blessing

A day after Green Bay’s blockbuster acquisition of edge rusher Micah Parsons, a legendary NFL executive was riding an emotional high.

“I feel so good. I’m so excited about it,” said Carmen Policy, who built championship teams with the San Francisco 49ers and is pulling for his son to do the same with the Packers. “I think it’s great that the group up there is willing to think outside the box. I have a lot of faith in what they’re assembling.”

The Packers, with Ed Policy as president, made a stunning move Thursday in acquiring Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for first round picks in 2026 and ’27 and three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark.

For the elder Policy, the aggressive transaction was reminiscent of the buy-now-pay-later philosophy in 1994 of the 49ers, who went on a big-money shopping spree to collect top-shelf free agents to build their Super Bowl-winning roster. That included plucking star linebacker Ken Norton Jr. from the Cowboys, who had beaten San Francisco in the previous two NFC championships.

In luring talent with lots of guaranteed money on the front end, Carmen Policy and Hall of Fame owner Eddie DeBartolo found a loophole in the salary cap which the NFL had just implemented.

“The salary cap was designed to actually disrupt the 49ers — and the Washington Redskins — but primarily us,” Policy said by phone Friday. “They devised the rules with, ‘How do we change this so the 49ers can’t do it.’ Which, in a way, was a compliment. But what we did was salvage our veteran team and then load up, because we couldn’t tolerate losing to Dallas three times in a row. We knew if we got to the Super Bowl we’d win. It was inexcusable and insufferable.”

The situation isn’t precisely parallel, but Policy sees similar risk taking in the Packers’ move. And not surprisingly, he’s proud of his son who worked his way up from Arena League executive to general counsel of the Packers to team president and chief executive.

“I see him as a much better executive than me,” Carmen Policy said. “I think Ed is really capable of running a public company. He’s smart, he’s disciplined, he’s focused. I would say he’s less inclined to take risks than I was. He’s good with people and he’s patient.

“He’s going to work with his people and give them the leeway they deserve. But ultimately, it has to pencil out in the end. Now we’re hoping, fingers crossed, that this pencils out in the end, meaning a Super Bowl.”

The elder Policy, who later was president and part-owner of the Cleveland Browns, said this transaction is not only good for the Packers but for the NFL as a whole.

“This is a blessing for the league,” he said. “They can point to the smallest market and say this community-owned team without a billionaire owner can still compete with New York, L.A. and Dallas. It speaks so well for competitive balance and how far the league has come.

“And suddenly, you’re not hearing players complain about going to Wisconsin in the winter, as opposed to Manhattan or Manhattan Beach. It puts competitive balance on display.”

Investors interpreted Trump’s comments to mean Nippon Steel had received his approval for its takeover of US Steel.

United States President Donald Trump has expressed support for Nippon Steel’s $14.9bn bid for US Steel, saying their “planned partnership” would create jobs and help the US economy.

Shares of US Steel soared 21 percent on Friday after Trump’s comments as investors interpreted the president’s post on Truth Social to mean Nippon Steel had received his approval for its long-planned takeover, the last major hurdle for the deal.

“This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the US Economy,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday.

This week, the Reuters news agency reported that Nippon Steel has said if the merger is approved, it would invest $14bn into US Steel’s operations, including up to $4bn in a new steel mill.

Trump added that the bulk of that investment would occur in the next 14 months and said he would hold a rally at US Steel in Pittsburgh next Friday.

Nippon Steel said it applauded Trump’s decision to approve the “partnership”. The White House did not immediately reply to questions about the announcement.

US Steel share price kept rising after hours and reached $54, just shy of Nippon Steel’s $55-per-share offer price made in late 2023. While no details were released, investors expressed confidence that terms will be similar to those agreed in 2023. Investors said that eventually US Steel will no longer be publicly traded and they will receive a cash payout for their shares.

Politically controversial

The deal has been one of the most highly anticipated on Wall Street after it morphed into the political arena with fears that foreign ownership would mean job losses in Pennsylvania, where US Steel is based. It factored into last year’s election that saw Trump return to the White House.

Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick, who also called the deal a “partnership”, on Friday said it was a “huge victory for America and the US Steel Corporation”, that will protect more than 11,000 Pennsylvania jobs and support the creation of at least 14,000 more.

The last pieces of the deal came together surprisingly fast. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), which reviews deals for national security risks, told the White House this week that the security risks can be addressed, Reuters reported, moving the final decision to Trump’s desk.

Following an earlier CFIUS-led review, former President Joe Biden blocked the deal in January on national security grounds.

The companies sued, arguing they did not receive a fair review process. The Biden White House rejected that view.

The companies argued Biden opposed the deal when he was running for re-election to win support from the United Steelworkers union in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The Biden administration had defended the review as essential to protecting security, infrastructure and supply chains.

Trump also initially opposed the deal, arguing the company must be owned and operated in the US.

The United Steelworkers were against the deal as recently as Thursday when they urged Trump to block the deal despite the $14bn investment pledge from Trump.

For investors, including prominent hedge funds, the news spells relief after more than a year of waiting for a resolution. “There were huge high-fives all around today,” one recent investor said, adding, “We understood Donald Trump’s psyche and we played it to our advantage here.”

Investors said Trump appears to have won ground after the pledge for new investments was increased.

“This deal ensures that steelmaking will live on in Pittsburgh for generations,” another investor said.

Back trouble restricted Muzarabani’s playing time with Northants, but the injury did not affect the learning process.

On the field, Ben Sanderson showed him how to bowl a full length in English conditions. Off the field, he formed a tight bond with Saif Zaib, Jack White and Ben Curran, the latter now a Zimbabwe team-mate.

Even when he could not play for Northants, the county still put Muzarabani to work.

“When I was injured I was touring the sponsorship boxes at Northampton,” he says. “I’d go in there and start conversations with fans. It really helped me to communicate, how to carry myself as a professional – outside cricket, just being a good human being.”

Brexit ended the Kolpak era and Muzarabani returned to the plan to resume his international career. He was back in Zimbabwe colours in late 2020, a “better bowler” for his sojourn in England.

Now his career is really gathering pace. A growing reputation as a white-ball operator has earned Muzarabani an Indian Premier League deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore, under coach and compatriot Andy Flower. Muzarabani will head for India straight after the Test in Nottingham.

The whip in Muzarabani’s action have led to comparisons with South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. With his height and skid, they may be more similarities with former England pace bowler Steven Finn.

Zimbabwe’s chequered past means there are few very meaningful statistics to overhaul, although Muzarabani has the chance to carve his niche. This year no team play more than Zimbabwe’s 11 Tests, meaning he can build from his current 51 wickets towards becoming only the second bowler from the country to reach 100.

The other to top three figures, external is Heath Streak, his 216 unlikely to be overhauled. Even Streak cannot match Muzarabani’s average of 21.84, by far the lowest of any Zimbabwe bowler to have sent down at least 60 overs in Test cricket.

Zimbabwe have not played a Test against England since 2003.

Before then some of the country’s most famous cricketing moments came against the English: Eddo Brandes at the 1992 World Cup, England coach David Lloyd proclaiming “we flipping murdered ’em” in the first drawn Test with the scores level in Bulawayo in 1996.

And 2025?

“England are one of the best teams in the world,” says Muzarabani. “We believe in ourselves. We believe can win. We just have bring our ‘A’ game to beat these guys.”