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It’s very hard to find an expert who isn’t picking the Buffalo Bills to win the Super Bowl this year. It’s a strange spot for Buffalo, a franchise that has so long been defined by its inability to get over the final hump in the quest for the first Lombardi Trophy in its lengthy history, but through two weeks, it’s hard to say they’re anything but the favorites. The Bills started the year by pummeling the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, 31-10, before annihilating 1-seed in the AFC, the Tennessee Titans, on Monday Night Football this week, 41-7.

One of the biggest reasons for the hot start has been Stefon Diggs, who leads the league in receiving touchdowns and is second in receptions and receiving yards to start the year. Diggs played a major role in Buffalo going from a pesky squad in the AFC to one of the best teams in all of football when he joined via a trade ahead of the 2020 campaign, and despite the emergence of other options in the passing game like Gabriel Davis and Dawson Knox, Diggs is the No. 1 option in the high-flying Bills offense.

Uproxx Sports caught up with Diggs one day after he torched the Titans — he caught 12 balls for 148 yards and three scores — to discuss his “cool day at the office,” the Bills’ approach this season, his relationship with Josh Allen, his partnership with Snickers, and much more.

I want to start by asking what do you got going on Snickers?

This is my second year of partnering with Snickers, great people over there. We’re rewarding fans for submitting their rookie mistakes, with two chances to win two Super Bowl tickets to Arizona — everybody knows Super Bowl 57’s in Arizona — and a little bit of post-game action, anticipating some fun after that for the winner. And also, they can win each month, we’re doing a thing where they can win some prizes as far as some sign merch, some gift cards to NFLshop.com, can get your favorite jersey, just by submitting your rookie mistake. So, getting rewarded for doing the wrong thing, it’s a good deal.

I know you were an All-Rookie selection, but when you heard about this, and that fans will be highlighting their rookie mistakes, was there one from your first year in the NFL that you thought of?

No, I didn’t think of anything specific. But I do have a couple of, like, in game, I had some mistakes, I ran a couple wrong routes here and there and some things like that. But I always just sharpen them, bring my guys food and stuff like that. So at least off the field, I was doing the right stuff.

Yeah, so let’s talk ball. There’s one obvious place I got to start, which is how you do feel after last night?

It was alright, it was alright. It was a cool day at the office.

I have a lot of friends who are really big Bills fans, and I was talking to them before the game, and so many of them were more amped up for last night than most games. And they said it’s because after how intense and competitive last year’s game with the Titans was, they really wanted to see you guys win this. Was that the same mentality for you guys, or was it we’re not thinking about last year, we’re focused on what this week is?

It was more so focusing on a week ahead of us. Last year’s [game], it’s hard to hold on to those things, especially because, yeah, we lost, and it was early in the season as well. We had a loss at the end of the season that I probably will say is more something to think about than that.

But it’s also the regular season, you’re trying to stack wins each and every week. So trying to ignore the noise and kind of just focus on, hey, this is a brand new team. We’re a different team than we were last year, coming in with the confidence that everybody is doing their job, doing that one 11, and we’re trying to win, and we’re trying to win in convincing fashion. By that, you got to be consistent, and you got to work hard.

And Von said something interesting after the game, which was “we have an attitude of domination.” What does that mean to you and how you approach games, practice, your day-to-day, whatever else?

You always got to expect to win, and you expect to win because of your preparation. If you prepared the right way, you did everything you were supposed to do in your power, you at least put yourself in the best situation to win. But then from there, you got to take control, you got to put it in your own hands. We’ve got a team full of guys that, if you’re doing your one 11, if you’re winning your one-on0one battle, it’s gonna be some good things happening out there. We got a lot of talent on this team, and part of having a lot of talent is spreading it out and letting guys make plays, getting guys comfortable. Everybody’s just doing their job at this point.

You’re a couple weeks into the season. You have a new offensive coordinator in Ken, but he’s a guy who has been around your team for a while. Has he brought anything new or different? Or did he come in and say “we’re good at what we do, I don’t want to mess with that”?

He was around a team already, he was already a part of this team. It wasn’t like we brought a guy that didn’t know anybody or didn’t have a relationship — I knew Ken already, I knew coach Dorsey, coach Dorsey’s a great guy. We used to talk a little junk when he was in the quarterback room, but I still have the same amount of respect and love for him that I had when he was the quarterback coach. He’s around those quarterbacks and those guys that help you get the ball, so you better be nice to those guys. But now that he’s the OC, I got complete trust in him. He’s over there drawing it up, he’s figuring out ways to do XYZ, and I’m just part of the show now, I’m just trying to be a part of his show now. He’s done pretty well, I know it’s still early, but I’m just happy that we’ve got so much talent that’s being utilized.

