Rypien told police he hit wife in self-defense

Former Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien recently acknowledged to a Washington state police officer that he struck his wife during a domestic dispute, but his attorney later contended it was in self-defense.

A report by Spokane Officer Todd Brownlee said Rypien acknowledged hitting his wife, Danielle, on June 30. The former Washington Redskins quarterback told police that his wife covered his eyes as he drove and she got the “wind knocked out of her” after he pushed her hands away, the Spokesman-Review reported.

The Kings signed forward Samuel Fagemo to a three-year entry-level contract. Fagemo, 19, was a secondround draft pick last month and is expected to return to his Swedish club team next season.

Two Tour de France rookies stole the show on the first mountain stage, with Dylan Teuns of Belgium winning Stage 6 and Giulio Ciccone of Italy taking the overall race lead in Champagney, France.

Tyler Ankrum, 18, took the lead when Brett Moffitt ran out of fuel with less than two laps to go and cruised to his first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.

A Texas appeals court has overturned for a second time the sexual assault conviction of a former Baylor football player whose case ignited a scandal that rocked the school. The Dallas-based 10th Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for Sam Ukwuachu. It said prosecutors improperly used phone records in cross-examination interviews that hadn’t been submitted into evidence.

A former University of Wyoming football player, who recently signed an NFL contract with the New Orleans Saints, had been accused of inappropriately touching two women while in college and was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest to reduced charges. Carl Granderson, 22, entered the plea to charges of sexual battery and unlawful contact, both misdemeanors, after reaching a plea agreement.