He put on Michigan colors. A player reared in scarlet and gray now had to don maize and blue thanks to Ohio State’s loss to the Wolverines last year. Two days after the game, McLaurin showed up in a team meeting wearing the Michigan top with teammate Khaleke Hudson‘s name and No. 7 on the back.
It’s a ritual that plays out in every NFL locker room during the season, a player losing a bet because the college he played for lost to another teammate’s school. It’s not about money changing hands; it’s about pride. It’s about showing up in another team’s shirt — or overalls. Maybe it’s the joy of seeing another player proclaiming on video that the other side is the best. Or maybe it’s seeing even the GOAT can be humbled.
“For me to pose in Michigan blue? That’s nasty,” McLaurin said, repeating the last line a couple of times for emphasis.
Of course, one of the first teammates to comment on McLaurin’s shirt was Commanders long-snapper Camaron Cheeseman, who also played at Michigan.
“You look good wearing our colors,” Cheeseman told him.
Even now, McLaurin shudders when retelling the story.
“It was kind of embarrassing,” McLaurin said. “But that’s why guys do it, because your money, that comes and goes, but the bragging rights, you wearing the other team’s gear and possibly having to post it on social media. … I definitely would rather lose my money than come in here in that Michigan blue, like last year.”
McLaurin eventually got the last laugh, though, pointing to the number of times he beat the Wolverines over his five years in Columbus.
“I hate to be this guy, they beat us, but I’m like, ‘When I was there you didn’t beat me Khaleke.’ I ride with Ohio State, so they lost. But when I was there, I got five gold pants if we’re going to really count it,” McLaurin said, referring to the gold charms given to Buckeyes players for beating Michigan.
McLaurin is hardly alone in having to honor a bet. And while these scenes go on throughout the season, it intensifies this week with a number of big rivalries — such as Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn and even Iowa-Nebraska — kicking off.
‘Schmediums look good’
THE TRASH TALK and bets start because of a simple fact about NFL players.
Competition is a part of being in the locker room — whether it’s arguing over basketball skills, cornhole games or even putting contests. When it comes to their schools, it gets more intense. NFL teams pick their players, but the players picked their colleges. Even though some players mention bets that could reach four figures, almost all said it wasn’t about money. They’re prideful; they’re loyal.
“Somebody at that program had to believe in you to get you in the school,” Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither said. “And that translated into you getting to the NFL. It works hand in hand to me.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor allows players to wear their college swag during Saturday walk-throughs, and it’s obvious who lost a bet from the previous week.
Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Zach Allen, who went to Boston College, had to wear a Wake Forest T-shirt, courtesy of wide receiver Greg Dortch, after BC lost to Wake last month
“The shirt was like a frickin’ medium,” Allen said. “I made it look good though. … There are no examples of Dortch and I going against each other, so it’s cool stuff like that, it brings the whole 53[-man roster] together. People get invested because they enjoy seeing a 285-pound guy in a size medium.”
But, as teammate Maxx Williams said, “Schmediums look good.”
Williams should know: The former Minnesota Golden Gophers tight end lost his own bet to teammate Trace McSorley, a former Penn State quarterback. So he, too, wore a skin-tight shirt that was one size too small and therefore a tight medium — hence “schmedium.”
“It’s fun,” McSorley said. “It lightens it up.”
Cardinals quarterback Colt McCoy, a Texas alum, looked glum while wearing a Texas Tech shirt on social media earlier this year — thanks to a bet lost to a pair of Arizona teammates.
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, who coached Tech from 2013 to 2018, was not one of those who wagered with McCoy, however.
“I’m not wearing that burnt orange s—, I can assure you,” Kingsbury said.
But he saw the pain in McCoy’s face in the photo.
“He looks like his dog died, man,” Kingsbury said.
In 2018, when McCoy played for the Commanders, he got to see former Oklahoma punter Tress Way wear a Longhorns shirt every day in and out of the facility. They also had a standing bet every year: a six-pack of their choice.
“It was painful,” Way said about wearing the shirt. “But that’s the fun of it; college ball is the best.”
