204-696: Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RGIII or RG3 , is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins . He played college football for the Baylor Bears , winning the Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected second overall by the Washington Redskins in
408-490: A DVD column, film reviews and trends, and a travel supplement called Destinations & Diversions (section D). The international edition of the paper features two sections: News and Money in one, and Sports and Life in the other. Atypical of most daily newspapers, the paper does not print on Saturdays and Sundays; the Friday edition serves as the weekend edition. USA Today has published special Saturday and Sunday editions in
612-579: A Roman numeral on the back of his jersey, as the NFL changed the rule in 2012 to allow players to include generational titles in their names. Griffin previously had "Griffin III" on the back of his jersey while in college, which was actually necessary in order to distinguish him from the other Robert Griffin on the Baylor team. On July 18, 2012, the Redskins officially signed him to a four-year, $ 21.1 million contract with
816-422: A gridiron in appearance. Other major rule changes included a reduction of the field size to 110 by 53 + 1 ⁄ 3 yards (100.6 m × 48.8 m) and the adoption of a scoring system that awarded four points for a touchdown, two for a safety and a goal following a touchdown , and five for a goal from the field . Additionally, tackling below the waist was legalized, and a static line of scrimmage
1020-403: A halftime period, and the first and third quarters are followed by a short break. Before the game starts, the referee and each team's captain meet at midfield for a coin toss . The visiting team can call either "heads" or "tails"; the winner of the toss chooses whether to receive or kick off the ball or which goal they wish to defend. They can defer their choice until the second half. Unless
1224-431: A " McPaper " or "television you can wrap fish in", because it opted to incorporate concise nuggets of information more akin to the style of television news , rather than in-depth stories like traditional newspapers, which many in the newspaper industry considered to be a dumbing down of content. Although USA Today had been profitable for just ten years as of 1997, it changed the appearance and feel of newspapers around
1428-461: A $ 13.8 million signing bonus. On September 9, 2012, Griffin officially became the NFL's first starting quarterback who was born in the 1990s. In his official debut as a starting quarterback in the NFL, Griffin opened the Redskins' season by completing 19 of 26 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns while adding 10 carries for 42 rushing yards in a 40–32 victory over the New Orleans Saints . He
1632-401: A 10-yard-long chain between them, are used to measure for a first down. The chain crew stays on the sidelines during the game, but if requested by the officials they will briefly bring the chains on to the field to measure. A typical chain crew will have at least three people—two members of the chain crew will hold either of the two sticks, while a third will hold the down marker. The down marker,
1836-560: A 44–17 loss. Griffin was 2–5 as a starter in 2014 and the Redskins finished 4–12 and last place in the NFC East. During Week 2 of preseason in a win over the Detroit Lions , Griffin fumbled the ball and recovered it but had a defensive lineman fall on top of him. Griffin suffered a concussion in the process and was questionable for the next game against the Ravens. Griffin was medically cleared for
2040-465: A 47–23 lead into the 4th quarter, and were able to fight off a comeback after the Horned Frogs gained the lead 48–47 briefly, only for Baylor to kick the game-winning field goal and win 50–48. They pulled off the upset in large part due to Griffin's performance; he passed for 359 yards, with 5 touchdowns and a 77.8% completion percentage. On the game-winning drive, Griffin also caught a key pass. Following
2244-525: A PAT attempt or successful field goal, the scoring team must kick the ball off to the other team. A safety is scored when the ball carrier is tackled in the carrier's own end zone. Safeties are worth two points, which are awarded to the defense. In addition, the team that conceded the safety must kick the ball to the scoring team via a free kick . Football games are played on a rectangular field that measures 120 yards (110 m) long and 53 + 1 ⁄ 3 yards (48.8 m) wide. Lines marked along
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#17328915844752448-543: A cleaner style. On September 14, 2012, USA Today underwent the first major redesign in its history, in commemoration for the 30th anniversary of the paper's first edition. Developed in conjunction with brand design firm Wolff Olins , the print edition of USA Today added a page covering technology stories, expanded travel coverage within the Life section, and increased the number of color pages included in each edition, while retaining longtime elements. The "globe" logo used since
2652-473: A common draft that would take place each year, and it instituted an annual World Championship game to be played between the champions of each league. This championship game began play at the end of the 1966 season. Once the merger was completed, it was no longer a championship game between two leagues and reverted to the NFL championship game, which came to be known as the Super Bowl . College football maintained
2856-567: A feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to "selling refrigerators to Eskimos ". Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Columbia then agreed to intercollegiate play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association , although Yale did not join until 1879. Yale player Walter Camp , now regarded as
3060-453: A field goal instead. A group of officials, the chain crew, keeps track of both the downs and the distance measurements. On television, a yellow line is electronically superimposed on the field to show the first down line to the viewing audience. There are two categories of kicks in football: scrimmage kicks, which can be executed by the offensive team on any down from behind or on the line of scrimmage, and free kicks. The free kicks are
3264-428: A game between Yale and Princeton, both teams used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records. Each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0–0 tie. This "block game" proved extremely unpopular with both teams' spectators and fans. A rule change was necessary to prevent this strategy from taking hold, and a reversion to the scrum was considered. However, Camp successfully proposed
3468-576: A game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club . This is the first recorded instance of a player being paid to participate in a game of American football , although many athletic clubs in the 1880s offered indirect benefits, such as helping players attain employment, giving out trophies or watches that players could pawn for money, or paying double in expense money. Despite these extra benefits,
3672-668: A great part in USA Today 's long-standing reputation for "fluff", but after its 30th anniversary revamp, the paper took a more active stance on political issues, calling for stronger gun laws after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. It heavily criticized the Republican Party for both the 2013 government shutdown and the 2015 revolts in the United States House of Representatives that ended with
3876-533: A large stick with a dial on it, is flipped after each play to indicate the current down and is typically moved to the approximate spot of the ball. The chain crew system has been used for over 100 years and is considered an accurate measure of distance, rarely subject to criticism from either side. Football is a full-contact sport, and injuries are relatively common. Most injuries occur during training sessions, particularly ones that involve contact between players. To try to prevent injuries, players are required to wear
4080-553: A league-suggested numbering scheme. Although the sport is played almost exclusively by men, women are eligible to play in high school, college, and professional football. No woman has ever played in the NFL, but women have played in high school and college football games. In 2018, 1,100 of the 225,000 players in Pop Warner Little Scholars youth football were girls, and around 11% of the 5.5 million Americans who report playing tackle football are female according to
4284-408: A long circumference of 28 to 28 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (71 to 72 cm), and a short circumference of 21 to 21 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (53 to 54 cm). In college and high school play the ball has a long axis of 10 + 7 ⁄ 8 to 11 + 7 ⁄ 16 inches (27.6 to 29.1 cm), a long circumference of 27 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 28 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (70 to 72 cm), and
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#17328915844754488-420: A minimum of 10 feet (3.0 m) on high school fields. Goal posts are padded at the base, and orange ribbons are normally placed at the tip of each upright as indicators of wind strength and direction. The football itself is a prolate spheroid leather ball, similar to the balls used in rugby or Australian rules football . To contain the compressed air within it, a pig's bladder was commonly used before
4692-670: A national champion of college football. The first was the Bowl Coalition , in place from 1992 to 1994. This was replaced in 1995 by the Bowl Alliance , which gave way to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1997. The BCS arrangement proved to be controversial , and was replaced in 2014 by the College Football Playoff (CFP). A football game is played between two teams of 11 players each. Playing with more on
4896-488: A one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens on April 4, 2018. On September 2, 2018, Griffin was named the team's backup quarterback. Backing up Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson , Griffin appeared in three games in the 2018 season. On March 21, 2019, Griffin re-signed with the Ravens on a two-year contract. On July 28, 2019, Griffin suffered a fractured thumb and was expected to miss 4–8 weeks. Griffin returned in time for
5100-428: A pass hits the ground without a player having caught it. A forward pass can be legally attempted only if the passer is behind the line of scrimmage; only one forward pass can be attempted per down. As in rugby, players can also pass the ball backwards at any point during a play. In the NFL, a down also ends immediately if the runner's helmet comes off. The offense is given a series of four plays, known as downs . If
5304-493: A perfect 158.3 passer rating – made him the first rookie in NFL history to pass for 200 yards, pass for 4 touchdowns and rush for more than 75 yards in a single game. Along with that achievement, his performance against the Eagles made him the youngest player in NFL history, at 22 years and 284 days old, to achieve a perfect passer rating in a game. This record stood until 2015 when Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota threw for
