California parole board decides whether Erik Menendez should get out of prison
SAN DIEGO — Erik Menendez, one of the two brothers convicted in the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in Beverly Hills, has been denied parole by a California review board, officials confirmed.
The California Board of Parole Hearings’ denial of parole marks a significant development in the decades-long case that drew international attention, with the brothers’ televised trial becoming one of the most infamous of the 1990s.
Erik, now 54, has spent more than 30 years behind bars.
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In a statement, the Menendez family expressed disappointment with the decision.
“While we respect the decision, today’s outcome was of course disappointing and not what we hoped for. But our belief in Erik remains unwavering and we know he will take the Board’s recommendation in stride. His remorse, growth, and the positive impact he’s had on others speak for themselves. We will continue to stand by him and hold to the hope he is able to return home soon,” the Menendez family said.
“Tomorrow, we turn our attention to Lyle’s hearing. And while it is undoubtedly difficult, we remain cautiously optimistic and hopeful that the commissioner will see in Lyle what so many others have: a man who has taken responsibility, transformed his life, and is ready to come home.”
Next steps
With the California Board of Parole Hearings not recommending Erik Menendez for parole, he will remain incarcerated.
The decision came on the heels of a bombshell resentencing hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court in May, when Judge Michael Jesic reduced their life-without-parole sentences to 50-to-life, making them eligible for parole consideration.
In a news conference after the ruling May 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom explained the multi-layered process of considering the Menendez brothers’ eligibility for release.
The governor explained that, before any decision was finalized, a team of forensic psychologists conducted individualized risk assessments on each brother.
MENENDEZ BROTHERS ASK CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM FOR CLEMENCY
“We thought that would be prudent to do,” Newsom said, adding those assessments have been “debated” not only by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and the victims’ family, but also by the judge “both publicly in another conversation, some of it behind closed doors.”
The topic of the brothers’ comprehensive risk assessments has been a sticking point for Hochman.
The brothers were marked as “moderate risk,” an increase from their previous “low risk” assessment. The moderate risk increase came after each report found that Erik and Lyle, in recent months, had been cited for breaking prison rules for contraband violations, specifically the possession of cellphones.
Hochman, referring to the contraband phone, first shared the findings on Lyle Menendez, whose “actions perpetrated deceit.”
He added that Lyle had “downplayed his rule-breaking” and that his report showed his “entitlement and willingness to meet his own needs.”
MENENDEZ BROTHERS ASK CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM FOR CLEMENCY
Along with the illicit cellphone usage, Erik was flagged for possessing and dealing drugs and helping other inmates with tax fraud. Hochman, who ran on a tough-on-crime platform, has been vocal about the brothers’ lack of rehabilitation.
In August 1989, Beverly Hills socialites José and Kitty Menendez were shot to death in their home.
Hochman previously called the murders “mafia-like hits,” remarking on the violent nature of the repeated rounds that were fired at the parents.
The boys, then 18 and 21, were convicted in 1996.
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The defense’s assertion was that the brothers had been driven to violence by years of physical and sexual abuse at their father’s hands.
Despite the first trial resulting in a hung juror, leading to their eventual conviction in 1996, the public has remained divided on whether the brothers acted in greed or in self-defense.
‘Uber let a wolf in’: Tech CEO sues after bloody assault by illegal immigrant driver
A biotech CEO is taking Uber to court after an illegal immigrant driver was caught on camera violently assaulting him in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, sending his dog crashing to the pavement.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Charleston County, alleges TC BioPharm CEO Bryan Kobel, 45, suffered a concussion in April after Uber driver and illegal Russian national Uliumdzhiev Vadim Nikolaevich, 42, attacked him in a King Street restaurant parking lot.
Nikolaevich was arrested and released on a $10,000 bond for second-degree assault and battery, according to Charleston County Sheriff’s Office records.
He was later placed on an immigration hold after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Georgia, according to Kobel’s attorneys.
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In an interview with Fox News Digital, Kobel said the driver appeared to be upset about his service dog. When Nikolaevich refused to allow the pet, Kobel asked to cancel the ride.
Surveillance footage shows Nikolaevich getting out of an Audi SUV, grabbing Kobel by the throat and headbutting and punching him, knocking the unconscious CEO and his dog to the ground.
Nikolaevich quickly got back into the car and drove away, as stunned witnesses called 911 and rushed to help, footage showed.
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“I can’t even look. Oh my God,” a female caller said in a 911 call minutes after the attack. “The suspect has driven off.”
Another male 911 caller detailed the bloody scene.
“He’s bleeding very badly in the back of the head,” the man said. “We’re going to need an ambulance. Send the police. … There’s a gazillion witnesses.”
