Alabama News

General News

General

Time running out for Colts to keep Ryan Kelly in Indianapolis

As the 2024 NFL season wound down, Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly had seen the writing on the wall.

During the offseason, the Colts had signed defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, linebacker Zaire Franklin, defensive end Tyquan Lewis, cornerback Kenny Moore, wide receiver Michael Pittman and defensive tackle Grover Stewart to contract extensions. But there wasn’t one for Kelly, as there had been in 2020, the previous time the former Alabama All-American was entering the final season of this contract.

Indianapolis also had used a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini. His potential successor then started five of the seven games that Kelly missed because of injuries during the 2024 season.

“I knew that when I was going into the season,” Kelly said in December. “… Didn’t have a contract extension, right? So, I mean, it is what it is. You know, we don’t know when our time is due. I mean, the amount of guys who are able to say this is when I’m walking away for this reason and have all the control over that is slim to none. And I have no idea what my future holds.”

But speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine, Colts general manager Chris Ballard didn’t close the door on Kelly returning to Indianapolis even though time is running out to keep him with the Colts.

“We’re going to meet again next week,” Ballard said on Tuesday. “Ryan and I will talk. I’m visiting with his agent again this week, and then we’ll make a decision. Right after the season, we visited for a little bit. We didn’t visit about his future, and then I was sick as a dog. … We’ll visit next week.”

Indianapolis has about a week’s worth of exclusive negotiating time left with Kelly. A player with four years of NFL experience and an expiring contract can begin negotiating with other teams at 11 a.m. CST March 10 and can sign with another team at 3 p.m. March 12.

Kelly has spent his entire NFL career with the Colts since joining Indianapolis from Alabama’s 2015 CFP national-championship team as the 18th selection in the 2016 draft.

Kelly has started all 121 regular-season and three playoff games in which he has played across his nine seasons. Kelly earned Pro Bowl recognition in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023.

Despite missing seven games in 2024, Kelly passed Pro Football Hall of Fame member Dwight Stephenson for the most NFL regular-season games by an Alabama alumnus whose primary position was center. Stephenson had played in 114 NFL regular-season games when he suffered a career-ending injury in 1987.

Only three former Alabama players have started more NFL regular-season games as an offensive lineman than Kelly – John Hannah with 183, Chris Samuels with 141 and James Carpenter with 122.

Kelly has reached the end of a four-year, $50 million contract extension. The sports-financial website spotrac.com estimates Kelly’s market value as a one-year, $10.108 million contract if he reaches free agency next week.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

General

NFL Scouting Combine: How did the state’s players perform on Sunday?

No HBCU players were selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. Alabama A&M offensive tackle Carson Vinson figures to end that drought in the 2025 draft.

After playing left tackle for the entirety of the Reese’s Senior Bowl for the winning team, Vinson has been at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis since Thursday with the other leading offensive-line prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft, which will be held April 24-27 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

On Sunday, the offensive linemen had their turn on the field to wrap up this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, and Vinson had a podium finish in one of the measured events. His 7.51-second showing in the three-cone drill was good for third-fastest among the combine’s offensive linemen.

The three-cone drill is designed to measure a player’s ability to change directions.

Vinson joined two other NFL Draft prospects with Alabama football roots in tackling the measured drills at the combine on Sunday. Here’s how they did:

Alabama guard Tyler Booker: 5.38-second 40-yard dash, 27-inch vertical jump, 94-inch broad jump, 7.96-second three-cone drill, 4.84-second shuttle run
Alabama A&M offensive tackle Carson Vinson: 5.12-second 40-yard dash, 28.5-inch vertical jump, 111-inch broad jump, 7.51-second three-cone drill (third among offensive linemen),
Jacksonville State guard Clay Webb (Oxford): 5.11-second 40-yard dash, 31-inch vertical jump, 107-inch broad jump, 4.90-second shuttle run

Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin, who played at Alabama from 2020 through 2023, is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered on Nov. 19 and could not take part in the on-the-field portion of the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The players will have the opportunity to participate in the bench press on Monday. In the bench press, each player does as many repetitions as he can with a 225-pound weight bar.

