Matt Fitzpatrick made a miraculous birdie on the 16th hole during the first round of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush on Thursday.
Fitzpatrick, 30, hit a wayward iron shot that left him 13 yards away from the pin and down a hill. When he lined up to hit his second shot, he was well below the hole.
Despite having a difficult shot, Fitzpatrick dunked in his chip shot for a birdie. The English golfer could not have landed his shot more perfectly, as it clanked off the bottom of the flag and into the hole.
The birdie moved Fitzpatrick into a tie for first place at 4-under par. Fitzpatrick is tied with Jacob Skov Olesen and Haotong Li, who are at the time of this writing atop the leaderboard.
Fitzpatrick started the day well with an eagle on the second hole. He immediately gave one stroke back with a bogey on the third hole.
However, that bogey would be Fitzpatrick’s lone bogey of the day, as he had a par or better on every hole after that.
Fitzpatrick had been playing strong golf coming into The Open, as he finished in a tie for eighth in the Rocket Classic at the end of June and finished in a tie for fourth at the Scottish Open last week.
Fitzpatrick has two career PGA Tour wins, with one of them coming in a major, as he won the 2022 U.S. Open. The last tournament he won was the RBC Heritage in 2023.
Johnny Manziel may go down as one of the biggest "what-ifs" in NFL history as the electric Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback flamed out in the pros after the Cleveland Browns selected him in the first round in 2014.
Overall, Manziel played two seasons in the NFL before trying his hand at the Canadian Football League and the Alliance of American Football.
He appeared on Logan Paul’s "IMPAULSIVE" podcast and revealed he almost attempted an NFL return. Paul asked him if it was too late for him to be a quarterback now.
"I asked myself this question last year at some point in him," Manziel said. "Got myself into a mindset of like, 'OK, I'm going to go start working out again, throwing the football around, see if I can still get myself in shape.'
"I remember calling my agent, being like, 'OK, I think I'm gonna try and make a comeback.' He's like, 'OK, we'll start talking with some guys, UFL, XFL.’ And I'm just sitting there thinking like, 'There's no way I'm going back to f---ing play in one of these early leagues – UFL, XFL, anything like that and go do that whole thing again."
Manziel suggested the idea of going into the smaller leagues to try to have a "three or four game stretch" in order to maybe get a training camp invite wasn’t appealing to him.
"As much as I would like to think that’s something I could do, I think at 32 my chances are pretty chopped," he said.
Manziel played in 14 games for the Browns from 2014 to 2015. He had seven touchdown passes and 1,675 passing yards.
Sarah Spain, a sports media personality, took issue with Shane Gillis cracking jokes about female athletes during the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night.
Gillis’ jokes included a crack about Caitlin Clark working at a Waffle House when she retires from the WNBA to continue "fist-fighting Black women," needling former U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe and tricking the crowd into believing his friend’s wife was a former WNBA player.
"In a year of crazy growth for women's sports choosing an ESPYs host who doesn't even try to make clever jokes about women athletes (he at least *attempted* for the men) he goes with hacky ‘no one knows the WNBA’ bits, ‘Pinoe is a bad time’ & repeatedly insults Black women. COOL," Spain wrote in a post on X.
For what it’s worth, the Clark joke didn’t appear to go over well with the crowd in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre.
"They let me do it, I don’t know," Gillis said after tearing into Belichick and his relationship with Jordon Hudson. "This is Disney. They allowed that ... Yeah, we should've taken that out. I had doubts going into that. That didn't work all week."
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
Bryan Braman, a former NFL linebacker who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans, has died after battling a "very rare" form of cancer, his agent said.
He was 38.
Braman’s agent, Sean Stellato, told ESPN on Thursday that Braman had passed away. The former NFL player had two daughters, ages 11 and 8.
He was diagnosed with the cancer earlier this year, according to a GoFundMe set up on his behalf in February. More than $88,000 was raised in his name, including $10,000 from former Houston Texans star J.J. Watt.
The latest update on the fundraiser from last month stated that Braman had undergone "CAR-T cell reprogramming treatment." While initially showing signs of being effective, the organizer of the fundraiser said that "the cancer has grown exponentially faster, and is now growing around his vital organs."
Braman spent the majority of his seven-year NFL career with the Eagles. He helped bring a Super Bowl title to Philadelphia with an upset victory over the New England Patriots.
He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2011 by the Texans, where he played for three seasons. He signed with the Eagles in 2014 and rejoined the team again right before the playoffs in 2017. He would go on to register one tackle in their Super Bowl victory.
Braman was a standout at West Texas A&M before he turned pro. He played in 97 NFL games from 2011 to 2017, recording 56 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Lee actually "quit" gymnastics "a couple times."
