"I was still playing — and I understand what my dad felt like coming to watch me play — but now, with social media, it was a little different. Everybody is like, ‘Oh, Ken’s here,’" Griffey Jr. told Mornings @ the Masters.
"My daughter literally stopped dribbling a basketball and just looked at me when she was 5, and I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to pay more attention to what’s going on.’ And I figured nobody’s messing with the photographer. Well, let me pick it up."
Griffey's athletic abilities extend beyond the baseball diamond, and he frequently plays golf. The 13-time MLB All-Star said he's played at Masters events in the past.
Griffey finished his prolific big league baseball career with 630 regular-season home runs. While he is best known for his two stints with the Mariners, Griffey Jr. also played for the Cincinnati Reds from 2000-08.
Details of the allegations are not known, but Bond called them "patently false."
"Regarding the accusation made against me, I would appreciate the time and opportunity to defend myself and prove the claims made, patently false," Bond wrote on X. "I am in full cooperation with the authorities and will remain a willing and active participant in the investigation."
"Unfortunately, claims like these prove to be harmful to all involved, absent full review. I kindly request that all reserve judgment until the authorities provide a complete report based on truth and evidence."
Bond spent his final college season with the Longhorns after both Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell went to the NFL. He caught 34 passes for 540 yards and five touchdowns. He declared for the NFL Draft shortly after the Longhorns were eliminated from the College Football Playoff by eventual national champion Ohio State, who they open the season against.
Before going to Texas, Bond spent his first two college seasons at Alabama. His final touchdown in a Crimson Tide uniform came from Jalen Milroe on a 4th-and-31 with 32 seconds left on the road against Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
The win saved Bama's season as they went to the SEC title game the next week and upset then-No. 1 Georgia, but they lost in the Rose Bowl to Michigan, which later won the national championship.
Bond is expected to be a second-day draft pick this month.
A school board meeting in Maine's capital city of Augusta on Wednesday night featured a contentious interaction between a parent in a "MAGA" hat and the school board president over the state's ongoing controversy over trans athlete inclusion in girls' sports.
Augusta School Board Chair Martha Witham cut off local parent Nick Blanchard while he discussed the controversial issue and a petition he launched to have Cony Middle and High School Principal Kim Liscomb removed from her position, as seen in footage of the meeting.
Liscomb is currently the president of the Maine Principals' Association (MPA), which supports transgender athletes' participation in school sports based on gender identity and has been a subject of scrutiny by President Donald Trump's administration over the issue.
Blanchard, who showed up to the meeting in a "MAGA" hat and a T-shirt of Gov. Janet Mills that read, "You're fired," started his speech by praising the six of the seven members of the board who voted to adopt the 2020 interpretation of Title IX that did not allow trans athletes to compete as girls.
Blanchard also condemned the board member who voted against it, which prompted the first interruption by Witham.
"Good job and thank you to the six members that voted to go back to the 2020 interpretation of Title IX, and shame on the one board member that voted no," Blanchard began.
Witham then cut him off, saying, "I'm sorry, but negative comments will not be allowed."
Blanchard then proceeded to discuss his petition to have Liscomb removed.
"This petition is asking … if you the school board members will put up a vote," Blanchard began before being cut off again by Witham.
Witham told Blanchard that his statements would "not be tolerated" and warned him that he would be asked to step down from the podium if he continued making "defamatory remarks."
When Blanchard asked how his remarks were "defamatory," Witham responded by saying "I don't have to explain it to you."
"These comments will not be tolerated at the meeting directed toward us or to anybody else in this room," Witham said.
Blanchard then agreed to proceed with his speech without referring to Liscomb by name.
"So, as most of you know, someone who is the president of the Maine Principal's Association," Blanchard began before being interrupted by Witham for the final time.
"Nope, close enough. I'm sorry, you're done, Mr. Blanchard," Witham said, ordering him off the podium.
As Blanchard walked away, he yelled "Communist China right here!"
Fox News Digital has reached out to Augusta Schools for comment.
Maine is currently considered ground zero in the national debate over trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports as multiple federal agencies have levied pressure on the state since February to amend its current policies that enable trans inclusion.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture froze funding to the state last week, and the Department of Health and Human Services has already referred the Maine Department of Education, the MPA and Greely High School to the Justice Department.
