(FOX NEWS) — The NFL confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday it had “no issue” with players doing celebratory dances emulating President-elect Trump after touchdowns and sacks.

Front Office Sports first reported the league had no problem with the grooves.

The NFL went from kneeling during the national anthem to dancing the Trump YMCA dance.

That is what you call Making America Great Again! #MAGA

pic.twitter.com/yDFOST6BuH

— MAGA Resource (@MAGAResource) November 18, 2024

San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa appeared to have started the trend of outwardly supporting the president-elect. He flashed a “Make America Great Again” cap after a postgame interview before the election, which led to a fine. He then did the Trump dance after sacking Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.

(BELIEFNET) — Colorado football coach and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders has found himself in the crosshairs of an anti-religion group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), after having a pastor pray over his team following a recent victory.

The FFRF issued a four-page letter condemning Sanders’ actions, accusing him of unconstitutional religious activities for allowing Pastor Dewey Smith to pray with the team after their September 22 win against Baylor University.

The FFRF’s letter claimed that Sanders’ use of a team chaplain at a public university infringes upon the rights of players who may not share his Christian faith. “Coach Sanders’ team is full of young and impressionable student-athletes who would not risk giving up their scholarship, playing time, or a recommendation from the coach by speaking out or opting out of his unconstitutional religious activities – even if they strongly disagree with his beliefs,” the letter stated. The organization contended that Sanders was using his position to impose Christianity on the team, labeling it “unconstitutional religious coercion.”

(FOX NEWS) — A family trying to attend the San Francisco 49ers-Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday is alleging Levi’s Stadium security wouldn’t allow one of them to enter due to wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.

In a video posted to TikTok, one of the women in the family explains that her son-in-law was told he cannot wear his red MAGA hat into the stadium, which led to an argument with security.

Denied entry at Levi’s Stadium for wearing a MAGA hat. pic.twitter.com/5sHH0FB7ef

— ECHO (@ERICOC18) October 28, 2024

“We were about to enter, and they stopped us because my son-in-law is wearing this hat,” the woman says in the video. “They don’t want to let us in.”

(FOX NEWS) — Jemele Hill, a former ESPN pundit who is currently a contributing writer for The Atlantic, blasted former NASCAR star Danica Patrick over voting for Donald Trump for president.

Patrick revealed in a post on X she had voted for the first time in her life and made her decision to cast her vote for the former president as he and Ohio Sen. JD Vance run against Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for the White House.

Considering what they said about you as a woman driver and what Trump stands for against women, this is unhinged behavior.

But good luck tho!

Also, this is why a lot of people do not trust white women in this election. https://t.co/kRE6aAPRLh

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 25, 2024

“I made a rule for myself that if I didn’t vote I could not have an opinion about the outcome, because I didn’t earn that right,” Patrick shared on social media. “Not this time. I voted for (Trump) and I can’t wait to have him make America great again!”

(FOX NEWS) — Nicole Powers used to compete against women — but Powers came to the realization that it was unfair.

Powers is a transgender woman who has golfed against biological females. Powers has also competed in many other sports.

“I had to take a step back and realize that biological realities are real and competitive advantages will always exist despite the number of years or whatever surgeries and hormones you’ve done, and then understood that my place is not in women’s sports,” Powers said in a recent interview with OutKick.

(THE BLAZE) – A teammate of a male player who plays on the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team has joined a lawsuit against the NCAA.

SJSU women’s volleyball is off to its greatest start in program history (8-0) with the help of a male athlete on the team. That athlete is biological male Blaire Fleming, born Brayden, who is listed on the team website at 6’1”.

SJSU has disabled comments on X posts, kept Fleming out of highlight packages, and even removed him from game recaps as a result of backlash from him playing on the women’s team. Now, SJSU’s co-captain Brooke Slusser has joined a lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing males to compete against females.

(FOX NEWS) — Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark was on the receiving end of a hit to the eye from Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington during their first-round playoff match on Sunday.

