Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy firmly backed Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s decision to ban Macklemore from Gillette Stadium, telling the rapper to take his political activism somewhere else.
Kraft’s decision helped get Macklemore kicked off Ed Sheeran’s U.S. “Loop Tour” after the Patriots owner cited the rapper’s history of antisemitic controversies.
“I back Robert Kraft banning Macklemore from performing at Gillette 1000% and thank him for having a spine when many others in his shoes don’t,” Portnoy said in a video posted to X.
MACKLEMORE DOUBLES DOWN AFTER GETTING KICKED OFF ED SHEERAN TOUR AFTER PRO-PALESTINE STANCE
“Macklemore, who is turning this into a political rally, you’re going to come into Bob Kraft’s house and spit in his face? No f—— way!” Portnoy said. “That’s not censorship. This ain’t freedom of speech, homie. He owns the stadium! It’s his house.”
He added: “Would you have a party and invite someone over who is going to spew what you consider hatred? If I go to the Ed Sheeran concert, I don’t want to hear a ‘Free Palestine’ rant from a guy who isn’t being genuine about it all. I didn’t pay to hear Macklemore give me a political speech, I paid to hear Ed Sheeran sing.”
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Portnoy spotlighted Macklemore’s antisemitic past.
“Bob Kraft, I am sure, did what I did when I saw this, he researched Macklemore,” Portnoy said. “It didn’t take long to learn that Macklemore has a pretty shady past. He already, at a prior concert, dressed in wildly antisemitic tropes.”
Portnoy was referring to a 2014 Seattle performance in which Macklemore wore a dark suit, fake beard and prosthetic nose, drawing criticism for invoking antisemitic Jewish caricatures. Macklemore later apologized.
During Sheeran’s Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 shows at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore led anti-Israel chants, projected Gaza war imagery and performed “Hind’s Hall.”
Several venues reportedly told the tour promoter they would not host shows if Macklemore remained on the lineup. Kraft refused to host him at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and the promoter ultimately removed him from the remaining dates.
Macklemore later accused Kraft of coordinating a stadium boycott against him. He pledged his $1 million in tour earnings to Palestinian aid and challenged Kraft to match the donation.
In a statement released through Gillette Stadium, Kraft said Sheeran had contacted him privately before Macklemore’s public challenge. Sheeran asked Kraft to support a $2 million humanitarian donation, and Kraft said he agreed to support relief efforts in the region.
Kraft also cited Macklemore’s history of antisemitic tropes and his failure to acknowledge the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people.
PINK HITS BACK AMID BACKLASH FOR CRITICIZING MACKLEMORE’S PRO-PALESTINIAN CONCERT REMARKS
After Macklemore was dropped, opening acts including Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga pulled out of the remaining tour dates in protest.
Portnoy slammed the musicians who abandoned Sheeran’s tour, accusing them of hypocrisy and putting political posturing ahead of their commitment to fans.
“I feel bad for Ed Sheeran; his band quit, saying, ‘This is censorship, Free Palestine!’ That guy, Finneas, the brother of Billie Eilish, f—— hypocrites; they backed out,” Portnoy said.
Portnoy closed by insisting that defending Kraft required more than a token show of support.
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“I don’t stand with Bob Kraft 5 percent, 10 percent,” Portnoy said. “I stand with Bob Kraft 110 percent. More Jews have to speak out. That’s why I am making this video, because it’s really easy for everyone just to pile on right now, but I have his back a hundred million percent.”

Collins suffered the hamstring injury during yesterday’s practice and immediately met with doctors. The team doesn’t believe the issue is serious, but that’s a cold comfort for a player with an extensive history of soft tissue injuries. Kayshon Boutte and Xavier Hutchinson will take on every-down roles if Collins misses Week 2. Neither player would push past the WR4 fantasy ranks. Second-year wideout Jaylin Noel would also see more work, though the team has been reluctant to play him much so far.
Collins popped up on the Texans’ injury report as a limited practice participant Wednesday. It’s unclear if Collins injured it during Week 1 or during practice, but soft tissue injuries tend to pop up as players ease back into the swing of the season. Collins has a history of hamstring issues and is undergoing testing for the severity of the latest injury. With Jayden Higgins (ACL) out for the season, the Texans will need Kayshon Boutte to step up fast in a banged-up pass-catching group. Also limited was EDGE Will Anderson, though there should be no concerns there as he was listed for rest. Fantasy managers should monitor practice reports later in the week to get a better idea of Collins’ health.
