Eugene “Mercury” Morris, who starred for the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins as part of a star-studded backfield and helped the team win two Super Bowl titles, has died.

Speaking for the first time about the coach search that led to the hiring of Raheem Morris, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank says former New England coach Bill Belichick made no demands for control of player personnel in Atlanta, as was widely speculated.

Now that Bill Belichick is out as coach of the New England Patriots after 24 seasons, the question turns to where will the six-time Super Bowl champion go next.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick declined to discuss his future amid reports that owner Robert Kraft had already decided to fire the six-time Super Bowl champion after the season.

Mac Jones threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki with 12 seconds remaining to lift the New England Patriots to a 29-25 win over the Buffalo Bills.

Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel played 14 seasons as an NFL linebacker.

Bill Belichick passed George Halas for second place on the NFL’s career coaching victories list and the New England Patriots continued their mastery of the New York Jets by beating them for the 13th straight time, 22-17.

Justin Fields threw for 179 yards and a touchdown and ran for 82 yards and another score, and the Bears defense forced returning Patriots starter Mac Jones back to the bench to give Chicago a 33-14 victory over New England.

There’s some symmetry in that Don Shula’s perfect 1972 season with the Miami Dolphins featured what was famously called the “no-name defense.”.

The only 17-0 team in NFL history was the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Mike Westhoff has always been blunt and brutally honest.

The Chiefs have won a record six straight AFC West titles and will be hosting their record fourth straight AFC title game when Cincinnati visits Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.

Rookie quarterback Mac Jones threw three touchdown passes and Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for two scores apiece to put the New England Patriots in the playoffs with their 50-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Good luck getting Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid to ruminate on the fact that he’s nearing NFL history, just one win away from becoming the first to reach 100 with two different franchises.

(AP Photo/Joel Auerbach)MIAMI – Howard Schnellenberger was a pipe smoker with a push-broom mustache and gruff baritone, and he paired his grandiloquent manner with grandiose visions for football at Miami, Louisville and Florida Atlantic that caused snickers. He revived the sport at Miami and Louisville and started the program at Florida Atlantic during a coaching career that spanned a half century. His legacy includes on-campus stadiums at Louisville and Florida Atlantic. He then founded the program at Florida Atlantic and retired as coach after 11 seasons highlighted by back-to-back bowl victories. AdAt Miami, Schnellenberger took over in 1979 amid debate about whether the moribund program should fold.

Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents. Deep into the year, a bookend to Bryant, Diego Maradona died from a heart attack in Argentina weeks after brain surgery, the waves of grief rippling across soccer. The losses, of course, came against a backdrop of a pandemic, its number of fatalities rolled out daily on TV screens. Niekro won 318 games and pitched until he was 48, his knuckleball dancing and mystifying batters across the decades. Kurt Thomas in 1978 became the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world title but lost an Olympic shot in 1980 because of the boycott.

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2020, file photo, the Olympic rings for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 pass by on a barge by tugboats off the Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic officials said Thursday, Dec. 24, they have reached a basic agreement with all 68 domestic sponsors to extend their contracts into next year to support the postponed Games. Facing increasingly long odds, some mega-events — the Olympics, March Madness, the Boston Marathon and Wimbledon — pushed the starting line into 2021. … Continue to push (against) everything that’s the opposite of love.”If only for a moment, the pandemic receded into the background. “If we can continue to do that, all of us,” James concluded, “America would be a much better place.”

The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.

Scott, the star safety who was the most valuable player in the Super Bowl that completed the Dolphins 1972 perfect season, died Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, in Atlanta. Scott played in three consecutive Super Bowls, won back-to-back championship rings and made the Pro Bowl five years in a row with Miami. At Georgia, Scott was an All-American and the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1968. Shula suspended Scott and then traded him to the Redskins for safety Bryant Salter, who lasted only one season. He grew up in Athens, Georgia, and was recruited as a receiver by Dooley, who then moved Scott to safety.

MIAMI Tua Tagovailoa was easy to identify Thursday even though he wore teammate Ryan Fitzpatrick's jersey and a mask to his first media session of training camp. Tagovailoa is happy to keep a low profile befitting his rookie status, even though he's widely hailed as the Miami Dolphins' future franchise quarterback. A former star at Alabama, Tagovailoa knows how to deal with the pressure of great expectations. But Tagovailoa will be difficult to overlook because he's full of potential and personality. As far as how I feel right now, everything is going well.That's what the Dolphins want to hear.

MIAMI Jim Kiick, the versatile running back who helped the Miami Dolphins achieve the NFLs only perfect season in 1972, has died. The former University of Wyoming star was part of a formidable backfield that included his best friend, Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka. In 1975, Kiick, Csonka and future Hall of Famer Paul Warfield left the Dolphins for the WFL. But the WFL folded, and Kiick returned to the NFL for his final two seasons, playing for Denver and Washington. His daughter is professional tennis player Allie Kiick, who has been ranked in the top 150 on the womens tour.

Measuring Don Shula by wins and losses, no NFL coach had a better year. “Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years,” the Dolphins said in a statement. Shula became the only coach to guide an NFL team through a perfect season when the Dolphins went 17-0 in 1972. The 2007 Patriots flirted with matching the perfection of the ’72 Dolphins but lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl and finished 18-1. But because the Dolphins last reached the Super Bowl after the 1984 season, Shula came under increasing criticism from fans and the media.