Bosa wins AP Defensive Player of the Year award

Nick Bosa made it a landslide for the AP Defensive Player of the Year award.

San Francisco's All-Pro defensive end received 46 first-place votes after leading the NFL with 18 1/2 sacks in the regular season.

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons finished second with 101 points, far behind Bosa's 237. Parsons didn't get a first-place vote but had 30 second-place votes and 11 for third.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones came in third with 56 points. Jones had one firstplace vote.

Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick got two first-place votes but ended up in fourth place.

Bosa is due for a hefty pay raise this offseason. He's set to play on his fifthyear option worth nearly $18 million for 2023 but it's likely he'll get an extension that could be worth more than $30 million a year.

NFL

MAHOMES WINS 2ND MVP AWARD AHEAD OF SUPER BOWL >>

Patrick Mahomes dominated the voting for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award. Now, he'll try to break the MVP curse.

Mahomes, who also won in 2018, easily outdistanced Jalen Hurts, receiving 48 of 50 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league. He earned 490 points to 193 for Hurts, who got one firstplace vote, 26 seconds, 11 thirds and 10 fourths.

Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (16-3) face Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) in the Super

Bowl on Sunday.

The last nine MVPs to play in the Super Bowl that season are 0-9. Kurt Warner was the last to win both the MVP award and Super Bowl following the 1999 season.

SUIT: NFL RUNS `SHAM' DISABILITY PROGRAM FOR INJURED PLAYERS >>

Ten retired NFL players are accusing the league of lies, bad faith and flagrant violations of federal law in denying disability benefits in a potential class-action lawsuit filed Thursday in Baltimore.

The men said they left the game with lingering physical or cognitive injuries that make their daily lives difficult if not excruciating. They also said they are not alone.

The new lawsuit was filed in federal court in Baltimore, and names as defendants both NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL's Disability Board. The suit comes as league officials gather in Phoenix for the Super Bowl on Sunday.

The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the NFL Players Association.

RYANS WINS AP ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR >>

DeMeco Ryans will take the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award with him to Houston.

The new Texans head coach received 35 firstplace votes after guiding the league's No. 1 ranked defense in San Francisco.

Ryans, who spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator of the 49ers, earned 206 points. He was named on 48 of 50 ballots.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson finished second in voting with 113 points, including

11 first-place votes.

College football

MOVE BY TEXAS, OKLAHOMA TO SEC BUMPED TO 2024 >>

Texas and Oklahoma are heading to the Southeastern Conference in 2024, a year earlier than originally planned, after Big 12 officials cleared the way Thursday for the storied programs to exit their league.

Texas and Oklahoma will leave behind the $50 million each school would have received over the next two seasons under the Big 12's media contracts.

BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston are joining the Big 12 prior to the 2023 football season, giving the league a temporary membership of 14 schools.

Golf

TAYLOR, HADWIN LEAD IN PHOENIX AFTER FROST DELAY, GUSTY WIND >>

Morning frost gave way to gusting wind at the WM Phoenix Open, leading to tricky scoring conditions at TPC Scottsdale.

Canadian friends Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin shared the lead at 5-under 66 when play was suspended because of darkness with the entire afternoon wave unable to finish.

Xander Schauffele opened with a 67. Jason Day and Jim Herman also were 4 under, with Day finishing 10 holes and Herman 13.

US OPEN ADDS NCAA CHAMPION, SLIGHT TWEAKS TO EXEMPTIONS >>

The U.S. Open has added the NCAA champion and Latin America Amateur champions to the list of exempt players, along with making slight tweaks to categories for players who don't have to qualify.

Some of the changes were due to golf coming fully out of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for qualifying to be held in England and Japan for international players.

The U.S. Open is June 1518 at Los Angeles Country Club.

Players who have signed on with Saudi-funded LIV Golf are still exempt from qualifying, which was expected. The Masters announced in December it was sticking to its criteria as an invitation tournament. The U.S. Open and British Open have made it clear in recent months the very nature of its name keeps it from being a closed shop.

MLB

DARVISH GETS $90M FROM PADRES TO STAY THROUGH `28 >>

Yu Darvish has agreed to a new contract with the San Diego Padres that guarantees the 36-year-old ace an additional $90 million and will keep him with the club through the 2028 season, a person with direct knowledge of the deal said Thursday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn't been announced.

The right-hander, who has a baffling array of pitches, will make $108 million over six years, including the $18 million he was already due in 2023 before he was set to become a free agent. He's set to stay under contract with San Diego until he's 42.

Darvish helped the Padres reach the NL Championship Series last season, which was one of the best in his 11-year big league career. He finished the year 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA and 197 strikeouts.