What’s it like going out there every day — in practice, games, whatever — with all that talent around you at wide receiver, at tight end, running back, offensive line, and with a quarterback who can get everybody on the ball? Is it just a pure iron sharpens iron attitude among you guys every day?

Every day. I feel like every day, it’s a competition level not only with yourself, but the people next to you. I refuse to let anybody slack, you just see these guys how hard they work me, I’m like, “y’all won’t catch me slacking, because one thing about being accountable, the only way I can hold you accountable is because I hold myself accountable.” It’s more like an everyday grind, and we know what we got to do, we gotta go. [Jordan Poyer] always come, to me with before warmups and is like, Stef, we gotta go, we gotta. He screams it at the top of his lungs, we gotta go. And I’m like, you’re damn right.

And on that quarterback specifically, I don’t know if there is another quarterback and wide receiver duo in the league I like watching more than you two, because there’s just so much joy.

Yeah.

Was that a day one thing and what is about the two of you, both on and off the field, that has made that relationship so strong?

It was for sure a day one thing. I get attribute it to God, especially, just aligning where I am in my life now and in the past. He makes no mistakes, and meeting a guy like that, bro, I never want to be without this guy. He’s good in my book. I love him as a brother, I’m always pulling for him, he’s a hell of a talent, and everybody gets to see it. That’s my guy, man.

You joined the Bills right before Josh had his monster, breakout year, what is the area where you’ve seen the most growth from him from that first day?

Him being mature, him making good decisions consistently. Him making plays was already in his DNA, I think he sharpened up his arm a lot, too, like I’d be trying to tell him, “man, you got to take a little bit off that throw, you’re throwing it too hard.” He has just that special talent that, some things you can coach and then some things you can’t. And I think he has that talent that you’ll just be like this, “let me just sit back and watch him.” And I can’t sit back and watch, I gotta try to get open, but sometimes, I get caught up in like, damn, that’s a good quarterback.

I could ask about so many different guys, but the one I want to ask about, didn’t play last night, is Gabe Davis. Like I said, I know a ton of Bills fans, everyone loved him and then the nation learned about him with that game against the Chiefs. What is it about him that makes him so dangerous next to you, Josh, Dawson, Devin, everyone else in that offense?

He meshes well. He does everything, he blocks extremely well, he works extremely hard, he gets a lot of passes in, he has great hands, he’s a big receiver. He’s one of those guys that, look, you better look out for him, you gotta watch out for him. He got nicked up in these past couple of days, but he’s a guy, I guarantee, if this was a playoff game, he would have been out there. It was a regular season game, they probably held him back a little bit just as a precaution because we need him. I feel like that’s a guy that we need. I know I anticipate him being back this upcoming week, but that’s like little bro, and little bro’s coming into his own. I told him last night, look, you ain’t playin’ now, some of those balls, I gotta get a couple, steal ’em while I can. And he just said, bro, I got you, I’ll be back soon, so, I look forward to your return.

I’m fascinated in the Bills Super Bowl talk and whether that’s something you guys hear. Is that something you pay attention to, do you ignore it? What goes through your head when everyone on ESPN says “I think the Bills are winning the Super Bowl”?

People talk about it more than we talk about it, 100 percent. That’s the last thing that … I don’t bring it up in conversation, like, “damn, we’re gonna win a Super Bowl, I’m gonna win a Super Bowl.” Nah, that’s not in front of mind, front of my mind is what I’m doing this week and everything that’s in front of me. Don’t play with any food that’s in front of you, and your next meal will be your next meal, but worrying about the future too far ahead? Live in the present, be present, and embrace the present, right now is where we are. We can’t control where we’re gonna be, but we can control how we’re gonna get there, and the type of effort and the amount of effort we put in.

A colleague of mine spoke to Trevon recently and he said “I can ask him about stuff about receivers, and he can ask me stuff about corners or whatever looks or things we see.” What are the sorts of things that you get out of talking to your brother who plays the position on the field that is designed to stop you?

I’m asking him what is he looking at, like, when you see this right here, tell me what are you looking at? Tell me what routes you like. He knows that I can run any route in the book, but what do you like, what do you know? So like, I’ll give him that, and then with receivers, I’ll always give him body language, lean, fast guys — if he ain’t that fast, he gonna have to show you that he’s fast. Initially, guys can run by you, but it’s not that many blazers, everybody pretty much run the same speed. So, I just tried to give him the little things and the minor details, because corner is detail oriented. Somebody like me, I play a little bit unorthodox, I play with a different split, I play with a different route, I just do things differently so people don’t catch a bid on what I like to do. But for him, a receiver gotta run those routes, he got to be at the same depth, he got to be able to leverage everybody else. I think I got a little bit more freedom, so I try to give him the stuff for the vanilla guys so you can get you some.

