Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Mike Wagner, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the franchise during its “Steel Curtain” dynasty, has died at 76.

The Steelers announced Wagner’s death on Wednesday night with a statement.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mike Wagner, a tremendous player and an integral part of some of the most successful teams in Pittsburgh Steelers history,” Steelers owner Art Rooney II said in a statement.

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Safety Mike Wagner of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on from the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Riverfront Stadium circa 1979 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

No cause of death has been provided.

Wagner was a two-time Pro Bowler during his 10-year career for the Steelers, racking up 36 interceptions and five forced fumbles from 1971-80.

The Steelers took him 268th overall in the 1971 NFL Draft, which was the 11th round at the time.

STEELERS NFL FREE AGENCY PREDICTIONS: AARON RODGERS BACK IN PITTSBURGH?

“Mike played a key role on our championship teams of the 1970s. As a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams, his toughness and consistency were paramount to our secondary. His contributions on the field were significant, but it was also his steady presence and team-first mentality that truly defined him,” Rooney’s statement continued.

“On behalf of the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Mike’s family. He will always be remembered as a champion, a great teammate, and a proud member of the Steelers family.”

Wagner’s football journey is a unique one leading up to the NFL Draft.

Safety Mike Wagner of the Pittsburgh Steelers returns to the sideline holding the football after intercepting a pass against the Oakland Raiders during the 1975 season AFC Championship playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium on Jan. 4, 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

He went to Western Illinois University, but he didn’t play for the football team until he asked the head coach for a tryout after not getting interest to compete at any other school.

Western Illinois coach obliged, and Wagner made the team. However, he was still waiting tables as a means to make money while playing for the team.

The Steelers would eventually take a shot on him, but the late-round pick wasn’t an afterthought in his rookie season.

Wagner started at safety following an injury on the depth chart, and he wouldn’t relinquish his starting position from there.

He started in 116 of his 119 career games, and in 1973, he led the league with eight interceptions.

Mike Wagner, former safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, looks on from the sideline during a game between the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Nov. 30, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

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Among those career interceptions were the game-sealing one against the Minnesota Vikings, picking off the great Fran Tarkenton to give the Steelers the Super Bowl IX victory — the franchise’s first.

In 2020, the Steelers had Wagner enter its Hall of Honor and continued to be around the organization until his death.

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“It offers the perfect combination of grueling climbs and exhilarating descents,” explains Tatjana Paller.

The 30-year-old German finished fourth in the Olympic sprint and will also compete in the mixed team event of ski mountaineering, or” skimo” for short.

Last year, Paller won bronze in the sprint at the World Championships in Morgins, Switzerland. She has been a ski mountaineer since 2020; before that, she was a successful junior track cyclist.

Paller believes there are similarities between the two sports.

“Endurance sports are endurance sports. You either have a motor, or you don’t. But ski mountaineering is even more strenuous. At least you’re sitting down when you’re cycling,” says Paller.

Ski touring

Skimo is the competitive version of ski touring, which is becoming increasingly popular in the European Alps due to skyrocketing lift ticket prices. The German Alpine Club (DAV), Germany’s national mountaineering association, estimates the number of ski tourers in Germany alone at more than 600,000, which is more than three times as many as at the turn of the millennium.

On a classic ski tour in the mountains, you don’t use a lift but ascend on skis and then ski down ungroomed slopes. However, many now also ascend along the edge of actual ski slopes and then ski down them.

Special bindings, climbing skins under the skis

The skis are equipped with special bindings that allow you to lift your heels while ascending. For the descent, the heels can be locked in place using the bindings, just like on regular downhill skis.

To prevent the skis from slipping back while ascending, climbing skins made of synthetic or natural fibers are attached to them. These are either glued on or adhere to the skis on their own. Once you reach the top, you remove the skins and can ski down the hill.

There are now also so-called hybrid skins. They hold almost as well as glued-on skins but are as easy to attach as self-adhering skins.

“I use hybrid skins for the sprint and mixed relay because you can peel them off quickly,” Paller explains.

The procedure only takes a few seconds.

Light, narrow skis

The skis, which are carried on the skiier’s back during a mandatory foot climb, weigh between 700 and 800 grams (24.7 – 28.2 ounces), making them extremely light. They are also wider than cross-country skis but narrower than normal downhill skis: around 6.5 centimeters wide (2.6 inches) in the middle. The minimum ski length is 1.50 meters (4′ 11″) for women and 1.60 meters for men.

In the sprint in Bormio, a 610-meter course awaits the athletes, with a 70-meter elevation gain. The race is divided into:

• The ascent on skis

• A carrying section where the athletes, with their skis on their backs, must climb a set of stairs

• Another short ascent phase

•The final descent, where the gates are spaced approximately the same distance apart as in a giant slalom race

Speed ​​and tactics

The transition phases are crucial, where every second counts. One lap lasts between 2:30 and 3:30 minutes. Six athletes compete against each other in each heat. The two fastest advance to the next round.

