and he’s a big-time player. Aaron (Donald) is a fantastic player, and (Michael) Brockers is really big-time. They moved him to play 5-technique for them and it’s worked out really well.

“So with the running game, if we’re going to be successful we’re going to have to work those guys and block them and get some space on the line of scrimmage.”

If they can do that, the 2-2 Seahawks will stand a chance.

The smack talk has already started. Let’s see which running back backs it up.