Shohei Ohtani

, nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter, and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League.
Ohtani was the first pick of the Fighters in the 2012 draft. He played in NPB for the Fighters from 2013 through 2017 as a pitcher and an outfielder. Ohtani recorded the fastest pitch by a Japanese pitcher and in NPB history at . The Fighters posted Ohtani to MLB after the 2017 season, and he signed with the Angels. He won the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year Award.
Early career.
Shohei Ohtani attended in Iwate Prefecture, Northern Japan. He pitched a fastball as an 18-year-old high school pitcher. He threw the pitch in the Japanese national high school baseball championship tournament, commonly called Summer Koshien. In the 2012 18U Baseball World Championship, Ohtani had an 0–1 win–loss record with 16 strikeouts, eight walks, five hits, five runs, and a 4.35 earned run average in 10⅓ innings pitched.
Ohtani expressed a desire to move directly to the major leagues after high school and received interest from numerous teams including the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. On October 21, 2012, he announced that he would pursue a career in Major League Baseball rather than turn professional in Japan. The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters decided to draft him anyway, knowing that there was a high likelihood he would not play for them. But after a month-long negotiation between him and the Fighters, Ohtani announced that he would sign with the Fighters and spend some years in Japan before a possible MLB move. He was assigned the jersey number 11, previously worn by Yu Darvish.
Professional career.
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
Rookie Year and first NPB All-Star selection (2013).
Ohtani made his debut at age 18 in the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters' season-opening game on March 29, 2013, playing as a right fielder. He was selected for a Pacific League roster spot for the 2013 All-Star Game. As a pitcher, he finished the season with a 3–0 record in 11 starts. Ohtani was used as a rookie in both the outfield (leading the Fighters with 51 games in right) and as a pitcher. The unusual two-way role was historic. He was the second Nippon Pro Baseball rookie drafted out of high school the previous year, to be used as both a pitcher and position player, following Kikuo Tokunaga in 1951; Ohtani was the first to start in both roles. He was the first NPB pitcher since Takao Kajimoto in 1963 to bat 3rd, 4th or 5th and the first rookie hurler to do so since Junzo Sekine in 1950. He was the second player, following Osamu Takechi (also 1950), to start a game at pitcher, bat in the heart of the order (3rd through 5th) and get a hit and RBI in that game. He missed time during the year with a right ankle sprain and right cheekbone fracture.
The fans voted the high-profile rookie into the All-Star Game despite mediocre numbers. For the season, he was 3–0 with a 4.23 ERA with 33 walks to 46 K in 61 2/3 IP and hit .238/.284/.376 in 204 plate appearances. He had 7 outfield assists to one error. His 8 hit batsmen tied Manabu Mima, Tadashi Settsu, Hideaki Wakui and Ryoma Nogami for 5th in the 2013 Pacific League. He did get 4 of the 233 votes for the 2013 Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (Pacific League), tying Tatsuya Sato for a distant second behind Takahiro Norimoto.
Second NPB All-Star selection (2014).
Throughout the entire season, Ohtani performed double-duty as a pitcher and outfielder, utilizing his strong throwing arm as well as his impressive batting skills. As a hitter, he batted .274, with 28 extra-base hits (including 10 home runs), 31 RBIs and a .842 on-base plus slugging percentage in 212 at-bats. As a pitcher, he was 11–4 with a 2.61 ERA in 24 starts and struck out 179 (third in NPB) in 155.1 innings. His 10.4 K/9 was the best in the league and opponents hit just .223 against him.
In a September 7 game against the Orix Buffaloes, he homered to straightaway center at Kyocera Dome to become the first Japanese player to reach double digits in both home runs and wins. He tossed a 1–0 shutout against Orix on September 13 and became the first pitcher out of high school to record a 1–0 shutout victory within his first two years for the Fighters since Toshiaki Moriyasu in 1967. He also became the first pitcher out of high school to notch two shutout victories within his first two years in the NPB since Yu Darvish.
During the July 2014 Mazda All-Star Game, he threw a fastball in the bottom of the 1st inning, setting a new record for the fastest official pitch thrown by a Japanese pitcher, beating the record set by the Yakult Swallows' Yoshinori Sato in 2010 (). The jersey he wore during the game sold for 1,752,000 yen ($), making it the top-seller at the All-Star 2014 Charity Auction. The proceeds were donated to three Tohoku earthquake children's relief funds.
On October 5 against the Eagles, Ohtani recorded the fastest pitch by a Japanese pitcher in an official game, tying Marc Kroon's all-time record for NPB pitchers. The pitch came against lead-off hitter Akiminai Ginji in the 1st inning. With the count 0–1, Ohtani threw a fastball that registered on the stadium radar gun and shattered Ginji's bat in half. He also hit 162 km/h twice against the second hitter, Aoi Enomoto. Of the 15 pitches he threw in the 1st inning, eight were in the 160s.
During the postseason, Ohtani was chosen to become a member of the national team, dubbed Samurai Japan, and participated in the Suzuki All-Star Series, a five-game friendly competition with a squad of major leaguers. In game 1, he pitched one shutout inning in relief, retiring three consecutive batters. He started game 5 at the Sapporo Dome and, although his team ultimately lost (3–1), he wasn't charged with an earned run (he gave up two unearned), and of the 12 outs he recorded in four innings, he got seven via strikeout. He threw mostly fastballs, even clocked one at , occasional curveballs, and a few forkballs in the mid-140s, including one he threw perfectly in the second inning to strike out Tampa Bay Rays star Ben Zobrist.
In December, he became the 2nd player out of high school in NPB history to reach 100M yen in salary in his third year, after Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2001. His new contract more than tripled his previous salary estimated at 30M yen.
Pacific League Pitcher Best Nine and ERA leader (2015).
2015 marked Ohtani's third professional season (and second full season). Though his offensive production declined somewhat (5 home runs), his performance on the mound was among the best in the league, earning him the starter role in the 2015 All-Star Game and the pitching spot in the end-of-year Pacific League Best Nine awards. Ohtani started 2015 NPB All-Star Game 1 for the PL. He went two innings and fanned two, allowing one run (on a double by Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and a single by Jose Lopez), relieved by Nishi with a 1–0 deficit. The PL would lose 8–6 but he got a no-decision. He finished the season 15–5 with a 2.24 ERA, 196 strikeouts and only 100 hits in 160 2/3 IP. He led the PL in ERA (.14 over Nishi), tied Wakui for the most wins and was second in strikeouts (19 behind Norimoto, though he threw 34 fewer innings). He rarely played the field but did see some action at DH, hitting .202/.252/.376 with 5 HR in 109 AB. He made the Best Nine as the PL's top hurler. He finished third in MVP voting again, placing behind Yanagita and Shogo Akiyama for the 2015 Pacific League MVP. Ohtani placed third in MVP voting (first among pitchers) and was one of three candidates considered for the 2015 Sawamura Award, given annually to the top pitcher in either league.