Friday is the deadline for the state to amend its current policies or face another referral to the justice department by the U.S. Department of Education.
Name, image and likeness continues to ravage college sports, and the commissioners of the NCAA's Power Four conferences are desperate.
Greg Sankey, Jim Phillips, Tony Petitti and Brett Yormark have all been on Capitol Hill to discuss with Congress how it can help regulate NIL and the transfer portal, the latter of which continues to be a hit among college athletes looking to score more money.
More than 1,000 Division I college basketball players have entered the portal since it opened March 24.
One player even said he was entering the portal just 13 minutes after his team lost in March Madness.
It's becoming clear the situation is getting out of control, and Yormark, the Big 12 commissioner, bluntly admitted to Bret Baier on "Special Report" Thursday, "We need help from Congress."
"From where I sit today, federal preemption, having a standardized platform that oversees and governs NIL is critically important," Yormark said. "Today, 34 states see it very differently, and it’s relatively unruly."
"The volume of laws that are being passed on a state level are making it really difficult for us to regulate and compete nationally," added Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. Every single time someone doesn’t like a ruling, or something comes from the NCAA, we end up in litigation. Those rules then get aggregated, and we’re back to the start.
"We’re hopeful that the combination of what we’ve done in the settlement will give us an opportunity, with some help from Congress, to really put a system in a place that has some stability.
"We’ve crossed the bridge of being willing to provide revenue … but we need to have some structure. We can’t have a system that has complete unregulated movement."
The settlement Petitti referred to is the $2.8 billion deal that allowed schools to pay 22% of their revenue from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships directly to college athletes. Payments from outside sources would still be allowed.
NOLA.com noted that the settlement would offer more than $2.5 billion to athletes who could not earn NIL money before the NCAA changed its rules in 2021. The report also noted that most of the damage would be paid out to former football and men’s basketball players of power conference schools because their sports bring in the most revenue.
The settlement also called for a clearinghouse to ensure any NIL deal worth more than $600 is pegged at fair market value in an attempt to thwart supposed pay-for-play deals.
"We absolutely understand the responsibility we have. Five hundred thousand student athletes have benefited $4 billion annually for scholarships," Philips, the ACC commissioner, said. "This is the heartbeat of Americana, the Olympic movement and the Olympic team. We feel like there’s a better destination and a stabilization coming forward, but we need help with Congress and national legislation."
Added Sankey, who runs the SEC, "To have a College World Series, to have a College Football Playoff, to have national championships, you have to have national standards."
Sankey and Phillips also cited lower grade point averages by those who transfer, and Phillips said it will be "sobering" when they acquire enough data to show that's the case.
"When you look at transfer GPAs prior to transfer versus after, historically, there's been a diminishment. The quality of that education can suffer, as credits are lost, because transferring multiple times starts to inhibit the ability to select the academic program that may have the most value and meaning to someone."
Scottie Scheffler was expected to be near the top of the Masters leaderboard after the first round at Augusta National Golf Club.
But it was Justin Rose, the Englishman playing in his 20th Masters, who walked into the clubhouse with a three-stroke lead over the 2024 winner at 7-under after posting a miraculous first round Thursday.
Rose, whose only major win came in 2013 at the U.S. Open, matched his best round ever at Augusta National, and this marks his fifth time leading after the tournament's first round.
The 44-year-old sprinted out to a 3-under start after he birdied the first three holes. After doing the same on holes 8 and 9, he finished the first nine at 5-under. He birdied 10 before coming back down to earth with four straight pars before finding more red marks on holes 15 and 16 to sit at 8-under.
Rose was flirting with the best opening round in Masters history, Greg Norman's 9-under in 1996. But Rose couldn’t find the fairway on the narrow 18th fairway, and he finished his round with a bogey.
However, he was all smiles after his great start. His best finishes at the Masters came in 2015 and 2017, when he finished second and tied for second, respectively.
There were some questions about how Scheffler would fare this week in Augusta due to him missing a few tournaments to start the year with a freak hand injury he sustained while preparing Christmas dinner. And he admitted weeks before the tournament it’s still affecting his play.