Hall lost a bet to Falcons running back Avery Williams when Boise State beat San Diego State. Hall was going to give Williams an Aztecs backpack, maybe a hat. As he said, “Nothing crazy.” But Williams showed up with his Boise State jersey, so Hall wore it all day.
“I sported it because he’s my favorite player,” Hall said.
“I could have given him my helmet, too, but I wouldn’t do that to him,” Williams said. “His big head probably couldn’t fit in my helmet.”
Players watch games together in the dining room during team meals Saturday night at the hotel. The Commanders, for example, have three TVs set up during team meals. Other times individual groups will gather in hotel rooms to watch games.
“You don’t want your team playing and losing,” defensive end Shaka Toney said.
If you’re from, say, Georgia, all comers are welcome. If they dare.
“That’s the worst part, because we all get paid pretty well, so a $20 bet here and there is not as bad as having to wear the other team’s colors,” said Falcons linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who played at Georgia. “It’s hard being a Georgia Bulldog. People see us and get intimidated and don’t want to make those bets. I haven’t won as much as I wanted because everyone’s pretty scared.”
IT’S ALMOST UNIVERSAL in NFL locker rooms: Players root against Alabama. What’s also true: The Crimson Tide players have the trump card in many cases that quiet conversations even after a rare loss.
After all, they’ve won six national championships since 2009 under coach Nick Saban.
Take New England Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson Sr., for example. When the former Crimson Tide standout played with the Cleveland Browns, he had to pay off his bet to teammates Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. after Alabama lost to LSU in 2019. So, Wilson showed up later that day wearing an LSU T-shirt to team meetings.
But he also wore something else: jewelry. He snapped a selfie wearing four championship rings, two on each hand, from his time at Alabama.
“Before I left the house to go to the team hotel I made sure I grabbed all my rings and brought them to the hotel,” Wilson, who won a national championship, two SEC championships and an SEC West title in his three years at Alabama, said. “I wore them and I was messing with them the whole day.”
LSU defeated Alabama again this season. Two of Wilson’s Patriots teammates played at LSU: cornerback Jalen Mills and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux. But Wilson was ready for them.
Toney, a former Penn State standout now on the Commanders practice squad, summed it up: “Everybody in the NFL hates Bama. I like success. I respect what they’re doing, but everybody hates Bama.”
Despite Alabama losing two games this season and the national championship game last year, it will take more to kill the Tide’s vibe in NFL locker rooms.
“They’re Bama until they’re not Bama no more,” Toney said. “People give Bama slack for their losses. But until you see consecutive years — and it has to be multiple years; it has to be Bama don’t look like Bama. It’s tough.”
Teammate James Smith-Williams, a defensive end, summed it up: “Jon and Payne have like five national championships. What can you say to that?”
Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Cam Robinson — another ex-Alabama player — said he knows who reigns supreme in the Jags’ locker room, even though rookie linebacker Travon Walker played on Georgia’s national championship team last year.
“You’re talking about probably the greatest college football dynasty ever,” Robinson said of Alabama. “It’s me and only me if I’m being honest. Josh [Allen] runs his mouth [about Kentucky]; I don’t know why, it’s a basketball school. Travon can talk a little bit. Daniel Thomas [from Auburn] likes to talk a lot. Who knows why? He can’t really say much.”
Falcons linebacker Rashaan Evans, who played at Alabama from 2014 to 2017, said in the past teammates were “too scared” to bet him when their school played Alabama. But running back Cordarrelle Patterson had no such qualms before his Tennessee Volunteers beat Alabama on Oct. 15.
Evans had to wear orange and white checkered overalls. It made him laugh. He also revealed, once again, the mindset of the Alabama players.
“It was bound to happen eventually. It was fun for me because finally someone beat us. It gets boring winning sometimes.”
FALCONS LINEBACKER WILL Compton developed a reputation in the NFL for one thing in particular: defending Nebraska, which is where he played from 2008 to 2012.
Compton turned his orator skills into the popular “Bussin with the Boys” podcast, where he made the case this summer for an 11-1 season by the Cornhuskers. They’re 3-8. Last year, he dubbed them the best three-win team in college football history — it didn’t win any bets, but it did shut down some arguments.
While Nebraska was 48-20 during his five years in Lincoln, the school has only three winning seasons since, and none since 2016.
