Raiders name Morgan team president
The Las Vegas Raiders introduced a former Nevada gambling regulator Thursday as the franchise's new president, the first Black woman to hold the title with an NFL team.
Team owner Mark Davis said Sandra Douglass Morgan topped his list every time after he spoke to candidates.
“Her experience, integrity and passion for this community will be invaluable to our organization,” Davis said. “From the moment I met Sandra, I knew she was a force to be reckoned with. We are extremely lucky to have her at the helm.”
Morgan, the former chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, is the third woman and third African-American to become president of an NFL team.
She is also the latest Raiders hire to break barriers. Former Raiders coach Tom Flores was the first Hispanic head coach to win a Super Bowl title and former coach Art Shell was the first Black head coach of the NFL's Super Bowl era.
Morgan, who spent eight years with the city of North Las Vegas, was also the first Black city attorney in the state of Nevada when she served in that role from 2013 to 2016.
“I definitely never want to be the last,” Morgan said, “and I want to get to a point where there is no more firsts.”
Morgan emphasized leadership and full transparency during her introductory press conference at Allegiant Stadium.
SNYDER, HOUSE COMMITTEE AT ODDS >> Dan Snyder's attorney told the Committee on Oversight and Reform the Washington Commanders' owner is willing to testify by video conference regarding the investigation into the team's workplace culture following accusations of pervasive sexual harassment by club executives of women employees.
In a letter sent to the committee and obtained by The Associated Press, attorney Karen Patton Seymour said Snyder is traveling outside the country and available for video testimony July 28 and 29.
Seymour expressed concern because the committee countered with dates that conflict with her travel schedule and Snyder's.
“Although I explained that the Snyder family's commitments were spread out over various dates in July and reiterated that July 28 or 29 were the earliest possible dates on which Mr. Snyder could appear, the Committee's staff declined even to acknowledge the proposed dates, stating only that the Committee would have to `determine how to proceed,'” the letter states.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell testified remotely from New York at the committee's hearing last month.
Snyder conducted a “shadow investigation” that sought to discredit former employees making accusations of workplace sexual harassment, hired private investigators to intimidate witnesses, and used an overseas lawsuit as a pretext to obtain phone records and emails, according to a document released by the committee before that hearing.
The 29-page memo alleges Snyder tried to discredit the people accusing him and other team executives of misconduct and also tried to influence an investigation of the team conducted for the NFL by attorney Beth Wilkinson's firm.
PAPA SIGNS EXTENSION WITH 49ERS >>
The 49ers have multiple extension candidates still waiting for a deal with a few weeks until training camp.
But on Thursday, it wasn't Deebo Samuel or Nick Bosa getting an extension finalized and signed. It was Greg Papa, the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the team.
The longtime Bay Area sports broadcaster signed an extension to remain as the voice of the 49ers through the 2028 season, locking him in for the next seven seasons. Papa joined the 49ers in 2019 after 21 seasons as the radio voice of the Oakland Raiders.
Cycling POGACAR SNAGS YELLOW JERSEY >>
Tadej Pogacar is back in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. And it's earlier than perhaps even he expected.
On the way to his wins in the 2020 and 2021 Tours, Pogacar took the yellow jersey in the mountains, but on Thursday all he needed was the modest Côte des Religieuses hill in the border town of Longwy.
Asked about the prospect of being back in yellow, which wasn't confirmed when he was speaking, Pogacar said in televised comments that for now he was focused on the stage win and “anything else is just a bonus.”
After an imposing sixth stage of nearly 220 kilometers (137 miles) through Belgium and northern France — the longest of this year's Tour — Pogacar pulled away in the sprint finish on the crest of the Côte des Religieuses to take his first stage victory this year ahead of David Gaudu and Michael Matthews on Thursday.
Pogacar now leads the Tour by four seconds ahead of American rider Neilson Powless, thanks to the bonus seconds based on stage placings.
Golf TRINGALE TAKES EARLY SCOTTISH OPEN LEAD >>
Cameron Tringale has played 331 times on the PGA Tour without winning. His career-best round of 9-under 61 might help him change that at a tournament run by the European tour.
Tringale ran off six straight birdies to start the back nine at The Renaissance Club and had a three-shot lead in the Scottish Open, the first European event co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour.
“I haven't had a professional win on my own, and obviously Scotland is where golf started, so this place is special,” Tringale said.
Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland saw work with putting coach Phil Kenyon pay off in his round of 64, the only one close to Tringale among the early starters.