NFL player reps delay voting on new labor deal
NFL owners’ eagerness to approve negotiated terms of a new labor agreement apparently is not matched by the players. They want more talks. Union player representatives decided Friday to not vote on the new labor deal approved by team owners Thursday. The NFL Players Association will meet with league negotiators at the scouting combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Earlier Friday, the union’s executive committee voted 6-5 to recommend rejecting the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement. But the player reps and the full union membership could vote next week.
Objections to an expanded regular season are considered the main stumbling block to player approval.
“Today the NFLPA Board of Players Representatives did not take a vote on the principal terms of a proposed new collective bargaining agreement,” the union said in a statement. “Our player leadership looks forward to meeting with NFL management again next week before the board takes a vote shortly after.”
If the NFLPA does not approve the terms, the current CBA that expires in March 2021 would remain in effect and further talks would be required.
The owners’ proposal features a 17-game season, shorter preseason, larger rosters and limits on the number of international games.
The union’s executive committee includes NFLPA president Eric Winston, former Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich and former Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, all retired; Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie; 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman; Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson; Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri; Chargers tackle Russell Okung; Saints punter Thomas Morstead; Buccaneers linebacker Sam Acho; and Giants safety Mike Thomas.
Boxing
FURY, WILDER BULKED UP
AND READY FOR REMATCH >> On the eve of their highlyanticipated rematch both Tyson Fury (29-0-1) and Deontay Wilder (42-0-1) tipped the scales heavier than they were in their first fight, with Fury coming in at a stunning 273 pounds and Fury at a career-high 231 pounds.
Fury will be 16.5 pounds heavier than he was in their Dec. 2018 meeting, which ended in a draw, when he enters the ring at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas today.
But he insisted the weight will only add to his punching power and not hamper his outstanding defensive movement, which he will need to avoid Wilder’s punishing right hand.
Golf
DECHAMBEAU HALFWAY
LEADER AT WGC MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP >> Bryson DeChambeau was giddy with joy after charging into a one-stroke lead in the second round at the WGC Mexico Championship as overnight pacesetter Rory McIlroy’s title bid stalled.
Physics major DeChambeau
solved the high altitude puzzle, putting with precision and making seven birdies in an eighthole stretch en route to an 8-under-par 63 in ideal conditions at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City.
At 11-under 131, he headed South African Erik van Rooyen, who matched the course record with a nine-birdie 62 on his 30th birthday, and Patrick Reed (63).
Hideki Matsuyama (64) and Justin Thomas (66) trailed by two strokes, while McIlroy (69) fell three behind.
ROOKIE HOVLAND IN 4-WAY
TIE FOR LEAD IN PUERTO RICO >> PGA Tour rookie Viktor Hovland recorded a 6-under-par 66 to pull into a four-way tie for first place after two rounds at the Puerto Rico Open in Rio Grande.
Hovland joined Emiliano Grillo (68), Josh Teater (68) and Kyle Stanley (70) atop the leader board with a 36hole total of 10-under 134 at Coco Beach Golf & Country Club.
College scandal
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
OFFICIALS TOLD OF ABUSE DECADES AGO >> University of Michigan officials were warned more than four decades ago that one of its doctors was fondling patients during medical exams, but he continued working there despite a demotion and went on to allegedly abuse again as a physician with the school’s athletic department, records obtained Friday by The Associated Press show.
In 1980, the late Dr. Robert E. Anderson was pressed to step down as head of the University Health Service amid such concerns, according to a statement that his former supervisor gave to a campus detective who had started investigating the physician more than a year ago following a complaint from a former university wrestler.
On Thursday, Michigan president Mark Schlissel said in prepared remarks at the open of the school’s Board of Regents meeting that its police investigation, launched in 2018, had found “indications” that staff was “aware of rumors and allegations of misconduct.”
Soccer
WOMEN SEEK MORE THAN
$66M IN DAMAGES FROM US SOCCER >> Players on the U.S. women’s national team are seeking more than $66 million in damages as part of their gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation.
The damages were included in slew of papers filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ahead of a trial scheduled to start May 5.