Warren McVea, a former NFL running back who won a Super Bowl and a pioneer in Texas football, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 79.

Tracey Ellis, McVea’s daughter, said her father died at home in Los Angeles surrounded by family members after a long battle with an illness.

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McVea was a standout running back and was the first Black player to receive a football scholarship to a major Texas school. He was a star player at Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, leading the school to a state championship in 1962.

He committed to the University of Houston where he played under head coach Bill Yeoman. He set a school record with 3,009 all-purpose yards in 1966. He had a 99-yard touchdown catch in the first football game played on artificial turf.

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Warren McVea (6), the Kansas City Chiefs running back, is stopped on an end run by Dallas Cowboy Leroy Jordan (55) in the first quarter action in Dallas, Sept. 5, 1970. (AP Photo/Fred Kaufman,File)

“Warren ‘Wondrous Warren’ McVea peacefully passed away on Sunday,” the school said in a post on X. “A trailblazer in collegiate athletics. A forever Cougar.”

McVea turned pro in 1968 and was selected in the fourth round of the 1968 draft for the American Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals. He played one season with the Bengals before he joined the Kansas City Chiefs.

He was a part of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning team in 1969. He played with Hall of Famer Len Dawson and split carries with Mike Garrett and Robert Holmes. 

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson (16) pitches back to Warren McVea (6) as Minnesota Vikings defensive end Carl Eller (81) pursues in Super Bowl IV at Tulane Stadium on Jan. 11, 1970.  (Malcolm Emmons/USA TODAY Sports)

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McVea played four seasons with the Chiefs and ran for 1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns in 44 games with Kansas City.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels left Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys early after he suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter.

The injury prompted fans to compare the second-year quarterback to former NFL star Robert Griffin III. The former Baylor standout had an electric rookie season when he entered the league in 2012 but knee injuries plagued the rest of his career.

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Daniels’ mom, Regina Jackson, urged fans to stop the comparisons to Griffin.

“I wish you would stop manifesting RGIII on my son.  Words are powerful and that’s all that’s talked about,” she wrote in a post on X.

Daniels was expected to have an MRI on his hamstring on Monday. It’s the second time this season that the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year went down with an injury. He was dealing with a knee sprain in Weeks 3 and 4.

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) warms up prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Oct. 19, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)

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He was 12-of-22 with 156 passing yards and a touchdown pass against the Cowboys. However, Dallas picked up a 44-22 victory. The injury was the main concern for Washington.

“It’s tough. He’s been battling all year, and I know that can be very frustrating,” Commanders backup Marcus Mariota said of Daniels.

Mariota came into the game for Daniels. He threw a pick-six to Cowboys defensive back DaRon Bland.

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels walks on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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Washington is 3-4 this season following the loss to Dallas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sometimes it takes an expert’s eye to see something before everyone else does, such as Tyler Herro finishing No. 13 on the Player Rater, or Ivica Zubac putting up 16.8 PPG and 12.6 RPG, like each of them did last season.

How many people saw this coming?

If you did, you had a major leg up on the competition in your fantasy basketball leagues — that’s for sure!

With that in mind, we gathered our fantasy basketball experts — André Snellings, Eric Moody, Eric Karabell, Jim McCormick and Steve Alexander — and tasked them with detailing their boldest fantasy predictions for 2025-26.

Brandon Miller will finish in the top 40 on the Player Rater

Currently going 85th on average in ESPN live drafts, Miller’s coaching staff already trusts him to find his own shot, and his ability to create offense for others is only growing. With the potential to loft an absurd number of 3-pointers per game and his knack for amassing defensive numbers, he could follow the Trey Murphy III path to becoming a special 3-and-D fantasy wing as early as this season. Few players his size are this skilled at both slashing and shooting, making Miller an outlier at his position. — McCormick

Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard will both finish top 50 in fantasy points this season, and at least one of them will finish in the top 20

Embiid and Leonard are both ultra-elite fantasy hoops performers on a per-game basis that have a history of missing significant quantities of time. Last season, they missed a combined 108 of the possible 164 games. But I look for this season to be bounce-backs for both. Both are entering the season relatively healthy and all it would take is 60-65 games at their typical levels to reach these milestones. — Snellings

Four Celtics will finish among the top 10 in made 3-pointers this season, even with Tatum out

No team has attempted and made more 3-pointers than last season’s Boston Celtics, and that will hardly change just because star Jayson Tatum is out for most, if not the entirety, of the season. Four Celtics — Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser — will finish among the top 10 in 3s made this season, while a fifth (leading scorer Jaylen Brown) will come close. — Karabell

Matas Buzelis will be a top-25 fantasy player

I foresee the Bulls starting him and giving him around 30 minutes per game, and his stat set is built for fantasy, hopefully providing blocks, steals, 3-pointers, rebounds and blocks. He’s being ignored until later in drafts after last season’s less-than-stellar numbers, but he has as much upside as almost any player in this year’s drafts. I’m trying to get him everywhere. — Alexander

LaMelo Ball plays more than 70 games

Ball has elite fantasy upside when he’s on the floor. Everyone knows that. He averaged 25.2 PPG, 7.4 APG, 4.9 RPG and 3.8 3-pointers last season, showing his all-around impact. The issue has always been health, with just 105 games played over the past three seasons. I think this is the season Ball plays more than 70 games. He is only 24, is fully recovered from ankle and wrist surgeries, and Charlotte’s added depth should help manage his workload. If he stays on the court, he has top-15 fantasy potential. — Moody