"I told my coach I don’t want to do this anymore… There were many times where I didn’t want to do this anymore, or I just doubted myself more in the process. I think even as close as like Olympic Trials I was doubting myself," Lee said.
However, after going through an incredible grind, Lee was in Paris and won three medals - the entire team won gold, and Lee herself went bronze in the all-around and uneven bars.
More recently, she was nominated for, and won, the Best Comeback Athlete at the 2025 ESPYs on Wednesday night.
"It is incredible, and it is such a surreal feeling just because I know how hard the journey was, so to be here is pretty incredible on its own, and I am just really excited for tonight and to be with the other nominees," Lee said.
In attending the award show, she teamed up with Raising Cane's, who helped her get ready for the occasion.
"Oh my gosh, they have been so amazing, and they have brought me to so many amazing places as well, and having that relationship is just so fun. I feel like every time we are with them, we are all having such a great time, and they are genuinely such great people, so it is a great relationship."
Lee admitted that she didn't start to feel 100% normal until after the Olympics.
"We were still trying to figure everything out, get into the routine, learn how my body was able to adjust to the medicine the time changes and the traveling it was just a lot going on all at once. Plus, being stressed and overwhelmed definitely didn’t help. But yeah, I would say things definitely calmed down afterwards, and now I am able to just kind of live my life a little bit more normal I just have to go to my doctor every couple of months, but I take my medicine every single day. I am in a routine now."
By going to Paris, she doubled her medal count and etched herself into ESPY history.
Fox News' Connor McGahan contributed to this report.
Bruce Pearl’s name was floated as a possible candidate to replace Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., in his U.S. Senate seat as the lawmaker announced his intention to run for Alabama governor.
The Auburn Tigers men’s basketball head coach even received the support of Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, despite Pearl’s fervent support for President Donald Trump.
Pearl addressed the possibility on the "Scott Jennings Show," wondering whether he could make as big of an impact on the world as the head coach at Auburn.
"Can I also have an impact as a basketball coach?" Pearl said. "I’m graduating kids. I’m teaching kids. … I don’t know that I have to be a Senator in order (make an impact), there are so many things about Washington that are so dysfunctional that I don’t even know that I could make a difference there."
Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen told AL.com that he expected Pearl to be the head coach of the team for the 2025-26 season.
"I absolutely expect him to be the head coach at Auburn," Cohen said. "But I, I also expect all the policies of NIL Go and, and you know, our new governing body to be upheld. But things can change. We’ve seen that."
Pearl, who is Jewish, has expressed his fervent support for Israel in the face of rising antisemitism in the U.S. since the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel. He’s been a supporter of how Trump has handled the conflicts in the Middle East as well.
Pearl was also tapped to be the chairman of the U.S. Israel Education Association.
Pearl is 246-125 as the Tigers’ head coach. He has led Auburn to two Final Four appearances, including last season.
Comedian Shane Gillis took the stage at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night and was firing shots at virtually anyone in the sports world with a monologue fit for a roast event.
It’s not uncommon to see the host start to light up the crowd with some playful jabs here and there at award shows, but Gillis’ biting humor drew some jeers along with cheers inside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
One of his most-discussed jokes revolved around new North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach Bill Belichick, as Gillis made a comment about his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.
"A bookie is what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime," Gillis prefaced his joke. "They read, ‘Very horny caterpillar,’ ‘The Little Engine That Could But Needed A Pill First,’ and of course, the classic, ‘Good Night Boobs.""
The divide in the crowd started to come when Gillis mentioned Joe Rogan with a joke about NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, but it quickly turned into something aimed at President Donald Trump.
"Joe Rogan actually wanted me to be here to host this award show so that I could capture Adam Silver because Joe thinks he’s an alien," Gillis said. "And Donald Trump wanted me to be here to capture Juan Soto for the same reason."
Gillis didn’t stop there with the Trump mentions, as he poked fun at the 47th president for recently saying he wants to stage a UFC fight at the White House.
Then, it got into the current political argument around the supposed Jeffrey Epstein client list.
"Donald Trump wants to stage a UFC fight on the White House lawn. The last time he staged a fight in D.C., Mike Pence almost died," Gillis said. "… Actually, there was supposed to be an Epstein joke here, but I guess it got deleted. Probably deleted itself, right? Probably never existed. Let’s move on as a country and ignore that."
Gillis also mentioned WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, which didn’t get the best of reactions after what he "predicted" when she retired.
"She’s going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most, fist-fighting Black women," Gillis said to a mixed reaction.
Finally, another interesting joke choice was taking a shot at the late O.J. Simpson, which was an ode to the late comedian Norm Macdonald, the host of the show in 1998.
"Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy this year," Gillis said. "He’s the first defensive player since Charles Woodson to win the Heisman. Congratulations, Travis Hunter, winning the Heisman, that’s something they can never take away from you. Unless you kill your wife and a waiter, in which case, they can take that away from you."
Gillis, who stars in the Netflix series "Tires," also took aim at Aaron Rodgers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and more in what some view as off-color, while others thought it was just for laughs.
During the NFL annual league meeting in April, the league changed its rule that allowed teams making the playoffs to avoid HBO’s "Hard Knocks."
Enter the Buffalo Bills, who will be the featured team during "Hard Knocks: Training Camp" in just a couple of weeks as teams get prepared to head to their respective facilities to gear up for the new year.
It’s the first time since the show debuted in 2001 that the Bills will be featured, and quarterback Josh Allen, the reigning MVP after a tremendous 2024 campaign, knows it’s going to be a different feeling with cameras all around when he gets back to Buffalo.
While speaking with Fox News Digital on behalf of Natrol, the drug-free sleep-aid brand he partnered with, Allen explained how he understands the excitement around watching the Bills get ready for a season.
However, there is one main priority that must be above all else in terms of HBO and NFL Films cameras being around.
"First and foremost, cannot let it become a distraction," Allen said. "Got to keep the main thing, the main thing, and that’s trying to be the best we can be on the field. Making sure we’re doing everything right, and not letting the cameras distract us. I think that’s going to be a sign of a good team."
But Allen also understands that "Hard Knocks" provides fans with a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most grueling sports in the world, allowing players to be humanized more, while letting their personalities shine throughout training camp battles.
Now that it’s a perennial playoff team that was just a few plays away from a potential Super Bowl last season, the hype and attention is even greater.
"For the longest time, ‘Hard Knocks’ was usually reserved for, I wouldn’t say bad teams, but teams that didn’t make the playoffs the year before," Allen said. "I know they lifted that rule, and we’re kind of the first team that’s coming from the playoffs to be on it, in terms of the training camp portion of it. So, yeah, it’s going to be a little different, but we got a lot of veteran leadership in the locker room and a lot of young guys who we’re going to have to take on our shoulders and be like, ‘Hey, this is how we’re doing it.’
"Again, you want to be a star and the face of this and that and the other? Let your play take care of it. Still be yourself and let your personality out. I think Coach [Sean] McDermott has been doing a great job ever since I was rookie of making sure, whoever you are, be that person all the time, right? Being as authentic as possible is one of the greatest qualities that you can have, and this is no different."
Since 2019, the Bills have made the playoffs every season, yet they have not made it past the rest of their AFC foes to reach the Super Bowl despite having a talented team, especially with Allen at the helm.
But with the goal remaining the same, fans will get an inside look at how McDermott, Allen and the rest of the team prepare for what is always a long journey ahead, with the final goal always being to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, which would be a first for a Buffalo squad.
"You’re going to see a lot of cool stories and cool personalities on our team," Allen said.
BETTER SLEEP, BETTER PLAY WITH NATROL
Those vivid dreams Allen has can be credited to Natrol, which he believes can give him an edge this season.
"I only try to partner with brands that I fully believe in, and I think this next part of the process of my journey is unlocking that piece of my game and my life really. I do believe Natrol can help me do that," he said.
Allen explained how melatonin products in previous years didn’t affect his body the way he had hoped, but during a trip home from Italy last offseason, he slept 10 hours after taking Natrol, and he said he was "all in" after that.
As a quarterback, being sharp and alert is a requirement all season long, no matter if it’s the film room, on the practice field, or in a game. Getting a good night’s rest is crucial, so whether Allen wants a melatonin product to adjust to the east coast time difference from his usual west coast stay, or a melatonin-free "Sleep & Restore" product, Natrol has everything he needs.
"I do fully believe that I haven’t been a great sleeper — my mind is racing. But every great performance starts with a great night’s sleep, and every great night’s sleep starts with Natrol. It’s a great tagline we like to say, but I truly believe this can unlock another part of my game, and I can still continue to get better," he said.
Tyreek Hill may be one of the best wide receivers in the NFL right now, but Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss doesn’t want to hear his name being mentioned among the all-time greats.
Moss took a shot at the Miami Dolphins speedster while talking with the South Florida Sun Sentinel last week, when he said Hill doesn’t deserve to be in the conversation as one of the greatest receivers to play the game.
"He’s nowhere all-time," Moss told the outlet. "Where is he at in today’s game? Tyreek Hill is probably top five. I put him top five."
