Friday Sports in Brief

Updated Jul. 4, 2020 2:33 a.m. ET

Associated Press

NFL

The NFL plans to consider the NFL Players Association’s recommendation to cancel the preseason though it prefers to cut the schedule in half, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press on Friday night.

The league decided Wednesday to cut its preseason from four games to two and push back the start of exhibition play so teams have more time to train because the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of offseason practices, a person with knowledge of the decision told the AP.

But the union’s board of player representatives voted Thursday to ask the league to cancel the entire preseason schedule, according to two people who were part of that conversation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Redskins began a “thorough review” of their name Friday, a significant step toward moving on from what experts and advocates call a “dictionary-defined racial slur.”

Even though owner Dan Snyder had shown no willingness to change the name since buying the team in 1999, the recent national conversation on race has renewed opposition to the name and prompted sponsors to speak up. With support from the NFL, it may finally lead to a new moniker for the long-struggling storied franchise with long-ago Super Bowl success.

In a statement, the team said recent events around the U.S. and feedback from the community prompted the formal review.

MLB

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Indians will review their long-debated nickname.

“We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality,” the team said in a statement Friday night. “Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community.”

There have been previous efforts to get the Indians to rename themselves. But following the death George Floyd in Minnesota and other examples of police brutality against Black people in the U.S., there has been a major move nationwide to eradicate racially insensitive material.

In 2018, the Indians removed the contentious Chief Wahoo logo from their game jerseys and caps.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dodger Stadium’s 40-year wait to host the All-Star Game is going to last even longer.

The game scheduled for July 14 was canceled Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Dodger Stadium was awarded the 2022 Midsummer Classic. The 2021 game is set for Atlanta’s Truist Park, home to the Braves since 2017.

Because of the pandemic, opening day had already been delayed from March 26 to July 23 or 24.

No date for the 2022 game has been announced, although Dodgers President Stan Kasten said it would take place in the third week of July.

NEW YORK (AP) — Thirty-one Major League Baseball players and seven staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during intake for the resumption of training, a rate of 1.2%.

MLB and the players’ association announced the results Friday as teams resumed workouts for the first time since the coronavirus interrupted spring training on March 12, two weeks before the season was to start. Opening day has been reset for July 23, the latest in baseball history, and the regular season has been reduced to 60 games in the shortest schedule since 1878.

The positive tests occurred among 19 of the 30 teams, according to results of the samples sent to the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in South Jordan, Utah. There were 3,185 samples collected and tested through the first week of intake testing.

NASCAR

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson has tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,

The 44-year-old Johnson is the first driver in any NASCAR series to test positive and the news Friday evening cast a shadow over the historic NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader races coming up Saturday and Sunday. There was no indication any races would be affected.

Hendrick Motorsports said Johnson will not return until he is cleared by a physician. He was tested earlier Friday after his wife, Chani, tested positive after experiencing allergy-like symptoms.

Johnson is asymptomatic.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy took a $1 million pay cut and had his contract shortened by a year as part of an internal review prompted by sharp criticism from his star running back for wearing a T-shirt promoting a far-right news channel.

Athletic director Mike Holder said Friday the adjustments to Gundy’s contract were the coach’s idea. Holder reiterated his belief Gundy has always treated Black players well a day after releasing a statement saying the review found “no sign or indication of racism” in the football program.

Two weeks ago, running back Chuba Hubbard lashed out at Gundy on social media for wearing a T-shirt promoting One America News Network. Hubbard, who is Black, suggested he may boycott the program; OANN has been critical of the Black Lives Matter movement.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State football players have called off a threatened boycott in response to an insensitive tweet by a student about the death of George Floyd.

The decision, announced on social media by several players, follows moves by the school to address diversity concerns.

Kansas State players aren’t currently participating in any practices or workouts because team activities were suspended earlier this month after a coronavirus outbreak within the team. Summer workouts are expected to resume July 13.

Last week, one month after Floyd died when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on the Black handcuffed man’s neck, Kansas State student Jaden McNeil tweeted: “Congratulations to George Floyd on being drug free for an entire month!”

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Austin Peay coach Mark Hudspeth has resigned after one season on the job that included him taking the Governors to a program-record 11 wins and a trip to the FCS quarterfinals.

Athletic director Gerald Harrison announced Hudspeth’s resignation Friday. The resignation is effective immediately. Harrison is keeping the rest of the coaching staff.

Under Hudspeth, Austin Peay won its second Ohio Valley Conference championship and made its first postseason appearance. The Governors beat Furman and Sacramento State before losing to Montana State in the quarterfinals. He was named the OVC coach of the year.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

WASHINGTON (AP) — Highly touted prospect Makur Maker verbally committed to Howard University on Friday, picking the Bison over college basketball powerhouses UCLA, Kentucky and Memphis.

The five-star recruit is the highest-ranked player to commit to a Historically Black College or University since ESPN began tracking rankings in 2007. Maker is a 6-foot-11, 235-pound center who declared for the NBA draft in April before opting to consider college basketball.

Maker, ranked No. 16 by ESPN, announced Friday on Twitter he was committing to Howard and coach Kenneth Blakeney. He hopes his decision opens the door for other prospects to go the HBCU route.

OBITUARY

Gary Longhi, a four-time Paralympian road cyclist and Canada’s flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, has died. He was 56.

The Canadian Paralympic Committee announced his death Friday.

Longhi competed in the 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 Games, winning gold and bronze in ’96 in Atlanta and silver in ’92 in Barcelona.

The Montreal native was the first Paralympic athlete to be inducted into the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame in 2017.

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