And last one: 3-0 Terps vs. 3-0 Michigan this week. What do you think’s gonna happen?

It’s gonna be an exciting time. Michigan is a hell of a football team, but I believe in coach Locks. He got some good things going over there, get those guys the ball. He’s gonna keep making things exciting over there at Maryland.

After bringing the box office back to life with last year’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the little alien love story that could, things have been awfully quiet on the Tom Hardy front. A little too quiet. Turns out, there’s perfectly good (and surprisingly badass) reason for that: Hardy’s been traipsing across England while winning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments.

According to a report in the Teesside News, Hardy showed up unannounced to a tournament over the weekend, much to the surprise of his opponent who had no idea what was happening until the 44-year-old actor came out to fight him.

“I recognised him straightaway. Everyone knows who Tom Hardy is, don’t they?” Danny Appleby told the small town paper. “I was shell-shocked. He said ‘just forget it’s me and do what you would normally do.’”

After gaining his composure, Appleby took on Hardy, which he thought would be an easy fight against a celebrity. Not so much. Via Teesside News:

“He’s a really strong guy,” he continued, “you wouldn’t think it with him being a celebrity. I do okay, I’ve done about six tournaments and I’ve been on the podium in every one. But he’s probably the toughest competitor I’ve had – he certainly lived up to his Bane character, that’s for sure.”

After the match, Hardy reportedly chatted it up with folks and revealed that he actually has family in the area. He’s “genuinely a really nice guy,” Appleby said about Hardy. The actor even posed for the tournament sponsor’s Instagram account where he can be seen holding his win certificate made out to his real name: Edward Hardy.

(Via Teesside News)

Floyd Mayweather’s last non-exhibition boxing match came in 2017, when the former world champion stepped in the ring with UFC legend Conor McGregor and picked up a TKO in the 10th round to move his career record to 50-0. Mayweather has opted to do a handful of exhibition bouts since then, while McGregor’s MMA career has floundered in the years since, with two losses to Dustin Poirier, a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, and a win over Donald Cerrone.

Now, it looks like the pair are going to step into the ring again sometime in 2023. Mayweather spoke to the Daily Mail recently and explained that once he gets past a pair of exhibition bouts, including one on Sept. 25 against Mikuru Asakura, his focus will shift to getting a rematch against McGregor lined up.

“We don’t know if it’s going to be an exhibition or a real fight,” Mayweather said. “But there’s been talks of both. I would prefer an exhibition.”

Mayweather went on to say that his preference is for the fight to be an exhibition, as “I am not into fights where I am going to take any real punishment. So, guys like Conor McGregor and guys that don’t really hit hard such as YouTubers or UFC guys, I don’t really mind colliding with those kinds of individuals but nothing where I am going to put myself in a position where I am going to harm myself or hurt myself.”

The last time the pair stepped into the ring, Mayweather reportedly earned something in the ballpark of $275 million, while McGregor took home $85 million.

In a new clip making the rounds online, Offset spoke to Complex‘s Speedy Morman, and was asked about who his “GOAT” (greatest of all time) rapper would be. His response? None other than Jay-Z.

“I gotta say Hov — all his sh*t is platinum,” Offset said. “So, sometimes the success is the reason why people say he’s the greatest of all time, what he did after Rap. Bro, on Rap, you can’t play with him! You can’t play with him since the beginning of time. He always had the biggest records, he always got the biggest people and did the biggest records, and he still come back and make impactful records, right now.”

“That’s a fact. Some of them more than platinum,” Speedy replies.

“If Jay do a verse right now, everybody wanna hear it to support what the man saying,” Offset continued. “Twelve bars, ’cause it’s not a—then he so up but his flows be so relatable.”

Offset also lists his GOAT interview moment. While Speedy lists his interview with Ray J, Offset lists a tense 2017 red carpet moment featuring Akademiks. “You got to look at act two though, during the interview,” he said.

At that year’s BET Awards, DJ Akademiks found himself in the middle of a feud between his Everyday Struggles cohost Joe Budden and Offset’s group Migos. Things went south after Akademiks pointed out that member Takeoff didn’t have a verse on the trio’s hit song “Bad And Boujee.” Budden walked out of the interview, which only escalated things before security stepped in to stop an altercation.

Watch Offset’s Complex interview responses above.