While Moss hit Hill with the jab, he has no doubt in his mind where he stands in terms of the greatest to ever play the position.
Moss is second all-time in receiving touchdowns (156), fourth in receiving yards (15,292), and 17th in receptions (982). Some make the argument that Moss was the greatest receiver to ever play the game.
"Is that a real question?" he said when asked by the outlet where he thinks he ranks among the best ever. "Are you being political or are you being real?
"Because if we’re talking political, we’ll say Jerry Rice. If we’re talking real football, where I knock you’re a-- out, it’s me."
Meanwhile, Hill has been one of the best receivers in the NFL for a few years now, beginning with his tenure on the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a Pro Bowler his rookie year in 2016, and that streak continued up until last season, when he didn’t make it.
Hill had four straight seasons with at least 1,200 receiving yards before a down year in his standards in 2024. He totaled 959 yards with six touchdowns on 81 receptions during a roller coaster 2024 campaign for the Dolphins.
However, Hill led the league in receiving yards (1,799) the year prior, as well as receiving touchdowns (13).
Hill’s ability to use his speed and quick route-running to create separation has allowed his quarterbacks, Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes and Dolphins leader Tua Tagovailoa, to create big plays with him on the gridiron.
However, Hill has some stats to get to be considered one of the greatest receivers ever from that perspective. He is currently 42nd in receiving yards (11,098), 30th in receiving touchdowns (82), and 42nd in receptions.
In August 2024, Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, made the announcement that she verbally committed to play college golf at the University of Miami.
Trump will enroll in 2026 to continue her golf career, something that has been a passion for her ever since she picked up a club at two years old.
But while Trump has many different hats she wears, including content creation for her millions of followers on social media, make no mistake: The goal is to be a professional golfer.
"Yeah, it is. 100%," she told Fox News Digital, while also discussing her NIL partnership with Accelerator Active Energy on Tuesday.
Trump still has one year of high school left before she can get to Miami to help the Hurricanes on the course. And she knows what she needs to do to prepare for that.
"Just playing a lot of events, just gaining experience," Trump explained. "But also practice. If I have two hours, I’m not gonna hit a few balls, go on my phone and scroll. No, I’m going to take full-on advantage with the time I have on the course.
"I think that’s going to get me to the next level for sure, as well as just training in the gym, getting stronger and playing more rounds."
In turn, Trump chose Miami because she believes it will help her reach that ultimate goal of playing on a professional tour.
"The more golf I play, the better I’ll do. Getting experience. Miami gave me a great opportunity, and I’m really looking forward to that," she said.
Trump also understands how much of a balance being a student-athlete will be at that level, especially when it comes to her other passions. But she says golf is the top priority the second she steps on campus.
And when she's on the course, Trump gets into this competitive state that she feels "you can't really teach."
"I don’t know, it might just be a family gene or something," she said, smiling. "Yeah, on the course, that’s something you can’t really teach. But I just have a very competitive side to me, especially having brothers and a big family. You have to be competitive sometimes."
If Trump wishes to see those pro dreams fulfilled, being competitive is a necessity as she looks ahead to that next step in a golf career she hopes will be on a tour one day.
PARTNERING WITH ACCELERATOR
Being a college athlete in today's NCAA means having the ability to profit off your brand, and Kai has already developed quite the following through her social media and content creation passions.
In turn, she struck an NIL partnership with Accelerator Active Energy, becoming the brand's first golf NIL partner, while also being an equity partner.
Accelerator Active Energy is the brand that earned acclaim for launching "The Livvy Fund" with former college gymnastics champion Livvy Dunne to support women's college athletes. And while Dunne is an equity partner, so is Kansas City Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce.
A presidential-themed video, in which Kai addresses "fellow Americans and content creators," announced the move, which she could not be more excited for.
"It's pretty cool, especially being partners with such great athletes and being up there too with them," she said.
The Indiana Fever fell to the New York Liberty in their final game before the All-Star break this weekend as star guard Caitlin Clark was sidelined with a groin injury.
Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and Sabrina Ionescu added 15 points and nine assists in the 98-77 win over the Fever on Wednesday night.
The Liberty controlled most of the game as Clark was ruled out just before tip-off with a groin injury, marking her third absence of the season due to injury.
"Look, we’ve faced adversity. There’s no doubt about it. But we’ve also grown through it and we’ve talked about it from day one – no matter what keeps coming at us – and every team in the league has faced some sort of adversity," Fever head coach Stephanie White said after the game.
"We’ve got to stop talking about building consistency and we’ve got to start doing it. We’ve got to understand that every single day we’re going to see opponents' best shots and we’ve got to be ready for it. And then we’ve got to find I think some sort of dog in us, right? We play hard and at times we can be disruptive and be really good on the defensive end, and at the end of the day, that’s got to be consistent for us."
