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The NHL logo spun around before locking into place, with a sound effect reminiscent of a cell door locking. The next image on the video was that of the new sheriff in town.

“I’m Brendan Shanahan, the National Hockey League’s senior vice president of player safety …”

Shanahan was 42 years old in 2011. He had retired from a Hall of Fame career two years earlier, taking a job with the NHL. In June 2011, he helped create the league’s first Department of Player Safety. It wouldn’t just hand out suspensions to players but, in a revolutionary move, would show its work through explanatory videos like this one.

“Friday night in Minnesota, an incident occurred in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild …”

As the video showed, defenseman James Wisniewski of the Blue Jackets delivered a high hit on Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck after the horn sounded to end the period in a preseason game on Sept. 24, 2011. The hit was late, intentional and from a repeat offender. But Shanahan noted something else about the hit: Wisniewski had violated Rule 48.1 for an illegal check to the head, a recently added regulation.

Wisniewski was suspended for 12 games. The rest of the league was on notice. Targeting the head-on checks would no longer be tolerated.

“If you’re a great player with great timing, you could still deliver great hits. But targeting the head was something that people wanted out of the game,” Shanahan told ESPN recently, 10 seasons after the Department of Player Safety’s debut.

“It was a hard job and it was thankless. As much as we were getting criticized, we tried to always remember that we were going to make the game safer and make it better.”

Rule 48 still had that fresh-rule smell in 2011. Shanahan’s suspension video was one of the first the department created. It was the first time he used phrases such as “the head is targeted,” “principal point of contact” and “prior history of discipline.”

It would not be the last.

From 2011-12 through 2020-21, there were 80 suspensions for hits that violated Rule 48 in the preseason, regular season and playoffs. It’s the rule on which the Department of Player Safety was built. It’s a rule that was created in an effort to reduce the number of concussions in the league, and one that fundamentally changed the way the game was played in the NHL over the past decade.

“What was borderline before that has become clear that it’s not acceptable in the game. I think the respect factor has grown,” Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “We’ve seen some of the harsher suspensions put in place. I don’t think there’s as much of a gray area for players. We know there are punishments.”

Here’s the story on how the rule came to be, what its impact has been in its first 10 seasons and what comes next.

The impact

George Parros, the current head of the Department of Player Safety, was a winger with the Anaheim Ducks when Rule 48 was introduced. He doesn’t remember it affecting the way he played.

“The only thing I remember was the video that Shanahan and [NHLPA executive] Mathieu Schneider put out and we had to watch it in the locker room. It was kind of funny, to be honest. They were both pretty stiff,” he said.

Parros has led the department since September 2017. In 2017-18, the NHL had only one suspension for an illegal check to the head in the regular season, the lowest total in seven years.

“I feel we’ve fine-tuned the game to a great degree,” Parros said. “A lot of the hits we see are because the game is so fast. Every once in a while, we see something with some intention behind it, but very rarely.”

The number of suspensions has fluctuated since then. It jumped back up to eight regular-season bans in 2018-19, and 12 in total. The biggest season for illegal check to the head suspensions was 2013-14, with 15 in total. The lowest total was four in 2019-20, a season shortened by the COVID pandemic whose playoffs were held inside spectator-free bubbles.

According to Icy Data, which tracks NHL penalties by type, the Ottawa Senators had the most minor penalties for checks to the head from 2010 to ’20 with 34, followed by the Boston Bruins (33) and the Lightning (26).

“We watch over a thousand clips a year in our department. About 150 of those would involve head contact,” Parros said. “If we suspend five or six times a year for an illegal check to the head … you can imagine how many were fine, and how many were in that gray area of what we’re trying to define here.”

Rule 48 has been the basis for several of the NHL’s most significant suspensions, including:

Rule 48 has impacted how penalties are enforced, how suspensions are handed out and how players deliver body checks. Shanahan believes it may have even opened up the game offensively.

“When I watch games now, I see players cutting across the high slot and taking shots on goal, and you don’t see players zeroing in to hit them,” he said. “It’s not necessarily about the rule. It’s because the players wanted that hit out of the game.”

But Stamkos disagreed that enforcement of illegal hits to the head led to braver players in the slot.

“I don’t think that it’s affected guys taking ice in the middle,” he said. “You never think about a guy elbowing you in the head. It just happens.”

There was a time when that would happen with no recourse from the NHL. For decades, hits that targeted the head would end up on VHS highlight tapes rather than in a hearing room. A ban on hits to the head seemed like an improbable suggestion.

“There were probably many reasons for that,” Parros said. “But there are two that I consider most significant: First, our awareness and understanding of the effects of concussions was really accelerating at that time — similar to other sports’ — to such an extent that it adjusted the thinking about such hits in a game, in which the puck-carrier normally is bent forward, somewhat leading with his head.

“Second, any such ban would have been a major change, since all of the people in the NHL at that point had been raised and taught how to hit a certain way. They’d be required to change on a dime, into thinking that what they were doing for 25 years is now illegal.”

Despite those challenges, a movement to ban checks to the head picked up momentum at the end of 2009.

As one NHL source put it: “The David Booth one was so, so horrifying that it really stopped everyone in their tracks.”

The David Booth hit

There are two hits from the 2009-10 season that paved the way to Rule 48. In both cases, the hockey world wanted massive suspensions that the NHL felt its rulebook didn’t support.

The first was delivered on Oct. 24, 2009. The Philadelphia Flyers were hosting the Florida Panthers. David Booth, the Panthers’ leading goal scorer in the previous season, was carrying a puck through the Flyers’ offensive zone. Mike Richards of the Flyers cut across on a backcheck and delivered a hit to Booth’s head. The Panthers forward fell, banging his head on the ice before falling limp. A stretcher was quickly wheeled out onto the rink.