Kobel was taken to the hospital with a severe concussion and received seven staples for a head laceration, according to his attorneys. Kobel said a nurse and doctor affiliated with MUSC Health University Medical Center quickly rendered aid, ensuring the best outcome.
However, unlike Kobel, Nikolaevich’s night was not over after the attack. Kobel said he picked up a new ride two minutes after speeding off.
“This man violently assaults me, leaves me effectively bleeding out from my head in a parking lot, speeds off and picks somebody up two minutes later,” Kobel said. “When I left the hospital, my account had been suspended, and within 48 hours, it had been deactivated. Despite me sharing hospital records, police records, the detective’s name and phone number and images of the assault, Uber chose to effectively victim-blame me and vilify me.”
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Authorities later told Kobel that Nikolaevich’s driver’s license was fake, and he was a Russian national living in the U.S. illegally.
“Riders rely on Uber to know who is behind the wheel,” Kenneth Berger, Kobel’s attorney, wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We’re seeking answers and accountability for how an undocumented individual using a fraudulent ID was able to access Uber’s platform, assault a passenger and flee. Publicly traded companies that profit from public trust must have screening and real-time identity systems that actually protect people.”
The suit alleges that, as a direct result of Nikolaevich’s conduct while working for Uber and Raiser, Kobel suffered serious injuries and losses, including lost enjoyment of life, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and medical expenses.
“It was about 60 days before I could really have some semblance of a normal life,” Kobel said. “I had to bring our employees into a Zoom call and inform them of what had happened. … I couldn’t look at screens. I couldn’t really focus my eyes. … I had a complete loss of vocabulary. You wonder, will I ever be whole again Am I ever going to be the person I was? It’s made me more jaded, for sure.”
Attorneys claim the rideshare giant is negligent in screening, hiring and monitoring drivers, leading to safety risks for its riders.
“Uber let a wolf into the henhouse,” Kobel said. “They allowed a man who was in a country illegally, a Russian national with a fake license, go through their background check and snake his way in and then have what was nothing more than a violent outburst for no reason.”
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DHS and ICE did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
The Charleston Police Department declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment, citing pending litigation. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Judge who fined Trump $500 million gets the book thrown at him on appeal
In New York, a court revealed that a leading citizen had cooked the books by inflating questionable figures without any support in reality. Moreover, his wild overvaluation was widely viewed as motivated by his self-aggrandizement. The final reported figures are so absurdly inflated that they were rejected in their entirety. In the end, he was off by over half a billion dollars.
That man is Judge Arthur Engoron.
After a New York appellate court unanimously threw out Engoron’s absurd half-a-billion-dollar judgment and interest against President Donald Trump, the irony was crushing. It was Engoron who seemed, as he characterized Trump witnesses, as having “simply denied reality.” It made his notorious reliance on an assessment of Mar-a-Lago as worth between $18 million and $27.6 million seem like good accounting.
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In the end, he could not get a single judge to preserve a single dollar of that fine.
For some of us who covered that trial, the most vivid image of Engoron came at the start. He indicated that he did not want cameras in the courtroom, but when the networks showed up, Engoron took off his glasses and seemed to pose for the cameras.
It was a “Sunset Boulevard” moment. We only need Gloria Swanson looking into the camera to speak to “those wonderful people out there in the dark!” and announcing “all right, [Ms. James], I’m ready for my close-up.”
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The close-up was not a good idea, and, on appeal, it was perfectly disastrous. The court found little legal or factual basis for his fine. The purported witnesses not only did not lose a dime, but they testified that they made money on the loans and wanted new loans with the Trump administration. That did not move Engoron. From the start, he was speaking to those “wonderful people out there.”
You did not have to go far. In both the civil and criminal trials of Trump in New York, there was a carnival atmosphere in the street outside the courthouse. It was really not derangement as much as delirium. Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James had injected lawfare directly into the veins of New Yorkers. Pledging in her campaign to bag Trump (without bothering to name any crime or violation), James was elected based on her recreational rather than legal appeal.
Yet, James could not have succeeded if she had not had a judge willing to ignore reality and cook the books on the fines. She needed a partner in lawfare. She needed Engoron.
Even for some anti-Trump commentators, the judgment was impossible to defend, and some acknowledged that they had never seen any case like this one brought in New York.
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Judge David Friedman gave Engoron a close-up that would have made Swanson wince. He detailed how the underlying law “has never been used in the way it is being used in this case – namely, to attack successful, private, commercial transactions, negotiated at arm’s length between highly sophisticated parties fully capable of monitoring and defending their own interests.”
