Sports
‘He’s Like Family’: Rivalry Strengthens Strong Bond Between Former NFL Teammates

Chris Dishman called a handful of individuals shortly after Texas Southern’s vp of intercollegiate athletics Kevin Granger he informed him in January that he can be named the brand new head football coach of the Tigers.
Prairie View A&M football coach is on the short list of people that must be told immediately Bubba McDowellDishman’s former NFL teammate.
“He (McDowell) was very instrumental in me getting this job,” Dishman said. “We’re not blood brothers, but he’s like family.”
Once close teammates, they became enemies with the Southwestern Athletic Conference West at Texas Southern 27-9 After defeating Prairie View A&M on Saturday within the Labor Day Classic, Dishman picked up his first win as Tigers football coach — and his first against McDowell.
Texas Southern (1-0) broke a series of nine defeats to Prairie View A&M (0-1), bringing the Durley-Nicks Trophy to Houston for the primary time since 2014. Dishman became the second TSU head coach in 12 seasons to win the annual classic in his coaching debut.
He also won the old fraternal “hit the beach” contest, he said. The long-standing Oilers tradition was began by former Houston defensive coordinator and head coach Jerry Glanville, who awarded players green military helmets during practices for the perfect special play of the week during matches.
“One of my first touchdowns in the NFL was when Bubba blocked a kick and I picked it up and scored,” Dishman said. “I can keep my helmet here.”
Dishman, an elite cornerback, and McDowell, a pointy safety and excellent special teams player, were teammates from 1988 to 1994 on the previous Houston Oilers, a unit defined by its physicality. Houston chosen Dishman, a former Purdue star, within the fifth round. 1988 NFL Draft and McDowell, a Miami standout, within the third round 1989 NFL Draft.
Although neither Dishman, 59, nor McDowell, 57, wore the uniforms they wore together in Houston, their coaching philosophies of brotherhood and shared experiences, attention to detail and football sense were on full display Saturday.
“Coach McDowell told me there’s no rivalry until we win one game,” Dishman told reporters after the sport. “So we won one game, now the rivalry starts.”
Even after TSU clinched the victory over its division rival, Glanville called the meeting the true definition of brotherhood.
Dishman and McDowell’s friendship originally began over Glanville. When he watched film of then-Purdue linebacker Fred Strickland before the 1988 draft, he noticed “this cornerback who kept making plays,” he said.
After seeing quite a few flashes of Dishman’s ability on defense, Glanville had had enough.
“I turned off the film and said, ‘I don’t want a linebacker, I want a cornerback,’” he said.
The Oilers were also known for his or her kick blocking on special teams, and Glanville desired to bolster that effort. He selected McDowell.
“When I first met Bubba, he was a teenager,” Glanville said. “He was a young pup, but he was the best kick blocker in the country.”
Dishman agreed. “He could slide under big offensive linemen and make plays. I always wanted to line up next to him. He was such a terror on special teams, blocking kicks.”
Although McDowell fancied himself a special teams superpower, he also desired to be a starter on the Oilers’ defense. But before he got his likelihood, the 6-foot-1 safety, who played more zone under then-coach Jimmy Johnson on the University of Miami, needed to learn every thing he could about playing defense in Houston. Dishman became his teacher.
In 1989, McDowell fought for a starting spot. McDowell often sat over Dishman, who “crouched on almost every play” in Cover 2 defenses, he said.
“Cris would always tell me, ‘Make sure you’re deep,’ and he’d ask, ‘Are you supporting me?’” McDowell said.
While pure athletic ability helped McDowell execute plays based on advice he received from other veterans on the team, he quickly learned the importance of watching more footage of coverages and his opponents.
“I tried to do things my way,” McDowell said. “(Dishman) reminded me of three things: This isn’t Miami, the NFL will humiliate you and everyone is either at my level or better. How I decided to handle it was up to me.”
A young Nick Saban, who was the Oilers’ defensive backs coach within the Nineteen Nineties 1988 to 1989i felt the identical way.
“He (Saban) kept telling me that if I studied and watched more film, I could make a lot more plays and potentially get selected to the Pro Bowl,” McDowell said. “I took it with a grain of salt at first because I wasn’t used to it.”
Taking Saban’s advice and heeding the recommendation of veterans like defensive end Sean Jones, defensive back Richard Johnson and linebacker Robert Lyles, McDowell, despite never making the Pro Bowl in his seven-year NFL profession, became the Oilers’ starting defensive end.
“They (Dishman and McDowell) played so well, a lot of people thought I could be a coach,” Glanville said with amusing. “But they were more than just players. Now that they’re coaches, I’d bet all the money I’ve ever made that those two are changing players’ lives every day.”
