Category: Sports News Feed

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hilton Grand Vacations has fired an employee who sent a racial slur via social media to Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray following the team’s 109-75 loss to the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

The 33-year-old Gray posted the message she received that included a racial slur on her Instagram story on Monday. Hilton Grand Vacations confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday that the individual who messaged Gray is no longer employed with Hilton Grand Vacations.

“The person responsible for posting this information is no longer with the company,” Hilton Grand Vacations said in a statement. “His behavior was in violation of multiple company policies and does not reflect our company’s values in any way.”

The Aces did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In March, the WNBA and its players’ union agreed on a transformational new collective bargaining agreement. It sought to enhance security, improve technological support, reinforce mental health resources, enforce a stronger fan code of conduct and protect players through an anti-hate campaign.

But, the harassment Gray faced comes in the aftermath of Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas saying she also received racial slurs. Thomas said she received death threats as well following her one-game suspension after she made contact with her fist to Caitlin Clark’s throat during a 111-109 win against the Fever.

Thomas also criticized WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for not doing more to protect the league’s players when she spoke with reporters in June at the team’s practice facility.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this over basketball,” Thomas said. “A lot of us — myself included — didn’t even know the play took place until after the game. Now we’re being painted as thugs. There’s death threats out on us. It’s really unacceptable. It’s something that needs to change in this league and I’m just really sick and tired of it.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — LaMelo Ball came to Minnesota at a steep price.

The opportunity with a cost of two proven power forwards and multiple draft picks was deemed worthwhile by the Timberwolves in their ongoing attempt to make the last and most difficult step toward an NBA title.

“I think he’ll elevate us,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said, “and our environment will be conducive to his continued growth as well.”

Eager to gain one of the league’s true point guards and lessen the ballhandling and playmaking burden on superstar Anthony Edwards, the Wolves had to swallow hard and surrender valuable assets.

Completing a complicated four-team trade with Brooklyn, Charlotte and Chicago, Minnesota acquired Ball and guard Josh Green and sent fan favorite Naz Reid and a package of draft picks — a 2033 unprotected first-rounder, first-round swaps in 2028, 2029 and 2030, and second-rounders in 2029, 2032 and 2033 — to the Hornets.

Second-leading scorer Julius Randle went to the Nets, who swapped the 28th overall selection in the draft last month for No. 33 that landed the Wolves guard Isaiah Evans. That first part of the trade also created the salary cap space necessary for the Wolves to re-sign guard Ayo Dosunmu.

Edwards was the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. Ball went third. Green was the 18th selection by Dallas and McDaniels was 28th, giving the Wolves four first-round picks from that year.

“Well, we have none for the next 10 years,” Connelly quipped at the introductory news conference for Ball and Green on Tuesday at Target Center. “It’s all about quality, not quantity, right?”

All four of those 2020 draftees are still 25 and younger, giving the Wolves confidence they’ll continue to contend — “bites at the apple” is Connelly’s description — as long as Edwards is on their roster.

“I’ve known Ant for a minute, so we’ve been talking,” Ball said. “Everybody’s excited, and we’re ready to get to work.”

Ball played in only 43% of the games over a three-year stretch from 2022-25 before a promising 2025-26 season that helped propel the Hornets into the play-in games. He has shown a recklessness on and off the court at times, too. But the Wolves will give him a stronger team around him than he ever had with the Hornets, and six years into his NBA career the 6-foot-7 Ball is still just 24.

“You’ve got to have a big backcourt. We learned that through the playoffs this year,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said.

The flip side of Ball’s penchant for undisciplined or flashy plays is a carefree style the Wolves could use. One of the undercurrents of their underachieving season that ended with a second-round loss to San Antonio was a moodiness that became part of their collective personality. Too many players took too long to shake off unproductive games or frustrating stretches.

“This is supposed to be fun,” Connelly said. “He enjoys life. He enjoys playing. You don’t want to make this anything but where it’s a joyous atmosphere.”

