NFL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Chiefs acquired Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Brown from the Ravens for a package of draft picks that includes one in each of the first three rounds next week.
Baltimore announced the trade Friday.
The Ravens will get the No. 31 overall pick on Thursday night, along with third- and fourth-round picks this year and a fifth-round pick next year. The Chiefs will get the Ravens’ second-round pick next week and a sixth-round selection in 2022.
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Cleveland Browns have exercised the fifth-year option on quarterback Baker Mayfield’s rookie contract.
The move was expected after his strong 2020 season. The team also did the same with top cornerback Denzel Ward’s contract.
Mayfield had 30 touchdown passes last season and led the Browns to their first playoff appearance in nearly 20 years. Cleveland won its first postseason game since 1994, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round before losing to Kansas City.
The team had until May 3 to exercise the option.
NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL is modifying COVID-19 protocols for all personnel who have been fully vaccinated.
In a memo sent by Commissioner Roger Goodell to the 32 clubs Friday and obtained by The Associated Press, he cited the “advice of our medical and scientific experts” for the agreement to modify protocols to ”reflect the reduced risk of infection and transmission for fully vaccinated individuals.”
Effective immediately, fully vaccinated individuals in the NFL (players, coaches, staff and executives) are no longer required to be tested each day for the novel coronavirus. Instead, they must be tested weekly on a monitoring basis.
CHICAGO (AP) - Steve McMichael, a star defensive tackle on the Chicago Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl championship team, says he has been diagnosed with ALS.
The 63-year-old McMichael told the Chicago Tribune in an article published Friday that he is battling the condition known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.
SOCCER
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin says the Spanish and Italian clubs still clinging to the Super League must disavow the breakaway project or face being banned from the Champions League.
Although the Super League rapidly imploded this week after being abandoned by most clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan have not left the project.
Ceferin tells The Associated Press “if they say we are a Super League, then they don’t play Champions League, of course.”
OLYMPICS
TOKYO (AP) - Tokyo and Japan’s second largest metropolitan area of Osaka are coming under emergency orders aimed at stemming surging cases of the coronavirus.
The orders come into effect with the Tokyo Olympics opening in only three months.
The measures take effect during Japan’s “golden week” holiday period and are meant to limit travel and keep people out of public places. They are to end on May 11.
This is just ahead of a widely reported visit to Hiroshima by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
Bach has said the visit is not yet confirmed and has denied the end of the emergency period was linked to his proposed visit.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
IRVING, Texas (AP) - The College Football Playoff management committee discussed dozens of possible changes to the four-team format during meetings this week while voicing support for the current format, executive director Bill Hancock said Friday.
In a news release, Hancock said the full committee of conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director heard from four of its members who have been analyzing expansions options.
Hancock said more than 60 possible formats were reviewed, including those with six, eight, 10, 12 and 16 teams.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) - Central Michigan announced Friday it has hired Kentucky assistant Tony Barbee is its new men’s basketball coach.
Barbee replaces Keno Davis, who was fired after nine years at the helm.
Barbee spent the last seven seasons on John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky. Barbee has also been a head coach at Auburn and UTEP, which he led to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010.
COURTS
WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio (AP) - Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Justin Layne was arrested in Ohio after police say they found a loaded gun in his car during an early morning traffic stop.
Willoughby Hills police say Layne was arrested on a fourth-degree felony charge of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
Police say they stopped Layne for speeding and conducted a search after smelling marijuana and seeing loose particles scattered throughout the vehicle. That search revealed there was a loaded Glock pistol in the center console.
According to the police report, Layne acknowledged the gun was his and said he forgot it was there.
A Steelers spokesman says the team is aware of the incident and is still gathering information.
OBITUARY
Adrian Garrett, who spent eight seasons in the major leagues and then went on to a coaching career, has died. He was 78.
Garrett died Thursday of pneumonia at Ascension Seton Hays Hospital in Kyle, Texas, New York Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Friday.
A catcher and an outfielder, Garrett signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1961 and made his debut with the Atlanta Braves on April 13, 1966.
He was 0 for 3 in four games for the Braves that year and did not return to the big leagues until 1970 with the Chicago Cubs. He played for the Cubs through 1973 and again in 1975 and also for Oakland (1971-72) and the California Angels (1975-76). He hit .185 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs in 163 games.
Garrett spent 1977-79 with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan’s Central League, winning a Japan Series title in his final season.
He was a minor league manager for the Chicago White Sox in 1982. He served as a hitting instructor and was a big league coach for the Kansas City Royals from 1988-92. He served as a minor league coach with the Marlins and was hitting coach for the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A team in Louisville from 2003–11, followed by four years as a part-time hitting instructor for the Reds.
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