Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton in a preseason game in August 2017 against the Redskins. (Photo Courtesy: Keith Allison/CC License
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On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills and their fans became huge Bengals fans for a day when Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd on fourth-and-12 that knocked out the Ravens and secured Buffalo’s first playoff berth since 1999.
Suddenly, Bills fans became so thankful to be in the playoffs that they wanted to show their appreciation to Bengals QB Andy Dalton and did so by donating money to Dalton’s foundation.
To all the Bills fans that are donating to my foundation, thank you. We appreciate the support. If you are interested in donating visit https://t.co/9SMNu78Znq
“I think I’m the hottest guy in Buffalo right now,” Dalton said to the media on Monday. “According to my Twitter, I think everybody’s loving us right now. Obviously that’s a crazy fan base, and they’re all pretty excited.”
Dalton shared on his twitter page late Monday Night that they had received over 2500 donors and over $57,000 since the Bengals win.
In the 24 hours since the 1st donation came in, over 2500 donors and just over $57,000 and counting! Last update for the night! I will update tomorrow. We can’t thank y’all enough!
Dalton and the Bengals missed the playoffs in a disappointing season, but Andy can take solace in knowing that many people will be helped on a greater level through his foundation.
“We’re appreciative of that. Obviously they’re helping out a good cause. It’s been pretty fun to see the reaction we’ve gotten,” Dalton said.
Dalton and his wife Jordan formed the foundation after he was drafted by the Bengals in 2011. The foundation “provides support, resources, opportunities and life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children and their families.”
The foundation issued this statement on Monday:
“Buffalo fans are a class act,” it read. “Thank you for showing your appreciation to Andy Dalton by supporting the families we serve. All of your donations will go to our outreach programs. We can do more with your help.”
Jaxon Smith-Njigba in January 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST HOSTED BY ANNABELLE HASSELBECK, FEATURING JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2024 and 2025, and last year led the NFL in receiving yards and was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He had 10 receptions, 153 receiving yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game victory over the Los Angeles Rams and ultimately led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX title.
Today on the podcast, JSN joins Annabelle Hasselbeck to talk about his incredible 2025 season, signing a new four-year extension in March to make him the highest-paid NFL receiver in history, trusting in God’s plan, growing in his faith in Jesus, and believing the best is still yet to come.
BREAKING: Seahawks, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba agree to terms on 4-year, $168.6M extension with $120M guaranteed, making him the highest paid WR in the NFL. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/krdA4gMRVe
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Despite going 13-4 and winning the AFC South a season ago under first-year head coach Liam Coen, the Jacksonville Jaguars have largely flown under the radar in offseason talks about potential Super Bowl contenders. Many experts predict the Jaguars to take a significant step back in 2026-27.
But as Coen enters his second year at the helm, with quarterback Trevor Lawrence returning, he believes his team can not only replicate last season’s success but continue to improve on it. If they do, it will mark the Jaguars’ first back-to-back postseason appearances this century.
“In everything that we do, we are training to say, ‘Anyone, any time, any way,'” Coen said as he addressed his team during the first week of training camp. “We built the standard and the foundation and the way that we want to play the game.”
At 40 years old, Coen is one of the younger head coaches in the NFL, and he’s also a member of the famed Sean McVay coaching tree; Coen learned under the Los Angeles Rams head coach as a position coach for three years (2018-20) and the offensive coordinator for another (2022). In 2024, Coen was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and helped fuel the career renaissance of QB Baker Mayfield. In his first year in Jacksonville last season, he became the NFL’s first rookie head coach to win 13 or more games after his team won four or fewer games the prior season.
During Coen’s coaching journey, he’s established himself as an offensive mastermind and a skilled quarterback developer. He’s also made it known during his time in the spotlight that he’s a follower of Christ.
Coen was a guest on the “Built 4 More” podcast last week with pastor Joby Martin and Denny Thompson, where the coach discussed one of the most difficult experiences of his life and how Christ formed his faith through the trial.
Coen grew up as an only child in Rhode Island, where he was a football fanatic and very close with his mother, Beth. But when Liam was in high school, Beth felt something was off. After numerous appointments, the doctors concluded that she’d contracted Lyme disease. The former marathon runner now struggled to get out of bed each morning. The physical pain was excruciating, and there was little improvement. But the emotional toll grew unbearable.
Four years later, in 2006, Coen was chasing his gridiron dream in college at UMass. He returned home during a school break, and his dad was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. While Coen was at the hospital with him, his mother took her own life.
Coen needed to care for his dad in the immediate aftermath, and then he rushed to return to school and join his team. Suddenly, he was back on a college campus, going to classes and practices like nothing had changed.
“I didn’t probably deal with it right, or well, in that short term,” Coen admitted on the podcast.
But this was different than anything he’d experienced before. The pain of losing his mother in the way he did wasn’t going away.
“Come to find out, 10 years down the road, it creeps up on you when you don’t deal with it,” he said on the podcast. “You don’t process it, you don’t forgive, you don’t have grace. It started to eat at me, and I didn’t know why. I didn’t know what was really happening. I wasn’t feeling right.”
He found people to talk through his traumatic past, and amidst those sessions, Jesus became a frequent topic of conversation. Coen had attended a private Catholic high school and learned many of the rituals, but he had never truly discovered the essence of Christianity.
“I actually began to have a relationship with Jesus Christ,” he said of that time. “And oh my gosh, I started to have more grace, and I started to forgive, and I started to have a little bit more understanding of what she went through and why.”
He had been given new life in Christ.
That new life was only strengthened during his time as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky (2021, 2023) through the ministry of the school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter. There, Coen was introduced to a man who handed him a small but extremely helpful packet about the Bible.
“I didn’t know what Jesus did,” Coen said on the podcast. “I didn’t know what He sacrificed. I didn’t know why He was truly put on this earth.”
Coen’s story of unthinkable pain followed by the power of healing found in Christ is a testimony of God’s goodness that he’s shared with his team and those close to him.
“Once I understood [true faith] and learned and was educated, I felt a different vibe,” he concluded. “I felt a different way of wanting to represent God — Jesus Christ, myself, my family, the way that I carry myself, the grace or honesty that you live life with.
“Perfect? Absolutely not. No question. But I know that it helped me when I actually built a relationship with a Power greater than myself in Jesus Christ.”
find someone who looks at you the way Liam Coen looks at Parker Washington
Now, in the hyper-competitive world of NFL football, with a nation’s eyes soon falling again on his sport, Coen has an opportunity to point others to Christ — the Fountain of true life — both in the 2026-27 season and beyond. Jacksonville’s first preseason game is Aug. 15 in New Orleans.
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST HOSTED BY JASON ROMANO, FEATURING MIKE MACDONALD
Mike Macdonald was named the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks in 2024 and immediately made a big impact, leading the Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2025-26. Prior to becoming the Seahawks head coach, he was a longtime assistant coach with the Baltimore Ravens, Georgia Bulldogs and Michigan Wolverines.
Today on the podcast, Mike Macdonald shares about winning the Super Bowl, developing a culture in Seattle, being outspoken about his faith, and what it means to “run it forward” in 2026.