White said the team is looking for a "reset" heading into the WNBA All-Star break which will be hosted by Indiana beginning on Friday. Clark is due to compete in the 3-point contest, alongside Ionescu, and was named a captain in Saturday’s All-Star Game.
But her latest setback has raised questions about Clark’s availability for the weekend.
"No discussion yet about this weekend," White told reporters before the game. "There was imaging done and obviously, we're ruling her out for tonight but there hasn't been any discussion beyond tonight."
Clark is dealing with her second groin injury of the year. White said she does not believe that Clark’s latest injury, which was sustained in the final minutes of Tuesday night’s win over the Connecticut Sun, is the same as her previous injury. Clark has also missed five games early into the season because of a quad injury.
"I'm not really sure that it's a re-injury as much as a different kind of injury. I know oftentimes when you're working with injuries in the groin and the quad and the hamstring and all of those things, there's just – they're all kind of tied together and it's not always just one thing."
The Fever dropped to 4-6 in games without Clark after Wednesday night's loss. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 16 points. The Fever will return from the All-Star break on Tuesday where they will face the Liberty in Brooklyn again.
Ryan Peake will tee up at Royal Portrush on Thursday, and how he got this opportunity is unlike anyone else in the field.
That’s because the Australian golfer won the New Zealand Open five years after he spent half a decade in prison.
Peake was a talented junior golfer that turned professional when he was 19 years old. But, according to the BBC, Peake was "burnt out" from the game and joined the Rebels, an outlawed motorcycle gang, two years after turning pro.
"I was just normalized to it," Peake, now 31, said about joining the biker gang. "It wasn’t abnormal from where I was from to hang out in that sort of scene with my friends.
"It’s something that I did find love in and I did enjoy it. I was interested in it, and I just found something there that I felt like I hadn’t found anywhere else."
Peake was a "bikie," but being a part of an outlaw lifestyle means the risk of serving time in prison, which is what happened after assaulting someone he said was "making threats towards us."
"We just went to deal with it, and honestly, it wasn’t meant to happen like that," Peake explained, per the BBC. "We were generally just going there for a chat, and he was probably going to get a couple of punches along the way, and it was left at that."
Peake landed in a maximum security correctional facility, and it was there where he decided he "wanted to achieve better things."
"I didn’t profit from being a bikie," Peak said. "I enjoyed the lifestyle while I was living it, but it wasn’t going to get me ahead in life, and I was just always going to fall further and further behind and probably lead to more jail."
Peake was a teammate of 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year Cameron Smith at the time he was convicted.
But he returned to golf after jail, and the lefty started to get his career back on track. Thanks to help from coach Richie Smith, as well as support from his family, Peake received his Australasian tour card this season and earned his first professional win at the New Zealand Open.
In turn, Peake earned himself a spot in this year’s Open Championship.
He will be teeing up with Phil Mickelson and Daniel van Tonder at 2:19 a.m. ET on Thursday to begin his tournament.
Comedian Shane Gillis was tapped to host the ESPYs on Wednesday night, and he had a crass zinger for Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark during one of his opening monologues.
Gillis, who is also an actor on the Netflix series "Tires," had a little something for everyone while he was on stage in Los Angeles. Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders were also among the targets.
But Gillis mapped out Clark’s future after she’s finished with the WNBA.
"When Caitlin Clark retires from the WNBA, she's going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most — fist-fighting Black women," he said to polite laughter from the crowd.
Clark was not at the ESPYs on Wednesday as she continues to be evaluated following an apparent injury during the team’s win over the Connecticut Sun. She came off the floor on Tuesday night clutching her upper leg and was seen on the bench in tears.
The Fever star was set to be a captain in the All-Star game and take part in the 3-point shooting contest. But all of that seemed up in the air.
"No discussion yet about this weekend," Fever head coach Stephanie White said on Wednesday night. "There was imaging done, and, obviously, we're ruling her out for tonight, but there hasn't been any discussion beyond tonight."
Clark sustained a groin injury late in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s win over the Sun in Boston Tuesday night. White said she did not believe it was a "reinjury." Clark missed time in May due to a quad injury and was recently sidelined for five games with a left groin strain.
"I'm not really sure that it's a reinjury as much as a different kind of injury. I know oftentimes when you're working with injuries in the groin and the quad and the hamstring and all of those things, there's just — they're all kind of tied together, and it's not always just one thing."
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts and the Yankees' Aaron Boone were the managers for this year's All-Star game after their teams met in last season's World Series.
