RAVENS LB DIED OF OVERDOSE
Jaylon Ferguson, an outside linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens who died last month after being found unresponsive in a North Baltimore home, died from the combined effects of fentanyl and cocaine, authorities said Friday.
Bruce Goldfarb, spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Maryland, said Ferguson’s death had been ruled accidental. Vernon Davis, a Baltimore police spokesperson, said an investigation was continuing.
Authorities were called to a North Baltimore home just before 11:30 p.m. June 21 to investigate a “questionable death.” When they arrived, Ferguson, 26, was unresponsive and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. There were no signs of trauma or foul play, the authorities said at the time.
Chad Steele, a spokesperson for the Ravens, said the team was focused on the positive impact Ferguson had as a “father, son, fiance, friend and teammate.”
The Ravens selected Ferguson during the third round of the 2019 NFL draft as the 85th overall pick. In his rookie season, he recorded 31 tackles and 2.5 sacks, and he contributed to a Ravens defense that ranked third in points allowed. In 2020, in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he recorded a career high of six tackles.
Ferguson, a Louisiana native and a graduate of Louisiana Tech, broke the NCAA record for career sacks with 45, earning the nickname “Sack Daddy” and beating out a longtime former Ravens player, Terrell Suggs, who posted 44 career sacks at Arizona State.
NHL
Restricted free-agent forward Brock Boeser re-signed with the Vancouver Canucks, agreeing to three-year deal worth $6.65 million a season. The 25-year-old right wing from Burnsville, Minnesota, had 23 goals and 23 assists in 71 regular-season games last season.
• The San Jose Sharks fired coach Bob Boughner and his staff two months after the regular season ended. The team is still in the middle of a search for a new general manager after Doug Wilson stepped down after nearly two decades on the job. Boughner coached the Sharks for the past 21⁄2 seasons.
• The Tampa Bay Lightning accomplished one of their top offseason
priorities, retaining forward Nick Paul with a seven-year contract worth just over $22 million.
• The Boston Bruins hired Jim Montgomery as their new coach. Montgomery replaces Bruce Cassidy, who was fired after the team’s loss in the first round of the playoffs.
• The Dallas Stars added Steve Spott and Alain Nasreddine to the coaching staff while resigning backup goalie Scott Wedgewood on a $2 million, twoyear contract.
• A Russian goalie who recently signed with the Philadelphia Flyers has been detained in Russia on charges that he planned to evade military service. Ivan Fedotov signed with the Flyers on May 7 and was expected to compete for a spot on the roster at training camp.
Soccer
The U.S. Under-20 men’s national team beat host Honduras 3-0 in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship semifinals to earn a berth in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It’s the first time the U.S. has qualified for the Olympics since 2008.
• The San Diego Wave FC announced that the club has signed midfielder Jackie Altschuld, defender Sydney Cummings and forward Sarah Sodoma as national team replacement players. Altschuld graduated from USD in 2016 and most recently played for UMF Tindastoll in Iceland. Athschuld, Cummings and Sodoma will be available for Sunday’s Wave game at Torero Stadium against the Washington Spirit.
• Mohamed Salah signed a
new three-year contract with Liverpool which will keep him at the club until 2025. The Egypt international had entered the final year of his existing contract after negotiations over extending his stay dragged on for most of last season.
• American midfielder Ian Harkes, the 27-year-old son of former U.S. captain John Harkes, agreed to a one-year contract to remain with Scotland’s Dundee United.
Sports and courts
Charlotte Hornets forward
Miles Bridges was charged with felony domestic violence stemming from an incident earlier this week, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed. The LAPD posted on Twitter that Bridges was arrested for “intimate partner violence with injury,” a felony, on Wednesday following an incident two days earlier in West Los Angeles. He was released on $130,000 bond and has a July 20 court date.
Mychelle Johnson, the mother
of Bridg es’ two young children, posted pictures of injuries and a medical report that read “adult victim of physical abuse by male partner; Assault by strangulation, Brain concussion; Closed fracture of nasal bone; Contusion of rib; Multiple bruises; Strain of neck muscle.”
• Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and two other Black coaches suing the NFL over claims of systemic racism in hiring for management jobs want to depose Commissioner Roger Goodell about his alleged biases.