JALEN HURTS AFTER SUPER BOWL VICTORY MUST HAVE EQUIPMENT FOR EVERY ATHLETE
NFC EAST SCHEDULE RELEASE FOR THE UPCOMING 2025 SEASON
Cowboys trade for George Pickens
The Pittsburgh Steelers just traded wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. Does this give Dallas the new best wide reciever duo in the NFL?
Interview with Jalen Hurts After Super Bowl Victory
The Philadelphia Eagles just won the Super Bowl, and star quarterback Jalen Hurts shares with us how he got this victory and his plans after.
10 Essential Equipment for Athletes in 2025
We are halfway through 2025, but its never too late to get out there and be active. Look and shop with us as we look through the necessesary equipment every athlete should have in 2025.
NFC East Schedule for the 2025 NFL Season
The NFL season is approaching, and the schedule has just been released! After reading about the two biggest teams in the NFC East, take a look at the upcoming games this packed division faces this season.
Cowboys trade for Steelers WR George Pickens
Best Wide Receiver Duo?
The Dallas Cowboys made a big splash on Wednesday morning, agreeing to a trade for wide receiver George Pickens. They will send a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick. The Cowboys had been searching for a legit WR2 alongside CeeDee Lamb, and Pickens should elevate their offense. But is Pickens definitely the answer for Dallas? And did Pittsburgh get enough back in return? Let’s grade both sides. Who actually won the deal? I’m evaluating the trade based on multiple factors, including on-field impact, overall value for each side, salary cap implications, and the context of each team’s short- and long-term QB outlooks. Grading Pickens to Dallas After passing on the wide receiver position entirely in this year’s draft, the Cowboys finally got their second receiver to complement Lamb. Pickens is an excellent fit with Lamb, too. He’s an outside vertical receiver who will allow Lamb to maintain his heavy dosage of slot alignments in the Cowboys’ offense. Pickens ran go routes
and deep fades 19% of the time last season, the 10th-highest rate among receivers with at least 300 routes run. He managed 900 yards over 14 games in 2024 and hit 1,140 receiving yards in 2023. And he posted a strong 2.2 yards per route run both years.
According to ESPN’s player-tracking-based receiver scores, Pickens has shown growth in his ability to get open since his rookie season. He had a 48 open score in 2022, but that rose to 70 and 68 the past two years. However, his catch score has dropped from a high of 99 in his rookie year to 72 in 2023 and then 40 last season. That looks like the profile of a player who could see positive regression, since a receiver’s ability to get open is more stable from year to year than his ability to make catches over expectation. So, on paper, this move makes plenty of sense for the Cowboys. As poorly as 2024
went for this team, the roster still has the same core as the one that went 12-5 in 2023 (albeit with a different coach) and had a major weakness at receiver after Lamb. To give up a shade more than a third-round pick for one year of Pickens is reasonable, considering how much less it will cost the Cowboys (under $3.4 million) than if he were on the open market.
The deal closes the books on Pickens’ threeyear career in Pittsburgh, where the 2022 second-round pick out of Georgia amassed 174 receptions, 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns, including a 1,140-yard season in 2023. Pickens’ tenure in the Steel City was also beset by issues including perceived unhappiness with the Steelers’ offense and accusations of a lack of effort from NFL observers.
Pickens leaves a void in Pittsburgh at the same time he’s offered a new opportunity in Dallas.
CeeDee Lamb (88) practicing with his new teammate George Pickens (13).
Strength Redefined: How Jalen Hurts’s
Grit Led to Super Bowl Glory
JALEN HURTS ISN’T at Disney World. On a gray March afternoon in Philadelphia, I find him at the Fitler Club, a sleek, members-only lifestyle hub hidden in a Center City alley overlooking the Schuylkill River. Hurts is seated in an industrial style conference room against a backdrop of steel, locker-style cages. He has the relaxed look of an offseason athlete: all-black Jordan sweatsuit over a white tee, paired with Air Force Ones. When I enter the room, his large hands are casually tapping an iPad that has a case covered in motivational quotes. On the back, a black-and-white sticker reads, in all caps, “if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” Beside it: two
crumpled, handwritten Post-it notes—one on expectations, another on integrity. A fresh pink Post-it encourages: “You are exactly where you are supposed to be. I love you. Follow God! I follow you.” It’s signed simply “B”—his wife, Bryonna Burrows. With Hurts six weeks removed from his biggest career win after five seasons with the Eagles, you might think he would still be riding the high of being named Super Bowl MVP. After years of intense scrutiny about his game, a crushing Super Bowl loss two years ago, and a transitional 2023–24 season, now that the team has soared to a championship on his wings, how does he feel? Hoorah.
Jalen Hurts holding The Lombardi Trophy after the Eagles victory in the Super Bowl.
“Those CALLUSES, those BUMPS, those BRUISES— they’re all NECESSARY.”
