KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fifth-year defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton has surged forward this season. He’s started more games (seven) than in the rest of his career combined (three), and he produced one of the Kansas City Chiefs’ season highlights with his fourth-down sack in Las Vegas to punctuate an epic goal-line stand. And he tends to be found in the middle of pivotal scrums, like he was against the Raiders on Friday as Nick Bolton made a game-saving fumble recovery. To understand a bit about how and why, well, consider what might be called the most important play of the season: The alert, instinctive way he came to catch 13-year-old Andy Radzavicz as the boy fell headfirst out of the stands at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Nov. 24. “They say I’m a hero,” Wharton said in an interview with The Kansas City Star, spoken in such a tone as to suggest that he just did what anyone would. But look closely at the start of the viral TikTok video and you see something revealing about both the person and the player – who happened to be looking up because he likes to give his gloves away after games. “His eyes just get kind of big, and he darts over,” Jay Radzavicz, Andy’s father, said Monday in a phone interview with The Star. “We had a good guy in a good position.” ‘A different way to meet him’ In fact, the undrafted free agent out of Missouri S&T made his way to the NFL in large part because of a soul and heart that make him relentless – something coach Andy Reid noted earlier this season when he said “nobody practices harder, nobody works harder than ‘Turk’,” and that persistence has paid off for him. Those traits certainly paid off for the Radzavicz family, now forever grateful to Wharton for what he did to save Andy from a potentially serious injury. As Wharton reflected on the moment in an interview after the Chiefs’ 19-17 victory over the Raiders on Friday, he recalled hearing someone calling his name. Then he felt fear himself as he saw the boy wearing a Bolton No. 32 jersey tumbling from the stands above the Chiefs exit. So he barged through a couple security guards, who had their back to the stands. “I don’t think they knew what I was doing,” Wharton said with a laugh. “So I kind of had to just lay out a little bit and push them (back).” You can’t see any of that in the video that Jay jokingly has likened to the Zapruder film. And you don’t get to see that Wharton asked Andy if he was OK and helped hoist him back into the stands and somehow still had the presence of mind to give Andy his gloves. The football-crazy family that lives near Jacksonville got to express their gratitude more directly on Friday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. As part of another trip spanning the country for NFL and college games, they’d already arranged to be at the game. But through word of mouth, the Chiefs organization discovered they would be attending and arranged pregame field passes and let Wharton know where they’d be. “It was a different way to meet him,” Wharton deadpanned with a smile, “other than when he was falling.” The family gave Wharton a Missouri S&T sweatshirt; Wharton gave them the jersey he wore in Charlotte and signed it in a few different places on the numbers: “To Andy” “Go Chiefs!!!” “TW#98” “Strive for Greatness” “Always put God First” “Love those who love you” Count Andy in the latter group. “He’s my favorite by far now,” Andy said. Holiday roads Jay Radzavicz was raised in upstate New York and had an early fascination with football. Around the time he was in eighth grade, he remembers a family cross-country drive in a Griswold-esque paneled station wagon highlighted by stops in Columbus, Ohio, and Manhattan, Kansas, just so he could stare at the empty stadiums and imagine them on game days. He’d become far more acquainted with the area and grew to be a Chiefs fan when he was a football graduate assistant at Central Missouri State and during his 11 years in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he was a reporter, producer and sports director for KOAM-TV. The imagination and wanderlust for sports stoked in his youth stayed with Jay Radzavicz, who later spent 20 years as a producer with the Golf Channel and now runs his own production company. So traveling for events has been a big part of family life for Jay Radzavicz, his wife, Maureen (LIV Golf’s director of tournament media operations) and their sons Andy and Asher. By Jay’s estimate, Andy probably has been to about 40 NFL games by now, including a number in Jacksonville, and several dozen college games. While the boys have different NFL allegiances (Asher is a Bills guy and secured a glove from Josh Allen on Sunday night), they are aligned when it comes to their favorite college team: Kansas State. In 2020, Andy was elated to get