Yet, he shot 4-under to set himself up for a good week to defend his 2024 Masters title.
And some theatrics came with it when he drained a 60-foot birdie on the par-3 fourth hole. He also knocked down a long putt on the par-3 16th that would be his final birdie of the day in a bogey-free round to begin his tournament.
However, he isn’t the only one in the clubhouse at 4-under, three strokes back of Rose. Canadian Corey Conners, picked by some as a dark horse candidate to win this week, birdied three of his final four holes to also sit 4-under heading into Friday.
Finally, Sweden's Ludvig Åberg, who finished second in last year's Masters behind Scheffler, had a strong second nine with four birdies to finish tied for second at 4-under.
It was looking like Rose could have some very close company, if not a tie for the lead, because Rory McIlroy was cruising in his opening round as he searches for that elusive career Grand Slam. He needs a Masters victory to complete that.
He was looking great at 4-under after 14 holes, but a costly error on the par-5 15th derailed what would’ve been a sparkling start to the tournament.
A beautiful drive started the hole, but after his second shot went through the green, McIlroy had to chip down to the hole, which sat at the front of the green on a downslope. It was a similar situation Patrick Cantlay faced earlier Thursday, and both of his attempts rolled off the green and into the water below for a disastrous turn of events.
McIlroy’s chip got a hard second bounce, and he watched as his ball rolled into the water. Instead of going back to the same spot like Cantlay, he opted for the drop zone and would need to chip again after it bounced just off the green into the fringe. McIlroy finished with a double bogey to fall to 2-under on the day, and it got worse from there.
He was able to par No. 16 but found trouble again with a double bogey on 17 to drop to even-par on the round. That’s where McIlroy finished, which isn’t terrible by any means.
However, after such a great start to the day, especially with all the expectations for him entering the week after two victories, McIlroy now needs to build momentum again Friday instead of riding high from it Thursday.
There is a 65-year-old tied within the top 10 at Augusta National, and it’s none other than 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples, who posted a 1-under 71 first round Thursday.
It was a round for the Masters record books. It had been 42 years since he first broke par at Augusta National in 1983. The longest gap prior to that was Jack Nicklaus, who first broke par in 1960 before his last in 2000, a 40-year gap.
Tom Watson also had 40 years between his first and last, and both he and Nicklaus were honorary starters Thursday.
Couples, with his ever-so-sweet swing from the right side, is draining eagles from the fairway as he did Hole 14 with a hybrid from just under 200 yards out. His neon yellow ball hit the green perfectly in line, and it quickly turned the tide for Couples, who bogeyed two of his last three holes prior to that to go 1-over on the day.
Couples is usually aiming to make the cut each year so he can play into the weekend. This was a start to give him that opportunity.
Here's the top 10 on the Masters leaderboard after Round 1:
This week, Justin Thomas officially re-ignited the pursuit of his first-ever prestigious green jacket.
But the two-time PGA Championship winner made headlines for some comments during the first round at the Masters. Thomas' tee shot on the eighth hole, also known as Yellow Jasmine, evoked an NSFW four-word response from the golf pro.
The microphones scattered across the manicured Augusta National golf course picked up Thomas saying, "F--- heeled it… damn it."
Thomas' moment of frustration came just one day after he was all smiles at Augusta during the lighthearted Masters Par 3 Contest. Thomas took to social media to react to an "amazing day" he had with his daughter and the families of fellow golfers Jordan Spieth and Max Homa.
"The par 3 contest @themasters was a little different today than past years! An amazing day with my girls, the Spieths, and the Homa crew. Incredible memories we will cherish forever Prep work is done, it’s time to get after it," Thomas captioned an Instagram post.
Thomas failed to make the cut at the Masters in 2023 and 2024. His best finish at the major tournament happened in 2020 when he ended the event in fourth place.
Thomas also produced a top-10 finish at the U.S. Open in 2020. His PGA Championship victories happened in 2017 and 2022.
Thomas walked off the 18th hole at Augusta on Thursday one shot over par, placing him in a tie for 38th place.
Ballester seemingly admitted that he urinated in Rae's Creek at Amen Corner.
