Category: News

Penei Sewell has been waiting for the 2021 NFL Draft for a long time. As a sophomore at Oregon in 2019, Sewell was voted as the Outland Trophy winner, awarded to the nation’s top offensive lineman, and while he would’ve been a top-10 pick after that performance, he had to wait one more year to be eligible for the Draft. This past season, Sewell opted out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has spent the past eight months focusing solely on getting himself NFL ready.

At 6’5 and 331 pounds, Sewell checks every physical box you want in a tackle, and when you toss his game tape, he pops off the screen with the way he dominated the left side of the Oregon line to protect Justin Herbert’s blindside. With quarterbacks dominating the conversation at the top of the 2021 NFL Draft and him sitting out this past season, Sewell has flown under the radar a bit in terms of buzz on a national scale. He’s fine with that, though, as he’s been putting in the work daily to transform his body, hone his technique, and ensure that he’s ready to step in and make a difference for a team immediately.

Sewell recently sat down with Uproxx over Zoom on behalf of Eastbay, as he’s the star of their “Clocking In” series, which takes fans into a day in the life of Sewell and his various workouts in preparation for his move to the NFL. We talked about how those workouts, having his brother around to push him, trying to balance maintaining weight and strength while maximizing quickness and athleticism, working on technique and using inside hand placement more, what he sees people get wrong most when trying to evaluate offensive line play, and much more.

What has the last year been like for you as you’ve been in draft prep mode now for eight, nine months now? What have you been working on and what has it allowed you to do focusing solely on on yourself and getting yourself to be as ready as you can for the NFL?

Yeah, this past year I’ve had nothing but time, so just like you said, I’ve been really focusing on myself. Coming out here to Proactive [Sports Performance] and working out and also trying to really change my body in a way that I know it’ll benefit me once I have the opportunity to play in the league. So just getting with Ryan Capretta and Andy, just trying to see where my limits are and how far I can take my body composition to a level that I don’t know but I want to experience. So, just been doing that and also been trying to get ready football wise. Trying to get with NFL guys, past NFL players or NFL coaches that’s been in the league and knows what it looks like, trying to build knowledge and collect as much knowledge as possible, so that when it’s my time I’ll be ready. So that I don’t have any hesitation on the field and I can play fast and clear minded and go out and do what I do and have fun while doing it.

When you got there, what was the plan from the beginning? You mentioned you wanted to transform your body, and it’s interesting because when you’re in the season, you’re always just kind of trying to get it from game to game and maintain your health. Having a full year to really just focus on transforming your body, what are the things that you feel like you’ve been able to do that maybe otherwise you wouldn’t have had an opportunity to?

I think almost everything, to be honest. The before and after pictures that they took of me is actually incredible. From my chest to my legs, really everything that I wanted to work on, I’ve accomplished, and it was just from simply just trying to look good. Also to be 331 and try to maintain that weight to whatever that looked like. I wanted to make it look good and make it look to where I can move easily and not look where it’s like a struggle, or it’s like a job to really carry that weight.

Yeah, when you watch your film your movement has always been something that pops, whether it’s in pass pro or in the run game. What is the balance that you have to strike to have the ability to move like that, but also carry the weight and carry the strength that you need to hold up when bigger guys shift out and when you have to deal with some of these big defensive linemen that you’re going to in the NFL?

Yeah, so obviously the weight does help. In certain cases, specifically the run game, you have to have a lot of weight behind you to really create that momentum to really go forward. That’s a lot of weight and force coming out a person. But when you’re talking about pass pro, yes you’re trying to really almost finesse and try to stay in front of the defensive player as much as possible. So a lot of reps have to go into it in the offseason and with the coaches. Every time I have the chance, I’m repping more than I have to, because I know that the way I carry [the weight] is not normal. To be comfortable with it, endless reps are needed, and then to be comfortable to be successful in the blocks.

With this Eastbay “Clocking In” video, watching your episode you take us through a day in your training. What are you hoping that people get to see about you and not just the work you’re putting in but also to learn a little bit about yourself as a person?

Yeah, so this video, I wanted to really share myself just to share my story to really let people into my life and see what it’s like to be me, and what it’s like for the people around me. I just wanted to share that with everybody and wanted to show them that I’m working too. A lot of people think that during this time of sitting out that I may not be doing anything or just kind of be chilling and just waiting for the NFL, but that’s not the case. I wanted to show that I’m out here doing the work. I’m coming in each and every day showing that I want this and this is something that I really love and enjoy. And every day, I want to show that, and also the passion behind this game. I don’t think people understand what the love and passion that I have and how deep this game runs into myself, into my family. So I just wanted to share that with everybody and hope they understand after this video.

