Patten, three-time champ with Patriots, dies at 47
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former NFL receiver David Patten Jr., a three-time Super Bowl champion who caught Tom Brady’s first postseason touchdown pass to help the New England Patriots win their first title, died Thursday night. He was 47. Richland County coroner Naida Rutherford released a statement saying Patten was killed in a motorcycle crash outside of Columbia; the South Carolina Highway Patrol said the collision involved two other vehicles. Patten played 12 seasons in the NFL after signing with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Conference program Western Carolina in 1997. He spent three seasons in New York and also played for the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins, but his biggest highlights came as a member of the Patriots, including two iconic catches to help them win their first title during the 2001 season. He hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bledsoe during the Patriots’ 24-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game, then followed that with a leaping 8-yard touchdown catch on a pass by Brady in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXVI — New England’s lone offensive touchdown in the 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams. Patten also was a member of the 2003-04 title teams. He returned to his college alma mater as an assistant for Western Carolina in 2013, and his son, Daquan Patten, is a fifth-year senior receiver for this year’s Catamounts.
SOCCER
› SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The U.S men’s national soccer team and their fans had waited 1,424 days for the moment. What they got was neither a triumph nor another tumble but a match with problems mixed among promise. “First reaction is disappointed,” defender Tim Ream said after the Americans’ 0-0 draw at El Salvador on Thursday night in the opener of pandemic-delayed qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. It was the first qualifier for 12 Americans, including nine starters, and head coach Gregg Berhalter. Right back DeAndre Yedlin, who started in the infamous 2-1 loss at Trinidad and Tobago in October 2017 that ended a streak of seven straight World Cup appearances, and Ream, a central defender who was on the bench that night, were the only holdovers. Goalkeeper Matt Turner, who debuted in January, made a key stop when he was tested, diving to stop Eriq Zavaleta’s header from Marvin Monterroza’s corner kick in the 57th. The next qualifying match for the United States is against Canada on Sunday in Nashville, and the Americans visit Honduras on Wednesday. They’ll face Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama in October.
HOCKEY
› NHL players are set to return to the Olympics in Beijing this winter after reaching an agreement with international officials, though the league and players have the opportunity to withdraw if pandemic circumstances warrant. The NHL, its players’ union, the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation struck a deal Friday that will put the best players in the world back on sports’ biggest stage in February after they skipped the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in South Korea. If all goes as planned, NHL players will compete in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament for the sixth time in seven chances dating to 1998. In anticipation of a deal being reached, the NHL already scheduled a three-week break to take into account the Olympic tournament opening Feb. 9.