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He accused Engoron of participating in an effort clearly directed by James at “ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business.”
Other judges said that Engoron’s fine was so off-base and engorged that it was an unconstitutional order under the Eighth Amendment, protecting citizens from “cruel and unusual” punishments. So, Engoron not only inflated the figures but shredded the Constitution in his effort to deliver a blow against Trump.
Trump can now appeal the residual parts of the Engoron decision imposing limits on the Trump family doing business in New York. Some of those limits could be moot by the time of any final judgment. Ironically, if Engoron had shown a modicum of restraint, he might have secured a victory. During the trial in New York, I said that he would have been smart to impose a dollar fine and limited injunctive relief. That, however, required a modicum of judicial restraint and judgment.
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Instead, Engoron chose to walk down the stairway into infamy. He was off by half a billion dollars, which could put him in the Bernie Madoff class of judges.
In other words, if he wanted to be remembered on that first day, Arthur Engoron succeeded.
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Rural dairy tragedy claims six lives as officials launch investigation
At least six bodies have been found after a “dairy accident” on the Colorado plains.
Southeast Weld Fire Protection District officials said crews were dispatched to a “confined space” rescue, where the bodies were found on Wednesday.
The Weld County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital the incident does not appear criminal in nature.
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The identities of the victims and preliminary cause of the incident have not yet been released.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials confirmed to Fox News Digital they had received notification.
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“The District extends its sincere condolences to the families of the victims,” the fire protection district wrote in a statement on social media.
Fire officials told Fox News Digital they will not release any additional information about the incident.
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The dairy is located in a rural area near Keenesburg, which is less than 40 miles northeast of Denver.
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The Weld County Coroner’s Office did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
Federal judge blocks Florida from further expansion of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facility
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday blocking Florida from further expanding the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ injunction formalized the temporary halt she had ordered two weeks ago.
Witnesses continued to testify over multiple days in a hearing to determine whether construction of the facility should stop until the case is decided.
Advocates have argued that the expansion of the facility violated environmental laws.
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Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe said that further construction and operations at the facility should be stopped until state and federal officials complied with environmental laws. Their lawsuit argued that the detention center threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that have protected plants and animals and that it would reverse billions of dollars in environmental restoration.
Attorneys for the state and federal governments claimed that the construction and operation of the facility was under the state of Florida despite its use for holding federal detainees, meaning the federal environmental law would not apply.
The judge found that the detention center was at least a joint partnership between the state and federal government.
Williams said she expected the number of detainees in the facility to dip within 60 days through transfers to other facilities, and that fencing, lighting and generators should be removed. She said the state and federal defendants cannot bring anyone other than current detainees at the facility onto the property.
The order does not halt modifications or repairs to existing facilities, which the judge said are “solely for the purpose of increasing safety or mitigating environmental or other risks at the site.”
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The preliminary injunction includes “those who are in active concert or participation with” the state of Florida or federal defendants or their officers, agents or employees, she wrote.
State officials failed to sufficiently explain why the facility needed to be in the middle of the Florida Everglades.
“What is apparent, however, is that in their haste to construct the detention camp, the State did not consider alternative locations,” Williams said.
Florida officials criticized the ruling on Thursday.
“Just this week, a judge in the same district as Judge Williams refused to hear a case because the Southern District of Florida was the improper venue for suits about Alligator Alcatraz,” Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for the Florida attorney general’s office, said in a statement to Fox News. “Once again, she oversteps her authority, and we will appeal this unlawful decision.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the “fix was in” and “we knew this judge was not giving us a fair shake.”
“We totally expected an adverse ruling,” he told Fox News. “And we also knew we were going to immediately appeal and get that decision stayed. So we will ultimately be successful in this. It’s not going to stop our resolve. We’re going to continue to do what we need to do to help the Trump administration remove illegal aliens from our country. You know, that’s the mandate that they have. So we anticipated this, but I don’t think it’s going to be insurmountable in the end.”
President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be used as a model for future facilities across the country to support his efforts to detain and deport migrants.
The detention center was quickly built about two months ago at a single-runway training airport in the middle of the Everglades. It now holds nearly 500 detainees but was designed to eventually hold up to 3,000 in temporary tents.
The facility’s large white tents feature rows of bunkbeds surrounded by chain-link cages. Detainees complained of worms in the food, toilets not flushing, floors flooded with fecal waste and insects everywhere. The air conditioners also sometimes abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat.
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Detainees also reportedly go days without showers or receiving their prescription medicine, and they are only permitted to speak to lawyers and loved ones by phone.
Social media erupts in laughter over former VP’s campaign book tour announcement
Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ announcement she was going on tour to promote her new book was ridiculed on social media Thursday.