“I allocated five days of celebration,” he says, then he actually lists just four: the locker room, the team parade, and (yes) the Disney parade. “Four is the ring ceremony. That’s it.” Then it was back to work: training, sleep, meetings, study, repeat. Even during the locker room festivities, while teammates partied shirtless and sprayed Ace of Spades, Hurts kept his shirt on, his joy contained. You’ve probably seen the photo of him sitting on the floor, cigar in mouth, soaking it all in. If you expected one of the NFL’s most unreadable players to show a visible zest post-victory, you were mistaken. Days later, during his post–Super Bowl press run, Gayle King, noting his demeanor, asked him on CBS Mornings, “But you are happy about this, right?” He responded, “One hundred percent,” but it wasn’t very convincing. (Those with a reserved disposition understand he’s
“It’s hard for me to enjoy certain successes in real time, because I’m in pursuit of something,” he says. “You have to have a constant drive. It has to burn within you to where you don’t want to stop. How can I better myself? How can I evolve? It’s days and nights and years of hard work paying off. Now, what do I have to do the next time around?”
It’s a work ethic nurtured by his dad (who’s also his longtime football coach) and galvanized by the grit that comes from a national college championship game benching. “I’m not ever in a place where I’m the same person,” he says. “Those calluses, those bumps, those bruises—they’re all necessary for you to be who you’re supposed to be. You have to embrace them.” But now that he’s tasted success, does Jalen Hurts have to stay so serious to maintain it?
10 ITEMS EVERY ATHLETE
1. Water Bottle
Staying hydrated has everything to do with whether you carry a water bottle around all day or not. Athletes should choose a water bottle that fits their needs: a) easy to drink quickly from during workout, b) won’t spill on electronics if carrying it throughout the day, and c) durable if it gets tossed around everywhere. ($24.99)
2. Earplugs
Every athlete needs to tune out the noise once in awhile. Case in point: your roommate at a travel competition snores or talks in their sleep at night. Spend a few dollars on a pack of earplugs for any unexpected noise that could disrupt your sleep at night or during daytime naps. ($7.99)
3. Tennis Ball
The more intense counterpart to the foam roller, the tennis ball, is a simple hack for rolling out tight areas of the body. All athletes develop tightness under the shoulder blade, in the lats, or along other hard-to-reach places at some point in their training. Tennis balls are even more portable for travel purposes. ($4.99)
4. Yoga Mat
Yoga mats will incentivize athletes to stretch more frequently, which often falls low on the priority list for athletes but plays a large role in their recovery and injury prevention. Coaches can quickly lay down mats on the ground outside for a group stretching session at the end of a workout. Yoga mats also make it easier to run a core circuit outdoors as athletes can better execute planks or abdominal repetitions with the added cushion of the mat. ($19.99)
5. Commpression Gear
While some athletes wear compression gear during competition, such as football and basketball players, or even swimmers in compression race suits, compression garments are primarily useful in the post-workout or post-competition recovery phase. Compression in the limbs boosts blood circulation back to the heart and prompts the exchange of oxygen and nutrients for waste products in the bloodstream. Voila! You can accelerate your recovery just by putting on some (really tight) pants. ($24.50)
NEEDS TO OWN IN 2025
6. Foam Roller
Save the money you would have spent on a sports massage and give yourself one instead. Foam rollers run about $25, and if you purchase a travel-sized one you can carry it with you to competitions everywhere. Self-myofascial release is the process of applying pressure using your own bodyweight against the roller to release tight spots and lengthen muscle tissue. Foam rolling aids in injury prevention and is a key precursor to a dynamic warm up. ($5.99)
7. High-Quality Sneakers
Regardless of the sport, athletes all need a comfortable pair of high-quality shoes for multipurpose wear. These will serve athletes going to and from workouts, while traveling, and at indoor or outdoor competitions. Coaches may encourage their athletes to purchase identical shoes to look more professional at competitions. ($48.99)
8. Warm-Up Jacket
Like a good pair of shoes, a warm-up jacket should be a staple of every athlete’s closet. This should be a relatively thin jacket that zips on and off easily for use immediately before and after athletic events. A warm-up jacket keeps the athlete loose in the moments prior to a performance, and serves as a uniform for the podium during awards ceremonies. ($49.99)
9. Headphones
When you can’t get yourself psyched up for a competition, or you need to tune-out that airplane noise, music is your best friend. All athletes need a pair of solid headphones (noise cancelling ear buds are great and easily portable) to plug into whatever they listen to for relaxation, inspiration, or motivation. Headphones range from $20 to $300; go with your preference on your price point. ($89.99)
10. Travel Med-Kit
It’s important to carry a travel-sized pouch of the essential medicines you might need should sickness or injury arise on the road. Items like Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen, as well as over the counter allergy medicine if you have allergies, can alleviate symptoms and keep you focused on your performance. A small bottle of hand sanitizer in that travel pouch isn’t a bad idea either. ($9.99)