Minnesota’s long-shot pitch for LeBron

The void left by the departure of Randle and Reid could be filled rather neatly by a certain free agent who has included the Wolves on his list of teams worth considering. Meet Minneapolis, the city’s tourism arm, even took out digital billboards in Los Angeles to add a light-hearted element to the pitch for LeBron James.

But even if the NBA’s all-time leading scorer is unlikely to land in Minnesota for his 24th season, the Wolves have found satisfaction in the widespread notion around the league they might well provide the best on-court fit for James next to Edwards, Ball and McDaniels with veteran defensive whiz Rudy Gobert at the rim.

“This is a place where you’re going to have a lot of fun and win a lot of games. We’re trying to change the narrative of how this organization is viewed. We’re kind of proud of who we are, and certainly, wherever LeBron ends up, he’s going to make that place much, much better,” Connelly said. “I like who we are and we’re pretty proud of who we are. Hopefully that’s appealing, not just to LeBron, but to any free agent.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kylian Mbappé saw it for himself on the field: France simply didn’t play well enough to reach a third consecutive World Cup final.

The France striker will have to settle for a third-place match and the continuing chase for another Golden Boot award in a tight race with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.

Mbappé, one of the biggest stars of this year’s World Cup and one of the game’s greatest scorers, just couldn’t generate many chances in his team’s 2-0 loss to Spain in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Mbappé and Messi have eight goals each so far at this year’s tournament. Mbappé, who won the Golden Boot at the last World Cup four years ago in Qatar, holds the first tiebreaker with a 3-2 lead on assists. Messi and defending champion Argentina will play again on Wednesday in the other semifinal match against England.

Both players will then have one more match before the award is decided. France will play the loser of the other semifinal match in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spain will take on the winner in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the final.

“At the end of the day, you take all the glory when you win,” Mbappé said. “When you don’t win … it’s part of the game. As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility, and I have no problem with that. We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”

Mbappé had the fewest touches of any forward in the first half with 15. Perhaps his most prominent moment was trying to persuade referee Ivan Barton that the penalty resulting in Spain’s first goal shouldn’t have been called.

The foul by Lucas Digne on teenager Lamine Yamal stood, and Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty kick in the 22nd minute, put Spain ahead for good.

Mbappé’s best chance came in the 67th minute when his shot deflected off Spain defender Marc Cucurella and went just wide. La Roja already had a two-goal lead at that point.

“It’s a team who loves to have control of the game, control of the ball,” Mbappé said. “That’s what we let them do. We let the midfield too much time to play, and at the end of the day they had quality to play. It’s difficult when you don’t change the play of Spain. We weren’t at the level to go to the final.”

The 27-year-old Mbappé was issued a yellow card in the 86th minute when he rushed toward Unai Simón just as the Spain goalkeeper was bending over to pick up the ball. The two collided, sending Simón to the grass.

Mbappé started the match against Spain after exiting in the 77th minute of his team’s 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco, when he scored his eighth goal of the tournament.

Mbappé also scored eight goals four years ago in Qatar, where France lost to Messi and Argentina in a penalty shootout in the final. France beat Croatia to win the World Cup eight years ago in Russia.

“They (France) can punish you at every single moment, so I think the focus in every single minute was key in this game,” Spain midfielder Rodri said. “Unbelievable effort by everyone.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

ATLANTA (AP) — It’s England vs. Argentina in the World Cup semifinals. It’s also Lionel Messi vs. Jude Bellingham.

The battle of the two No. 10s could be pivotal to deciding Wednesday’s match in Atlanta.

“We know how good Messi is,” England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford said of the Argentina great, whose enduring brilliance has been on show again even at the age of 39.

Messi and Bellingham have been inspirational in their teams’ respective runs to the final four. And Wednesday’s match may well be determined by which one has the biggest say on the day.

Messi is playing England for the first time in his storied career.

“He’s scored so many goals and contributed to so many goals as well throughout his career, it’s great to finally go up against him,” Pickford said.