Ohtani led the league in wins and winning percentage with a 15–5 record in just 22 starts, and his 2.24 ERA, 5 complete games, and 3 shutouts were also best in the league. All these stats were career bests, as were his 196 strikeouts, 0.909 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts per nine innings.
Ohtani was dominant for the Japanese national team in the 2015 Premier 12. He hit 100 mph while blowing away eventual champion South Korea (10 K, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 R in 6 IP) before Norimoto relieved. Facing South Korea again in the semifinals, he was even sharper (11 K, 0 BB, 1 HB, 1 H in 7 IP). He did not give up a hit until Keun-woo Jeong singled in the 7th and had the most whiffs in a game for the first Premier 12 ever. Norimoto relieved with a 3–0 lead but he and two other relievers combined to allow four in the 9th to blow it as Japan fell in a shocking defeat. He led the event in ERA (Scott Diamond had 12 innings with a 0.00 ERA to Ohtani's 13) and strikeouts (one ahead of Chun-Lin Kuo) while allowing the lowest average by a starting pitcher. He was named the All-Star SP for the event (Sho Nakata was the only other member of Samurai Japan to be picked for the All-Star team).
Japan Series champion, Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award and first Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (2016).
In 2016, Ohtani had a breakout season as a hitter. In 104 games and 382 plate appearances, he hit 22 home runs. He also hit 18 doubles, 67 RBI, batted .322 with an OBP of .416, scored 65 runs and had 7 stolen bases. He won the Best Nine award as the designated hitter. Ohtani was the same dominant pitcher on the mound. In 21 games pitched, he had a career low in ERA at 1.86. He had a 10–4 record, struck out 174 batters in 140 innings with 4 complete games and one shutout. He also won the Best Nine award as a pitcher and won the Pacific League MVP. He got nearly double as many votes as any other pitcher for the PL for the 2016 NPB All-Star Game; he had 300,025 while #2 Shota Takeda had 158,008. He could not pitch in the event due to a blister on his finger but wound up starring as a DH. In Game 1, he batted for DH Yuya Hasegawa and lined out in the 8th against Scott Mathieson. Starting at DH and hitting 5th in Game 2, he homered off Shoichi Ino in the 5th to start the PL comeback from a 3–0 deficit. He singled against Ryo Akiyoshi in the 7th and scored on a hit by Kenta Imamiya for a 4–3 lead. Coming up with a 5–4 deficit in the 8th, he singled off Shinji Tajima to bring in Shogo Akiyama with the tying run. He thus produced three of the PL's five runs in the 5–5 tie, earning him game MVP honors. He hit 165 km/h (102.5 mph) on the radar gun during the year, setting a new NPB record.
He finished the year at .322/.416/.588 with 22 HR in 382 PA on offense and 10–4, 1.86 on the mound with 174 K in 140 IP. He tied for 8th in the PL in wins, was third in strikeouts (behind Norimoto and Kodai Senga) with a significantly better strikeout rate than either of those hurlers), would have led in ERA had he qualified (Ayumu Ishikawa led at 2.16; Ohtani was 3 IP shy of qualifying), would have been second in average if he had qualified (52 plate appearances shy; Katsuya Kakunaka led at .339), would have ranked 4th in OBP (between Akira Nakamura and Haruki Nishikawa), would have led in slugging (.065 ahead of Yanagita), would have led in OPS (35 ahead of Yanagita) and was 8th in home runs (every other player with 15+ had at least 50 more plate appearances).
He led Nippon Ham to the 2016 Japan Series, but lost the opener to the Hiroshima Carp; he fanned 11 in 6 innings but allowed 3 runs, two on a homer by Brad Eldred and one on a steal of home by Seiya Suzuki. Down 2 games to 0, he came up big as the DH in game 3, getting 3 hits, a run and a RBI. In the bottom of the 10th, he singled off Daichi Osera score Nishikawa with the winner; Nippon Ham would take the next three games to win their second Japan Series title. Teammate Brandon Laird would win the Series MVP. Ohtani hit .375/.412/.625 with four doubles, doing more on offense than on the mound for the Series.
He made the Best Nine as the top pitcher and top DH in the PL. He became the first player to received the awards as both a pitcher and a hitter. He topped 4-time Cuban MVP Alfredo Despaigne easily at DH (190 votes to 47; 3 others combined for 8 votes) but the vote at pitcher was closer (he had 111 of 245 votes, Ishikawa 69 and Tsuyoshi Wada 61). He was the run-away winner of the 2016 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award, getting 253 of 254 first-place votes (Naoki Miyanishi got the other one) and one second-place vote. He had 1,268 vote points, to 298 for runner-up Laird.
2017.
In 2017, he played in 65 games, hitting .332 with 8 homers and 31 RBIs while going 3–2, 3.20 with 29 strikeouts on the mound. In September, it was revealed that Ohtani would ask to be posted at the end of the season in order to play in Major League Baseball in 2018. However, before that could happen, he had surgery on his right ankle in early October. The injury had originally occurred in the 2016 Japan Series, and had cost him a chance to play in the 2017 World Baseball Classic in addition to restricting his playing time during the season. There was a question as to whether or not NPB and MLB could come to a posting agreement. Both sides did come to an agreement on November 21, 2017.
Because he was under 25 years old at that time, Ohtani was subjected to international signing rules. This capped his bonus at $3.557 million and limited him to a rookie salary scale, while the signing team also had to pay a $20 million posting fee to the Fighters. That essentially meant all 30 teams could afford to go after Ohtani; if he'd waited until he was 25 to be posted, he would have commanded a $200 million contract. Ohtani narrowed his finalists to the Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Mariners, Rangers and Cubs, signing with the Angels for a $2.315 million bonus.
Los Angeles Angels.
On December 8, 2017, Ohtani agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Angels. The deal was finalized the next day. On December 13, it was revealed that Ohtani was diagnosed with a first-degree UCL sprain in his right elbow. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the injury.
American League Rookie of the Year (2018).