Alabama A&M offensive tackle Carson Vinson runs the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

General

NFL Scouting Combine: Which offensive lineman ran fastest on Sunday?

For the second straight year, five offensive linemen broke five seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine on Sunday. But this year, one ran faster than 4.9 seconds, too.

Georgia center Jared Wilson clocked a 4.84-second 40 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Weighing in at 310 pounds earlier on Sunday, Wilson became the third 300-or-more-pound offensive lineman in the NFL Scouting Combine’s “modern” history (since 2003) to run faster than 4.9 in the 40, following Arkansas-Pine Bluff tackle Terron Armstead and Oklahoma tackle Lane Johnson in 2013.

Armstead ran 4.71 seconds and Johnson 4.72 at the combine. Johnson is now a six-time Pro Bowler, and Armstead is a five-time Pro Bowler.

The other offensive linemen who eclipsed five seconds on Sunday included Missouri tackle Armand Membou at 4.91, Arizona tackle Jonah Savaiinaea at 4.95, Georgia guard Tate Ratledge at 4.97 and LSU tackle Will Campbell at 4.98.

Three prospects in the Sunday group played at Alabama high schools and colleges. Their 40 times were:

Alabama guard Tyler Booker: 5.38 seconds. Booker weighed 321 pounds.
Alabama A&M offensive tackle Carson Vinson: 5.12 seconds. Vinson weighed 314 pounds.
Jacksonville State guard Clay Webb (Oxford High School): 5.11 seconds. Webb weighed 312 pounds.

Six other SEC offensive linemen ran the 40-yard dash on Sunday:

Texas tackle Kelvin Banks Jr.: 5.16 seconds
Florida tackle Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson: 5.33 seconds
Kentucky center Eli Cox: 5.02 seconds
LSU guard Miles Frazier: 5.24 seconds
South Carolina center Torricelli Simpkins III: 5.45 seconds
Georgia guard Xavier Truss: 5.24 seconds

Perhaps more closely watched than the 40 time for offensive linemen is how fast they got through the first 10 yards. Oregon tackle Josh Conerly Jr. led that stat at 1.71 seconds, followed by Ratledge, Savaiinaea, Webb and Wilson at 1.72.

In the other measured drills on Sunday, the leaders among the offensive linemen included:

Vertical jump: North Dakota State tackle Grey Zabel outjumped the other offensive linemen by getting his 312 pounds 36.5 inches off the ground. Iowa State’s Jalen Travis had the second-best jump at 35 inches, with Oregon’s Conerly third at 34.5 inches.

Broad jump: The SEC had a podium sweep at this station with Missouri’s Membou clearing 9 feet, 7 inches (115 inches) for the top spot. LSU’s Campbell and Georgia’s Ratledge tied for second at 113 inches.

Three-cone drill: Georgia’s Ratledge was the fastest here with a 7.38-second showing. Texas Tech guard Caleb Rogers placed second at 7.43 seconds, with Alabama A&M’s Carson Vinson third at 7.51 seconds.

The drill is designed to measure a player’s ability to change directions. With the cones in an L-shape, the player runs 5 yards to the middle cone and back, then runs around the middle cone, another 5 yards to the far cone and back around the L to the starting cone.

Shuttle run: Texas Tech’s Rogers came out the fastest by completing the 20-yard course in 4.49 seconds. Kansas offensive tackle Logan Brown and Boston College center Drew Kendall finished tied for second at 4.51.

The drill is designed to test lateral quickness. It’s sometimes called the 5-10-5. From a middle starting position, the player runs 5 yards to his right, touches a line, turns and runs 10 yards to the left and touches a line, then runs back to the starting spot.

The offensive linemen will have the opportunity to participate in the bench press on Monday. In the bench press, each player does as many repetitions as he can with a 225-pound weight bar.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

General

Can Alabama still be a 1-seed after Tennessee loss? Here’s latest bracketology

Alabama men’s basketball not only gave away a game to Tennessee, but the Crimson Tide might have given up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, too.

Alabama unraveled in the final 36 seconds after holding a four-point lead. No. 5 Tennessee hit a buzzer-beater to beat No. 6 Alabama 79-76 on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

After the loss, some of the most prominent bracketologists seem to think Tennessee stole a No. 1 seed from the Crimson Tide in the process.

