Category: Sports

1. LINKON CURE – Kansas State

*****

2. JORDON DAVISON – Ohio State

*****

3. TY HAWKINS – TCU

*****

4. JAVION HILSON – Florida State

*****

5. DIJON LEE JR. – Alabama

*****

6. JULIAN LEWIS – Colorado

*****

7. KALIQ LOCKETT – Texas

*****

8. DAKORIEN MOORE – Oregon

*****

9. NA’EEM OFFORD – Ohio State

*****

10. DAVID SANDERS JR. – Ohio State

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The anticipation had been building throughout the day, and now the moment had arrived.

Finally, the group of NFL stars descended on the Vanderbilt University campus on Nashville’s West End in front of a few hundred invited guests. Necks craned and cameras snapped as familiar faces rolled through.

You might expect this level of excitement for quarterbacks or wide receivers, the kinds of players teams feature on billboards. Instead, this was the start of Day 2 of Tight End University (TEU) — the fourth annual get-together conceived by former Pro Bowler Greg Olsen and current San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle and Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro Travis Kelce.

This week’s version drew its largest group of attendees, with more than 70 tight ends and quarterbacks showing up to mentor, learn, work and grow. The tight end position now features some of the game’s biggest names, with few NFL players able to claim a higher profile than Kelce.

But no matter a player’s status, there was something to be gained for veterans and those striving to make their names.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ Evan Engram, entering his eighth season, has attended each year and said showing up continues to pay off.

“As my game has grown over the last four years, it’s always cool to come back and still hear different tidbits and kind of a different perspective of how guys see the game,” said Engram, who made his second Pro Bowl in 2023. “It’s been great.”

Engram displayed his level of experience when he was asked by Olsen during Tuesday’s on-field workouts to add input, giving the group pointers about coming out of their breaks when running routes.

The event is part football clinic, part retreat. The companies sponsoring TEU held a welcome reception Monday night followed by a concert and party at Brooklyn Bowl on Tuesday. Families are welcome, and a heavy dose of free swag and good food are staples.

But as the players took the field to get down to business, the depth of the talent on hand became obvious. During one moment in individual drills, Kelce took reps flanked by Engram on one side and 2023 rookie sensation Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions on the other. On the opposite end of the field, Kittle took part in drills alongside the Dallas Cowboys’ Jake Ferguson, who broke out with 71 receptions in his second season in 2023.

The Cowboys’ Dak Prescott headlined the quarterbacks on hand to throw to the tight ends, with the three-time Pro Bowl selection at one point challenging players to go beyond their current roles by advancing their understanding of the game.

“At tight end, you’ve got to know the offense — every part of it,” he said. “Run game, pass protection, all that. The next step is truly knowing what your quarterback is thinking. … You guys are a quarterback’s best friend.”

The education continued at other moments. Olsen coached up players on how to make more efficient releases off the line of scrimmage. Former Indianapolis Colts great Dallas Clark worked with LaPorta and others on creating separation at the top of routes.

There was an eagerness by all involved — from Olsen and the quarterbacks to even some of the youngest tight ends participating. That attitude extended to the series of flag football games the players competed in with players from local high school girls’ teams. Clark did his fair share of coaching during the flag games, looking every bit as intense as he did during his playing days.

But the primary goal of this event was for players to leave better than when they arrived. With the valuable lessons imparted, that was not difficult to envision.

“There’s two types of guys who play tight end in the league,” Olsen said. “There are guys who coaches have to get open. … Then there are other guys who can get themselves open.”

The hope was TEU would help players become the latter.

Britain’s Jack Draper is through to the quarter-finals at the Queen’s Club Championships, after a stunning defeat of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 6-3.

A tight first set with no break points saw Draper excel in a tie-break to clinch it 7-3 and claim the opening set, before storming through the second to lead 5-2 with two match points on the Alcaraz serve.

The Spaniard recovered to hold from there, but Draper then held his nerve, serving out the match for victory.

Spanish superstar Alcaraz, who won the French Open earlier this month, had not been beaten in seven weeks or lost a match on grass in almost two years.

But Draper served notice that he is ready to mix it in the upper echelons of the game by becoming the first British man to beat a top-two player on grass since Andy Murray against Novak Djokovic in the 2013 Wimbledon final.

“It was a really tough match,” said Draper. “Carlos is the defending champion, he won Wimbledon, he’s an incredible talent and amazing for the sport.

“I had to come out and play well and luckily I did.

