NFL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Kansas City Chiefs released running back Kareem Hunt on Friday night after video surfaced that showed the NFL’s reigning rushing champion knocking over and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel hallway in February.
The team issued a statement shortly after the NFL had placed Hunt on its Commissioner Exemption List that said the running back had lied when asked about the incident by team officials. The team said “the video today confirms that fact. We are releasing Kareem immediately.”
Hunt was at the Chiefs’ facility earlier Friday in preparation for Sunday’s trip to Oakland, but he was excused and sent home shortly after TMZ posted the video online.
Police were called to the scene during the Feb. 10 incident, but no charges were filed.
BOSTON (AP) - Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez expected to be released from jail and resume his football career shortly after his arrest on a murder charge, according to newly released jailhouse telephone calls.
The Boston Globe reports that the Bristol County sheriff this week released more than 900 phone conversations Hernandez had with family and friends.
In the calls, he angrily responds to rumors of being gay and denies using angel dust.
He also shows disdain for Patriots coach Bill Belichick for not supporting him after he was charged.
Hernandez, convicted of one killing and acquitted of two others, took his own life in prison.
NBA
WASHINGTON (AP) - Wizards center Dwight Howard is expected to miss two to three months after undergoing spinal surgery to relieve pain in his glutes.
The team announced Howard underwent a lumbar microdiscotemy Friday in California and would be re-evaluated in two to three months. Doctors determined a herniated disk was causing Howard’s gluteal pain and nerve irritation.
Howard had missed the last five games after aggravating the injury, which also caused him to sit out training camp and the first seven games of the season.
TORONTO (AP) - Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry wants girls of all ages to have the same access to his basketball shoes that young boys do.
Nine-year-old Riley Morrison of Napa, California, wrote to Curry to tell him she couldn’t buy his Curry 5 shoes because they weren’t available in her size on the girls section of the Under Armour website. They were available for boys.
The two-time MVP and five-time All-Star replied with an apology , saying he’s been working with Under Armour to remedy the situation. Curry also promised to send Morrison two pairs of shoes, including the new Curry 6 model, and invited her to the Warriors home game next March 8, International Women’s Day.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Byron Murphy returned a deflected interception 66 yards for the game’s only touchdown to lead No. 10 Washington to a 10-3 victory over No. 17 Utah in an offensively challenged Pac-12 championship game Friday night.
In a matchup of the two stingiest defenses in the conference, neither offense could get much of anything going at all. So it was only fitting that a dropped pass by Utah (9-4, No. 17 CFP) led to an interception for Washington (10-3, No. 11 CFP) and the only touchdown.
Both teams had been held to just one field goal when the Huskies broke through late in the third quarter.
BASEBALL
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Cleveland Indians traded All-Star catcher Yan Gomes to the Washington Nationals on Friday.
In return, the three-time defending AL Central champions got outfielder Daniel Jonson and right-hander Jefry Rodriguez.
The Nationals went into the offseason in need of a new catcher - and now have two new ones. They also signed free agent Kurt Suzuki.
CHICAGO (AP) - Reliever Alex Colome was acquired by the Chicago White Sox from the payroll-shedding Seattle Mariners on Friday for catcher Omar Narvaez.
The White Sox also declined to offer contracts to outfielder Avisail Garcia and Matt Davidson, allowing the pair to become free agents. And they agreed to a $1.55 million, one-year deal with outfielder Leury Garcia.
Colome has 96 saves in six seasons with Tampa Bay and Seattle, earned $5.3 million this year and is eligible for salary arbitration.
CHICAGO (AP) - The Cubs offered suspended shortstop Addison Russell a 2019 contract while maintaining Friday his future with the team is not certain.
Russell is serving a 40-game domestic violence suspension following allegations by his ex-wife.
President of president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called the decision a “procedural step” and said it “does not represent the finish line nor rubber-stamp his future” with them.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Adrian Beltre went into this offseason pretty sure he had played his last game after 21 big league seasons. While he will miss baseball, Beltre says he is happy about his decision to retire.
Beltre, who spent the last eight seasons of his Hall of Fame-caliber career with the Texas Rangers, said goodbye Friday in a laugh-filled news conference at the ballpark where the four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove third baseman joined the 3,000-hit club in 2017.
There were no tears from the 39-year-old Beltre, who 10 days earlier had announced his decision.
NHL
VORHEES, N.J. (AP) - Former Philadelphia general manager Ron Hextall said he was stunned the Flyers fired him this week, despite their losing record.
Hextall, a former Flyers goalie, was fired Monday after 4 ½ seasons on the job.
Hextall said Friday: “I didn’t see this coming in any way. I was shocked. I was stunned, yeah.”
The Flyers are 10-12-2 and in last place in the Eastern Conference under coach Dave Hakstol headed into Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh. Flyers President Paul Holmgren said he fired Hextall because it had “become clear that we no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team.”
SWIMMING & DIVING
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The lawyer for a former Ohio State diving club coach says his client will plead not guilty next week after he was charged with sexual battery over allegations he had sex with a female diver when she was a teenager.
Defendant Will Bohonyi also was indicted Friday on a charge of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor.
Former diver Estee Pryor has said publicly that Bohonyi began pressuring her for sex when she was 16. She’s among divers who have sued Indianapolis-based USA Diving, alleging it didn’t do enough to stop Bohonyi.
SPORTS BETTING
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - FanDuel sportsbook is paying out bets from people who picked Alabama to win the college football national championship - over a month before the game is played.
The company announced Friday night it is treating the Crimson Tide as the winners already, and paid out single game bets to customers’ online or mobile accounts today. Those who made bets in person can bring their winning slips to that location to be paid.
Alabama also is being marked as a winner on parlay bets that included the necessity of it winning the title.
FanDuel says the move could cost it $400,000.
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