Another twist in the Jordon Hudson story, plus some NFL injury news

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While You Were Sleeping: The knife’s edge of preseason football

Before we get to the gossip part of today’s newsletter, NFL football happened last night. Three interesting things from inherently boring preseason games: 

• The Colts’ quarterback battle got somehow more depressing after Anthony Richardson dislocated his pinky early in Indianapolis’ matchup with Baltimore. He left the game, and Colts coach Shane Steichen said he doesn’t know how long Richardson will be out. Daniel Jones, step right up.
• On the other hand, Joe Burrow looked excellent on two consecutive touchdown drives in the Bengals’ game against the Eagles. Cincinnati is playing its starters in the preseason this year to avoid a September swoon. Looks good so far. Scoop City discussed. Watch that here.

Two other injuries to monitor from yesterday: Texans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson avoided an ACL tear after injuring his knee at practice, while Chargers tackle Rashawn Slater will miss the year after tearing his patellar tendon. Tough. 

On to the main event:

Sagas: When Jordon Hudson calls you

There is no story that has baffled me more this year than that of Jordon Hudson, the 24-year-old girlfriend of Bill Belichick, the 73-year-old North Carolina head coach whom most consider the best football coach to ever live. And if you’ve kept up with this story at all (we’ll have a short recap below), you know their age gap is not the interesting part here. 

For all the headlines Hudson has created (mostly negative), she has yet to give an interview in her newfound notoriety. Then she cold-called Charlotte Wilder, co-host of The Athletic’s newest podcast “The Sports Gossip Show,” and embarked on a … fraught negotiation about an exclusive interview. 

Hudson’s intro on the phone call: “It’s Jordon Hudson, the president of your universe.” 

The episode published last night, and I got to chat with Charlotte and her co-host Madeline Hill about it yesterday: 

I would start by thoroughly welcoming you both to The Athletic, but more important things are afoot. Charlotte, I simply need to know what your initial reaction was to getting a cold call from Jordon. 

We’ve been covering the story about Jordon and Bill Belichick for a long time now — so when she called me unexpectedly on a Saturday night at 9:07 p.m., it was as if a poster on my wall climbed out of the frame and started talking to me. She’s been so elusive to the press, and suddenly she was in my ear. It was very surreal.

You both expound on this plenty in yesterday’s episode, but I’d love to hear your thoughts, Madeline, on what this entire saga has been like for your show. 

Our audience has been invested in this saga since back in October when we first started covering it. Attending the Miss Maine USA pageant helped us better understand the power dynamics at play, but we were still missing Jordon’s perspective. Speaking with her was a full-circle moment and allowed us to give our listeners a complete picture of a story that has captivated the sports world and beyond.

I recommend listening to the full episode for some unique insights on Hudson. Some links: 

I have to admit here that the Hudson story has given me the ick, all around, for a while now. What started as an extremely personal story — a coach’s romantic relationship — became this bizarre PR nightmare for one of football’s most famous people. 

Consider just this sampling:

• Belichick asked that Hudson be CC’d on certain emails to his North Carolina email address.
• Hudson nixed a “Hard Knocks” appearance for UNC as quickly as it came together. 
• A blunder on CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” in which she interrupted an interview to bar a question about the pair’s relationship. It pushed this saga past the sports world and into the general interest category. 
• And finally, Pablo Torre’s extensive investigation into her role at UNC, which unearthed even weirder anecdotes about Hudson’s role in Belichick’s life and career. As fate would have it, Torre is joining The Athletic, too. 

For all of the fuss around this couple, what I took from Charlotte and Madeline’s interview is the human aspect — Hudson is clearly still very invested in clarifying her narrative but can’t find the right avenue yet.

I’m excited to see some football played. Maybe UNC will be good. Let’s move on:

News to Know

Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images

Sex-toy incidents possibly linked to crypto scheme
Unfortunately, the week’s WNBA news cycle has been dominated by sex toys being lobbed onto courts around the league, and yesterday brought news that the effort is likely part of a cryptocurrency memecoin campaign, which makes this entire thing lamer than it already was. Shannon Ryan’s column from this week was spot-on: This entire thing is about more than sex toys, it’s about painting the W as a joke. Shame.

Mboko finishes incredible run
Victoria Mboko, just 18, won the Canadian Open last night after beating Naomi Osaka in three sets, making an already-beautiful story somehow more storybook. It’s Mboko’s first-ever WTA win and came in front of her hometown crowd. The story looked finished after a bad first set against Osaka, too, before a thunderous comeback. What a tale.

More news

• Archie Manning said his grandson, Texas QB Arch Manning, will stay at Texas next season and not enter the NFL Draft. Curious.
• Three members of the Mountain West departing for the Pac-12 next year sued the MWC over withheld money and “fraud.” Full story here.
  
• Texas Tech beat Georgia for the No. 2 prospect in the 2027 recruiting class. Georgia native, too.