“There’s no place I’d rather be right now, with my family, my friends and the British support. I’ve got my grandad here, who’s just turned 80, he’s doing well.”

Draper became the new British No 1 on Monday, having secured the first ATP Tour title of his career by beating Matteo Berrettini in the Stuttgart Open final on Sunday.

Draper will play American fifth seed Tommy Paul, a 6-3 6-4 winner over Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, in the quarter-final.

With top seed Alcaraz now out, second seed Alex de Minaur and third seed Grigor Dimitrov are already eliminated as well, as are sixth, seventh and eighth seeds Ben Shelton, Holger Rune and Ugo Humbert.

Alcaraz had no complaints about the result as his 13-match unbeaten streak on grass came to a shuddering halt.

“I’m not too good right now. I felt like I didn’t play well, I didn’t move well,” he said.

“Of course I have to give credit to Jack. I think he played really good tennis today,”

Draper was joined in the last eight by another Briton, wild card Billy Harris.

The 29-year-old journeyman from Nottingham, who usually travels to lower-tier tournaments in his camper van, has made a huge breakthrough this week.

He celebrated the news that he had been given a wild card for Wimbledon – and a guaranteed £60,000 pay day – by beating French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4 7-5.

Harris said: “It’s massive for my confidence. I came into this match knowing it would be tough with his serve.

“The games went quick and I had to keep my focus. I got the breaks when I needed them and I thought I played well.

“I didn’t know how I’d react to coming out here but as soon as I came on court I got great support from the crowd and they helped me through the match.”

There was more British success in the doubles as Joe Salisbury and American partner Rajeev Ram beat scratch pairing Sebastian Korda and Alex De Minaur.

In the quarter-finals, Salisbury will face another Briton, Neal Skupski, who is playing alongside New Zealander Michael Venus.

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?

In the run-up to the third Grand Slam of 2024 – Wimbledon – you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the grass-court season.

• Berlin Open (WTA 500) – June 17-23
• Halle (ATP 500) – June 17-23
• Mallorca Championships (ATP 250) – June 23-29
• Bad Homburg (WTA 500) – June 23-29

Watch the WTA and ATP Tours throughout 2024 on Sky Sports Tennis. Stream Sky Sports Tennis and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership. No contract, cancel anytime.

Kylian Mbappé returned to light training Wednesday with a bandage covering his broken nose in the first public appearance by the France superstar since his bloody injury that shook the European Championship.

A cryptic Instagram post on social media earlier hours might have provided an insight into Mbappé’s mindset as the world waits to discover how long he will be out of action.

“Without risks, there are no victories,” the striker wrote on Instagram in the only comment so far from Mbappé or the French team management on a day when the Real Madrid-bound player underwent more tests on the nose injury sustained in the 1-0 win over Austria on Monday.

Mbappé emerged for a late-afternoon practice session at the Home Deluxe Arena in Paderborn about 30 minutes after his teammates came out. He was initially seen running with the ball alone, with a trainer, and later speaking to France coach Didier Deschamps, before taking part in a shooting drill with other players.

France’s next match is against the Netherlands on Friday and the team has yet to officially confirm whether Mbappé is available.

Earlier Wednesday, the diagnosis on Mbappé had been fairly encouraging from two of his teammates.

“A fractured nose isn’t the end of the world,” midfielder Adrien Rabiot said Wednesday through a translator at a lunchtime news conference in Paderborn, where France holds its training sessions at Euro 2024, “and Kylian should be with us pretty soon.”

William Saliba said he spoke to Mbappé and reported the striker was feeling a “bit better.”

Mbappé broke his nose when his face collided with the shoulder of Austria defender Kevin Danso. Blood was seen pouring from Mbappé’s badly swollen nose, turning parts of his white France jersey red. He will have to wear a face mask if he plays on at the tournament, his team said.

“I saw him this morning, he was a bit better,” Saliba said through a translator. “I think he was off to do more tests. I don’t know anything more.

“But when I saw him this morning, he was a bit better.”

Rabiot has compared the injury to one suffered by his teammate at Juventus, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. The Poland international broke his nose against Torino in April, underwent surgery and was back with the team the following week.

The widespread expectation is that Mbappé will play a further part at Euro 2024, especially since France’s win over Austria means the team is likely to advance to the knockout stage, which begins on June 29.

France will not be playing their match in the round of 16 before June 30.

Rabiot stressed he didn’t know how long Mbappé will be out but said “playing without Kylian could be tough.”