Ohtani made the 25-man roster and started as the designated hitter on Opening Day against the Oakland Athletics. He singled in his first at-bat. On April 1, he made his pitching debut, striking out six batters in six innings while allowing three runs, to pick up his first MLB win. On April 3, Ohtani hit his first MLB home run, a 397-foot three-run homer against Josh Tomlin. The following day, he hit his second, becoming the first Angels player to homer in his first two career home games. He tied the franchise record of 12 total bases, and five RBI through his first three consecutive career games (both set by Bobby Clark in 1979). On April 6, he hit his third home run in three days, becoming the first Angels rookie to do so. In only his second start on the mound on April 8, Ohtani took a perfect game through 6⅓ innings before allowing a hit. Overall, Ohtani pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 12. Making his third start pitching on April 18 against the Boston Red Sox, Ohtani exited after two innings due to a blister on his right middle finger. On June 7, Ohtani left the game after a blister on the same finger. The next day, he was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his MLB career due to a Grade 2 UCL sprain in his right elbow. He received platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell injections to treat the injury.
Ohtani was activated from the disabled list as a hitter on July 2, and went 0-for-4 against the Seattle Mariners. On August 3, Ohtani hit two home runs against the Cleveland Indians, marking his first career multiple-home run game and his first two home runs in a road game.
After Ohtani had not pitched for 11 weeks, Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced that Ohtani would start the game against the Houston Astros on September 2. Even though he threw just 49 pitches over 2⅓ innings and allowed two runs, he became the first major leaguer in nearly a century to hit 15 home runs and pitch 50 innings in a season, previously accomplished by Babe Ruth in 1919. On September 7, Ohtani broke the home run record hit by a Japanese rookie when he blasted his 19th home run for the season.
Ohtani ended his first major league season with a batting average of .285, and a .361 on-base-percentage. He finished with 22 home runs, 10 stolen bases and 61 RBIs. In 10 starts on the mound, he notched a 4–2 record with a 3.31 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 63 strikeouts. His .564 slugging percentage ranked seventh overall among MLB players with at least 350 plate appearances for this season. He became the second-fastest Angels rookie to reach 20 home runs, and joined Babe Ruth as the only pair of MLB players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 homers in a season. He also won the American League Rookie of the Month award twice; in April and in September.
On September 3, 2018, ESPN announced that doctors recommended that Ohtani undergo Tommy John surgery, after an MRI showed new damage to his UCL. The Angels announced on September 25 that Ohtani had agreed to the procedure, which might potentially keep him off the mound until 2020. On October 1, Angels general manager Billy Eppler announced that Ohtani underwent successful Tommy John surgery. On November 12, he was named the American League Rookie of the Year.
2019.
On May 7, 2019, Ohtani played in his first game with the Angels since undergoing Tommy John surgery, batting as a designated hitter against the Detroit Tigers. In a June 13 game against Tampa Bay, Ohtani became the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle in MLB history. On September 12, Ohtani's 2019 season prematurely ended after it was revealed that he needed surgery to repair a bipartite patella. He finished the season batting .286/.343/.505 with 18 home runs, 62 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 106 games.
2020.
On July 24, 2020, Ohtani was the first ever automatic player on second base in an official MLB game at the start of the 10th inning as part of one of the new 2020 MLB season rules in a game against the Oakland Athletics. He was thrown out in a rundown.
On July 26, 2020, Ohtani returned to the mound against the Oakland Athletics, making his first pitching appearance since September 2018. It did not go as well as planned, as he allowed 5 runs and was removed from the mound without recording an out, starting his season with a loss and an infinite ERA. After his second start of the season against the Houston Astros, Ohtani began to experience discomfort in his right arm, and it was eventually revealed that he had a flexor strain in his right elbow after undergoing an MRI. Angels manager Joe Maddon later stated that Ohtani would not pitch for the rest of the season.
On the offensive side, Ohtani finished the season batting .190/.291/.366 with 7 home runs, 24 RBIs, and 7 stolen bases in 43 games.
2021.
On February 8, 2021, Ohtani agreed to a two-year $8.5 million contract with the Angels, avoiding arbitration.
In his first pitching start against the Chicago White Sox on "Sunday Night Baseball" on April 4, 2021, he threw innings, allowing one earned run and two unearned runs. During that start, he struck out seven batters. Additionally, Ohtani batted 2nd in the lineup. He went 1 for 3, hitting a 450 foot solo home run on the first pitch he faced. The blast’s exit velocity was clocked at 115 mph, and it also marked the first time a starting pitcher has hit in the top 2 of a lineup in 118 years, according to MLB. Ohtani also threw a 101 mph fastball just before hitting his 450 foot homerun.
After skipping a scheduled start against the Toronto Blue Jays due to a blister, Ohtani made his second start of the season on April 20, 2021 against the Texas Rangers. Under a 75-pitch limit, he threw 4 scoreless innings, striking out 7 batters and allowing 1 hit. In his third start on April 26, 2021, once again against the Texas Rangers, Ohtani collected his first win of the season. He pitched 5 innings, allowing 4 runs in the first inning and striking out 9. Offensively, he went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Ohtani also became the first player in nearly 100 years to start a game on the mound while also entering the day leading the Majors in home runs. Such an event had not occurred since Babe Ruth took the mound as starting pitcher for the Yankees on June 13, 1921, leading the AL with 19 home runs.
International career.
2012 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.
Ohtani was selected to Japan's Under-18 National Team that eventually finished in sixth place at the 18U Baseball World Championship in Seoul, Korea.
2015 WBSC Premier12.
In the 2015 Premier12, Ohtani earned a bronze medal with the Samurai Japan National Baseball Team. He was the ace of Japan's pitching staff, which featured Kenta Maeda. As the number one starter, Ohtani made two pitching appearances for Japan, both against the Republic of Korea, winning Game 1 of the opening round and getting a no-decision in the semifinals. Ohtani was subsequently named to the 2015 World Baseball Softball Confederation All-World Team and was named the 2015 WBSC Baseball Player of the Year.
2017 World Baseball Classic.
Ohtani was on the 28-man roster for the Japan National Baseball Team of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury.
Playing style.
Pitching.
Ohtani is a , right-handed starting pitcher. With an overhand delivery, he throws a four-seam fastball averaging topping out at 102.5 mph (165 km/h), an forkball with late diving action, an occasional curveball, and a solid slider at . He posted a BB/9 (walks per 9 innings rate) of 3.3 in his NPB career. Ohtani has been compared to Justin Verlander by some MLB scouts.
Batting and fielding.
Ohtani is a left-handed batter. He is a designated hitter and occasional outfielder known for being able to hit with home run power. Scouts have timed Ohtani running from the batter’s box to first base in as little as 3.8 seconds.