The Spaniard said he "completely forgot that we had those restrooms to the left of the (13th) tee box," and after playing partner Justin Thomas "had an issue on the green," he said he took advantage.
"I'm like, ‘I really need to pee.’ Didn't really know where to go, and since JT had an issue on the green, I'm like, ‘I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me much,' and then they clapped for me. Probably one of the claps that I really got today real loud, so that was kind of funny," Ballester, who shot a 4-over 76, said after his round.
Ballester did not seem too concerned that he would get any blowback from Augusta National.
"They saw me. It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again," he said.
Ballester showed up to the course in a typical young golfer's attire. The Arizona State golfer wore a hat that said "Sun Devils" upside down, a new fashion for Gen-Z. But it hasn't exactly been a riveting week for the Sun Devils golf program.
Men’s golf coach Matt Thurmond was removed from the course during a practice session Tuesday for wearing shorts on the course after he went to say hello to former ASU player Kevin Yu, who is making his Masters debut this year.
While patrons are free to wear shorts, full-length pants are required beyond the ropes where players and coaches are. Phones aren't even allowed on the course.
Ballester was paired with Thomas and reigning champion Scottie Scheffler, which is pretty fun company to be in. Last year, amateur Neal Shipley spent his final round with five-time winner Tiger Woods.
Fox News' Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
Florida Gators star and 2025 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr. is still talking to his teammates about what happened Monday night in San Antonio.
How could they not after winning a hard-fought national championship with a 65-63 NCAA Tournament final win over the Houston Cougars?
It came down to maximum effort on the final play of the game in which Houston, to the shock of everyone watching, never got a shot off for a potential tie or win as the final buzzer sounded.
But Clayton and his teammates made it difficult for the Cougars to get a clean look at the hoop, including Clayton's close-out on Emanuel Sharp beyond the 3-point line, which iced the victory after the Houston guard couldn’t touch the ball again after dropping it.
Clayton, working a celebratory "shift" at Raising Cane’s in Gainesville, Florida, Thursday, spoke to Fox News Digital about what he saw in those final seconds.
"I saw a lot going on," he explained over the phone. "We felt like they were either going to try to get something for [L.J.] Cryer or [J’Wan] Roberts. So, they ran a little action to the right side of the wing. [Florida’s] Will [Richard] and Alijah [Martin] did a good job of pressuring the ball. Sharp kinda slipped down there to the baseline. I thought he was going to set a back screen for Roberts, so I kinda got stuck down there in the paint a little bit.
"He ended up slipping it, so then just thinking in my head, ‘Get out there and contest the shot.’ [I] jumped to the side, he ended up kinda pump-faking, throwing the ball down, and I’ll definitely say I was a little surprised they didn’t get a shot off knowing you have to get one off in the moment."
Clayton and the Gators are not complaining a shot was never put up by Houston. Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson admitted his own surprise during his postgame comments, saying, "You’ve gotta get a shot" in that situation.
Clayton gave some insight into what the Gators were looking for on the other end of the floor when play resumed.
"We talked about them running a flare screen for Cryer or a back screen for Roberts," Clayton said. "So, we felt those were going to be the two options they went to. They ended up throwing us off with that little surprise, but we were ready for anything to happen."
Looking back at the final play, it appeared Houston had a play for Cryer, who took the ball up, to get it again after some screens were set. But Florida sniffed it out, and Richard was right in his face when he received the pass.
Sharp then ran away from Clayton to meet Cryer for a pass, and he was hoping to get off a 3-pointer for the win. But Clayton timed his jump perfectly, and the rest goes down in history as Florida won its first title since 2007.
"Man, it feels great," Clayton said when asked about being a national champion. "I honestly can’t even explain the feeling. Me and some of the guys are still talking about it. It still doesn’t feel real, but it’s just a great feeling to bring it back to Gainesville."
Clayton was with Martin and Thomas Haugh at Raising Cane's, as were hundreds of Gators fans celebrating the title.
Clayton will be in search of his next championship in the NBA as a projected lottery pick in this year's NBA Draft.
Youth sports in America are more competitive than ever, especially football. One man with a track record of raising boys who can thrive is Super Bowl champion wide receiver Ed McCaffrey.