gloves from one of his idols, Deuce Vaughn, after Kansas State’s 69-31 loss to Texas. “Because he’s short (5-foot-5), and I’m short, too,” Andy said. “He inspired me.” (For the record, Andy said he wasn’t sure how tall he is right now but was reminded by his father he was about a foot shorter than the other receivers on his team this fall.) That 2020 game was part of a combo trip to see the Chiefs against the Broncos, one of a number of such travels they set up a couple times a year. Last week, for instance, Jay and the boys flew on Thursday after Thanksgiving dinner and took in the Chiefs game on Friday. Then they drove to Ames, Iowa, for the Kansas State game on Saturday and rather remarkably made the 870-mile drive to Buffalo for the Sunday night game. The boys had hoped to stop to see Notre Dame Stadium and Toledo’s Glass Bowl on the way. But they had to stay on track to get to Wally World, er, Highmark Stadium, on time. ‘You’ve got to root for him’ Andy’s first game at Arrowhead was the 37-31 overtime loss to New England in the 2018 season AFC Championship Game. “I liked the experience,” he said from the airport in Buffalo on Monday, “and I wanted to be a Chiefs fan.” At the time, Wharton had just finished his senior year at Division II Missouri S&T, where he thrived in every way after not attracting any Division I offers coming out of University City High outside St. Louis. Wharton, who studied psychology at the school best known for engineering, was both a dominant player and standout young man there. Andy Ball, then the assistant head coach calling the offense, still raves about Wharton’s tremendous athleticism, phenomenal “motor” and the selfless and deeply caring teammate he was. “He’s such a humble good guy,” said Ball, the school’s head coach since 2022. “If you know him, you’ve got to root for him.” All the more so, or at least all the more so for more people, as Wharton’s career has rebooted after he missed most of the 2022 season with a torn ACL and was working his way back in 2023. And after making that vital postgame play that suddenly made him national news in about every media outlet imaginable. When it happened, Jay was some 30 or so yards away to give Andy room to converge among a group of kids as he so often does to get autographs, a high-five or a glove. (Or baseballs, for that matter: The boys have a bin full from MLB games). By now, Andy knows how to handle himself. But this time, something was different as he went down the stands to “try to meet all the Chiefs players” and leaned in to call out to Wharton and running back Carson Steele: He thought one railing was extending right into another. Only when he leaned his hip into it did he discover they didn’t connect. “I just, like, got off-balance,” Andy said, “and I just toppled over.” It was so sudden he almost didn’t have time to be really scared of what it would have been like to land on his head. For that matter, by the time Wharton was handing him back up he was worrying about something else: whether he was going to be in trouble for falling on the field. It all happened so fast that Jay didn’t really realize the gravity of it until the TikTok video emerged in the next day or so. Next thing you know, it’s featured on “The Pat McAfee Show” and “Today” and “Inside Edition.” “It just kind of snowballed from there,” Jay said. All because a potential tragedy was averted by “a good guy in a good position.”Intuit: Fiscal Q1 Earnings Snapshot
Penn State's James Franklin Eyes Equal Conference Schedules After CFP Bracket RevealIt is pathetic that the GOP, the party of “family values,” is largely dismissing the sexual assault accusation made against Pete Hegseth, the nominee for U.S. secretary of defense. Left in the background by the GOP (and much of the media) is that Hegseth, according to the Associated Press, was divorced from his first wife “ after infidelity by Hegseth, according to court records .” Then, his second wife (with whom he has three kids) “filed for divorce after he had a child with a Fox News producer who is now his wife, according to court records and social media posts by Hegseth,” AP reports. So much for moral leadership. Matt Nousak, Geneva