“One thing I always said about Compton: He was undefeated on the mic,” Way, who was teammates with Compton in Washington, said. “He could be dead wrong and find a way to win the argument. It would be him against the whole locker room. He was the best in that regard.”
Here’s how Compton did it:
“A group would gather around me and I’d catch one person who laughs or chuckles whose team got destroyed,” he said. “I’d defend myself and immediately point at the other loser in the room and get the spotlight on him and throw seven different kinds of smoke on that guy until nothing was said about Nebraska.”
But even Compton has to pay up on his bets. And he knows the payoff might occur again this week when Iowa plays Nebraska, courtesy of his yearly wager with San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
If Nebraska loses for the eighth consecutive time to the Hawkeyes, Compton will record yet another video. In it, he’ll have to proclaim Iowa’s superiority and shout out the Hawkeyes on social media once again.
In 2020, Compton looked as if he was being forced to read a statement on video. After declaring he wasn’t going to “talk about me being 2-0 [against Iowa], getting player of the game one year; that’s irrelevant,” Compton took a deep breath and looked away from the camera.
“They are the big brother of the border. They are the more superior program.”
Nine seconds passed before he continued.
“I wish I had committed to Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes back in 2008, and I wish I had never went to Nebraska because Iowa is the better football team.” He then called Kittle a “sick SOB” for making him do the video.
But Compton isn’t about to change.
“I s— talk,” he said. “I still get texts from guys I played with. They’ll tell me they tune in to see what Nebraska is doing — when they’re doing bad they’ll shoot me a message. They’ll tell me they want to see if they’re winning or losing to know what state of mind I’ll be in.”
Nor are players on other teams about to change. They enjoy it too much.
“Definitely it’s fun,” Wilson said. “It’s almost every day someone brings up some story from college, whether it’s about them or in general. We’re always talking trash.”
Undefeated against the GOAT
IN EIGHT SEASONS playing with Tom Brady in New England, there’s one game former NFL safety Nate Ebner never lost: the Ohio State-Michigan game. Every year, Brady, perhaps Michigan’s most famous football alum, was convinced it was The Year. It wasn’t. So, eight times he had to pay off a bet to his teammate from Ohio State.
After a while, Ebner, who played with Brady from 2012 to 2019, wanted to be more creative in what he asked Brady to do after a Michigan loss. And because there were two Ohio State players and two Michigan players involved, Ebner knew what to do: Have them strike an O-H-I-O pose. Brady formed the H; defensive lineman Chase Winovich was the I, and ex-Buckeye John Simon bookended the O’s with Ebner.
“[Winovich] is probably one of the most annoying Michigan players of all time,” Ebner said. “There was nothing better than to see him do it with us.”
It led to a photo Ebner posted on his Instagram page. It wasn’t the first time Brady had to swallow his pride after a bet, either: In 2012, he wore then-teammate Mike Vrabel’s Ohio State jersey over his pads in practice.
Seven years later, it was Ebner’s turn to strike a pose with Brady that Ohio State fans adored. He said Brady was a good sport for paying off the bet. He says Brady is the best quarterback of all time, but Ebner knows he has an upper hand in one area. And by the time Michigan beat Ohio State last year — its first win since 2011 — Ebner was on to the Giants and Brady was with Tampa Bay.
“You can see the look on his face like, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this right now,'” Ebner said of the 2019 photo. “He didn’t have a lot to say, but he did say, ‘I’m never going to live this down.’ … Maybe I could get with some charities around Columbus to raise money with that picture because it’s such a special Ohio State picture. Maybe one day I’ll get Tom to sign a copy for me.”
Mike Rothstein, Ben Baby, Mike Reiss, Josh Weinfuss and Michael DiRocco contributed to this story.
NEWARK, N.J. — Simon Nemec hasn’t had an ideal start to his NHL career. But in Game 3 of the New Jersey Devils‘ Stanley Cup playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, he finally had his career highlight.
The 21-year-old defenseman scored an unassisted goal at 2:36 of double overtime on Friday night to give the Devils a 3-2 win and new life, cutting the Hurricanes’ series lead to 2-1.
