Giants DE hurt in fireworks accident
New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul injured one of his hands in a July 4 fireworks accident in South Florida, according to multiple media reports.
The Giants said late Sunday afternoon that they still had not gathered all the facts after Andy Slater, host of WINZ in Miami, first reported the incident. The extent of the injury is unknown. Pierre-Paul was conferring with doctors Sunday night, according to ESPN, which also reported that the injury does not appear to be career-threatening.
On Saturday, multiple Twitter users, some claiming to live near Pierre-Paul, posted messages and pictures of a rental van full of fireworks, which they said belonged to the player.
The 26-year-old two-time Pro Bowl player is pivotal to the Giants’ pass rush, and he had 12½ sacks and three forced fumbles in 16 games last season.
AUTO RACING
Doug Kalitta earned his second Top Fuel win of the season Sunday at NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Kalitta secured his 37th career victory by driving his dragster past Antron Brown in the final round. Kalitta had a time of 3.823 seconds at 322.34 mph; Brown’s machine lost traction and trailed with a 3.918 at 307.79. Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the NHRA stop west of Cleveland.
HORSE RACING
Big Blue Kitten won the $535,000 United Nations Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. The 7-year-old rallied to win the track’s premier grass race by 1½ lengths over stablemate Slumber.
HOCKEY
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed forward Nazem Kadri to a one-year contract extension Sunday. The 24-year-old Kadri finished fourth among Maple Leaf players in scoring last season with 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists) in 73 regular-season games.
BASKETBALL
Angel McCoughtry scored 23 points and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream held off the visiting Seattle Storm 72-64 on Sunday. The Dream also announced that they have traded rookie guard Samantha Logic to San Antonio for the Silver Stars’ 2016 second-round pick. ... Leilani Mitchell hit a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left and the visiting Phoenix Mercury edged the Los Angeles Sparks 94-91 in overtime.
OBITUARY
Longtime Kansas City Chiefs executive Jack Steadman, the architect of the only Super Bowl-winning team in franchise history, has died. He was 86. The team said Steadman died early Sunday of natural causes; he had been dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. Steadman became Chiefs general manager in 1966, building the team that beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl four years later, 23-7.