Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Five years ago, a high school freshman running back named Noel Devine emerged on the national recruiting scene with an incredible highlight video on the Internet. Eventually, Devine went on to become a five-star recruit and now starts for West Virginia.
There’s another emerging freshman phenom with a killer video that is bound to get recruiting junkies fired up. His name is Davonte Neal, and he’s a 15-year-old wide receiver from Laveen (Ariz.) Cesar Chavez who already has scholarship offers from Arizona State and Boston College.
Neal’s freshman video alone was enough to convince Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson to be the first to offer. BC recruiting coordinator Mike Siravo quickly followed.
Through six games, Neal is averaging 6.9 yards a carry and 13.9 yards a reception and has five receiving touchdowns. On special teams, opponents already have stopped kicking his way.
The video doesn’t tell the whole story. When he was in middle school, Neal was clocked at 10.98 seconds in the 100 meters, 22.02 in the 200 and 52.02 in the 400. He also long-jumped 20 feet, 10½ inches. He did all of this when he was 14 — and it was expected, said his dad, Luke Neal.
“To be honest, I knew it was going to happen,” said Neal, who owns a private personal-training company in the Phoenix area that works with NFL players and college prospects getting ready for the NFL draft. “I prepared him for this. In his mind, he’s been prepared for this. We trained Matt Spanos from USC before he ended up with the Dolphins. He said, ‘I’ve been around some of the best players in the country, but this kid is phenomenal.’
“(Neal) works out with his cousin, Edell Shepherd from the Denver Broncos, so he already has a great idea of what it takes to be successful at a high level.”
He also knows how to stay humble.
“Once people meet him, they realize he’s not just a football player,” Luke Neal said. “The sport is not all who he is. He knows he’s been blessed and understands he has to be a good person first, a good student second and then an athlete. He didn’t know anything about the offers until I talked to him about it. He knows there’s nothing he can do about all that now. All he cares about doing is helping his team win more games.”
He definitely has done that. After going 3-7 last season, Chavez is 5-2 this year and looking to climb even higher thanks to Neal and coach Jim Rattay, who has won five state titles at three schools in Arizona.
“The relationship that Davonte and Coach Rattay has established is amazing,” Luke Neal said. “He’s been a great inspiration, and the success that he’s had everywhere he’s been will help keep Davonte grounded through this entire process. We know we still have a long way to go, but it’s exciting to see how fast of a start it’s gotten off to.”
Clemson commits continue to bolt
At one point, Tommy Bowden had assembled one of the best classes in the nation, but his departure as coach at Clemson has opened the door for serious defections.
First it was five-star safety Craig Loston, then Devonte Holloman and Larry Raper. Monday, TigerIllustrated.com reported that four-star running back Ben Axon of Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee decided to switch his commitment to South Carolina.
“I have all due respect to Coach Powell (running back coach Andre Powell) and Coach Bowden,” Axon said. “I have the utmost respect for those guys. But they are losing games left and right. I just prayed on it and knew it was not the place for me.
“South Carolina is the school I’m going to go to. Clemson and South Carolina are the first two schools that recruited me since my junior year, so I know everything about them.”
While other commitments say they still plan to sign with the Tigers, it’s likely there will be more changes. When the new staff arrives, some commitments may no longer be regarded as offer-worthy and some top prospects who didn’t have offers might get them.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
CollegeFootballTalk headlines |
 | Video: Football from NBC Sports |
 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.