While Dishman and McDowell became true stars on the Oilers’ defense, their success wasn’t just a mirrored image of their individual skills; it was a testament to their commitment to remaining students of the sport. Dishman recalled how he and McDowell spent a few years in San Diego training for upcoming seasons, hoping to get one step closer to winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Although Dishman and McDowell never won a Super Bowl, the Oilers’ postseason resurgence has been well-documented. They have played in five of Houston makes seven consecutive postseason appearances — 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 — including two AFC Central division titles. However, their tenure also included “Return” within the 1993 postseason, when the Oilers surrendered a 35-3 result in the Buffalo Bills, leading to Houston pulling off the best comeback in NFL history.
While no football team is without flaws, Lyles knew each Dishman and McDowell can be special. Lyles, who played for Houston from 1984 to 1990 and was a captain, said each were “classic doers” and “real men” in life.
“When I came in, we were a couple years away from getting Houston back on track,” Lyles said. “Cris and Bubba took it to the next level and carried the torch. … They locked guys in there. They were teachable and passed on the lessons they learned from watching us to the younger players.”
Eddie GeorgeThe 1995 Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State, chosen by the Oilers in the primary round of the 1996 draft, finished his first season because the NFL’s offensive rookie of the 12 months. George, now the Tennessee State football coach, said his success as a professional wouldn’t have been possible without veterans like Dishman.
“He’s one of my best friends,” George said. “He’d invite me to meet his buddies at this place in Houston and show me what to look out for, who to talk to, what to stay away from.”
Dishman, who has nearly 20 years of coaching experience, instills that very same sense of brotherhood in his players at Texas Southern.
“Besides being better players, we go to church every Sunday and have team dinners where we get to hang out with our teammates,” the senior linebacker from Texas Southern said. Javius Williams, who finished second on the Tigers defense in tackles (six) and intercepted one pass in Saturday’s victory“They are mandatory. They have helped us build bonds that help us in the trenches.”
McDowell, who initially didn’t see himself as a coach because he didn’t consider he had the patience, is pursuing the identical team-building program at Prairie View A&M.
“Trying to pour into players like Nick Saban did with me, I know what he went through with me,” McDowell said. “That’s the job.”
The last time Texas Southern had a winning season was It was in 2000in the identical season as Dishman retired from the NFL. But after TSU beat Prairie View A&M, the SWAC last 12 months vice-championshipUnder Dishman, a brand new chapter could begin in Houston.
Dishman and McDowell said that regardless of what the long run holds, they may all the time be close.
“We both want to win,” Dishman said with amusing. “The team that wins the red-zone battle, converts the most third downs, wins special teams and stays calm when the pressure is on is going to win the game. … But through it all and in the future, he will always be my brother.”
Sports
Jalen Milroe can follow the Jalen path in NFL

Star Black playmakers aren’t any longer an exception – they’re the rule. Throughout the entire football season, this series will discover the importance and influence of black QB from bottom -up to NFL.
Indianapolis-keep me, should you heard it earlier: playmaker Alabama born in Texas, who’s a stronger runner than a passerby, will probably be called outside the first round of the NFL Draft.
The playmaker was undefeated in Sec as a primary -year starter.
The playmaker never played for the same offensive coordinator.
The name of the playmaker is even Jalen.
But it isn’t clear that Jalen hurts. This winter he was busy winning the Super Bowl MVP, and he didn’t play Iron Bowl or against Michigan.
Instead, it’s a former playmaker of Crimson Tide Jalen Milroewho last week Combine Combine tried to convey the case to the trainers and evaluators that he – like his namesake – is price being their playmaker franchise in the future despite questions on his ability.
“I went through adversity. I saw everything as a quarterback, “Milroe said on Friday. “I played at the most difficult conference in the country. It would be easier to play at other conferences, but what I could see in Sec catapulted me that I was ready to play NFL. “
Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Departing from Katy in Texas, she originally got involved in Texas in 2019, but a 12 months later she fell to Alabama. After he was sitting behind the Crimson Tide Starter Bryung for 2 seasons, Milroe took his reins in the 2023 season. He helped Alabama survive Sec (8-0) this 12 months, won by the conference rival and two-time defender Georgia in the SEC championship, which caused Crimson Tide to the play-off collection.
But while Milroe had a big arm (his 10 yards for the test took third place in Sec in 2023), the pass was not his strong suit. For two seasons as a starter Milroe never achieved 3000 yards in one season, the first starter of Alabama, who did it because it … hurts.