Collins remains the easy target leader for the Texans but they continue to rest him often — he played just 57-of-79 snaps. The touchdown strike was a post over the middle in the red zone that C.J. Stroud dotted in the only spot it could be placed. Collins adjusted to catch it. He’ll be a low-end WR1 against the Bengals in Week 2.
The new deal guarantees his contract for the next two seasons while also adding an additional $9 million in 2026 and $8 million in 2027. The contract will still expire entering the 2028 season, with the veteran alpha also recently stating that he would like to play the entirety of his career in Houston. Agents Drew and Jason Rosenhaus negotiated the amendment and are likely to get back to the negotiating table entering the 2027 season.
Collins, 27, signed a three-year, $75 million extension through 2027 back in 2024. As things currently stand, he is the 18th-highest paid wide receiver in terms of average annual value. NBC Sports Houston’s Aaron Wilson believes the team could restructure the deal for salary cap purposes, but Collins “is also likely due for a raise at some point and additional years on his contract.” He adds that the Texans could choose to address those issues “this year or before next season.” Per Over The Cap, the Texans have more than $19.3 million in salary cap space this year, but just over $1.6 million next year. Figuring out a new deal with a hefty signing bonus could free up cash for next season.
He then added, “Whoever reported it or whatever information that they had… they can take it and shove it.” Okay then. There were reports of teams calling the Texans about Collins ahead of the draft, but Houston was never going to deal their top wideout, and Caserio more than confirmed that as fact. The rumors stemmed from the idea that Collins, currently on a contract worth $24.25 million per year, should rightfully be searching for a pay raise. He is currently the 18th-highest paid wideout. Collins is under contract for two more seasons. He will likely get a multi-year extension next offseason, though Caserio could work out a deal even sooner to keep his superstar happy. Either way, Collins is locked in as a low-end WR1 for fantasy purposes in 2026.
Collins, who sustained a head injury in the Wild Card round against the Steelers, did not practice this week and was ruled out on Friday. It’s a massive blow to the Houston offense. Christian Kirk, who had 144 yards and a score last week against Pittsburgh, will profile as the team’s top receiver with Collins out. Brown tried to play but was unable to fight through an ankle injury.
Collins was unable to practice throughout the week. Texans slot WR Christian Kirk operated as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver last week, and is likely the best bet to do so again against the Patriots. It is an unfortunate development for Collins, who also missed his team’s Week 8 game against the 49ers due to concussion. Texans rookie WRs, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, have a chance to rise to the occasion.
The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan M. Alexander believes Collins is “a long shot” to play on Sunday against the Patriots, given “the steps he must clear.” Unfortunately, he might be right. Collins still has time to advance through the NFL’s five-phase concussion protocol, but another absence at tomorrow’s practice would be discouraging. Veteran slot WR Christian Kirk stepped up last week, catching 8-of-9 targets for 144 yards and one touchdown in the Texans’ Wild Card win over the Steelers. We expect him to operate as the team’s top target earner if Collins cannot play.

UN human rights experts say there are reasonable grounds to believe the US committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran that killed at least 177 civilians.
A new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said February’s missile strikes on a primary school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd constituted indiscriminate attacks causing civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure.
There was no immediate comment from the US. It has previously denied striking Lamerd and said it is investigating what happened in Minab.
The experts also found Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during a crackdown on mass anti-government protests in January.
They said killings by security forces occurred on “a staggering and unprecedented scale” across all 31 provinces.
Iran has also not yet commented on the findings, but it has previously rejected allegations of systematic violations of human rights.
“Civilians in Iran are caught between gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by their own government and the nation’s deadly conflict with the United States and Israel,” the fact-finding mission warned in a statement on Thursday.
For their latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, the mission’s three independent experts investigated two of the deadliest attacks on civilians during the conflict.
On 28 February, when the US and Israel launched their war against Iran, Tomahawk missiles struck Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the southern town of Minab, killing at least 156 people, including 120 children, according to local authorities.
The fact-finding mission’s experts said the school was adjacent to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval complex also attacked that day, but that the school was clearly identifiable and that no information indicated that it was used for military purposes.