After a long and winding journey, three-star quarterback Bekkem Kritza finally signed with Penn State. Kritza, the No. 37 quarterback in the country, committed to Penn State on Nov. 11, 2023, as one of the longest-tenured commitments in this 2025 class. As the only quarterback in Penn State’s class as of now, he visited campus 12 times over the years. The QB was Penn State’s 13th signee on signing day Wednesday. At 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds, Kritza hailed from Colorado when he made the commitment to Penn State, but he moved back home to Florida for his senior season and started the year at Miami Central. He lost the starting quarterback job at Miami Central and wound up transferring to Chaminade-Madonna Prep midseason, where he led an upset win over St. Thomas Aquinas in his early October debut. Despite the adversity-filled path to becoming a Lion, things have worked out for Kritza. He’ll be leading Chaminade-Madonna in the state semifinals this weekend against Trinity Christian Academy. He’s a talented thrower of the football who has struggled with accuracy at times, but coach James Franklin was excited to get Kritza officially on this recruiting class. “Once you get on campus, we’ll be there to support you every step of the way,” Franklin said Wednesday. “It’s not always going to be easy. It’ll be challenging. But you’re built for that, and it’s going to be awesome to watch you grow and thrive here under the Penn State umbrella.” All-time Penn State passing leader Sean Clifford, currently with the Green Bay Packers, welcomed Kritza to Happy Valley. “Welcome to the Penn State family,” Clifford said. “Can’t wait to see you become the next great Penn State quarterback.” Penn State signed 26 players Wednesday, including five from WPIAL schools — Imani Christian defensive lineman Dayshaun Burnett, Aliquippa running back Tikey Hayes, North Catholic offensive lineman Brady O’Hara, Latrobe linebacker Alex Tatsch and Central Catholic defensive back Xxavier Thomas. Burnett, a four-star and the No. 11 player in Pennsylvania, is expected to become an edge rusher. Franklin called Hayes, a three-star prospect and the No. 12 player in Pennsylvania, one of the more underappreciated running backs in the country. He is also the nephew of cornerbacks coach/associate head coach Terry Smith, who leads Penn State ’s recruiting efforts in the Pittsburgh area. Originally recruited as a tight end, O’Hara will enroll as an offensive lineman. He’s a three-star and the No. 15 player in Pennsylvania. Tatsch, a four-star recruit and No. 7 player in Pennsylvania, had an injury that limited him to five games this year but is expected to be a big part of the future linebacking corps. Thomas visited Penn State 17 times and never went anywhere else in the process, according to On3. He’s ranked as a three-star prospect and the No. 14 player in Pennsylvania. Another notable signing was LaVar Arrington II, the son of “Linebacker U” legend LaVar Arrington. He is a four-star linebacker from Charter Oak High School (Calif.). Arrington is ranked as high as the No. 9 linebacker and the No. 127 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle, according to 247 Sports. The elder Arrington was a two-time first-team All-American who racked up 173 tackles, 39 tackles for loss and 19 sacks in his Penn State career. Arrington was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2022. Penn State signed 23 recruits who were rated four stars or higher by 247Sports, On3, ESPN or Rivals. The class has players from 10 different states. There are 13 offensive players and 13 defensive players.I really like Jacob Rees-Mogg. And his wife. And his children. I don’t just mean they are polite, though they are and that is pleasant in itself. I mean I actually like them. And today seems like a good day to say so. Throughout the year it proves necessary to disagree with people all the time. I try not to be disobliging or rude when I do so, but I am, I accept, sometimes astringent. So on Christmas Day I thought I would try to find something generous to say about people with whom I diverged over the last year. I don’t, of course, mean Bashar al-Assad. He can appear in George Galloway’s generous Christmas column. And come to think about it, I won’t beMorkel backs young pace attack to learn from Adelaide outing
O n Tuesday a letter will land on the desk of every cabinet minister from Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, announcing the start of the public spending review, which will decide precisely how the government spends taxpayers’ money for the next two years. It will demand three things: first, that ministers spend money on things the public actually cares about to demonstrate they are on the side of voters. Second, that they tackle waste. Every department will be told they need to find 5 per cent savings from waste and inefficiencies. Third, that they reform public services to make them more productive and get better value for money for the taxpayer. “We cannot keep paying more for poor performance,” Jones writes. This is the next step in Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to focus on the priorities of his government after he unveiled his six “milestones” last week, giving concrete targets that he aims to hit before the next election. But the exercise is about more than just improving the way government functions — it is ground zero in a battle to convince already sceptical voters that Labour is any more capable of improving their lives than the Tories were.
