Welcome to your Morning Cup of Joe, an eye-opener to help Joe’s readers ease into their busy workday with a few football links, wacky news and a pleasant distraction.

Distraction of the Day

The NFL doesn’t care about Joe Buck and Troy Aikman’s Real Housewives of the SEC soap opera. [PFT]

How is the NFL bracing to deal with the rampant scumbag criminals who are vandalizing and burning down the Euro heart of wine and cheese this weekend? [CBS]

Sam LaPorta has a hunch Detroit doesn’t want him after this season. (Yes, the Bucs should be interested.) [Yahoo!]

Quarterback rankings. [NFL]

Larry Holmes vs. Ken Norton, 15th round. Guys were on fumes and were still landing — and taking — strong shots. [TikTok]

The ACC and B1G have live mics on the replay officials so that fans can see and hear the how and why reviewed calls are determined. The NFL may follow suit, perhaps before the end of the season. [SI]

This is an awesome story: What goes on with NFL headsets. How they work, how they don’t work, who is allowed to be on a headset, who is talking when. What all the different-colored caps mean for guys on the sidelines (all dealing with the headsets in some way). One assistant got busted taking a No. 1 in a concourse restroom with his headset on with the coach screaming for him. A former NFC South head coach, while an assistant, left the field to go buy a hot dog with his headset on and got busted. All kinds of stories, including coaches getting fired on the headset. [The Athletic]

Bears fan doing time for gun violation in a Wisconsin pen calls Chicago sports radio show. [Awful Announcing]

Josh Pate: The internet is not real. Who knew? [Front Office Sports]

When horndog network TV producers scope chicks in the crowd at college football games. Rough job but someone has to do it. [Sport and State]

That ain’t gumbo, dude. [TikTok]

The Big Day with @PSchrags crew joins the Tampa Bay Rays' celebration and digs into some tomahawk steaks 🥩😂 pic.twitter.com/vXPpLxRvpt

— Big Day (@BigDayESPN) October 20, 2026

Supreme Debate: Did you think Junior Caminero’s HR trot was too long https://t.co/9V6ZDdWiw1 pic.twitter.com/jvq6M8bhpe

— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) October 20, 2026

Panic or Patience: Arch Manning’s future at Texas 👀@JRodgers11 and @stephenasmith make their cases on the Longhorns’ QB ✍️ pic.twitter.com/Gxor6vUkDe

— First Take (@FirstTake) October 21, 2026

"The biggest fraud crowd in professional sports is in Tampa at these Rays games." – @Sid_Seixeiro #sick #thesidseixeiroshow pic.twitter.com/ERiItTZzLY

— The Sid Seixeiro Show (@sidseixeiroshow) October 20, 2026