Bills DB retires at halftime

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — As if Buffalo Bills coach

Sean McDermott didn’t have enough to worry about with his team trailing the Los Angeles Chargers 28-6 at halftime Sunday, he had to contend with veteran cornerback

Vontae Davis quitting on the team. “Pulled himself out of the game. He communicated to us that he was done,” McDermott revealed after a 31-20 loss. McDermott provided no other details except to bluntly answer no when asked if Davis was injured. Davis issued a lengthy statement posted on the NFL’s Twitter account, announcing he is retiring after 10 seasons. “This isn’t how I pictured retiring from the NFL,” he wrote. “But today on the field, reality hit me and hard. I shouldn’t be out there anymore.” Davis, credited with one tackle in the game, said he meant no disrespect to his teammates or coaches. The Bills provided Davis a chance to re-start his career by signing him to a oneyear contract in March after a dispute with former Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano led to that team cutting him in November. Davis made his Bills debut against the Chargers after being inactive in last week’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

› CLEVELAND — Josh Gordon’s troubled tenure with the Cleveland Browns is over. The Cleveland Browns announced Saturday night they intend to release the former Pro Bowl wide receiver, whose immense talent has been overshadowed by substance abuse that has derailed a promising career. The stunning news came just hours after the Browns said Gordon would miss Sunday’s game in New Orleans with a mysterious hamstring injury. Gordon has been suspended by the NFL for most of the past four seasons because of multiple drug violations, and the Browns have been supportive of the 27-yearold for years as he tried to get his life together. Not anymore. In a statement released Saturday, Browns general manager John Dorsey said Gordon would be released today. The team provided no specifics about what prompted the decision.

BOXING

› LAS VEGAS — The fight was so close at the final bell that no one in the arena — including Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez — knew who would leave the ring with the middleweight title belts. It was Alvarez, though by the slimmest of margins. He won the last round on two scorecards Saturday night on the Las Vegas Strip to hand Golovkin the first loss of his career in a fight that more than lived up to its advance billing. To settle who is really the best, though, they may just have to do it a third time. That’s fine with both fighters, who have now gone 24 rounds together with little but a few points on the scorecards to separate them. “If the people want us to do it again, let’s do it again,” Alvarez said. Said Golovkin: “It would be great to have a third fight.” That will almost certainly happen, and for that fight fans have to be grateful. Alvarez and Golovkin showcased their skills — and their sport — at the highest level in a fight one judge scored a draw and two others had Alvarez by a narrow 115-113 score.

RUNNING

› BERLIN — Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge smashed a world record Sunday by winning the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 1 minute, 39 seconds. Race officials initially put Kipchoge’s time at a second longer before reducing it. The 33-year-old broke the record set in Berlin by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto in 2014 by 1 minute, 18 seconds.