Philadelphia Eagles sign Canadian rugby player Adam Zaruba to three-year deal
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles have signed Canadian rugby sevens player Adam Zaruba to a three-year contract.
Things are moving quickly for the 26-year-old from North Vancouver, who began a tryout Sunday with the NFL team as a tight end. With the contract in place, the Eagles say they are now waiting on a visa for Zaruba.
The six-foot-five 265-pounder played football at high school and briefly at Simon Fraser University before focusing on rugby.
Zaruba follows in the footsteps of Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne who spent a year with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015 as a running back and return specialist.
Zaruba is a big man who can move at speed.
He turned heads last year at the Paris Sevens when he soared into the air and pulled down the ball with one hand from a Canadian restart without breaking stride.
Fox Sports in Australia called it “one of the most remarkable catches in sevens history.” Sky Sports described it as “stunning.”
His Canadian rugby teammates called Zaruba “the Freak” — or Zoobs charitable.
“Physically, I’m a bit of an anomaly,” Zaruba told The Canadian Press last year. “You don’t really have big guys playing sevens.” if they’re feeling
Rivera: Newton lighter, more confident and ready to throw
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Panthers coach Ron Rivera says he’s looking forward to a lighter, more confident Cam Newton testing out his surgically repaired throwing arm on Wednesday night.
Newton reported to training camp on Tuesday at Wofford College at 246 pounds — lighter than he has been in years — and Rivera said the league’s 2015 MVP is on schedule in his rehab and should be ready to practice right away.
“Cam had a good week last week (throwing) from what I understand,” Rivera said. “So I am excited to see him in action.”
Rivera said head athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion has a plan for Newton this summer, but wouldn’t elaborate on the details. But it’s clear the Panthers will limit his reps in some capacity, at least at the beginning of training camp.
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Kylie Masse didn’t know how special her race was, that she was making history as she completed the 100-metre backstroke in a world record time of 58.10 seconds on Tuesday.
“I touched the wall and I looked back and I had to make sure I was looking at the right name and the right time,” Masse said on a conference call. “In the moment, I don’t even know what I was thinking, but excitement and joy.”
With the win, Masse became Canada’s first-ever world champion in a women’s swimming event and the country’s first world record holder since Annamay Pierse set the standard in the women’s 200metre breaststroke in 2009. She broke the oldest world record in women’s swimming, the 58.12 seconds set by British backstroker Gemma Spofforth on July 28, 2009, during the height of the tech suit era.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” said Masse, who finished well ahead of silver medallist Kathleen Baker of the U.S. (58.58) and Australia’s Emily Seebohm (59.59.)
“I was really just focusing on my start. I’ve been working really hard on it, so just executing that well and just the first 50, controlled fast speed, then really building on the last 50 and the last 15 metres into the finish.”
The wins caps an incredible 12-month run for the 21-yearold from LaSalle, Ont., who won bronze in the event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and silver at the 2016 short course world championships in Windsor last December, where she also won silver in the 4x100-metre medley relay. She is the third Canadian woman to hold the 100-metre backstroke world record and the first since 1974, joining Wendy Cook and Elaine Tanner (twice in 1967.)
A year ago, she wouldn’t have thought this possible.
“I think definitely before the Olympics I wouldn’t have thought that (I could win a world title),” she said. “But, after the Olympics, I think I really saw that I belong in the final and I belong on the podium so, yeah, I think that just all comes with confidence. I think that, like, this entire year I felt better I guess about my racing. That all helped leading up to the championships.”
It also has helped, she said, to be part of strong group of female swimmers competing for Canada. The team left the Rio Olympics with six medals, including four by Penny Oleksiak.
“I think it was incredible last summer to be part of that Canadian team,” she said. “It really gave us confidence and momentum to show we belong on the international stage. I think we were trying to continue that momentum and continue that success into these championships.”
While Masse says a growing sense of confidence has made the biggest difference for her over the last year, she’s put in a lot of work with University of Toronto swimming coaches Byron MacDonald and Linda Kiefer. They’ve analyzed her stroke during practices, worked on her with video analysis.
“The smaller details would be things like my start and transition, from the underwater into the swimming, and the turn especially,” she said.
Most important to her this week were their final words of advice.
“They just said have fun,” she said. “All the training that I’ve done is behind me, this is the fun part and this is the best part, just racing. Having fun, I think that’s the most important, as well.”
When she spoke to the media, Masse had yet to see her parents, Cindy and Louie, who had travelled to Budapest to watch her compete. She said having them there made the win even sweeter — and if she didn’t get to see them for a while, they’d understand.
“My parents, I’m super grateful that they’re able to travel here and come and watch me,” she said. “They really just leave it up to me. They know swimming’s my thing. They kind of just cheer me on. They’re the best.”
Masse returns to Wednesday for the backstroke. the pool 50-metre