NFL teams are tackling injuries with acupuncture and cupping
By Emine Yücel Medill Reports Ifeadi Odenigbo, a defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings, limps into the treatment room following a Sunday night game against the Chicago Bears. He just pulled his hamstring, but he needs to be out on the field, ready to go in less than 48 hours. “You’re just always trying to […]
“More than coaches” – A Chicago West Side high school is turning players into men
By Chris Cadeau Medill Reports He knows violent gangs offer his West Side players a pass as they trek through bullet-riddled cityscape hauling their football pads to and from practice, while they dream of a life outside of Chicago. D’Angelo Dereef and his coaching staff at Al Raby high school on the city’s West Side […]
Chi-Town Browns Backers keep fingers crossed for Cleveland
By Grace Austin Cleveland Browns fans often speak of the “Factory of Sadness,” a nickname for FirstEnergy Stadium, where the often-losing NFL team plays. Since the team’s return to Cleveland in 1999, the Browns have made the playoffs only once, in 2002. Last season, they won only one game. But in the heart of Wrigleyville, Chicago’s Chi-Town […]
Former NFL player hopes his technology will decrease concussion rates
By Allie Burger Reporting from Houston The Super Bowl has come and gone. Fans have left Houston and Twitter has trended toward in-season sports. But for players, the physical effects of that game along with the cumulative contact leading up to it, will continue to be felt by the Patriots and Falcons who took over […]
Winningest Super Bowl QB Brady named MVP
By Eric Burgher Reporting from Houston After leading the New England Patriots in the largest comeback in Super Bowl history, quarterback Tom Brady still had to go back and see it with his own eyes. “There were so many plays that I got back to my room last night pretty late and I was still […]
Takeaways from Day 2 at Bears training camp
By Adam Rossow Heat and humidity marked the second day of training camp for the Bears in Bourbonnais. Medill’s Adam Rossow takes in the action and gives us his three takeaways from Friday’s late-morning practice. [vimeo 176852764 w=474]
Turning an adaptive lifestyle into a rewarding lifestyle
By Hannah Gebresilassie A Medill Newsmakers Report When society thinks of people in wheelchairs, we often think of what they can’t do instead of what they can do. In this edition of Medill Newsmakers, wheelchair users in Chicago open up about living an adaptive lifestyle. The perspectives come from gunshot survivors, Skyhawks wheelchair basketball team […]
Vikings’ Laquon Treadwell makes new friends, learns to play checkers on draft day
By Hannah Gebresilassie From visiting patients in the a.m. to getting drafted in the p.m., Laquon Treadwell had an “emotional rollercoaster” on draft day. Treadwell spent the morning visiting patients at Shriners Hospital for Children – Chicago on April 28. There he made two new friends, 8-year-old Sheila Bourke and 10-year-old Katie Kuehn, who taught […]
NFL Draft 2016: The memories in pictures
By Hannah Gebresilassie and Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram The 2016 NFL Draft came to an end, but the memories are still fresh. From Ezekiel Elliott’s selfie with Commissioner Roger Goodell to the first European player to be drafted in the NFL straight from the European league, the three-day event had it all. Here are some pictures […]
Draft Town day 3: Mother nature isn’t a football fan
By Nicole Sedivy Rain or shine, the draft must go on. Day three of the NFL Draft took place outdoors at Selection Square in Draft Town. But the weather didn’t cooperate. The National Weather Service reported an afternoon temperature of 47 degrees and rain. That didn’t stop every fan from attending. Some die hard football […]