The book, “107 Days,” is about Harris’ short, failed 2024 presidential campaign against President Donald Trump.
“107 Days is my candid and personal account of the shortest presidential campaign in modern history. Over the next few months, I will travel our country to share behind-the-scenes moments, lessons learned, and how we keep moving forward together. I’ll see you out there,” Harris wrote in a post on social media.
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The former vice president announced in July that the book would be released Sept. 23.
“I believe there’s value in sharing what I saw, what I learned, and what I know it will take to move forward,” Harris said at the time.
The tour was mocked on social media, with Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., calling it a “nationwide comedy tour.”
Political commentator and Versus Media Podcast host Stephen Miller wrote, “Because if this last election taught us anything it’s that people want to hear more from her.”
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“She’s doing a tour about how she lost? Does her team have 0 self-awareness or do they just hate her?” Abigail Jackson, the White House deputy press secretary, wrote on social media.
She added in another post, “because nothing says kicking off your 2028 campaign like a book tour about how badly you lost the last election.”
Variety’s Daniel D’Addario alluded to Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour with the quip, “the Errors Tour.”
Commentary Magazine editor John Podhoretz asked, “Do you think she’ll have to have a rehearsal for each conversation on a stage set?”
Conservative commentator and co-host of the “Ruthless” podcast, Comfortably Smug, quipped, “I think we have found the last place in fantasy football punishment for this season.”
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Harris appeared on late-night host Stephen Colbert’s show in early August and said she was taking a break from politics, lamenting a broken system.
“Recently, I made the decision that I just — for now, I don’t want to go back in the system. I think it’s broken,” she told Colbert after he asked about her declining a potential gubernatorial run.
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Harris’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Deion Sanders enforces new dress code for all Colorado football players
Deion Sanders’ third season as the head coach of Colorado Buffaloes football comes with a new guideline every player must follow.
“Coach Prime” has set a classroom dress code for his players, and that’s not just referring to time working in the meeting rooms.
Sanders has set a rule that slides, hoodies and headphones are banned from the classroom. But that’s not all.
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Colorado football players also must not sit in the back row of classes. And if the class is online, shirts must be worn, and there is no “walking around” while logged into virtual lectures.
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“If I see you in slides on campus, we’re going to have a problem,” Sanders said in a video posted by his son, Deion Sanders Jr. “If I see you with a hoodie on in class, with headphones on in class, it’s going to be a problem. If I see you sitting in the back of the classroom, it’s going to be a problem.”
Sanders has long been one to preach how he is molding the lives of young men on and off the field, and accountability remains a key pillar of that plan as head coach.
Some college football fans were questioning Sanders about the hoodie comment considering he was wearing one. But others interpreted him to mean he didn’t want players wearing hoods over their heads during class.
Others are enjoying Sanders setting the precedent.
“Deion isn’t just molding these players to be better football players,” one X user wrote. “He’s molding them to be better men. Slides, hoodie w/ headphones just signals laziness. It signals that I am here for football only and going through the motions during class. Come ready on the field and life.”
Another user added, “The best coaches expect excellence in all aspects of life. Great coaches are a gift. Grateful for the ones I had.”
With his new dress code, Sanders is hoping discipline leads to on-field success. The Buffaloes are hoping to improve on their 9-4 record from 2024, though Heisman winner Travis Hunter and Sanders’ son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, are both in the NFL.
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Other key pieces from the 2024 class, including Jimmy Horn Jr., are also finding their way into the NFL.
Two dead after consuming food truck sandwiches as physician shares wider warning
While the weather remains warm, food trucks across the U.S. are thriving – but a deadly outbreak overseas may give consumers pause.
In Italy, two people recently died in a botulism outbreak linked to a food truck, according to The Telegraph. Fourteen others were hospitalized, all in the Calabria region.
The victims, Luigi di Sarno, 52, and Tamara D’Acunto, 45, passed away after eating sandwiches made of sausage and rapini.
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Their deaths raise a question for many: Are food trucks riskier than restaurants?
Dr. Michael Policastro told Fox News Digital that botulism is very rare.
“In the U.S., most cases actually come from home-canned goods or improperly preserved foods – not commercial kitchens,” the Arizona-based doctor said.
“Food trucks work with limited prep space, smaller refrigeration units and intense heat from cooking in tight quarters.”
“I’ve seen occasional reports from overseas involving street vendors, but here, there’s no solid evidence that food trucks are riskier than restaurants.”
That said, Policastro noted that food trucks can pose greater risks if basic safety steps aren’t followed.
