Sports
Chiefs preach solidarity in pursuit of first Super Bowl three-peat
Feb 3, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie (22) during Super Bowl LIX Opening Night at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images NEW ORLEANS — The Kansas City Chiefs are chasing history in their pursuit of a third straight championship when they face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, but they are neither fixated on the challenge nor intimidated by it.
After defeating the Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII and the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in Super Bowl LVIII, the Chiefs could become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls.
At Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, no player or coach shied away from the moment, while also sticking to the company line about focusing on the matter at hand.
“I don’t think I understand truly the weight that this has, what this moment means,” Kansas City cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “I’m trying to live in the moment, take each day as I can, and making sure I’m thankful for having this opportunity.”
How rare is that opportunity? No major U.S./Canada professional sports franchise (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, WNBA, MLS) has managed three straight league championships in two decades. The last team to achieve it was the Los Angeles Lakers juggernaut spearheaded by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant and coached by Phil Jackson, which won three straight from 2000-02.
Before that, the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000 as the Houston Comets were also winning four in a row (1997-2000) in the WNBA.
Jackson coached Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to a pair of three-peats (1991-93, 1996-98) earlier in the 1990s. The most recent NHL three-peaters were the New York Islanders, who won four in a row from 1980-83.
If you’re counting along, that’s just six teams to do it since 1980, a span of 45 years.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who have been doing this a long time,” Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton said. “We know we’ve got the opportunity. If you get to this point of the year … just put your faith where it belongs and put your best foot forward.”
The Chiefs are already further along in that pursuit than any NFL team has been in the Super Bowl era. No other back-to-back Super Bowl winner has advanced to a third straight Super Bowl since the inception of the game in 1966.
The Green Bay Packers were technically the NFL’s first three winners of straight, from 1929-31 (predating a championship game of any sort), and they repeated the feat from 1965-67, with the first of those championships coming before the advent of the Super Bowl (with no AFL representation). Those legendary Packers, helmed by Vince Lombardi, won the first two Super Bowls against AFL foes to cement the NFL’s second-ever three-peat.
The Canton Bulldogs won two straight championships from 1922-23, but the organization had merged with another franchise to become the Cleveland Bulldogs when it won a third in 1924.
Even in the pre-Super Bowl era, only two other teams made it to the same position as these Chiefs: the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions. The Bears won NFL championships in 1940-41 before getting knocked off by Washington in 1942. The Lions earned titles in 1952-53 before losing in the championship game to the Cleveland Browns in ’54.
The Chiefs may soon be mentioned alongside Lombardi’s Packers, but they know it would take a collective effort, just as it has to get to this point.
“It’s been everybody,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “Blocking field goals, defensive guys getting big stops, scoring touchdowns: That’s what makes a football team special, when everybody has an impact on the final result of the game.”
–David Gladow, Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Feb 22, 2026; Hampton, Georgia, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick rounds the track at EchoPark Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images AUSTIN, Texas — One of the few things that wasn’t startling about Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas was Tyler Reddick’s run for the pole position.
Negotiating the 2.4-mile road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) in the second qualifying group, Reddick claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award in six attempts at the track. He will lead the field to green in Sunday’s DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by Reladyne (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Of course, there’s more at stake for Reddick than simply a victory at COTA. In winning at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta last Sunday, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota became the sixth Cup competitor to start a season with two consecutive wins. No driver has ever won three straight to open a season.
The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that the pole position, the 12th of his career, is a positive first step toward that goal.
“It helps the chances, certainly,” said Reddick, whose series-best average finish of 4.6 at COTA includes a victory in 2023. “I think starting up front is huge.”
Michael McDowell led the first qualifying group of 19 drivers with a lap at 88.031 mph but fell to sixth soon after the second group took to the track. Ultimately, Ross Chastain posted the second-fastest lap at 88.256 mph (97.897 seconds) and will start on the front row beside Reddick.
The shocker was not that Chastain, the 2022 COTA winner, fashioned an excellent lap. What was surprising was that his two Trackhouse Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — both vaunted road course racers — failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.
Van Gisbergen was 13th fastest on his third lap. Zilisch could do no better than 25th. Van Gisbergen is seeking his sixth straight road course victory in the Cup Series, a mark that would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most consecutive road course wins.
Chase Briscoe (88.242 mph) will start third, followed by Ryan Blaney (88.179 mph) and Chase Elliott (88.161 mph). Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories.
Behind McDowell in sixth, AJ Allmendinger qualified seventh, followed by defending race winner Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
“We’ll see how it gets going,” Reddick said. “Certainly, Ross, Shane, Ryan Blaney-there’s a number of good drivers who were really strong in practice today. We’ll try to understand what that all looks like and make our best decisions on the car and everything.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
Feb 25, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) passes the ball as Memphis Grizzlies guard Javon Small (10) defends during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday.
Specific terms were not disclosed by the Warriors. However, ESPN reported it was a three-year, $15 million contract extension with a player option in 2028-29. Santos was in line to become a restricted free agent prior to this extension.
Santos, 23, is posting career-best averages in points (6.6), rebounds (3.2) and assists (1.7) in 48 games (13 starts) this season.
He is contributing 4.9 points, 3.0 boards and 1.4 assists in 127 career games (15 starts) since being selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Isaiah Evans, No. 1 Duke overwhelm No. 11 Virginia
Feb 28, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Isaiah Evans (3) grabs a pass as he moves around a pick center Patrick Ngongba II (21) as Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Isaiah Evans used a hot start on the way to 19 points and top-ranked Duke’s defense contained No. 11 Virginia for much of Saturday afternoon’s showdown in a 77-51 victory at Durham, N.C.
The Blue Devils, with two games remaining, secured at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and locked up the top seed for the upcoming ACC tournament.
Cameron Boozer racked up most of his 18 points on free throws for Duke (27-2, 15-1 ACC), which built its lead to 28 points in the second half. Boozer also had a team-high nine rebounds, while Patrick Ngongba II added 11 points.
Thijs De Ridder had 16 points for Virginia (25-4, 13-3), which was bidding to pull even atop the ACC standings. Instead, the Cavaliers’ nine-game winning streak was halted as they were held to a season-low point total.
Virginia went 29.1% from the field, including 7-for-35 on 3s, so the Cavaliers’ 12-for-13 shooting at the foul line couldn’t save them. Virginia collected nine offensive rebounds despite its volume of missed shots.
Evans shot 5-for-9 on 3-pointers and was 7-for-11 overall from the floor, accounting for nearly half of Duke’s 12 baskets from 3-point range.
Boozer had 11 first-half points on 11-for-12 free-throw shooting, but didn’t make a field goal until a 3-pointer early in the second half. He ended up 3-for-9 from the field in 33 minutes in Duke’s second-to-last home game of the season.
Aside from De Ridder, Virginia’s starters shot a combined 4-for-22 from the field.
An 11-0 run in the second half stretched Duke’s advantage to 70-43.
Duke built an 18-9 lead across the first 11 minutes, with Evans providing 14 of those points. The Blue Devils carried a 41-26 lead into halftime.
Virginia shot 4-for-17 on first-half 3s, while going 4-for-8 on 2-point range attempts.
By game’s end, Boozer attempted 12 of Duke’s 14 free throws.
–Field Level Media
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
