Gorman will deliver poem at Super Bowl
The NFL has selected three people who have served during the coronavirus pandemic as honorary captains for the Super Bowl along with inaugural poet Amanda Gorman for an original poem.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Wednesday that educator Trimaine Davis, nurse manager Suzie Dorner and Marine veteran James Martin will take part in the coin toss on Feb. 7 in Tampa, Florida. The trio was picked for embodying the NFL’s message of “It Takes All of Us” this season.
Gorman, the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, recited “The Hill We Climb” at the Biden inauguration Jan. 20. She will recite her poem about the trio’s impact before the game, which will be televised and shown inside Raymond James Stadium.
Davis made sure to get his students and their families in Los Angeles devices and internet access, and he also hosted tech workshops to help people learn how to use the devices.
Dorner, who lost two grandparents to COVID-19, is the COVID ICU nurse manager at Tampa General Hospital and represents healthcare workers across the country as honorary captain.
Martin helped veterans, high school athletes and local youth connect virtually through the Wounded Warrior Project and by livestreaming events in Pittsburgh. He volunteered to livestream every home football game for Aliquippa High School so families could watch. He also has taken in needy children in his neighborhood.
SEAHAWKS HIRE WALDRON FROM RAMS TO RUN OFFENSE >> Shane Waldron is leaving the Los Angeles Rams to become offensive coordinator of the division rival Seattle Seahawks. According to multiple reports
Wednesday, Waldron’s addition to Pete Carroll’s staff is imminent.
Waldron spent the past three seasons as passing game coordinator for the Rams and was a quality control coach overseeing the tight end position the season prior on Sean McVay’s coaching staff.
The Seahawks averaged 23.1 points over the final eight regular-season games and were held to 20 or fewer points in four of the last six games, including the playoff defeat.
Waldron, 41, is the fifth McVay assistant to leave for another opportunity since the Rams lost to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional playoffs.
WNBA
PARKER TO SIGN WITH CHICAGO SKY >> Two-time MVP Candace Parker is heading home, leaving the Los Angeles Sparks after 13 seasons to sign with the Chicago Sky as an unrestricted free agent, ESPN reported.
Parker, native of Naperville, Illinois, was named WNBA defensive player of the year last season, while finishing third in the MVP voting. She scored 14.7 points per game with 9.7 rebounds. The Sparks went 15-7, the third best regular-season record in the league, before falling 73-59 to the Connecticut Sun in a single-elimination game in the second-round of the playoffs.
Parker, who turns 35 in April, has averaged 16.9 points in her 13 seasons.
College football
NORTHWESTERN, FITZGERALD AGREE TO LONG EXTENSION >> Northwestern and coach Pat Fitzgerald have agreed to a new contract through the 2030 season.
The 46-year-old Fitzgerald is by far the program’s winningest coach with a 106-81 record since he took over at his alma mater in 2006. The Wildcats have played in 10 bowl games during his tenure and won five. Northwestern captured its second Big Ten West championship in three years and beat Auburn in the Citrus Bowl last season.
Fitzgerald was under contract through 2026.
Northwestern has invested heavily in its athletic facilities in recent years, including the $270 million Walter Athletics Center and Ryan Fieldhouse indoor practice facility located along Lake Michigan.
Fitzgerald grew up in the Chicago area and led the Wildcats to a pair of Big Ten championships and a Rose Bowl appearance as an All-American linebacker under Gary Barnett in the mid 1990s. His 106 victories are the sixth-most by an active FBS coach with the same program.
HEUPEL HIRED AS NEW TENNESSEE COACH >> Josh Heupel was hired as Tennessee football coach, giving the Vols a package deal with his athletic director, who was hired only six days ago himself.
Athletic director Danny White announced he has hired Heupel as Tennessee’s 27th head coach. He’s now the Vols’ fifth different head coach, not counting interim or acting coaches, since the end of the 2008 season. Heupel was 28-8 in three seasons at UCF, where White hired him to replace Scott Frost in 2017.