You mentioned the family aspect, and you’ve got your brother with you. What does it mean to you to be able to do this with him and just have somebody else pushing you. In the video he says he always wants to do an extra rep than you because you’re gonna be the first round pick, and what is it like having that kind of support with you and somebody to push you like that?

Man, it makes it easier. This process definitely has been easier since we’ve been here. He’s big bro, so he’s been there for the whole process for me, trying to help me trying to — really, again, be a big brother. So having him there throughout the whole time, it was just easy. I could go to him about anything and he also he can come to me, and then also if I’m in need of anything that no one else can offer but a big brother, it’s right there. So having him there has been taking a lot off my plate, and also made me realize how fortunate I am and blessed I am to have him here.

In the video they show you working on some techniques stuff. What have been the focuses for you in terms of your technique as an offensive lineman and the areas that you feel like you’ve been able to improve over this past year?

Yes, exactly. So at times I do love to have my hand on the outside just because it changes it up, it gives the defender a different look, and also gives something new. And, yeah, to have the inside hand too, it just again adds to your toolbox and it makes the defender stays on his toes and not really predict what I’m going to throw at him.

How do you work on scheme versatility? Because obviously you don’t know exactly where you’re going to go in the Draft, so you don’t know exactly what the team that you’re going to be playing is going to be asking you to do necessarily. What are the things you do to make sure that you’re working on being somebody who can play in whatever scheme that you’re drafted into and making sure that you’re comfortable when you get in there?

Honestly, I can say that at the end of the day football so, I mean, they’re all the same thing it’s just a different terminology. So, when I come into a place and wherever I go, I immediately just get into the playbook and go from there. I pick up things pretty fast when it comes to football, just because I’ve been around it my whole life. Like I’ve said to multiple people, the first thing I could ever remember is a football. As a kid I was not drawing pictures, I was drawing football plays. So just, it’s so easy for me to pick up anything football wise just because it’s been my passion, it’s always been in my life that anything that’s taught or anything that’s really explained, it just sticks.

Offensive line play I feel like it’s something that for a lot of people is a foreign concept and they don’t really recognize what’s going on. It’s something that isn’t the first thing that a lot of people look at when watching a game. When you look at Xraft evaluations and what people have said about you, what are the things that you think people get wrong the most when they’re evaluating offensive line play that you look at and go no like actually it’s like this?

[laughs] I mean it could be numerous things. Offensive line play, again, it’s so unique. You’re put into body positions that nobody else on the field is. And so, when it comes down to it, I think it just comes down to technique, ultimately. How your knees are inside your body, again going back to hand placement. Also, eye discipline and really being a student of the game.

Speaking of being student of the game, what’s the film work that you do like and how much do you get into that? Has that been a part of your process this last year of trying to kind of pull things from your own film and also looking ahead at what defenses are doing in the NFL to get ready for what you’ll be facing?

Yeah, every chance I have to really watch some film, I take it. Whether it’s my college years in the past or even the college boys back right now, or I’ve gotten with my agent and he’s given me some NFL access on some of the film in the league. So right now I’ve been watching a lot of NFL tape. In my college years, my routine would be at least three hours before I go to bed and an hour when I wake up in the morning before practice. So, watching film is something that is very important to me, because it creates no hesitation in my mind when I step in between those lines that I know what my job is and I know what I’m doing. So I can go out there and really just play fast and have fun with it and not really be stressful about it.

You played with Justin Herbert and he had a spectacular rookie season down in L.A.

Yeah.

Have you been able to talk to him and other guys that you’ve played with who are now in the NFL about what that transition period is like and how to make sure that you come in and you can have that kind of impact like he did as a rookie.

Yeah, with my teammates I’ve talked to Justin Herbert and Shane Lemieux mostly. Here and there I hit him up. I know they’re busy, they got things going on, but yeah, they give me tips, as I asked what’s the league like. What’s hardest thing to really transition into when you’re in the league, and so on and so forth. So they really have been helpful to me throughout this whole process and I’ve also hitting up other O-linemen, like Jedrick Wills and Mekhi Becton. Those two, I try to hit up and try to really pick their brains too and see what their perspective was on their season.

Is there anything specifically that those two guys have been able to tell you about the difference in playing line in the NFL compared to college and things to be ready for in that aspect?

Yeah, it’s different, obviously everybody knows that day in and day out, you’re going against the best. So physically you just got to be ready and mentally. So it comes down to those two. So getting your body right in the offseason and also getting your mind right in the film room and watching as much film as possible.

