Football

Le’Veon Bell’s tenure with the Jets was brief, unproductive and unfulfilling — and, as of Tuesday night, it was also over. The Jets released Bell, their marquee free-agent signing from 2019, not even halfway through his four-year, $52.5 million contract, officially terminating a tumultuous relationship that had been steaming toward a breakup.Bell, who spent three weeks on injured reserve after pulling a hamstring in the Jets’ season-opening loss at Buffalo, received 22 touches in two games. Apparently displeased by his use in an offense that did not maximize his pass-catching skills, he took to social media after the Jets’ 30-10 loss against Arizona on Sunday, which dropped them to an 0-5 record, and liked tweets advocating he be traded.“I mean, I hate that’s the route that we go with all this,” Coach Adam Gase said on Monday, signaling his disappointment in Bell. “Instead of just talking to me about it but seems the way that guys want to do it nowadays.”Unable to find any takers, the Jets cut him Tuesday, making him a free agent. Soon after, Bell posted on Twitter an emoji of folded hands, and after, one that read: “Got a lot to prove. I’m ready to go.”In a statement, General Manager Joe Douglas, who was not a part of the organization when Bell signed, said the organization appreciated Bell’s contributions but that it believed “this decision is in the best interests of both parties and wish him future success.”Across his first five seasons, all with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bell, 28, blossomed into one of the N.F.L.’s best running backs, parlaying his combination of balance, patience and acceleration into three Pro Bowl and two first-team All-Pro selections. But he sat out the 2018 season because of a contract dispute, unwilling to play again on a franchise tag.The Jets pounced, giving him $25 million guaranteed. In return, he gave them an average of 3.27 yards per carry and four total touchdowns in 17 games, and now he is gone. More

Walter Ashcraft Jr., 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds by his early 20s, drew on his physique to excel in the Southern California sports world of the mid-20th century.He placed third in the 1947 California high school shot-put championships, competing for Long Beach Polytechnic, finishing two places above Bob Mathias of Tulare High School, who captured a gold medal in the decathlon at the 1948 London Olympics.Mr. Ashcraft also played at tackle for the University of Southern California football team. In his senior season, the Trojans, coached by Jess Hill, went 10-1, losing only to Notre Dame, and defeated Wisconsin, 7-0, in the 1953 New Year’s Day Rose Bowl game.The N.F.L.’s Washington Redskins drafted him in 1953, one of 15 U.S.C. players who were selected.He received a $5,000 signing bonus from the Redskins, but incurred a knee injury in training camp and never played in an N.F.L. game. Since pro football salaries were modest, he decided to pursue a career elsewhere.He obtained a master’s degree in education and devoted himself to coaching and hospitality work.Mr. Ashcraft died on Aug. 18 in Anderson, S.C., of pneumonia stemming from Covid-19, his family said. He was 91.He had been living at a military veterans’ retirement home with his wife, Betty Jo (Carrera) Ashcraft. During the Korean War, he interrupted his time at U.S.C. to enlist in the Marine Corps, played for a Marine football team in California and was discharged as a sergeant.Walter White Ashcraft, Jr. was born on Aug. 11, 1929, in Amory, Miss., where his father owned a gas station. His mother, Corinne (Austin) Ashcraft, was a homemaker. One day, when he was 11 or so, his father came upon the aftermath of a lynching — three Black men hanging from a tree.“He couldn’t bear it, and he packed up and moved his family to California,” his son Thomas said.The Ashcrafts settled in Long Beach, then moved in the late 1950s to Las Vegas, where Walter Ashcraft Sr. became the chief bartender at the Desert Inn. Walter Jr. obtained his master’s degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 1967, coached football at a Las Vegas high school and was a supervisor of the Las Vegas parks and recreation department. He later coached track and field and taught economics at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla.He became a human resources official for the National Restaurant Association for whom he enhanced opportunities in the food industry for people with disabilities. Mr. Ashcraft also worked for the Florida Restaurant Association and was director of hospitality education for the state of Florida.In addition to his wife and his son Thomas, Mr. Ashcraft is survived by his son Adam; his sister, Mary Lopez-Fabrega; and nine grandchildren.“He was a voracious reader, passionate debater, sports fan, and endlessly curious and optimistic man,” his family wrote in announcing his death. “In his later years, he embraced technology, using it to communicate frequently to support his grandchildren and their many interests. He particularly enjoyed the use of emojis.”Mr. Ashcraft was continually cited by the Spartanburg, S.C., public library system for checking out the most books during the year. His tastes ran to historical nonfiction and crime and mystery novels. More