5508-476: A perfect passer rating at 21 years and 318 days old in his debut. In the Week 14 game against the Baltimore Ravens on December 9, the Redskins would suffer another injury scare when defensive end Haloti Ngata hit Griffin directly at his right knee, twisting it in the process. On the final drive of the fourth quarter, Griffin was tackled after rushing for 13 yards and hopped on one leg for several plays before leaving
5712-427: A quarter ends, play continues until the down is completed. If certain fouls are committed during play while time has expired, the quarter may be extended through an untimed down . Games last longer than their defined length due to play stoppages—the average NFL game lasts slightly over three hours. Time in a football game is measured by the game clock. An operator is responsible for starting, stopping and operating
5916-428: A record of 13–2, but lost in the championship game of the 2007 Class 4A Division I state playoffs. Over the two seasons, he rushed for a total of 2,161 yards and 32 touchdowns while passing for 3,357 yards and 41 touchdowns with 9 interceptions. He went to and lost 2 state championships. In track , Griffin broke Texas state records for the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. He ran the 110-meter hurdles in 13.55 seconds and
6120-419: A reorganization of its newsroom, announcing the layoffs of 130 staffers. It also announced that the paper would shift its focus away from print and place more emphasis on its digital platforms (including USAToday.com and its related mobile applications ) and launch of a new publication called USA Today Sports . On January 24, 2011, to reverse a revenue slide, the paper introduced a tweaked format that modified
6324-626: A result of endorsements. Griffin has his own charitable foundation called the RGIII foundation, which helps underprivileged youth, military families, and victims of domestic violence. In December 2022, the foundation gave a one-day shopping spree at Walmart for 25 Boys & Girls Clubs members in his hometown of Copperas Cove, Texas. The foundation also donated 10,500 meals to the North Texas Food Bank in February 2021. Griffin has also been involved with
Robert Griffin III - Misplaced Pages Continue
6528-414: A round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head, or sides, with the objective being to advance it into the opponent's goal. Rutgers won the game 6–4. Collegiate play continued for several years with games played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia , Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19, 1873, to create
6732-422: A rule in 1882 that limited each team to three downs , or tackles, to advance the ball 5 yards (4.6 m). Failure to advance the ball the required distance within those three downs would result in control of the ball being forfeited to the other team. This change effectively made American football a separate sport from rugby, and the resulting five-yard lines added to the field to measure distances made it resemble
6936-504: A rundown of winning numbers from the previous deadline date for all participating state lotteries and individual multi-state lotteries. Some traditions have been retained. The lead story still appears on the upper-right side of the front page. Commentary and political cartoons occupy the last few pages of the News section. Stock and mutual fund data are presented in the Money section. But USA Today
7140-560: A rushing touchdown. In the upset 41–21 victory over the Texas A&;M Aggies , he recorded 13 of 23 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Griffin garnered Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors from the league's coaches (who are not allowed to vote for their own players) as well as the media. The team finished the season with a 4–8 record (2–6 Big 12). Griffin sat out for the remainder of the 2009 season after sustaining an isolated tear to his ACL in
7344-411: A second cover story within the second section. Each section is differentiated by a certain color in a box on the top-left corner of the first page; the principal section colors are blue for News (section A), green for Money (section B), red for Sports (section C), and purple for Life (section D); in the paper's early years, the Life and Money sections were also assigned blue nameplates and spot colors, as
7548-436: A secondary signal. Women can serve as officials; Sarah Thomas became the NFL's first female official in 2015. The seven officials (of a standard seven-man crew; lower levels of play up to the college level use fewer officials) on the field are each tasked with a different set of responsibilities: Another set of officials, the chain crew , are responsible for moving the chains. The chains, consisting of two large sticks with
7752-555: A set of equipment. At a minimum players must wear a football helmet and a set of shoulder pads , but individual leagues may require additional padding such as thigh pads and guards, knee pads, chest protectors, and mouthguards . Most injuries occur in the lower extremities, particularly in the knee, but a significant number also affect the upper extremities. The most common types of injuries are strains , sprains , bruises , fractures , dislocations , and concussions . USA Today USA Today (often stylized in all caps )
7956-410: A short circumference of 20 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 21 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (53 to 54 cm). Football games last for a total of 60 minutes in professional and college play and are divided into two halves of 30 minutes and four quarters of 15 minutes. High school football games are 48 minutes in length with two halves of 24 minutes and four quarters of 12 minutes. The two halves are separated by
8160-408: A snapshot in "Life" could show how many people tend to watch a certain genre of television show based upon their mood). These "Snapshots" graphs employ icons roughly pertaining to the graph's subject (using the example above, the graph's bars could be made up of several TV sets, or ended by one). Snapshots are loosely based on research by a national institute (with the credited source in fine print below
8364-452: A standard set of rules for use by all schools. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet (122 m × 76 m) were specified. Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. After playing McGill University using both American (known as "the Boston game ") for the first game and Canadian (rugby) rules for
Robert Griffin III - Misplaced Pages Continue
8568-455: A third international printing site, based in Hong Kong . The international edition set circulation and advertising records during August 1988, with coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics , selling more than 60,000 copies and 100 pages of advertising. By July 1991, Simmons Market Research Bureau estimated that USA Today had a total daily readership of nearly 6.6 million, an all-time high and
8772-465: A top track and field program. Sources: Griffin graduated from high school a semester early, after serving as class president and ranking seventh in his class. He began attending Baylor University during the spring 2008 semester when he was 17 years old. As a member of Baylor's track and field team, Griffin finished in first place in the 400-meter hurdles at both the Big 12 Conference Championship and
8976-526: A touchdown. In week five against Kansas State, Griffin almost brought the Bears to their fourth win, going 23 out of 31 (74.2%) for 346 yards and 5 touchdowns with only 1 interception, but they lost 36–35 to the Wildcats . In week six against Iowa State , Griffin took Baylor to Iowa for their fourth win, completing 22 out of 30 (73.3%) for 212 yards, 1 touchdown, and no interceptions. He won the Heisman Trophy , becoming
9180-449: A tradition of postseason bowl games . Each bowl game was associated with a particular conference and earning a spot in a bowl game was the reward for winning a conference. This arrangement was profitable, but it tended to prevent the two top-ranked teams from meeting in a true national championship game, as they would normally be committed to the bowl games of their respective conferences. Several systems have been used since 1992 to determine
9384-445: A write-in candidate for president; or to focus on Senate, House and other down-ballot political races. In February 2018, USA Today published an op-ed by Jerome Corsi , the DC bureau chief for the fringe conspiracy website InfoWars . Corsi, a prominent conspiracy theorist , was described by USA Today as an "author" and "investigative journalist". Corsi was a prominent proponent of
9588-521: Is "Weather Focus", a graphic which explains various meteorological phenomena. On some days, the Weather Focus could be a photo of a rare meteorological event. On business holidays or days when bonus sections are included in the issue, the Money and Life sections are usually combined into one section, while combinations of the Friday Life editions into one section are common during quiet weeks. Advertising
9792-739: Is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett 's corporate headquarters in New York, NY . Its newspaper is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. The paper's dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics , and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features. As of 2023, USA Today has
9996-425: Is called on the offense. There are two main ways the offense can advance the ball: running and passing . In a typical play, the center passes the ball backwards and between their legs to the quarterback in a process known as the snap . The quarterback then either hands the ball off to a running back, throws the ball, or runs with it. The play ends when the player with the ball is tackled or goes out-of-bounds or
10200-437: Is caught or recovered behind the line of scrimmage. If it is touched or recovered by the kicking team beyond this line, it becomes dead at the spot where it was touched. The kicking team is prohibited from interfering with the receiver's opportunity to catch the ball. The receiving team has the option of signaling for a fair catch , which prohibits the defense from blocking into or tackling the receiver. The play ends as soon as
10404-574: Is his "most important influence." He does not smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs, saying that "I need my body to be at its peak performance, and I want to have a long career." Before the start of his rookie season with the Washington Redskins , Griffin had signed a number of endorsement deals from companies including Adidas , Castrol Motor Oil, EA Sports , EvoShield , Gatorade , Nissan , and Subway . According to ESPN 's Dollars blog, Griffin had "earned more than any other rookie in NFL history before throwing his first regular-season pass," largely as
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#173289158447510608-403: Is known as a two-point conversion . In general, the extra point is almost always successful, while the two-point conversion is a much riskier play with a higher probability of failure; accordingly, extra point attempts are far more common than two-point conversion attempts. A field goal (FG), worth three points, is scored when the ball is place kicked or drop kicked through the uprights and over