The experts said that, based on the evidence gathered – including media reports indicating that a preliminary US military inquiry found US forces responsible, and the fact that the US is the only party to the conflict that possesses Tomahawk missiles – they had reasonable grounds to believe that the strike on the school was carried out by the US.
They also concluded that the school was “the intended point of impact and that the damage did not result from an errant strike or collateral damage” from the attack on the IRGC complex, citing survivors as saying the school was struck twice.
The US military has yet to release the findings of its investigation into the Minab strike, but Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said it would “never target civilian targets”.
Also on 28 February, Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) dispersed clouds of tungsten pellets over a sports complex and residential area in the town of Lamerd, killing at least 21 civilians, including seven children, according to local authorities.
Again, the fact-finding mission’s experts said the sports complex was clearly identifiable and that no information indicated it was used for military purposes.
They concluded by saying there were reasonable grounds to believe that the strike was carried out by the US, citing evidence including the fact that the US is the only party to the conflict that possesses PrSM missiles.
The US military has said it carried no strikes on Lamerd that day and disputed reports identifying the weapon used as a PrSM.
In both incidents, the fact-finding mission’s experts said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the US committed the war crime of launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects”.
The fact-finding mission’s report also covers the Iranian authorities’ violent repression of the mass protests that took place across Iran in December 2025 and January 2026.
The experts said it was an unprecedented escalation from past crackdowns, marked by the widespread use of lethal force resulting in mass killings and injuries, and extensive arrests.
They cited witnesses, health workers and victims’ families as saying that security personnel positioned themselves on rooftops and other elevated positions, firing their assault rifles into crowds.
Protesters also sustained severe wounds to the head, chest and eyes from metal shotgun pellets, causing permanent blindness.
As the crackdown escalated, security forces attacked healthcare facilities, beating and arresting wounded demonstrators and arresting some healthcare workers, which deterred victims from seeking life-saving care, according to the experts.
They also found that the tens of thousands of people detained during the protests faced torture, solitary confinement and denial of legal counsel.
The experts warned that the government had since intensified its use of the death penalty against protesters, with at least 29 men executed following expedited trials on charges connected to the unrest.
The fact-finding mission’s report noted that it was not possible to independently verify the death toll from the crackdown, but said there were strong grounds to believe that it was significantly higher than the official figure of 3,000, the majority of whom the government identified as members of the security forces or bystanders.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) has said it has confirmed the killing of more than 7,000 people, almost all of them protesters.
The fact-finding mission’s experts concluded that Iranian authorities had committed “many gross human rights violations” during the crackdown, and that these amounted to “the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment and other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, and other inhumane acts, committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population”.

What went right in Week 1? Well, not much for this column. We had some high-profile touchdowns taken off the board from Ja’Kobi Lane and Braelon Allen. We had a fast Pat Bryant start run into an offense that simply couldn’t do anything. We had Mike Washington play well but Ashton Jeanty be much healthier than assumed as of pre-writing a column for Wednesday because the NFL opened the season early. It was a tough scene, as the kids say, for this column.
One thing I want to point out because I think it does actually matter: The 13- and 12-personnel trend (using multiple tight ends, in layman’s terms) is going to make it harder and harder for this column to hit. Only six teams in the league ran 11-personnel more than 70 percent of the time in Week 1 per Sumer Sports: The Buccaneers, Colts, Titans, Eagles, Commanders, and Cowboys. Most of those teams were trailing by major deficits. Why does that matter? Because if we’re putting a tight end on the field whose job it (mostly) is to block, we are going to condense the route tree and production outcomes. This is great for fantasy football as a whole, but terrible for an article whose job it is to find sleepers for the week.
Anyway, now that I got some complaining out of the way:
Rules for this weekly article:
1) I will not recommend quarterbacks — There are plenty of good ones. You’re on your own there.
2) I will not recommend any running back who costs more than $5,000, wideout who costs more than $4,500, or tight end that costs more than $4,000 in DraftKings’ DFS slate — This was an easy cutoff for what a FLEX really is.
3) I consider any player who garners over 50 yards or scores a victory for the column — anything more you get out of that, well, great for you. Let’s set expectations low because we are combing for outliers.