Hurts, from Houston, led Crimson Tide to the National National Championships in 2016–17, but during these two seasons were lower than 5,000 yards. While Hurts was a singular Rusher (1,809 yards and 21 sticks) at the moment, his weakness as a passerby is known for led to the spare Tua Tavailoa during the break of the national championships in 2017.
In the mix, Milroe decided that despite his pedestrian passes, he was still worthy of being a start at NFL.
He is aware of his weaknesses and swore that he worked in the ass to enhance outside being “one dimension.” He could move when his legendary trainer, Nick Saban, retired after the 2023 season, but decided to not fall off. He traveled six miles a day to ensure that that something was left in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. He studied progression and reads after I-SNAP to lift his IQ in football.
Unlike the forecast sorts of the first round, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, Milroe threw a mix on Saturday, hoping that he would show the bands that he has mechanics to do that to the playmaker NFL. It turned out to be a mixed bag. Milroe showed strong arm strength and a very good location of sail routes, curls and it while throwing exercises, but fought accuracy on intermediate and on the routes.
“That’s so many things that I can learn more where I am today and where I will be when it comes to day 1, starting with NFL,” said Milroe before Saturday exercises. “Always be a game student, at all times attempt to develop, because it would be so many opportunities in which I can look back and say that it was the moment after I grew up as a playmaker.
“That’s right now, I’m just trying to grow as much as possible, put my best foot forward and just look for development.”
Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images
Milroe was asked that he was one other playmaker in Alabama to succeed in the mix, following in the footsteps of the role (who moved to Oklahoma in 2019), Tavailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Milroe said he appreciates being in the company of others, but he added that it’s difficult to check him with others.
“We had different bands, we had different players around us, we had a different system,” he said.
But when he specifically asked what he could study the journey of Hurts-from the first manager of the game after the super Bowl-Milroe master said he inspired him his companion Alabam.
“The most important thing I learned from J. Hurts is how he kept his head (I) always continued to work,” said Milroe. “He at all times raised his game, he has never been self -deserved, and all the pieces you see is great progress from him.
“And I have to applaud him as a person, he as a man, because he is definitely inspiring for many playmakers of my image, as well as many playmakers throughout the country. He leads to all of us. “
The couple isn’t completely similar. Hurts had about 20 kilos on Milroe when he was in college. Milroe has a stronger arm, while Hurts played more and not using a mistake of football: Milroe threw 17 interceptions and ate 67 bags for 2 seasons as a starter in comparison with 10 captures Hurts and 43 bags.
But they can each be changing the game when their teams need them. In a highly publicized match against Georgia at the starting of the last season, Milroe finished almost 82% of his passes on 374 yards and two appointments, adding 117 yards to the ground for the next two results.
Milroe can also match the wounds in the so -called “Jalen-ISMS. “
“Climbing upstairs is not easy, but when you reach the top of this mountain, you will learn so many things when it comes to adversity when it comes to difficulties, things along the way,” said Milroe in a mix.
Sports
Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos from 1968. Black Power Salute inspired me to find my goal

I’d say that I grew up within the household to be sure that that me and my siblings were aware of the black history. My parents invested in the gathering of black encyclopedias. On the duvet we had a version of the Bible with Black Jesus. Our house was stuffed with books of black novelists and thinkers, and if a black document appeared, we watched it. I watched all movies made on television about Dr. King, each “Roots” and “Alex Haley’s Queen” and I sat for all 14 hours “Eyes on the reward”-as a toddler. Bless my heart.
Having said this, there have been pockets of black history, and more likely that I had no opportunity to delve into once I was a toddler. The college was where all the will for information and understanding of the combined. I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., One of a very powerful historically black universities within the country. It was there that I met people from around the globe whose knowledge about black history differed (often depending on the colleges and the communities by which we lived), but everyone had hunger to learn more.
One day, through the first yr, I remember one among my friends in a T -shirt by which I had definitely seen before, but I never paid attention to. There was a black and white screen printing on the shirt (what I do know now) the enduring moment on the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, where on the rostrum for 200-meter medals, Tommie Smith, John Carlos (races 1. And 3. Place Finaners) Everyone gathered a black fist in gloves while he played “Star Spangled Banner”. Peter Norman, the second place from Australia, wore a human rights badge, like Smith and Carlos.
Not only did they raise the fist of black power (although they each said it was for human rights), they received medals in black socks to represent poverty within the black community, and Smith wore a black scarf for black pride. Carlos showed solidarity with blue-wheeled employees, unpacking the jacket and wore a necklace from the beads for individuals who were lynched. Due to the state of Black America in 1968 and a continuing struggle for equality and civil rights, there have been calls to a boycott of the Games. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also killed in April this yr – and all three athletes were inspired enough to find a way to do it on the rostrum, which led to one of the crucial durable images of public protest.