10812-698: Is often covered in the Monday Money section, with a review of a recent television ad, and after Super Bowl Sunday , a review of the ads aired during the broadcast with the results of the Ad Track live survey. Stock tables for individual stock exchanges (comprising one subsection for companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange , and another for companies trading on NASDAQ and the American Stock Exchange ) and mutual indexes were discontinued with
11016-407: Is responsible for all kicking plays. The special teams unit of the team in control of the ball tries to execute field goal (FG) attempts, punts , and kickoffs , while the opposing team's unit will aim to block or return them. Three positions are specific to the field goal and PAT (point-after-touchdown) unit: the placekicker (K or PK), holder (H), and long snapper (LS). The long snapper's job
11220-403: Is sufficiently different in aesthetics to be recognized on sight, even in a mix of other newspapers, such as at a newsstand . The overall design and layout of USA Today have been described as neo-Victorian . On most of the sections' front pages, in the lower left-hand corner, are "USA Today Snapshots" graphs, which offer statistics on lifestyle interests according to the section (for example,
11424-501: Is the cover page feature "Newsline", which shows summarized descriptions of headline stories featured in all four main sections and any special sections. As a national newspaper, USA Today cannot focus on the weather for any one city. Therefore, the entire back page of the News section is used for weather maps of the continental United States , Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands , as well as temperature lists for many cities throughout
11628-421: Is to block members of the defensive line from tackling the ball carrier on running plays or sacking the quarterback on passing plays. The leader of the offensive line is the center, who is responsible for snapping the ball to the quarterback, blocking, and for making sure that the other linemen do their jobs during the play. On either side of the center are the guards (G), while tackles (T) line up outside
11832-437: Is to snap the football to the holder, who will catch and position it for the placekicker. There is not usually a holder on kickoffs, because the ball is kicked off a tee; however, a holder may be used in certain situations, such as if wind is preventing the ball from remaining upright on the tee. The player on the receiving team who catches the ball is known as the kickoff returner (KR). The positions specific to punt plays are
12036-589: The 1958 NFL Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants , still referred to as the "Greatest Game Ever Played". The game, a 23–17 overtime victory by the Colts, was seen by millions of television viewers and had a major influence on the popularity of the sport. This, along with the innovations introduced by the new American Football League (AFL) in the early 1960s, helped football to become
12240-463: The 1984 United States presidential election , USA Today did not endorse candidates for the President of the United States or any other state or federal political office, a policy which has been re-evaluated during each four-year election cycle by the paper's Board of Contributors through an independent process, with any decision to override the policy based on a consensus vote in which fewer than two of
12444-525: The 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team , becoming the second Redskins quarterback to receive this award, joining Heath Shuler in 1994. Griffin was ranked 15th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2013 . After some controversy over whether Griffin would be ready for the season opener (he did not play a single preseason game), he debuted in
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#173289158447512648-433: The 2012 NFL draft . Griffin set league records for the highest rookie passer rating and touchdown–interception ratio, while leading the Redskins to their first division title since 1999, earning him Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl honors. Following a severe knee injury he suffered in the playoffs, Griffin was unable to duplicate his success and lost his starting position in 2015 to Kirk Cousins . He signed with
12852-415: The 2012 NFL draft . Griffin set or tied 8 single-game, 26 single-season, and 20 career Baylor records . Griffin was not perceived as a first-round draft pick prior to his junior season. By midseason, however, he had drawn the attention of NFL scouts and analysts, and some started projecting he would be an early first round selection. Towards the end of his junior season, Griffin had established himself as
13056-412: The 2024 season , Griffin was replaced on the program by Jason Kelce . On August 15, 2024, the network fired him. In September 2023, Griffin launched via Youtube his own podcast series, "RG3 and The Ones," which is based on interviews with personnel involved with the NFL. Griffin began dating fellow Baylor student Rebecca Liddicoat in 2009, and the two were married on July 6, 2013. Rebecca gave birth to
13260-784: The Cleveland Browns in 2016, but his tenure was also afflicted by injuries, resulting in his release at the end of the season. After a year in free agency, he joined the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 and played his last three seasons as a backup. Griffin was born in Okinawa , Japan, where his parents, Robert Griffin Jr. and Jacqueline, both U.S. Army sergeants , were stationed. The family later lived at Fort Lewis near Tacoma , Washington , and then moved to New Orleans , Louisiana . They finally settled in Copperas Cove , Texas in 1997 after retiring from
13464-665: The Journal Media Group , gradually began identifying themselves as part of the USA Today Network (foregoing use of the Gannett name outside of requisite ownership references) through early January 2016. In the late 2010s, as the print run declined, Gannett pulled back from the extensive and expensive distribution network, opting to have shorter deadlines, and printing the remaining copies from fewer facilities while potentially trucking them longer distances to still be available in
13668-523: The Lafayette, Louisiana -based Advertiser being the first newspapers outside of the pilot program participants to add the supplement on December 15), citing "positive feedback" to the feature from readers and advertisers of the initial four papers. Gannett was given permission from the Alliance for Audited Media to count the circulation figures from the syndicated local insert with the total circulation count for
13872-736: The Minnesota Vikings in week 9. The Redskins then dropped their next three games, falling to the Vikings, Buccaneers, and 49ers. On November 25, it was reported that Griffin would be benched for Colt McCoy , heading into Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts. After McCoy went down with a neck injury against the New York Giants, Griffin came in and looked impressive in a loss to the Giants, throwing for 236 yards and 1 touchdown passing. Griffin
14076-573: The Russian invasion , and an article on sunscreen. Miranda resigned. USA Today is known for news in compact, easy-to-read-and-comprehend stories. In the main edition circulated in the United States and Canada , each edition consists of four sections: News (the "front page" section), Money, Sports, and Life. Since March 1998, the Friday edition of Life has been split into two sections: the regular Life focusing on entertainment (subtitled Weekend ; section E), which features television reviews and listings ,
14280-547: The San Francisco 49ers in Week 12 was the first game in Griffin's collegiate and professional career where he failed to score a single offensive touchdown. On December 11, head coach Mike Shanahan announced that Griffin would be inactive for the last three games of the season and that Kirk Cousins would finish the season as the starter. He claimed that it was done in order to eliminate risk of further injury to Griffin. He finished
14484-597: The September 11 attacks . That November, USA Today migrated its operations from Gannett's previous corporate headquarters in Arlington, Virginia , to the company's next headquarters in nearby McLean . The company moved it's headquarters to New York, NY in 2024. In 2004, Jack Kelley , a senior foreign correspondent for USA Today, was found to have fabricated foreign news reports over the past decade. Kelley resigned. On December 12, 2005, Gannett announced that it would combine
14688-512: The Super Bowl ) previously used the orange color, but later changed to the regular sports red in their sports bonus sections. To strengthen their association with USA Today , Gannett incorporated the USA Today color scheme into a standardized broadcast graphics package that was phased in across its television station group (which was spun-off in July 2015 into the separate broadcast and digital media company Tegna ) starting in late 2012. The package used
14892-411: The USA Today editorial page is the publication of opposing points of view: alongside the editorial board's piece on the day's topic runs an opposing view by a guest writer, often an expert in the field. The Board of Contributors, which is distinct from the paper's news staff, chooses the opinion pieces that appear in each edition. From 1999 to 2002 and again from 2004 to 2015, the editorial page editor
15096-404: The false conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not a US citizen, and Infowars has promoted conspiracy theories such as 9/11 being an "inside job." In October 2018, USA Today was criticized by NBC News for publishing an editorial by President Trump that was replete with inaccuracies. The Washington Post fact-checker said that "almost every sentence contained a misleading statement or
15300-506: The fifth-largest print circulation in the United States, with 132,640 print subscribers. It has two million digital subscribers, the fourth-largest online circulation of any U.S. newspaper. USA Today is distributed in all 50 states , Washington, D.C. , and Puerto Rico , and an international edition is distributed in Asia , Canada , Europe , and the Pacific Islands . USA Today
15504-411: The kickoff , which starts the first and third quarters and overtime and follows a try attempt or a successful field goal; the safety kick follows a safety. On a kickoff, the ball is placed at the 35-yard line of the kicking team in professional and college play and at the 40-yard line in high school play. The ball may be drop kicked or place kicked. If a place kick is chosen, the ball can be placed on
15708-407: The punter (P), long snapper, upback , and gunner . The long snapper snaps the football directly to the punter, who then drops and kicks it before it hits the ground. Gunners line up split outside the line and race down the field, aiming to tackle the punt returner (PR)—the player who catches the punt. Upbacks line up a short distance behind the line of scrimmage, providing additional protection to