John Friesz

John Melvin "Deep" Friesz (pronounced "Freeze") (born May 19, 1967) is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League for four teams. Selected in the 1990 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, he later played for the Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks, and New England Patriots.
Early life.
Born in Missoula, Montana, Friesz moved with his family in 1975 to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; he attended Coeur d'Alene High School and graduated in 1985. Friesz spent two seasons as a back-up; as a sophomore, he was third-string behind senior Steve Halliday and junior Scott Wellman as the Vikings won their first state title in 1982. The next year, CDA was state runner-up behind the starter in his senior season in 1984.
His first game was against perennial state power Borah in Boise, who had beaten the Vikings at Coeur d'Alene in 1983. The #2-ranked CDA Vikings returned the favor and beat the Lions 19–14 on the then-green AstroTurf of Bronco Stadium. Friesz completed 21 of 40 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns in his starting debut. The Vikings took over the top spot in the state poll and beat Rogers of Spokane 46–0 the following week. They won their first ten games, but lost in the state semifinals 25–20 to Capital, who also had handed them their last loss, at the finals in 1983. The game was played at a neutral site, the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Friesz's future home field. He finished the season with over 1,900 yards passing and 19 touchdowns in eleven games, and was second team (CDA won the state title the following year with Duane Halliday at quarterback.)
Friesz enrolled at the University of Idaho, recruited by head coach Dennis Erickson, after attending the coach's Vandal football camp in the summer of 1984. Lightly recruited, his only other offer was from New Mexico, at the time a struggling program in the Western Athletic Conference. Friesz had been turned down by Big Sky member Weber State, then coached by Mike Price.
College career.
Friesz redshirted in 1985 as the Vandals won their first outright Big Sky Conference title since 1971. In 1986, under new head coach Keith Gilbertson, he served as the backup to Scott Linehan, who would go on to become head coach of the St. Louis Rams.
Friesz was the Vandals starting quarterback for three years, beginning in 1987, when he threw 28 touchdown passes as a sophomore and was named player of the year in the Big Sky and second team All-American (Division I-AA). In his junior season of 1988, he guided the Vandals to a 9–1 regular season and two playoff wins, ending the season with a road loss in the Division I-AA semi-finals. He was a consensus All-American selection
In his senior season in 1989, Freisz threw 31 touchdowns and for over 4,000 yards in guiding the Vandals to their third consecutive conference championship. Idaho went undefeated in conference play (8–0), the only time in school history. Friesz averaged over 360 yards per game and passed for over 300 yards in ten consecutive games. He received the Walter Payton Award as the outstanding player in the nation in Division I-AA.
In his college career, #17 passed for over 10,000 yards and was the conference player-of-the-year for three consecutive years. The Vandals' annual MVP award has been renamed the "John Friesz Award" in his honor.
In August 2006, Friesz was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana. His #17 was officially retired by the University of Idaho in October 2006. The same number was retired by his high school in 1991.
Professional career.
In the 1990 NFL Draft, Friesz was the tenth quarterback selected, taken in the sixth round (138th overall) by the San Diego Chargers. Other quarterbacks in this draft were Jeff George (#1 overall pick), Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware, future Super Bowl starter Neil O'Donnell, and Scott Mitchell.
Friesz became the starting quarterback for the Chargers in 1991, his second season. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in a pre-season game in 1992. The Chargers then acquired QB Stan Humphries from the Washington Redskins, who was drafted by then Redskins GM Bobby Beathard, who was the Chargers GM at that time. Humphries became the starting QB and led the Chargers, who were winless in their first four games, to an 11–5 record, ending a ten-year playoff drought and winning their first AFC West Division title since 1981 under rookie coach Bobby Ross. Friesz returned to the Chargers the next season as the backup quarterback and left the Chargers as a free agent prior to the 1994 season.
Friesz passed for over 8,600 yards and 45 touchdowns in his professional career.