A week after the murder of PnB Rock in Los Angeles, one of the city’s most prominent native sons addressed his hometown with an urgent message. Roddy Ricch, who was born and bred in Compton, the same notorious LA suburb that gave the world NWA, Kendrick Lamar, and the Williams sisters, posted a rare missive on social media regarding the murder, sharing his thoughts via Instagram Story on Tuesday (Sept 20).

“LA! Usually I try to mind my business and let the world rotate but we gotta do better,” he wrote. “It’s too much senseless violence. Too much opportunity and motivation to take things other people work hard for. It’s too much life to live to take someone else’s away. I love my city but we can’t keep going out like this. Before you know it, it’ll be nobody left to take from or kill. Let’s stay on point stay aware and find better ways to pursue our dreams because this shit turning into ALL NIGHTMARES.”

Roddy’s message is the latest in an ongoing discussion among rap fans that have posited LA as a hotspot of violence against rappers. In the past three years, multiple prominent rappers have been killed in LA, including Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, and Drakeo The Ruler. Of course, nearly every city has seen increased incidents of violence including Young Dolph, Archie Eversole, Trouble, JayDa Youngan, and more. These incidents have been attributed to any number of reasons, from botched strong-arm robberies to gang rivalries.

Unfortunately, what appears to be an epidemic among rappers is again merely a microcosm of larger social ills especially wealth inequality, lack of mental health treatment for Black and Latino communities, and deeply ingrained, toxic notions of masculinity. Equally, unfortunately, LA can appear to be a center point of this violence, because so much of the music industry is based there, meaning that there are more rappers there at any given time to be preyed upon by hungry stick-up kids — as was recently pointed out by PnB Rock himself before his death.

The only permanent solution is to change the environment for the better, addressing the inequalities that leave so many angry and desperate enough to take such extreme measures. Until then, Uncle Ice-T might have the best advice: Tuck in those chains and stay off social media.

Justin Trudeau is in the midst of a royal scandal, and for what some might say are some admittedly nitpicky reasons. On Saturday night, two days before Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, Canada’s prime minister was seen rocking a T-shirt and relaxing with fellow members of the Canadian delegation in London’s Corinthia Hotel. At one point, someone caught Trudeau on camera leaning on a piano and sing-speaking Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the footage has thrown people into a tizzy. And Trevor Noah claimed to totally agree with them.

As The Daily Show host explained on Tuesday night: “People are saying it was disrespectful, and they’re right. You don’t sing a song by Queen when the Queen has died. That’s insulting. You sing Wu-Tang! It was her favorite group!”

Noah admitted that he doesn’t “get why people are so angry about it. Who cares? It’s not like he sang ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’”

You can watch the full clip above, beginning at the :40 mark.

For the record: Trudeau’s team has responded to the criticisms of his behavior.

As the BBC reported, a spokesperson for the PM stated that:

After dinner on Saturday, [the] prime minister joined a small gathering with members of the Canadian delegation, who have come together to pay tribute to the life and service of Her Majesty.

Gregory Charles, a renowned musician from Quebec and Order of Canada recipient, played piano in the hotel lobby which resulted in some members of the delegation including the prime minister joining.

The same spokesperson also reiterated that “the prime minister has taken part in various activities to pay his respects for the Queen,” including marking September 19 as a National Day of Mourning in Canada.

It’s widely known that One Direction (Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne) formed on The X Factor UK, but there has some debate about how the singers were actually grouped together during the show’s tenth season in 2013.

Both Simon Cowell and judge (and Pussycat Dolls member) Nicole Scherzinger have claimed credit for forming 1D. In a 2013 appearance on the group’s 1D Day webcast, Cowell said, “It was my idea [to put you guys together]. It was really weird. I just said, ‘Why don’t we put these guys into a group?’ It took 10 minutes!” In a 2014 interview, Scherzinger said, “I’m happy for their success. I can’t believe I put together the group and then I’m at Walmart buying One Direction bags for my nieces. Like, something is wrong with this picture! […] Where’s my cut? Seriously? I’m a giver, what can I say? I gave the world One Direction.”

Now, though, some recently shared old footage adds merit to Scherzinger’s insistence that she deserves more credit.

In July, The X Factor UK shared previously unreleased video of Cowell, Scherzinger, and Louis Walsh looking over a table of X Factor contestant photos, deciding who should advance in the competition. In the conversation, Scherzinger proposes, “Let’s do an imaginary boy band […] instead of just saying ‘no.’” From there, they look through the photos and eventually settle on the five-piece that would go on to make their mark in the pop world.

