Stating the obvious: For its “huge crowds” and “Cajun food, like jambalaya, gumbo and cochon de lait,” Atlantic magazine has named Baton Rouge among America’s best tailgating cities. “Championships and season openers may also call for a crawfish boil,” Atlantic says. Though that may be an underestimation of Baton Rougeans’ propensity for a boil, the magazine still gets the point (and we’ll also have to give them a pass for naming Tiger Stadium in the feature, but showing a photo of Alex Box Stadium). Check out the full list here.
Suiting up: As former running back Tony Dorsett recalls it, the helmet-to-helmet shot that knocked him out cold in the second quarter of a 1984 Cowboys-Eagles game was the hardest hit he ever took during his Hall of Fame NFL career. “It was like a freight train hitting a Volkswagen,” Dorsett says. “Did they know it was a concussion?” he asks rhetorically during a recent interview with The Associated Press. “They thought I was half-dead.” And yet, he says, after being examined in the locker room, Dorsett returned to the field and gained 99 yards in the second half. Mainly, he says, by running plays the wrong way, because he couldn’t remember what he was supposed to do. Dorsett traces several health problems to concussions during a career that lasted from 1977-88, and he has joined more than 300 former players in suing the NFL, its teams and, in some cases, helmet maker Riddell. Tackle the full story here.
Tiger talk: Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was told the NFL was going to be different from college football, but he says it’s a lot like the SEC. After playing with so many NFL-bound players in high school and at Florida, he says every Sunday felt like facing “LSU or Auburn.” “Tebowmania” swept the country after Tebow led the Broncos on a six-game winning streak that included four straight fourth-quarter comebacks. His best play came in the wild card round, when he connected with Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime to beat heavily favored Pittsburgh. Tebow made his comments during a taping of “NBC Sports Talk Live from the Super Bowl,” and the interview is being shown during tonight’s show.
