The Urban Meyer Is Out Edition
Slate’s sports podcast on COVID running rampant, the Jaguars firing their head coach, and Kenny Washington.
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Episode Notes
Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley talk about COVID running rampant through every sports league, again. Next, they discuss the end of Urban Meyer’s very brief career as an NFL coach. Finally, Joshua Neuman joins Stefan and Josh for a conversation about Kenny Washington, who broke the NFL’s color barrier a year before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s.
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• Follow Ben Mathis-Lilley on Twitter.
• Hundreds of athletes tested positive and dozens of games were postponed as the omicron variant swept through sports.
• Chico Harlan’s Washington Post story on the pandemic in Denmark.
• The NFL relaxed its COVID testing rules to allow asymptomatic players to play in games.
• After saying he wouldn’t be allowed to play for the team while unvaccinated, the Brooklyn Nets brought back star guard Kyrie Irving, who promptly entered the NBA’s coronavirus protocols.
• A slew of positive cases threw England’s Premier League into chaos at the busiest time of the season.
• Slate’s Alex Kirshner wrote that Urban Meyer, who was fired after just 13 games as coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, “was never built to coach professional athletes.”
• Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo said Meyer called him “dipshit” and kicked him in the leg.
• Read a timeline of Meyer’s problems in Jacksonville.
• In an interview with Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Meyer blamed his downfall on just about anything but himself.
• Follow Joshua Neuman on Twitter and read his Slate cover story, “Why Isn’t Kenny Washington an American Icon?”
Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Christopher Grotheer:
Stefan’s Christopher Grotheer: Scorigami, the art of the unique NFL game score, has blown up, with obsessive fans, a popular bot, mainstream media attention, and even a T-shirt.
On this week’s bonus segment, Stefan, Josh, and Ben discuss why some football coaches have been able to change while Urban Meyer couldn’t.
Podcast production and edit by Kevin Bendis.
You can email us at hangup@slate.com.