McCaffrey is the father to superstar San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, Washington Commanders wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, Miami Dolphins assistant coach Max McCaffrey and former college quarterback Dylan McCaffrey.
"We were lucky. We had great kids who were very competitive, very motivated. We did set certain standards. Academics were important to us. We wanted to get them a good education, so if they didn't play well in the classroom, they wouldn't be allowed to play sports," Ed said.
Handling adversity is a critical point of focus in parenting for the McCaffreys. Ed believed in parental intervention after moments of adversity in sports in particular.
"After the game, if things don't go well, either for them personally or their team, or if they're injured, or any time they're going through a tough time, as a parent, you want to build their spirit back up, pat them on the back and say ‘try again,’" he said.
For young athletes, Ed McCaffrey believes wins and losses are less significant than the individual mindset of competing.
"If you play to win and give your best effort, then you've already won, regardless of what the scoreboard is," he said.
"It's not about winning every single game. We all want to win, but you're not going to win every game you play. It's about knowing that you gave it everything you possibly could to your team, to your sports."
For McCaffrey and his sons, arguably the most critical aspect to their athletic success was their day-to-day lifestyle, especially diet and getting enough sleep.
The vast majority of the McCaffrey sons' meals were cooked at home by their mother, Lisa McCaffrey, Ed said, adding Lisa prepared dinner for the boys "every night."
Due to the boys' constant athletic activity, the parents increased the amount of red meat and dairy they ate to higher levels than what is recommended for the average adult.
"Kids can consume a little more red meat, a little more fat, more dairy," McCaffrey said.
Sticking with homemade food was even more important when it came to snacks before sporting events. If Ed or Lisa gave them any food at all before games or practice, it had to be free of certain ingredients and "easily digestible."
"It's hard to consume food before an event because most foods have things in them that are hard to digest, but they have additives in them that affect your gut, and it's hard to go and compete," Ed said. "It was so important for us when they were growing up to give them healthy snacks that were easy to digest."
One of the most common snacks Ed and Lisa fed their sons was homemade protein bites, which has since inspired the family to release its own line of McCaffrey Protein Bites with similar ingredients. Those ingredients include flaxseed, brown rice and pea protein. They also made sure to keep peanuts out of the bites because of their sons' allergies.
Arceneaux said in an Instagram post competing at Houston "has been a part of my story that I’ll always carry with me."
"I’m walking away with no bitterness, just growth, gratitude, and a clear vision for where I’m headed next," he added. "Sometimes the path to purpose requires a pivot, and I’m trusting the process."
Arceneaux has averaged 5.2 points per game with Houston. He played 17.5 minutes per game and pulled down 2.9 rebounds per game over the past three years.
He averaged 6.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in his most recent 40 games as Houston made a run to the national championship game. He did not score a point during his eight minutes on the floor during the national title game against the Florida Gators.
So far, Arceneaux is the lone Cougars player to enter the transfer portal since the championship.
Arceneaux appeared in just 11 games during the 2023-24 season due to an Achilles tendon injury.
Aside from Arceneaux's departure, Houston is grappling with losing L.J. Cryer, J’Wan Roberts, Ja’Vier Francis and Mylik Wilson, who have exhausted their collegiate eligibility.
Florida's 65-63 win over Houston Monday gave the Gators their third NCAA men's basketball championship.
A North Dakota man is facing five years in prison after allegedly threatening an Augusta National employee.
Joseph Armand Zimmer, 48, is alleged to have told an employee he would "throw [the individual] in a cell and have [her] set on fire" and that he would "blow [her] head off," according to the Department of Justice.
The DOJ said Zimmer phoned the golf club in February and made numerous violent threats toward the female employee.
"Those who make threats against members of our community in violation of federal law will be held accountable, as we continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify and bring to justice those who seek to intimidate and instill fear in our citizens," Acting U.S. Tara M. Attorney Lyons said in a news release.
"The FBI treats threatening communications with the utmost seriousness and will dedicate all available resources to locating and prosecuting those responsible for such actions," Paul Brown, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, added in the release. "We trust that this indictment sends a clear message to anyone contemplating making threats, whether genuine or fabricated, through electronic means."