Something guys have have told me over the years is that one of the most difficult things in making the transition is you have more time on your hands and you have to learn to self schedule yourself in a new way, as college has more regimented scheduling with classes and everything. What have you learned about that and making sure that you’re staying disciplined over this last year, because you’ve experienced that yourself in making sure that you keep focused and you’re not letting any outside distractions in on what you have to do?

Yeah, so that’s something, again, I had to adjust coming off of my college years and coming into this draft process. All the time that I’ve kind of filled it with is just playing video games. Other than that, if I’m not playing video games with my brothers, I’m either in the film room watching film by myself or with my coaches, or working out, obviously, and then getting PT or some type of recovery. With those things going hand in hand, and also playing video games and also being busy with all this media new stuff — this is so new to me, and it’s been stacking up back to back to back, and also talking to the teams, my time is filled right now. But once I get onto a team I’m going to have to find a new routine so that’ll be another journey that I have to pass.

Lastly, what our team’s telling you that they see from you and anything they’ve pointed out to say, like, ‘we want to see this from you,’ in your conversations with teams as you as you get closer to draft day?

I think it’s same thing of what I was trying to work on and I’ve told you about that, it really comes down to my hand placement. Everybody says my feet are good and that my feet can put me into positions and really put me in a place to be successful when my hands are not position. So, if I could put my hands in position and really lock in on that, it’ll help me a lot when coming into the league and it’ll help me be the player I want to be and go on from there.

Dreamville singer Ari Lennox links up with YouTuber-turned-R&B-ambassador Queen Naija on her latest single, “Set Him Up.” In somewhat of a thematic 180 from her last all-female duet with Jazmine Sullivan, “On It,” Ari and Naija take unfaithful men to task on their unconventional crossover. The track follows a loose storyline of two friends catching up on their racy escapades with their new lovers — only to realize that their new “lovers” are the same man.

This leads to the duo forming a plot to “set him up” with a dinner invite with an extra plus-one. The two share their delight at the prospect of playing out their revenge fantasy, which involves bringing the philandering fiend to his favorite restaurant, only for both women to confront him; “Ooh, girl, I cannot wait to see the look upon his face,” smirks Naija.

The collaboration is the latest in a string of duets featuring Lennox, including the aforementioned “On It” and Lucky Daye’s “Access Denied.” The increasing frequency of releases suggests that Lennox might be working on a follow-up to her fan-favorite 2019 debut album Shea Butter Baby.

Meanwhile, Queen Naija has been prepping the deluxe edition of her debut album, Missunderstood…Still, with an expected release on April 16.

Listen to Ari Lennox and Queen Naija’s “Set Him Up” above.

It’s been four years since Japanese Breakfast released her last album, acclaimed 2017 effort Soft Sounds From Another Planet. But that’s all about to change as vocalist Michelle Zauner officially announced her next album, Jubilee, with the optimistic single “Be Sweet.” Now sharing another preview of the project, Japanese Breakfast debuts “Posed In Bondage” alongside an eerie video.

Directed by Zauner herself, the “Posed In Bondage” video sees the singer covered in blood and arriving at a desolate grocery store in the middle of the night. She stalks each aisle before finding a unique connection with the store clerk, the only other person in sight.

In a statement about the visual, Zauner explained her concept: “‘Posing in Bondage’ is a ballad about loneliness and longing, a song about two people who want so badly to connect but are never quite able to do so. No place felt lonelier than an empty grocery at 1 AM. The video is actually an epilogue to the one that will accompany our next single, here presented out of order.”

Watch Japanese Breakfast’s “Posed In Bondage” video above and check out her Jubilee tour dates below.

08/07 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
09/14 — Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre
09/16 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
09/17 — Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
09/18 — Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
09/19 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave
09/25 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune
09/27 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
09/28 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/01 — San Francisco, CA @ Regency
10/02 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
10/04 — San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
10/08 — Denver, CO @ Ogden
10/09 — Lawrence, KC @ Granada
10/10 — St Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall

Jubilee is out 6/4 via Dead Oceans. Pre-order it here.

Former Fox News host Eric Bolling stormed out of a BBC Newsnight interview on Wednesday night after he was called out for his remarks while debating the controversial Election Integrity Act in Georgia. Bolling argued that corporations like Major League Baseball pulling out of the state in protest would harm Black communities and business, which did not sit well with fellow guest Aisha Mills, who called Republicans and Bolling’s sudden concern for Black Americans “a lie.”

“I am a Black person in America,” Mills told Bolling. “Everything that these voting laws stand for is all about racial discrimination. How dare you try to act like you are somehow a proponent of Black people and businesses just to make a point and try to create a wedge? It’s ignorant and it’s just disrespectful.”