Boone addressed concerns over his player selection for the swing-off, saying each manager was required to submit three names the day before the event. He added that his decision was based on the idea Judge would not be in the All-Star game in the late innings.
"We had to pick our guys yesterday," Boone said during a postgame news conference. "Wanted to make sure I picked guys I knew would be in the game there and still hot. That was my choice."
Athletics star Brent Rooker, Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena and Rays player Jonathan Aranda were the three AL players who participated in the swing-off.
Phillies star Kyle Schwarber hit three home runs to lift the NL to an All-Star game victory and was named the game's MVP.
For the first time in four years, major league players took the field for an All-Star game wearing the uniforms of the teams they play for. Since the Atlanta Braves are a National League club, the NL All-Stars wore their white home uniforms. The AL All-Stars wore their gray road uniforms.
In the past few years, players were given specially designed All-Star uniforms.
"I wanted to go out there and represent New York, so I just kind of thought about all the first-time All-Stars," the Yankees slugger told Fox News Digital in the American League clubhouse just hours before the first pitch at Tuesday's MLB All-Star game.
"I just kind of voiced (my opinion on the situation). I wouldn't say it was my call or anything. … Like, I think it's cool for the fans too. I remember as a kid turning on the all the old All-Star games (on TV) and seeing the players in their uniforms."
When asked about his thoughts on the Home Run Derby, Judge said with a smile, "I already did it. I don't know what else you want from me.
"I think it's time for somebody else to step up and do their thing and have fun with. I love seeing new faces in the game go out there and do their thing."
Jazz Chisholm Jr. represented the Yankees Monday night in the Home Run Derby. The second baseman had the lowest home run total of the participants and failed to advance past the first round.
Judge remained supportive of his teammate and hinted Chisholm has his eye on chance at redemption in 2026.
"It's his first one. It's a big moment, but I know he's always ready for the big moment. But I think he got a base hit in the game tonight, so he was just staying ready for the All-Star game. My guy's an All-Star. He said he's going to do it again next year if he gets 20 homers. So, I think he'll be on a revenge tour for next season."
Caitlin Clark’s status for the WNBA All-Star Game remains undecided after the Indiana Fever guard was ruled out of Wednesday night’s game against the New York Liberty with a groin injury.
Fever head coach Stephanie White told reporters in a pregame news conference there has not been any talk about Clark’s availability for All-Star weekend, which will be hosted by the Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse beginning Friday.
Clark is due to compete in the 3-point contest Friday and serve as a captain in Saturday’s All-Star Game.
"No discussion yet about this weekend," White said. "There was imaging done, and, obviously, we're ruling her out for tonight, but there hasn't been any discussion beyond tonight."
Clark sustained a groin injury late in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s win over the Connecticut Sun in Boston Tuesday night. White said she did not believe it was a "reinjury." Clark missed time in May due to a quad injury and was recently sidelined for five games with a left groin strain.
"I'm not really sure that it's a reinjury as much as a different kind of injury. I know oftentimes when you're working with injuries in the groin and the quad and the hamstring and all of those things, there's just — they're all kind of tied together, and it's not always just one thing."
White added that a "slow" approach to getting Clark back on the court has always been the priority for both the success of the team and Clark "long term."
"The big picture is the most important — for her health and wellness, long term and for our team. And we've been very slow in making sure that every time she comes back that she's ready. So, we'll continue to approach it like that. I mean, long term is the most important."
White called the latest update on Clark’s injury "day-to-day," adding she sees that as good news.
"You'd have to ask the athletic training staff. I mean, I consider it good news just because, for me, it's anything that we're talking about still day-to-day, is always good news for me. So, but that's the layman's viewpoint."
The audio of a 911 call John Elway made after his agent's fatal golf cart accident has been released.
Elway and his agent, Jeff Sperbeck, were at the Madison Club in La Quinta, California, April 26 when Sperbeck died of injuries in what local authorities ruled a "tragic accident."
Elway dialed 911 and told the dispatcher the two were "on a golf cart, and he fell off the golf cart," according to TMZ Sports.
Elway said the cart did not crash into anything, and Sperbeck had fallen from "the back." The Hall of Famer added that Sperbeck sustained a head injury.
"He fell off the golf cart. He was on the back, and he fell off of the golf cart," Elway said.
The operator instructed Elway to check Sperbeck's breathing and to check if his chest was rising.
"Do not splint any injuries, and do not move him unless he's in danger," the operator said.
The operator said he would give directions on how to "stop the bleeding" and asked him to get a "clean, dry cloth or towel." Elway then said he had a "medic on scene."
The operator then instructed Elway to call back if Sperbeck's condition worsened.
Elway avoided charges in the incident, and the investigation into the death has been completed.
