Roger Shoals, an offensive lineman who spent a total of nine seasons in the NFL with the Browns, Lions and Broncos, has died at the age of 86.
Shoals played his college football at Maryland and was a 16th round pick of the Browns in the 1961 NFL draft as well as a 34th round pick of the Dallas Texans in the 1962 AFL draft. It wasn’t until 1963 that he chose to turn pro and picked the Browns and the NFL, and with that choice he became a member of one of the best teams in the league. In his second season, the Browns won the 1964 NFL Championship Game, and half a century later he still considered that his career highlight.
“That was heaven. The league sent us our rings. I still wear mine all the time even though people look at this old man and think ‘What the hell is he doing with a diamond?’” Shoals told the Baltimore Sun in 2014.
After two years in Cleveland, Shoals was traded to Detroit, where he became a starter on the Lions’ offensive line. He spent six years with the Lions before he was traded again to the Broncos, retiring after one year in Denver in 1971.
The investigation into the death of John Elway’s longtime friend and agent, Jeff Sperbeck, officially has ended. California authorities cleared Elway, who was driving a golf cart that Sperbeck fell out of in April, hitting his head.
The Riverside County sheriff’s office said in a press release that Sperbeck’s death was a “tragic accident” and it found “no evidence of criminal activity or intent.”
“Consequently, no criminal charges will be filed at this time, and the case will be documented as an accidental death,” the release reads.
Sperbeck was 62 when he died April 26.
He had represented Elway since 1990 when Elway still was playing quarterback for the Broncos. Elway was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
“This has been a very difficult situation for everyone,” Elway’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said in a statement. “We always knew John had done nothing wrong, but that doesn’t lessen the sadness associated with this situation.”
The investigation included video evidence of Sperbeck falling from the cart.
With training camps opening, more draft picks than usual remain unsigned. The official number stands at 32.
Thirty of them come from round two, thanks to the fact that the first two players taken in the round received fully-guaranteed deals. The third through 32nd players remain unsigned. There’s a way for them to band together and pressure the teams, if the NFL Players Association is able to herd the agent-cats. (Or to even try.)
The other two unsigned players were taken in the first round. One is Bengals edge rusher Shemar Stewart. He’s the 17th pick. His impasse with the team has been well documented; they’re haggling over the impact of a default on future guarantees.
The other unsigned draft pick is Broncos cornerback Jahdae Barron, the 20th overall pick. The delay in his contract possibly relates to the spike in training-camp roster bonuses in that range of round one. The player taken in front of Barron (Bucs receiver Emeka Egbuka) had his training-camp roster bonus percentage for years two, three, and four jump from 70 percent to 96.2 percent. The player taken behind Barron (Steelers defensive tackle Derrick Harmon) had his training-camp roster bonus percentage for the same three years increase from 52.34 percent to 84.93 percent.
Barron’s slot in 2024 was at 61.93 percent.
Regardless of the specific reason(s) for Barron not being signed, he’s one of two non-second-round picks to not sign. In another other year, it would only be Stewart and Barron without contracts.
This year, thanks to the fight over round-two guarantees, 13 percent of all draft picks remain without contracts as training camps prepare to open.
And while these players fairly can be called “holdouts” (they’re “holding out” for better deals), no financial penalties apply to their absences. They can’t be fined. Their signing bonuses can’t be attacked. They are not employed by their teams, because they have not yet agreed to terms.
In late April, former NFL agent Jeff Sperbeck died after falling from a golf cart being driven by Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway. Elway soon will be officially cleared of any responsibility for the incident.
Via Mike Klis of 9News.com, the Riverside County, California sheriff’s office plans to make a formal announcement in the coming days that there was no criminal activity in connection with Sperbeck’s death, and that it was an accident.
“It’s over,’’ Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco told Klis. “We’ve talked to everyone involved and we found nothing new. There was nothing criminal, it was what we’ve been saying all along that this was a tragic accident.”
The investigation included video evidence of Sperbeck falling from the cart.
“I’ve looked at video 100 times and there’s no explanation as to why he fell off, he just fell off,’’ Bianco told Klis.
The investigation remained open so that authorities could track down any and all available video evidence of the incident.
Per Klis, there was no horseplay or swerving. Alcohol was not a factor. Sperbeck simply fell off the cart and struck his head.
There was a hearing on Wednesday in the civil lawsuit against Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe. There wasn’t supposed to be.
Attorney Tony Buzbee has informed PFT that the lawyers had agreed to postpone the July 9 hearing.
Buzbee shared this statement from Sharpe’s legal team: “We are apologizing to the Court by letter for wasting the Court’s time. There was a mutual agreement among counsel to postpone the motion scheduled for July 9. As a result, there was no expectation by our team that her legal team would appear in person.”
It’s odd that Sharpe’s lawyers would have shown up for the hearing, if the hearing had been postponed. It’s odd that, if/when the judge expressed disappointment regarding the failure of the plaintiff’s lawyers to appear, Sharpe’s lawyers wouldn’t have said that the lawyers had agreed to postpone the hearing.
Regardless, that’s the explanation for why Buzbee wasn’t there.
The case otherwise continues. At some point, Sharpe will respond to the complaint. Unless, of course, the case settles. In theory, that can happen at any time.
