US president Donald Trump's criticism of American football players who kneel during the national anthem has sparked a mass increase in such protests around the NFL, as about 200 players sat, knelt or raised their fists in defiance.

Rookie kicker Younghoe Koo missed a last-gasp field goal for the second successive game as the Los Angeles Chargers lost their home opener 19-17 to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Sometime in the not distant future, they will become the Las Vegas Raiders. Until then, likely in 2020, Mark Davis’ team belongs to Oakland. Well, sort of.

Las Vegas will be home to an NFL franchise after the league's 32 owners approved the relocation of the Oakland Raiders.

A woman has told a jury that raiders threatened her and her ten week old baby that they would “blow their heads off”.

The Pittsburgh Steelers clinched their NFL play-off place with a last-gasp win over the Baltimore Ravens - but reigning champions the Denver Broncos were dumped out and embarrassed by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo did not miss a beat as he stepped in for the suspended Tom Brady in his first NFL start and led the New England Patriots to a 23-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

The Pittsburgh Steelers came on strong in the fourth quarter on Sunday night for a 42-21 NFL triumph over Cincinnati that blew open the AFC North division race.

Former Arsenal footballer Ian Wright has revealed his MBE was among treasured memorabilia stolen by masked raiders who held a knife to his wife's throat and threatened to cut her and their two daughters' fingers off.

Almost Christmas. Deck the halls.

Gardaí are investigating a cash-in-transit robbery in Ratoath, Co Meath.

I was going to kick off this Monday by saying that mental health had popped up on the agenda once again last week, but it doesn’t seem to drift too far from the agenda at any stage nowadays.

Gardaí have confirmed that 850 blank NCT certificates were taken in a raid during which staff and motorists waiting for their cars to be tested were threatened.

It’s December.

A good friend lives on Dean Street and has watched with dread as this stadium has gradually risen almost literally on her doorstep.

A minimum 10-year jail term should be imposed on criminals involved in tiger kidnappings, Fianna Fáil has said.

MM: How important is a winning pro franchise to a city?

GARDAÍ are investigating reports that raiders burned down a well-known pub after robbing €50,000 in bank holiday weekend takings.

There has been a hold-up of a cash-in-transit van within the past hour in Finglas, Dublin.

IT BEGAN as one of the worst NFL games anybody in the 80,000-strong crowd is likely to have seen, but ended with a thrilling finish and the possible emergence of a new star.

An investigation is has begun today after a bank robbery in Dublin.

Raiders wielding knives escaped with cash from a bank in Oldcastle Co Meath, it has been revealed.

THE Tennessee Titans remained unbeaten in the NFL as Rob Bironas booted a 41-yards field goal to seal a 19-16 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.

A considerable sum of money is believed to have been stolen during a raid on a cash-in-transit van near Dublin Airport this morning.

David Beckham will have to become both a celebrity and a sporting icon if he is to make football the staple diet in households across the United States, according to one of America’s most-watched presenters Fernando Fiore.

ARMED raiders got away with an estimated €5,000 cash in a post office raid in south Dublin yesterday.

World number one golfer Tiger Woods has added his support for David Beckham’s move to Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy – insisiting it will provide a boost to both the city and football in America.

INDIANAPOLIS Colts quarterback Peyton Manning provided the fourth-quarter heroics, Santana Moss’s overtime catch won it for the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens rallied to win the clash of unbeaten teams.

A security van was today targeted in a robbery at a bank in south Belfast.

UP to £40 million was stolen from a security depot yesterday in the biggest cash heist in British history.

NEW YORK Jets quarterback Chad Pennington dug himself and his team out of a hole in the fourth quarter on Sunday night to hand coach Herman Edwards his first victory of the fledgling NFL season.

Gardaí were today searching for an armed gang who tied up the security man at a greyhound track and robbed the night’s takings.

GARDAÍ are investigating suspicions that the gang behind Monday’s multi-million euro heist may have had inside information, sources said yesterday.

Raiders have staged an armed robbery at a bank in the grounds of University College Dublin this evening.

Dublin Airport is believed to be reviewing its security after raiders sneaked past customs by crawling through the ventilation system.

THE Green Bay Packers are heading to the National Football League playoffs, with a little help from the Arizona Cardinals and, as quarterback Brett Favre said, maybe a little help from a guardian angel.

ARMED robbers last night fired a shot in the plush Dublin hotel where the Irish senior soccer squad is staying ahead of tomorrow's international friendly game against Canada.

LITTLE wonder the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are congratulating themselves on getting a bargain in head coach Jon Gruden.

Police in riot gear fired tear gas and rubber bullets at rowdy Oakland Raiders fans who took to the streets last night after their team lost the Super Bowl.

TAMPA Bay broke the bank to get coach Jon Gruden from Oakland last year, and next Sunday Gruden will lead the Buccaneers in their first Super Bowl — against a Raiders team he himself shaped.