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Good morning! Congrats, you’re the Browns’ starting quarterback. Coming up: 

Explainers: Wait, this really can happen?

Last week, we discussed the concept — and your malaise — of the select group of NFL rookies eligible to return to college football via a judge’s order. In the time since, the situation has developed. 

Last night, former Ole Miss and Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright, waived by Cleveland yesterday, announced his intention to head back to college and play at LSU. If the 22-year-old ends up on the Tigers’ roster, he will be the first NFL player to ever return to the college game after entering the pro ranks. 

The situation has some nuance, though. Let’s cover it in three points: 

No. 1: Can he really do this?
Possibly. Wright and other players in the high school Class of 2022 won a fifth year of eligibility thanks to a judge’s ruling in Louisiana last week, although the NCAA won a federal court ruling that would pause eligibility for that 2022 class. The move also goes against NCAA and SEC stipulations, though attorneys clearly feel that both can be solved via the court system, too. 

No. 2: Why is he doing this?
Wright’s case occupies a liminal space in our football landscape. NIL offers sometimes top NFL rookie contracts, and it’s hard to blame someone for following the highest number for something as frail as an athletic career can be. Will this lead to more money for NFL rookies? Or will the NIL space be regulated further? To be determined. 

No. 3: Is everyone going to do this now?
No. Again, Wright is one of a select few in the Class of 2022 to win eligibility this way. No one following this group will be able to make the same move under our current setup, theoretically. We have to hedge here, though, because it seems like everything in college football can change on a whim these days. 

We have a deeper explainer here. I’m tired. At least we have real games this weekend.

News to Know

Naomi Baker / Getty Images

Haaland’s hair chop
Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland shaved off his signature locks before City’s win in their Premier League opener against Bournemouth yesterday, which was just jarring to see. Haaland also didn’t score in the victory, which I can only assume is a Samson’s-hair situation. Something to monitor.

Freedom booted from WNBA game
Enes Kanter Freedom, the former NBA player turned activist who’s said he intends to play in the WNBA, was ejected from the Sky-Fever game yesterday after a confrontation with Chicago guard Natasha Cloud. Freedom has attached himself to the ongoing debate about transgender women in sports, sparked by comments from Fever forward Sophie Cunningham earlier this summer. No transgender women play in the WNBA. Read our full report from Chicago.

Browns to name QB today
Cleveland will announce its starting quarterback today, which should be a doozy, as silly as that sounds. It’s a strange mix of personalities involved: Deshaun Watson, the incumbent who doesn’t seem to understand why people may not like him; Shedeur Sanders, who has a big name and iffy production; and coach Todd Monken, who already seems tired of a season that hasn’t begun. Read our full story.

More news:

• Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty appears to have survived an injury scare after leaving practice hobbling. Early reports say he just sprained his ankle.
  
• Not so fortunate: Chargers center Tyler Biadasz, who’s out for the year with a knee injury.
  
• Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” ball sold for $3.35 million. Lord.
  
• Wyndham Clark won the BMW Championship after finishing with three straight birdies. He’s had a big year.
  
• Good Good Golf, an apparel and media brand, is under fire after deleting a video advertisement that depicted company co-founder Garrett Clark shoving a female employee. Read more.
  
• An Arizona State men’s hockey player who collapsed during an outdoor workout Thursday remains in the hospital, according to a statement.
  
• Jon Gruden was back in an NFL broadcast booth Saturday for the first time since 2018. See our full story.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Momentum: Two streaky teams, 2 opposite directions

Bill Streicher / Getty Images

The cliche says that baseball is a game of streaks, which is true in most ways. But I’d argue the calendar is so long that some streaks don’t matter at all. The timing of those streaks, though, can make or break a season. 

Start hot? Your front office wonders if it can keep those talented minor leaguers down longer, or which ones are expendable should the team become a buyer at the trade deadline. Wither before said deadline? The entire trajectory of your franchise can change in a two-week span because of bad play, suddenly shifting a pretty good team into rebuilding mode. 

Or there is the late-season streak, which is the most impactful. Consider our two teams on opposite paths yesterday: 

• In the nice column, the Phillies (73-58) have won nine straight after Kyle Schwarber’s walk-off home run against the Cardinals. It’s easy to forget that this team fired its manager early in the year and now sits just three games back of the Braves for first place in the NL East. Philadelphia is all but assured of a playoff spot, and the vibes are high.
  
• Screeching past them the other way on the interstate are the Mariners (62-69), who have lost in staggering blowouts twice in a week’s time and have dropped from four games under .500 to seven since the start of this month. Yesterday’s 19-2 loss was somehow not as embarrassing as a 22-0 defeat last Tuesday. Seattle is technically still alive in the postseason race, but read this and see if you believe that’s true. 

These teams happen to meet today (9:40 p.m. ET), with one month left in the season. Almost done here, too:

Watch Guide

📺 LLBWS: All afternoon
1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Four elimination games today, two between American teams and two from the international side. Watch the late game, if anything, to catch two-way star Kinley Rasmus for Phenix City, Ala. 

📺 EPL: Chelsea vs. Fulham
3 p.m. ET on USA Network
Our final Prem match of the weekend features two interesting clubs. Chelsea, a behemoth, has seen a full makeover this offseason while Fulham is projected to be near the relegation zone. Understandably, the fan bases reside on opposite sides of our Hope-O-Meter. 

📺 MLB: Rays at Tigers
6:40 p.m. ET on FS1
Tampa is basically assured a playoff spot at this point, but could use some cushion for its three-game lead in the AL East. It’s do-or-die for Detroit, which is 3 1/2 games back in the AL wild card and a distant shout in the AL Central. Time’s ticking. 

📺 WNBA: Valkyries at Lynx
8 p.m. ET on USA Network
These are still the two best teams in the W right now, though Las Vegas is challenging Golden State for the No. 3 seed. Just six regular-season games left. It’s still hard to reconcile that Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles, picked second in this year’s draft, is a legit MVP candidate.

Pulse Picks

John Ruggero / The Running Photographer NC

A story that simply floored me: The day Jenny Simpson’s heart stopped. Make time for this today. 

Is this it for LIV Golf? Brody Miller has a great story inside the fight for what comes next. 

Really helpful story on what could be a big disaster: five questions we still have about Mark Walter and the Dodgers, the team he hasn’t sold yet. 

I loved this from David Ubben, on former Auburn star Sammie Coates and the high school team that snapped a 101-game losing streak. 

The Yankees can no longer count on Giancarlo Stanton, as Chris Kirschner writes in a strong column. It might be time to move on. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Deshaun Watson’s thoughts on the boos. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: Zac Jackson’s searing op-ed on the Watson situation. It’s worth a read.