In the process, Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NHL draft, had the most impactful moment of his pro career with his first playoff goal.
“I was so happy,” he said. “Amazing feeling. It’s been a tough season for me, and that’s a really big win for us.”
A native of Slovakia, Nemec spent his first season after the draft in the American Hockey League. He split time between the AHL and the Devils in Year 2, thrust into action because of injuries to the New Jersey defense. He split time between the NHL and the minors again this season. Nemec has played 87 games in the NHL, with five goals and 18 assists while skating to a minus-17.
He was a frequent healthy scratch in New Jersey, including Game 1 on Sunday, and his lackluster play caused many to wonder if Nemec would live up to his lofty draft position. Nemec was last on the Devils in goals above replacement at minus-8.7, according to Evolving Hockey.
Thanks to injuries to defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon, Nemec was called upon in Game 2 against Carolina and was back in the lineup for Game 3, in which the Devils lost defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic to injury after just 10 shifts. That injury, plus the multiple overtimes, meant massive increases in ice time for veterans such as Brian Dumoulin (36:29) and Brett Pesce (32:25), as well as more responsibility for Nemec.
“You just need guys to step up at the right times,” Dumoulin said. “He knew he was going to be going out there, we’re going to be relying on him, and we needed him. You could see that he took that moment. He wasn’t scared of it, and he took the reins of it.”
Nemec said the overtime goal, which beat Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen (34 saves), was the kind of boost he needs in his career.
“Yeah, it helps me a lot,” he said. “I feel like my confidence is back the last couple games. I’m just trying to play my game and do this stuff. I have to play offense a little bit, too, so my confidence is higher, and I just feel good about myself.”
Devils coach Sheldon Keefe admitted that he dreamed about defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, who returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 4 and played 27:09, being the Game 3 hero.
“But if I was really thinking, I would have said, ‘Wouldn’t this be something if the young guy who just stepped up so big for us here, if he ended the game?'” Keefe said.
The message the coach gave his team in the overtime intermissions was one of aggressiveness. That apparently wasn’t lost on Nemec.
“We’ve got to go win this hockey game. We don’t want to sit back, we don’t want this game to go on forever,” Keefe said. “Credit Nemo with doing that. To have the mindset to do it, not just sitting back and conserving energy. He was on the front foot. You love to see it and love to see him get rewarded.”
Game 4 of the series will be Sunday afternoon in New Jersey.
Hagel will miss Saturday’s Game 3 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers lead the series 2-0.
Around midway through the third period of Thursday’s Game 2, Tampa Bay was on the power play while trailing 1-0. Barkov pressured defenseman Ryan McDonagh deep in the Lightning zone. With the puck clearly past Barkov, Hagel lined him up for a huge hit that sent the Panthers captain to the ice and thumping off the end boards.
A penalty was whistled, and the officials conferred before calling a “five-minute penalty.” After review, Hagel was given a 5-minute major for interference. Barkov left the game with 10:09 remaining in regulation and did not return to the Panthers’ 2-0 win.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game that he didn’t expect Hagel to receive a major penalty for the hit.
“Refs make the call. I was a little surprised it was a five, but it was,” he said.
The NHL ruled that Hagel’s hit made “some head contact” on Barkov.
“It’s important to note that Barkov is never in possession of the puck on this play and is therefore not eligible to be checked in any manner,” the league said.
In the Friday hearing, held remotely, Hagel argued that he approached the play anticipating that Barkov would play the puck. But the Department of Player Safety said the onus was on Hagel to ensure that Barkov was eligible to be checked. It also determined that the hit had “sufficient force” for supplemental discipline.
It’s Hagel’s first suspension in 375 regular-season and 36 playoff games. He was fined for boarding Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen in May 2022.
The Panthers held an optional skate Friday. Coach Paul Maurice said Barkov “hasn’t been ruled out yet” but “hasn’t been cleared” for Game 3.
“He’s an irreplicable player,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said of Barkov. “One of the best centermen in the league. He’s super important to our team.”
The Lightning lose Hagel while they struggle to score in the series; they scored two goals in Game 1 and were shut out in Game 2. Tampa Bay was the highest-scoring team in the regular season (3.56), with Hagel contributing 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games.