On Sunday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi dropped Alabama to a No. 2 seed in the Midwest region, behind No. 1 seed Houston. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm moved the Crimson Tide down to a No. 2 seed, too, behind No. 1 seed Duke in the East region.

Palm predicts the No. 1 seeds to be Auburn, Duke, Houston and Tennessee. Lunardi had them in that exact same order too.

Alabama has two games left: No. 3 Florida at home and No. 1 Auburn on the road. If the Crimson Tide can win both of those games, it will likely move back up to the No. 1 seed range. A win against one of the two could also accomplish that. But lose both, and Alabama will almost certainly not go any higher than the No. 2 seed line.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.

General

John Belushi’s biography convinced a comedy legend Nixon was framed

Bill Murray is coming to the defense of his long-time friend and fellow SNL alum John Belushi.

During a recent appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience‚” Murray slammed journalist Bob Woodward for his portrayal of Belushi in his 1984 biography “Wired,” which chronicled the life and career of “The Blues Brothers” star.

Murray called Woodward’s take on Belushi “completely inaccurate,” and suspects his sources were pulled from “the outer, outer circle” of people that knew him.

“If he did this to Belushi, what he did to Nixon is probably soiled for me too. I can’t take it,” Murray said.

“You could have two sources and everything like that, but the two sources that he had, if he had them for the ‘Wired’ book, were so far outside the inner circle that it was criminal, cruel.”

Murray suspects that Woodward’s takedown may have been motivated by jealousy. He pointed out that Woodward is only “the third most famous person from Wheaton, Ill” behind professional football player Red Grange and Belushi.

“Belushi made people’s careers possible. Mine would be one of them,” Murray said.

“There’s a lot of people that slept on John Belushi’s couch. There’s a lot of people that stayed for free at his house until they made it in New York. And I’m one. He died in an unfortunate way, but man, he was still the best stage actor I ever saw.”

Murray went on to explain that he was asked to contribute to the book, but from the very beginning thought the project “smelled funny” and refused to help.

“I didn’t want to have anything to do with it,” Murray said. “It went exactly where I thought it was going. Even worse than I thought it was going. Just the title alone, it was cold.”

General

Do the New York Giants have another $16.685 million for a former first-rounder from Alabama?

The New York Giants thought enough of offensive tackle Evan Neal to make him the seventh selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. They are scheduled to pay him $4.053 million during the 2025 season. But do they still think enough of the former Alabama All-American to guarantee Neal $16.685 million for the 2026 season?

It’s a question the Giants will answer in the next two months.

Like all first-round picks, Neal signed a four-year contract with a team option for a fifth season. Of his original $24.551 million deal, Neal still has a $1.1 million base salary and a $2.953 roster bonus (due the third day of training camp) coming in 2025.

New York will have to decide to use its fifth-year option before Neal gets that money. The deadline to exercise the option is May 1, and if the Giants pick it up, they will guarantee Neal a $16.685 million payday for the 2026 season 16 months before that campaign starts.

Neal’s three-year tenure with New York began with seven straight starts and ended with seven straight starts (until he missed the Giants’ 2024 season finale because of hip and rib injuries). But in between, Neal missed 22 of New York’s 44 regular-season games.

After missing four games in 2022 and 10 games in 2023, Neal had ankle surgery on Jan. 2, 2024, spent the first three weeks of training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list and opened the season as the backup to free-agent signee Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle.

Neal returned to the starting spot on Nov. 10 when Eluemunor moved to left tackle after Andrew Thomas sustained a season-ending injury.

With the NFL’s announcement of a $279.2 million salary cap for 2025 — $23.8 million more than the 2024 season — came the price tags of the fifth-year options for the first-round selections in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Neal’s $16.685 million is the average of the third through 25th highest salaries among offensive linemen over the past five seasons

Fifth-year options come in four designations, and Neal is in the most inexpensive of the tiers.