15912-462: The "Father of American Football", secured rule changes in 1880 that reduced the size of each team from 15 to 11 players and instituted the snap to replace the chaotic and inconsistent scrum . While the game between Rutgers and Princeton is commonly considered the first American football game, several years prior in 1862, the Oneida Football Club formed as the oldest known football club in
16116-515: The "Father of American Football", established the snap , the line of scrimmage , eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized the forward pass , created the neutral zone , and specified the size and shape of the football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football , which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently from those of Camp. Most of
16320-498: The 19–14 loss. He was placed on injured reserve on December 4, 2020. Griffin was waived by the Ravens on January 18, 2021. In August 2021, Griffin signed a multi-year contract with ESPN as an analyst for their college football coverage and NFL Live . Griffin has publicly stated his desire to continue playing and that his contract with ESPN would allow him to sign with a team if the opportunity arises. Griffin later joined Monday Night Countdown in 2022 to replace Randy Moss . Ahead of
16524-468: The 2011 season with 4,293 passing yards, 37 passing touchdowns, and six interceptions to go along with 179 rushes for 699 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns. Griffin, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with a 3.67 grade point average in December 2010, began pursuing a Master's in communications in 2011. On January 11, 2012, Griffin officially announced his intention to enter
16728-547: The 2012 redesign due to the myriad electronic ways to check individual stock prices, in line with most newspapers. Book coverage, including reviews and a national sales chart which debuted on October 28, 1994, is seen on Thursdays in Life, with the full A.C. Nielsen television ratings chart printed on Wednesdays or Thursdays, depending on release. The paper also publishes the Mediabase survey for several genres of music based on radio airplay on Tuesdays, along with their own chart of
16932-483: The 2013 season with 3,203 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, and 12 interceptions to go along with 86 carries for 489 rushing yards and no touchdowns. On September 14, 2014, in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars , Griffin was carted off the field after suffering a dislocated left ankle. X-rays and MRIs revealed no fractures in the ankle. On October 29, it was reported that Griffin was set to return against
17136-497: The 300-meter hurdles in 35.33 seconds. The 300 hurdles time was 1/100th of a second short of tying the national high school record at the time. He was also a gold medalist in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles on the AAU track and field circuit. In 2007, as a junior, he was rated the No. 1 high school 400-meter intermediate hurdler in the country, and was tied at No. 1 for the 110-meter sprint hurdler in
17340-531: The AFL New York Jets signed rookie Joe Namath to a then-record $ 437,000 contract (equivalent to $ 4.23 million in 2023). A five-year, $ 40 million NBC television contract followed, which helped to sustain the young league. The bidding war for players ended in 1966 when NFL owners approached the AFL regarding a merger, and the two leagues agreed on one that took full effect in 1970. This agreement provided for
17544-505: The Eagles in Week 16. The knee injury emerged as a controversy on January 6, the day the Redskins faced the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC wild card game, when USA Today reported that – contrary to a previous statement made by head coach Mike Shanahan – Dr. James Andrews had not cleared Griffin to return for the post-injury plays in the December 9 game. Griffin then re-injured his knee in
17748-576: The FCS and 85 scholarship players in the FBS, respectively. Individual players in a football game must be designated with a uniform number between 1 and 99, though some teams may "retire" certain numbers , making them unavailable to players. NFL teams are required to number their players by a league-approved numbering system, and any exceptions must be approved by the commissioner . NCAA and NFHS teams are "strongly advised" to number their offensive players according to
17952-553: The Family of 3 foundation to help three new struggling families each year. While Griffin was playing for the Redskins, he lived in the Washington, D.C. , suburb of Leesburg, Virginia , until April 2016 when he sold his home for $ 2.7 million. He then purchased a home in Montgomery, Texas for $ 2.25 million. American football American football , referred to simply as football in
18156-543: The Mobile Excellence award for Best User Experience, the MOBI award for Editorial Content, and Mobile Publisher of the Year. The USA Today site design was launched on desktop, mobile and TV throughout 2013 and 2014, although archive content accessible through search engines remains available through the pre-relaunch design. On October 6, 2013, Gannett test launched a condensed daily edition of USA Today (part of what
18360-518: The Month. The next week against the Atlanta Falcons , he left the game late in the third quarter after suffering a mild concussion after receiving a blow to the head by Sean Weatherspoon . He was cleared to play in the next game against the Minnesota Vikings , where he had another impressive performance that included a 76-yard rushing touchdown. The Redskins ended their home-game losing streak and Griffin
18564-621: The NCAA Midwest Regional Championship meets; he also broke the NCAA Midwest Regional 400-meter hurdles record. He placed third in the NCAA meet and also participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials, in which he advanced to the semifinals. Griffin graduated in three years with a bachelor's degree in political science and a 3.67 GPA, while appearing on the dean's list twice. During his final year of college sports eligibility, he
18768-450: The No. 2 quarterback prospect for the 2012 NFL draft , behind the unanimous first pick projection Andrew Luck . Griffin was widely projected to be the No. 2 pick of the draft, but the St. Louis Rams —the team originally holding the pick—had already selected Sam Bradford to be their long-term starting quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft . Wanting to stick with Bradford,
18972-588: The Philadelphia Eagles. He was activated off injured reserve on December 9, 2016, prior to Week 14 against the Bengals. Griffin played in five games, all starts, in 2016, completing 87-of-147 passes for 886 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns. On March 10, 2017, Griffin was released by the Browns. After remaining a free agent for all of 2017, Griffin signed
19176-516: The Presto platform. Developers built a separate platform to provide optimizations for mobile and touchscreen devices. The Gravity ad won Digiday's Best Publishing Innovation in Advertising in 2016, thanks to an 80% full-watch user engagement rate on desktop, and 96% on mobile. Following the relaunch, the editorial team behind USA Today Investigations ramped up its "longread" article plans, following
19380-493: The Rams decided to deal the pick prior to the draft, with the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins perceived as the most interested bidders. After a brief bidding process, the Redskins acquired the pick by giving the Rams four high-value draft picks over three years: their first-round picks in 2012 (No.6 overall), 2013 (No.22 overall), and 2014 (No.2 overall), as well as their second-round pick (No.39 overall) in 2012. As expected,
19584-483: The Redskins finish the regular season on a 7-game winning streak after starting the season 3–6, leading the team to its first playoff appearance since the 2007 season. On December 26, Griffin was named to enter the 2013 Pro Bowl in recognition of his successful rookie season. Due to injuries on his ACL and LCL ligaments in his right knee, he was negated from the Pro Bowl roster and replaced by Drew Brees . Griffin also won
19788-474: The Redskins selected Griffin as the second overall pick, making him the second Baylor Bear to be drafted that high in four years (after Jason Smith in 2009), but the first Baylor quarterback to be chosen second overall since Adrian Burk in 1950 . Griffin wore number 10 for the Redskins, with "Griffin III" on the back of his jersey. This made him the first player in the history of the "Big Four" professional sports leagues ( NFL , MLB , NHL , and NBA ) to have
19992-573: The September 8, 2019, regular-season opener against the Miami Dolphins , where Griffin came into the game in relief of Lamar Jackson toward the end of the 59–10 victory. He completed all six pass attempts for 55 yards and one touchdown. In the Week 10 game against the Cincinnati Bengals , Griffin entered the game as a running back alongside Mark Ingram II and Jackson in the backfield, marking what
20196-452: The Sports and Fitness Industry Association. The role of the offensive unit is to advance the football down the field with the ultimate goal of scoring a touchdown . The offensive team must line up in a legal formation before they can snap the ball. An offensive formation is considered illegal if there are more than four players in the backfield or fewer than five players numbered 50–79 on
20400-416: The U.S. and the world. Temperatures for individual cities on the primary forecast map and temperature lists are suffixed with a one- or two-letter code, such as "t" for thunderstorms , referencing the expected weather conditions. The colorized forecast map was created by staff designer George Rorick (who left USA Today for a similar position at The Detroit News in 1986) and was copied by newspapers around
20604-658: The USA Today Careers Network (now Careers.com), a website featuring localized employment listings, then on July 18, the USA Today News Center was launched as an interactive television news service developed through a joint venture with the On Command Corporation that was distributed to hotels around the United States. On September 12 of that year, the newspaper set an all-time single day circulation record, selling 3,638,600 copies for its edition covering
20808-579: The United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. American football evolved from the sports of rugby and soccer . Rugby, like American football, is a sport in which two competing teams vie for control of a ball, which can be kicked through a set of goalposts or run into the opponent's goal area to score points. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6, 1869 , between Rutgers and Princeton , two college teams. They consisted of 25 players per team and used
21012-405: The United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football , is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense , the team with possession of the oval-shaped football , attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or throwing it , while the defense , the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop
21216-589: The United States at its Hong Kong publishing facility; additional editorial bureaus were launched in London and Moscow in 1996. On April 17, 1995, USA Today launched its website to provide real-time news coverage; in June 2002, the site expanded to include a section providing travel information and booking tools. On August 28, 1995, a fifth international publishing site was launched in Frankfurt, Germany , to print and distribute
21420-538: The United States in October 2013. On September 3, 2014, USA Today announced that it would lay off roughly 70 employees in a restructuring of its newsroom and business operations. In October 2014, USA Today and OpenWager Inc. entered into a partnership to release a Bingo mobile app called USA Today Bingo Cruise. On December 3, 2015, Gannett formally launched the USA Today Network, a national digital newsgathering service providing shared content between USA Today and
21624-455: The United States. The team consisted of graduates of Boston's elite preparatory schools and played from 1862 to 1865. The introduction of the snap resulted in an unexpected consequence. Before the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position. However, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they could now hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, in
21828-547: The United States: official time was kept on a scoreboard clock rather than on a watch in the referee's pocket, as the NFL did; optional two-point conversions by pass or run after touchdowns; names on the jerseys of players; and several others, including expansion of the role of minority players, actively recruited by the league in contrast to the NFL. The AFL also signed several star college players who had also been drafted by NFL teams. Competition for players heated up in 1965, when
22032-485: The Year award, and was named to USA Today ′s 2007 All-USA Track and Field team. His personal best in the 400-meter hurdles was achieved on May 18, 2008, with a time of 49.22 seconds. Rivals.com , a college football recruiting service, ranked Griffin the fourth-best dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the 42nd-best player in Texas in the high school prospect class of 2008. During the college recruiting period, Griffin
22236-460: The advent of artificial rubber inside the leather outer shell to sustain crushing forces . At all levels of play, the football is inflated to 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 to 13 + 1 ⁄ 2 psi (86 to 93 kPa), or just under one atmosphere, and weighs 14 to 15 ounces (400 to 430 g); beyond that, the exact dimensions vary slightly. In professional play the ball has a long axis of 11 to 11 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (28 to 29 cm),
22440-487: The amount of sales that Gannett projected. The design uniquely incorporated color graphics and photographs. Initially, only its front news section pages were rendered in four-color, while the remaining pages were printed in a spot color format. The paper's overall style and elevated use of graphics—developed by Neuharth, in collaboration with staff graphics designers George Rorick, Sam Ward, Suzy Parker, John Sherlock and Web Brya—were derided by critics, who referred to it as
22644-562: The appearance of its front section pages, which included a larger logo at the top of each page; coloring tweaks to section front pages; a new sans-serif font, called Prelo, for certain headlines of main stories (replacing the Gulliver typeface that had been implemented for story headers in April 2000); an updated "Newsline" feature featuring larger, "newsier" headline entry points; and the increasing and decreasing of mastheads and white space to present
22848-435: The ball is caught, and the ball may not be advanced. Officials are responsible for enforcing game rules and monitoring the clock. All officials carry a whistle and wear black-and-white striped shirts and black hats except for the referee, whose hat is white. Each carries a weighted yellow flag that is thrown to the ground to signal that a foul has been called. An official who spots multiple fouls will throw their hat as
23052-478: The ball off, throws it, or runs with it. The primary role of the halfback, also known as the running back or tailback, is to carry the ball on running plays. Halfbacks may also serve as receivers. Fullbacks tend to be larger than halfbacks and function primarily as blockers, but they are sometimes used as runners in short-yardage or goal-line situations. They are seldom used as receivers. The offensive line (OL) consists of several players whose primary function
23256-467: The ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal . The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of soccer and rugby . The first American football game was played on November 6, 1869 , between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton , using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp ,
23460-712: The candidacy of Republican nominee Donald Trump , calling him "unfit for the presidency" due to his inflammatory campaign rhetoric (particularly that aimed at the press, with certain media organizations being openly targeted and even banned from campaign rallies, including The New York Times , The Washington Post , CNN and the BBC , military veterans who had been prisoners of war, including 2008 Republican presidential candidate and Vietnam War veteran John McCain , immigrants, and various ethnic and religious groups); his temperament and lack of financial transparency; his "checkered" business record; his use of false and hyperbolic statements;
23664-474: The color scheme in a rundown graphic on most stations, persisting throughout their newscasts, as well as bumpers for individual story topics. In many ways, USA Today breaks the traditional newspaper layout. Some examples of its divergence from tradition include using the left-hand quarter of each section as "reefers" (front-page paragraphs referring to stories on inside pages ), sometimes using sentence-length blurbs to describe stories inside. The lead reefer
23868-488: The company's 92 local newspapers throughout the United States as well as pooling advertising services on both a hyperlocal and national scale. The Courier Journal had earlier soft-launched the service as part of a pilot program started on November 17, coinciding with an imaging rebrand for the Louisville, Kentucky -based newspaper; Gannett's other local newspaper properties, as well as those it acquired through its merger with
24072-483: The couple's first child, a daughter, in 2015. On August 16, 2016, it was reported that Griffin and his wife were separated and in the process of filing for divorce. Also in August 2016, Griffin and Estonian heptathlete Grete Šadeiko became romantically linked. They were engaged on May 13, 2017. In 2017, Griffin announced via Instagram the birth of his second daughter. The couple married on March 10, 2018. His third daughter
24276-413: The crossbars of the defense's goalposts. In practice, almost all field goal attempts are done via place kick. While drop kicks were common in the early days of the sport, the shape of modern footballs makes it difficult to reliably drop kick the ball. The last successful scoring play by drop kick in the NFL was accomplished in 2006; prior to that, the last successful drop kick had been made in 1941. After
24480-399: The defense is to prevent the offense from scoring by tackling the ball carrier or by forcing turnovers . Turnovers include interceptions (a defender catching a forward pass intended for the offense) and forced fumbles (taking possession of the ball from the ball-carrier). The defensive line (DL) consists of defensive ends (DE) and defensive tackles (DT). Defensive ends line up on
24684-430: The defensive backfield. They are divided into two types: middle linebackers (MLB) and outside linebackers (OLB). Linebackers tend to serve as the defensive leaders and call the defensive plays, given their vantage point of the offensive backfield. Their roles include defending the run, pressuring the quarterback, and tackling backs, wide receivers, and tight ends in the passing game. The defensive backfield , often called
24888-494: The editorial board's members dissent or hold differing opinions. For most of its history, the paper's political editorials (most of them linked to the presidential election cycle) had focused instead on major issues based on the differing concerns of voters, the vast array of information on these themes, and the board's aim to offer a fair viewpoint through the diverse political ideologies of its members and avoid reader perceptions of bias. The avoidance of political editorials played
25092-472: The ends and sides of the field are known as the end lines and sidelines . Goal lines are marked 10 yards (9.1 m) inward from each end line. Weighted pylons are placed the sidelines on the inside corner of the intersections with the goal lines and end lines. White markings on the field identify the distance from the end zone. Inbound lines, or hash marks , are short parallel lines that mark off 1-yard (0.91 m) increments. Yard lines , which can run
25296-404: The ends of the line, while defensive tackles line up inside, between the defensive ends. The primary responsibilities of defensive ends and defensive tackles are to stop running plays on the outside and inside, respectively, to pressure the quarterback on passing plays, and to occupy the line so that the linebackers can break through. Linebackers line up behind the defensive line but in front of
25500-417: The entire regular season. On March 7, 2016, Griffin was released by the Redskins. On March 24, 2016, Griffin signed a two-year, $ 15.1 million contract with the Browns. On August 8, 2016, Browns head coach Hue Jackson named Griffin the team's starting quarterback for the 2016 season. Griffin was placed on injured reserve on September 12, after suffering a shoulder injury in the Browns' season opening loss to
25704-556: The features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also present in Canadian football. The two sports are considered the primary variants of gridiron football . American football is the most popular sport in the United States in terms of broadcast viewership audience. The most popular forms of the game are professional and college football , with the other major levels being high-school and youth football. As of 2022 , nearly 1.04 million high-school athletes play
25908-468: The field is punishable by a penalty. Teams may substitute any number of their players between downs; this "platoon" system replaced the original system, which featured limited substitution rules, and has resulted in teams utilizing specialized offensive, defensive and special teams units. The number of players allowed on an active roster varies by league; the NFL has a 53-man roster, while NCAA Division I allows teams to have 63 scholarship players in
26112-454: The field was shortened to 100 yards (91 m) long, two 10-yard-long (9.1 m) end zones were created, and teams were given four downs instead of three to advance the ball 10 yards (9.1 m). The roughing the passer penalty was implemented in 1914, and eligible players were first allowed to catch the ball anywhere on the field in 1918. On November 12, 1892, Pudge Heffelfinger was paid $ 500 (equivalent to $ 16,956 in 2023) to play