Settling the GOAT debate

Messi is already considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time and he seems to be on a mission to settle the debate about where he stands in the history of the sport.

Already the all-time top scorer in the World Cup with 21 goals, he could surpass Argentina icon Diego Maradona by leading his country to back-to-back world titles.

His eight goals in the tournament so far have been pivotal to Argentina’s run and his moments of magic have dragged his team through big scares against Cape Verde and Egypt.

“It’s just incredible his campaign, this tournament, how he carries that team it’s just, absolutely incredible,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said of Messi. “There are no words … left for this kind of achievement, the responsibility and the quality that he shows again in this tournament.”

Argentina’s World Cup triumph in 2022 saw Messi emulate Maradona by captaining his country to the title. Maradona lifted the trophy in 1986 and was runner-up with Argentina four years later when it lost to West Germany in the final.

“Trying to draw inspiration from what Diego did is difficult. Only Leo can do that,” said Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. “Diego is a national icon for us, and hopefully, we can achieve something similar to what that team did.”

Doubts about Bellingham

England has a talismanic No.10 of its own in the form of Bellingham, who is at the opposite end of his career to Messi.

At the age of 23, Real Madrid star Bellingham is already playing in his second World Cup and his fourth major tournament for England. He has six goals, including two each in the last two rounds against Mexico and Norway.

Not bad for a player who was dropped by Tuchel in the lead-up to the World Cup, prompting debate about whether he’d even be in England’s starting XI.

There is no doubt anymore about a player who Tuchel described as “world-class” after two goals against Norway in the quarterfinals.

Bellingham and captain Harry Kane, who also has six goals, have spearheaded England’s run to the semifinals.

Tuchel said the duo had delivered “like crazy” at the World Cup.

It is Bellingham, however, who has provided the biggest moments in the last two games.

“We all strongly believe it’s a team sport and no one is doing it alone, but of course we are also relying on the world-class moments of world-class players,” Tuchel said.

The key to victory

Both England and Argentina will need to find a way to limit the impact of each other’s big stars.

Tuchel said he had considered trying to man-mark Messi by deploying one player to shadow him throughout the game.

“Everyone knows the spaces where he wants to show up. If you analyze the matches, you feel like he sees stuff just earlier than anyone else on the field,” Tuchel said. “I think we found some patterns in their game, but if you close the patterns he will find maybe a new one and create a new one. That’s a super strength. That’s just what it is.”

If Messi is the main focus of England’s attention, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has to contend with the double threat of Bellingham and Kane.

“We’re facing great players, two of the best in the world,” Scaloni said. “We will try our best to neutralize them. We have our weapons and we will try to prevent them from having a good game.”

A fierce rivalry

England vs. Argentina is a fierce rivalry that goes beyond the soccer field, with tensions also relating to the 1982 conflict over the Falkland Islands.

There have been numerous clashes at the World Cup.

Argentina captain Antonio Rattin, whose death was announced on Saturday, was sent off in a bad-tempered quarterfinal match against eventual champion England in 1966.

Maradona scored his infamous “Hand of God” goal in 1986 – and England also felt aggrieved when David Beckham was sent off for kicking out against Diego Simeone in 1998 before losing in a penalty shootout.

Most recently England beat Argentina in the group phase in 2002, with Beckham scoring from the penalty spot.

“If a fixture provides so many iconic moments you cannot just say it’s just another football match, but as a coach we do exactly that,” Tuchel said. “We don’t speak about the historic events. We don’t speak about the iconic moments.”

One of those iconic moments was Maradona’s second goal in the 2-1 win against England in the quarterfinals win in 1986 when he dribbled the ball from the halfway line before scoring.

“That will be forever in our hearts. It was just such a beautiful goal,” Scaloni said. “Anybody who loves football will remember that in the best way possible.

“It was just a coincidence that it was against England, but had it been against anybody else, it would have been just as beautiful.”