In the mixed relay, one female and one male athlete per team alternate, completing two laps each. Here, it’s not just about speed, but also about the right tactics and good teamwork.

“We push each other really well,” says Tatjana Paller, who competes in the relay with 23-year-old Finn Hösch. They are both good individual athletes, adds Hösch.

“But it’s a different kind of pressure when you know you’re influencing not just your own result, but the team’s overall performance.”

First World Championships in 2002

The sport’s roots go back more than 100 years. One of its forerunners was the so-called military patrol, which made its Olympic debut at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924. In this event, teams of four—in uniform and with gear in backpacks—had to complete a 30-kilometer (18.6 miles) course with considerable inclines on skis and then shoot at targets—similar to the biathlon.

Skimo in its modern form, however, is still relatively young. The first World Championships were held in 2002, and the World Cup premiered in 2004.

Distance competitions not yet Olympic

Skimo comprises of four disciplines, but medals will only be awarded in the two fastest this week in Bormio: the women’s and men’s sprints on Thursday, and the mixed relay on Saturday.

The other two disciplines are not yet Olympic: the so-called individual, with up to 1,900 meters of elevation gain, the longest competition distance, and the vertical, which consists of just one long ascent and no descent.

“The original form of ski mountaineering is the longer one. That’s why I can understand everyone who misses distance competitions in the Olympic program,” says sprint specialist Paller.

“But for us, it was a stroke of luck that the sprint competitions were chosen.”

Whether skimo will also be an Olympic sport at the next Winter Games in 2030 in the French Alps is not yet clear, but it does seem likely, given the current boom in ski touring.

This article was originally published in German.

Last Sunday afternoon, the Duke Blue Devils beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, 72-68 in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The win kept Duke undefeated in ACC play and atop the conference.  When the buzzer sounded, head coach Kara Lawson beamed as she embraced her two seniors, Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair, who capped off an emotional senior night by leading the team in scoring and making key plays down the stretch to seal the win.

The postgame vibes on the court were completely different from those nine weeks ago, when Duke fell 93-77 to LSU for its fourth loss in a row to drop to 3-6 on the season. 

Every basketball season has its ups and downs, but Duke’s arc — from being preseason No. 7; to being out of the top 25 all together by the third week of the season amid a stretch that included a humiliating road loss to a West Virginia team that played the entire second half with only one starter and four bench players due to ejections and a loss to a South Florida team that is currently No. 75 in the NET rankings; to its current 16-game winning streak and return to No. 9 in the rankings — has been one of the most extreme in recent memory.

So how exactly has Duke turned things around so dramatically? There’s never just one factor, especially in a team sport, but Lawson’s postgame presser gave some invaluable insight — just not for the reason you might think.

First, here’s Lawson’s response when a reporter asked what she said to her team back in November in the thick of their struggles. 

I think what’s really important, whether you’re in a season of prosperity or you’re in a season of adversity … I think it’s really important that you stick to what’s real and true. What’s real and true in basketball? Film, analytics, what you see every day from your team. And when you stay focused and locked in on that, then you can give a real assessment of where you are and where you need to get to. Anything outside of that is irrelevant, right? Someone’s opinion doesn’t change whether you can do it or not. It’s just someone’s opinion. So to spend time and energy on that doesn’t serve you. And so the fastest way to get from a season of adversity to a season of prosperity is to lock in on what’s real and true. Figure out where you need to work and get better, and then it will turn at some point.

We don’t get to control the length of our adversity. That’s a frustrating thing about life. When we’re in adversity, we’re like, ‘OK, is it over yet?’ You wake up and you’re like, ‘Is it over yet?’ You don’t get to control that. You get to control who you are in it. That’s it. Who are you in adversity? That’s what you get to control. So what I focus on during that time, and what I encourage my players to focus on, is, ‘Who are we in this time, and where do we need to get to?’ And when you lock in on that, then you’re gonna have success at some point.

Her answer has struck a nerve with people, which isn’t a surprise. If you’ve paid any attention to Lawson over the years, you know she always has a deep reflection on life, work or personal growth on the tip of her tongue, even moreso than most coaches I encounter on the job, and her speeches frequently go viral.

But on Sunday, I wasn’t so much struck by the words she was saying, though they certainly were powerful. Rather, I was struck by how familiar they sounded. 

Sure enough, when I went back and revisited her press conference after the LSU loss, I realized she gave the exact same message. When asked what she was telling her players, she said she was telling them the truth and getting them to focus on film and individual plays rather than wins and losses. She praised them for staying positive amidst the adversity.

If you’ve gone through adversity in your life … you know you want it to end right away. You know, most of us want adversity and go really quickly. Like, OK, it’ll be tough for half a day and then we’re done. And this has been tough for longer for us. Like, good! Good. Because this is what life is about. You don’t get to control the length of your adversity. All you get to do is control your attitude and your focus and just work like heck to try and change it. And so it’s such a great life lesson for us, and I think it will turn for us at some point and I think we’ll look back on this stretch as a formative part.

Again, she said this minutes after her team suffered its fourth loss in a row, a loss that dropped the preseason ACC favorites to 3-6. People were calling for her to be fired.

That consistency and commitment to the big picture have clearly served her players well. Because it wasn’t just Lawson whose Feb. 15 press conference sounded eerily similar to her Dec. 4 one.

“We’re in the mud right now, and that’s both physically and literally,” Jackson said after the LSU game. “We’re very uncomfortable right now, which is a good thing, because in March, everybody is on and popping, so the team that is most comfortable with being uncomfortable, they usually succeed.”

And after the North Carolina win? 

“We got out of the mud,” Jackson said. “We all know how we started the season, but that was on purpose. How are you supposed to grow if you’re not used to playing this type of environment?”

Let’s be clear about one thing: Motivational words and self-help philosophies alone do not win games. Duke’s rebirth can be attributed to many things: Mair gaining confidence in a more assertive offensive role; the impressive development of redshirt freshman center Arianna Roberson; Riley Nelson’s move into the starting lineup; a relatively weak year in the ACC, to name a few. And it is far from a given that Duke will win the ACC tournament and make it back to the Elite Eight like it did last March. But after the way this team started the season, the fact that Lawson has them back in contention to achieve those things is a testament to her connection with her players.

“During that time, you know, Coach took a lot for us. It was not Coach. It was simply us. So we just really had to buy in and take accountability at some point. We couldn’t let her hold everything by herself. We had to have her back, because she always has our back,” Jackson said on Sunday.

“There’s not a thing in this world that I don’t love about Kara Lawson, even whenever she’s mad at me. She challenges me, she trusts me, she believes in me.”

Zac Lloyd enters the Silver Slipper far more positive on Hidrix than before the colt’s bow in the Canonbury Stakes.

He hadn’t sat on the Extreme Choice youngster in barrier trials before the debut, acknowledging the Chris Waller operation’s careful early judgments as the horse wasn’t tested rigorously in sessions.

“No-one overwhelmed me with confidence before the race because he’s a very casual customer at trackwork,” Lloyd said.

“But he got a lovely run and that enabled him to sprint well, and he did win quite comfortably.

“Hopefully he has switched on mentally from that and can race well again on Saturday.

“He couldn’t have been more impressive.”

Post his Canonbury Stakes (1100m) victory, Hidrix joined the top of Golden Slipper betting, and he’s next best at $4.40 for the Silver Slipper (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

Market leaders at $4 are Tulloch Lodge’s filly Shiki and Canonbury Stakes placegetter Confederation, with James McDonald loyal to the colt after their debut ride where he endured faults to stay competitive.

The Canonbury Stakes saw Michael Freedman runner Incognito as heavy favourite but fifth after palate displacement was identified post-race.

Steps have been taken by Freedman to correct it, and the Breeders’ Plate champ gets tongue control plus lugging bit for the weekend.

Check racing odds for the Silver Slipper Stakes on leading betting sites.

Team USA and Canada will reignite their bitter rivalry on Thursday in the gold medal game in women’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

All eyes will be on the Americans when the puck drops in Milan, Italy, at 1:10 p.m. ET. “Miracle on Ice” star Jim Craig will be among those watching.

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Jim Craig celebrates Team USA’s win over USSR on Feb. 22, 1980.  (Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

He shared some advice for the women’s team ahead of the game.

“As the women of Team USA go for gold, remember — the moment isn’t bigger than you. You’ve prepared for this,” he wrote on X. “Trust the work. Trust each other. Compete with heart.

“When you play for the name on the front of the jersey, anything is possible.”

SEN TOMMY TUBERVILLE: BRING BACK THE ‘MIRACLE ON ICE’ SPIRIT TO TEAM USA

United States’ Caroline Harvey (4) shoots during the second period of a women’s ice hockey quarterfinal match between the United States and Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Craig was the netminder for Team USA when the U.S. won gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics, upsetting the Soviet Union and topping Finland for the gold.

It hasn’t been the same strife for the women’s side as they have mostly been in cruise control during the Olympics this time around. The Americans outscored their opponents in group play, 16-1, including a 5-0 victory over Canada on Feb. 10.

In the tournament portion, Team USA has outscored their opponents 11-0.

U.S. players celebrate after a semifinal match of women’s ice hockey between the United States and Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026.  (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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The U.S. will look to capture gold in a revenge moment from the 2022 Beijing Games. Canada topped the U.S., 3-2, in that game. The U.S. and Canada have squared off in each gold medal game since the 2010 Olympics in Canada.

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With free agency just 18 days away, roughly a dozen Top 50 or Top 100 free agency lists are circulating from various outlets, and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor had been left almost all of them — until now. The Athletic‘s Daniel Popper ranked the league’s best free agents, and out of nowhere, Nailor checked in at No. 29.

A top-30 free agent tag might change the conversation for Nailor, forcing Minnesota to weigh his McCarthy chemistry against price and role.

It’s quite the prestige for Nailor, a player who has never accrued over 500 receiving yards in a season.

Jalen Nailor Gets a Top 30 Free Agent Endorsement

Nailor gets a little respect.

The Athletic: Nailor Is NFL’s 29th-Best FA

Nailor notably outranked reputable NFLers like Rashid Shaheed, Romeo Doubs, Aaron Rodgers, and Keenan Allen in free agency, according to Popper.

He wrote about Nailor at No. 29, “Contract projection: 3 years, $36 million. Nailor’s production does not jump off the screen. The 2022 sixth-round pick had a career-high 444 receiving yards in 2025. But Nailor was playing behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, and he dealt with poor quarterback play last season.”

“More importantly, the tape shows a player who is ready to take a big jump in the right environment. Nailor has the spatial awareness to weave through zones and find soft spots. He was predominantly a slot player in Minnesota but has inside-outside flexibility. He flashes late hands to prevent defensive backs from turning and locating the ball.”

The speedy wideout built rapport with Vikings QB1 J.J. McCarthy last season and might’ve even been his favorite target.

Popper added, “Nailor is not a burner, but he can push vertically out of the slot on fades, wheels and corners. He is compact ball carrier who is capable after the catch, and he is also a quality run blocker for his size.”

“Nailor can get bogged down at the line of scrimmage against bigger, more physical corners. He is not a household name right now, but he could be in the future.”

A Staggering Contract Estimate

From Vikings fans’ viewpoint, $12 million per season is the absolute top rung of the ladder someone with Nailor’s production should command. Spotrac estimates his value to be under $5 million. There’s a vast variance between the upper and lower range of Nailor’s next deal, and Hopper pounded home the ceiling.

But last offseason, Los Angeles Rams wideout Tutu Atwell earned a deal for one year and $10 million, so the estimate of Nailor may be merely a continuation of an escalating NFL salary cap. Atwell later caught 6 passes for 192 yards in 2025 and is a free agent once again.

If Nailor’s price is $12 million annually, the Vikings would almost assuredly exit stage left from contract negotiations. Minnesota is cash-strapped, and $12 million for a player who posts WR4 numbers isn’t worth it.

Nailor in MIN

Throughout McCarthy’s first ten starts, Nailor was one of the few receivers with whom he consistently clicked. Their timing has been more reliable than McCarthy’s connection with Justin Jefferson, and a lot of McCarthy’s better plays in 2025 involved throws to Nailor — a big plus for a quarterback still finding his feet.

In 2025, Nailor snagged 29 catches for 444 yards and 4 touchdowns. The year before, with Sam Darnold throwing the ball, he had 414 yards and 6 scores. While his stats might say “WR4,” his game film occasionally shows flashes of something more.

A December game against the Dallas Cowboys is an apropos example: 3 catches, 47 yards, 2 touchdowns, and a serious momentum shift. Nailor exploded. But then he followed that up with zero catches in the next two weeks against the New Giants and Detroit Lions. That’s Nailor in a nutshell — quiet stretches broken up by sudden sweet bursts of production.

This makes him a tricky free agency case. Given the rollercoaster that was McCarthy’s season, keeping some familiar faces around him is key. Letting go of the one receiver who empowered him seems risky.

And Nailor’s likely to get some attention. Speed always plays, and a team might think a bigger role could unlock his true potential. The Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Seattle Seahawks all make sense as possible destinations, based on their roster needs, offensive schemes, or coaching connections. Las Vegas, his hometown, and a team needing playmakers on the depth chart, could be a particularly good fit.

An Eric Wilson Shoutout

Linebacker Eric Wilson, who experienced a career resurgence in 2025, also made Hopper’s list at No. 79.

Hopper scribed, “Contract projection: 3 years, $19.5 million. Wilson is a downhill off-ball linebacker who can blitz and defend the run. He is more limited as a coverage player. He has sideline-to-sideline speed and attacks plays in front of him.”

“Wilson also got some edge work in coordinator Brian Flores’s scheme. Wilson is undersized, which limits him when he is asked to take on climbing guards and centers in the run game.”

The veteran defender posted Pro Bowl-level numbers and efficiency in 2025, and it’s a safe bet that Minnesota will re-sign Wilson, especially with Flores back as the defensive coordinator.

In free agency, it will probably be Nailor out, and Wilson in.