26316-405: The first half of the third game against Northwestern State . Baylor finished the season with a 4–8 record (1–7 Big 12). Griffin was granted redshirt status so he entered the 2010 season as a sophomore. According to the bylaws, players who are injured after playing less than 30 percent of the season may be eligible (Griffin was injured during the third game of the 2009 season, with 25 percent of
26520-728: The first player from Baylor to win it. Griffin also led Baylor to a 10–3 record, including a 67–56 win over the Washington Huskies in the Alamo Bowl . With a combined 123 points, it stands as the highest-scoring regulation bowl game in NCAA history. Due to the Alamo Bowl, Griffin became the first player since Tim Tebow in 2007 to win the Heisman and not appear in the National Championship (#1 LSU faced #2 Alabama ). Overall, he finished
26724-422: The flagship national edition of USA Today . On January 4, 2014, USA Today acquired the consumer product review website Reviewed . In the first quarter of 2014, Gannett launched a condensed USA Today insert into 31 other newspapers in its network, thereby increasing the number of inserts to 35, in an effort to shore up circulation after it regained its position as the highest-circulated weekday newspaper in
26928-599: The formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The legal forward pass was introduced in 1906, although its effect was initially minimal due to the restrictions placed on its use. The idea of a 40-yard-wider field was opposed by Harvard due to the size of the new Harvard Stadium . Other rule changes introduced that year included
27132-466: The game by a physician, but a few days later the same physician declared Griffin not ready for the game, thus giving backup Kirk Cousins the start. After the win over the Ravens, Cousins was named the starter for the regular-season opener and onward. On September 13, 2015, it was reported that Griffin was practicing as a safety with the scout team . He ended up third on the quarterback depth chart, behind Cousins and Colt McCoy , and remained inactive for
27336-419: The game clock based on the direction of the appropriate official . A separate play clock is used to show the amount of time within which the offense must initiate a play. The play clock is set to 25 seconds after certain administrative stoppages in play and to 40 seconds when play is proceeding without such stoppages. If the offense fails to start a play before the play clock reads "00", a delay of game foul
27540-409: The game had a strict sense of amateurism at the time, and direct payment to players was frowned upon, if not prohibited outright. Over time, professional play became increasingly common, and with it came rising salaries and unpredictable player movement, as well as the illegal payment of college players who were still in school. The National Football League (NFL), a group of professional teams that
27744-417: The game. Backup quarterback Kirk Cousins would come in the game and lead the Redskins to a 31–28, overtime victory. The next day it was confirmed that Griffin had sustained a Grade 1 LCL sprain. It was decided that Griffin would sit out the next game against the Browns to give him more time to heal and avoid the chance of further injuries. He returned the next game and led the Redskins to another victory over
27948-411: The given area on the forecast map, are also featured. Weather data is provided by AccuWeather , which has served as the forecast provider for USA Today for most of the paper's existence (except from January 2002 to September 2012, when forecast data was provided by The Weather Channel through a long-term multimedia content agreement with Gannett). In the bottom left-hand corner of the weather page
28152-431: The graph). The newspaper also features an occasional magazine supplement called Open Air , which launched on March 7, 2008, and appears several times a year. Other advertorials appear throughout the year, mainly on Fridays. The opinion section prints USA Today editorials, columns by guest writers and members of the editorial board of contributors, letters to the editor, and editorial cartoons. One unique feature of
28356-443: The ground or a tee; a holder may be used in either case. On a safety kick, the kicking team kicks the ball from their own 20-yard line. They can punt, drop kick or place kick the ball, but a tee may not be used in professional play. Any member of the receiving team may catch or advance the ball. The ball may be recovered by the kicking team once it has gone at least ten yards and has touched the ground or has been touched by any member of
28560-434: The guards. The principal receivers are the wide receivers (WR) and the tight ends (TE). Wide receivers line up on or near the line of scrimmage, split outside the line. The main goal of the wide receiver is to catch passes thrown by the quarterback, but they may also function as decoys or as blockers during running plays. Tight ends line up outside the tackles and function both as receivers and as blockers. The role of
28764-402: The inconsistency of his viewpoints and issues with his vision on domestic and foreign policy; and, based on comments he had made during his campaign and criticisms by both Democrats and Republicans on these views, the potential risks to national security and constitutional ethics under a Trump administration, asking voters to "resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue". The board wrote that
28968-506: The international edition throughout most of Europe. On October 4, 1999, USA Today began running advertisements on its front page for the first time. In 2017, some pages of USA Today's website features Auto-Play functionality for video or audio-aided stories. On February 8, 2000, Gannett launched USA Today Live , a broadcast and Internet initiative designed to provide coverage from the newspaper to broadcast television stations nationwide for use in their local newscasts and their websites;
29172-590: The largest readership of any daily newspaper in the United States. On September 1, 1991, USA Today launched a fourth print site for its international edition in London for the United Kingdom and the British Isles . The international edition's schedule was changed as of April 1, 1994, to Monday through Friday, rather than from Tuesday through Saturday, in order to accommodate business travelers; on February 1, 1995, USA Today opened its first editorial bureau outside
29376-458: The launch of the paper on April 20, 1982. USA Today began publishing on September 14, 1982, initially in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas, for a newsstand price of 25¢ (equivalent to 79¢ in 2023). After selling out the first issue, Gannett gradually expanded the national distribution of the paper, reaching an estimated circulation of 362,879 copies by the end of 1982, double
29580-467: The loss to Philadelphia Eagles . Griffin failed to replicate his 2012 success during the first half of the 2013 season and remained statistically below expectations until Washington's Week 7 game against the Chicago Bears . Leading the Redskins to a 45–41 victory, Griffin recorded 298 passing yards and two touchdowns, including a 45-yard touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson . The Redskins' 27–6 loss against
29784-445: The main and section pages), clickable video advertising and a responsive design layout. The site was designed and developed to be more interactive, faster, provide "high impact" advertising units (known as Gravity), and provide the ability for Gannett to syndicate USA Today content to the websites of its local properties, and vice versa. To accomplish this goal, Gannett Digital migrated its newspaper and television station websites to
29988-766: The military. Griffin's paternal grandfather, Robert Griffin Sr., was a foreman for a New Orleans construction company. He suffered from glaucoma for several years, and died in 1984 at age 43 from a brain aneurysm . Financial hardship caused the family to move to the Desire Projects neighborhood. Griffin's father was a basketball player at Kennedy High School and enlisted in the Army before he graduated. He met his wife Jacqueline (née Ross) while stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado . Griffin attended Copperas Cove High School in Texas, where he
30192-484: The morning. In May 2021, USA Today introduced a paywall for some of its online stories. On June 16, 2022, it was reported that USA Today removed 23 articles written by journalist Gabriela Miranda after an inquiry related to one of her articles triggered an internal investigation and found that Miranda had fabricated sources on articles pertaining to the Texas Heartbeat Act , Ukrainian women's issues due to
30396-503: The most popular sport in the United States by the mid-1960s. The rival AFL arose in 1960 and challenged the NFL's dominance. The AFL began in relative obscurity but eventually thrived, with an initial television contract with the ABC television network. The AFL's existence forced the conservative NFL to expand to Dallas and Minnesota in an attempt to destroy the new league. Meanwhile, the AFL introduced many new features to professional football in
30600-488: The nation. His personal best in the 110-meter hurdles, 13.46 sec, ranked fifth in the world among junior athletes in 2007 (behind Artur Noga , Ryan Brathwaite , Johnny Dutch , and Vladimir Zhukov), while his best 2007 time in the 400-meter hurdles, 49.56 sec—his personal best until 2008—led all juniors worldwide for that year. Also as a junior, Griffin received the Gatorade Texas Boys Track and Field Athlete of
30804-539: The newer, less-obtrusive advertising strategy. Gannet Digital designed, developed, and released the longread mobile experience to coincide with the launch of Brad Heath 's series Locked Up , which won the Investigative Reporters and Editors Tom Renner Award in October 2013. Gannett Digital's focus on its mobile content experience paid off in 2012 with multiple awards; including the Eppy for Best Mobile Application,
31008-596: The newspaper began turning its first profit in May 1987, six months ahead of Gannett's corporate revenue projections. On January 29, 1988, USA Today published the largest edition in its history, a 78-page weekend edition featuring a section previewing Super Bowl XXII ; the edition included 44.38 pages of advertising and sold 2,114,055 copies, setting a single-day record for an American newspaper (and surpassed seven months later on September 2, when its Labor Day weekend edition sold 2,257,734 copies). On April 15, USA Today launched
31212-476: The next morning's paper. The sports section of USA Today , with its complete set of results, was well-regarded and generally seen as one of the main selling points of the paper. On July 2, 1984, the newspaper switched from predominantly black-and-white to full-color photography and graphics in all four sections. The following week, on July 10, USA Today launched an international edition intended for U.S. readers abroad, followed four months later on October 8 with
31416-429: The offense advances ten or more yards in the four downs, they are awarded a new set of four downs. If they fail to advance ten yards, possession of the football is turned over to the defense. In most situations, if the offense reaches their fourth down they will punt the ball to the other team, which forces them to begin their drive from farther down the field; if they are in field goal range , they might attempt to score
