Jackson Free Press

It was an exciting start to the NFL season last week. The first week of the season started with Dallas upsetting the New York Giants and ended the Raiders special teams handing a win to San Diego.

One thing that has changed over the last few years is the way we watch television. The days of must-see TV are becoming a thing of the past.

There are more ways than ever to watch the shows we love, though a few programs, such as “Game of Thrones” or “The Walking Dead,” still command a large viewership when they first air.

Now, with DVR, on-demand, streaming and other TV watching options, we have changed our viewing habits. One area where live TV still has going for it these days are sports.

Sure, you can re-watch or record a game, but you also have to worry about someone spoiling the score in person or on social media. The same can be said for most TV shows, but after knowing who won, it really makes it hard to watch a game. This is especially true if the team you were going to root for is the one who came up short on the scoreboard.

It is no secret that one of the top-rated TV programs is “Sunday Night Football” on NBC. Live sports has been a key factor that has kept a majority of people from “cutting the cord” from cable.

That has started to change as more people are still giving up cable and sports, due to the price or changes in viewing habits. The lure of live sports isn’t enough to keep people on cable packages.

Also helping cut the cord is Sling, which offers live streaming of ESPN, among other channels, for $20 a month. There is an add-on package for sports for $5 dollars a month.

As more cities get fiber-optic services, the drop in cable might be even more extreme. It could also force sports to cater more to streaming audiences who have gotten rid of their cable.

The NFL may be the first major sports entity to look to the future with its new deal with Twitter. Bloomberg first reported on the $10-million deal, which will allow Twitter to stream all 10 Thursday night NFL games.

The arrangement may be a win-win for the NFL and Twitter.

Twitter has struggled to attract and keep new users as their stock price has fallen, and the NFL gets a chance to try out streaming games while still offering the same programming on CBS, NBC and NFL Network.

The games will also be streamed on Twitter for free, which could be a way for the NFL to reach those cord-cutters and younger audiences that watch TV differently from their parents. This deal gives the NFL a way to test the streaming market before the company’s broadcast-rights agreement comes to an end in 2021.

Twitter won the right to the Thursday night games over streaming companies such as Amazon, Verizon Communications and Yahoo, which are better known for streaming shows and events than Twitter.

That $10-million bargain that Twitter signed is also important considering that Yahoo paid …

While we wait to hear about a possible deal between the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots for cornerback Malcolm Butler, the Saints still are working on fixing their defense, which was one of the worst in the league. It has gotten linebacker help with the poaching of former Carolina Panthers linebacker A.J. Klein.

New Orleans signed former San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Te’o to a two-year deal. No financial details have been released, but it seems like a good bet that the Saints got a good deal.

Te’o missed 13 games last season after tearing his Achilles tendon in week three of the season in a game against the Indianapolis Colts. The 26-year-old has spent a good deal of time on the injury list, as he has missed 26 games in his four-year career.

He is an impact player on defense and started 34 out of 38 games, when healthy, for the Chargers. After San Diego drafted him in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, the linebacker amassed 221 tackles, 2 interceptions and 1.5 sacks. Te’o was named co-captain of the Chargers for the 2016-2017 season.

New Orleans is starting to get a logjam at linebacker with Te’o, Klein and returning starter Craig Robinson, who all play inside linebacker. The Saints could try to move one player to outside linebacker, but will Te’o have the speed after the Achilles injury?

The Saints, barring another trade, still have two first-round draft picks to use in late April. New Orleans is making an effort to improve its defensive unit.

Te’o was a star at the University of Notre Dame and led his team during his senior season of 2012 to the national championship game. He finished second for the Heisman Trophy that season.

Casual fans might remember the linebacker being misled in one of the more public versions of “catfishing” (when someone pretends to be someone else on the Internet and enters in online relationships with others. MTV produces a show on the subject.)

The linebacker thought he was having an online relationship with a woman, but in truth the woman wasn’t real, and he was being deceived. Things got worse. He told people that his girlfriend, who wasn’t real, had died. In real life, his grandmother had died around the same time.

It was one of the more bizarre sports stories in the last few years. Many believed the linebacker was in on the hoax until it was proven that he had been tricked.

Since entering the league, Te’o hasn’t be involved in any strange stories. The only time he makes the news is for playing or being hurt.

New Orleans doesn’t have to worry about him bring bad press because he has been drama free since joining the league four years ago. But the hoax of a fake-dead girlfriend might be what the public eventually remembers about the linebacker.