The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.Good morning! Turn on the lights today. Coming up:
Lights? SMU wins electric gameDon Juan Moore / Getty ImagesI am unsure even where to start with what happened in Tallahassee, Fla., last night. The game itself? An entertaining 27-24 win for No. 19 SMU on the road in the Mustangs’ season opener. The circumstances around the game? A 90-minute delay thanks to a power outage that left both teams without most of the technology they’re used to playing with. The fallout? Despite showing some resilience, Florida State coach Mike Norvell remains on a sizzling seat after getting outgained 585-329 last night. Read our full report here. What a strange evening.Characters: A player, a coach and an owner walk into a barYesterday, we took a 30,000-foot view of the NFL season. Today, I want to home in a bit on three people in particular, at three different stations of the league. They’re all pretty important, though. Let’s start on the field: 1. DK Metcalf, conspiracy theorist
Metcalf intrigues me. He is one of the best physical specimens we’ve ever seen play football, but his career has taken a strange turn after a blockbuster trade to Pittsburgh last offseason. He had the worst year of his career while his old team, Seattle, won the Super Bowl. And at 28, how many more years of prime does he have left? Jonathan Jones got Metcalf to open up in a great story out today, which touches on the receiver’s perceived anger management issues, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and, yes, his love for conspiracy theories. Metcalf believes there is another civilization, a secret one, located underneath the ice of Antarctica. “Yeah, I’m a big conspiracy theorist,” Metcalf said in the story. “Shout out to my quarterback.” Click. 2. Zac Taylor, pressure lover