Spencer Lee

Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms (125 pounds). In freestyle, he was the '19 US National champion and a three–time age–group World Champion, once as a cadet and twice as a junior. As a folkstyle wrestler, Lee has won the James E. Sullivan Award and the Dan Hodge Trophy twice, as well as being a three-time NCAA Division I National Champion and a two-time Big Ten Conference champion out of the University of Iowa. He was also the top-recruit as a high school wrestler at the time of his commitment. Lee is often considered as one of the most dominant athletes in college athletics.
Folkstyle career.
Background.
Lee was born in Denver, Colorado but grew up in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. He would end up moving again to Murrysville, Pennsylvania, where he attended Franklin Regional High School.
High school.
In Lee's freshman year he ended the season undefeated with a record of 49-0 and a state title at 113-pounds. As a sophomore, he also ended the season with a similar 48–0 record and a state championship now at 120-pounds. As a junior in high school, he also competed at 120-pounds, posting a perfect 12–0 record and winning state again, making him a three-time PIAA champion. As a senior, he also stayed undefeated during regular-season, competing at 132-pounds and eventually at 126-pounds. Going into the state finals, Lee was the pound for pound top-ranked high school wrestler and was undefeated, posting a 144–0 record in his high school career. At the finals, Lee faced the same wrestler he had beaten by technical fall at the previous year's state finals and current Iowa teammate, Austin DeSanto. The match was very close and exciting, having the crowd cheering on their feet. With Lee being up 5–4, DeSanto secured a last-second takedown, winning 6-5 and pulling up the biggest upset of the century in high school wrestling.
As the top-recruit in the country, Lee had many offers from many Division I colleges, but ended up choosing the University of Iowa.
College.
2017-18.
Lee chose not to redshirt in his first year and competed as a true freshman instead. He had immediate success, posting a 14–1 record in regular-season. He placed third at the Big Ten Conference Championships and competed at the NCAA's. At the National tournament, Lee looked absolutely dominant, winning by technical fall by 18 points to 0 in his first two bouts in less than 6 minutes combined. After that, he pinned that year's Big 12 Champion Nick Piccininni and former NCAA Champion Nathan Tomasello, reaching the finals. At the finals, he faced Nick Suriano, who has been undefeated in 2017–2018. Lee was able to defeat Suriano 5 points to 1. This result earned him the NCAA championship at 125-pounds as a true freshman.
2018-19.
Lee posted an overall record of 23–3, placed second at the Big Ten Championships and competed at the NCAA championships as a sophomore. At the Nationals, Lee was as dominant as the previous year, winning by technical fall (18-0) in his first bout, major decision (10-1) in the second and fall in the third. In his next two bouts, he defeated three-time Big 12 Champion Nick Piccininni and ACC runner-up Jack Mueller, winning the NCAA Championship at 125-pounds. Lee outscored opponents 55–7 in five matches at the NCAA Championships.
2019-20.
In his junior year, Lee had the option to take an Olympic redshirt, but chose not to, stating he wanted to help the Iowa Team to win an NCAA title but he would still compete in freestyle. During regular season, he compiled a record of 15–0 with 14 of those wins bringing bonus points to the team. At the Big Ten tournament, Lee dominated his way to the finals, winning by fall inside 3 minutes in his first bout and by technical superiority (19-3) in the semifinals, making his way to the finale. In the finals, Lee defeated the #2 ranked wrestler at 125-pounds, Devin Schroder of Purdue University, via major decision (16-2) and qualified for the NCAA's. Lee was the #1 seed and a big favorite to win the championship, however, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making Lee and all the qualifiers unable to compete. Overall, Lee remained undefeated with a record of 18–0 through the season and outscored his opponents 234–18. Due to this, Lee received the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy as the best collegiate wrestler of the season and was named "Big Ten Wrestler of the Year". In April, Lee received the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award as the most outstanding athlete in the United States of America.
2020-21.
In October 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to winter athletes due to the last season being cut short, giving Lee the possibility of becoming a four-time NCAA champion. During regular season, Lee racked up an undefeated 4–0 record, with all of his victories coming via fall in the first period. On February 8, it was announced that the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team had suspended all team related activities during regular season due to COVID-19 results. During post-season, Lee claimed his second back-to-back Big Ten Conference championship, earning a dominant technical fall over Devin Schroder in the finale. Afterwards, he was named the "Big Ten Wrestler of the Year" for the second straight time. At the NCAA championships, Lee continued his dominance and made his way to the finals with all of his four victories coming with high-scoring bonus points. In the finale, he faced the third seed from Arizona State Brandon Courtney, whom he was unable to get bonus points out off despite dominating him and not allowing him to score any points of his own, claiming his third NCAA title. Lee later revealed he had torn his left ACL eight days before the tournament, but competed anyway and was successful by dominating the opposition. After the season, Lee was named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner (shared with heavyweight Gable Steveson) for the second straight season.
2021-22.