31620-410: The offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance the ball at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive . Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking
31824-429: The offensive line. Players can line up temporarily in a position whose eligibility is different from what their number permits as long as they report the change immediately to the referee, who then informs the defensive team of the change. Neither team's players, except the center (C), are allowed to line up in or cross the neutral zone until the ball is snapped. Interior offensive linemen are not allowed to move until
32028-561: The packaging of its national and international news content and enterprise stories (comprising about 10 pages for the weekday and Saturday editions, and up to 22 pages for the Sunday edition) into the pilot insert. Gannett later announced on December 11, that it would formally launch the condensed daily edition of USA Today in 31 additional local newspapers nationwide through April 2014 (with the Palm Springs, California -based The Desert Sun and
32232-492: The paper by 1987 (according to Simmons Market Research Bureau statistics) had reached 5.5 million, the largest of any daily newspaper in the U.S. On May 6, 1986, USA Today began production of its international edition in Switzerland . USA Today operated at a loss for most of its first four years of operation, accumulating a total deficit of $ 233 million after taxes. According to figures released by Gannett in July 1987,
32436-518: The paper's inception was replaced with a new logo featuring a large circle rendered in colors corresponding to each of the sections, serving as an infographic that changes with news stories, containing images representing that day's top stories. The paper's website was also extensively overhauled using a new, in-house content management system known as Presto and a design created by Fantasy Interactive, that incorporates flipboard-style navigation to switch between individual stories (which obscure most of
32640-468: The past: the first issue released during the standard calendar weekend was published on January 19, 1991, when it released a Saturday "Extra" edition updating coverage of the Gulf War from the previous day; the paper published special seven-day-a-week editions for the first time on July 19, 1996, when it published special editions for exclusive distribution in the host city of Atlanta and surrounding areas for
32844-644: The piece was not a "qualified endorsement" of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton , for whom it was unable to reach a consensus (some editorial board members expressed that Clinton's public service record would help her "serve the nation ably as its president", while others had "serious reservations about [her] sense of entitlement, [...] lack of candor and... extreme carelessness in handling classified information "), suggesting instead tactical voting against Trump and GOP seats in swing states, advising voters to decide whether to vote for either Clinton, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson , Green Party nominee Jill Stein or
33048-445: The plane of the two end lines. The crossbar of these posts is 10 feet (3.0 m) above the ground, with vertical uprights at the end of the crossbar 18 feet 6 inches (5.64 m) apart for professional and collegiate play, and 23 feet 4 inches (7.11 m) apart for high school play. The uprights extend vertically 35 feet (11 m) on professional fields, a minimum of 10 yards (9.1 m) on college fields, and
33252-448: The point(s)-after-touchdown (PAT) or conversion, which is a single scoring opportunity. This is generally attempted from the two- or three-yard line, depending on the level of play. If the PAT is scored by a place kick or drop kick through the goal posts, it is worth one point, typically called the extra point. If the PAT is scored by what would normally be a touchdown, it is worth two points; this
33456-565: The presses used at USA Today 's printing facilities did not yet accommodate the use of other colors to denote all four original sections. Orange is used for bonus sections (sections E+), which are published occasionally for business travel trends and the Olympics . Other bonus sections for sports (such as for the PGA Tour preview, NCAA basketball tournaments , Memorial Day auto races ( Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 ), NFL opening weekend and
33660-422: The punter. In football, the winner is the team that has scored more points at the end of the game. There are multiple ways to score in a football game. The touchdown (TD), worth six points, is the most valuable scoring play in American football. A touchdown is scored when a live ball is advanced into, caught, or recovered in the opposing team's end zone. The scoring team then attempts a try, more commonly known as
33864-401: The receiving team. The three types of scrimmage kicks are place kicks, drop kicks, and punts. Only place kicks and drop kicks can score points. The place kick is the standard method used to score points, because the pointy shape of the football makes it difficult to reliably drop kick. Once the ball has been kicked from a scrimmage kick, it can be advanced by the kicking team only if it
34068-439: The reduction of playing time from 70 to 60 minutes and an increase of the distance required for a first down from 5 to 10 yards (4.6 to 9.1 m). To reduce infighting and dirty play between teams, the neutral zone was created along the width of the football before the snap. Scoring was also adjusted: points awarded for field goals were reduced to three in 1909 and points for touchdowns were raised to six in 1912. Also in 1912,
34272-571: The resignation of John Boehner as House Speaker. It also called out then- President Barack Obama and other top members of the Democratic Party for what it perceived as "inaction" during 2013–14, particularly over the NSA scandal and the ISIL beheading incidents . The editorial board broke from its "non-endorsement" policy for the first time on September 29, 2016, when it published an op-ed piece condemning
34476-456: The rollout of the first transmission via satellite of its international version to Singapore . On April 8, 1985, the paper published its first special bonus section, a 12-page section called "Baseball '85", which previewed the 1985 Major League Baseball season . By the fourth quarter of 1985, USA Today had become the second-largest newspaper in the United States, reaching a daily circulation of 1.4 million copies. Total daily readership of
34680-534: The rulebook for the 1876 college football season , when the sport first shifted from soccer-style rules to rugby-style rules. Although it could easily have been called "rugby" at this point, Harvard, one of the primary proponents of the rugby-style game, compromised and did not request the name of the sport be changed to "rugby". The terms " gridiron " or "American football" are favored in English-speaking countries where other types of football are popular, such as
34884-552: The season completed). Overall, he finished the season with 3,501 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, eight interceptions, and had 149 rushes for 635 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. Baylor finished the season with a 7–6 record (4–4 Big 12). Coming into the 2011 season, the Baylor Bears were not expected to do well, being picked 6th in the Big 12 preseason poll. The Bears opened the season against 15th-ranked TCU . The Bears took
35088-452: The second one, the Harvard players preferred the Canadian style of having only 11 men on the field, running the ball without having to be chased by an opponent, the forward pass, tackling, and using an oblong instead of a round ball. An 1875 Harvard–Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two Princeton athletes who were impressed by it. They introduced the sport to Princeton,
35292-503: The secondary, consists of cornerbacks (CB) and safeties (S). Safeties are themselves divided into free safeties (FS) and strong safeties (SS). Cornerbacks line up outside the defensive formation, typically opposite a receiver to be able to cover them. Safeties line up between the cornerbacks but farther back in the secondary. Safeties tend to be viewed as "the last line of defense" and are responsible for stopping deep passing plays as well as breakout running plays. The special teams unit
35496-464: The separate newsroom operations of the online and print entities of USA Today , with USAToday.com's vice president and editor-in-chief Kinsey Wilson promoted to co-executive editor, alongside existing executive editor John Hillkirk. In December 2010, USA Today launched the USA Today API for sharing data with partners of all types. On August 27, 2010, USA Today announced that it would undergo
35700-411: The snap of the ball. The main backfield positions are the quarterback (QB), halfback/tailback (HB/TB), and fullback (FB). The quarterback is the leader of the offense. Either the quarterback or a coach calls the plays. Quarterbacks typically inform the rest of the offense of the play in the huddle before the team lines up. The quarterback lines up behind the center to take the snap and then hands
35904-523: The sport in the U.S., with another 81,000 college athletes in the NCAA and the NAIA . The National Football League (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world . Its championship game, the Super Bowl , ranks among the most-watched club sporting events globally. In 2022, the league had an annual revenue of around $ 18.6 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in
36108-651: The staples of the News section is "Across the USA", a state-by-state roundup of headlines. The summaries consist of paragraph-length Associated Press reports highlighting one story in each state, the District of Columbia , and one U.S. territory . Similarly, the "For the Record" page of the Sports section (which features sports scores for the previous four days of league play plus individual non-league events, seasonal league statistics and wagering lines for that day's games) previously featured
36312-426: The success of the series Ghost Factories . With differing platform requirements, USA Today's mobile website did not offer any specialized support for these multi-chapter stories. Nearing the end of 2012, more than one-third of USA Today 's readership was browsing only using their mobile phones, and the majority of these users were accessing the mobile website (as opposed to the iOS and Android applications) with
36516-491: The time was played at the collegiate level . The upstart NFL received a boost to its legitimacy in 1925, however, when an NFL team, the Pottsville Maroons , defeated a team of Notre Dame all-stars in an exhibition game . A greater emphasis on the passing game helped professional football to distinguish itself further from the college game during the late 1930s. Football, in general, became increasingly popular following