Scherzinger discussed the clip in a recent interview with Sherri Shepherd on Sherri, saying, “It’s kind of crazy, Sherri. Honestly, I never thought this footage would see the light of day. I thought Simon burned it [laughs]. And it’s really cool that it came out because what people are actually seeing is me actually putting them together […] and being like, ‘Look, I just came out of a girl group, I know how successful and powerful it can be to be a group, we gotta join forces.’ It’s amazing to think… we didn’t have anything at that time, so I’m super proud that I got to play a small part — or a big part […] They made history, right? To be a small part of history.”

Donald Trump is always fighting with someone — if not multiple people. And right now his biggest beef appears to be with former ally-turned-biggest competitor for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination Ron DeSantis. Like millions of others around the world, Trump is beside himself over the Florida governor’s recent human trafficking prank, where he paid to fly 48 undocumented Venezuelan migrants from San Antonio to the tony island of Martha’s Vineyard.

But, on Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel explained that Trump’s problems with DeSantis’ immigration switcheroo have nothing to do with the inhumanity of it all:

Word is Trump’s upset about that. Not because he cares about the people. He’s upset because he thinks DeSantis stole the idea from him.

Can you imagine being such a despicable creep you’re mad at someone for being a despicable creep sooner than you? It’s like taking credit for being the first guy to put pineapple on pizza.

Kimmel did warn, however, that “this could get ugly.” Then proceeded to out yet another “big idea Ronald took from Donald.” As Kimmel explained, DeSantis is offering supporters who donate at least $37 a DeSantis Gold Card, which Jimmy thinks “sounds awfully similar to the Trump Gold Card, which is accepted every place you don’t want to be.” As Kimmel teased:

I hope Trump doesn’t find out about that because, you know me, the last thing I want to do is start trouble between these two remarkable men. But, man, if somebody stole my idea for selling worthless golden rectangles to imbeciles, I would march right over to the governor’s mansion…

You can watch the full clip above, beginning right around the :50 mark.

Just this week, Chris Pine has missed out two promotional appearances for Don’t Worry Darling, which has been mired in a notably messy publicity tour. First, Pine did not show up for the New York premiere, which he smoothed over by sending a pre-taped video message. A day later, he backed out of an interview for Jimmy Kimmel Live. That last one caused Kimmel to bring in Kathy Griffin as a last-minute replacement, and if Pine was hoping to avoid more Don’t Worry Darling drama, well, that plan backfired.

As soon as Griffin sat down with Kimmel, she immediately blew up Pine’s spot and brought up the now-infamous fiasco over whether or not Harry Styles spit on him at the Venice Film Festival. Via The Daily Beast:

“Let’s not B.S. the audience. I’m here, as usual, because a more famous person fell out.”

“But get this, it was Chris Pine, who Harry Styles spit on!” she continued. “So he doesn’t want to be here and get this one giving him the questions,” Griffin added, referring to Kimmel. “The reason you called me is you know, I’ve been spit on my whole career,” she said, joking that she was even spit on by Harry Styles once: “But I asked him to.”

According to Page Six, Pine had to skip the New York premiere because he’s busy filming in Los Angeles, which makes sense. Granted, Kimmel films in Los Angeles, but there has been an uptick in COVID cases in the area, so perhaps, Pine and his current production are erring on the side of caution. Or Griffin called it, and he doesn’t want to answer questions about Styles spitting on him. Why not both?

(Via The Daily Beast)

Bleu and Nicki Minaj have dropped the visual for their hot collaboration, “Love In The Way.” Directed by Primo, the music video sees Bleu moving through a large house, surrounded by beautiful women dressed in traditional African garb, as he tries to make his way to the one woman he can’t forget, no matter how hard he tries.

Minaj, who opens the song with an intro verse and performs an additional verse on the song’s bridge, is seen wearing a fitting garment bedecked with feathers, as well as lush jewels. Bleu is joined by a group of men wearing traditional markings and vibrant blue suits.

Over the past few years, Bleu has landed some pretty impressive collaborations with artists like Kehlani, 2 Chainz, HER, Big Sean, and more. With “Love In The Way,” the collaboration with Minaj fulfills the prophecy of Bleu collaborating with the Young Money “big three,” as he’s previously teamed up with Drake and Lil Wayne.

In a recent interview with Notion, Bleu revealed that he is hard at work on the follow-up to his 2021 debut album, Moon Boy, but he still feels he has much more he wants to accomplish in his promising career.

“Anything is possible,” Bleu said. “I’m working on new music, very excited about that, but I haven’t even scratched the surface. I’m just getting started. Definitely expect to see more Bleu and Moonboy university! We just getting started.”

Check out the video above.