Clark was looking to make a pass to teammate Aliyah Boston in the first quarter with Carrington guarding her. Clark found Boston, but Carrington poked Clark in the eye while trying to deflect the pass. No foul was called, but Clark had to take a second to regain her composure.

Caitlin Clark poked in the eye by Dijonai Carrington.

No foul given.pic.twitter.com/QcgX9Py4du

— OutKick (@Outkick) September 22, 2024

Clark, who was named the AP WNBA Rookie of the Year, and Carrington have had some intense moments during the regular season. In one of their matchups, Carrington mocked Clark for how she drew a foul.

In 1990, in the midst of a heated – and racially charged – U.S. Senate race in North Carolina between Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and Democratic challenger Harvey Gantt, Chicago Bulls superstar guard Michael Jordan issued one of his most famous lines. Jordan, who grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and won a national championship in 1982 for the famed University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball program, was asked whether he would endorse Gantt. Jordan’s memorable response, which OutKick founder and syndicated radio host Clay Travis subsequently adopted for a book title, was: “Republicans buy sneakers too.” Jordan, in other words, refused to politicize his brand and thus risk sacrificing sales of his signature Air Jordan sneakers, which Nike had first unveiled six years earlier.

It was an admirable assertion of political neutrality – a refusal to bend the knee to those mandating a stifling and homogenous political correctness. As Jordan would later tell ESPN during the filming of its docuseries “The Last Dance,” which aired in 2020, “I never thought of myself as an activist. I thought of myself as a basketball player.” Jordan’s neutrality from decades ago was criticized, during the ESPN miniseries, by someone who knows a lot about exacerbating race relations: former President Barack Obama. In response to that criticism, Jordan doubled down, effectively flipping two middle fingers to the 44th president: “It’s never going to be enough for everybody, and I know that. Because everybody has a preconceived idea for what I should do and what I shouldn’t do.”

As a lifelong college basketball fan of University of North Carolina archrival Duke and a 1990s-era childhood pro hoops fan of the Bulls’ perennially hapless Eastern Conference rival, the New York Knicks, I am loath to credit Michael Jordan. But in this instance, “MJ” was spot-on. In today’s hyper-politicized era, it raises an obvious question: Do Republicans still buy sneakers too?

Taylor Swift seems to think not. In a viral Instagram post earlier this week, the megastar singer-songwriter endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Citing a litany of left-wing pet causes, such as “LGBTQ+ rights,” in vitro fertilization and the pro-abortion euphemism of “a woman’s right to her own body,” Swift concluded that Harris is a “steady-handed, gifted leader” who has earned her vote. Swift is the first-ever music industry billionaire, so perhaps she has cynically concluded that she simply does not need conservative or Republican patronage. It’s been at least a decade and a half since Swift sang something approximating country music, and she may simply no longer care about alienating the southerners and churchgoers who disproportionately constitute country music’s fan base.

Swift, who is dating Kansas City Chiefs all-pro tight end Travis Kelce, was on hand in Las Vegas in February to see Kelce’s Chiefs prevail in a thrilling Super Bowl overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers. She stood just offstage as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recognized star Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, for the third time this decade, as Super Bowl MVP. Mahomes is an evangelical Christian who has spoken about how he prays before every game to “thank God for those opportunities.” Mahomes’ wife, Brittany, furthermore, “liked” an Instagram post last month from former President Donald Trump. It is thus not a very well-kept secret that Kelce’s own quarterback Mahomes, as well as Mahomes’ wife, Brittany, are a contemporary conservative Christian power couple.

All of that makes it even more remarkable that Mahomes, when asked at a press conference earlier this week what he thought of Swift’s high-profile presidential endorsement and whether he himself would be issuing an endorsement of his own, stuck to Jordan’s neutrality position. As Mahomes put it: “I don’t want my place and my platform to be used to endorse a candidate. … I think my place is to inform people to get registered to vote. It’s to inform people to do their own research, and then make their best decision for them and their family.” Hear, hear.

Mahomes – like Jordan before him – intuitively understands something Swift does not. Americans routinely tune into sports games on their TVs and listen to music on their radios as a distraction from our chaotic news cycles and the political tumult of the day. It is not merely a commercial proposition – that Republicans might also buy Air Jordans, and pro-lifers might also purchase Swift albums. It is certainly that. But it is also a matter of basic decency – of using one’s massive platform in order to assuage, and not exacerbate, the domestic tensions that have brought our politics to a frenzied fever pitch. Swift’s endorsement won’t move the needle. But it is condemnable.

Let’s seek out celebrities who would elevate us and play into our better angels – not those who would tear us apart and tear us down.

(FOX NEWS) — American gymnast Jordan Chiles couldn’t hold back tears in her first interview about the retraction of her Olympic medal.

The 23-year-old Olympian, nicknamed “Chick,” was embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of the Paris Games when she won bronze in the women’s floor exercise final after American coaches asked officials to review a score.

‘The biggest thing that was taken from me was the recognition of who I was, not just my sport, but the person I am.’

Jordan Chiles on being stripped of her bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

(: @Forbes)pic.twitter.com/SPiZ4cNaQu

— theScore (@theScore) September 12, 2024

Romania’s Ana Barbosu initially finished with a higher score than Chiles once the American finished her routine, then judges reviewed the footage, changed the score and bumped Chiles up to third place, sparking the initial controversy and fierce backlash from Romanians.

(FOX NEWS) — Diondre Overton, a former wide receiver who won two national championships with the Clemson Tigers, has died, the school announced Saturday. He was 26.

Overton played all four seasons with the Tigers from 2016 to 2019. He was on the Tigers when they won the national championship in 2016 and 2018. He had 52 catches for 777 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

Clemson Football and the entire Clemson Family mourns the passing of Clemson alumnus Diondre Overton. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/eCfIPQxO64

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) September 7, 2024

“Clemson Football and the entire Clemson Family mourns the passing of Clemson alumnus Diondre Overton,” Clemson said in a post on X. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

(FOX NEWS) — Former NFL star Chad Ochocinco Johnson said Saturday night there was “another lesson” to take away from the shooting that left San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall wounded.

The 17-year-old reportedly tried to snatch Pearsall’s Rolex as he was on his way to an autograph signing. Pearsall’s mom, Erin, wrote on Facebook that the bullet had gone through his chest and exited his back, missing any vital organs. On Sunday, Pearsall was released from the hospital.

Unc & Ocho react to Ricky Pearsall situation @ShannonSharpe @ochocinco @ShayShayMedia_ pic.twitter.com/hxeHPs6CMq

— Nightcap (@NightcapShow_) September 1, 2024

Ochocinco and Shannon Sharpe talked about the Pearsall shooting in the hours after it was initially reported on “Nightcap.” The former Cincinnati Bengals star said there was another takeaway from the shooting.

Under the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, girls’ and women’s sports in America have taken a huge hit: They essentially are being ordered to open up their competitions to men.

These are men who say they are women, and they may have even had chemical and surgical alterations to make them look like women, but since being male or female is embedded in the human body down to the DNA level, they remain male.

Now the ADF, a legal organization that fights for civil, personal and constitutional rights, says a coalition – of “multiple states, women’s sports advocacy groups, businesses, and other organizations” – wants the U.S. Supreme Court to hear two cases over state laws that protect women’s sports.

Those states are West Virginia and Idaho.

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The ADF explained, “In B.P.J. v West Virginia State Board of Education, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and ADF attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to hear their case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled to undermine West Virginia’s ability to protect fairness in women’s sports.”

ADF is representing former college soccer player Lainey Armistead.

Then in the other case, Hecox v. Little, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and ADF attorneys are asking for affirmation of the state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit stopped the law from going into effect.

There, ADF represents former college track and field athletes Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall.

“Back in April, the Fourth Circuit handed down a 2-1 ruling that reversed an earlier decision upholding the West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act. I promised back then that I would keep fighting for the safety, wellbeing and fairness in women’s sports, and I’m keeping that promise. I am thankful for the support coming from Alliance Defending Freedom and my many colleagues in other states,” Morrisey explained in a prepared statement released by the ADF.

And Labrador added, “While we’ve been fighting for fair and equal athletic competition, activists have been pushing a radical agenda that will ultimately sideline women and girls from sports. Many athletic associations around the world have seen the obvious truth that men and women are biologically different and allowing men in women’s sports would create a dangerous, unfair environment for women to showcase their incredible talent in sports. These voices from different backgrounds have joined us as we ask the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold our law and ensure that women and girls get the opportunities they deserve.”

ADF lawyer John Bursch explained, “Women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field, but activists continue their quest to erase differences between men and women by forcing women’s sports leagues to allow men to compete. This contradicts biological reality and common sense. We should be seeking to protect women’s sports and equal opportunities, and West Virginia’s and Idaho’s women’s sports laws accomplish just that. Lainey, Madison, Mary Kate, and millions of girls across the country deserve to compete on a level playing field with other women. The wide range of backgrounds from these groups petitioning the court proves that this isn’t political or partisan—it’s basic fairness.”

The West Virginia case was triggered by a male athlete competing on a girls track team who finished ahead of almost 300 girls in three years of various events.

The court filing said, “Neither Title IX nor the Equal Protection Clause compels West Virginia to classify biological males as girls.”

Yet, it states, that’s what the Fourth Circuit is demanding.

In the Idaho case, Kenyon and Marshall participated in track at Idaho State University and, when forced to compete against males, moved down in the rankings.

There are testimonies in the case from more than 100 female athletes, coaches, sports officials and parents, including those women who were forced to compete against Lia Thomas, a male who was an also-ran among male swingers in college, but suddenly rose in the rankings when he started competing with women.

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Sports hall of fame induction ceremonies largely copy each other. The honored veteran player is announced as a member, a statue is unveiled and the player then thanks coaches, family, teammates and the like.

Which is what famed Denver Broncos “Orange Crush” linebacker Randy Gradishar did recently while being added to the National Football League Hall of Fame.

His thanks included longtime friend and two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

But what Gradishar thanked Griffin for is what stunned: For inviting Gradishar to a meeting of a campus Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting at which Gradishar became a Christian, back in the 1970s.

“Best invitation I’ve ever had,” Gradishar explained.

Gradishar’s comments on his faith are at about 6:30.

Samaritan’s Purse chief Franklin Graham went online to thank Gradishar: “Congratulations to Denver Broncos legend Randy Gradishar who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday! I appreciate that he used his speech to clearly share the Gospel. Watch as he tells how the invitation of a teammate led to his acceptance of Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior…”

As Gradishar explained, while citing those who made a difference in his life, “Archie years ago invited me to an on campus Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting Bible study during my senior year.”

He said he’d attended church, but hadn’t before heard the gospel of salvation.

“That evening the gospel was explained in four simple truths. Truth one. God create man in in his image, and that comes from Gen. 1:27. God loves us and offers a plan for our life. Truth two. Mankind’s problems are from Romans 3:23. ‘That we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.'”

He continued, “Therefore we cannot know and experience God’s plan for our lives. Romans 6;23. ‘For the wages of sin are death.’

“Truth No. 3. God made a way. John 3;16. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish. but have eternal life.’ His death on the cross and resurrection gave him the right to proclaim. ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’

“Fourth, salvation requires turning to God, repenting and asking forgiveness. This is the only way to be right with God.”

Highlights of Gradishar’s career:

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(THE BLAZE) – Another Olympic boxer surrounded by gender controversy just had a dominating victory. Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) beat Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in a unanimous decision Friday in the 57 kg round of 16.

Lin dominated Turdibekova and displayed a clear and obvious athletic advantage, often pushing around Turdibekova with ease. The Uzbekistan fighter was dejected by the loss, while Lin’s corner and fans in the French audience were raucous.

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The International Boxing Association disqualified Lin at the March 2023 world championships over failure to meet gender eligibility requirements. Lin, Taiwan’s double world champion, reportedly was denied a bronze medal at the event. Algeria’s Imane Khelif also was disqualified at the event for the same reason.

