Despite Patriots players publicly stating their support for coach Jerod Mayo, owner Robert Kraft announced Sunday that the team had fired Mayo following the Patriots' 23-16 win over the Bills in the season finale. Team sources have described "a poor culture with a lack of leadership that can make demanding and decisive decisions" under Mayo's purview. Fans had also "turned apathetic" to close out the season, with Gillette Stadium half-empty for games against the Chargers and Bills and "Fire Mayo" chants heard in the stands at both games. Fans were pictured at Sunday’s game "with bags on their heads and signs asking for Mayo’s job" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/5).

Kraft said in a statement on the firing, "For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made." The organization now must conduct a search for its third head coach in three years and 16th in franchise history, with former Patriots LB and former Titans coach Mike Vrabel "a prime candidate" to take over. Mayo’s tenure will be remembered "not only for the team’s poor play on the field, but also for his poor decisions at the podium." The "substandard play, combined with the missteps at the podium, prompted Kraft to make a change that not many thought would not even be on the table this soon" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/5).

Patriots EVP/Player Personnel Eliot Wolf is "expected to remain in his current role." Wolf, who was officially hired to his position last May, was granted personnel control last January. He is now the "most experienced executive" in the team’s front office (BOSTON HERALD, 1/5).

Colts owner Jim Irsay released a statement Sunday night revealing that GM Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen “will return for 2025,” hours after the Colts finished off an 8-9 season, according to Joel Erickson of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Irsay wrote in the statement on X, “I know fans who want an immediate change in leadership will be disappointed. That means we all have a lot to prove, so we’ll get back to work and keep doing what we can to earn your support and make you proud to be a Colts fan.” Erickson wrote Irsay’s statement “acknowledged the discontent within a fan base” that hasn’t seen the Colts make the playoffs since 2020. Ballard has been GM for eight seasons, and it is “his lack of success that has become the focal point for dissatisfied fans.” Ballard’s Colts teams are 62-69-1, with one playoff win, two playoff berths and no division titles in eight seasons, seasons that have featured four different head coaches. Irsay has “long believed the owner’s job is to make sure the Colts have the right people” in three roles -- GM, coach and QB -- and one of the “defining characteristics of the past decade is that he has often split moves, rather than tying the three spots together.” Steichen and QB Anthony Richardson have only been in Indianapolis for two seasons. Irsay “might prefer to give the pairing another season with the general manager that acquired them” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/5).

SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE: AP’s Michael Marot wrote Colts fans have been “clamoring for changes.” Former NFLer and ESPN host Pat McAfee -- who played for the Colts -- took to X and ESPN to say he “would not be renewing his season tickets while questioning what kind of standards Colts players and coaches are held to.” Some fans “lined up behind McAfee’s comments, strongly urging Irsay to make changes,” and some of them “made their preference clear by chanting ‘Fire Ballard’ in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game” (AP, 1/5). In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel noted McAfee’s end zone suite was “empty” Sunday. And it is “conspicuous there, a few feet away from the field.” The suite was “dark, empty, obvious” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/5).  

LAISSEZ-FAIRE: In Indianapolis, Nate Atkins wrote he “had season-ticket holders emailing me with some fury this week after I sent out an informal poll.” There is a “feeling of angst mixed with apathy” that has “taken hold of Lucas Oil Stadium.” It has “been clear as fans representing the Bears, Lions, Steelers and Bills have packed this stadium” as the “apathy feels like it's turned into molten lava for those paying their hard-earned money to fund the salaries of the players, coaches and front office.” That is “how tickets were as cheap as $2 two hours before kickoff” between the Colts and Jaguars on Sunday. It is “why the social media responses to the simplest of Colts news, like players reaching the Pro Bowl, are met with vitriol” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/5). 

Dolphins GM Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel “will continue” with the team for the 2025 season, according to Hal Habib of the PALM BEACH POST. Grier has been GM since 2016 and is concluding his 25th season in the organization, having risen through the ranks starting as a scout. His time as GM has been “marked by some of the most significant acquisitions and decisions in team history,” but also “enough significant lows for Grier to be a frequent target of a fan base” that has not celebrated a postseason win in 24 years -- the longest active drought in the NFL. McDaniel will enter his fourth season as Dolphins coach but will be coming off the first season in which the team had a losing record of 8-9 and failed to make the playoffs (PALM BEACH POST, 1/5).