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani will be a designated hitter at a minimum for this weekend’s series at the New York Yankees after having fluid drained from his left knee.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Ohtani had the procedure to relieve irritation following Sunday’s game and that the four-time MVP was taking a few days of vacation before the season’s second half. Roberts said the two-way star did not receive an injection.

Two-time World Series champion Los Angeles opens the second half Friday for the start of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.

“He’s going to be in the lineup,” Roberts said before managing the National League in the All-Star Game.

Ohtani is batting .293 with 22 homers and 58 RBIs while going 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings over 14 starts. The four-time MVP skipped Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

Ohtani last pitched on July 3. It isn’t yet clear whether he will pitch against the Yankees.

“We haven’t decided that yet,” Roberts said.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Spain’s defensive prowess and swagger were just too much for an attacking trio led by France great Kylian Mbappé, and just enough to get the 2010 champions into another World Cup final.

The Spanish team managed a record sixth shutout in seven games so far, winning 2-0 in the semifinals Tuesday against one of the most prolific scorers in World Cup history.

Teenager Lamine Yamal certainly was correct when he said France should fear Spain. That despite FIFA’s top-ranked team being led by Mbappé — their captain with 20 goals in his 20 World Cup games before the semifinals — Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise, who has a tournament-high five assists.

“We were up against one of the best national teams in the world, but today, they were facing the best team in the world,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot after a heady play by Yamal drew a foul, and Pedro Porro added another goal to put Spain in its second World Cup final.

A day after his 19th birthday, Yamal was denied a goal on a close offside call that came soon after Porro’s give-and-go with Dani Olmo in the 58th minute had put Spain up 2-0. But it was Yamal’s smart play against a veteran defender that gave Spain the early lead.

Spain will face either defending champion Argentina or England on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, across the river from New York City.

“So difficult to get to this moment, but we want more,” Spain midfielder Rodri said. “We want to win this World Cup.”

After trying to become only the third team to reach three consecutive World Cup finals, France instead will play in the third-place game in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday.

“Spain has been able to defend well,” departing France coach Didier Deschamps said through a translator. “They’ve closed out all the spaces and also we’ve made some technical mistakes. So it is difficult to create problems when the technical level is below standard.”

Argentina and England play Wednesday in Atlanta in the second powerhouse semifinal match.

This win on soccer’s biggest stage marked the third summer in a row that Spain beat France in a tournament semifinal match. Yamal scored in a 2-1 win in the 2024 European Championship semifinals just days before his 17th birthday, and La Roja won 5-4 in Nations League play last year.

Yamal was quick to point out that France should be concerned after Spain’s quarterfinal win over Belgium set up another semifinal matchup.

“It’s a team who loves to have control of the game, control of the ball. That’s what we let them do,” said Mbappé, who got none of his three shots on target. “It’s difficult when you don’t change the play of Spain.”

Spain has outscored opponents 12-1 since a scoreless draw against surprising Cape Verde to open group play. The lone goal allowed by goalkeeper Unai Simón was in the quarterfinal game against Belgium that snapped his World Cup record of 650 scoreless minutes.

This World Cup run has extended Spain’s unbeaten streak in regular time to 37 matches (28 wins and nine draws) since March 2024. That broke the country’s previous record of 35 in a row from 2007-09.

The loss broke France’s record-matching streak of six consecutive World Cup wins, which the team also accomplished in the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

Oyarzabal’s penalty kick in the 22nd minute came after Yamal drew a foul when kicked by defender Lucas Digne.

After a poor first touch with his head, Digne was trying to clear the ball when Yamal raced in from behind to challenge in the penalty area. The ball hit off the elbow of the leaping teen before he was kicked by Digne, playing in his 63rd game for France only six days before his 33rd birthday.

Oyarzabal’s fifth goal of this year’s World Cup marked the first time either team had trailed in their seven games in this tournament. It was his 30th goal in 60 international games for Spain.

For the second goal, Porro broke free and received a pass back from Olmo, who got the touch just before getting knocked off his feet by defender Dayot Upamecano.

“We knew that we’re a very tough team, we’re doing things really well,” Porro said.