▶ Running Backs
JK Dobbins, DEN — $5,000 — Bo Nix was pressured on 45.5 percent of his dropbacks in Week 1, the fourth-highest rate in the league. Just behind him is Week 1 Jaguars opponent Deshaun Watson, at 44.8 percent. The Jaguars are well-coordinated, but they are not a team built to stop the run. Their major investments are bookend edge players Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker. (It should be noted that the Jags played Walker more inside against the Browns than they usually have, but still, he’s nominally an EDGE.) I think the major takeaway that the Broncos will have from Week 1 is “uh oh, we need to run the ball more” and I think this game sets up well for that. Dobbins is still the lead back of the committee and RJ Harvey (hamstring) popped up on the injury report on Wednesday. The Broncos will try to take some pressure off of Nix with their ground game here and then Sean Payton will forget that it ever happened in Week 3.
Blake Corum, LAR — $4,900 — Corum got 10 carries for 54 yards in Week 1’s loss to the 49ers in Australia. He’s pretty much in an even split with Kyren Williams on playing time. The Giants, prior to Week 1, were not regarded as a strong opponent. I’m open to the idea that John Harbaugh has changed things, but the talent on this run defense does not scare me and I’d also bet on the Rams leaning more on the run after Matthew Stafford was pressured on 44 percent of his dropbacks in Week 1. Assuming the Rams are able to bleed clock against the Giants at some point, Corum has some real upside scenarios. And his floor is reasonable for this price tag as well.
Rico Dowdle, PIT — $4,900 — The Seahawks ran on the Patriots even with Drew Lock at quarterback, averaging 4.5 yards a tote with Jadarian Price and George Holani. Dowdle got fewer touches against the Falcons than Jaylen Warren, but he played 39 snaps to Warren’s 25 and they trusted him as a pass blocker. That isn’t how I would have expected things to go before this season. I think the only reason we’re under $5,000 here is the poor Week 1 box score, and I don’t necessarily believe there’s a reason to think that will happen again.
Kaelon Black, SF — $4,500 — Black got 28 snaps to Christian McCaffrey‘s 36 against the Rams in Week 1. The Dolphins just allowed one of 2025’s worst run offenses to put up 30 carries for 143 yards between Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. while trailing the entire game. This Dolphins roster was born to be attacked on the ground and this looks to be a perfect opportunity assuming Jordan James doesn’t magically get active and force a carries split. I don’t really think the 49ers are going to limit McCaffrey this much going forward, but I suspect they’ll blow out the Dolphins by enough that it won’t really matter.
▶ Wide receivers
Dontayvion Wicks, PHI — $4,300 — The Eagles wound up playing Wicks for 91 percent of the snaps, putting him well ahead of Makai Lemon. It’s not a pass offense I would often endorse, but Wicks is a live deep threat playing the Titans and that generally tends to work out pretty well. The Titans allowed three 30-yard pass plays last week and created zero sacks. Against the Jets. Really.
Pat Bryant, DEN — $4,200 — Running it back from last week, Bryant went for 4/42 and played 59 percent of Denver’s snaps as they mostly kept Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims on the sideline. (It didn’t help that Franklin drew an offensive pass interference penalty on one of his few snaps.) I don’t necessarily trust Bryant to be the team’s leading target — that feels rich — but I do think he can be No. 2 behind Jaylen Waddle in an optimistic runout.
KC Concepcion, CLE — $4,100 — The lie detector did not lie on the training camp drumbeat that Concepcion would be the guy that Cleveland would feed targets to. He went for 4/43 in a bereft passing offense and also added 3/15 on the ground. There are Deebo Samuel-type outcomes here for Concepcion in the long-term. In the short-term, well, the Browns are going to throw a lot. Some of those throws will not be good because of who the quarterback is, but that’s why Concepcion is available to be played for this price in the first place. The Buccaneers are not an altogether threatening defense to play against, either.
Devaughn Vele, NO — $4,200 — Running it back from last week a second time, this time with one of the few receivers who actually worked out for me. Vele is locked into a major passing game role and the Saints may need to be throwing plenty to keep up with the Ravens. Don’t expect last week’s line — we’re not getting 60 Tyler Shough throws — but I do think he’ll be a reasonable FLEX play and contribute 50 yards with a strong touchdown chance.
Caleb Douglas, MIA — $3,700 — The big winner of Miami’s garbage-time offense, Douglas was second on the team with seven targets and finished with a team-best 94 receiving yards. We already know from the fact that Mike McDaniel couldn’t make him a thing that Malik Washington is unlikely to be a thing no matter the target count. The 49ers are going to blow out the Dolphins — many teams may blow out the Dolphins this year — and Douglas should continue to benefit from that given the lack of a good secondary option for Malik Willis to throw at.
▶ Tight ends
Juwan Johnson, NO — $3,900 — The designated survivor of the Saints receiver room, as I wrote last week, got there again. His 3/54/1 line against the Lions probably doesn’t happen without falling in a major hole, but the Saints have a pretty condensed passing tree this year and if the Ravens are going to conscript them like they did to the Colts, there should be plenty of garbage time work in Johnson’s future.

In the Week 2 edition of “Thursday Night Football,” the Buffalo Bills play host to the Detroit Lions in the first-ever game at the new Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo is coming off a rollicking win over a fellow AFC contender in the Houston Texans. Josh Allen and Co. put up a spectacular offensive performance against one of the league’s best defenses, with Allen throwing for a pair of touchdowns and rushing for a couple more as the Bills came from behind to win 36-31 in Houston.
Detroit similarly played a wild game against the New Orleans Saints, during which the Lions blew a 21-0 lead and had to head to overtime to beat the Saints, who failed on a two-point conversion attempt that would have won them the game. Jahmyr Gibbs had his typical fantastic day with 186 total yards and two touchdowns, but the defense left much to be desired.
Which of these two teams will win what is expected to be another high-scoring affair? We’ll find out soon enough. But before we break down some key storylines, here’s a look at how you can watch the game.
Where to watch Bills vs. Lions live
Date: Thursday, Sept. 17 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, New York)
Streaming: Amazon Prime
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: Bills -4.5, O/U 54.5 via DraftKings Sportsbook
Key storylines
Offensive fireworks expected: The Over/Under total for this game is 54.5 points, which is the highest of the week by 4 full points. These two offenses combined for 67 points in their respective Week 1 games, while giving up 61 to offenses that aren’t necessarily expected to be world-beaters in the Saints and Texans. Given the state of their respective defenses coming into this season, it’s entirely possible that we see both offenses go off in a big way on Thursday night.
Josh Allen doing Josh Allen things: Allen threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more against Houston in Week 1. He now has nine such games in his NFL career, which is two more than the next two closest players (Steve Young and Cam Newton) combined. He absolutely tore up what many people believe is the best defense in the league last week, completing 69% of his passes at an average of 11.5 yards per attempt. And he’s set up to go off again here.
Jahmyr Gibbs’ workload: Gibbs split time and touches with David Montgomery through the first three seasons of his career. That split workload was no more in Week 1: he played 74% of Detroit’s offensive snaps and touched the ball an incredible 34 times (most in the league) in Detroit’s overtime win. He’s built a bit slighter than your typical workhorse back at just 5-9, 202 pounds, but Dan Campbell has said that he’ll be that workhorse for the offense this season. He was not lying. The Bills bottled up Montgomery for only 3 yards per carry last week, but they did yield three touchdowns to Gibbs’ former teammate.
DJ Moore’s impact: Moore got off to a bit of a slow start early in Week 1, but he came on quickly and had a massive afternoon: five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown on eight targets, and he also drew a pass interference penalty to set the Bills up with first-and-goal at the 1 for another of their drives. Moore ran 81% of the routes and was targeted 30.8% of the time he ran a route, numbers that represent elite usage for a No. 1 wide receiver, which is something the Bills have needed since Stefon Diggs left town.
Lions OL injuries: Detroit will be without both left guard Christian Mahogany and right tackle Blake Miller for this game, as they were ruled out with hip and knee injuries, respectively. Ben Bartch came on in relief of Mahogany in Week 1, and Larry Borom is likely to take over for Miller at tackle. That could be an issue against a Bills defensive front that played pretty well against Houston, with Greg Rousseau, in particular, perhaps set up for a nice game against Borom on that right side of the offensive line.
Prediction
This should be a ridiculously high-scoring game. Both the Bills and Lions have explosive offenses paired with defenses that could best be described as charitable, which we saw last week. There are matchup advantages all over the field for both teams. I could see all of Allen, James Cook, Moore, Dalton Kincaid, Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams going off in a potential fireworks show. I lean toward the Bills for the win in the debut of their new stadium, but I like the Lions to keep it close enough that the Bills don’t cover the spread.
Pick: Bills 35, Lions 31