NFL looks to set up panel on pandemic issues, playoff bubble
Executive vice president of operations Troy Vincent said the NFL is considering a plan to implement a bubble environment for the playoffs.
Vincent, speaking on a conference call Wednesday, credited New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton with the original suggestion to move postseason teams into a protected campus environment similar to that being used by the NBA and WNBA. The NBA announced Wednesday it again had zero positive COVID-19 tests at the Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando.
“All options are on the table,” Vincent said.
Vincent also said the NFL is in the process of setting up an outside advisory committee for all issues related to COVID-19. The plan is to put former coaches, general managers and players in the group, which could meet soon, Vincent said.
The primary task of that committee will be to weigh competitive balance issues in the event of an outbreak or if new revelations regarding the coronavirus come to light and require the NFL to adjust protocol.
Plans for game day already are changing, Vincent said. On Wednesday, the NFL and its players association said field access would be eliminated for media, cheerleaders, friends of players and team mascots.
A maximum of 65 club-designated personnel for each team will be permitted at field level.
• The Chiefs will be without starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland for the first four games of the season because of off-the-field issues earlier this year, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The news, which was first reported by ESPN.com, has long been assumed after Breeland was arrested in April on multiple charges that included resisting arrest, marijuana possession and driving without a license.
• A Florida appeals court ruled that police violated the rights of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others when they secretly video recorded them paying for massage parlor sex acts, barring the tapes’ use at trial. The state 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Kraft’s rights were violated under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
Golf
KOEPKA DROPS OUT OF NORTHERN TRUST >> Brooks Koepka ended a forgettable season when he withdrew from The Northern Trust with what he described as nagging hip and knee injuries.
Koepka was No. 97 in the FedEx Cup standings. He would have needed a good week at the TPC Boston to reach the top 70 and advance in the PGA Tour’s postseason.
Koepka started the year ranked No. 1 the world, but he has not won in more than a year. He missed three
The 49ers are reportedly signing another wide receiver as they continue to see their ranks at the position hampered by injury. San Francisco is set to sign former NFC West foe Jaron Brown, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 30-year-old Brown spent the first five years of his career with the Arizona Cardinals before joining the Seattle Seahawks for the last two seasons.
Brown represents a depth replacement for second-year 49ers receiver Jalen Hurd, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a side session at training camp Sunday. Brown’s top season as a pro came in 2017, his last year with the Cardinals, when he caught 31 passes for 477 yards and four touchdowns.
months at the end of last year with a knee injury he suffered in South Korea, and then he didn’t play for three months when golf shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. And when he did play, he didn’t play up to his standards.
• The Women’s British Open will be held in two years at Muirfield for the first time as part of a strong rotation that includes a return to Carnoustie and St. Andrews.
The R&A said the Women’s British Open will be played the next five years at Carnoustie, Muirfield, Walton Heath, St. Andrews and Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
Boxing
DE LA HOYA TO END RETIREMENT >> Oscar De La Hoya told ESPN that he will return to the ring at the age of 47. Twelve years after his last fight, the 11-time titlist confirmed he’s ready to end his retirement.
“The rumors are true, and I’m going to start sparring in the next few weeks,” De La Hoya said.
Motorsports
LARSON ON SLUR: ‘I WAS JUST IGNORANT’ >> What do you do when the entire world believes you are a racist? When your career has collapsed because you uttered the N-word while playing a late night video game?
Kyle Larson packed his things and left North Carolina, returning to his native California too embarrassed to show his face in public.
The facts were plain and he doesn’t deny them. He was iRacing in April, couldn’t hear his spotter on his headset and used the racist slur to get his colleagues’ attention. His downfall was swift: The 28-year-old Larson lost his sponsors, his job and any shot at a multimillion-dollar contract in NASCAR’s upcoming free agency.
Depressed and devastated, Larson began a journey to understand both why he had said the word and how to grow from the experience.
“I was just ignorant. And immature. I didn’t understand the negativity and hurt that comes with that word,” Larson said. “That’s not a word that I had ever used. I grew up in Northern California, all I ever did was race and that’s all I was focused on. There’s probably a lot of real-life experiences I didn’t get to have and I was just ignorant to how hurtful that word is.”
Tennis
BRYAN BROTHERS DON’T MAKE U.S. OPEN CUT >> Bob and Mike Bryan were not on the entry list released for men’s doubles at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, possibly signaling the end of the 42-year-old American twins’ recordbreaking careers.
The Bryans won five of their 16 Grand Slam doubles titles together in New York, most recently in 2014.
Three-time U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters received a wild-card entry in doubles to go along with the one she got for singles as she makes her Grand Slam comeback.
College sports
BIG TEN’S WARREN ELABORATES ON VIRUS CONCERNS >> After facing backlash from players, parents, fans and others, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren attempted to elaborate on the decision to postpone football season until spring.
The first-year commissioner has been criticized for a lack of transparency in laying out why, less than a week after the conference released a revised schedule, it was necessary to pull the plug.
“We thoroughly understand and deeply value what sports mean to our student-athletes, their families, our coaches and our fans,” Warren wrote in what was called an “Open Letter to the Big Ten Community.”
“The vote by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) was overwhelmingly in support of postponing fall sports and will not be revisited. The decision was thorough and deliberative, and based on sound feedback, guidance and advice from medical experts.”
Coaches such as Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Penn State’s James Franklin and Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst have said the key to pulling off a season after the first semester is starting it early enough so that it doesn’t disrupt a fall season in 2021.
• College athletes who play fall sports, including football, will be given a free year of eligibility no matter how much they compete over the next 10 months if an NCAA recommendation is approved later this week.
WNBA
JOHNSON HITS SIX 3S IN MYSTICS’ WIN >> Stella Johnson set a Washington rookie record with six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 25 points, Myisha Hines-Allen added 23 points, and the Mystics beat the Atlanta Dream 9891 to snap a seven-game losing streak.