Roethlisberger gets contract extension
The Pittsburgh Steelers have reiterated repeatedly during an eventful offseason that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger remains the team’s unquestioned leader. They have handed him a new deal to prove it.
The Steelers and the two- time Super Bowl winner agreed to terms on a contract extension Wednesday that will keep Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh through the 2021 season. Roethlisberger had been set to enter the f inal year of a contract he signed in 2015. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Roethlisberger figures to get a significant pay bump over the $ 12 million he was due ( with a $ 23- million cap hit) in 2019.
Roethlisberger, who turned 37 last month, is coming off the f inest statistical season of his 15- year career. His 5,129 yards passing led the NFL and his 34 touchdown passes broke his own franchise mark.
A county prosecutor declined to charge Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill with a crime in a domestic incident that involved his fiance and their 3- year- old child.
Johnson County Dist. Atty. Steve Howe acknowledged that “we believe a crime has occurred, however, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime.”
Police were called to the Kansas City- area home of Hill and Crystal Espinal twice last month, and investigators determined their child had been injured. Howe said the child was placed in protective care and that there will be “a continued involvement by state officials.”
Baltimore Ravens f irst- year general manager Eric DeCosta provided contract extensions to kicker Justin Tucker and guard Marshal Yanda. Tucker signed a four- year extension through 2023, and Yanda added a year to a contract set to expire after the upcoming season. ... Former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Brian Robison has announced his retirement from the NFL.
Former coach admits to accepting bribe
The former men’s tennis coach at the University of Texas at Austin admitted to accepting a $ 100,000 bribe in a wide- ranging college admissions bribery scheme and has agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating the high- profile case.
Michael Center, 55, is the third coach to plead guilty in the nationwide scandal that has also ensnared wealthy parents, including executives and Hollywood actresses.
Authorities say the admissions consultant at the center of the scam, Rick Singer, paid Center to help an applicant get admitted as a tennis recruit, even though the student didn’t play the sport competitively.
In 2015, Singer gave Center $ 40,000 in donations for the school’s tennis program and later f lew to Austin, where he gave the coach about $ 60,000 in cash for himself, Assistant U. S. Attorney Eric Rosen said.
A key prosecution witness at a trial highlighting corruption in college basketball testified for a second day about money he paid to college football players to secure them as clients as he described how vulnerable young athletes become prey for vulture- like agents and managers.
Testimony by Louis Martin Blazer also presented an increasingly sinister angle on bribes paid to college basketball coaches, suggesting that the practice was more widespread than previously described in Manhattan federal court.
Buffalo has agreed to sign women’s basketball coach Felisha LegetteJack to a five- year contract extension after she led the program to its third NCAA tournament berth in four years. The new contract runs through the 2023- 24 season and will pay her an annual base salary of $ 270,000.
Masters champion Tiger Woods plans to compete in Japan for the first time in 13 years. Woods said on Twitter that he is excited to be playing in the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan, which he describes as one of his favorite countries. The tournament will be Oct. 24- 27 at Accordia Golf Chiba Narashino Country Club.
New Jersey’s quick growth in sports gambling means it could surpass Nevada next year as the top sports betting market in the United States, its governor said.
Major League Soccer has increased New York Red Bulls midfielder Kaku’s suspension from one to three games and fined him for reckless conduct for kicking the ball into the sideline stands.
Kaku initially received a red card and an automatic one- game suspension for the incident late in the Red Bulls’ game against Sporting Kansas City on April 14.