France allowed only two goals in its first six games in this tournament.

Spain had two other real scoring chances in the first half.

There was the a free kick from just beyond the box after Adrien Rabiot drew a yellow card for a foul on Olmo in the eighth minute. Alex Baena’s kick went directly into the wall of French players.

After France goalkeeper Mike Maignan’s attempted clearing pass in the 38th minute instead went straight to Baena, there were several quick passes before Fabian Ruiz’s close-range shot was denied on a nifty play by Upamecano.

Mbappé, who is tied with Argentina great Lionel Messi with a tournament-high eight goals and leads the race for the Golden Boot on the assist tiebreaker, still has the third-place match to add to his tally. Messi has two games left in his sixth World Cup to try to win the Golden Boot and also increase his overall record of 21 goals at the tournament.

“As the captain, I have to take all the responsibility and I have no problem with that,” Mbappé said. “We wanted to go to the final. We didn’t go.”

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Scottie Scheffler finally heard about the text his PGA Tour friend never sent, a reminder that even the No. 1 player in golf with four majors and more than 20 victories doesn’t know everything.

It was a list of things to do on the weekend after missing the cut.

“He was like: ‘Hey, you can practice at the facilities. You can still go to the gym. You can also go to the next tournament.’ It was basically all my options,” Scheffler said Tuesday ahead of the British Open. “He never sent it to me, but he told me about it.”

The reason the text was created — without being sent, to Scheffler’s disappointment — was missing the cut at the Scottish Open, his first missed cut in nearly four years, a streak of 78 consecutive cuts that was the longest since Tiger Woods set the record (142) from 1998 to 2005.

Frustrating, yes. Despair? Hardly.

“You never want to have a weekend off, but going into a tournament when you’re defending, there’s always a bit more stuff to do,” Scheffler said. “So it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.”

Among his duties was officially returning the claret jug he won last year at Royal Portrush, a ritual the Royal & Ancient has turned into a ceremony. Then, it was playing an exhibition with Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and others.

But key to Scheffler’s early arrival was Royal Birkdale, which has hosted the British Open more than any other links course in England since it first joined the rotation in 1954.

He had never seen it. Scheffler had not seen conditions like this — a combination of yellow and brown, which translates to firm and fiery in a links vocabulary. St. Andrews came close in 2022, but Jon Rahm recalls the greens still being soft enough to allow for low scoring.

Scheffler ticked off two items on his friend’s list — he went to the gym in Scotland and then headed to the next tournament. That allowed him time to play 18 holes on Sunday, and to limit his energy in sunbaked Blighty to nine holes on Monday and Tuesday.

His general assessment: “The ball is just going to run forever.”

Is it driver to take it over the bunkers and possibly reach the green on the 393-yard, downwind 16th hole, or hit iron off the tee? Is the redesigned fifth hole at 321 yards worth trying to reach with a pond to the right, a series of bunkers short and a wee part of a wee burn to the left?

“On each hole there’s a good bit of strategy. There’s a decent amount of thinking,” Scheffler said. “If it wasn’t as firm as it is now, there would be as much decision-making. But I think with the firmness, it creates a whole lot more challenges.”

Rose is among four players — and at 45, the youngest — to have played Royal Birkdale three times in the Open dating to 1998. He was a 17-year-old amateur that year, full of joy and optimism when he holed out a wedge for birdie on the 18th to tie for fourth. He didn’t finish in the top 50 his two times as a professional.

Rose certainly has more experience than Scheffler, but only to a point.

“A links course is interesting because you never really get to know them that well,” Rose said. “Like 2008 I think it was, weather was dreadful. It was wet. You might have been hitting 2-irons and 3-woods into par 4s, and now you could be flicking 52-degree wedges.

“A golf course can play so differently decade to decade when we come back that you never really get to know the course that well.”

Scheffler said he felt at peace about his game, and he certainly looked the part. His game didn’t look deplorable in the Scottish Open, just a matter of not hitting it terribly close and not making many putts and then moving on.