I remember how I learned history and realized that on the most important scene these brave men used their moment of triumph and victory to quietly protest against the conditions of underrated communities in America. I felt strengthened; We often discuss standing on the arms of giants, however the more I got into the history of black in America, the more I spotted what number of giants there have been. In college I used to be very bad and for a while ready to burn every part that represented the establishment or any obstacle to black liberation. I felt like all those individuals who even saw their space on the planet in reference to individuals who could never give you the option to speak as heroes whose lives were to be modeled later. Especially since it was also fastidiously that putting people in front of him can often bring an enormous personal loss.
When Smith and Carlos took their position, they were booed on the stadium and ordered to be sent home by the International Olympic Committee. The athletes returned home, but they weren’t welcomed by the hero, but as a substitute of rough sleds, and even in some cases the specter of death. They were also not beloved by athletes. Two men, associated eternally in history, even have a good relationship –Carlos even claims that he let Smith go within the race Because “Tommie Smith would never put his fist in the sky if I won this race,” the claim that Smith denies.
History ultimately has a way of rights, but it surely took a few years and realizations on the front of social policy, in order that the actions of those persons are perceived as brave and needed, not only selfish and smug.
The lessons that I learned from College and continuous reading and education I gained (my head remained within the book about black history) were one among the best advantages in HBCU. The very variety of books I learned about about which I actually have never heard of – I actually have upheld me all my life.
That is why I remember sooner or later I used to be walking around Washington, the eastern Washington market and a street seller was selling different photos of moments in black history, and he had a 40 -inch photo within the Tommie Smith and John Carlos frame. I paid for it in money and spent it across the capital of the country until I returned home. I do know that it happened in 2005 (I finished Morehouse College in 2001) because I just moved to my first apartment with no roommate and it was the very first thing that I actually have ever suspended on the wall. This picture within the frame still hangs on the wall in my home in 2025 and I used it to teach my children about sacrifice and privilege and how you may have to discuss individuals who cannot.

The query that my youngest children often ask: “How do I know who can’t speak for herself?” Which is an incredible query. For this I answered an easy fact, pointing to the photo:
“These men have made a gesture that gave people whose most of us, including them, would never see or never know them, but on which life negatively affects the alternatives of the wealthy and the federal government. Sometimes you may have to take this chance to say something because you do not know in the event you’ll ever have such a big platform.
Son, there may be at all times someone who cannot speak for himself, and you may have to use it in a voice, because perhaps the thing you say or a stand that can help someone you understand, live a greater life. ”
I take advantage of words that may understand a little bit higher, but I can inform you that my children have a look at this photo on a regular basis, and once one among my sons said: “These guys are heroes, right?”
I say yes, they’re. They are the heroes of the Black History.
They will live eternally for speaking, and even quietly, in solidarity with those that couldn’t.

(Tagstranslate) @Ap
Sports
Main Treasury Official Morgan State University, Sterling Steward, died

Morgan State University announced that his older associate athletics director and tax director, Sterling Steward, died.
No reason for death was disclosed, but the college has confirmed his contribution since he was employed in December 2022.
Morgan State University Athletics mourns Sterling Steward’s departure https://t.co/avjzilxhja
– Grizzly Life (@grizzlylife22) February 26, 2025
Steward died on February 26. In Morgan State he was accountable for the event of university programs, supporting partnerships and strengthening the financial and operational success of the Faculty.
“Sterling was more than a colleague-he was a respected leader, mentor and friend,” said in a written statement by Den Freeman-Patton, vice chairman and director of inter-university athletes. “His passion for athletics and commitment to raising Morgan programs were visible in everything he did. He worked tirelessly to ensure that our sports students had resources and the possibilities of distinction, and its impact will be felt for many years. We expand our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, especially his three sons and sister when we mourn this huge loss. “
While the steward worked in Morgan, strategic growth and cooperation occurred. His work with the institutional development department helped to offer more opportunities and created lasting relationships to support sports programs.
Steward earlier he worked At the University of New Orleans (UNO) as an assistant to the college athletics director for strategic income generation. He also made stays on the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Savannah State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Alabama State University, Kentucky State University, Eastern Oregon University and Xavier University in various roles, including for a senior consultant athletics director and sports director.
He was from New Orleans, who received the title of bachelor and master’s degree on the University of Southern Mississippi. He won a bachelor’s degree in the sphere of coaching and administration/history of sport and his master’s degree in the sphere of sport management.
(Tagstransate) Morgan State Universiry
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