The Seattle Seahawks trailed the Minnesota Vikings by 26-21 on Sunday night and were stuck at their 6-yard line. The bad news: There was only 1 minute 57 seconds to go in the game. The good news: Russell Wilson is the team’s quarterback.Wilson’s flare for dramatic and timely plays — last season he led the league with five game-winning drives — has inspired “Let Russ Cook” memes, a reference to his unscripted performances. Sure enough, Wilson led the Seahawks (5-0) to victory on a 94-yard drive that left time to spare.Afterward, Wilson said he felt like “Sue Bird in the clutch,” a nod to the Seattle Storm guard who won her fourth W.N.B.A. title last week. Here’s how Wilson pulled off his most recent game-winner.First-and-10 at the 6. Wilson dropped back to pass into his own end zone and quickly found the pocket collapsing around him. Visions of a sack and safety probably flashed in front of Seattle fans’ eyes, but Wilson saw a hole and ran the ball forward for a 17-yard gain to give the offense some breathing room.First-and-10 at the 23, 1:37 to go. From the shotgun, which the team used throughout the drive, Wilson underthrew receiver David Moore 10 yards downfield.Second-and-10. Wilson missed Moore again farther downfield.Third-and-10. Wilson scrambled to avoid a sack, then heaved a bomb to nobody.Fourth-and-10, 1:21 to go. With the game in the balance, the Vikings brought the rush, but the offensive line gave Wilson a little time. He uncorked a 40-yard pass to the sideline, which a fairly open D.K. Metcalf jumped to catch.“My only thought was to go get the ball,” Metcalf told The Athletic.First-and-10 at the Minnesota 38, 1:14 to go. Wilson went to Metcalf on the left again. He reached forward on the run and got a hand on it, but couldn’t catch it.In his second year in the league, Metcalf has developed a big-play reputation, notably catching a 29-yard touchdown in Week 2 to beat the Cowboys. “I think he is one of the top receivers in the game,” Wilson told reporters earlier in the week. “He can do it all — he can run by you, he can jump over you, he can get physical with you.”Second-and-10. Wilson hit Tyler Lockett with a short pass to the right for another first down.First-and-10 at the 21, 1:00 to go. Under pressure, Wilson dumped the ball out of bounds.Second-and-10. Wilson hit Metcalf, who took a stride for the first down then dived for a few more yards.First-and-goal at the 6. A pass bounced off the hands of Lockett at the 1-yard line.Second-and-goal. Metcalf caught the ball right on the goal line and appeared to be in the end zone. But he was hit by Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes and dropped the ball. There was brief confusion from the officials, but it was ruled an incomplete pass.Third-and-goal. A pass to Metcalf in a similar spot was far too high.Fourth-and-goal, :15 left to play. After a timeout, Wilson, again with no margin for error, took a deep drop. Metcalf was once more his target. Closely guarded, Metcalf still caught the ball, which had a slight wobble, in a dive. “I just saw D.K. run across the field and just tried to zoom it in there to him in a tight window,” Wilson told reporters. “He just made an unbelievable catch, unbelievable play.” The Seahawks led, 27-26, the score by which they would win.Wilson went 20 for 32 for 217 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. It was the 30th game-winning drive of his career.“I don’t know how anybody could ever be better than what he continues to show us in those situations,” Seattle Coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s as good as you can get.”Metcalf caught six passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns.When Wilson and the Seahawks took over at the 6-yard line, ESPN gave them a 14 percent chance of winning the game. Their chances had been as low as 4 percent on the previous drive when Minnesota got the ball to the Seahawks’ 6-yard line before failing on a fourth-and-inches try.The Seahawks improved to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history. With a bye week coming up, they are poised for an eighth playoff berth in the last nine seasons and, if Wilson can keep putting together drives like Sunday night’s, maybe a special season. More

ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott sustained a gruesome ankle injury not long after his first career touchdown catch before backup Andy Dalton led a drive to a field goal on the final play, and the Cowboys beat the winless Giants, 37-34, on Sunday.Michael Gallup made two spectacular sideline catches on throws from Dalton, the second a 38-yarder to the Giants’ 16-yard line. The Cowboys ran the clock down to 3 seconds, and Greg Zuerlein had his second game-ending kick of the season, from 34 yards.Prescott was going down in the arms of Giants defensive back Logan Ryan at the end of a 9-yard run in the third quarter when his right leg got caught under Ryan and appeared to snap.Prescott reached for the leg as he writhed in pain, and TV footage showed his right foot bent at an awkward angle away from his leg. He fought back tears as he was carted off with a cast on the leg. Most of Prescott’s teammates rushed to greet him, as did several members of the Giants, including Ryan and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who coached Prescott for four years in Dallas.The team said Prescott had a fracture-dislocation of the right ankle and was taken to a hospital, where surgery was planned late Sunday.Dalton was Cincinnati’s starter for nine seasons before the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow No. 1 over all last spring and Dalton signed a one-year deal to be Prescott’s backup.Dalton and rookie center Tyler Biadasz fumbled an exchange on Dalton’s first full series, setting up Devonta Freeman’s 4-yard scoring run and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas’s 2-point conversion catch to put the Giants ahead, 34-31.After Dallas got even and forced a Giants punt, Gallup made a toe-dragging 19-yard catch. Then Gallup made an over-the-shoulder grab with Dion Lewis running stride for stride. Both catches held up on review.The Cowboys (2-3), who trailed by two touchdowns in the second quarter for their fourth straight game with a double-digit deficit, extended their lead when Ezekiel Elliott ran in from 12 yards out to make it 31-23 three plays after Prescott’s injury. Elliott had 91 yards rushing and two touchdowns.It was the first game back in Dallas for Garrett, who was replaced by Mike McCarthy after the Cowboys missed the playoffs amid high expectations last season.Four years ago, Garrett chose to keep Prescott, then a rookie leading a franchise-best 11-game winning streak, as the starter over Tony Romo. Prescott, who replaced an injured Romo in the preseason, has started every game of his career.Garrett’s offense stopped a two-game streak without a touchdown by getting in the end zone on the Giants first possession with a 3-yard reverse to tight end Evan Engram.The Giants led, 17-3, in the second quarter — the fourth straight game with a double-digit deficit for the Cowboys — before the Cowboys went in front, 24-20, with 16 seconds left in the first half on Prescott’s 11-yard catch on a pass from receiver Cedrick Wilson, who took a reverse pitch from Elliott.At 0-5, the Giants will face the Washington Football team at home next Sunday in the second of three straight N.F.C. East games.The Cowboys, increased the size of the crowd at AT&T Stadium to 25,147 fans, an uptick in capacity for the third straight home game. More

The N.F.L. has indefinitely postponed Monday’s game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, the latest reshuffling of the league’s schedule to accommodate the rash of positive tests for the coronavirus.The league had already pushed back the game from Sunday to Monday after Stephon Gilmore, the team’s star defensive back, tested positive. The team returned to practice Saturday, but another presumptive positive test Sunday forced the league to act before the Broncos left Denver for Foxborough, Mass.The league has not said when or if the game will be made up. Because this week will now serve as the bye week for both teams, there are no other openings on their schedule unless other games are moved, or the league adds an additional week to the season for makeup games. The Patriots were originally scheduled for a bye in Week 6, and the Broncos had a bye in Week 8.The Tennessee Titans, who have been grappling with the biggest outbreak in the league, shut down their team facility on Sunday after another staff member tested positive, according to the NFL Network, throwing in doubt the team’s upcoming game against the Buffalo Bills, already pushed back to Tuesday.The Titans have reported two dozen positive cases among its players, coaches and staff members in the past several weeks. The league has already pushed the Titans-Steelers game back three weeks, to Oct. 25.The N.F.L. told teams this week they would risk severe penalties, including the loss of draft picks, stiff fines and potentially the forfeiture of games if they do not follow the league’s safety protocols. More

The Jets confirmed Friday that one of their players had tested positive for the coronavirus, and that all players had been sent home from the team’s facility as a precaution.The positive result throws into question whether the Jets will be able to play their next game, at home against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and is the latest problem for the N.F.L. already scrambling to adjust for outbreaks on two other teams.The Jets are the latest N.F.L. team to have a player test positive, deepening the challenge the league faces as it tries to complete a full schedule of games. On Thursday, the league was forced to postpone two other games, the latest in a series of cascading readjustments in the wake of virus outbreaks involving the Tennessee Titans and the New England Patriots.The league announced on Thursday that the Titans — who have had the league’s worst outbreak, with nearly two dozen players, coaches and staff members testing positive — would play the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern time, instead of on Sunday, assuming that the team reports no more positive tests. The Titans reported two additional positive tests in their organization on Thursday.If Tennessee and Buffalo play as now scheduled on Tuesday, the Bills’ following game, against the Kansas City Chiefs, would be moved back three days from Thursday, Oct. 15.The league had already postponed the Titans’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, scheduled for this past Sunday, by three weeks because of the Titans’ outbreak.The league also on Thursday moved the Patriots-Denver Broncos game, scheduled for Sunday, to 5 p.m. Eastern on Monday, after Stefon Gilmore, New England’s star cornerback, was reported yesterday to have tested positive. Last week, the Patriots’ Sunday game was moved to Monday because their quarterback, Cam Newton, had tested positive.This is a developing story and will be updated. More

The setting was familiar: Tom Brady, facing a long field and a short clock, and a chance to lead a fourth-quarter comeback.The result was not.Brady, who built his reputation for late-game heroics with dozens of fourth-quarter comebacks as the New England Patriots’ quarterback, appeared to lose track of downs while trying to lead another with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. Instead of his 38th fourth-quarter comeback, Brady headed home from Chicago with a loss.The stage for a trademark Brady moment had been set. The Buccaneers took over the ball trailing the Bears by 20-19 with 1 minute 13 seconds left. After a quick short pass for a first down, Brady had the ball at his 37.Here’s what happened next.Brady threw a short incomplete pass intended for Mike Evans.He completed a pass for 4 yards to Ke’Shawn Vaughn.A short pass to Rob Gronkowski was incomplete.DeAndre Houston-Carson of the Bears broke up a pass intended for Cameron Brate.OK, did you count the downs there? Four, right?Brady apparently got three.A closeup TV shot of Brady just after the incomplete pass to Brate showed him looking to the sideline and holding up four fingers and appearing to mouth “fourth down.” Even though the Bucs had lost the ball on downs, Brady stayed on the field, apparently thinking he still had another play.Brady, 43, seemed frustrated after the series, throwing a clipboard and slamming his helmet. Asked afterward what had happened, Brady pivoted to the result of the play.And his coach, Bruce Arians, denied Brady had not realized it was fourth down. “Yeah, he knew, he knew,” Arians said.Brady focused instead on the play call. The fourth-down pass to Brate was an effort to get his team into field-goal range, rather than just grab the six yards needed for a first down. That, Brady acknowledged, was his mistake.“I knew we had to gain a chunk, so I should have been thinking more first down instead of chunk,” he said.Brady finished 25 for 41 for 253 yards and a touchdown.The Buccaneers and their newly signed legendary quarterback are still off to a good start, 3-2 and in first place in the NFC South. The Bears are a surprising 4-1, but have not quite established themselves as an elite team: Their wins are by 4, 4, 4, and 1 point, and before Thursday’s win their victories had come over the Lions, the Giants and the Falcons, teams that have only one win among them.The Bears’ starting quarterback, Mitch Trubisky, was benched in the middle of Game 3, despite the team’s 2-0 record at the time.That conveniently meant that his backup Nick Foles got to play against the Bucs. Foles’s only other meeting with Brady came in the Super Bowl in 2018, when he beat Brady and the Patriots to give the Philadelphia Eagles their only Super Bowl title.Foles finished Thursday night’s game 30 of 42 for 243 yards, one touchdown, one interception and no forgotten downs. More

For the second consecutive week, the N.F.L. has shuffled its schedule to accommodate teams that have had players and staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus.The league announced on Thursday that the Tennessee Titans — who have had the league’s worst outbreak, with nearly two dozen players, coaches and staff members testing positive — would play the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern time, instead of on Sunday, assuming that the team reports no more positive tests. The Titans reported two additional positive tests in their organization on Thursday.If Tennessee and Buffalo play as now scheduled on Tuesday, the Bills’ following game, against the Kansas City Chiefs, would be moved back three days from Thursday, Oct. 15.The league had already postponed the Titans’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, scheduled for this past Sunday, by three weeks because of the Titans’ outbreak.The league also on Thursday moved the New England Patriots-Denver Broncos game, scheduled for Sunday, to 5 p.m. Eastern on Monday, after Stefon Gilmore, New England’s star cornerback, was reported yesterday to have tested positive. Last week, the Patriots’ Sunday game was moved to Monday because their quarterback, Cam Newton, had tested positive.The postponements are part of the N.F.L.’s effort to manage confirmed infections, which it has said for months were expected to occur.This week, the N.F.L. said it would use video surveillance to ensure that players and coaches were wearing proper protective equipment at team facilities.The league is also investigating whether the Titans have violated league rules by working out after the club’s facility was shuttered because of the outbreak in the locker room. The team may be facing penalties that include fines and revoked draft picks. In the worst case, Tennessee could even be forced to forfeit a game.The league chose not to construct a closed community or a bubble — as the W.N.B.A. and N.B.A. did — for players and coaches to live in during the season, as a way to reduce the risk of infection.Instead, protocols were put in place to enforce physical distancing and other safety measures while the players and the team’s staff members were together. But at the end of each day, all team personnel are allowed to return home, increasing their chances of being exposed to the virus.This strategy relies on the avoidance of unnecessary risks by players, coaches and other team employees. The league has fined coaches tens of thousands of dollars for failing to wear face masks properly. Ten players on the Las Vegas Raiders have been fined as much as $30,000 each for attending an indoor charity event where most people, including the players, were not wearing masks.m. More