Ex-Patriot Patten dies
Former NFL receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion David Patten Jr., who caught Tom Brady’s first postseason touchdown pass to help the Patriots win their first title, has died in a motorcycle accident.
Richland County coroner Naida Rutherford said in a statement Patten was killed in a crash Thursday night outside of Columbia, South Carolina. The South Carolina Highway Patrol said the accident involved two other vehicles.
Patten played 12 seasons in the NFL after signing as an undrafted free agent with the New York Giants in 1997. He spent three seasons in New York and also played for Cleveland, Washington and New Orleans.
But his biggest highlights came as a member of the Patriots, making two key catches to help New England capture its first Super Bowl win during the 2001 season. He hauled in an 11-yard TD from Drew Bledsoe during the Patriots’ 24-17 win over Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game. He followed that with a leaping 8-yard TD reception from Brady in the second quarter of the Super Bowl. It was New England’s lone offensive TD in the 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams.
SOCCER
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has “grave concerns” about FIFA’s plans to stage World Cups every two years and is astonished by the lack of consultation by Gianni Infantino’s governing body, according to correspondence obtained by The Associated Press.
Responding to a letter from Football Supporters Europe executive director Ronan Evain, Ceferin backed the group’s “extremely valid and important” concerns about the potential damage caused to domestic and regional competitions from doubling the frequency of World Cups.
The push by Infantino to transform the international calendar so every year would feature a men’s or women’s World Cup is opening up a new rift with UEFA at a time when the financial impact of the pandemic is being felt across global football.
“UEFA and its national associations also have serious reservations and grave concerns surrounding reports of FIFA’s plans,” Ceferin wrote to Evain in the letter seen by the AP.
NBA
LaMarcus Aldridge rejoined the Brooklyn Nets five months after retiring after he had experienced an irregular heartbeat during a game.
Aldridge was diagnosed with Wolff-ParkinsonWhite syndrome – an abnormality that can cause a rapid heartbeat – as a rookie in 2007.
Aldridge, 36, is a seven-time all-star.
BOXING
Oscar De La Hoya’s return to the ring will have to wait after the fighter tested positive for COVID-19.
The 48-year-old De La Hoya was scheduled to fight Sept. 11 against former MMA fighter Vitor Belfort, 44, in a pay-per-view event at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It would have been his first fight since being stopped by Manny Pacquiao in 2008.