NFL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson has apologized after backlash for sharing anti-Semitic posts on social media over the weekend.
Jackson initially posted a screenshot of a quote widely attributed to Adolf Hitler, saying in part: “Jews will blackmail America.” In another post, Jackson showed support for Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who is known for anti-Semitic rhetoric.
“My post was definitely not intended for anybody of any race to feel any type of way, especially the Jewish community,” Jackson said in a video he posted on Instagram on Tuesday.
The team issued a statement saying Jackson had been spoken to about his social media posts and that the messages he share were “offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling.”
The NFL also issued a statement, saying: “DeSean’s comments were highly inappropriate, offensive and divisive and stand in stark contrast to the NFL’s values of respect, equality and inclusion.”
Jackson, a three-time Pro Bowl pick, is in his second stint in Philadelphia, returning last season to the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2008 draft.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - Former head coach Mike Shanahan has been elected to the Denver Broncos Ring of Honor and will be inducted in 2021 because of COVID-19 precautions.
Shanahan, a two-time Super Bowl winner in Denver, becomes the 34th member of the ring of fame and the third head coach, joining Dan Reeves (2014) and Red Miller (2017).
In a statement, Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis called Shanahan “the greatest coach in Denver Broncos history.”
Shanahan is the franchise’s all-time leader with 146 victories, including eight in the playoffs. He was head coach from 1995-2008 after serving as a Broncos assistant from 1984-87 and 1989-91.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has canceled his annual “Funday with LJ” event in Florida due to surging coronavirus cases in the state and strict gathering limits.
Jackson’s third annual event was set to be held Saturday and Sunday in his hometown of Pompano Beach, Florida, but a spokesperson told news outlets Tuesday that the event was canceled.
MLB
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Mets will host the crosstown Yankees on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 next season, according to a person familiar with the decision.
The clubs will play at Citi Field in a game sure to be full of emotions for the city that’s also reported over 18,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths this year. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Major League Baseball has not yet released next season’s schedule.
The decision was first reported by Newsday.
The 20th anniversary game will be played not far from the site of demolished Shea Stadium,
-By AP Sports Writer Jake Seiner.
NBA
DENVER (AP) - The Denver Nuggets have promoted Calvin Booth to general manager.
Booth, 44, is in his third season with the Nuggets after being hired as assistant GM in 2017. He succeeds Arturas Karnisovas, who left Denver in April to become the Chicago Bulls’ top decision-maker.
Tim Connelly, the team’s president of basketball operations, called Booth “one of the brightest basketball minds in our league.”
After a decade-long NBA playing career, Booth served as a scout for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012-13, followed by a four-year stint in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ front office, first as a scout and then as director of player personnel.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer is about to resume its season - in a state that has seen a huge spike in coronavirus infections, with one team absent because of a COVID-19 outbreak, and with plenty of worry about what will happen next.
The MLS is Back tournament starts Wednesday in Florida. The league’s teams are sequestered in resorts for the duration of the World Cup-style tournament, which will be played without fans at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World.
FC Dallas withdrew from the tournament on Monday after 10 players and a coach tested positive for the virus. On Tuesday, Nashville SC’s status was thrown into doubt with five confirmed positive tests.
GENEVA (AP) - The first of a number of appeals by former soccer officials banned for life by FIFA was heard Tuesday at sport’s highest court.
FIFA said Ariel Alvarado - a former member of its ethics committee - challenged its verdict at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Alvarado is one of at least 29 officials banned for life by soccer’s governing body in the last five years.
The Panamanian’s case kicked off a monthly series of upcoming appeals at CAS brought by Latin American soccer officials removed from soccer after being indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on various charges of racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Austin Peay has promoted associate head coach Marquase Lovings to interim head football coach for the Governors’ upcoming season.
Athletic director Gerald Harrison announced Lovings’ promotion on Tuesday, days after Mark Hudspeth resigned after one season for personal reasons.
Harrison said he met with both coaches and players on the team before making his decision. Lovings was defensive line coach last season, helping Austin Peay rank eighth nationally defending the run and 12th in total defense.
WNBA
NEW YORK (AP) - Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler is not in favor of the WNBA’s social justice plans and has sent a letter to Commissioner Cathy Engelbert objecting to the league’s initiatives to honor the Black Lives Matter movement.
Loeffler, who is also a Republican U.S. senator running for re-election in Georgia, asked the league commissioner to scrap plans for players to wear warmup jerseys with “Black Lives Matter” and “Say Her Name” and instead put an American flag on all uniforms and apparel.
“The truth is, we need less - not more politics in sports. In a time when polarizing politics is as divisive as ever, sports has the power to be a unifying antidote,” wrote Loeffler. “
In the letter, Loeffler, a Dream owner since 2011, said she wasn’t consulted about the league’s new social justice policy.
“The WNBA is based on the principle of equal and fair treatment of all people and we, along with the teams and players, will continue to use our platforms to vigorously advocate for social justice,” the commissioner said in a statement.
OBITUARY
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Former South Carolina running back, athletic director and board of trustees member King Dixon died Monday. He was 83.
The university said in a release that Dixon had fought pancreatic cancer.
Dixon played for the Gamecocks from 1956-58 and served as a co-captain his senior year. After spending 22 years in the Marines, Dixon returned to South Carolina as its athletic director in 1988.
Dixon oversaw South Carolina’s entrance into the Southeastern Conference in 1992 before ending his tenure. Dixon was named to the university’s Association of Letterman’s Hall of Fame in 1991.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AP) - Former US Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Moran died Tuesday after a short illness at age 78, according to the University of Colorado.
Moran served as the Buffaloes’ sports information director for 11 years before his stint as chief communications officer and principal spokesman for the USOC from 1978-2003.
He spent the last 17 years as senior media consultant for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation as well as serving as a keynote speaker and emcee for numerous sports events.
In 2002, Moran received the USOC’s highest honor, the General Douglas MacArthur Award, and was inducted into the College Sports Information Director’s Hall of Fame.
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