It's a bad day to be a feral hog. At least when Shaquille O'Neal is around.

The 7-foot-1 NBA legend spent a night hunting hogs in East Texas last week with the crew behind Texas_NightHunter. And according to Shaq, he didn't need much help locating his target.

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"I smell pigs," O'Neal says into the camera while standing in the darkness. "Some people need nightvision. I am the nightvision."

Moments later, Shaq fires his gun before eventually walking over to a hog on the ground and finishing it off.

CONTENT WARNING: The video below contains graphic footage of a hog being shot and killed.

For the record, we at OutKick OutDoors do not condone the no-look discharge of a firearm under any circumstances. Please do not do that.

The hunt took place near Paris, Texas, according to a Facebook post highlighting O'Neal's outing. He joined East Texas native Matthew Prescott and other members of the local crew, which has previously taken notable guests — including two-time Super Bowl champion Torrey Smith — out hunting.

And while Shaq stalking pigs in the dark makes for entertaining content, knocking down feral hogs in Texas is also doing landowners a favor.

A very, very big favor.

Texas has the largest feral hog population in the United States, with millions of the invasive animals roaming the state. Texas A&M AgriLife has reported that feral hogs cause more than $670 million in annual agricultural losses, while landowners spend an additional estimated $130 million or more each year trying to control them and repair the damage they leave behind.

The animals tear up crops, pastures, fences, roads and waterways, damage habitat used by native wildlife and can carry diseases capable of affecting livestock, wildlife and humans.

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They're also notoriously difficult to control.

Feral hogs reproduce quickly, have few natural predators and have dramatically expanded their range. Texas A&M researchers have previously estimated that roughly two-thirds of a population would need to be removed annually for several consecutive years just to keep the numbers from growing.

So Texas isn't exactly worried about hunters like Shaq taking too many.

There are no closed seasons or bag limits for feral hogs on private property, and a hunting license is not required when hunters have landowner authorization. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department even specifically promotes nighttime hog hunting, noting that the animals become increasingly nocturnal during the hot summer months.

This also wasn't O'Neal's first rodeo — or "Shaqfari," as he calls it.

Hunting has been a longtime hobby for the four-time NBA champion. Over the years, O'Neal has hunted everything from waterfowl to wild boar and goats. He even devoted a section of his 2001 autobiography, "Shaq Talks Back," to his hunting adventures.

And if there were ever any question about whether a Hall of Fame big man belongs in the wilderness, O'Neal also tested that theory back in 2016 when he joined survivalist Bear Grylls for an episode of "Running Wild." Shaq trekked through the Adirondacks, climbed a massive rock face and spent the night sleeping outside in the woods.

So this wasn't some celebrity photo-op where Shaq showed up, held a rifle and went home.

The man just really loves a Shaqfari.

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It turns out Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson doesn't feel so great about the idea of playing "17 away games" after all, so he opened his press conference on Monday addressing his comments aimed at the team's fans and offered something of an apology.

Sort of.

Probably more an explanation.

DESHAUN WATSON FIRES BACK AT BROWNS FANS AFTER HE'S BOOED AT HOME

Whatever it was, once Watson was selected the team's starting quarterback on Monday morning, he got the message that ripping the fan base is not such a good idea – even if they booed him before, during and after he played in Saturday's preseason game.

"First off, I want to address the comments from Saturday after the game," Watson said to begin his presser. "I think just human nature and myself being very emotional, putting a lot of time these last two years to get back, spend time in this facility, in the city, meeting a lot of different people in the community, I thought I was going to get a little different response.

"But I think my emotions got the best of me, and my comments weren’t intended to go at any of the fans around the city, because there’s been a lot of great fans that have been supporting me."

Waiting for the apology.

"And I know the frustration. This organization put a lot of investment into getting me back in ’22, and things haven’t been going the right direction that we thought it would. A lot of injuries, a lot of time off, and not putting my best football and my best foot forward.

"So, again, I understand the frustration, I understand everything that goes into that."

BROWNS PICK DESHAUN WATSON AS THEIR STARTING QB DESPITE BOOING INCIDENT

Yeah, this an explanation. Not an apology for saying the fans had gotten "personal," and made him feel some sort of way about their reactions, which he deemed "disrespectful."

"I feel like I get more love on road games than I do at home games," Watson said at one point on Saturday. "So, if it is my [starting job] ... maybe it’s 17 away games, then."

To be clear: Browns fans have not embraced Watson for a number of reasons. He came to the team with a history of lawsuits tied to sexual abuse claims by nearly two dozen massage therapists in Houston.

He was suspended by the NFL 11 games and fined after he reached a settlement with those therapists as part of civil court proceedings.

Then Watson injured his shoulder in 2023, forcing him to miss 11 games. He tore his Achilles tendon in 2024, forcing him to miss 10 games. And he tore the same tendon again in 2025, forcing him to miss the entire season.

All this by a player who cost the Browns six draft picks in trade, including three first-rounders, and a fully guaranteed $230 million contract.

So, excuse the Dawg Pound if it took a big doodie on Watson by booing him on Saturday.

"Moving forward, I just want to focus on football, making sure that I’m putting the best product out there, having the best ability because I thrive off the energy," Watson said. "I thrive off the energy of the fans, I thrive off the energy of the community, I thrive off all that stuff.

"...I want to make sure I put the best product out there for the team, for the organization, and for the city, so we can put [out] a lot of wins, and celebrate, and put Cleveland on the map."

FOLLOW ARMANDO SALGUERO ON X: @ARMANDOSALGUERO

'Nightcaps' is a daily column that catches you up on the biggest sports, news and culture stories you may have missed while pretending to do work at your desk. It runs Monday–Friday on OutKick.com.

Listen ... Just listen.

You hear it? You smell it? Really listen closely ...

It's officially college football week. We've made it. It's our first real game week since January. Really, it's our first one since December. I don't want to hear a single word about "It's only Week Zero!"

UNC WANTED THE DEION SANDERS EFFECT WITH BILL BELICHICK, ALONG WITH WINS. IT GOT SOMETHING MUCH DIFFERENT

Hogwash. Last I checked, we're getting a noon ESPN game featuring Bill Belichick on Saturday. That ain't Week 0. That's football.

We're back. We've made it. Last Saturday was our last Saturday without college football until 2027. Time to lock it in, boys and girls. Move over, WNBA, the real #content machine is back ...

... But first, welcome to a Monday Nightcaps — the one where Sophie Cunningham stuns in a backless halter top and then surpasses Caitlin Clark in social media followers.

What a day! Oh yeah. Something else happened in the WNBA last night. Honestly, I just don't feel like getting into it today. I'm tired. It's football season. I'm gonna sit this one out (sort of).

What else? I've got Trump angering the left by waving the green flag along the streets of D.C., Deshaun Watson somehow survived his asinine postgame presser to become the Browns' starter today (sorry, Cleveland fans), and Jon Gruden was BACK in the booth over the weekend.

And buddy, he was incredible. Here's an idea, CBS: Maybe pair him with Jim Nantz. Just a thought.

OK, let's get rolling. I've inexplicably got a fantasy football draft tonight even though it's Aug. 24. Unreal.

Grab you a waffle for National Waffle Day, and settle in for a Monday 'Cap!

Big day in the world of fast food, or whatever it is you consider Chick-fil-A. Is it fast food? It's a step above, for sure, but I don't know what I'd call it.

Anyway, they're rolling out their big Chicken & Waffles AND S'mores Milkshake today to coincide with National Waffle Day. Gives me a stomach ache just thinking about it, but I reckon it'll be good. Lord knows it'll be an absolute pleasure ordering it.

I maintain that there is no better food service business on the planet than Chick-fil-A. They are just incredible.

Anyway, let me know if you pop on over to one today and try it out. I don't see myself indulging any time soon given it's 110 degrees in Florida right now and Chicken & Waffles sounds just horrible, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

OK, now that the important stuff is out of the way, let's get this class started with Sophie Cunningham going with the backless top on social media before last night's game, and then surpassing Caitlin Clark in a big way when the dust settled:

That number says 4 million, folks. Why is that big? It now puts Sophie in second place in terms of follower count in all of the WNBA, ahead of Caitlin Clark.

Angel Reese is No. 1, for those wondering. She has over 5 million. Fair is fair, and I have to be fair to Angel here. The data says she's still No. 1. Kudos to her.

As for Sophie Cunningham, it's pretty clear she's a rocket ship right now in terms of popularity. The minority hates her, but don't be fooled, they are the minority. The data says she's a few months away from taking over the top spot in the WNBA. It's only a matter of time.

And when that happens, we can really start to laugh at people like this:

"The moment the league didn’t discipline Sophie Cunningham for her transphobic comments, they set the table for almost all of this political discourse and nastiness towards the trans community. Her conduct has objectively been detrimental to the league."

That's a real person, by the way. Chris Williamson is an "Emmy-nominated" sportscaster, per his X bio (which also features a picture of Angel Reese as the header).

Hilarious.

Again, let's quickly go back and see what those "transphobic" comments were in the original ESPN story:

"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that.’ I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men."

That's it! Those are the transphobic comments! These people are the best. They're just the best. I can't get enough.

Speaking of delusional liberals, let's check in with Adam Schiff, who had a meltdown yesterday because Donald Trump waved the green flag for the IndyCar race in DC:

"While you struggle with the cost of gas, Trump offers you the spectacle of an IndyCar race hoping you will not notice," Shifty Schiff posted on Elon's X. "More taxpayer money spent on his self-aggrandizing distractions. And you get higher taxes and higher costs."

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Hey, Shifty, cool it. Can we just enjoy some Freedom 250 racing action in peace, pal? It's a Sunday. We don't need to be serious every single day of the week. It's OK to give it a rest on a Sunday.

Looking at you, WNBA.

OK, let's rapid-fire this Monday class into a big Monday night of drafting an auction draft that I am 0% prepared for because it was sprung on me last night. Should end well!

First up? How about the NUTS on the Browns declaring Deshaun Watson QB1 after he took a blowtorch to the fanbase over the weekend?

That last one is the thing that really sticks out to me. Deshaun Watson isn't a good QB anymore. It's been YEARS since he was actually good at football. Years. And I was a huge Watson guy out of college.

But he's just genuinely bad at football now. Mix in just some ridiculous shots at a fanbase that has every single right in the world to despise him, and it's bonkers to me that they'd still name his the starter for Week 1.

Granted, Shedeur Sanders is no better at football, but at least he'd buy you a little grace with the fans.

I feel bad for old OutKick (and Nightcaps!) writer, Anthony Farris. I still talk to Anthony every day. He's hanging in there.

And by that, I mean he's miserable.

Next? You know who isn't miserable? Jon Gruden. How great was it to have Gruden back in the booth this weekend?

Nobody could break down a play better than Gruden back in the old MNF days. He was elite. One of one. Clearly, he still has the fastball. Lordy, I missed him.

Hey, CBS — I found your Romo replacement. Easiest call in the history of time.

You're welcome!

Now, let's go have a big week.

Is Week 0 the real start of the season? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) will hold Lockdown at the Credit I Union Arena in Chicago on Sunday night.

It will be the first time the event is held since 2016 and the first time it is held as a pay-per-view event since 2014. It is one of the most unique events on the TNA calendar.

COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON OUTKICK

Each match will be held in a steel cage, which provides the opportunity for devastating moments.

Lockdown will begin at 5 p.m. ET and will broadcast on TNA+. TNA’s digital platforms will show the pre-show matches for free.

Read below to get a crash course on the match card.

==

Avery Styles, the son of legendary WWE and TNA star A.J. Styles, is set to appear at Lockdown, TNA announced on Saturday. It’s unclear what role he will play on the card. Styles has just started his pro wrestling career but has only appeared in Game Changer Wrestling.

==

The Lockdown pay-per-view will feature two pre-show matches and a dark match. On the pre-show, BDE and Rich Swann will take on The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) and Special Agent 0 will go up against Trey Miguel. Both matches will still take place inside the steel cage.

In the dark match, Joe Alonzo will take on The Home Town Man for the AAW Heavyweight Championship. Alonso is the champion in the match and if he retains, he will earn a TNA contract.

Predictions: The Righteous take care of BDE and Swann, while Miguel picks up the win over Special Agent 0. Meanwhile, Alonzo will beat Home Town Man.

==

The Hardys will put their world tag team championship on the line against another pair of brothers – the Nemeths, who are looking to start a second reign as tag champs. Nic Nemeth is already the TNA world champion and will hold two title belts should he win this match. The Hardys have held the tag titles since Slammiversary in June. It is their fifth reign.

Prediction: The Hardys keep the titles.

==

With Rosemary on the shelf, Allie will have to find a partner to help her defend the Knockouts World Tag Team Championship. It could be anyone stepping up to help Allie. The Elegance Brand is looking to return gold around their waists in this match. Allie and Rosemary (known as DemonXBunny) won the titles over the challengers at Slammiversary.

Prediction: Allie and her mystery partner will retain the titles.

==

It will be a classic grudge match between two of the hardest hitters on the TNA roster. Francis had been meddling in Elijah’s music career for a few weeks and their feud has gone from the studio to the ring. Elijah took out Expressions and helped Home Town Man defeat the former NFL player as well. It will be the Final Encore between these two.

Prediction: Francis picks up the win over Elijah.

==

Jason Hotch shocked the pro wrestling world when he dethroned Mustafa Ali for the TNA International Championship on "Impact" a few weeks ago. Ali, who has since made his rivalry with Hotch a bit personal, has been hellbent on getting the title back. Inside a steel cage, Hotch and Ali will likely put on another banger.

Prediction: Hotch retains the title

==

It’s hard to imagine that Frankie Kazarian and Moose, two pro wrestlers who have been in TNA for quite some time, have never faced each other. But there will be some history to make. The two stars will be thrust into an Escape the Cage match. The first person to exit the cage will win the match.

Prediction: Kazarian will be the one escaping the cage first

==

When Cedric Alexander captured the TNA X Division Championship, he ended Leon Slater’s chance at becoming the longest-reigning X Division title-holder in the company’s history. Alexander has kept the belt since then and is going to go a step further in his attempt to put Slater in the rearview. He granted Slater’s demand for a title rematch with a stipulation. If Slater loses, his previous title reign will be deleted from the history books.

Prediction: Alexander finishes his feud with Slater.

==

Any steel cage match will bring pain to the competitors who are in them. But in this one, Lethal Lockdown will add a different level of violence. Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers, Bear Bronson and Alisha Edwards (known as The System) will look to dispatch the group of Ricky Sosa, Fabian Aichner, KC Navarro and Jada Stone. There is bound to be chaos as the men and women hit the ring. It’s the first Lethal Lockdown in 10 years.

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Prediction: The System still proves that no one will be able to beat it.

==

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Xia Brookside has been a thorn in Elayna Black’s side for the last few weeks. Brookside has made clear she is going to make an impact on the roster during her TNA Knockouts World Championship reign regardless of who it is. Elayna Black enters the match in her hometown and has previously expressed looking forward to the cage match.

Prediction: Brookside keeps the belt.

While the first practice session gave teams a chance to try out the wet tires, the second practice session started with a nice dry track, just hours before qualifying.

And while more than a few drivers had moments earlier in the day, the first major moment of the weekend came when Graham Rahal's No. 15 Honda brought out a red flag.

As the veteran approached a braking zone, the rear of his car stepped out and hit the wall, which ultimately left him stranded in the run-off area just ten minutes into the session.

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That unfortunately cost Rahal some valuable track time before qualifying gets underway.

The lap times really ramped up in the second practice session thanks to the dry track, but also drivers getting more familiar with the deceptively tricky seven-turn street circuit.

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The same part of the track — the braking zone into Turn 6 — also caught out Rahal's RLL teammate Louis Foster.

He lost control of his car after hitting a bump on the track surface that sent him into the inside wall, damaging his front wing, and bringing out the second red flag of the session.

However, unlike Rahal, Foster managed to get his car to the pits after the entire nose had been removed, allowing the team to take a look at his car and get him back on track.

That bump into Turn 6 is going to be something that drivers will really be paying attention to in both qualifying and the race on Sunday.

Team Penske saved their best for last, sending Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Chevrolet late in the "all-skate" session to drop the fastest lap of the day to that point, a 56.895 on the primary tire.

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In the next part of practice, it was time for some drivers to start throwing on the faster, alternate tires, giving us a taste of their single-lap qualifying pace.

After both groups took to the track, it was Alex Palou leading the way with a 56.615 on brand new red alternate tires, while right behind him was Kyle Kirkwood, whose fastest lap of the session was a 56.691 on the primary.

It looks like Kirkwood, known to be one of the series' street aces, might have a little pace left in that car, but how qualifying shakes out will be anyone's guess.

A civil liberties group that advocates for free speech is cautioning against letting concerns over former Cambridge professor Jason Arday's death turn into media censorship.

In an interview with Fox News Digital Thursday, Senior Scholar for Global Expression at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Sarah McLaughlin detailed how there has been a major push for censorship in the United Kingdom in the wake of Arday's death. 

"And there's a few different avenues this is coming from," she said. "There are some activist groups and nonprofits who are pushing for a government inquiry into the press and into what kind of process media outlets engaged in that led them to producing all this coverage about him and about the allegations, about plagiarism and other things about his life. 

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"But it's also been picked up by a number of politicians who have signed on to petitions about media inquiries."

Last week, the former university professor was found dead at a south London address. Though his death was treated as "unexpected," Metropolitan Police informed BBC News that it was "not believed to be suspicious," leading some to suspect Arday died by his own hand.

This came just days after Arday announced that he would be resigning from the University of Cambridge after the school announced an investigation into his academic qualifications and honorary appointments amid plagiarism accusations. In a statement, he suggested "public scrutiny" of him was a factor in his resignation.

"Sadly, the years since my appointment have also been marked by an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack. While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement. The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love," Arday wrote.