“He is a very important teammate and he is our captain, so it will have an effect on us, but also for the opponents — it will be different for them to prepare their game,” Rabiot said.

“I’m not going to hide it, we definitely want him to play. [But] looking at who we have on the bench, I think we have what it takes to replace Kylian. If he’s not there, it’s going to be a bit more tough but I trust all the great players we have on the team.”

Olivier Giroud and Randal Kolo Muani are the options to come in for Mbappé, who was nominally a centre-forward against Austria but was given licence to roam to the left or right. It was from the right wing where he played in the cross for the only goal — a header into his own net by Maximilian Wober.

Brandon Aiyuk added more intrigue to his contract stalemate with the San Francisco 49ers with a post to TikTok on Monday.

In the video, Aiyuk is talking via FaceTime with Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, his former Arizona State teammate.

Aiyuk tells Daniels, “They said they don’t want me back.”

Daniels responds, “That’s it?”

“I swear,” Aiyuk said, prompting Daniels to shout, “My boy!”

Aiyuk wrote in the caption of the post, “Im laughing but im crying fr.”

It is unclear whether Aiyuk was implying the 49ers don’t want him back for this season or is saying the 49ers don’t want him beyond this season because they are unwilling to meet his demands on what would be a lucrative contract extension.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported this weekend that talks between the 49ers and Aiyuk “have stalled a bit.”

Aiyuk is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is slated to count $14.124 million against the salary cap in 2024. The wide receiver is coming off a 75-catch, 1,342-yard, seven-touchdown season.

He didn’t participate in the 49ers’ offseason program and skipped the team’s mandatory minicamp. He is subject to fines in excess of $101,000 for boycotting the minicamp.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson recently reset the wide receiver market with his four-year extension that averages $35 million per season, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles‘ A.J. Brown ($32 million per season), Detroit Lions‘ Amon-Ra St. Brown ($30 million per season) and Miami Dolphins‘ Jaylen Waddle ($28.25 million per season) also have agreed to extensions this offseason.

49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel said during the team’s minicamp that he has been in regular contact with Aiyuk throughout the offseason, offering his help when needed on how to navigate the contract situation. Samuel agreed to a three-year extension with the 49ers in 2022, but not before he demanded a trade due to the slow pace of his contract talks. His top piece of advice to Aiyuk has been to preach patience.

“At the end of the day, you want to get what you deserve, and you hope it happens,” Samuel said. “But it’s not going to happen in the timely manner that you want it to happen. It’s just a waiting game, and in this situation, you just let his agent communicate with them and they communicate back and it’s just the back and forth for a long time.”

Information from ESPN’s Nick Wagoner was used in this report.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs has been arrested for the second time in a month after he was booked on a domestic violence/burglary charge in Alabama on Sunday morning and released, according to online records.

Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office records show Buggs was released on $5,000 bond. No further details about the arrest were available.

The Chiefs were aware of the case but declined to comment

On May 30, Buggs turned himself in after he was charged with two misdemeanor counts of second-degree animal cruelty in Tuscaloosa. Two dogs under his care — a pitbull and a rottweiler mix — were found to be neglected and severely malnourished. One of the dogs had to be euthanized.

Buggs’ agent, Trey Robinson, has alleged his client is a victim of an ongoing “subversive campaign” to force the closure of the hookah lounge he owns in Tuscaloosa.

Buggs, 27, played three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two with the Detroit Lions before joining the Chiefs in January as a practice squad player. The Chiefs re-signed Buggs to a futures contract in February.

It continues a tumultuous offseason for the Chiefs.

Wide receiver Rashee Rice is facing eight felony charges, including six counts of collision involving injury, following a six-vehicle crash March 30 on a Dallas highway. Offensive linemen Chukwuebuka Godrick and Wanya Morris were arrested last month in Johnson County, Kansas, on misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

If you tune into a Notre Dame football game next year, you might feel like you’re watching a game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and not South Bend, Indiana.

Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class currently slots in at No. 2 in ESPN’s ranking, with the chance to be the Irish’s highest-ranked class in a decade. It also rekindles memories for Pittsburgh Steelers fans from the early 2000s.

Included in the list of recruits currently set to sign with Notre Dame this winter are Ivan Taylor, Elijah Burress and Jerome Bettis Jr. The trio’s fathers overlapped on the Steelers’ roster from April 2003 — when Ivan’s father Ike Taylor was drafted — to the end of the 2004 season, when Elijah’s father Plaxico Burress signed with the New York Giants.