After yelling that Mills’ statement is “not fair” and that “you don’t know me,” Bolling prepared to storm off after the 5:00 mark.

Via Mediaite:

“You know what? That’s disgusting,” Bolling replied. “I’m done. Put me off. That’s disgusting. I am nowhere near anything you are painting me to be, and the problem with America politics is exactly that. Because I’m white, you think I’m racist? That’s BS. I’m done.”

For a moment, it seemed like host Emily Maitlis had calmed Bolling down, and he agreed to stay if Mills apologized. However, she wasn’t backing down from her remarks. “I’m not going to apologize for being offended,” Mills said, which prompted Bolling to walk out of the interview in a huff.

(Via BBC Newsnight on Twitter & Mediaite)

That “blanket pardon” Matt Gaetz definitely didn’t ask Donald Trump for would probably be really good right now. That’s because news broke this morning that Gaetz, who is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paying her in hotel and travel accommodations, might be the subject of seemingly another sex trafficking probe. Investigators are looking into a trip Gaetz took to the Bahamas in late 2018 or early 2019 with marijuana entrepreneur and hand surgeon Jason Pirozzolo. Apparently, Pirozzolo, who seems to have some kind of mutually beneficial friendship with Gaetz, paid for the travel, the accommodations, and female escorts, according to CBS News.

Rumors about politicians and sex workers are nothing new, but the problem for Gaetz is that these escorts may have been illegally trafficked across state lines in order to have sex with the congressman. Worse, now that the Feds are interested in Gaetz’s relationship with Pirozzolo, some questionable behavior is coming to light.

According to CBS News, in July 2018, Pirozzolo made comments on a podcast, suggesting he knew key details of a bill Gaetz was working on to help facilitate more research into medical marijuana. That legislation, the Medical Cannabis Research Act, was introduced in April 2018, and again in January 2019 but failed to pass both times. Gaetz has also spoken at medical marijuana conferences chaired by Pizzolo, using them to hype up his own fundraisers with Pizzolo donating funds to his campaign arm in the process. If it turns out Gaetz was accepting trysts with escorts and trips in exchange for introducing legislation on Pizzolo’s behalf, that would be a federal crime.

Of course, Gaetz’s comms team has denied any and all allegations, calling the probe a “general fishing exercise” and describing Gaetz’s interactions with these women as being “consensual relationships with adults.”

That said, we don’t think this is the last we’ve heard of all this.

The NBA got a pretty feisty fight earlier this week when the Los Angeles Lakers squared off against the Toronto Raptors. OG Anunoby and Dennis Schröder got tangled up, which led to the former picking up and dropping the latter and the two teams exchanging pleasantries. In the aftermath, both Anunoby and Montrezl Harrell were ejected for their roles in the fracas.

On Thursday, the league announced suspensions and fines for the run-in, and funny enough, neither Anunoby or Harrell will miss any time despite being sent to their locker rooms. The league will levy fines to both — Anunoby will be out $30,000, while Harrell’s fine is $20,000.

The suspensions will go to a pair of Raptors and one Laker, all for their decisions to leave the immediate bench area while things were going down. Both DeAndre’ Bembry and Fred VanVleet will miss a game, while Talen Horton-Tucker will be sidelined for one tilt involving the Lakers. According to the league, both Bembry and Horton-Tucker will serve their suspensions right away — Bembry will miss Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bulls and Horton-Tucker is going to sit out Thursday’s tilt against the Miami Heat. As for VanVleet, who has missed two games in a row (including the one against the Lakers) with a hip injury, he’ll sit out the next game he’s eligible to play.

Ahead of her controversial “Back the Blue” speaking appearance at Clemson University on Thursday night, conservative commentator Tomi Lahren appeared on the Hollywood Raw podcast to discuss her relationship — or lack thereof — with Jay Cutler.

The smokin’ former-NFL quarterback, who apathetically tossed bombs for the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, and Miami Dolphins during his 12 season career, was romantically linked with Lahren following his split from ex-wife Kristin Cavallari. They both denied the rumors (“Only lady in my life. Be better internet,” Cutler wrote on Instagram, along with a photo of his beloved cow), but Lahren feels “really bad” for him.

“So Nashville is a very small town. Jay and I happened to be at the same bar. We talked a little bit on Instagram, just completely friendly… But as soon as someone sees you with somebody, and especially if you’re me, you’re going to catch flack for it,” Lahren told the podcast hosts. She alerted Cutler about the reports the day they came out, unlike Madison LeCroy, a star of Bravo’s Southern Charm, who chose to “[put] the receipts out there,” as Lahren said. “I’m like, ‘Girl, really, would you really do that?’ I thought that was so cheap, and stupid, and embarrassing. So, I feel really bad for the guy.”

