The biggest stories in Philly sports today are taking place off the field.
First, we will get to hear Sam Bradford speak. The Prodigal Quarterback is expected to speak to the assembled media today after ending his short-lived holdout after he blew a gasket when the Eagles moved up in the draft and selected North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz with the No. 2 pick.
Bradford was none too pleased, apparently under the belief that the Birds were committed to him as their starter. Bradford no doubt would have liked to have seen all those draft picks the Eagles shipped off in order to move up to get Wentz used to add some weapons and defense to the team he was supposed to lead.
So Bradford stormed off, saying he would not participate in any more voluntary Birds' workouts under new coach Doug Pederson. That lasted about two weeks.
Aside from issuing a statement saying he was back and committed to a championship season, Bradford has not spoken. That changes today. Should be interesting.
Then there are the Sixers. The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight, and the Sixers are no doubt hoping the ping-pong balls fall in their favor. There is a chance the 76ers could wind up with the No. 1 and No. 4 pick in the draft. The flip side of that is they get only the No. 4 pick, perhaps justice from the basketball gods for the blatant tanking they have undertaken the last three years to reach this position.
But the biggest story in Philly sports today is about a uniform, specifically the Sixers uniform.
The team announced yesterday that they made a little bit of history - and not for losing.
Instead the Sixers won big - at least where we all know it really counts - that would be their bank account.
The team announced they would become the first major sports franchise to sell advertising on their team uniforms.
StubHub, the online ticket outlet, will pay to have their corporate name and logo displayed on a small 2-inch by 2-inch patch on the Sixers chest.
Hard to believe the Sixers could beat noted Dallas Cowboys kingpin Jerry Jones to the punch on this.
But make no mistake, this is likely just the start of an avalanche.
Will pro sports teams suddenly start looking like NASCAR drivers, their bodies festooned with multiple corporate logos. Probably not.
But the precedent will be there.
I remember a few years back when Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions, famous for their plain blue and white jerseys and helmets, adopted a Nike swoosh logo on their pants.
Why? Because Phil Knight and Nike was paying them big bucks to do so.
The same still holds today, only it is, of course, an online ticket outlet ponying up the money.
As usual in sports, money talks, everything else walks.
Just ask Sam Bradford.
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