The Masters teed off on Thursday as favorite Scottie Scheffler looks to become the first person to win back-to-back green jackets since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002.
A victory would also be Scheffler's third win at Augusta in the last four years. Only Jack Nicklaus has accomplished that feat, doing so in 1963, 1965 and 1966.
Rory McIlroy is in his 11th attempt at accomplishing the career grand slam, as he is still without a green jacket. His major drought is in its 11th year as well.
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill and his wife, Keeta Hill, were seen on the balcony of his high-rise condo the day of his reported domestic dispute that involved police, a video obtained by Fox News Digital showed.
Hill is holding the couple’s 5-month-old daughter while he and his wife look over the balcony from the 35th floor Monday.
Fox News Digital obtained a police report from the incident after the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department responded to an "assault in progress" at Hill's condo. Hill and his wife were present when authorities arrived. His wife's mother, Alesia Vaccaro, who made the 9-1-1 call, was also there.
The case is considered closed after officers determined no crime was committed.
"On Monday, we were informed that the police were called to Tyreek Hill’s home, and after conversations with Tyreek and members of his family, the police departed the residence without further incident, and the case was closed," a Dolphins spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "We have since been in communication with Tyreek and the NFL and will have no further comment on the matter."
Hill's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, did not immediately answer a request for comment.
According to the police report, Vaccaro told authorities she had been living with her daughter and Hill since the birth of her granddaughter in November.
She called police after Hill allegedly threw a laptop on the floor, grabbed his daughter and started walking to the balcony in the high-rise condo when Hill and his wife had an argument.
The report added that Vaccaro called Hill "very aggressive and impulsive," saying she feared for her daughter's safety.
Keeta Hill also spoke with police, saying she and her husband had been arguing more often recently. She alleged he "becomes angry and throws objects." Couples therapy between the two is "not working out" either.
The argument Vaccaro called police about involved Keeta telling the star receiver he wasn't involved enough with his child. Keeta said Tyreek, "without malice," grabbed their daughter and began walking around the condo with her.
Hill told officers he had just gotten home from offseason training when an argument broke out about the couple's therapy. He admitted grabbing their baby as well.
"I have the same rights as a father as her as a mother, and I can take my baby whenever I want," Tyreek said, according to the report.
Tyreek and Keeta said the argument never got physical, though the report notes a bruise on Keeta's upper chest area. She said it may have unintentionally occurred when Tyreek took their daughter from her.
Keeta added that she is "in the process of filing for divorce."
"Helar wanted to be a great footballer from a very young age and was always talking about going as far in the sport as he could," his father, Jose, told local media, according to Metro UK. "I know his team [is] going to dedicate all their future achievements to him."
"Rest in peace friend. We will remember you for your love of football and your family. You leave us with great pain," Altamirano's club, Real Titan NC, said in a statement, via The Mirror.
"Great strength to your family at this difficult time. They are not alone because Titan is with them and the football family is with them."
Deshaun Watson has appeared in just 19 games in the three years since he inked an unprecedented fully guaranteed $230 million contract with the Cleveland Browns.
The 32 games Watson missed were due to either suspension or injury. The NFL suspended Watson for 11 games in 2022, but a shoulder injury cut the quarterback's season short in 2023. Last October, Watson was sidelined by a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Watson then re-injured the same tendon in January. The latest setback is widely expected to sideline the three-time Pro Bowler for the entire 2025 season, but Watson pushed back against that timetable.
"Everyone is doubting me. Everyone don't believe in me," Watson said in the video posted to his Instagram account showing him working out. "Everyone don't think I can get back to where I was. But I know, and I believe the work that I put in, that I believe in myself ... I know, I'm gonna be way better than before."
The 29-year-old added to his comeback argument by saying he doesn't "have anything pretty much to lose."
Despite Watson's latest stance, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam recently admitted the franchise "took a big swing and miss" when it came to the pursuit and ultimate signing of Watson.
We thought we had the quarterback. We didn’t, and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole," Haslam told reporters earlier this month at the NFL's annual league meeting in Florida.
Aside from the injuries, Watson contended with some high-profile issues away from the football field. More than a dozen women accused Watson of engaging in acts of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions.
