Panthers owner to sell team after season

Panthers owner to sell team after season

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Facing a growing investigation that accuses him of sexual misconduct and using racist language at work, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson announced Sunday that he will sell the NFL team after the season.

The team announced on Twitter that Richardson is selling the team, linking to a five-paragraph letter by the franchise’s only owner.

“I believe it is time to turn the franchise over to new ownership,” Richardson wrote, saying he wouldn’t begin discussions until after the season. The Panthers, who lost in the Super Bowl two seasons ago, are in playoff position again.

“I hope everyone in the organization, both on and off the field, will be firmly focused on one mission: to play and win the Super Bowl,” said Richardson, 81.

Richardson’s letter did not directly address the investigation or allegations against him.

The NFL awarded Richardson, a former player with the Baltimore Colts, an expansion franchise in 1993, and he has been the team’s only owner.

3 coaches finalists for AP Coach of the Year

UCF’s Scott Frost, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney are the finalists for The Associated Press Coach of the Year award.

The winner will be announced Monday.

Frost led the Knights to an unbeaten regular season before taking the Nebraska job. Frost plans to coach No. 10 UCF in the Peach Bowl against Auburn.

Smart, in his second season with Georgia, guided the Bulldogs to a 12-1 record and their first Southeastern Conference championship since 2005. No. 3 Georgia will face No. 2 Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl.

Swinney has the defending national champion Tigers back in the playoff for a third straight year. No. 1 Clemson won the Atlantic Coast Conference, finished 12-1, and will face No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Strasburg considers skipping All-Star game

WASHINGTON

Stephen Strasburg is not so sure he wants to be an All-Star ever again.

The Washington Nationals right-hander said Sunday he is sure a change in routine for that event last season contributed to an arm injury that landed him on the disabled list, so he might just skip future Midsummer Classics.

The Nationals are hosting the 2018 edition.

His 2017 invitation to Miami was his third career All-Star selection. He didn’t appear in the game, but he still was thrown off, Strasburg said, and he left his second start following the break after only two innings.

He went on the DL for a little more than three weeks with a nerve issue in his pitching elbow.

French soccer star poses in blackface

MADRID

Soccer star Antoine Griezmann has apologized for any offense caused after posting an image of himself on social media in blackface as part of an NBA party costume Sunday.

Griezmann, who is white, was also wearing a wig and holding a basketball in the photo which had “NBA 69 ALLSTARS” on the jersey.

The photo on his official Twitter account was accompanied by the message “80’s Party” followed by basketball and laughing emojis.

One response called the photo a “bad idea” with others urging the France forward to delete the tweet.

Griezmann at first reacted to the criticism by tweeting: “Calm down friends, I’m a fan of the Harlem Globetrotters and of this great era... It’s a tribute.”

He later tweeted an apology to those he had offended.

“I recognize that’s it’s insensitive on my part. If I offended some people I’m sorry,” he wrote.

The 26-year-old Griezmann plays for Spanish team Atletico Madrid but has been linked to a move to Barcelona.

Wire reports