NFL reduces OT, rekindles TD fun
NFL owners cut the overtime period from 15 minutes to 10 minutes during the regular season but also gave players plenty of leeway to celebrate after a touchdown.
The two moves are expected to result in more ties and much more elaborate end zone dance parties.
At their regularly scheduled spring meeting yesterday in Chicago, the owners also decided to shift Super Bowl LV in the 2020 season to Tampa from Los Angeles, where construction delays have pushed back the expected opening of the new home for the Rams and Chargers. Those teams will now host the league’s showcase event for the 2021 season.
Also approved at the meeting was the Oakland Raiders lease for a stadium in Las Vegas, where the team is expected to play the 2020 season.
For all the maneuvering, end zone celebration talk generated the most buzz. After years of limiting how — and how much — players could celebrate following touchdowns, the league decided to loosen up its rules, allowing players to again use the football as a prop, celebrate as a group and roll around or flap their arms like snow angels on the ground again if they choose.
The shorter overtime period will be used in the preseason and regular season. Playoff games also will use 10-minute time blocks in overtime but won’t end in ties. . . .
The Tennessee Titans signed one of their two firstround draft picks by agreeing to terms with Southern California cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. ...
The New York Jets signed safety Marcus Maye and linebacker Dylan Donahue, leaving just two of their nine draft picks unsigned. . . .
Cortez Kennedy, one of the best defensive linemen of his generation and a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee despite rarely finding himself in the spotlight as a player, died. He was 48.
Police in Orlando, Fla., said the circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown but that there is nothing suspicious about his death.
UCLA gets two back
Center Thomas Welsh and reserve guard Aaron Holiday will return to UCLA after taking their names out of consideration for the NBA draft.
Neither hired an agent while exploring their draft stock. They announced their decisions a day before the deadline for withdrawing from the draft. . . .
Trevon Bluiett is staying at Xavier for his senior season instead of entering the NBA draft, a huge boost to a Musketeers team that reached the Elite Eight last season.
Briggs fight off
The WBA heavyweight title fight between Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo is off after former champion Briggs tested positive for high levels of testosterone.
The fight was set for June 3 in Hollywood. . . .
Maria Sharapova has been awarded a wild card for Toronto’s Rogers Cup in August in her comeback from a 15-month doping ban.
Since her return, the former No. 1 player has used wild cards to play three events on the WTA Tour. She was denied a wild card for the French Open. . . .
Michigan State investigated an alleged sexual assault and found that three football players violated campus policy, a lawyer said.