NFL running backs eye separate union
A petition reportedly has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to create a separate union for NFL running backs.
According to the website Law360, the petition was filed Thursday by the International Brotherhood of Professional Running Backs and focuses on the shorter careers for players at the position.
“These employees have unique career structures; and the current one-size fits all unit is inappropriate,” the petition says of players’ representation by the NFL Players Association. “Excluded: All other player groups,” it said.
The NFL Management Council and the union have begun preliminary negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement. The current 10-year deal expires in March 2021.
A message to the players’ union seeking comment was not immediately answered. ...
Browns defensive end Chad Thomas sustained a sprained neck but avoided a more serious injury during a scary moment at training camp.
Thomas was immobilized on the field and taken by ambulance to University Hospitals in Berea, Ohio . ...
Oakland Raiders receiver Antonio Brown lost his grievance with the NFL over his use of an old helmet that is no longer certified as safe to use for practice or play.
The arbitrator issued the ruling after holding a hearing last Friday with Brown, representatives from the league and the players’ union . ...
Raiders cornerback Nevin Lawson has been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performanceenhancing substances.
Lowry drops out
Kyle Lowry of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors has withdrawn from the pool of candidates USA Basketball is considering to take to the FIBA World Cup later this month. Lowry said his surgically repaired thumb isn’t ready to allow him to participate in oncourt workouts . ...
Sebastian Telfair, who played in 2006-07 with the Celtics during an NBA career that spanned 11 seasons, was sentenced to 3½ years in prison after being convicted in New York earlier this year of carrying a loaded handgun in his pickup truck.
Hurricanes keep GM
The Carolina Hurricanes signed team president and general manager Don Waddell to a three-year contract extension.
Owner Tom Dundon announced the signing. Terms were not disclosed.
The 60-year-old Waddell had been mentioned as a candidate for the Minnesota Wild’s GM vacancy. He has been with the organization since 2014, and the Hurricanes made their first playoff appearance in a decade during his first season as the team’s full-time GM.
MSU strikes deal
Michigan State University agreed to better protect patients from sexual assaults, including following a chaperone requirement for sensitive medical exams, to resolve a federal civil-rights investigation into Larry Nassar’s abuse of young gymnasts and other athletes under the guise of medical treatment.
The three-year agreement is the first one struck under a section of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits discrimination in certain health care programs or activities, said Roger Severino, director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights. The deal covers not only students under Title IX but also patients who are not students . ...
Murray falls
Andy Murray moved well in his first singles match since January, but not well enough to move on.
Utilizing a bottomless arsenal of drop shots, Richard Gasquet snapped a fivematch losing streak against Murray with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the first round of the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.
Marin Cilic became the first seed to lose when 39thranked Radu Albot beat him 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the opening round.
Unseeded Venus Williams won the last four games of her match against qualifier Lauren Davis for a 7-5, 6-2 victory, earning a second-round match with fifth-seeded and defending champion Kiki Bertens . ...
The NCAA backtracked on new certification standards and no longer will require a bachelor’s degree for a sports agent to represent Division 1 men’s basketball players who declare for the NBA draft while maintaining college eligibility . ...
Former defender Kate Markgraf has been named general manager of the U.S. women’s national team, U.S. Soccer announced.