Watson is just a few seasons removed from being held in high regard for his athleticism. During most of his career with the Houston Texans, Watson was widely viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.
Watson has thrown 19 touchdowns against 12 interceptions in a Browns uniform. He finished his five-year stint with the Texans with 104 touchdowns against 36 interceptions.
Those impressive numbers came over just four seasons on the football field. Watson was ruled out of every game during the 2021 season following a trade request, which ultimately led to a standoff between the quarterback and the team.
Couples, 65, made his 40th Masters start on Thursday and continued to impress during the first round of the major tournament.
On the 14th hole, Couples was in the middle of the fairway, 191 yards away from the hole. Couples gave the ball a ride, and it bounced on the green and then started rolling toward the hole and fell in for an eagle.
Despite not being on the green and down a hill, Couples decided to use his putter. He rolled the ball up the hill and onto the green and gave it enough velocity for it to continue right into the hole for a birdie.
The 1992 Masters champion ended up 1-under par and gave himself a chance to make the cut on Friday.
He is the second-oldest player to break par at the Masters at 65. Tom Watson did it at 66 in 2015.
Couples became the oldest player to ever make the cut at the Masters in 2023, achieving the feat at 63 years, 6 months, and five days of age. Only Jack Nicklaus has made more cuts at Augusta National (37) than Couples (31).
Couples has 11 top-10 and 20 top-25 finishes in his Masters career and has completed 72 holes at the major in five different decades.
With his start in the Masters this year, he became the 15th player in Masters history with at least 40 starts.
Sergio Garcia’s outfit for the first round of the Masters on Thursday received some ridicule on social media as he tried to get into contention for the second green jacket of his career.
Garcia wore a red shirt with a red long-sleeve shirt underneath and paired it with yellow pants. He’s a member of LIV Golf’s Fireballs Golf Club, whose logo is yellow and red. He’s also from Spain, whose flag is red and yellow.
Regardless, golf fans weighed in with their own opinions about how Garcia looked.
Garcia won the 2017 Masters Tournament when he defeated Justin Rose in a playoff. It was the first and only major title of his career. He had been close to other major titles before, finishing second twice at the Open Championship, second at the PGA Championship and in the top five at the U.S. Open three times.
He won the first LIV Golf tournament of his career last July when he finished 5-under par and defeated Anirban Lahiri in a playoff at Andalucia. Last month, he picked up the second LIV Golf win of his career in Hong Kong. He was 18-under par and three strokes better than Dean Burmester.
Garcia’s win against Lahiri snapped a playoff losing streak. He was in a playoff in 2023, losing out to Talor Gooch. Then he lost to Joaquin Niemann and Burmester in playoffs at Mayakoba and Miami before finally breaking through at Andalucia.
He’s currently second in the LIV standings behind Niemann while Fireballs GC holds the team lead.
Scheffler seeks to be the fourth golfer ever to win the Masters in consecutive years. Jack Nicklaus won in 1965-66, Nick Faldo in 1989-90, and Tiger Woods, the last to do it, in 2001-02.
With his win last year, Scheffler joined Horton Smith as the only two golfers to earn his first two Masters wins in five or fewer starts. Scheffler has never finished outside the top 20 in his five Masters starts.
After a historically good 2024 season, Scheffler has yet to record a win so far on the PGA Tour this year. Despite that, he has three top 10 finishes, one of which was a tie for second in his most recent tournament at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Scheffler did miss a few tournaments to start the season due to a freak hand injury he suffered while preparing Christmas dinner.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has championed fairness in girls’ and women’s sports and has hit out at Democratic lawmakers who have failed to show support for her and others.
Navratilova on Thursday posed a question to Democrats as some states have continued to thumb their nose at President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep males out of girls’ and women’s sports.
"What are the Dems willing to give up for men who identify as trans?" she asked on X. "Abortion… the Constitution… rule of law… That’s just for starters…"
At the start of the year, Navratilova criticized Democratic lawmakers who killed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The tennis legend called on Democrats to "grow a spine" in a post on social media.
Trump signed the executive order in February and Navratilova lamented that Democrats failed to do what the president did.
