PRO FOOTBALL
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence left the 49ers-Colts game after about a dozen San Francisco players took a knee during the national anthem Sunday, the latest move by President Donald Trump’s administration to clash with NFL players over patriotism and public demonstrations.
The former Indiana governor flew in so he could watch Peyton Manning’s jersey retirement ceremony. Pence didn’t stick around long.
Right around kickoff, Pence wrote on Twitter: “I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”
The White House also issued a statement from Pence, in which he said Americans should rally around the flag. Pence said: “I don’t think it’s too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem.”
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Dallas owner Jerry Jones said the NFL can’t leave the impression that it tolerates players disrespecting the flag and that any of his Cowboys making such displays won’t play.
Jones had his strongest comments so far on the anthem controversy. They started with his response to a question about Vice President Mike Pence leaving the game in Indianapolis after about a dozen San Francisco players knelt during the anthem.
“I know this, we cannot … in the NFL in any way give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag,” Jones, also the team’s general manager, said after a 35-31 loss to Green Bay.
“We know that there is a serious debate in this country about those issues, but there is no question in my mind that the National Football League and the Dallas Cowboys are going to stand up for the flag. So we’re clear.”
HOUSTON (AP) - Houston Texans star J.J. Watt broke his left leg against the Kansas City Chiefs. The team announced that he sustained a tibial plateau fracture.
The defensive end was injured while being blocked midway through the first quarter and fell to the ground.
Watt remained on his hands and knees for a couple of minutes while trainers checked on him. They flipped him onto his back and were looking at his left leg. He was then helped to his feet and looked to be in a lot of pain and didn’t appear to be able to put any weight on the leg as he was helped off the field by two Texans officials.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year returned this season after missing the last 13 games of last season after his second back surgery.
HOCKEY
SUNRISE, Fla (AP) - Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown raised his right fist during the playing of the national anthem before the team’s first road game of the season.
The 27-year-old Brown, who was scratched for Tampa Bay’s season-opening win against Florida, remained standing throughout the anthem Saturday night. Brown, one of approximately 30 black players in the NHL, used the same protest before a preseason game against the Panthers last month.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the anthem in the preseason a year ago to make a statement about social inequality and police treatment of blacks in the United States. Since then, the protest has spread to other sports.
Brown is the son of former NFL running back Ted Brown, who played eight seasons for the Minnesota Vikings.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Penn State moved up to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll, and Washington State and Auburn jumped into the top 10 for the first time this season after six ranked teams lost this past weekend.
Alabama and Clemson still hold the top spots. The top-ranked Crimson Tide received 43 first-place votes in the poll released Sunday and the second-ranked Tigers had 18. The Nittany Lions have their best ranking since 2008, moving up one spot and taking advantage of the biggest upset of the season so far.
Oklahoma lost at home to Iowa State on Saturday, dropping the Sooners from No. 3 to 12. Michigan also lost for the first time and fell to No. 17.
Washington State is No. 8 and Auburn moved up to 10.
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