After Hunter, Joe Biden is discussing pre-emptive pardons for several current and ex-public officials who Trump can target; here are the names on the listThis report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here . Syria's Assad regime collapses after 50 years Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has reportedly fled to Russia after a rebel advance over the weekend reached the capital city of Damascus, putting an end to 50 years of the Assad's family rule over Syria. Russian state news agencies, Tass and RIA, cited an unidentified Kremlin source on Assad and his family being given asylum in the country. South Korea's president survives impeachment vote South Korean president Yoon Seok Yeol has survived an impeachment vote over the weekend after his ruling People's Power Party boycotted the vote. The impeachment motion saw all 192 opposition lawmakers in favour of impeaching the president, but failed to clear the bar of 200 votes needed after only three PPP members voted for the motion. Court upholds law ordering TikTok sale in U.S. A federal appeals court upheld a law requiring China-based ByteDance to sell social media app TikTok next month or face an effective ban in the U.S. The court in an unanimous ruling rejected TikTok's argument that the law is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans who use the app . TikTok said that it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court decision. S&P and Nasdaq reach new records On Friday, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose to fresh records after November jobs data fueled hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut rates after its meeting ends on Dec. 18 stateside. The S&P climbed 0.25% to 6,090.27, while the Nasdaq advanced 0.81% to 19,859.77. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.28%, to close at 44,642.52. [PRO] Chinese EV markets to benefit in 2025 Traditional foreign automakers were shown the exit on China's car market in 2024, which means that 2025 looks to be the year that a few local electric car companies can solidify their leadership in the world's second largest economy. A quote commonly attributed to Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin goes, "There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen." While it is difficult, absurd even, to suggest that nothing has happened in the past few decades, a lot has certainly happened in the last two weeks. Over the weekend, Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad reportedly fled to Russia, ending 50 years of the Assad's family rule, South Korea's president survived an impeachment vote after declaring the first instance of martial law in over 40 years, and last week, France's government collapsed after a no-confidence vote, the first time that has happened in France in over 60 years. Could the political turmoil could cast a shadow over the typical year-end rally for markets, where markets usually climb? To be honest, it is difficult to say. On one hand, the effects of these political developments are not yet fully known and will cause uncertainty, but on the other hand, U.S. economic data seems to be supporting the case for a rise in markets. Traders expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to be the market's Santa Claus this year. According to the CME Fedwatch tool , there is an 85% chance that the Fed will enact a 25 basis points cut next week, which is likely to send markets higher. However, many other clouds also loom over the horizon heading into 2025, not least of all, the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. In short, 2024 may be coming to an end, but it seems determined to go out swinging in the last three weeks.
Police say searchers don’t expect to find woman in Pennsylvania sinkhole alive UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — The search for a woman who is believed to have fallen into a sinkhole in western Pennsylvania has become a recovery effort after two treacherous days of digging through mud and rock produced no signs of life. Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson Trooper Steve Limani said during a news conference Wednesday that authorities no longer believe they will find 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard alive, but that the search for her remains continues. Limani says crews have seen "no signs of any form of life or anything.” Pollard was last seen alive Monday evening when she went out looking for her cat in the village of Marguerite, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. WWE is seeking a bigger stage and Netflix, pushing for more live events, is providing it WWE will perform on a stage next month that could be vastly larger than its current home on cable television when it makes its “Raw” debut on Netflix. The sports entertainment company is moving to a platform with about 283 million subscribers worldwide as it departs its current home on the USA Network, which averaged 688,000 viewers in prime-time last year, according to the Nielsen company. For Netflix, onboarding the WWE is part of strategic move to air more live events on the heels of a hugely successful fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul that was viewed by more than 60 million people. Michigan court upholds light sentence for woman who killed dad in dispute over ride DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has declined to overturn a light jail sentence for a young woman who killed her father by burning him with a dangerous powder. Prosecutors said Megan Imirowicz was upset when her father couldn’t drive her to a hair appointment before