Happy New Year 2025

Tag: paid

  • Eagles’ A.J. Brown recalls feeling like a ‘paid actor’ at previous Super Bowl, a loss to the Chiefs

    Eagles’ A.J. Brown recalls feeling like a ‘paid actor’ at previous Super Bowl, a loss to the Chiefs

    NFL star A.J. Brown made headlines when cameras recently captured him passing time during a Philadelphia Eagles game reading a book, “Inner Excellence,” by self-help author Jim Murphy.

    Brown’s sideline routine contributed to a spike in book sales, with “Inner Excellence” quickly jumping into the top spot on Amazon’s trending list the day after the Eagles’ wild-card win over the Green Bay Packers. 

    The book ranked 523,497 prior to the sudden increase in attention brought on by Brown.

    Brown and the Eagles will now turn the page and focus on preventing a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl three-peat. The Eagles are hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2023 Super Bowl.

    SIGN UP FOR TUBI AND STREAM SUPER BOWL LIX FOR FREE

    The Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia Jan. 30, 2025, ahead of the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.  (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Brown caught six passes for 96 yards and scored a touchdown in the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona. But Kansas City took the lead in the fourth quarter and celebrated a 38-35 victory.

    HOW TO WATCH SUPER BOWL LIX BETWEEN CHIEFS, EAGLES STREAMED ON TUBI

    Two full NFL seasons have passed since the loss, and the Eagles could still be haunted by the memory of how they let a chance at winning the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship slip away.

    AJ Brown reacts

    Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown reacts after a touchdown during the first half of a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Dec. 15, 2024, in Philadelphia.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

    A play here, a play there, and the Eagles could have been Super Bowl champions.

    Quarterback Jalen Hurts replied “next question” when asked his most vivid memory from the 2023 Super Bowl, and Brown recounted a missed opportunity for him to score a touchdown that could have changed the outcome.

    “The play really kept me up thinking about, ‘How did I miss that?’ and what I got confused on,” Brown said.

    The play?

    “I don’t want to get into it because we may run it back,” he said.

    HISTORY OF THE SUPER BOWL: PAST WINNERS, RESULTS, MVPS AND LOCATIONS OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

    Brown finished the 2024 season with 67 catches and a team-high 1,079 yards despite missing four games. It was the third consecutive year Brown surpassed 1,000 receiving yards.

    “A.J. is the best receiver that this city has ever seen,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said.

    Brown was rewarded in April with a three-year contract extension that included $84 million in guaranteed money. He was about to become the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL at $32 million a year until Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson’s deal topped his later that summer.

    While Brown is paid like an elite receiver, he said he felt like nothing but a “paid actor” at the 2023 Super Bowl.

    A.J. Brown scores a touchdown

    Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown scores a touchdown during the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Feb. 12, 2023.  (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

    Brown said if he had his way, the Eagles would arrive in New Orleans on Friday, hold a walk-through Saturday and play the game Sunday. His Super Bowl experience was like something out of a movie in which he played the role of a football player. He has tried to steel his emotions amid this year’s Super Bowl hype.

    “It’s about us, but it’s not about us,” he said. “We have so much we have to do for everyone else. The media, the fans. There’s only so little time that we get to focus on what’s important, and that’s the game.”

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    Tubi promo

    Super Bowl LIX will be streamed on Tubi. (Tubi)

    Brown said he’s been turning down media requests “left and right” because, when it comes to Super Bowl hype, “none of this stuff matters.”

    The Super Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET Feb. 9 from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

    Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

  • ATF accused of ‘circumventing’ Trump order to place DEI staff on paid leave

    ATF accused of ‘circumventing’ Trump order to place DEI staff on paid leave

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been accused of allegedly quietly changing the job title of its former diversity officer as President Donald Trump ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees be placed on paid leave. 

    “The ATF defied @realDonaldTrump’s order to place DEI workers on leave, instead giving their DEI officer a new title. They attack citizens’ rights, ignore leadership, and act as though they’re above the law. Enough is enough. Time to abolish the ATF!” Republican Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison posted to X. 

    The ATF, a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice’s umbrella, previously employed Lisa T. Boykin as its chief diversity officer before her title was changed on the ATF’s website this week to “senior executive” with the ATF. An archived link of the ATF’s website reviewed by Fox Digital shows Boykin was listed as the chief diversity officer as recently as Tuesday – Trump’s second day in the Oval Office – and now shows her as working as the agency’s “senior executive.” 

    Trump had railed against DEI programs and offices at the federal level, as well as in the education system, throughout his campaign. Upon taking office on Monday, he inked an executive order terminating ​​”illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

    TRUMP REVOKES BIDEN ORDER ALLOWING TRANSGENDER TROOPS IN BID TO RID DEI FROM MILITARY

    President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

    The following day, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told agency and department leaders to begin shutting down DEI offices and to place DEI employees on paid leave. 

    TRUMP’S DISMANTLING OF DEI IS DEEPER AND BIGGER THAN YOU EVEN KNOW

    ATF employee in official govt photo with US flag

    Lisa T. Boykin’s official photo for ATF. (ATF)

    “Send a notification to all employees of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices that they are being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately as the agency takes steps to close/end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs,” the OPM directive, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, read. 

    A biography for Boykin from 2023 detailed that she began working as ATF’s Human Resources Operations Division in 2016 and “as a collateral duty, in 2021, Mrs. Boykin also began serving as the Bureau’s Chief Diversity Officer,” the New York Post reported. 

    “With the Bureau’s continued focus on enhancing DEIA, Mrs. Boykin currently assumes the work of the CDO in a fulltime capacity, leading and implementing departmental programs and mandates, while bringing renewed vision and effective strategies to maintain an informed DEIA culture for the Bureau,” Boykin’s bio added.

    WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY

    When asked about the title change and subsequent criticism on social media, an ATF spokesman responded that the agency has followed DEI directives from the Trump administration. 

    ATF logo

    The ATF seal.  (Photo by Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)

    “ATF began implementing OPM’s Initial Guidance on DEIA immediately after its issuance on January 21, 2025, in response to the President’s Executive Orders. We have proactively taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance with this guidance, including by placing impacted personnel on administrative leave,” an ATF spokesman told Fox News Digital. 

    Fox News Digital asked for clarification on whether Boykin’s new title protects her from administrative leave but did not immediately receive a reply. 

    Fox News Digital also reached out to Boykin on her ATF email and received an automatic response noting she was unavailable to reply. 

    “I am currently unavailable and unable to return e-mails at this time,” the email read. 

    Social media commenters and critics of the Biden administration’s diversity initiatives slammed the ATF employee’s title change on social media, clamming the agency is “circumventing” the Trump administration’s orders. 

    3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

    Biden championed diversity initiatives under his administration, rolling back the first Trump administration’s policies that banned diversity training in government agencies during his first week in office in 2021. 

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    “In the weeks ahead, I will be reaffirming the federal government’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility, building on the work we started in the Obama-Biden administration. That’s why I’m rescinding the previous administration’s harmful ban on diversity and sensitivity training,” Biden said in January of 2021. “Unity and healing must begin with understanding and truth, not ignorance and lies.”