French authorities have announced an investigation into the apparent “Heil Hitler” salutes that appeared at the already-troubled Paris Olympic Games now taking place.

The Jewish Telegraph Agency reported fans waved Palestinian flags and gave Nazi salutes this week.

It happened during the playing of Israel’s national anthem before the nation’s soccer match against Paraguay.

What is happening at the Paris Olympics?! Arabs in the stands at an Olympic soccer game are seen holding the Palestinian flag screaming “HEIL HITLER” while the Israeli national anthem was playing. pic.twitter.com/SnMZbvm1DY

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) July 29, 2024

The event disrupters also flew a banner reading “Genocide Olympics.”

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According to JTA, “Olympics organizers confirmed the incident in a statement to Sky Sports, saying ‘a banner bearing a political message was displayed and anti-Semitic gestures were made.’ Paris 2024 strongly condemns these acts. A complaint has been lodged by Paris 2024, which is at the disposal of the authorities to assist with the investigation.”

The probe comes as French police already were looking into death threats against three Israeli athletes.

Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League said the behavior was “Outrageous and unacceptable.”

The games have a seriously failed record of handling Israeli athletes, with the 1972 Munich games in which Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israelis.

The games already were being disregarded by many because of what appeared to be an opening ceremony that was openly hostile to Christianity, with a blasphemous portrayal of the Last Supper.

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The Olympic Games in Paris appear to be on an agenda to return to the games’ original pagan roots, where blood ceremonies highlighted the days and allegiances were sworn to various pagan gods.

Just take a look at the videos that feature a blasphemous portrayal of the Last Supper, featuring an obese woman and drag queens, a blue Smurf-type character and a decapitated head – singing no less.

BLASPHEMY: The 2024 Olympic Games parodies the last supper by replacing Christ and the disciples with an obese woman, drag queens and a child. Why do the global elite love pagan and satanic occult symbolism? pic.twitter.com/8PTjVwzwuB

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) July 26, 2024

2024 Olympics: Drag queens, decapitated heads and a blue smurf man with a bulge. What is going on?! pic.twitter.com/DxEpBgxKy5

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) July 26, 2024

WOW. The 2024 World Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris featuring a decapitated head singing. Why do the global elite love to use occult-like imagery so much? #2024Olympics pic.twitter.com/IEj3eGFJgP

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) July 26, 2024

Actually, there was a recent report from ABC.net.au that explained the games, from about 776 B.C., drew naked men to compete in a range of events, where women were not welcome.

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The report explained, “Father Richard Pengelley, the former Anglican dean of Perth who represented Australia in water polo at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, says sport and religion were inseparable for the ancient Greeks.”

He said the goal actually was “religious education.”

“For example, ancient athletes would swear an oath before competing to follow the rules and compete with honour and respect. It’s a tradition that persists at the modern Olympic Games.”

“Athletes and priests also made elaborate blood tributes to their gods, including the sacrifice of a hundred oxen at the Great Altar of Zeus at every Games,” the report said.

The pagan events were outlawed in 393 A.D. by the Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius, then restarted in the late 19th century, and then actually emphasizing “muscular Christianity,” the idea that “Christian ethics could be taught through sport.”

The report noted that in the modern games, “blood sacrifices at the altar of Zeus are a thing of the past,” at least so far.

But they still do include ancient religious rituals including the lighting of the cauldron and the athletes’ oaths.

The report called the modern games a “civil religion.”

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(TIMES OF ISRAEL) — The International Olympic Committee was Tuesday weighing a Palestinian call for Israeli athletes to be barred from the Games over the war in Gaza, three days before the Opening Ceremony in Paris.

As the Israeli Olympic team settled into the Athletes’ Village, the IOC was studying a letter sent by the Palestine Olympic Committee to President Thomas Bach asking him to ban the Israelis, citing the bombings of the besieged Gaza Strip as a breach of the Olympic truce.

The letter sent on Monday “emphasized that Palestinian athletes, particularly those in Gaza, are denied safe passage and have suffered significantly due to the ongoing conflict.”