It was no less frustrating — Scheffler is a killer when it comes to competing, which is one reason he has been No. 1 longer than anyone since Woods — but it was filled with perspective.

“I don’t think it hurts as much as coming close to winning and finishing second,” Scheffler said. “I felt like coming in second at Travelers hurt more than missing the cut, but missing the cut is significantly more frustrating is how I would describe it.”

He’s had plenty of experience finishing second. Scheffler’s lone victory this year was his first tournament in January at The American Express. Since then, he has had four runner-up finishes, including the Masters. The most recent was a playoff loss to Viktor Hovland at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago when Scheffler missed a 4-foot slider.

“I think just towards the end of the season, you get a little tired,” Scheffler said. “I got a couple days off, reset the mind, reset the body, and just kind of get back to feeling even and at peace. I’ve had a very solid year, but like I said, frustrating at times because I’ve been close and I haven’t been able to get it done like I have been in years past.

“I’m excited to try and defend my title this week.”

That hasn’t been done at the British Open since 2008 when Padraig Harrington won at Royal Birkdale. One week could change Scheffler’s outlook on the year. But it’s a week that presents a test the likes of which he hasn’t seen all year.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

The expectations for Bijan Robinson were high as soon as he entered the NFL in 2023 as the first running back taken with a top-10 pick in five years.

Robinson made an impact almost from the start with the Atlanta Falcons and then took his game to another level last season when he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage and was picked as the All-Pro running back.

That production helped Robinson win the honor of being named the top running back in the league by The Associated Press.

A panel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the top five players at running back, basing selections on current status entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Robinson got three first-place votes, one second and was the only player named on all eight ballots to win the voting with 41 points. San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey got two first-place votes and finished second with 33 points, with Baltimore’s Derrick Henry also getting two first-place votes and coming in third with 30 points.

The other first-place vote went to Saquon Barkley, who finished fourth, with Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs coming in fifth.

Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor and Buffalo’s James Cook also received votes.

1. Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

Robinson, the eighth pick in 2023, is one of the top dual-threat backs in the league, finishing fourth in the league in rushing last season with 1,478 yards to go along with 820 yards receiving.

He became the second player ever with at least 1,400 yards rushing and 800 yards receiving in the same season, joining Steven Jackson, who did it in 2006.

Robinson led the NFL with 2,298 yards from scrimmage and scored 11 TDs on the season.

2. Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

McCaffrey has established himself as the most dangerous receiving threat out of the backfield and is a focal point of Kyle Shanahan’s passing game in San Francisco.

McCaffrey wasn’t the explosive runner last season as he had been earlier in his career, rushing for 1,202 yards and averaging just 3.9 yards per carry. He more than made up for that with 102 catches for 924 yards as he nearly became the first player ever with two seasons with at least 1,000 yards rushing and receiving.

McCaffrey generated an NFL-best 119 first downs, matching the most for any player in the past 15 seasons.

3. Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens

People have been waiting for Henry to shows signs of decline as he reached his 30s but it hasn’t been evident yet.

Henry has topped 1,500 yards rushing in each of the past two seasons after turning 30, with his five 1,500-yard seasons tied with Barry Sanders for the most ever.

Henry ranked second in the NFL last season with 1,595 yards rushing and is 10th all-time with 13,018 yards. He set a record last season with his seventh 200-yard game and has a record-tying four seasons with at least 15 TD runs.

4. Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles

Barkley took a step back from his record-setting 2024 season when his 2,504 yards rushing in the regular season and playoffs were the most ever as Philadelphia’s offense was less potent last season. He still managed to rush for 1,140 yards and scored nine total TDs to earn some support in this voting.

5. Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions

Gibbs has been a scoring machine since entering the league with Robinson in 2023, when he was picked four spots later at No. 12 overall. Gibbs’ 49 career touchdowns are the most ever for a player before turning 24 years old, topping the previous mark of 47 set by Lions legend Barry Sanders.