Former @Steelers Plaxico Burress, Ike Taylor and Jerome Bettis pose with their sons 🔥

Elijah, Ivan and Jerome Jr. are all committed to play at @NDFootball ☘️ (via @elijahburress) pic.twitter.com/pqdtQYUdZh

— NFL (@NFL) June 17, 2024

The Pittsburgh lineage is the most recent example of a trend throughout the Irish roster, with the sons of NFL veterans flocking to South Bend. Joining Taylor, Burress and Bettis in Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class is James Flanigan, whose father Jim had a nine-year NFL stint.

The NFL connections don’t end in the Irish’s high school recruiting ranks. Two of the team’s recent graduate transfers, Jordan Clark and R.J. Oben, have fathers who both spent more than a decade in the league. Jordan’s father Ryan, who just missed the aforementioned Steelers trio but overlapped with both Taylor and Burress when the latter returned to Pittsburgh in 2012, took to social media to react to the recruits’ photo.

Real talk this is one of the HARDEST recruit pics ever!! @Ike_SwagginU, @JeromeBettis36 & @plaxicoburress I see y’all!! #SteelIrish@Marcus_Freeman1 building a MONSTER in South Bend! https://t.co/2KZBevngkl

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) June 17, 2024

This fall, Oben and Clark will join a roster already filled with NFL lineage. Incoming freshmen Kennedy Urlacher and Bryce Young are the sons of Pro Football Hall of Famers Brian Urlacher and Bryant Young. Offensive lineman Rocco Spindler‘s father Marc played eight seasons in the league, and star defensive back Benjamin Morrison‘s father Darryl spent three seasons with the now-Washington Commanders. Rounding out the list is stalwart defensive lineman Howard Cross III, who shares his name with his father, a league veteran with more than 200 games under his belt for the Giants.

No matter who your NFL squad is, if you find yourself watching the Irish this fall be prepared to potentially take a trip down memory lane.

Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves will headline the Women’s World Matchplay in July after the qualification race reached its conclusion.

Greaves will begin her defence against Irish youngster Katie Sheldon, after the eight-player line-up for July’s event was confirmed.

They will battle it out for the £10,000 top prize on a bumper afternoon in the Empress Ballroom, in a field which includes four world champions.

The field is comprised of eight players from a one-year Order of Merit based on PDC Women’s Series earnings across 24 tournaments since last July, with reigning champion Greaves returning to Blackpool as the top seed.

Greaves stormed to victory on debut 12 months ago, and the 20-year-old has won a further nine Women’s Series titles since then to reaffirm her status as the premier player in the women’s game.

The reigning champion will play Sheldon in her opener, as the Irish youngster returns to the Winter Gardens after missing out on last year’s extravaganza.

Sheldon enters the field after Aileen de Graaf, who occupied eighth position in the final 12-month Order of Merit, informed the PDC that she is unavailable to compete in Blackpool due to a prior commitment.

The draw also pits 2022 champion Sherrock up against three-time Lakeside women’s champion Anastasia Dobromyslova in a blockbuster quarter-final clash.

Sherrock memorably prevailed in the tournament’s inaugural staging, and after winning four of the last five Women’s Series events in 2023 has added a further two titles to her tally in 2024.

Dobromyslova, meanwhile, returned to prominence by reaching back-to-back Women’s Series finals last September, and will make her Blackpool bow as the number seven seed.

Third seed Lisa Ashton won back-to-back Women’s Series titles on Sunday to overhaul Mikuru Suzuki on the Order of Merit, and her reward is a last eight clash against Wales’ Rhian O’Sullivan.

Ashton will maintain her ever-present record in Blackpool alongside Sherrock, while O’Sullivan also returns to Blackpool after featuring in two Women’s Series finals throughout the last 12 months.

The other quarter-final clash will see 2023 runner-up Suzuki take on two-time event winner Noa-Lynn van Leuven, with Greaves or Sheldon awaiting the winner in the semi-finals.

Japanese star Suzuki will be the fourth seed on her Winter Gardens return, having extended her haul of Women’s Series titles to six following a strong start to 2024.

Meanwhile, fifth seed Van Leuven has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign, following up a landmark Challenge Tour triumph with a brace of Women’s Series titles in March and April respectively.

The winner of the Women’s World Matchplay will qualify for November’s Grand Slam of Darts and the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship, while also scooping the £10,000 top prize.

