FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Cornerback Josh Norman wore a wrestling mask and got into a heated debate with Hall-of-Fame-player-turned-television-analyst Deion Sanders about a regular-season incident with New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham.

Quarterback Cam Newton turned a towel into a bandanna. And when asked if he was the LeBron James of the NFL, Newton said, “Why can’t LeBron be the Cam Newton of power forwards?”

He also defended a comment made the previous week about his success as an African-American quarterback because it “may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing they can compare me to.”

This was the NFC champion Carolina Panthers at Super Bowl 50 media night a year ago.

Don’t expect the same type of colorful comments from New England and Atlanta at Super Bowl LI’s media night on Monday, particularly from the Falcons.

Second-year Atlanta coach Dan Quinn tried last week to get ahead of the media circus his players will face in Houston by simulating some of the crazy questions they may get.

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Fabled Dutch manager Louis van Gaal is reportedly set to retire from coaching after a 30-year career despite receiving a £44-million offer to manage in Asia, according to the Guardian.

The Ex-Manchester United boss has been out of work since leaving in May of 2016 and being replaced by Jose Mourinho, and says that he is now ready to call it a day, citing his family as the reason for his decision.

“I could go there, but I’m still here,” Van Gaal said of a possible overseas move. “So much has happened in my family.”

After leaving Old Trafford, Van Gaal suggested he would look for work elsewhere but has seemingly reconsidered as the Guardian reports, by way of Dutch newspaper the Telegraaf, that the death of his daughter’s husband has changed his mind.

“I thought maybe I would stop, then I thought it would be a sabbatical, but now I do not think I will return to coaching,” he said, as quoted by the Guardian.

The former Netherlands, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Ajax manager has enjoyed a long and trophy-laden coaching career, where he won the Dutch Eredivisie four times with two clubs, La Liga twice, the Bundesliga once, as well as an FA Cup with United, among other pieces of silverware.

He also guided Holland to a third-place finish in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

New Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard intends to keep Chuck Pagano in 2017 before re-evaluating the coach for the 2018 season, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

While Colts owner Jim Irsay announced Jan. 21 that Pagano would return next season, there was some belief that Ballard would choose to dismiss Pagano and hire his own coach. Instead, the new general manager appears content to give Pagano one more season to prove himself.

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  The Colts will have to rebuild their roster through the draft, and Chris Ballard’s body of work suggests that he is up to the task.

Tianjin Quanjian owner Shu Yuhui rues the rule change in the Chinese Super League that has further restricted the usage of foreign players, dashing hopes of signing Diego Costa.

The latest reports suggest Costa will likely leave Chelsea in the summer transfer window following controversy over an apparent spat with the club’s medical staff amid interest from China. However, from March, the number of foreign players a Super League team is allowed to field at one time will be reduced, meaning a move there – or to Tianjin, at least – is off the table.

Shu’s apparent efforts to sign Paris Saint-Germain’s in-form forward Edinson Cavani, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, AS Monaco’s Radamel Falcao, and Benfica’s Raul Jimenez have also fallen by the wayside.

“Our club had a massive investment plan for the new season but it was tightened up by the new rules,” Shu told Tianjin Sports Channel, with translation from ESPN FC’s Michael Church.

“I made an appointment with (agent Jorge) Mendes and he came to my hometown to visit me. At that time, we were interested in signing Costa.”

The new rule, imposed by the Chinese Football Association to curb “irrational investment,” follows in the wake of Oscar’s £60-million switch from Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG and various other deals that have tempted leading internationals from Europe to Asia for vast sums.

At Tianjin Quanjian, a newly promoted outfit managed by World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, signing Costa or another overseas player would’ve necessitated difficult juggling of personnel between Brazilians Jadson and Geuvanio, Belgian Axel Witsel, and South Korean defender Kyung-Won Kwon.

(Courtesy: @MailSport)

“We need an out-and-out striker so we made a bid for Benzema. We also made an attempt for Falcao,” Shu said. “As a matter of fact, the club had even prepared the contracts for Falcao and Raul Jimenez, but the new rules forced us to give up on them.”

For some deals, the opportunity to complete a transfer would’ve come not before the league’s kickoff in March, but when European divisions conclude their campaigns in the summer.

“PSG told us Cavani would only be allowed to leave in June, even though the player himself was willing to join us,” Shu explained. “The same can be said for Costa because Chelsea will also only let him leave in June.”

He added, in quotes picked up by Sky Sports’ Patrick Surlis: “We couldn’t afford to wait half a season. We continue to wait and suffer, but at the end of the day, we’ll get someone.”