American

struggles to protect him. Jackson is probably not going to accumulate the hardware he did last season, but his performance has been worthy of accolades. WHO’S NOT Christian Kirk, WR, Texas A&M

Kirk is a potential firstround NFL draft pick, but he has not put up the production to match. After catching 80 or more passes the past two seasons, he has 51 for 652 yards this year. The junior has only two 100-yard receiving games and one came against New Mexico State. Quarterback issues have a lot to do Kirk’s numbers being down. It’s unfortunate because he very well could be playing his final games in college. ON THE LINE

( Former Auburn offensive lineman and SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic identifies an o- lineman worth watching) Tyrell Crosby, OT, Oregon Great quickness and speed at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds. The senior is violent at the point of attack. He started nine games as a freshman in 2014 as the Ducks made a runto the national title game. Missed most of last year because of an injury, but has now developed into one of the best all-around tackles in the country. GROUP OF FIVE STAR Shaquem Griffin, LB, UCF

The American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year in 2016, Griffin has not made quite as many impact plays this season, but he is still among the best players in the conference. Maybe his best game of the season came last Saturday at Temple. He had an interception, caused a fumble and harassed the quarterback all day.

ALL-AMERICA MATCHUP

Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama vs. Carlton Davis, CB, Auburn

Ridley’s numbers don’t exactly say All-America (52 catches, 858 yards and three touchdowns), but that has more to do with the nature of Alabama’s offense and the ease with which the Tide often dispatches opponents. He is still one of the most talented receivers around and in the Tide’s most competitive game so far he had five catches for 171 yards against Mississippi State. Auburn counters with Davis, a junior who tends not to get much work as teams shy away from throwing his way. It’s a matchup that could decide the Iron Bowl and the SEC West title. Olympic duty, including chairing an IOC panel with a $500 million budget to distribute grants, and leading the global group of national Olympic committees known as ANOC.

Two more former soccer federation presidents, Rafael Esquivel of Venezuela and Julio Rocha of Nicaragua, were also banned for life Tuesday. They were arrested in Zurich in May 2015 in early morning raids on luxury hotels and later extradited to the United States.

Though the life bans were announced during the trial in Brooklyn of three other FIFA-connected officials from South America, the ethics panel investigations were separate and did not use newevidence being aired daily in court.

FIFA said its ethics judges imposed “appropriate fines in relation to the amounts of the bribes that they have admitted having taken.”

Esquivel was fined 1 million Swiss francs ($1 million), Lai was fined 870,000 Swiss francs ($870,000), and Rocha was fined 500,000 Swiss francs ($500,000). It is unclear if FIFA can enforce fines on

people who have left the sport.

Lai, who is an American citizen, previously agreed to pay “more than $1.1 million in forfeiture and penalties,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in April.

In court, Lai pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy charges related to taking about $1 million in bribes, including at least $850,000 from Kuwaiti officials.

Esquivel agreed to forfeit $16 million a year ago when he pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. His offenses were linked to the awarding of contracts for media and marketing rights to South American soccer competitions.

However, Esquivel’s name was cited Monday in Brooklyn during testimony in the ongoing trial of former soccer executives from Brazil, Paraguay and Peru, who deny corruption charges.

One witness who formerly worked for a marketing agency in Argentina said he kept a ledger of payments to officials, including a $ 750,000 payment to Esquivel for “Q2022.” Prosecutors did not specify if the payment was linked to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.