Gibbs rushed for 1,223 yards and added 616 more receiving last season when he scored 18 overall TDs.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

ATLANTA (AP) — The Aflac Kickoff Game on Tuesday announced a name, image and likeness deal with Auburn leading up to the Tigers’ game against Baylor on Sept. 5.

The Peach Bowl and the Kickoff Game say the deal is worth “multimillion” dollars and marks the first time a neutral-site college football game has incorporated NIL compensation for student-athletes.

The NIL agreement also will involve third-party entities. According to the announcement, as many as two dozen Auburn student-athletes will promote the game through social media posts, public appearances, advertisements, in-game promotions and branding opportunities.

“In the new NIL era of college football, this will be an innovative way to create wins for the teams, programs and student-athletes,” said Peach Bowl Inc. CEO David Epps in a statement.

“This new model is a true win-win scenario where Auburn and its student-athletes get a financial boost in the NIL space. At the same time, it’s a potential game changer for neutral-site games like ours who want to bring added value to participating teams and make it a more attractive and lucrative opportunity.”

Auburn opened its 2025 season with a 38-24 win at Baylor. This year’s rematch originally was scheduled as an Auburn home game. The teams agreed to move the game to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, also the home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and the Peach Bowl.

The Kickoff Game is the nation’s longest-running neutral-site game and will be televised by ABC at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Auburn will be making its fourth appearance in the Kickoff Game. It will be Baylor’s first appearance.

Peach Bowl Inc. operates the Peach Bowl as well as the Kickoff Game.

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SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are both chasing a second claret jug at the British Open this week.

The world’s top two golfers are unmoved about what that would mean for their legacies.

“I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead,” McIlroy said Tuesday when asked if winning more trophies and breaking more records would shape how he’ll be viewed in a hundred years.

“I don’t think I’ll be seeing what people say about me. I’ll be six feet under. I don’t think I’ll be a ghost.”

Seems Scheffler’s goal isn’t about chasing a place in history, either.

“This is going to sound a little morbid,” the top-ranked American said. “At the end of the day, I’m going to live my life and it’s going to end. When it ends, I’m going somewhere else, and I’m not going to be here anymore.”

Coming over to play the Open Championship seems to bring the philosophical side out of Scheffler.

It was around this time last year, speaking days before winning golf’s oldest championship at Royal Portrush, that Scheffler delivered a soliloquy about fulfillment and what being good at golf really means.

“I love being able to play this game for a living,” he said back then, before adding: “But does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart? Absolutely not.”

At that time, Scheffler was dominating golf at a level not seen since Tiger Woods. And he’s still the No. 1 player by a distance, even if he experienced his first missed cut in four years at the Scottish Open last week.

McIlroy performed better in Scotland, finishing tied for seventh, but his final round might best be remembered not for shooting 64 but for him exclaiming “I’m so bad at golf” after hitting a poor approach on the 16th hole.

“Even though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn’t feel very good,” McIlroy said.

So, instead of taking to the course for a practice round after arriving at Royal Birkdale on Monday, he spent time on the range and said he is “definitely trending in the right direction.”

Links golf take McIlroy ‘back to my childhood’

It has been 12 years since McIlroy won his first and so-far-only Open Championship title, just down the northwest coastline at Hoylake.

Winning back-to-back Masters titles not only saw him complete the career Grand Slam but ended a major drought of more than a decade.

That has somewhat taken the pressure off McIlroy at golf’s biggest events but his home major remains special.

“It brings me back to my childhood,” the Northern Irishman said Tuesday.

As a kid, he could only dream of being a six-time major champion and only the sixth player to win all four majors. This week, a win would see him tied with Harry Vardon as the European player with most majors in men’s golf.

Not that those records matter to McIlroy, it seems.

“I think it would be a pretty unfulfilling pursuit if you’re just chasing records and chasing results,” he said. “You have to enjoy the process. You have to enjoy the journey to get there. I’ve learned that the hard way at times by chasing results and chasing records too much.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf