The Atlanta Falcons promoted secondary coach Marquand Manuel to defensive coordinator. The team also named Raheem Morris as wide receivers/passing game coordinator/assistant head coach. In addition, Doug Mallory was promoted to defensive backs coach to replace Manuel and former NFL standout Bryant Young was hired as defensive line coach. Manuel, 37, spent the previous two seasons as the Falcons' secondary coach/senior defensive assistant. He was considered the top choice after the Falcons decided not to keep Richard Smith in his role as defensive coordinator. Smith could remain on head coach Dan Quinn's staff in an advisory position, but he plans to explore other options, according to ESPN. The shakeup of the coaching staff comes after the Falcons' historic collapse in the overtime loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. ***** The NFL kept a low profile on a recently introduced Texas bathroom bill during the Super Bowl week. But now that the game and festivities in Houston are over with, the league is threatening not to award future Super Bowls to Houston or the Dallas area if the controversial "Senate Bill 6" is passed. The law would require people to use bathrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate. It targets transgender people and would be similar to a bill that passed in North Carolina that led to the NBA pulling its All-Star Game out of Charlotte. The next three Super Bowls are slated to be held in Minneapolis, Atlanta and Miami. The next opening is 2021 and Arlington, Texas, home to the Dallas Cowboys, is expected to be one of the bidders. ***** Washington Redskins offensive lineman Kory Lichtensteiger announced his retirement, deciding not to return for a 10th NFL season. The 31-year-old Lichtensteiger's career spanned across the 2008-16 seasons. He would have made $3.25 million in 2017, which will not count against the team's salary cap. The 6-foot-2, 295-pound Lichtensteiger appeared in 93 regular-season games (75 starts) and started both postseason contests in which he appeared. He originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2008 NFL Draft. ***** New England Patriots running back James White, one of the stars of Super Bowl LI, finally received a truck for his record-breaking performance, courtesy of late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien and Ford. Quarterback Tom Brady, who gave his MVP truck from Super Bowl XLIX to cornerback Malcolm Butler as a way of saying thanks for his game-saving interception against Seattle Seahawks, said after last Sunday's win over the Atlanta Falcons that White deserved the honor. However, since that championship game in 2015, the Super Bowl MVP no longer receives a truck. Brady won his fourth Super Bowl MVP after guiding the Patriots to 31 unanswered points in an astounding, come-from-behind 34-28 overtime victory against the Falcons. Brady completed 43 of 62 passes for 466 yards and two touchdowns. White appeared on TBS' ‘Late Night with Conan O'Brien' on Thursday, where the host surprised him with a Ford F-150. The 25-year-old White's three touchdowns and one two-point conversion totaled a record-setting 20 points in the Super Bowl.