Unlike a generation of Bears and Broncos fans, who feel “really bad” because of Cutler.

It’s been a few months since Julien Baker released her radically honest third album Little Oblivions. Like most musicians this past year, Baker marked the release by sharing her music on various late-night performances. But since the vaccine rollout continues to ramp up across the US, the singer officially unveiled an extensive 2021 and 2022 tour. Celebrating her tour announcement, Baker brought her track “Favor” to a moving performance on The Late Late Show With James Corden.

Ahead of her set, Baker told Corden that she’s beyond excited to get back on the road for the first time in over a year. “It is indescribable to say how much I am looking forward to playing some shows in front of a real live audience,” she said. “What I am looking forward to most is the electricity that happens in a live setting. So I’m just happy to get to perform in front of people and have that back-and-forth again.”

Previously speaking about the album, Baker said it was difficult not to have her music reflect a certain cynical outlook she has recently adopted about the world:

“I’ve been thinking a lot about how this record isn’t as positive, or that I didn’t try so hard to have a thesis statement at the end of it that was about something good and meaningful and redemptive. And I’m afraid that the attitude that’s become more prevalent, especially over 2020, is that people are relating and bonding over cynicism. Like what we just did, I feel like that’s the conversation that makes people immediately accessible to each other.

When I go into a coffee shop and they’re like, ‘How are you,’ and I’m like, ‘Good, except for…’ You know, and that’s how people bond about things being sh*t. I don’t know if that’s good or bad; I think it’s good, to be honest about it in my own life, but I don’t want to be cynical.”

Watch Baker perform “Favor” on The Late Late Show With James Corden above.

Little Oblivions is out now via Matador. Get it here.

Shelley — FKA DRAM — has a new album dropping in April, his first in over four years. Since then, he’s gone through a musical reinvention, a physical transformation, and a couple of name changes, but the biggest change to his life was the passing of his mother last year. The duo was close; in 2017, they released a holiday EP together, dueting on the Christmas classics “Silver Bells.” According to Shelley, she’s also the reason for his upcoming album’s release date, April 29.

Posting a photo of the pair on Instagram, Shelley explained that he pushed back the release date of his album to his mother’s birthday in honor of a favor she did for him before her death. As he expands in the caption, “Before she passed I played her my upcoming album and I begged her to promise she wouldn’t play it for anyone else. She held her promise and took the music with her beyond this life.”

For Shelley, the new release date is his way of paying her back. “Her birthday is April 29th, so I’m pushing my album Shelley FKA DRAM’s release date to April 29th as not only my gift back to her, but my promise to play it for the world.”

To promote the upcoming album, fittingly titled Shelley FKA DRAM, Shelly has presented the rollout in the form of a mock late-night talk show, which provided a smooth framing device for the videos for singles “Exposure” and “Cooking With Grease.”

Shelley FKA DRAM is due 4/29 on Atlantic Records.

Until late 2020, Darkside, the experimental project of musicians Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington, had been silent since finishing a wildly successful tour behind their 2013 album Psychic. But at the end of last year, Jaar and Harrington revitalized the moniker by releasing a live EP of archived audio from a 2014 concert. But that’s not all. Darkside marked their impending return with the brand new single “Liberty Bell” and revealed that a new album, Spiral, was incoming, although they didn’t say much about it at the time.

Now, several months after releasing their lead single, Darkside are following up “Liberty Bell” with a new single and formal album announcement. Their new, hypnotic track “The Limit” officially heralds their upcoming LP Spiral, which will be their first album in 8 years when it releases on July 23.

In a statement about their return, Jaar said Darkside has always been a side project. “From the beginning, Darkside has been our jam band. Something we did on days off. When we reconvened, it was because we really couldn’t wait to jam together again,” he said. Echoing Jaar’s statement, Harrington said, “It felt like it was time again. We do things in this band that we would never do on our own. Darkside is the third being in the room that just kind of occurs when we make music together.”

Listen “The Limit” above and find Darkside’s Spiral album artwork and tracklist below.

1. “Narrow Road”
2. “The Limit”
3. “The Question Is To See It All”
4. “Lawmaker”
5. “I’m The Echo”
6. “Spiral”
7. “Liberty Bell”
8. “Inside Is Out There”
9. “Only Young”

Spiral is out 7/23 via Matador. Pre-order it here.