This NFL Star Just Lost $17M (On Purpose) 💸

The Athletic recently released its annual MLB Hope-O-Meter results, which rank fans’ optimism about their team in 2026. Interestingly, 72% reported they’re optimistic, up 6% from last year.

And shockingly, that number could be even higher if Angels’ and Twins’ fans didn’t have to suffer so much.

In today’s newsletter:

🗞 The Big Story: This NFL Star Just Lost $17M (On Purpose)

📉 Biggest Loser: The Law Behind the Angel’s Potential Name Change

🏆 Winner’s Circle: Are There Any Sports Where Women Are Better Than Men?

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This former NFL star just lost over $17 million (on purpose), but it might be the smartest decision he’s ever made.

Background: Even though Bryce Huff went undrafted out of the University of Memphis in 2020, he still managed to make the Jets' 53-man roster later that year and eventually earned a 3-year, $51 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024.

However, after a disappointing season with the team, which resulted in him being listed as “inactive” for the Super Bowl, Huff was traded to the San Francisco 49ers later that offseason for a fifth-round pick, where he was reunited with Robert Saleh and posted arguably the second-best statistical season of his entire career.

Calling it Quits: Then, with a full year and over $17 million still left on his deal, the 27-year-old shocked the NFL world when he posted this video on Instagram just a few weeks ago, announcing his retirement in the prime of his career.

But after digging into his reasoning, this decision isn’t actually as crazy as it sounds.

That’s because tucked away in the middle of his retirement video, Huff announced that he and his brother have been quietly working on a business that’s attempting to solve one of the biggest problems in the world that almost nobody knows anything about.

Big Business: Almost every tech innovation we use these days, ranging from our iPhones to electric cars, utilizes lithium-ion batteries. However, even though they’re highly effective at storing and transmitting energy, they also carry the massive risk of starting on fire at any moment, and when they do, the chemicals inside of them burn much hotter and much more intensely than any “normal fire.”

This means that the typical methods of putting out a fire (like water and fire suppressants) aren’t as effective. Which is why Bryce and his brother started their company, Naberstone. Now, at its core, Naberstone is a fire-extinguishing product custom-engineered to put out lithium-ion fires.

And while it might not sound that impressive on the surface, when you consider that 40% of current fire codes aren’t designed to deal with a lithium-ion fire, even though we interact with these batteries on a daily basis, it’s not crazy to think that this business could far exceed the $17 million Huff walked away from this year.

The Los Angeles Angels could be forced to change their name because of one of the most clever new laws I’ve ever heard of.

Let me explain.

Naming Timeline: Admittedly, the franchise’s name has always been a bit of a moving target:

The only problem was that the team’s stadium lease with the city of Anaheim specifically required that “Anaheim” be part of the team’s name. So, as a workaround, Moreno decided to change the name to the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” starting in 2005, which was openly mocked by fans, local residents, and the city’s government.

However, even though the city tried to sue the team to prevent them from changing their name, a judge ruled that Moreno was technically complying with the rules in his lease, even as the team began slowly phasing out the “of Anaheim” portion of the name.

But this is when Moreno messed up.

Risky Business: By 2019, the team’s old stadium lease had expired, and Moreno decided that he wanted to buy the 150-acre property for $150 million to build a new ballpark and surrounding development. However, three years later, the FBI uncovered that Moreno had actually been negotiating with Anaheim’s mayor to cut a favorable deal for the team in exchange for $1M in campaign contributions from the Angels.

Pressing the Advantage: Now that that deal has fallen through, local and state lawmakers in California have introduced a new bill that says they won’t sell the team the property around the ballpark unless the team changes its name back to the Anaheim Angels.

Even though it’s unclear if this bill will actually become law, it’s nice that Angels fans can experience a win for once.

Are there any sports where women outperform men?

Well, the short answer is yes, but the reason why is actually a lot more complicated than you might think.

The Upper Hand: Right off the bat it’s important to recognize that, on average, studies show that elite male athletes tend to out-perform elite female athletes by around 8-12%, which is largely linked to the fact that men tend to have higher testosterone levels, resulting in increased muscle size and strength, as well as a higher hemoglobin concentration which allows them to better intake oxygen.

However, while these biological advantages give men a physical edge in most sports, it doesn’t tell the full story, and the best example of this is Penny Lee Dean.

Record Breaker: In 1976, Dean, then a 21-year-old college swimmer, broke the world record for the fastest time to swim across the 20.2-mile Catalina Channel by more than 1.5 hours. A record that still stands to this day, 50 years later.

Then, two years later, in 1978, Dean went on to break another world record by 1.5 hours when she crossed the English Channel faster than any man or woman before her.

But I thought men were supposed to be faster and have better endurance than women?

Hidden Advantage: The truth is that’s just half of the equation. Because, in reality, the things that give men a physical advantage in one sport can actually serve as a disadvantage in another.

For example, in events like marathon swimming and ultramarathon running, a woman’s typically higher proportion of body fat is helpful for regulating body temperature and storing more fuel.

Scientists also believe that a woman’s lower muscle mass and power production could actually help them recover faster, while their greater flexibility can help reduce stiffness, which could be one of the reasons women are actually 0.6% faster than men when running further than 195 miles.

Still, that might not even be their biggest advantage.

That’s because, when you look at sports that equalize for any physical edge, like stationary target shooting, you’ll find that women actually perform just as well, if not better than men, which one athlete credits to her ability to “stay calm under pressure” better than her male counterparts.

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👋🏻 Happy Friday!

I appreciate everyone who sent feedback on last week’s new format. I heard you loud and clear — I’ll be making more incremental changes from now on 🙂