2024 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay

Sunday July 21
Draw Bracket
(1) Beau Greaves vs (8) Katie Sheldon
(4) Mikuru Suzuki vs (5) Noa-Lynn van Leuven
(2) Fallon Sherrock vs (7) Anastasia Dobromyslova
(3) Lisa Ashton vs (6) Rhian O’Sullivan

Format
Quarter-Finals – Best of seven legs
Semi-Finals – Best of nine legs
Final – Best of 11 legs

Prize Money
Winner: £10,000
Runner-Up: £5,000
Semi-Finalists: £2,500
Quarter-Finalists: £1,250
Total: £25,000

Fantasy football can offer positive experiences for those that participate. That is, unless you finish last in a league, where your punishment might be sitting in a McDonald’s for 24 hours unless you eat your way out of it.

That’s what Joe DeLeone had to go through Friday.

DeLeone had simple rules to follow: spend 24 hours in a McDonald’s with specific food items limiting the time he would have to spend in the fast food joint.

I finished in last place in fantasy football, and tomorrow I have to do my punishment.
I have to sit on a McDonalds for 24 hours unless I can eat my way out of it. Here’s the key I was given by a league mate for what I can eat to shorten my time ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/uhgidj67yb

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 14, 2024

One of DeLeone’s friends put together the spreadsheet that assigned times to each item. A Big Mac would deduct 45 minutes, while a Big Breakfast with hotcakes would be worth two hours. Conversely, spending time in the ball pit at the PlayPlace would deduct five minutes.

DeLeone opted for a specific strategy, limiting himself to around 6,000 calories with an hour left at McDonald’s. Here are some highlights of his journey, which he documented on X (times in PST):

10:41 a.m. DeLeone made it clear in his first video. He wasn’t here to mess around.

“I’m going to get out of here as quickly as I can,” he said. “I’m not sitting here hanging out.”

That process began with two Big Breakfasts, which includes a biscuit, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns and sausage for 760 calories per serving. DeLeone also added 17 hashbrowns, which if finished would deduct seven hours.

Update one, meal one is 2 big breakfasts and 17 hash browns https://t.co/UMCDlwSNYn pic.twitter.com/7YdmD0KxjK

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 15, 2024

11:00 a.m. Confidence was high after finishing the second Big Breakfast — though the hashbrowns were still untouched.

Just finished the second big breakfast and I’ve been here for an hour. THIS IS LIGHT WORK pic.twitter.com/wP8R50qOXj

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 15, 2024

12:11 p.m. Speaking of those hashbrowns, DeLeone acknowledged that they were “a trap.” He also elaborated that ordering all of them at once was a mistake.

The hash browns were a trap

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 15, 2024

2:01 p.m. After originally ordering 10 apples, DeLeone went back for 10 more. Each apple slice deducted five minutes, but, most importantly, they were “lightweight,” offering a balance to the other items he ate. They also became an effective strategy of shortening the time.

At this point, DeLeone said his goal was to leave by 5:30 p.m. and mapped out his next meals.

Ordered more apples. We’ve got 7 hours to go. Gearing up for making another big dent pic.twitter.com/vl5b3s9SYT

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 15, 2024

I think they think I’m some moron who’s obsessed with Apples https://t.co/jgf8dXGih8

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 15, 2024

3:58 p.m. Three orders of McChickens led to just three hours remaining for his punishment. DeLeone expressed confidence he’d be free soon, calling the challenge “light work.”

“We’re about to be in and out of here,” he said.

3 McChickens and 3 hours left pic.twitter.com/Og6RG21II4

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 15, 2024

4:12 p.m. There’s nothing like cashing in the points gained on a food app. DeLeone reached nearly 10,000 points on the McDonald’s app — almost enough to get a free Big Mac or Quarter Pounder with cheese.

I have enough points to feed a family pic.twitter.com/mVXMeypZxo

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 15, 2024

5:57 p.m. A final McChicken and three apple slices finally put the challenge to rest. Eight hours later, DeLeone came out victorious, knocking off 16 hours. His final tally of meals came out to two Big Breakfasts, 17 hashbrowns, four McChickens and 23 apple slices.

He said his brain was fried and he felt awful, but acknowledged the challenge was still “really fun.”

“It was just cool to see how everyone was supporting this because it’s just a fun stupid thing to do in the offseason,” DeLeone said.

It’s finally over, I’m never going to a McDonald’s again pic.twitter.com/4pztMBudMa

— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 16, 2024