The levels include:

Players who have been selected for at least two Pro Bowls on the original ballot for the all-star event.
Players who have been selected for one Pro Bowl on the original ballot.
Players who have not been Pro Bowlers but have played at least 75 percent of the offensive or defensive snaps in two seasons or 50 percent of the overall snaps in three seasons.
Players who have not reached the Pro Bowl or the playing-time standards.

Neal barely missed landing in the next tier up – 50 percent of the overall snaps in three seasons — which would have pushed his 2026 price to $17.56 million.

Neal played 1,656 of the Giants’ 3,364 offensive snaps over the past three seasons. He came up 26 short of playing half of New York’s offensive snaps.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

General

R&B singer killed in Alabama crash gave final captivating Mardi Gras ball performance: ‘Nothing short of phenomenal’

Just hours before she died, Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone performed for the last time at a Mardi Gras ball in Mobile on Friday evening.

Sparkling in a black suit, the 63-year-old singer, alongside band members, headlined the Mobile-Area Mardi Gras Association’s Grand Marshal’s Ball, which was held at the Mobile Convention Center on Water Street.

Isadore Sims, the association’s president, called her performance “nothing short of phenomenal” in a Facebook post on behalf of the association.

“Her talent captivated everyone in attendance, and her presence truly elevated the event,” Sims wrote on Saturday.

“Never could we have imagined that it would be the last time we would have the honor of witnessing her perform. The news of her passing has left us all deeply saddened, and we will always cherish the memories of her incredible talent and warm spirit.”

People who attended the Mardi Gras ball posted photos and videos of her performance to social media, expressing condolences to Stone’s family and expressing disbelief that they had witnessed her final performance.

“I am still in disbelief… on Friday night while attending my first ball ever I had the pleasure of watching Angie Stone performance,“ one attendee wrote.

”It’s crazy How as she spoke in between songs how she dealt with loss and how we don’t know the day nor the hour. To think her first stop on tour has come to be known her last one!“

“During this time of bereavement, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with Angie’s family and loved ones,” Sims wrote.

“May you find comfort and strength in the loving memories you shared with her, and may her legacy continue to inspire all those who were fortunate enough to have known her.”

Stone performed hit songs Friday night, including her 2001 song “Brotha,” per videos posted to social media of the performance.

Stone had left Mobile and was on her way back to Atlanta when the Sprinter van she was in was involved in a crash in Montgomery County on Saturday morning around 4:25 a.m., per the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. The van had crashed and overturned on I-65 before a Freightliner Cascadia semi-truck crashed into it, ALEA said.

Stone, of Locust Grove, Ga., was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Never in a million years did we ever expect to get this horrible news,” Angie Stone’s children, Diamond and Michael Archer, said in a statement to the Associated Press. “We are still trying to process and are completely heartbroken.”

The van’s driver and seven other passengers were injured in the crash and transported to Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery for treatment, per ALEA. Troopers with ALEA’s Highway Patrol are investigating the incident.

Stone was a three-time Grammy nominee and two-time winner of the Soul Train Lady of Soul award. She was a member of the all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence, which formed in 1979 in South Carolina and released notable single “Funk You Up,” which has been sampled by Dr. Dre and other artists since then. Her career as a solo artist blossomed in the 2000s, with hit songs like “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” and “No More Rain (In This Cloud).”

General

JD Vance met by protesters on Vermont ski trip after berating Zelenskyy in Oval Office

Crowds protesting Vice President JD Vance the day after an Oval Office blowout over Ukraine lined roadways Saturday near a Vermont ski resort where he planned a weekend vacation with his family.

Many of the hundreds of demonstrators held signs in support of Ukraine, while other anti-war protesters waved Palestinian flags or signs in support of immigrant rights. Protesters showed up at several locations in the area, including both sides of Route 100 in Waitsfield.

Though demonstrations were planned days in advance, they were energized Saturday morning by a heated Oval Office exchange a day earlier between Vance, President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Vance berated Zelenskyy for challenging Trump’s assertions that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted.

“Ski Russia because JD Vance has no friends in Vermont, but he’s got lots of friends in Russia, so he should go there for vacation,” Tekla Van Hoven of Waterbury told WCAX-TV.

Vance and his family arrived in Vermont ahead of the weekend, with plans to ski at Sugarbush Resort in Warren.

A few protested at the resort on Saturday.