After his reported death, some have suggested that the press was partially to blame for Arday's death, and members of the U.K.'s Green Party have pushed for measures to reform "media power" in response.

Arday's resignation was covered extensively in the media, in the U.K., the U.S. and other countries. There were also open questions about his biography, which included claims that critics and media reports alleged ranged from exaggerated to fabricated.

Now, more than 133,000 people as of Friday afternoon have signed a petition from the U.K. nonprofit the Good Law Project, which demands a public inquiry to "ensure a responsible press" after Arday's death. It cited the coverage it felt happened after his resignation "when the reasonable public interest in the story had diminished or evaporated."

"His tragic death did not result from the allegations of plagiarism but from the press coverage," the petition states. "There cannot be any doubt that racism lay at the heart of this story."

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McLaughlin, who covered the topic in an essay for FIRE Thursday, emphasized that while it was "reasonable" to criticize and push back on media for inaccurate reporting, censorship was not the solution.

"The U.K. already does censor quite a lot of speech. So, you know, there's a certain point where people might say, ‘OK, well, we already censor this. What more could we be censoring to stop this from happening again?’ And I think that's really the wrong lesson to learn from this," McLaughlin told Fox News Digital.

"I don't see how that would work at all, if I'm being honest. But also imagine what kind of tool that could be for bad actors who want to silence their critics, who want to silence people talking about bad conduct or even crimes. 

"And, so, I think people just need to remember that there are ways that we can approach this. There are ways we can challenge coverage that we think is wrong, but giving the government power to censor speech, to censure the press, it won't fix this. But it will just create more problems."

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Media critics after Arday's death included controversial author and anti-racism activist Ibram X. Kendi, who wrote in an essay for The Emancipator last week that the "White-owned, mainstream media" had "lynched" Arday.

"To be a prominent antiracist Black scholar is to know you are a target, almost totally surrounded by resentments. You know that at any point, the attacks can come like a lynch mob. And if you die from all the attacks, the media still calls the attacks on you ‘accusations’ to wash their hands of the blood. Your lynchers announce your death as if they had no role in your lynching," Kendi wrote.

McLaughlin said people are still free to criticize and challenge media with their own freedom of speech.

"The press has rights, and so do their critics. And, so, people who don't like what these outlets have been writing, they can unsubscribe," she said. 

"They can challenge them. If they don't like what media commentators have been saying or writing about Arday, I think they can point it out and say, 'You're wrong, you're being cruel.' That's their right. 

"But I do not think people have thought through what it would look [like] to get the kind of censorship they're asking for."

Rep. Jared Moskowitz hit back Thursday after Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., claimed the Florida Democrat is "scared to death" of his party's socialist wing and would take marching orders from far-left streamer Hasan Piker if re-elected.

"Rick doesn't know what he's talking about there," Moskowitz said Thursday on "Fox & Friends."

"Nobody in my district believes that I'm a Hasan Piker guy. Hasan would want nothing to do with me. I want nothing to do with Hasan, so, at the end of the day, Rick just doesn't know what he's talking about."

PIKER DEMANDS DEMOCRATS DEFEND HIM FROM ATTACKS, CLAIMS HE'S NO 'TOXIC RADICAL FORCE'

Scott made the remark during a FOX Business appearance Monday, arguing that whichever Democrat won the primary would do Piker's bidding.

"Moskowitz has been in there. He was in the House before. I assume he's going to win," Scott said on "Varney & Co."

"But just remember, whoever wins that seat, they’re going to vote the way Piker tells them to vote. .... They all support the platform of the Democrat socialists, because they’re scared to death of them."

Moskowitz has been described as a more "centrist" Democrat who is outspoken in his support of Israel and critical of many aligned with his party's more progressive flank, including Piker.

FLORIDA DEMOCRAT SAYS HIS STATE 'THANKFULLY' DOESN'T HAVE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS LIKE NEW YORK

After defeating Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed challenger Oliver Larkin, Moskowitz took a victory lap on X, sending mocking "condolences" to Piker.

Piker responded to Moskowitz's callout, writing, "its pretty wild that his first thought was a prominent critic of israel, before even thanking his constituents lmao. really worried about his genocidal emotional support apartheid state."

Moskowitz has continued to oppose the DSA agenda and its candidates, arguing that they are "anti-American at their core" and reiterating that Democratic leadership should "speak out" against the DSA agenda.

At the same time, he acknowledged an issue he believes mainstream Democrats cannot afford to ignore.

"There is an economic populist movement to the DSA, and we've got to recognize that we've got to talk about how people are struggling to afford the American way of life," he said.

Fox News' Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.