NFL
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Antonio Brown wants out of Pittsburgh. A person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press the perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver has asked the Steelers for a trade.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to publicly discuss personnel matters.
Brown appeared to make his decision official in a social media post released on Instagram on Tuesday. The video includes highlights from Brown’s career with the Steelers while lyrics from “Do What I Want” by rapper Lil Uzi Vert plays in the background.
“SteelerNation thank you for nine big years!!!” Brown wrote. “Time to move on and move forward.”
-By AP Sports Writer Will Graves.
HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Texans have released veteran wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, whose 2018 season ended prematurely when he tore his left Achilles tendon.
Thomas played seven games for Houston last season, making 23 receptions for 275 yards and two touchdowns. He was acquired in October from Denver for a fourth-round draft pick to fill in after Will Fuller tore a knee ligament. The Texans and Broncos also switched seventh-round selections for this year’s draft.
DOG SHOW
NEW YORK (AP) - A wire fox terrier called King has become America’s top dog.
King was chosen best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Wire fox terriers have won 15 times at the nation’s most prestigious pooch pageant, far more than any other breed.
A Havanese named Bono came in second among the more than 2,800 dogs who entered.
Also in the final ring were Bean the popular Sussex spaniel, Burns the crowd-pleasing longhaired dachshund, Wilma the boxer and Baby Lars the bouviers des Flandres.
NBA
NEW YORK (AP) - The NBA says Los Angeles Lakers president Magic Johnson did not break any league tampering rules when he spoke about Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons earlier this week.
The NBA’s relatively quick-moving investigation was initiated after it was revealed that Simmons wanted to meet with Johnson to talk about the art of being an elite point guard. Johnson complimented Simmons publicly on Sunday.
But since that was in response to a media inquiry, the NBA says Johnson was permitted to make such comments.
BASEBALL
MESA, Ariz. (AP) - Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein criticized emails from the patriarch of the family that owns the team and said Addison Russell won’t play for Chicago again unless he meets the team’s high expectations while completing his domestic violence suspension.
Splinter News published emails last week that included Joe Ricketts making Islamophobic comments, such as “Islam is a cult and not a religion.” Others included conspiracies about former President Barack Obama’s birthplace and education.
Ricketts, who founded TD Ameritrade, apologized for the emails. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts last week said in statement that his father’s emails don’t reflect the values of the Cubs.
MIAMI (AP) - Jorge Posada has agreed to team up with Derek Jeter again, this time in the front office of the Miami Marlins, said a person with knowledge of the negotiations.
Posada will work as a special adviser to Jeter, his longtime New York Yankees teammate and now Marlins CEO, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the hiring has not been formally announced.
Like Jeter, Posada spent his entire playing career with the Yankees.
-By AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds.
NHL
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin has been suspended one game for high-sticking Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl late in Pittsburgh’s 4-1 win over the Flyers on Monday night.
The league announced the suspension on Tuesday following a hearing between Malkin and the league’s department of player safety.
Raffl and Malkin were tangled up in the neutral zone in the third period with Raffl engaging Malkin physically while Raffl battled for the puck. When the two players broke apart, Raffl punched Malkin in the back of the head and Malkin retaliated by swinging his stick in Raffl’s direction. Malkin received a 10-minute match penalty for the infraction.
The league called Malkin’s swing “intentional.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi State defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons tore the ACL in his left knee while working out in Florida last weekend.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Simmons, a potential first-round pick in April’s NFL draft, released a statement on Twitter on Tuesday. He said he was going through position drills while training in Boca Raton, Florida when the injury occurred.
He said he will have surgery early next week.
Simmons recently earned third-team AP All-America honors after finishing his junior season with 63 tackles, including 17 for a loss. He also had seven quarterback hurries.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Indiana State coach Curt Mallory has agreed to a two-year contract extension that will run through 2023.
Athletic department officials made the announcement Tuesday.
Last season Mallory led the Sycamores to a 7-4 mark, a No. 22 ranking and a third-place finish in the Missouri Valley Football Conference - one of the strongest leagues in the Football Championship Subdivision. Indiana State won its last five conference games, its longest conference winning streak since 2012.
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi’s football program will vacate 33 wins over six separate seasons as part of its punishment in a recently resolved NCAA infractions case against the school.
The school vacated wins in 2010 (four wins), 2011, (two wins), 2012 (seven wins), 2013 (seven wins), 2014 (eight wins) and 2016 (five wins) according to documents on the school’s website. The 2010 and 2011 wins were under coach Houston Nutt. All the other vacated wins were under coach Hugh Freeze.
The vacated wins include the 2013 Compass Bowl win over Pitt and one of the most iconic wins in school history when the Rebels upset Alabama at home 23-17 in 2014. Fans tore down the goalposts and carried them through Oxford in the aftermath of the victory.
FIGURE SKATING
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The organization that investigates accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse in sports in the U.S. has halted its probe into figure skater John Coughlin, the two-time national pairs champion who died by suicide last month.
The U.S. Center for SafeSport said Tuesday there was no reason to continue its probe into allegations sexual misconduct against Coughlin because its purpose is to “protect the sport community and other covered persons from the risks associated with sexual misconduct and abuse.”
Coughlin had received an interim suspension from SafeSport and U.S. Figure Skating for unspecified conduct last month, and was barred from any activities sanctioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
LAW
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Notre Dame redshirt sophomore receiver Javon McKinley has been charged in an assault on two campus officers.
Court documents say McKinley punched the officers around 4 a.m. Sunday as they tried to help him from an Uber vehicle to his dorm at the school in South Bend. The officers said he had passed out in the car and that they smelled alcohol on his breath.
The Indianapolis Star reports that the 6-foot-2-inch and 215-pound (100-kilogram) McKinley is charged with misdemeanor battery and illegal consumption of alcohol.
OBITUARY
LONDON (AP) - Gordon Banks, the World Cup-winning England goalkeeper who was also known for blocking a shot from Pele that many consider to be the greatest save in soccer history, has died. He was 81.
English soccer club Stoke, one of Banks’ former teams, posted a statement from his family on Twitter on Tuesday.
No cause of death was given.
Known for his reflexes, Banks was one of English soccer’s most revered players after helping the team win the 1966 World Cup on home soil. He conceded only one goal in five games before England beat West Germany 4-2 in the final at Wembley Stadium.
Four years later at the next World Cup in Mexico, Banks scurried across his line and dived to his right in an attempt to stop a downward header from Pele. Banks managed to reach the low ball his right hand and scoop it over the crossbar.
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