“There were a handful of protestors at the resort throughout the day, but all were peaceful and none were disruptive,” resort spokesman John Bleh said in an email Sunday. He declined further comment, referring reporters to the White House.

Messages left Sunday for White House officials weren’t immediately returned.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott issued a statement on Thursday welcoming Vance and his family to the state, and asked Vermont residents to do the same even if they have political differences with the vice president.

“I hope Vermonters remember the vice president is here on a family trip with his young children and, while we may not always agree, we should be respectful,” the statement said.

A smaller number of protesters in support Vance and President Donald Trump also showed up with a “welcome rally.”

General

‘Yellowjackets’ season 3 episode 4: Where to watch, how to stream free

An all new episode of Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets premieres Sunday, March 2 at 8/7c.

On this week’s episode titled “12 Angry Girls and 1 Drunk Travis,” the Yellowjackets attempt to spin a hundred suspicions into proof, and Coach Scott has an existential crisis. Meanwhile, Jeff embarks on a mission to make things right with Shauna, despite her being forcibly committed to some me time.

Where can I watch Yellowjackets season 3?

Those interested in catching the highly anticipated season three can do so even without cable. Yellowjackets is available to stream through Fubo and DirecTV Stream—both of which offer free trials for new subscribers to enjoy before committing to a paid subscription.

Sling, another popular streaming service, also has the show available for streaming. As of now, Sling does not offer a free trial to new users.

What is Fubo?

Fubo is much like any other streaming service, but instead of just offering on-demand streaming, it offers a multitude of live TV channels such as ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, TLC, MTV and more.

Fubo considers itself a sports-focused live streaming service but also offers over 100 live TV channels through its basic package at just $84.99 a month following its 7-day free trial.

Subscribers can also stream a variety of shows and movies on-demand and even have the option to record favorite shows.

What is DirecTV Stream?

DirecTV Stream offers many of the same channels and features that Fubo does. The base package includes over 90 popular channels available for streaming for just $86.99 a month after its 5-day free trial.

Those interested can compare all DirecTV Stream’s packages here.

What is Sling?

Sling is another great streaming service to consider if you’ve ditched, or are thinking of ditching cable. Though no free trial is available to new subscribers, those interested in committing to a plan get half off the first month with any Sling plan.

Both the Sling Orange and the Sling Blue plans are normally $45.99 a month, but with Sling’s ongoing promotion, start streaming for just $23 a month and access channels like Freeform, ESPN, Bravo, MSNBC, USA and more.

If you can’t decide between the channels offered through Sling Orange or Sling Blue, consider the Sling Orange + Blue plan which combines the two channel packages for $60.99 a month ($30.50 on your first month).

What is Yellowjackets about?

Yellowjackets combines drama, mystery and thrills to concoct one of the best edge-of-your-seat series to hit screens in a while.

The series follows a group of high school girl soccer players who survive a plane crash deep in the Ontario wilderness. The girls, once a thriving unit on the field, descend into cannibalistic clans. All the while, they attempt to track the lives they have tried to piece back together.

The hit show stars Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Sammi Hanratty, Melani Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis.

General

Underage former ‘American Idol’ singer reportedly arrested for DUI after Tennessee car crash

Former ‘American Idol’ contestant Colin Stough was allegedly arrested for driving under the influence outside of Nashville after his car crashed on Friday, according to news reports.

According to media reports, highway patrol officers found the 20-year-old musician while responding to a single-vehicle crash on the I-840 freeway in Williamson County, which is just south of Nashville.

Stough, a Mississippi native, was reportedly transported to a hospital before being charged with a DUI, underage consumption of alcohol and failure to exercise due care, TMZ first reported. He was then bailed out, TMZ reported.

A public information officer for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office referred AL.com to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, stating that this was “their case.”

Representatives for Tennessee Highway Patrol, as well as Stough, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stough has posted stories on his Instagram since Friday, including a selfie taken inside a vehicle shortly after 11 a.m. Central time with the caption “Happy Sunday everyone.”

When he was 18, the singer placed third in the ‘American Idol’ competition in 2023.

He has upcoming shows later this week in New York, Vermont and Rhode Island, per his website.