Cowboys Owner JERRY JONES was inducted into the Pro Football HOF on Saturday, and fellow HOFer EMMITT SMITH said Jones "has definitely transformed the National Football League in a very positive way." Smith: "He came in with a new vision, a brand new vision and blew it out of the water and transformed it into the context of new television revenue, licensing things, and just put it all together and made it all work for everybody in the National Football League" ("Hall of Fame Saturday," NFL Network, 8/5). Jones was profiled over the weekend by ESPN, where his son, Cowboys Exec VP, COO & Dir of Player Personnel STEPHEN JONES, said the "biggest misconception" about his father is "that he’s a dictator, sitting out here and just making decisions on his own." Stephen Jones: "That’s the opposite of what he really is. The decisions that are made we make from a consensus" ("SC Featured," ESPN, 8/4).
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| Marquette King has 282,000 followers on Instagram and 161,000 on Twitter |
SPECIAL TEAMER: Raiders P MARQUETTE KING is now a "bona fide celebrity," and it is "not because he is one of the better kickers in the league, but because he is its unlikeliest social media star." King has 282,000 followers on Instagram and 161,000 on Twitter. He "flooded both those and his Facebook account with daily posts this offseason." King said, "The cool part about social media is that people can see you’re not a robot. ... Fans get to see that we have a life, too. We’re normal, just like them." King spoke at Twitter HQ "two weeks ago about building his brand" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/6).
WOLVERINES! The Univ. of Michigan football program has identified three "honorary captains" for the upcoming season. ESPN NFL analyst CHARLES WOODSON will serve as honorary captain for the team's game against Ohio State, while ESPN's ADAM SCHEFTER (Cincinnati) and Fossil Group/Shinola Founder TOM KARTSOTIS (Florida) will also take part (MLIVE.com, 8/6).
NAMES: Patriots Owner ROBERT KRAFT sent a Super Bowl LI ring to Tom Brady's mother, GALYNN BRADY, who has recently "underwent cancer treatments" (ESPN.com, 8/6)....Watkins Glen Int'l President MICHAEL PRINTUP yesterday presented BORIS SAID, a personal friend, a "custom-made glass piece from the Corning Museum of Glass." Printup also presented DALE EARNHARDT JR. a "hand-blown piece of glass from the museum." Both drivers were competing in their last races at the track (Elmira STAR-GAZETTE, 8/7)....Almost 1,700 fans on Saturday watched Blackhawks RW PATRICK KANE and other past and current Blackhawks play in the “inaugural Chicago Hockey Charity Classic” at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva. The game benefited Special Olympics Chicago and “raised a whopping $139, 437” (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 8/6)....The “Raiders Rough & Ready” art show “opened Saturday at Bash Fine Art & Custom Framing” in Las Vegas. The show “features paintings and prints of the Raiders” and other NFL teams and “runs through Sept. 2.” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/7)....SERENA WILLIAMS on Saturday “hosted a ‘50s themed baby shower” from the Baby O Diner in N.Y. (NYPOST.com, 8/6)....Actor MATT DAMON yesterday “was spotted at Fenway Park” watching Red Sox-White Sox (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/7)....Former White House Press Secretary SEAN SPICER was at Fenway Park on Saturday (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 8/6)....Cubs SS ADDISON RUSSELL “joined CHANCE THE RAPPER on stage during his Lollapalooza-headlining set Saturday” in Chicago. He also “showed up” to Chance’s after-party at Studio Paris alongside former NBAer KRIS HUMPHRIES and T’Wolves F JIMMY BUTLER (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 8/6)....Former NFLer TONY RICHARDSON will lead the wedding ceremony of RSE Ventures Business Development Associate CAROLINE COIRBETT and MSG Dir of Marketing Partnerships NICHOLAS SIZER this week (N.Y. TIMES, 8/7).
IN MEMORY: Longtime Eagles exec JIM GALLAGHER died Friday at age 88 after “spending almost a half-century with the team.” He joined the team in ’49 and retired in ’95. He was named Personnel Dir in ’57 and later served as PR Dir, Sales & Marketing Dir, Alumni Relations Dir and Traveling Secretary (AP, 8/5). He is “one of just two Eagles executives” in the team’s HOF (PHILLY.com, 8/5).