A source told Page Six Elway "is not coping well with the loss and the accident. He has been really upset and withdrawn."
Sperbeck’s cause of death was "blunt force trauma," and the manner of death was an accident that occurred when the "passenger fell from the golf cart," the county coroner’s report said.
"I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken by the passing of my close friend, business partner and agent Jeff Sperbeck," Elway said in a statement, via ESPN. "There are no words to truly express the profound sadness I feel with the sudden loss of someone who has meant so much to me.
"My heart and deepest sympathies go out to Jeff’s wife, Cori; his children, Carly, Sam and Jackson; and everyone who knew and loved him. Jeff will be deeply missed for the loyalty, wisdom, friendship and love he brought into my life and the lives of so many others."
Sperbeck had been Elway’s agent since 1990. The two collaborated on several business ventures.
New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has both fame and fortune, but prefers his faith.
Judge, 33, was asked what he would tell someone who thinks fame and fortune would solve all of their problems.
"Our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. He’s given me this platform, this ability. The fame, getting the chance to do this is great and all, but it’s not fulfilling as much as the relationship I have with Him," Judge said during a media availability on Monday, via CBN Sports.
"Build a relationship with Him, and that’ll solve all your problems."
Judge has been open about his faith throughout his career and showcased it on Monday while he prepared for the MLB All-Star Game.
Judge’s bat, which was painted blue and featured his daughter’s name, Nora, also had a reference to a passage from the Bible on it — 2 Corinthians 5:7.
"For we live by faith, not by sight," the verse read.
The Yankees' captain is in the midst of another incredible season as he leads the major leagues with a .355 batting average, is second with 35 home runs, and has 81 RBI while playing great defense in right field.
The seven-time All-Star is going for his third American League MVP award in three seasons. Judge won the AL MVP in 2022 after setting the American League home run record with 62 home runs and won the award last season after leading the big leagues in home runs (58) and RBI (144).
The Yankees fell out of first place in the American League East but still occupy one of the wildcard spots. The team will need Judge to continue his remarkable play as they make a playoff push.
Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid and James Harden created one of the best dynamic duos in the NBA when they were together.
But after almost two seasons together on the court, Embiid revealed he’s no longer on speaking terms with his former teammate.
"No one knows this, but even James [Harden] is not talking to me," Embiid told ESPN in a lengthy interview. "That’s the part I don’t like about being ‘that guy,’ because it puts you in the middle of those situations. Because if you ask James, he probably believes I had something to do with him not being here. And I’m just like, ‘I won the scoring title. You won the assists title. We had a pick-and-roll that was unstoppable.’"
Embiid added, "It hurts when you feel like you haven’t done anything wrong. When you think you have a relationship like that with somebody … you lose a lot."
Harden joined the Sixers in 2022 after a bombshell trade with the Brooklyn Nets sent Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks to the Big Apple. The Sixers were immediately considered championship contenders with Harden and Embiid.
However, Philadelphia lost early in the NBA Playoffs, falling in the conference semifinals in back-to-back seasons.
Embiid won his only league MVP during the 2022-23 campaign, when he averaged 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Harden led the league in assists with 10.7 per game.
But after the team’s playoff run that season, Harden became publicly disgruntled with the 76ers, specifically president of basketball operations Daryl Morey. Harden believed he had earned a max contract from the team, and he requested a trade after Morey did not give him one.
It got uglier. Harden called Morey a "liar," saying he would "never be a part of an organization that (Morey's) a part of."
Harden was then traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.
All Elite Wrestling stars Adam Copeland and Christian Cage made their impacts felt across the pro wrestling world over the weekend.
Copeland returned at All In: Texas on Saturday to save Cage, whose real name is Jay Reso, from a beatdown as his stablemates Nick Wayne, Nick’s mother Shayna and Kip Sabian turned on him following a match against Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin.
"That will never get old. It really won’t," Copeland told Fox News Digital. "And I’ve learned over the years to just enjoy those moments and not get too bogged down in, ‘Should I run straight or…’ No, just enjoy it and let the audience enjoy it too, and that’s what this whole business has always been about, or supposed to be, is to have fun — as an audience member and a performer too even though it hurts a lot."
Copeland described the whirlwind feeling going from sitting at home and reading a book to the electric crowd noise that hit him in the face when he appeared at Globe Life Field.
"It will never get old, and if you could bottle it, that feeling is just amazing."
Cage was awaiting a chair shot to the face when Copeland came out.