Lee remains to have a year left of eligibility, as granted by the NCAA, despite competing as a senior in the season prior.
Freestyle career.
Age-group.
Lee was a highly successful age-group wrestler. In 2013, he made the US Cadet World Team by winning the US National title, notably defeating eventual NCAA champion Austin O' Connor and eventual '14 Youth Olympic silver medalist Daton Fix, and went on to place seventh at the World Championships. In 2014, he once again made the US Cadet World Team and went on to dominate the opposition at the World Championships, tech'ing and pinning his way to becoming a Cadet World Champion. In 2015, Lee moved up from 50 kilograms to 54 kilograms for the US Cadet National Championships, however, he was stopped twice by Daton Fix, losing his chance at the spot.
After failing to make the team, the 16-year-old Lee went back to 50 kilograms and made the US Junior World Team, tech'ing every opponent at the World Team Trials. At the World Championships, Lee showed no struggle in the junior level, once again tech'ing his way to becoming now a Junior World Champion. In 2016, Lee started off by winning the US Junior Open, followed up making his fourth US World Team and represented the US at the Junior World Championships once again. In his last age-group showdown, Lee dominated the field on his way to the finals, before facing Kurshid Parpiev from Kyrgyzstan. In the finale, Lee went a full six-minute match for the first time in the junior level, and was forced to dig dip as his opponent held the lead after the first round, but Lee was able to scored eleven points of his own against Parpiev's five in the second period to edge the gold medal and become a two-time Junior World Champion.
Senior level.
2019.
After more than three years of inactivity in freestyle, with his last showdown coming from his gold medal performance at the '16 Junior World Championships, the 21-year-old Lee registered to make his senior level debut at the Senior Nationals in December. In his first three senior matches, Lee outscored his opponents 30–0, including a flawless victory over NCAA champion Darian Cruz, to advance to the semifinals, where he faced the freshly crowned Junior World Championship silver medalist Vito Arujau, and despite making it more competitive, Arujau scoring four points, he was also shut down by Lee's ability and surrendered to a 14–4 technical fall. In the finale, Lee faced NCAA champion and four-time Big Ten Conference Champion Nathan Tomasello, whom he was also able to defeat with a lopsided decision, claiming the US National Championship.
2020.
The '19 NCAA and US National champion, Lee was scheduled to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania. However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete until the next year.
In his first and only match of the year, Lee wrestled four-time DI All-American Zach Sanders on November 1 at the HWC Open I. He won the match by fall in under a minute and twenty seconds.
2021.
After claiming his third NCAA title in March 20, Lee's participation at the rescheduled 2020 US Olympic Team Trials was put on doubt after he revealed he had torn his left ACL, leaving him with no properly functioning ACLs since his right one had already been torn earlier in his career. On March 26, Lee announced that he had taken the decision of withdrawing from the Olympic Trials in order to properly recover from his injuries.
Freestyle record.
! colspan="7"| Senior Freestyle Matches
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
 Iowa City, Iowa
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Fort Worth, Texas
Age-group freestyle record.
Junior level.
! colspan="7"| Junior freestyle results
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Mâcon, France
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Irving, Texas
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Las Vegas, Nevada
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Madison, Wisconsin
Cadet level.
! colspan="7"| Cadet freestyle results
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! Location
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Akron, Ohio
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Snina, Slovakia
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Akron, Ohio
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Zrenjanin, Serbia
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Akron, Ohio
! style=background:white colspan=7 |
 Daytona Beach, Florida
NCAA record.
! colspan="8"| NCAA Division I Record
! Res.
! Record
! Opponent
! Score
! Date
! Event
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2021-2022 Season (senior extra-year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2020-2021 Season (senior year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2021 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2021 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2020-2021 Season (senior year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2019-2020 Season (junior year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2020 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Midlands Championships 5th at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2019-2020 Season (junior year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2018-2019 Season (sophomore year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2019 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Midlands Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2018-2019 Season (sophomore year)
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |End of 2017-2018 Season (freshman year)
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 NCAA Championships at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2018 Big Ten Conference at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 Midlands Championships 6th at 125 lbs
! style=background:white colspan=6 |2017 UNI Open at 125 lbs
! style=background:lighgrey colspan=6 |Start of 2017-2018 Season (freshman year)
Stats.
! Season
! Year
! School
! Rank
! Weigh Class
! Record
! Win
! Bonus


