Former NFL player Sam Hurd hopes to avoid life sentence at hearing

Former Cowboys and Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to drug trafficking in April.

AP

The only positive development over the last 24 hours is that this high-stakes case about a well-regarded former football player has gotten us talking. And thinking. If social media and emails and calls and texts to SI over the last 24 hours are any indication, there were a great many more people praying for Hurd last night than were hoping that the key to his cell gets thrown away.