Roethlisberger agrees to a pay cut with Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger is returning for an 18th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is taking a pay cut to do it.
The team and the twotime Super Bowl winner announced on Thursday they have agreed on a new contract that assures the 39-yearold will be back in 2021.
Financial details were not immediately available, though the Steelers made no secret of the need for Roethlisberger to take a pay cut to ease some of the burden of his NFL-high $41.25 million salary-cap hit scheduled for 2021.
NFL Network said Roethlisberger’s new deal will essentially pay him $14 million this season and adds four voidable years to spread out the dead money.
• The Rams tendered contracts to inside linebacker Travin Howard and center Coleman Shelton, holding onto the two exclusive-rights free agents for the 2021 season.
As players with three or fewer NFL seasons and expiring contracts, Howard and Shelton could have hit the open market if the Rams didn’t make an offer at the league minimum.
Howard, 24, a seventhround draft pick in 2018, was in the mix for playing time before a knee injury cost him the entire 2020 season.
Shelton, 25, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019, played on special teams in 2020 and backed up center Austin Blythe along with Brian Allen.
Blythe is one of 12 Rams who can become unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins March 17.
• The New York Giants cut Golden Tate in a move that clears $6.1 million in salary cap space and says goodbye to a wide receiver who never panned out after signing a $37 million contract as a free agent in 2019.
MLB to have Lou Gehrig Day on June 2
Major League Baseball will hold its first Lou Gehrig Day on June 2, adding Gehrig to Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente on the short list of players honored throughout the big leagues.
Each home team will have “4-ALS” logos in ballparks to mark Gehrig’s No. 4, and all players, managers and coaches will wear a Lou Gehrig Day patch on uniforms and may use red
“4-ALS” wristbands. Teams that are off on June 2 will observe Lou Gehrig Day on June 3.
• The St. Louis Cardinals say they’ve received approval from the city to fill Busch Stadium at 32% capacity starting with their April 8 home opener. That could mean 14,500 fans at Busch Stadium, which has a capacity of 45,538.
Also, the Milwaukee Brewers announced that Milwaukee health commissioner Kirsten Johnson has approved a plan allowing fans to fill 25% of the seating capacity at American Family Field, the stadium formerly known as Miller Park. That could mean 10,500 fans at the ballpark, which has a capacity of 41,900.
• Free-agent outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. is joining the Brewers, agreeing to a $24 million, two-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
Report: In 2013, LSU found Miles misconduct
LSU was so concerned by the behavior of former football coach Les Miles when it came to female students that it reprimanded him, ordered him to stop being alone with them and told him to no longer hire the young women to babysit his children, USA Today reported Thursday.
The newspaper said the findings are included in a 2013 internal investigative report released by LSU on Thursday — a report it sued the university to get.
The document includes allegations of Miles sending text messages to the young women, taking them to his condominium and making them feel uncomfortable in general.
Miles denies the allegations, his attorney, Peter Ginsberg, said.
Miles, 67, is now the head coach at Kansas, where he has a 3-18 record in two seasons with the Jayhawks.
Woods doesn’t remember driving
Tiger Woods told responding deputies to his single-vehicle crash last week that he did not know how the accident happened and didn’t remember driving, USA Today reported.
USA Today cited a copy of the search warrant affidavit that was used by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department to obtain the black box in the SUV Woods was driving.
• Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau provided entertainment for the limited number of fans allowed into Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla.
Starting with a 55-foot putt on the par-3 second hole, McIlroy ran off five straight birdies for a share of the lead with Corey Conners in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at 6-under 66.
In the group behind McIlroy was DeChambeau, who has been contemplating a shot across the water to cut the 528-yard sixth hole down to size by going for the green. This was not the day with a slight breeze into his face, so the U.S. Open champion had some fun. He took out an iron, and then hit a conservative tee shot (309 yards) to the middle of the fairway.
It was a boring birdie, his third in a row, and he opened with a 67.
Galaxy sign Williams
The Galaxy announced they have signed defender Derrick Williams to a twoyear deal, with an additional one-year option.
Williams, 28, recently played at Blackburn Rovers in the English Football League Championship.
To sign Williams, the Galaxy had to send DC United $125,000 in General Allocation Money ($75,000 this year and $50,000 in 2022) for his Discovery Rights.
Williams began his career with Aston Villa in 2011. He’s also played at Bristol City (2013-16) and has been at Blackburn since 2016.
Williams has played as an outside back and central defender.
The Galaxy said Williams has concluded the mandated quarantine period and has been cleared on his medical exams and testing.
Williams will not count as an international signing. He already holds an American passport.
• Liverpool suffered five straight home defeats for the first time in the club’s 128year history. The stadium that was once a fortress is the now the scene of an implosion by the soon-to-be-deposed English champions.
Liverpool’s 1-0 loss to Chelsea at Anfield continued a staggering run of home form that came after the team had a 68-game unbeaten streak at Anfield. Liverpool dropped to seventh place.