Gino Torretta

Gino Louis Torretta (born August 10, 1970) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons. He played college football for the University of Miami, won the Heisman Trophy in 1992, and was a member of the Miami Hurricanes' national championship teams of 1989 and 1991. A seventh-round pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, he was a member of several NFL teams, but never became a regular starter as a pro. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Early years.
Torretta was born in Pinole, California. He graduated from Pinole Valley High School, where he was a standout high school football quarterback for the Pinole Spartans.
College career.
Torretta accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Miami, where he played for the Miami Hurricanes football team from 1989 to 1992.
1989 and 1990 seasons.
As a quarterback for the Hurricanes, Torretta spent his first two seasons mostly on the bench behind then starting quarterback Craig Erickson, with his only significant playing time coming with three starts in 1989 after Erickson injured his throwing hand. During that span, however, the then-unknown Torretta lit up San Diego State for 485 yards, setting a school record for most passing yards in a game that was only broken on September 29, 2012 by Stephen Morris.
1991 season.
In his first year as a starter, Torretta garnered further attention by stealing the show in a nationally televised 1991 game versus the Houston Cougars and their Heisman-frontrunning quarterback, David Klingler. As Miami's defense cut down Houston's run-and-shoot offense, Torretta put on the performance that many expected out of Klingler en route to a 40–10 victory; Klingler's lone touchdown pass in the game came with three seconds left in the fourth quarter against Miami's third-string defense, long after the game was decided. Torretta went on to lead Miami to a fourth-quarter comeback win on the road versus #1 Florida State and ultimately to an undefeated season and a co-national championship.
1992 season.
Torretta passed for more than 3,000 yards his senior year in 1992 on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy and the Davey O'Brien Award that season. He also won the Walter Camp Award, the Maxwell Award, the Johnny Unitas Trophy and the Chic Harley Award. One of the key games of the season came against West Virginia when he threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns in the 35–23 victory. His career as quarterback at Miami was hugely successful, with Torretta leading the team to 26 wins and only one loss.
That one loss came in the 1993 Sugar Bowl, in which Torretta's Hurricanes were dominated by the Alabama Crimson Tide's defense. Torretta was flummoxed by Alabama's 11-man fronts, and threw three interceptions after only throwing four all season. Alabama won the game, 34–13, and the national championship.
NFL career.
1993–1994.
Despite his collegiate-level success, Torretta was not a top NFL draft pick, and his NFL career was fairly unremarkable. He was not selected until the Minnesota Vikings took him in the seventh round in the 1993 NFL draft and then did not play him at all that year. In 1994, Torretta was on the Vikings' roster, and then was picked up by the Detroit Lions. As was the case in 1993, he failed to play at all in 1994, serving the entire season in a backup role with the Lions.
1995–1997.
In 1995, Torretta moved to NFL Europe and was also on the roster for the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions but was again relegated to backup roles. He was cut by the 49ers in 1996 and subsequently picked up by the Seattle Seahawks. His only chance to play in an NFL game came in the 1996 season finale when he came off the bench for the Seahawks against the Oakland Raiders. He immediately threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway that put Seattle ahead, leading the team to victory.
In 1997, Torretta was on the roster for Seattle and later the Indianapolis Colts but again did not play. After the 1997 season, he retired from the NFL.
Post-NFL career.
Torretta followed his NFL career with a position at Wachovia Securities as a Senior Financial Advisor.
He is Chairman/CEO of Touchdown Radio, broadcasting an NCAA game of the week on national radio. He is also an NCAA football expert on Sirius/XM channel 91—College Sports Nation.
Torretta is Vice President for GAMCO Asset Management, working with Institutional clients nationwide and working out of the firm's Palm Beach office.


Sachin Nag

Sachin Nag (5 July 1920 – 19 August 1987) was an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men's 100 metre freestyle at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He also competed in the water polo at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He won the first gold medal for India in the Asian Games when he won it in men's 100 metre freestyle swimming at the 1951 Asian Games in Delhi.


World Series Most Valuable Player Award

The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the World Series, which is the final round of the MLB postseason. The award was first presented in 1955 as the "SPORT" Magazine Award, but is now decided during the final game of the Series by a committee of reporters and officials present at the game. On September 29, 2017, it was renamed in honor of Willie Mays in remembrance of the 63rd anniversary of The Catch. Mays never won the award himself.
Pitchers have been named Series MVP twenty-nine (29) times; four of them were relief pitchers. Twelve of the first fourteen World Series MVPs were won by pitchers; from 1969 until 1986, the proportion of pitcher MVPs declined—Rollie Fingers (1974) and Bret Saberhagen (1985) were the only two pitchers to win the award in this period. From 1987 until 1991, all of the World Series MVPs were pitchers, and, since 1995, pitchers have won the award nine times. Bobby Richardson of the 1960 New York Yankees is the only player in World Series history to be named MVP despite being on the losing team. The most recent winner is Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who won the award in .
Trophy.
The World Series MVP award up to 2017 was a trophy that was similar to the Commissioner's Trophy, albeit scaled down and with a single large gold-plated flag.
After being renamed to Willie Mays World Series MVP Award for the 2018 edition and onward, the trophy is a wooden pedestal topped by a bronze sculpture of Willie Mays making the iconic catch in the 1954 World Series.
General Motors has provided a vehicle to the World Series MVP winner for 14 straight seasons through 2018.
Winners.
By position.
 Pitching total includes both starting and relief roles.


Under Armour Undeniable Performance ESPY Award

The Under Armour Undeniable Performance ESPY Award was only awarded once, in 2006, on the player, irrespective of gender or nationality, adjudged to have made, in a given calendar year, the most significant, remarkable, and "undeniable" performance in a single regular season or playoff game contested professionally under the auspices of one of the four major North American leagues or collegiately under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The award was one of two corporate-sponsored ESPYs; the titular sponsor designates criteria for selection consistent with its advertising campaigns.
Balloting for the award was conducted over the Internet by fans from amongst between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. At the time, the ESPY Awards ceremony was conducted in June (it is now held in July) and awards conferred reflect performance and achievement over the twelve months preceding presentation.