"I hate that the Democrats totally failed women and girls on this very clear issue of women’s sports being for females only," she wrote in a post on X.
High school organizations in Maine, California and Washington have all failed to change policies that currently allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Jasmine Crockett of Texas have downplayed the issue, even as Trump campaigned on it and soundly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the general election.
Ocasio-Cortez mentioned the overall subject of Democratic support for the trans community during an interview on "The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart" podcast on Jan. 23.
"When we allow ourselves to constantly be distracted by these culture wars around trans people, it's a new thing every day, and the answer isn't that we just let those people be attacked, it's that we say, ‘What are you doing, man?’ I think we need to make standing up for those folks just such an afterthought that it's not even a debate," Ocasio-Cortez said.
"Like, we need to understand and see the bait for what it is, but we don’t take the bait by letting those rights just erode and go by the wayside."
Ocasio-Cortez has previously voted in favor of multiple bills that would enable trans athletes to play in women's and girls' sports nationwide, including the Equality Act and the Transgender Bill of Rights. She also claimed on Jan. 14 that the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would empower child sexual predators and that "trans girls are girls."
In an interview with The 19th, Crockett dismissed the topic of trans inclusion in women's and girls' sports as a "distraction," while minimizing the potential impact they've had on the lives of women and families. Crockett made the comments while criticizing Democrats for becoming divided on the issue.
"In this election, we allowed ourselves to be divided. We allowed them to distract us, and we allowed them to talk about the trans folk," Crockett said. "According to them, the trans kids, they want to play sports. That is the biggest issue that we’ve had. Since when? Since when? Find the little trans child that is ruining your life. I mean, I’m just like, what are we doing? Like, what are we doing?"
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko expressed his disdain for a comment made by one of his players on Wednesday.
Defensive lineman D.J. Hicks was asked what the defensive line room's motto says.
Hicks said it was "C.B.O" and when asked what it stands for, "simple terms, ‘Choke woman out.’ Let’s just say it like that," Hicks said, via The Eagle.
"That mentality, it just stands for being aggressive. Every single time we step out on the field, we’re trying to put our hands through somebody’s face. We don’t want to be passive, ever. Every single time, we’re going to assert dominance when we come on the field."
Hicks tried to clean up the "B" part of the motto, but it backfired. Elko quickly addressed Hicks’ comments.
"It’s conveying something that shouldn’t be conveyed, so we’ll get that handled and addressed," Elko said, via The Eagle on Wednesday. "That’s absolutely ridiculous that was stated."
Last season was Elko’s first as head coach with the Aggies, and he led the team to an 8-5 record.
While last season was his first as head coach with Texas A&M, Elko was previously the team’s defensive coordinator before he left and took the head coaching job at Duke prior to the 2022-2023 season.
Elko returned to Texas A&M as head coach just two seasons after he departed for Duke after the Aggies fired Jimbo Fisher.
Elko is going to lean on Hicks and the rest of his defensive line next season to step up as they are going to have larger roles with Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart and Shemar Turner headed to the NFL.
A New York Islanders minor leaguer has been suspended 10 games for abuse of an official after he sent a referee flying into the boards during a game over the weekend.
Bridgeport Islanders forward Adam Beckman, 23, will miss the remainder of the regular season with just five games remaining after he was suspended by the American Hockey League’s Player Safety Committee on Wednesday.
"Beckman was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 40.3 for physical abuse of an official (Category II)," the committee said in a press release. "Beckman will miss Bridgeport’s final five games of the 2024-25 regular season, as well as the next five games for which he is active on an AHL club roster."
The play happened during the third period of a game against the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday.
Beckman was in Charlotte’s zone when he appeared to skate into the official. He then appeared to shove the official backward, which sent him straight to the ice and into the boards. The incident drew a harsh reaction from fans in attendance.
Beckman stayed with the official as a team trainer came over to check on him. According to reports, the official was able to get back up and continue on.
The suspension comes less than a month after Beckman was acquired by the Islanders in a trade with the New Jersey Devils. He registered 33 points with the Devils’ affiliate team, the Utica Comets, before being traded.
Beckman made his NHL debut with the Minnesota Wild in October 2021.