ACTION NEEDED: In Miami, Barry Jackson wrote Dolphins owner Stephen Ross “needs to demand more, even if it means occasional meddling.” Aside from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, there has been “no more patient NFL owner than Ross in recent years” and it is “not fully warranted.” He has “repeatedly given his front office a mulligan for missteps that are unforgivable.” For Ross, “no mistake has seemed too big to overlook.” Jackson: “Where are the consequences for anything? Who, exactly, is looking out for the best interests of the franchise? It’s one thing to empower your employees. It’s another to allow them to go unsupervised when they haven’t earned the trust of full autonomy” (MIAMI HERALD, 1/5).

TOO MUCH FAITH: In Miami, Omar Kelly wrote Ross “is a nice man, but history proves he’s a little naive.” He added Ross is “too trusting,” as he “supports the people he employs, providing them whatever resources they ask for, and rarely interferes.” Kelly: “But he’s too gullible. And far too patient.” He mentioned the franchise is “headed nowhere,” and that is “seemingly what the Dolphins are under its current leadership.” The “easy thing to do is give McDaniel and Grier one more season” because a “reset now might be painful.” However, it “could speed up the healing, if not rebuilding process.” Kelly: “At this point nobody’s buying what the franchise is selling” (MIAMI HERALD, 1/5).

With the NFL regular season now complete, the dates and times for the Super Wild Card Weekend games are now set -- with the Chargers opening the weekend slate on the road against the Texans in the early game Saturday at 4:30pm ET. The Steelers and Ravens will play for the third time this season in the late Saturday window, with kickoff from M&T Bank Stadium slated for 8pm. On Sunday, the Bills will open action by hosting the Broncos at 1pm, followed by the Eagles hosting the Packers at 4:30pm. To close out the Sunday tripleheader, the Buccaneers will host the Commanders at 8pm. Finally, the Rams will close out Wild Card Weekend by hosting the Vikings at 8:15pm on "Monday Night Football" (L.A. TIMES, 1/5). The Texans are making their eighth playoff appearance and each time, they have been placed in the Saturday afternoon window for their first game (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/5).

A former Fox Sports hairstylist filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon in Superior Court in L.A. against Fox, Skip Bayless, Joy Taylor and others, alleging years of bullying and abuse.

Noushin Faraji was employed at Fox Sports from 2012 through this past August and worked on several FS1 series including “Undisputed” before its cancellation.

First  reported by Front Office Sports Sunday afternoon, the 42-page lawsuit alleges 14 counts against the plaintiffs. The suit claims that over Faraji’s decade at Fox, she dealt with a “misogynistic, racist and ableist” workplace that allowed for executives and talent to “physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity.”

“When Ms. Faraji and others came forward to report the wrongdoing, instead of addressing their concerns, Fox retaliated against them while the perpetrators and those who protected them were inexplicitly promoted. This case thus represents yet another in a long line of cases chronicling the toxic culture at Fox, marked by bad faith promises and repeated failures to address a poisonous and entrenched patriarchy,” the lawsuit reads.

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Tiger Woods topped the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program (PIP) in 2024 for the third time in four years, marking the end of the program that started in 2020-2021 to identify those who generate the most positive interest in the tour.

The tour announced the 2024 rankings to players in late November, but the memo from SVP Jason Gore was only viewed by SBJ over the weekend.

Woods played just five official events in 2024, spanning the four majors and the Genesis Invitational. His only made cut and best finish was a 60th place finish at the Masters.

Woods stayed largely out of the public eye in 2024. He became a central voice in the negotiations between the PGA Tour and PIF, though he stayed mostly behind the scenes. Woods launched his Sun Day Red brand in Q1, and his former agent Hughes Norton also released his book“Rainmaker,” which detailed Woods’ early years.

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The Magic will host the Orlando Magic Venture Challenge, a pitch event to discover and support innovations in sports, the fan experience, health and wellness, at Kia Center on March 26. The event will be held in collaboration with LEAD Venture Corporation and the DeVos family.

Five to six start-up companies will be given the chance to earn between $50,000 and $200,000 in capital out of a pool of $750,000 provided by the Devos family, which owns the team, and LEAD, a sports tech investment firm. In addition to the funding, the selected companies could get a commercial partnership with the Magic.

“There are obviously needs that we have at the Magic, from both the business and team perspective, where we would potentially look to strike an arrangement with some of these startups to work on a commercial basis,” said Jay Riola, the Magic’s Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer.

Companies taking part will go in front of an investment committee that will consist of Magic executives, including VP/Shareholder Engagement and Board member Ryan DeVos, along with other members of the DeVos family and LEAD executives. In addition to presenting to the members of the cap table, there will be different executives from throughout the organization in other areas in the room, depending on the startups focus, to hear the pitch and gain exposure from those in the industry.

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SiriusXM and VSiN have a deal to bring the sports betting programming network started by Brent Musburger and his family back to SiriusXM airwaves starting Jan. 17. VSiN was partnered with SiriusXM from its start in 2017 through 2020. At the start of 2021, VSiN was acquired by DraftKings for $70M, but this past summer, DraftKings sold the company back to its founders. In addition to VSiN getting a 24/7 channel on SiriusXM, the two sides will collaborate on the production of a new show that will air exclusively on Mad Dog Sports Radio in primetime on weeknights. “VSiN Live on Mad Dog Sports Radio” will be hosted by Patrick Meagher and Dustin Swedelson and debuts Monday night.

An announced crowd of 12,608 came out to Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday to watch the Montreal Victoire and the Boston Fleet play in the first game of the PWHL's Takeover Tour, and "perhaps the loudest roar of the night" came after the suggestion in an intermission interview that "Seattle wants its own team." Sunday's was the fifth largest single-game crowd in the league’s regular-season history and the highest so far in the month-old 2024-25 PWHL season. Victoire coach Kori Cheverie said, "Having a game in these cities that don’t have a team right now ... and the fans are in it the whole time ... it was really cool to be a part of, and we’re fortunate" (SEATTLE TIMES, 1/5).

Professional Bull Riders had a record weekend to start the new year, highlighted by selling out all three days at Madison Square Garden (Jan 3-5) for the first time in 18 years at the arena and hosting a record 42,256 fans. The Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour was also in action with a Saturday sellout in Birmingham, Ala. (10,095 fans) and a well attended Friday-Saturday event in Portland, Ore. (15,894 fans). Overall, 68,245 fans attended PBR events over the weekend -- the most during a three-day regular season span in the organization's 32-year history (PBR).

Ackerley Sports Group LLC "will pursue a new deal" for the commercial rights to the Springboks rugby team after an initial bid for the South African organization failed. ASG said it will "work with a professional adviser" and "will engage with any 'approved South African consortium' to revive the deal." Ackerley’s exclusive negotiating period with SA Rugby lapsed at the end of last year, weeks after its $75M bid for a 20% stake in an SA Rugby commercial rights company and effective control of its board failed to win support from the South African group’s member unions. ASG said it had offered to "include 50% South African involvement in its final proposal" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/6).

RELATED:  South Africa Rugby eyes private equity deal to boom sponsorship revenue

Some of the top news items from yesterday's edition of Weekend Rap.

• Giants coach, GM decision not likely on Monday

• Vikings buy tickets at Ford Field for fans

• Debut of CFP QFs average 16.9 million viewers

• Duke's Mayo Bowl brings cameo for mayo dump

Garmin announced the Instinct 3 Series, its latest lineup of smartwatches, offered with an AMOLED or solar-powered display. The Instinct 3 Series adds a metal-reinforced bezel for added durability and a built-in flashlight on every model (Garmin).

"I'm still in shock with the Kings coming here tonight, in shock that [former coach Mike Brown] got fired (considering) the job he's done the last couple years, where the team is, where that franchise is now compared to when he came aboard ... I just have a really hard time understanding, with what Mike has done there, how that move was made, but it was made, so I'll leave it at that" -- Warriors coach Steve Kerr, on the Sacramento Kings' decision to fire coach Mike Brown in December (SACRAMENTO BEE, 1/6).

DESERET NEWS went with the header, "College football, it's time for a commissioner." The biggest problem with college football is that "nobody's in charge." The NCAA was "formerly in charge and probably still think they run things," but "they don't." What college football "needs is a commissioner," and both Duke coach Manny Diaz and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin think former Alabama coach Nick Saban could be a candidate. A commissioner's first order of business "would be to rein in the out-of-control excesses of the transfer portal and NIL." It's a "professional game now: start acting like it. Hire a commissioner."

Also: 

• Column: Cori Close forging a new UCLA legend with the lessons John Wooden taught her.

• Karl-Anthony Towns’s New York City.

• Forget an NBA All-Star tournament. Here is what the showcase really needs.

"In Chapter 9 of an 1851 work, a preacher in a New England port city delivers a sermon about this Old Testament prophet."

"Who is Jonah?"