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“Food trucks work with limited prep space, smaller refrigeration units and intense heat from cooking in tight quarters,” he said.
“If those factors aren’t managed well, the risk [of] any foodborne illness goes up, including botulism.”
Food trucks also have limited access to water for handwashing compared to brick-and-mortar kitchens, he said.
“Beyond food safety, there are also physical risks – fires, propane issues, even accidents around the truck in crowded areas,” Policastro said.
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He said that botulism typically manifests in home-canned vegetables or meats, along with garlic or vegetables stored in oil.
Other culprits can include baked potatoes wrapped in foil, smoked or fermented fish, certain sausages and cheese sauces, Policastro noted.
He added that botulism can be fatal without treatment and typically shows itself 12 to 36 hours after someone consumes contaminated food.
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“Early on, people might notice weakness, fatigue, blurred vision or trouble speaking and swallowing,” Policastro said.
“Then the muscle weakness can spread from the face and head down to the arms and legs. In severe cases, it reaches the respiratory muscles, and you can’t breathe without help. Some people also have nausea, vomiting or abdominal bloating.”
“A little awareness goes a long way in protecting yourself.”
An antitoxin can halt the spread of nerve damage in botulism patients, but immediate hospital care is still essential, as it cannot reverse damage already done, Policastro said.
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Jennifer Behm-Lazzarini, a “Master Chef” winner and owner of food truck L’Ocean Eats, told Fox News Digital that hygiene starts “with sanitizing the trailer after every use.”
“[That includes] equipment that is inside the station to the truck and all small wares,” she said.
Behm-Lazzarini, who travels across the Northeast with her food truck, said that it’s crucial to keep serving utensils sanitized and to switch out gloves regularly while touching food.
“Equally important is temperature control, maintaining cold, frozen and hot temperatures of products from the time of procurement to the guests’ hands,” she said.
Policastro stressed that botulism, although rare, is serious.
“Most cases aren’t coming from your local food truck, but any kitchen can make someone sick if safety rules aren’t followed,” Policastro said.
“If you suddenly develop neurological symptoms like blurred vision, slurred speech or trouble breathing, don’t wait. Get emergency help. The faster it’s treated, the better the outcome.”
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Policastro also said, “Enjoy that taco or sandwich, but pay attention to how the vendor operates. Are they keeping things clean? Is the refrigeration working? Do they handle food safely? A little awareness goes a long way in protecting yourself.”
‘Don’t ever let that happen again’: Aaron Rodgers confronts linemen after QB hit
Aaron Rodgers has yet to take a snap in a game in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform, but the veteran quarterback is already setting the tone.
During a recent appearance on Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward’s “Not Just Football” podcast, Rodgers spoke about how he reacted to seeing fellow quarterback Skylar Thompson take a hit and get knocked down during the early portion of training camp.
“And one thing, one really important moment, Skylar got knocked down early in camp. And I walked out there like, ‘What the hell just happened?’ I looked back and nobody was walking out there. And I told the line, ‘Don’t you ever let that happen again,’” Rodgers said.
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Rodgers added that he instructed the linemen to serve as “policemen” whenever they take the field.
“I said, ‘We gotta protect each other. And you guys are the policemen out there on the field. You’re the big brothers out there. You protect everybody from DK [Metcalf] to me to whoever’s in there (at) quarterback or whoever’s in there (at) running back. I don’t care if it’s preseason practice, whatever. You gotta protect them.'”
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Rodgers suggested he realized his message resonated with the offensive line after he watched another situation unfold several days later.
“The next time something happened about a week later, Zach [Frazier] was in there. Pat [Freiermuth] was in there,” Rodgers said. “If Zach’s in there, you know Mason [McCormick’s] in there. And then I saw Troy [Fautanu] going in there. And then Spencer [Anderson]. I was like, ‘That’s what it looks like.’ And I’m not talking about instigating fights. I’m just talking about backing your brothers up.”
On Monday, Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones offered details about what he’s experienced having Rodgers as a teammate.
“It’s a love/hate relationship at the same time. Because sometimes he’s playing, but not everybody’s on the same page,” he explained.
Jones also acknowledged the vast NFL experience Rodgers brings and praised the four-time league MVP for having “a good sense of who he is.”
“But it’s also good to have that bond within to have the understanding, ‘OK, he’s a vet. I know everything, let me make sure everybody else is good, and then we carry on with whatever is going on, whatever the situation was.’ Just things like that. But I feel like he has a good sense of who he is and who we’re trying to be and getting us where we’re trying to go.”
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The Steelers play their final preseason game Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers. Rodgers and the Steelers will open their regular season Sept. 7 against his former team, the New York Jets.