her 18th birthday party. Imirowicz was sentenced to only a year in jail in 2023. She actually spent more than a year in custody because she was locked up before trial and while awaiting her punishment in suburban Detroit. Sumo wrestlers bring 1,500 years of tradition to London as the sport has an international moment LONDON (AP) — London’s Royal Albert Hall is preparing to host a different kind of spectacle: Sumo wrestling. Wrestlers put on an exhibition of heavyweight grappling to promote a tournament scheduled for next October. It marks only the second time an elite five-day tournament will be held outside Japan. The first was held in 1991 at the same venue. Organizers are hoping to whip up the kind of excitement that was generated three decades ago, when the deeply ritualistic sport attracted sell-out crowds and a national television audience. The end of an Eras tour approaches, marking a bittersweet moment for Taylor Swift fans NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to an end after the popstar performed more than 150 shows across five continents over nearly two years. Since launching the tour in 2023, Swift has shattered sales and attendance records. It's even created such an economic boom that the Federal Reserve took note. But for many who attended the concerts, and the millions more who eagerly watched on their screens, the tour also became a beacon of joy. It's become a chance not only to appreciate Swift’s expansive music career, but also celebrate the yearslong journey fans have taken with her. Jury revisits key videos in NYC subway chokehold death trial NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors have asked to review police and bystander video at the heart of the New York City chokehold manslaughter case against Daniel Penny. The request came during a second day of deliberations Wednesday. The anonymous jury also asked to rehear part of a city medical examiner’s testimony. The request included testimony about her decision to issue a death certificate without getting toxicology test results for Jordan Neely. He was the agitated subway rider whom Penny held him around the neck for roughly six minutes. Penny has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Prosecutors say he recklessly killed Neely. Penny's defense maintains he was justified in acting to protect fellow subway riders from Neely. Relatives hunt for the missing after Guinea stadium crush amid fears official death toll is too low CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Kambaly Kouroumah was searching a local morgue for his teenage brother, Adama, who died after chaos erupted at a soccer game in southern Guinea’s Nzerekore city. Adama, 15, was among 56 people that officials said were killed in Sunday's crush, although rights groups reported a death toll nearly three times higher. Local media, rights groups and witnesses say security forces used tear gas to respond after fans began to throw stones to protest a referee's decision during the soccer game that was organized in honor of Guinea's junta leader, Col. Mamadi Doumbouya. Many of the dead were crushed as they tried to escape through the stadium gates, videos showed. Power shortages in Ecuador are melting away the future of a small town’s ice-cream industry SALCEDO, Ecuador (AP) — Ice-cream production in this quiet Ecuadorian town began in the mid-20th century in a convent for Franciscan nuns. The nuns sold their creamy popsicles in town to gather funds for the poor. But the people of Salcedo saw a business opportunity and began experimenting with new flavors and techniques, establishing a thriving popsicle industry that has made their small town famous among ice-cream lovers. But now, the South American nation is struggling with a relentless wave of power cuts that threaten the future of Salcedo’s ice-cream industry, melting away its dreams of a more prosperous future. Senegalese artisans in the spotlight as they exhibit for the first time at a prestigious art event DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — For the artistic and cultural elites of the West African nation of Senegal, the monthlong Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Arts is a celebratory moment. But it wasn’t until this year that the local artisans in the Soumbedioune crafts market, just off the Corniche and at the doorstep on the Medina working-class neighborhood, realized what the Biennale was. Craftsmanship is deeply rooted in the country’s culture, but its role has declined in recent years. As living costs rise, many Senegalese opt for cheaper, Chinese-imported products. And those that can afford it buy Western clothes and furniture to mark their social status. Eminem's mother Debbie Nelson, whose rocky relationship fueled the rapper's lyrics, dies at age 69 Debbie Nelson, the mother of rapper Eminem whose rocky relationship with her son was known widely through his song lyrics, has died. She was 69. Eminem’s longtime representative Dennis Dennehy confirmed Nelson’s death in an email on Tuesday. He did not provide a cause of death, although Nelson had battled lung cancer. Nelson’s fraught relationship with her son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been no secret since the Detroit rapper became a star. Nelson brought and settled two defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements about her in magazines and on radio talk shows. In her 2008 book, “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem,” she attempted to set the record straight.
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She once admitted her own Insta weakness. Now she’s banning social media for kids