Booth doesn’t remember the hit, nor does he remember his time in the hospital. The recollection seared into his memory is that of waking up in the ambulance that took him from the arena and feeling an overwhelming rush of panic. He didn’t know where he was. His legs and chest were strapped down. He grabbed his team trainer by the collar of his shirt, screaming to get him out of there.

“It was like I was possessed. I was trying to break the seat belts,” Booth told ESPN recently.

He has seen the hit since then, more than a few times. People will cue it up on their phones, play it for him and ask, macabrely, “This you?”

Richards was given a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct by the on-ice officials. Booth was released from the hospital after one day. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that he “suffered a concussion but no other serious injuries.”

Booth would play six more seasons in the NHL and nine more professionally. But he was never the same after the hit, by his own admission. There were cognitive issues. There was also a nagging hesitancy in his game that never really left due to the devastating nature of the hit.

“It’s human nature to feel like the victim. That something happened that I didn’t deserve to have happen. I think that’s the easy way out, to say it’s Mike’s fault or the league’s fault,” Booth said. “That’s something I want to stay away from. It happened, and it’s unfortunate and it changed the course of my career.”

The incident also changed the conversation in the NHL. There was outrage from the hockey world, seeking supplemental disciplinary justice against Richards. But the hockey operations department, under Colin Campbell, determined that the hit wasn’t punishable under the current rules. For the first time, there was real momentum for a rule change at the November 2009 NHL general managers meetings, which took place soon after the Richards hit.

There had been some conversation about a crackdown on checks to the head through the years. But in many cases, there was nothing on the books that outlawed head contact, so the hits went without supplemental discipline. There were also general managers who would support more penalties for hits to the head. Jim Rutherford, the longtime GM for the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins, was an advocate for a total ban on head contact.

What had fundamentally changed about the game, as was evident from the Richards hit, was that defensive players were backchecking harder than they ever had before.

“Back pressure? You never heard of that before,” recalled Ray Shero, who was general manager of the Penguins when the head-shot conversations started. “It was obviously becoming a part of the game, and there wasn’t a lot of time and space [to avoid hits].”

Shero was an advocate for making checks to an opponent’s head illegal.

“I never liked those sorts of hits. It’s part not of the game,” he said.

Ironically, Rule 48 might not have happened without one of his players delivering that sort of hit.

On March 7, 2010, the Boston Bruins were visiting the Penguins in Pittsburgh. In the third period, Boston center Marc Savard collected a pass high in the Penguins zone and fired a quick shot toward the Pittsburgh net. With Savard in a vulnerable position after releasing the puck, Penguins winger Matt Cooke skated by and used his left arm to drill Savard in the head. The Bruins forward twisted to the ice, eerily near the location on the ice where Booth was injured months earlier in Philadelphia. Cooke wasn’t penalized on the play.

Another hit to the head. Another player stretchered off the ice. Another controversy right before the general managers met again.

“Maybe it’s a good thing that the GM meetings are when they are,” Cooke’s teammate, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, said in the aftermath of the hit. “There’s obviously some confusion as to what’s a good hit and what’s not a good hit. That’s got to be fixed pretty quickly. We’ve seen it time and time again, and we all debate whether it was a good or a bad hit.”

Shero’s plan was to fly to the GM meetings after the Penguins game. Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was sharing a flight with him to Florida for the conference.

“That was a long ride to the Pittsburgh airport. I think it was 15 minutes before we said anything to each other,” Shero said.

The next morning, there was a long discussion among the GMs about the Cooke hit and whether there was a remedy for it through supplemental discipline. There was a clamor for Cooke to be suspended, from fans, media and players alike.

“The media was talking, and we were talking internally,” said Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland, who was then the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. “You could make the case that it was legal. But all the managers went to that meeting knowing that, because of that hit, we had to make some adjustments to the way the game was being officiated. To make a safer environment, and to protect our players.”

The debate was intense. Lou Lamoriello, then GM of the New Jersey Devils, said that suspending Cooke would be akin to “making something up” because there was no rule covering that hit.

“It was like ‘The Untouchables’ and Al Capone. What, were they going to get Matt Cooke on tax evasion?” recalled Shero, now an advisor to the Minnesota Wild. “There was nothing in the rulebook. There was nothing to have a hearing on.”

By not taking action against Cooke, Campbell forced action from the general managers to finally, and formally, create a rule that could cover hits like those that injured Booth and Savard. Several people involved in those meetings agreed that if Campbell suspended Cooke — which would have been thoroughly popular at the time — it would have been years before a rule that actually covered the incident would have been enacted.

“There is no Rule 48 if he just does what a lot of the people in hockey and media wanted done at the time, which was to just suspend him despite the rulebook,” Shanahan said. “If he suspends Matt Cooke for that hit, then it’s quieter. It goes away. You don’t have this moment where the managers are wondering what they want to do to make the game better.”

What the GMs decided to do was implement a rare in-season rule change. “Beginning with tonight’s games, the NHL will implement a new rule prohibiting a lateral back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact,” the league announced on March 25, 2010.

The announcement also stated that the hockey operations department was empowered to review any such hit for the purpose of supplemental discipline — a decision that was popular with the players at the time, in the aftermath of hits like the one delivered to Booth.

Shanahan replaced Campbell as the head of player safety on June 1, 2011. But before that, he helped refine Rule 48.

The tweaking

Rule 48 formally appeared in the NHL rulebook for the 2010-11 season. Illegal checks to the head were now defined: “A lateral or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted.”

The biggest news in the rule’s first iteration was that checks to the head would be subject to a five-minute major penalty and automatic game misconduct, with possible supplemental discipline from the league.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman called the rule change “a fundamental shift” for the league, but cautioned not to have it apply to all situations.

“There are nuanced differences between acts that some people think are similar, but they’re not the same. So you can’t be too willing or too quick to paint what happens on the ice that requires supplemental discipline with too broad a brush,” he said.

The first season of the rule saw six players get suspended specifically for hits to the head: Shane Doan (three games), Joe Thornton (two games), Matt Martin (two games), Tom Kostopoulos (six games), Mike Brown (three games) and Daniel Paille (four games). There were also a handful of fines. The rest of the suspensions involving head contact were categorized as being for elbowing, cross-checking, charging or the lateness of a hit.

The league quickly discovered that referees who had asked for Rule 48 to be implemented were hesitant to enforce it.

“The referees at the time were saying that on the ice in real time it was a difficult call to make. That they would catch more of them if it was a minor penalty, that with a major, because it was a new rule, it was too punitive. They felt the harsher penalty could be through supplemental discipline,” Shanahan said.

In March 2011, Shanahan joined a “blue ribbon panel” of former players turned executives — Rob Blake, Steve Yzerman and Joe Nieuwendyk — to tweak the supplemental discipline process and find ways to broaden Rule 48 to cover other hits to the head.

“The real difficult part at the time was figuring out what was just going to be incidental head contact and what was going to be illegal head contact,” Shanahan said. “It sounds like an easy thing to do. But it was more complicated than that, and we saw that with the tweaks to the rule over the next couple of years.”

In 2011-12, a reworked Rule 48 was introduced. The words “lateral” and “blindside” were removed to widen the application of the rule. The rule stated that the head had to be targeted and the principal point of contact, rather than “and/or.” There was also added language about whether the player taking the hit had put himself in a vulnerable position “immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit” or if head contact “on an otherwise legal body check” was unavoidable.

“The ‘lateral’ and the ‘blindside’ was not to say that it was OK to hit a guy in the head like that, it’s to say we’re not going to distinguish how a player was hit in the head. It could be any position or any angle,” Shanahan said.

An illegal check to the head was now either a minor penalty or a match penalty, not a major penalty, to make it easier on the officials.

In the first season for both the NHL Department of Player Safety and the revamped Rule 48, the league issued 13 suspensions for illegal checks to the head for a total of 43 games. The 12 games given to James Wisniewski were the most handed out. It was a rule that saw both repeat offenders and star players get suspended.

The rule’s effectiveness was called into question in 2013. Dr. Michael Cusimano, a neurosurgeon from Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, co-authored a study that claimed Rule 48 didn’t significantly lower concussion rates in the NHL. The study was later used as evidence in a class-action lawsuit brought against the league by a group of former players who claimed the NHL was negligent in its prevention of concussions. The suit was settled in 2018; as part of the settlement, the NHL did not acknowledge any liability for any of the plaintiffs’ claims.

“Part of it’s the way the rule’s written. Part of it’s the way the rule is enforced. Part of it’s the penalties associated with the rule. And part of it is that concussions are also coming from other causes like fighting, that is still allowed,” Cusimano told the Canadian Press in 2013.

The rule continued to be rewritten. For 2013-14, the players requested that “principal point of contact” be changed to “main point of contact” in the rule. The word “targeted” was dropped in favor of “avoidable head contact,” leaving intent out of the mandatory criteria.

“Any time there was something in our language that confused the managers or the players, we would tweak it,” Shanahan said. “To remove ‘targeting’ was meant to suggest that a hit may not have been intentional, but it could be reckless. That a player with no history could have thrown a reckless hit.”

Damian Echevarrieta, vice president of NHL player safety, laughed when recalling this change. “I love Shanny, but he would say things like ‘unintentionally targeted’ and I’d have to tell him that the word ‘target’ has intention in it. You can’t unintentionally target something!” he said.

By 2016, Rule 48 looked much like it does today, emphasizing the illegality of reckless or avoidable hits to the head, while mentioning the nuance of an opponent’s body position when the hit was delivered. The rule makes it clear that if the head is the main point of contact and the contact was avoidable by delivering the hit a different way or not delivering one at all, then it’s an illegal check to the head.

Needless to say, there was a learning curve for all these rule tweaks, and for the rule itself.

The re-education

The last decade saw players, coaches and team executives struggle to understand Rule 48 and its application, especially in early hearings. One person with knowledge of the hearings characterized the typical counterarguments from players and teams as “victim blaming,” as they spoke more about the opponent taking the hit than the hit itself.

“The first couple of years were very difficult,” Shanahan said. “Players and managers would come into the hearings and say, ‘This is a legal hit.’ You have to acknowledge that six months ago, it was. But it’s not anymore. That was a huge shift.”

The videos that the department created helped with the education, although not necessarily for the experienced players in the NHL.

“The videos weren’t for the players in the league at that time. They didn’t even watch them. We were making them for kids that were playing,” Shanahan said.

One of the biggest factors in the player education process was the rookie orientation camps that were started within the past decade. In between sessions with top prospects in which they learn about social media etiquette and receive financial advice, the Department of Player Safety gets them for an hour, and explains the nuances of things like Rule 48. Shanahan hopes they’re already familiar with it.

“The next generation is only about four or five years down the road. These kids that were between 14 and 16 would be impacted by these videos, for when they reached the NHL,” Shanahan said.

The question remains what Rule 48 will look like for those next generations.

The future

Chris Nowinski is co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization leading the fight against concussions and CTE. He’s been an open critic of the way the NHL has handled both. But he said Rule 48 was a net positive development for the league.

“We all know that player behavior can be changed and penalties are a great way to do it. Rule 48 and the education videos that were released were very effective in making the game safer for those catastrophic hits to the head.”

Nowinski feels the NHL still isn’t candid enough with its players about the long-term impact of concussions in contact sports. “The responsible thing is to educate players about what they’re getting into,” he said.

Nowinski saw Rule 48 as an obvious evolution for the NHL, and ultimately good for business.

“The hits to the head 10 years ago were highlight videos. Or they were called out and made the league look bad. So it’s a very clear PR strategy to get them out of the game,” he said. “It’s about optics but it’s also about protecting your stars and keeping them in the game.”

He wonders if the next evolution will be a total ban on any contact with the head.

“They’re not selling tickets based on hits to the head,” said Nowinski. “Rule 48 proved you can change that behavior. Eliminating hits to the head could [make the NHL] more popular. It could be less popular. It’s a shame no one wants to try.”

There’s always been a sense that a total ban on head contact would change the way the game is played too dramatically. But there’s a notion that Rule 48 could go further, if not that far.

“I think there’s a possibility that more hits become illegal than are currently considered illegal hits,” said one NHL source.

Holland said there hasn’t been much discussion about a total ban on head contact among the GMs recently.

“I think it’s cooled down because of the effectiveness of Rule 48. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be hard to have any rule like that in there. The game is played at such a high speed. There’s physicality. You’re always going to have some head injuries,” he said. “With the education of the players and the rule changes, I do think we’re in a good place right now. But three years from now if there’s too many people injured, we might have to reassess. I can’t tell you what the future is going to bring.”

While a total ban on head contact may not be imminent, Parros does see one aspect of checking that could fall under the Rule 48 umbrella: hits where the head violently collides with the boards.

“We are constantly looking at and analyzing our game, how it’s played and where it can be improved or regulated in the best possible manner. When Rule 48 was first implemented, we were trying to eliminate those open-ice hits that ‘picked’ or ‘targeted’ the head. Over time, I think our efforts have worked quite well in this regard,” he said. “Looking forward, with many of the hits that we see, head contact occurs in and along the boards, and less so in the open ice. Secondary contact with the glass and boards is something that we see more of and will continue to monitor.”

Whatever the next iteration of Rule 48 looks like, it’s clear that one decade in, the league is safer, with the rule eliminating many of the catastrophic hits that were previously a commonplace part of the game.

If it existed in 2009, would players like David Booth have had a different career?

“It’s a hard question to answer. You never know what could have happened. How many times we’ve been saved from something and not realize it,” Booth said. “But there’s no doubt that it had a beneficial impact. Some of those hits that used to happen … they were crazy.”

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Minus Hagel, Lightning storm back, dodge 3-0 hole

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April 26, 2025

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Minus Hagel, Lightning storm back, dodge 3-0 hole

  • ESPN News Services

Apr 26, 2025, 05:00 PM ET

SUNRISE, Fla. — Without suspended winger Brandon Hagel in the lineup, the Tampa Bay Lightning stormed back to defeat the Florida Panthers 5-1 Saturday, cutting their deficit in this Eastern Conference first-round series to 2-1.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots, and Tampa Bay registered five unanswered goals in front of a stunned crowd at Amerant Bank Arena that was hoping to celebrate a commanding 3-0 series lead in this playoff matinee.

Hagel was suspended one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday night for what it labeled “an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent” that injured Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2 at Amalie Arena.

Barkov, Florida’s captain, returned to action in Game 3, registering five shots in his 18:52 time on the ice. But it wasn’t enough, as Tampa Bay set up a pivotal Game 4 on Monday and handed Florida its first postseason loss since Game 6 of last season’s Stanley Cup Final.

“Obviously, we had a great start,” Barkov said. “We did the right things, but they’re a great team also. They played really well and won the game today. All we’ve got to do is learn.”

Tampa Bay’s offense came alive, with goals from Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Nick Paul and Luke Glendening. Anthony Cirelli added an empty-netter with five minutes left, and Nikita Kucherov had three assists.

“To be honest, you would have never known sitting in the locker room after Game 2 that we were down 0-2,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “And, so, riding into this game wasn’t going to guarantee the result, but I knew damn well how the effort was going to be. And they delivered”

Paul gave the Lightning their first lead of the series when he slipped a shot just inside the pad of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in the second period. Guentzel made it a two-goal lead just 21 seconds into the third before the Lightning pulled away later in the period.

Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers, his third of the series. Bobrovsky finished with 17 saves in the loss.

Vasilevskiy had given up seven goals in the first two games but was huge on Saturday. He bounced back from an early Panthers punch and withstood a flurry of Florida shots in the second and third.

Tkachuk, who scored twice in the opener, got on the board 2:43 into the game when he tapped a feed from Sam Bennett past Vasilevskiy, giving the star his 20th playoff goal with the Panthers. The Lightning responded when Guentzel’s shot bounced off Point and past Bobrovsky later in the first to give the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season its first goal in nearly five periods.

In addition to Barkov’s return, Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad was also back with his team. The veteran blueliner returned from a 20-game suspension for violating the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Browns select Shedeur Sanders, topping list of notable father-son combos

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April 26, 2025

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Browns select Shedeur Sanders, topping list of notable father-son combos

After a longer than expected wait, Shedeur Sanders is finally an NFL player after the Cleveland Browns traded up with the Seattle Seahawks to select him with the 144th pick in the fifth round in the 2025 NFL draft.

Sanders, whose father is Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, played two seasons each with Jackson State and Colorado before declaring for the draft. He threw for 14,327 yards and 134 touchdowns during that span. Deion famously played nine MLB seasons while being an eight-time NFL Pro Bowler. Shedeur will suit up for the Browns, topping a long list of father-son combos across professional and collegiate sports.

Here is a look at other successful father-son combos in sports history.

Multiple sports

Deion Sanders/Deion Sanders Jr./Shilo Sanders/Shedeur Sanders

Father’s accomplishments: Deion played 14 seasons in the NFL. He was drafted No. 5 overall in 1989 by the Atlanta Falcons after being named a two-time All-American at Florida State. Sanders was named a Pro Bowler eight times with 53 interceptions throughout his career and two Super Bowl wins. He also played nine seasons of professional baseball for the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. He famously played in a game for the Falcons against the Miami Dolphins, then immediately flew to Pittsburgh to dress for his baseball game with the Braves against the Pirates in the NLCS. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

How his sons followed: Deion Sanders Jr. was a two-star athlete in the 2012 class, signing with SMU as a wide receiver and kick returner. As a sophomore kick returner, Sanders was named a second-team All-American Athletic Conference selection. Shilo was the No. 287-ranked prospect in the 2019 class and signed as a cornerback with South Carolina.

Shilo and Shedeur were coached by their father during their college football seasons with the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes. The Browns selected Shedeur with the No. 144 pick in Round 5 in the 2025 NFL draft.

MLB

Ken Griffey Sr./Ken Griffey Jr.

Father’s accomplishments: Ken Griffey Sr. played 19 seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds. He was part of the Big Red Machine that won World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. Griffey Sr. was a three-time All-Star and finished his career with a .296 batting average, 152 home runs and 859 RBIs. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1980 All-Star Game and has been inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame.

How his son followed: Ken Griffey Jr. also had a long career, playing 22 seasons in the big leagues, including 13 with the Seattle Mariners and nine with Cincinnati. Griffey Jr. was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. He is seventh all time with 630 career home runs, was a 13-time All-Star and won 10 Gold Gloves for his play in center field. He was the American League MVP in 1997 and led the AL in home runs four times during his career.

In 1990, Griffey Sr. and Griffey Jr., both playing for the Mariners, made history when they became the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back home runs in a game.

Bobby Bonds/Barry Bonds

Father’s accomplishments: Bobby Bonds played the majority of his 14 seasons with the San Francisco Giants and became just the second player to hit 300 career home runs and steal 300 bases, joining Willie Mays. He set records for most times leading off a game with a home run in a season (11) and in a career (35) — both of which have since been broken. Bonds was a three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner.

How his son followed: Barry Bonds played 22 seasons, mostly with the Giants, and was a seven-time National League MVP. Bonds holds the records for most career home runs, with 762, and most home runs in a season, with 73. He was a 14-time All-Star, 12-time Silver Slugger Award winner and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner. Bonds tied his father for the most seasons with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, with five. He also holds the MLB records for walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688) in a career.

Sandy Alomar/Roberto Alomar/Sandy Alomar Jr.

Father’s accomplishments: Sandy Alomar Sr. competed in 15 seasons and could play all infield and outfield positions. He was an All-Star in 1970 and played a full 162-game season that year and in 1971. Alomar Sr. was a talented bunter and aggressive on the base paths, totaling 227 stolen bases in his career, including 39 in 1971.

How his sons followed: Twelve-time All-Star Roberto Alomar was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He won World Series championships with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. He won more Gold Gloves (10) than any other second baseman and finished his 17-year career with a .300 batting average, 2,724 hits and 210 home runs. Sandy Alomar Jr. was the first rookie catcher to start an All-Star Game, and he won Rookie of the Year and a Gold Glove Award in 1990. Alomar Jr. was named an All-Star six times during his 20-year career and had a 30-game hitting streak in 1997.

Cecil Fielder/Prince Fielder

Father’s accomplishments: Cecil Fielder was a three-time All-Star and won a World Series title with the New York Yankees in 1996. In 1990, he was the first player since George Foster in 1977 to hit at least 50 home runs in a season. Fielder led the American League in home runs in 1990 and 1991 and in RBIs from 1990 to ’92. He hit 319 career home runs, recorded 1,008 RBIs and was a two-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award.

How his son followed: Fielder was the youngest player (23) to hit 50 home runs in a season. Prince Fielder was a six-time All-Star and won the Home Run Derby twice — once as an NL All-Star and once as an AL All-Star. He totaled 319 career home runs, the same number as his father, and drove in 1,028 runs. Fielder was a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2015.

Cecil and Prince Fielder are the only father-son duo to each hit 50 home runs in a season.

Vladimir Guerrero/Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Father’s accomplishments: Guerrero spent 16 seasons playing in the MLB for the Montreal Expos, Anaheim Angels, Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles. He was a nine-time All-Star, the 2004 American League MVP and an eight-time winner of the Silver Slugger award. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 and finished his career with 2,590 hits.

How his son followed: Guerrero Jr. signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015 and made his major league debut in 2019. He hit 48 home runs in the 2021 season and became the second father-son duo to hit 40 home runs in a season, joining Prince and Cecil Fielder in accomplishing that feat. Guerrero has since been a four-time All-Star and a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner for the Blue Jays.

NBA

LeBron James/Bronny James/Bryce James

Father’s accomplishments: LeBron James is still going strong in his 22nd NBA season. He’s the league’s all-time scoring leader and eclipsed 40,000 points last season. LeBron has won four NBA championships and made an NBA-record 20 straight All-Star appearances.

How his sons followed: The Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, pairing him with his dad, LeBron, in the NBA. The two appeared in a game together in October 2024, becoming the first father-son duo to do so in NBA history. Bronny is expected to split time between the Lakers and their G-League affiliate. Bryce, LeBron’s youngest son, committed to Arizona in January as part of the Wildcats’ 2025 class.

Dell Curry/Stephen Curry/Seth Curry

Father’s accomplishments: Dell Curry retired as the Charlotte Hornets‘ career scoring leader (9,839 points) and ranked first in 3-pointers made (929). Curry was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1994 and averaged 11.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in his 16-year career.

How his sons followed: Stephen Curry has led the Golden State Warriors to four NBA championships and been named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player twice. Curry is a 10-time All-Star and was the NBA scoring champion in 2016 and 2021. He holds the NBA record for most made 3-pointers in a regular season, with 402, and most consecutive regular-season games with a made 3-pointer, with 268. Seth Curry was a two-time NBA D-League All-Star and has spent time with several NBA teams. He averaged 12.8 points over 70 games in 2016-17 with the Dallas Mavericks.

Doc Rivers/Austin Rivers

Father’s accomplishments: As a player, Doc Rivers was known for his defense, but he averaged a double-double during the 1986-87 season, with 12.8 points and 10.0 assists per game. He was an NBA All-Star in 1988 and played with four teams during his 13-year career. Rivers was named Coach of the Year in 2000 with the Orlando Magic and led the Boston Celtics to an NBA title as their coach in 2008. He was the head coach of the LA Clippers from 2013-2020 and Philadelphia 76ers from 2020-2023. He was announced as the Milwaukee Bucks head coach in January 2024.

How his son followed: In 2015, Austin Rivers was traded to the Clippers and became the first NBA player to play for his father. Rivers has averaged 9.2 points per game in his seven-year career, including 15.1 PPG in 2017-18 with the Clippers. He then played for the Wizards, Rockets, Knicks, Nuggets and the Timberwolves.

Mychal Thompson/Klay Thompson

Father’s accomplishments: Mychal Thompson, the No. 1 pick in the 1978 NBA draft, won back-to-back NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 and ’88. Thompson was on the All-Rookie team in 1979 and went on to average 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in his career. He averaged a double-double in 1981-82, with 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.

How his son followed: Klay Thompson won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors. Mychal and Klay Thompson became just the fourth father-son duo to each win an NBA title as a player and the first to each win back-to-back championships. Klay is a five-time All-Star, was named to the All-Rookie team in 2012 and won the 3-point contest in 2016. He holds the NBA playoff record for most 3-pointers made in a game, with 11.

Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant/Kobe Bryant

Father’s accomplishments: Joe “Jellybean” Bryant played eight seasons in the NBA before heading to Europe and playing seven seasons with teams in Italy. He scored 53 points in a game twice during the 1987-88 season with Pistoia. Bryant played into his 50s, suiting up for the American Basketball Association.

How his son followed: Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant is fourth in career scoring, with 33,643 points. He played 20 seasons for the Lakers and was named an All-Star 18 times. Bryant was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2008 and the Finals MVP in 2009 and ’10. He was the NBA scoring champion in 2006 and ’07 and was named to the All-NBA first team 11 times and the All-Defensive first team nine times. Kobe had both his No. 8 and his No. 24 retired by the Lakers.

NFL

Archie Manning/Peyton Manning/Eli Manning

Father’s accomplishments: Archie Manning was a quarterback in the NFL for 13 seasons, mostly with the New Orleans Saints. Despite never leading a team to a winning record, Manning made the Pro Bowl in 1978 and ’79. He threw for 125 touchdowns and rushed for 18 during his career. He has been inducted into the Saints’ Ring of Honor and the Saints’ Hall of Fame.

How his sons followed: Peyton Manning was the first pick in the 1998 NFL draft and holds the NFL records for career passing yards (71,940) and passing touchdowns (539). He is the only starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl for two franchises. A 14-time Pro Bowler, Manning was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player five times and a first-team All-Pro seven times.

Eli Manning was the first pick in the 2004 NFL draft and led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles, earning Super Bowl MVP honors both times. He is a four-time Pro Bowler, ranks sixth in passing yards in NFL history and started 210 consecutive games from 2004 to 2017, the second-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history.

Howie Long/Chris Long/Kyle Long

Father’s accomplishments: Eight-time Pro Bowl selection Howie Long played his entire 13-year career with the Raiders organization. The defensive end helped the Raiders win the Super Bowl in 1984, and he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1985. Long finished his career with 84 sacks and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. He also made 10 fumble recoveries and two interceptions during his time in the NFL.

How his sons followed: Chris Long was the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NFL draft and won back-to-back Super Bowls — with the New England Patriots in 2017 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. The defensive end recorded 70 sacks in his 11-year career.

Kyle Long, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, was a guard for the Chicago Bears. He was a second-team All-Pro in 2014 and made the All-Rookie team in 2013.

He returned from his 2019 retirement with a one-year stint with the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2021 season but did not play due to injuries.

Clay Matthews Jr./Clay Matthews III/Casey Matthews

Father’s accomplishments: Clay Matthews Jr. played 19 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Cleveland Browns. He appeared in 278 games, the most by a linebacker, and recorded 1,561 tackles, 69.5 sacks and 16 interceptions in his career. Matthews was a four-time Pro Bowler and was first-team All-Pro in 1984, recording 12 sacks that season.

How his sons followed: Clay Matthews III, a six-time Pro Bowler, helped the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl title after the 2010 season. The linebacker was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 and totaled 91.5 sacks, 17 forced fumbles and six interceptions in his 11-year career.

Linebacker Casey Matthews played from 2011 to ’14 for the Philadelphia Eagles and recorded 2.5 sacks.

Christian McCaffrey/Ed McCaffrey

Father’s accomplishments: Ed McCaffrey’s 13-year NFL career included three Super Bowl wins and one Pro Bowl appearance. He earned 7,422 receiving yards and notched 55 receiving touchdowns, a majority of which came with the Denver Broncos. Ed McCaffrey played a key role in the Broncos winning back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998.

How his son followed: A highly touted recruit out of Stanford, Christian McCaffrey has lived up to the hype in the NFL. In his eighth season, the running back has rushed for 6,224 career yards and 52 touchdowns, including a league-leading 1,459 yards in 2023, when he earned Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr./Jeremiah Trotter

Father’s accomplishments: Drafted by the Eagles in the third round, Jeremiah Trotter suited up for the franchise in eight of his 11 NFL seasons, starting at middle linebacker for the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and member of the All-Pro team once. Trotter recorded 723 solo tackles and nine interceptions during his career.

How his son followed: The Eagles also selected Trotter Jr., this time in the fifth round. Hailing from the Clemson Tigers, Trotter had 25 combined tackles in his first season. He appeared in Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LIX victory, recording one tackle.

NHL

Bobby Hull/Brett Hull

Father’s accomplishments: Bobby Hull received the Hart Memorial Trophy twice as the NHL’s most valuable player and earned the Art Ross Trophy three times as the NHL’s leading points scorer. The left wing won the Stanley Cup in 1961 with the Chicago Blackhawks and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983. Hull led the NHL in goals seven times and was the second-leading goal scorer in NHL history, with 610, when he retired. Hull won back-to-back All-Star Game MVP awards in 1970 and ’71.

How his son followed: Brett Hull scored 741 goals in his career, the fourth-highest total in NHL history. The right wing won Stanley Cups in 1999 with the Dallas Stars (including scoring the championship-winning goal) and in 2002 with the Detroit Red Wings. Hull scored at least 50 goals in five consecutive seasons, and his 86 goals in 1990-91 are the third most in a season in NHL history. He was named the NHL’s MVP that season and received the Hart Memorial Trophy. Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father to become the first father-son duo in the Hall.

Keith Tkachuk/Matthew Tkachuk/Brady Tkachuk

Father’s accomplishments: Keith was selected 19th overall in the 1990 NHL draft and played for 18 years with four different teams. He finished his career with 527 goals and 1,065 points. At the time that he scored his 500th goal, he was just the fourth American-born player to achieve that milestone and was the sixth American-born player with 1,000 points.

How his sons followed: Matthew was selected sixth in the 2016 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames but has since been traded to the Florida Panthers, where he helped lead the team to a 2024 Stanley Cup title.

Brady was taken with the fourth pick in the 2018 draft by the Ottawa Senators. He was named the team’s captain in 2021 and has scored 171 regular-season goals in his career.

Auto racing

Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Father’s accomplishments: Dale Earnhardt won 76 Winston Cup races, including the 1998 Daytona 500. Earnhardt claimed seven NASCAR Winston Cup championships, tying Richard Petty for the most all time. It was 22 years before Jimmie Johnson matched the accomplishment in 2016. Earnhardt died as a result of a collision on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 and was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2010.

How his son followed: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won 26 Cup series races, including the Daytona 500 twice (2004, 2014). He had 260 top-10 finishes in Cup races in his career. Junior was a fan favorite, winning the Most Popular Driver award 15 times. He was the Busch Series champion in 1998 and ’99 before being named NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 2000. He is retired and a broadcaster now.

Next generation

Gilbert Arenas/Alijah Arenas

Alijah Arenas, a five-star, 6-foot-6 guard from Southern California, announced his commitment to USC in January 2025. He picked the Trojans over his father’s alma mater, the Arizona Wildcats, while also receiving offers from the Kansas Jayhawks, Louisville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats. He reclassified in December from the class of 2026 to 2025.

Carmelo Anthony/Kiyan Anthony

A four-star shooting guard from New York, Kiyan Anthony announced his commitment to Syracuse in November 2024. Kiyan follows in the footsteps of his father, Carmelo, who averaged 22.5 points and 6.2 rebounds across a 19-season NBA career. Carmelo spent a season at Syracuse, leading the Orange to the 2003 national championship.

Dikembe Mutombo/Ryan Mutombo:

Ryan followed in his father’s footsteps and played for the Georgetown Hoyas as a 7-foot-2 center. He transferred to play for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets after three seasons with the Hoyas.

Penny Hardaway/Jayden Hardaway/Ashton Hardaway:

Both Jayden and Ashton played for their father with Memphis. Jayden is a guard who averaged 3.1 points per game in the 2023-24 season, while Ashton averaged 2.3.

Dajuan Wagner/D.J. Wagner:

D.J. spent the 2023-24 season with the Kentucky Wildcats, averaging 9.9 points and 3.3 assists per game. He transferred to the Arkansas Razorbacks after the season.

Dennis Rodman/DJ Rodman:

DJ was a 6-foot-6 forward for USC. He averaged 8.4 points per game and made 36.2% of his 3-point shots in the 2023-24 season for the Trojans. He went undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft.

Shaquille O’Neal/Shaqir O’Neal:

Shaqir is a 6-foot-8 forward at Florida A&M. He averaged 1.8 points per game in the 2023-24 season for Texas Southern.

Peja Stojakovic/Andrej Stojakovic:

Andrej was a McDonald’s All-American out of high school before committing to the Stanford Cardinal. He averaged 7.8 points per game as a freshman for the Cardinal. He transferred to UC Berkeley after the 2023-24 season.

Jerry Rice/Brenden Rice:

Brenden transferred to the USC Trojans from the Colorado Buffaloes prior to the 2022 season and led the Trojans with 12 touchdown receptions in 2023. He had 791 yards receiving on the year and was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2024 NFL draft.

Marvin Harrison/Marvin Harrison Jr.:

Harrison Jr. won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best wide receiver and finished the 2023 season with 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was selected No. 4 by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2024 NFL draft as one of the best receiver prospects available.

Frank Gore Sr./Frank Gore Jr.:

Gore Jr. was No. 32 among all FBS running backs in rush yards in 2023 with 1,131. He had 10 rushing touchdowns and averaged 4.9 yards per rush. Gore Jr. went undrafted in 2024 but signed with the Buffalo Bills.

Emmitt Smith/E.J. Smith:

E.J. had a slow start to his collegiate career with just 587 rush yards and five touchdowns in four seasons with Stanford. He transferred to Texas A&M in 2024.

Honorable mentions

Ray Boone/Bob Boone/Bret Boone/Aaron Boone; Felipe Alou/Moises Alou; Tom Gordon/Dee Gordon/Nick Gordon; Rick Barry/Brent Barry/Jon Barry; Bill Walton/Luke Walton; Larry Nance/Larry Nance Jr.; Tim Hardaway/Tim Hardaway Jr.; Bruce Matthews/Jake Matthews/Kevin Matthews; Jackie Slater/Matthew Slater; Gordie Howe/Mark Howe; J.P. Parise/Zach Parise; Peter Stastny/Paul Stastny; Lee Petty/Richard Petty/Kyle Petty; Mario Andretti/Michael Andretti/Jeff Andretti/Marco Andretti; Ken Norton Sr./Ken Norton Jr.; Calvin Hill/Grant Hill; Peter Schmeichel/Kasper Schmeichel

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Arch Manning the only top-four 2023 QB to bypass portal; where did the other three go?

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8 hours ago

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April 26, 2025

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Arch Manning the only top-four 2023 QB to bypass portal; where did the other three go?

  • Jason Jordan

Apr 26, 2025, 11:11 AM ET

Two years after the five-star quartet of quarterbacks in the ESPN 300 were wowing fans and garnering “next big thing” buzz for their abilities, reality has hit harder than the most ferocious blitzing linebackers.

As college football’s spring transfer portal closed Friday, Malachi Nelson, Jackson Arnold and Dante Moore are looking to ignite their careers at schools different from their initial ones. Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning is the only one from that 2023 group who has stayed with his first choice.

All four quarterbacks were ranked in the top five of the ESPN 300 that year.

“It’s really just a sign of the times,” ESPN’s director of football recruiting Billy Tucker said. “That class wasn’t any less special because they transferred. It’s just that the culture now is about instant gratification. I don’t know that what happened with the 2023 quarterbacks isn’t the norm.”

Nelson was the top ranked prospect in 2023 and began his collegiate career with the USC Trojans.

As a freshman, he served as a backup to Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner. Nelson threw only three passes that season.

Nelson transferred to Boise State, where he lost out on the starting spot to Maddux Madsen, who led the team to a 12-2 record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Again, Nelson barely saw playing time, going 12-of-17 for just 66 yards last season before reentering the portal.

In January, he reportedly turned down more lucrative offers to join Scotty Walden at UTEP, where the path to being a starter seems like a forgone conclusion.

Moore checked in at No. 2 in 2023 and began his career at UCLA, where he struggled to find a rhythm in limited playing time. In nine games with the Bruins, Moore threw 11 touchdowns, nine interceptions and got sacked 16 times. He transferred to Oregon in December 2023 — after a year sitting behind star quarterback Dillon Gabriel in 2024. Moore appears to be the heir apparent in Eugene though it isn’t guaranteed.

“For most high-profile prospects these days, and certainly quarterbacks, the path to the starting spot needs to be clear by spring of their freshman year,” Tucker said. “And if it’s not then there’s a really good chance they’ll leave.”

The opposite happened for Arnold at Oklahoma, but it still wasn’t enough.

The 6-foot-1, 211-pounder was ranked No. 3 in 2023 and won Gatorade National Player of the Year as a high school senior. By his sophomore season in Norman, he earned the starting position.

Arnold amassed 1,421 passing yards, 444 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns in a dismal 6-6 season that saw him get demoted and promoted. The tumultuous experience prompted Arnold to transfer to Auburn in December. His path to outright starter seems imminent.

Then there’s Manning, who checked in at No. 5 overall in 2023.

Being the grandson of New Orleans Saints legend Archie Manning and nephew of Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, Arch summed up his thought process about remaining at Texas in five words in a recent news conference, simply saying, “Sometimes it’s worth the wait.”

In two years in Austin, Manning has appeared in nine games, two of which he started.

Last season, he went 61-of-90 passing for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and rushed for 108 yards and four more scores.

Now, the stage is set for him to lead the Longhorns during the 2025 season.

“This used to be the norm,” Tucker said of Manning waiting his turn. “You wait the two years and you’re starting as a junior. Now, even if you’re getting paid, it’s not enough if you’re not starting. Any adversity and the guys are leaving. It’s just the current landscape in college football.”

Tucker, who also serves as director of the Under Armour All-America Game, said he would caution current and future stars about using the transfer portal entry as a knee-jerk reaction.

“Look at Georgia, a lot of their defensive guys are one-year starters and then they’re in the NFL first round,” Tucker said. “It’s not like you need three years of proven production to make it. That NIL money could get multiplied by at least five in my opinion. If you can stay the course and have one to two good years at a proven program, you’ll more than make up any money you could’ve lost in NIL. It’s more about the people guiding these players not being as informed as they need to be. It stinks, but until there are rules to govern the current landscape, we’ll continue to see this.”

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