June 16, 2020 3:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – Roger Goodell would like to see Colin Kaepernick back in the NFL this season. The NFL commissioner said during ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” special on Monday that he is encouraging teams to sign the 32-year old quarterback, who hasn’t played the past three seasons. Kaepernick was with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016 when he kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said last week that he received a call from another team about Kaepernick. Carroll and the Seahawks brought in Kaepernick for a workout in 2017 and had another planned in 2018 before it was canceled. Goodell set up a tryout for Kaepernick in Atlanta last year for scouts of all 32 teams to attend, but it unraveled at the last moment due to lack of media access and what Kaepernick’s representatives saw as an unusual liability waiver.
June 15, 2020 3:47 am
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – The PGA Tour completed a safe and successful return to competition, and so did Daniel Berger. He made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole and then won the Charles Schwab Challenge by saving par behind the 17th hole in a playoff. Collin Morikawa, who missed a 6-foot putt in regulation for the win, missed a 3-foot par putt in the playoff. Berger closed with a 4-under 66, his 28th consecutive round at par or better dating to Oct. 11 at the Houston Open. Even over the final hour, a half-dozen players were still in the mix. All that was missing was the sound and energy of a gallery, with the PGA Tour not allowing spectators for the opening five events in its return. Commissioner Jay Monahan called it a phenomenal return because all 487 coronavirus tests at Colonial came back negative.
June 15, 2020 3:44 am
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – NFL free agent Antonio Brown will serve two years of probation for charges related to a fight with a moving truck driver outside his South Florida home earlier this year. As part of a deal with Broward County prosecutors, Brown pleaded no contest Friday to burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief. Brown was accused of attacking the driver. Hollywood police say Brown didn’t want to pay a $4,000 moving bill. Brown played nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before being traded. Off-the-field incidents derailed his attempts to play for the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots.
June 14, 2020 7:26 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield plans to kneel during the national anthem this upcoming season to support protests of social injustice, police brutality and racism. In answering a post from a fan on his Instagram account Saturday that pleaded with him not to kneel, Mayfield responded: “Pull your head out. I absolutely am.? Mayfield has been outspoken recently about the need for more understanding and justice in the nation following the killing of George Floyd, a black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis. On Friday, Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien said he would kneel with his players if they chose to do so during the anthem. Earlier this week, while not going as far as O’Brien, new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski made it clear he would back his players in any peaceful demonstrations.
June 14, 2020 7:26 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Baseball players told Major League Baseball additional talks to start the season during the coronavirus pandemic are futile and said owners should order a return to work, which likely would spark lengthy litigation and the sport’s return to labor wars. The union’s action could lead to a season of about 50 games rather than the 82 initially proposed by MLB. The Major League Baseball Players Association could respond by filing a grievance that would be heard by arbitrator Mark Irvings. Players and MLB agreed to a deal March 26 calling for prorated salaries. That deal gave baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred the right to start the season provided there were no travel restrictions and games could be played before fans in regular-season ballparks. It called for “good faith” negotiations to play in empty ballparks or neutral sites. MLB made three economic offers, the last Friday, and the union proposed two. The sides remain far apart on how much players should get of the $4 billion in salaries they originally were set to earn: MLB has offered to guarantee $1.27 billion and increase the total to $1.45 billion if the postseason is completed. Players want $2.25 billion. Players insist they should not have to accept additional cuts. A unilateral decision to start play could mean the playoffs would remain at 10 teams and not expand to 16, as both sides have proposed.
June 13, 2020 4:30 am
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Harold Varner III took his place in history in the PGA Tour’s technology era, all because of a triple bogey. Jordan Spieth had his lowest 36-hole score in four years. Rory McIlroy shot 63 with a bogey on his last hole. The strongest field of the year in golf’s return to competition produced an All-Star leaderboard at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Varner had plenty of juices flowing after his first tee shot on No. 10 went onto a bridge, led to a one-shot penalty, and eventually a triple bogey that quickly knocked him out of a share of the lead. No worries. He answered with eight birdies and a place in the record book with a 66. It was the lowest score on the PGA Tour by a player who began his round with a triple bogey. He was at 11-under 129, the lowest 36-hole score of his career. He heads into the third round with a one-shot lead over Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau. The PGA Tour has returned after three months because of the pandemic. And if the opening round felt like the first day of school, Friday was a small step toward normalcy, even without fans.
June 12, 2020 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – NHL training camps will open July 10 if the league and players’ union can reach an agreement to resume the season. Setting the date gives the 17% of players overseas time to make arrangements to return in light of U.S. and Canada quarantine regulations. The league and NHLPA said the July 10 start of camps is pending medical and safety conditions and agreeing on getting back to games. Camps are expected to run two to three weeks with games taking place in two “hub” cities without fans. If the league and players finalize a deal to return, games could resume in early August.
June 12, 2020 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel expects to be back when the NHL returns to play this summer. Guentzel feared his season was over in December when he injured his right shoulder immediately after scoring his 20th goal of the season. He underwent surgery the following day and expected to be out four to six months. But the league was paused in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, opening the door for Guentzel’s return. Guentzel says he is working on getting his legs back in shape but believes the Penguins “can do something special” when the playoffs begin.
June 11, 2020 4:03 am
Nick Gonzales knew that multiple mock drafts predicted the Pittsburgh Pirates would take him in the first round of the MLB Draft, and it started to feel real when he saw a photoshopped image of him in a Pirates uniform. When the New Mexico State middle infielder was still on the board Wednesday night, the Pirates used the No. 7 overall pick on a player who developed from a walk-on into one of college baseball’s best hitters. “Now, it’s a dream come true,” Gonzales said. “I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to do that. I’m kind of a comeback story. I was a walk-on. To lead into this, it’s awesome for me and awesome for kids who aren’t highly recruited in college or out of high school or whatever. It just proves to them that with hard work and determination it can really happen. Gonzales is renowned for his bat and plate discipline, as he slashed .448/.610/1.155 and led the NCAA in home runs (12), RBIs (36), runs (28) and total bases (67) in 16 games this season. He had 11 more walks than strikeouts and finished his career with an 82-game streak of reaching base.
June 11, 2020 3:59 am
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) – Martin Truex Jr. cruised down the stretch and won his first NASCAR Cup race of the season on Wednesday night in the first race under the lights at Martinsville Speedway.
Truex, the 2017 Cup champion, has been one of NASCAR’s biggest winners over the last three years, but failed to find victory lane for Joe Gibbs Racing over the first 10 races of this season.
Tick tock. The time ran out on the losing streak. Truex won the Martinsville grandfather clock on the paperclip-shaped track at just 0.526 miles. He won for the first time with new crew chief Jason Small. Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, who has two wins this season, and Joey Logano made it a 2-3-4 finish for Team Penske.
