Brown happy to join Brady
TAMPA, Fla. — Antonio Brown said he’s grateful to be back in the NFL and reunited with Tom Brady, with the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and the six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback paired up this time as Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates and temporary roommates. Brady has Tampa Bay off to a 6-2 start in his first season with the franchise; Brown is back in the league after missing most of last season and then serving an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. “Tom is my boy, one of the greatest leaders to be around,” Brown said Wednesday after practicing with the Bucs for the first time. “He’s encouraging, always inspiring. He brings out the best in people around him. He wants the best for everyone around him,” added Brown, who is staying in the house Brady is renting. Brown signed a one-year contract that could be worth up to $2.5 million and expects to make his Tampa Bay debut when the NFC South leaders host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night. The 32-year-old Brown hasn’t played in the NFL since September 2019, when he had four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown in the only game he played with Brady during a brief stint with the New England Patriots, who released him because of off-field concerns the league is still investigating. The suspension that ended after the Bucs played the New York Giants on Monday night stemmed from an incident that drew police to the receiver’s home in South Florida earlier this year; Brown also faces a civil lawsuit filed by a woman who accused him of sexual assault.
TENNIS
› PARIS — Becoming only the fourth man to reach 1,000 match wins should have drawn deafening cheers and a standing ovation for tennis great Rafael Nadal. Instead, he reached his milestone amid a cathedral-like silence Wednesday in a 20,000-seat stadium that was completely empty because of the coronavirus pandemic. There was only a fist bump from Feliciano Lopez after Nadal beat him 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a subdued atmosphere more worthy of a library study area than a sports arena. The 34-year-old Nadal joins towering company in Jimmy Connors (1,274 victories), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only men’s 1,000-club members since the Open era of tennis began in 1968. It was the second milestone Nadal reached in Paris this year, having won the French Open last month to tie Federer for the record for major men’s singles championships with 20 overall, but 1,000 fans cheered him that day at Roland Garros. There were none at the Bercy Arena to acknowledge the star Spaniard whose first win came in May 2002 at the age of 15, when he beat Ramon Delgado.
BASEBALL
› CINCINNATI — Trevor Bauer’s agent said the pitcher has rejected the Cincinnati Reds’ $18.9 million qualifying offer. The right-hander, who turns 30 in January, was given the offer on Sunday and had until Nov. 11 to make his decision. “Why wait for the QO to expire to state the obvious,” agent Rachel Luba wrote Wednesday on Twitter, adding that Bauer “believes the QO is a ridiculous process so let’s just put it to bed.” Bauer was 5-4 with a National League-leading 1.73 ERA, striking out 100 batters and walking 17 in 73 innings this past season, when the schedule was shortened to 60 games because of the coronavirus pandemic. Acquired from the Cleveland Indians on July 31, 2019, he had a $17.5 million, one-year contract that resulted in $6,481,481 in prorated pay. He would earn a $92,593 bonus for winning this year’s NL Cy Young Award, prorated from an original $250,000. “Trevor Bauer has rejected the QO but not the Reds,” Luba wrote on Twitter, adding “he looks forward to speaking w/ them & all other interested teams thru free agency.”