36720-525: The time. On June 11, 1981, Gannett printed the first prototypes of the proposed publication. The two proposed design layouts were mailed to newsmakers and prominent leaders in journalism for review and feedback. Gannett's board of directors approved the launch of the national newspaper, titled USA Today , on December 5, 1981. At launch, Neuharth was appointed president and publisher of the newspaper, adding those responsibilities to his existing position as Gannett's chief executive officer . Gannett announced
36924-748: The top ten singles in general on Wednesdays. Because of the same limitations as its nationalized forecasts, the television page in Life, which provides prime time and late night listings (running from 8:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time ), incorporates boilerplate " Local news " or " Local programming " descriptions to denote time periods in which the five major English language broadcast networks ( ABC , NBC , CBS , Fox and The CW ) cede airtime to allow their owned and affiliated stations to carry syndicated programs or local newscasts. The television page has never carried local scheduling information similar to those in local newspapers. Like most national papers, USA Today has no comic strips . One of
37128-438: The two-week duration of the 1996 Summer Olympics . USA Today prints each complete story on the front page of the respective section, with the exception of the cover story. The cover story is a longer story that requires a jump (readers must turn to another page in the paper to complete the story, usually the next page of that section). On certain days, the news or sports section, will take up two paper sections, and there will be
37332-573: The venture also provided integration with the USA Today website, which transitioned from a text-based format to feature audio and video clips of news content. The paper launched a sixth printing site for its international edition on May 15, 2000, in Milan , Italy , followed on July 10 by the launch of an international printing facility in Charleroi, Belgium . In 2001, two interactive units were launched: on June 19, USA Today and Gannett Newspapers launched
37536-411: The width of the field, are marked every 5 yards (4.6 m). A one-yard-wide line is placed at each end of the field; this line is marked at the center of the two-yard line in professional play and at the three-yard line in college play. Numerals that display the distance from the closest goal line in yards are placed on both sides of the field every ten yards. Goalposts are located at the center of
37740-532: The wild card loss to the Seahawks. Griffin underwent surgery on January 9 and both his LCL and ACL were repaired. For the season, Griffin set records for highest passer rating by a rookie quarterback (102.4) and highest touchdown to interception ratio (4:1) (both since broken by Dak Prescott ). Aside from the week 15 game against the Cleveland Browns where he did not play, Griffin played a vital role in helping
37944-511: The win, Baylor entered the AP Poll rankings for only the third time in the previous 15 seasons, at 20th, and Griffin was considered by many to be a Heisman Trophy candidate. After a bye week, Baylor shut out Stephen F. Austin State University 48–0, and Griffin went 20 of 22 (90.9%) for 247 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 78 yards. In week 4, Griffin ushered Baylor to their third win, beating Rice University 56–31; Griffin completed 29 of 33 passes (87.9%) for 338 yards with 51 yards rushing and
38148-408: The winning team decides to defer, the losing team chooses the option the winning team did not select—to receive, kick, or select a goal to defend to begin the second half. Most teams choose to receive or defer, because choosing to kick the ball to start the game allows the other team to choose which goal to defend. Teams switch goals following the first and third quarters. If a down is in progress when
38352-400: The world, breaking from the traditional style of monochrome contouring or simplistic text to denote temperature ranges. National precipitation maps for the next three days (the next five days before the 2012 redesign) and four-day forecasts and air quality indexes for 36 major U.S. cities (16 cities prior to 1999), with individual cities color-coded by the temperature contour corresponding to
38556-400: The world. Gannett invested in an expensive network of printing factories and distribution during the rollout of USA Today , meaning that the paper could be printed and distributed quickly. One of the results of this was USA Today having the luxury of a later time cutoff for journalists to submit stories, such that the paper was able to include sports scores from games that finished late in
38760-402: The world. Other professional and amateur leagues exist worldwide, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball ; the sport maintains a growing following in the rest of North America, Europe, Brazil, and Japan. In the United States, American football is referred to as "football". The term "football" was officially established in
38964-515: Was Brian Gallagher, who has worked for the newspaper since its founding. Other members of the editorial board included deputy editorial page editor Bill Sternberg, executive forum editor John Siniff, op-ed/forum page editor Glen Nishimura, operations editor Thuan Le Elston, letters editor Michelle Poblete, web content editor Eileen Rivers, and editorial writers Dan Carney, George Hager, and Saundra Torry. The newspaper's website calls this group "demographically and ideologically diverse." Beginning with
39168-515: Was a three-sport star in basketball, football, and track for the Bulldawgs. He started at quarterback for two seasons. During his junior season, he passed for 2,001 yards and 25 touchdowns with 2 interceptions, while compiling 876 rushing yards for 8 touchdowns. He received first-team All-District 16-4A honors after the season. As a senior, he recorded 1,285 rushing yards, posting 24 touchdowns, and passed for 1,356 yards for 16 touchdowns with 7 interceptions. In his senior season Copperas Cove finished with
39372-425: Was born in September 2019. On December 31, 2022, Griffin had abruptly left Pat McAfee 's alternate broadcast of the December 2022 Fiesta Bowl after learning that Šadeiko was in labor with his fourth child. Griffin grew up as a fan of the Denver Broncos and Mike Shanahan , whom he played under for his first two seasons with the Redskins. Griffin is an evangelical Christian , and has said his relationship with God
39576-416: Was first conceived on February 29, 1980, when a company task force known as "Project NN" met with the then-chairman of Gannett , Al Neuharth , in Cocoa Beach, Florida . Early regional prototypes of USA Today included East Bay Today , an Oakland, California -based publication published in the late 1970s to serve as the morning edition of the Oakland Tribune , an afternoon newspaper that Gannett owned at
39780-457: Was instituted. Despite these new rules, football remained a violent sport. Dangerous mass-formations like the flying wedge resulted in serious injuries and deaths. A 1905 peak of 19 fatalities nationwide resulted in a threat by President Theodore Roosevelt to abolish the game unless major changes were made. In response, 62 colleges and universities met in New York City to discuss rule changes on December 28, 1905. These proceedings resulted in
39984-433: Was internally known within Gannett as the "Butterfly" initiative) for distribution as an insert in four of its newspapers – The Indianapolis Star , the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle , the Fort Myers -based The News-Press and the Appleton, Wisconsin -based The Post-Crescent . The launch of the syndicated insert caused USA Today to restructure its operations to allow seven-day-a-week production to accommodate
40188-423: Was likely the first time in NFL history three former Heisman Trophy winners lined up together in a backfield. In Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers , Griffin made his first start since the 2016 season because the Ravens secured the top seed in the AFC playoffs and sat their starters as a result. During the game, Griffin threw for 96 yards and an interception and rushed for 50 yards during the 28–10 win. Griffin
40392-434: Was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance – the first time in NFL history that a rookie quarterback has been given that honor for his debut game. Griffin's debut performance was further rewarded after he was named NFL Rookie of the Week , and he was given that honor once again after the Redskins' win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. On October 4, he was named September's NFL Offensive Rookie of
40596-409: Was named NFL Rookie of the Week for a third time. On November 14 during the Redskins' bye week, the team voted Griffin an offensive co-captain . Following the Redskins' 31–6 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles , he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for a second time. Griffin's performance – passing for 200 yards with 4 touchdowns, rushing for an additional 84 yards, and finishing with
40800-475: Was named the starter for the Ravens Week 12 matchup against the Steelers due to Lamar Jackson testing positive for COVID-19 . He injured his left hamstring late in the second quarter of the game, but remained in until the fourth quarter, when he was sidelined and replaced by Trace McSorley . He finished the game 7–12 for 33 yards and an interception (which was returned for a touchdown by former Browns teammate Joe Haden ) along with seven rushes for 68 yards during
41004-424: Was named the starter for the rest of the year when the Redskins put Colt McCoy on injured reserve . Griffin responded to that with a winning performance in a 27–24 victory over the Eagles. He threw for 220 yards and had one interception. In the final game of the year against the Cowboys, Griffin showed signs of his rookie year form. He threw for a season-high 336 yards and had 2 touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) in
41208-434: Was originally established in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, aimed to solve these problems. This new league's stated goals included an end to bidding wars over players, prevention of the use of college players, and abolition of the practice of paying players to leave another team. By 1922, the NFL had established itself as America's premier professional football league. The dominant form of football at
41412-412: Was pursued by Stanford , Tennessee , Kansas , Nebraska , Houston , Tulsa , Illinois , Washington State , and Oregon . Griffin initially committed to play for Houston under head coach Art Briles . When Briles left Houston to take the head coaching position at Baylor, Griffin switched his commitment and eventually signed a letter of intent to play for Baylor, in part because the university also had
41616-458: Was studying for a master's degree in communications . In 2011, Griffin was named an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education . As a true freshman playing for the Bears , Griffin earned Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. He started 11 of 12 games his freshman season. He made his collegiate debut in a loss to Wake Forest, where he was 11 of 19 for 125 passing yards and had 29 rushing yards and
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