"Like he said, it’s great," Cage said. "When we walk out there, in a sea of people, like Adam said, you have to take it in because you never know when it could be the last time. So, you always have to appreciate those moments. And as a performer too, when you’ve been gone for a while, you’re always kind of in your own head like, ‘How many people are actually going to care if I come back?’ And when you hear a reaction like that, it’s very validating. It was nice to hear."
Before Cage performed at All In: Texas on Saturday, he made a surprising appearance at Ring of Honor’s event, Supercard of Honor. It was Cage’s first appearance at a Ring of Honor event in nearly 20 years. He congratulated Wayne in the ring as the young pro wrestler retained his Ring of Honor World Television Championship.
"It was a last-minute thing," he explained. "I walked out there to completely surprise the family. I got a surprise the next night — that’s another story. But it was cool. Hardcore wrestling fans like that, it’s always cool to walk out in those moments, especially when it’s not expected. I hid in the back and walked out there — it was pretty cool."
Copeland and Cage will now embark on a new storyline that could bring them back as a tag team. After Copeland saved Cage from a beatdown, he told his longtime friend to "go find yourself."
Copeland told Fox News Digital he hoped to get to tell a "layered story" over the next weeks and months.
"That’s the great thing about having 40 years of history with each other because we have so much history to be able to pull from, but also more than that," he said. "We’re two entirely different performers than we were before. I’d like to think we’re better all-around performers than we were before. That’s exciting. And really, to be able to possibly revisit something, again it’s fun, which is the whole idea of this. … I hope that this is what it will be for the audience is fun."
Cage added that he didn’t want to take this next chapter for granted.
"There was a time this was taken away from both of us. For us to get back in the ring and to be able to, when Adam first came to AEW as opponents, and then potentially we’ll see where this goes as far as tag team goes, but just to be able to appreciate every moment of it because at one point it looked like neither of us were going to get this opportunity again. To kind of even have this moment, just to kind of embrace it and take it all in."
Samantha Ponder has been quiet about her firing from ESPN, until now.
Ponder had been vocal about transgender athletes in women's sports on social media back in 2023, which she said prompted a warning from ESPN executives.
Ponder told Sage Steele on the latter's podcast that she shared Paula Scanlan's "story" about swimming against Lia Thomas, but then, "one of the top, top, top" bosses reached out to both former ESPN employees.
"I didn’t really think that was going to get much of a response, but it did," Ponder said. "They were uncomfortable with me talking about the trans women in women’s sports issue and that they weren’t going to allow me to misgender people."
Ponder then said she got a "detailed email" from execs that described "anything I had ever tweeted or favorite that they thought was offensive and warned me."
"I knew then I was kind of on the clock, if you will," Ponder said.
Ponder had kept quiet until last summer, even opting not to make a video about Riley Gaines when an ESPN initiative was for its female employees to record a video about an inspirational woman.
Ponder had shared her Olympic opponent Angela Carini's quotes about having "enough" of Khelif in the ring. Khelif was previously barred from competing in another boxing tournament due to failed gender eligibility testing.
"ENOUGH is what all of us should be saying!! Proud of this woman," Ponder posted at the time.
"And the next week, got a text that said, ‘Can you jump on a call with this person and this person in like an hour.’ And one of the bosses is someone I never hear from, and I was like, ‘This is it,'" Ponder said.
Ponder said that she believes other factors led to her eventual firing, including potential cheaper alternatives, while Ponder said she wanted to have a work-life balance with her family.
"But the timing of it almost certainly was," Ponder, who revealed that top ESPN execs actually agreed with her on the issue, said.
Ponder then said getting let go was "one of the best thing that ever happened to me."
"I was on that hamster wheel, and I was not going to jump off on my own. I needed to get kicked off. As much as the part of the reasoning behind it I think is legit crazy, I feel no bitterness or even frankly sadness. I had a great career. I was 20 years in that business. I met some awesome people, and there are still some really great people there. Never thought this would kind of be the way out, but I should have spoken up a long time before. I should have been a lot more courageous when I knew what was right," Ponder said.
Ponder questioned why she was essentially barred from discussing the issue.
"You are not allowed to speak about any other issue [other than sports]. But I thought this was sports," Ponder continued. "We’re talking about female collegiate athletes, Olympic athletes, and it’s wrong to shine a spotlight on that and give another voice, another opinion. I wasn’t against debate or healthy discussion. I just didn’t want anybody telling me, ‘No, no, no, you can’t talk about that.’ I wasn’t really giving my own opinions about it, as much as I was saying, ‘Listen to these girls, they’re in the locker rooms. Why do their opinions not deserve a platform when we’re giving awards for Women’s History Month to someone born male?' I couldn’t understand it, I still don’t understand it."
ESPN declined to comment.
Ponder is married to former NFL quarterback, Christian Ponder.