Jevon Kearse

Jevon Kearse (born September 3, 1976), nicknamed "The Freak," is a former football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons during the late 1990s and 2000s. Kearse played college football for the University of Florida, and received All-American honors. A first-round pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, he played professionally for the Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL.
Kearse played for the Eagles for four seasons between his two stints with the Titans. During his first five years with the Titans, he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1999. Both his unusual speed of 4.43 forty and wingspan, coupled with a 48-inch vertical leap greatly impressed coaches and earned him the nickname "The Freak."
Early years.
Kearse was born in Fort Myers, Florida in 1976, the son of Joseph Kearse and Lessie Mae Kearse. He attended North Fort Myers High School in North Fort Myers, and played high school football for the North Fort Myers Red Knights. He was over six feet tall and extremely agile, and added muscle without a loss of speed and agility. Kearse began attracting college recruiters under his coach Wade Hummel. He played strong safety and tight end, and in his first season in high school, he returned four kicks for touchdowns.
Following Kearse's senior season in 1994, he was honored as a prep All-American by "USA Today". In addition to his demonstrated athletic ability on the playing field, he carried a 3.6 grade point average and was a member in the National Honor Society.
College career.
Starting college at 6 feet, 4 inches tall, and 215 pounds, Kearse was projected as either a linebacker or defensive back. He accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1995 to 1998. He began his college career at safety before shifting to outside linebacker in 1996. Later in his college career, he would occasionally line up at defensive end during obvious passing situations to intensify the Gators' pass rush.
The Gators coaches red-shirted Kearse for the 1995 season, and he watched the Gators' run for the 1995 national championship game from the sidelines. The Gators lost to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 62–24 in the national championship game. Marking Florida's only loss of the season. He was nicknamed "the Freak" by Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponents during the Gators' 1996 season. In his debut game against Southwest Louisiana, he accounted for six solo tackles and a sack. The Florida Gators would go on to win the national title, defeating Florida State Seminoles 52–20 in the 1997 Sugar Bowl. For his on-field accomplishments, Kearse was named to the All-SEC Freshman team. In a tragic counterpoint, his younger brother Jermaine was killed in a drive-by-shooting following the season.
Kearse made the All-SEC team in 1997 for the first time by registering a team high 6.5 sacks during the regular season as well as 38 tackles and two forced fumbles. In his 1998 campaign, he once again led the team with 7.5 sacks and also improved his tackles tally to 54. He was named All-SEC again and earned the AP SEC Defensive Player of the Year that season, as well as making the list of several different All-American teams, and was a finalist for the Butkus Award, Lombardi Award, and Chuck Bednarik college defensive player of the year award.
He opted to forgo his final season of eligibility, stating, "I think I've accomplished the four goals I wanted to when I attended the University of Florida: To become a better person, to win a national championship, to get an education and finally to have a chance to play in the NFL.".
During his college career, Kearse made 34.5 tackles for a loss, finishing eleventh on the Gators' all-time list. He also compiled 145 total tackles, 16.5 quarterback sacks, six forced fumbles, one interception, one recovered fumble, and 19 pass deflections. In an article series written for "The Gainesville Sun" in 2006, the "Sun" sportswriters ranked him as #16 among the top 100 greatest Gators from the first 100 years of Florida football.
Professional career.
Pre-draft.
Kearse, at 262 pounds, ran a 4.58 second 40-yard dash, 4.24 second 20-yard shuttle and had a vertical jump of 37 inches at the 1999 NFL Combine. Kearse lowered his 40-yard time to 4.43 at the University of Florida Pro Day in the spring of 1999.
Tennessee Titans: 1999–2003.
Kearse was drafted by the Tennessee Titans as the 16th pick of the first round. On July 28, 1999, he signed a five-year, $6.1 million contract; however, according to NFLPA records he earned incentives that increased Kearse's compensation in his first five years to nearly $9 million. He was the first player drafted by the Tennessee Titans; who had previously been the Houston Oilers.
In Kearse's debut game with the Titans, he helped them achieve a 36–35 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Steve McNair had been injured, and with backup quarterback Neil O'Donnell in his place, Kearse helped lead the Titans to win the next four out of five games. In the first month of his NFL career, he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month.
For all but one month of the season, he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month, and ended up becoming NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year with the help of his rookie record-breaking performance with 14.5 sacks (which led the AFC) that year and forced eight fumbles, which also led the NFL. He also recorded 57 tackles and he batted away nine passes while also making seven of his tackles for losses. He accounted for two sacks (quarterback Rob Johnson) and two forced fumbles in the AFC Wild Card game vs. the Buffalo Bills. He was also credited with a safety in that game known as the "Music City Miracle." Kearse was also second in the balloting for the AP Defensive Player of the Year, losing out to Warren Sapp. He was a consensus All-Pro and was the first rookie defensive end in AFC history and the first rookie DE in the NFL since Detroit's Al "Bubba" Baker in 1978 to be named a Pro Bowl starter. That year, the Titans made it to Super Bowl XXXIV in which he started, however they lost to the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams.
The next season, Kearse accounted for fewer sacks (11.5) but stated that he was playing better than his rookie season. The Titans lost their Divisional playoff games to the Baltimore Ravens who ended up winning the Super Bowl that season. Kearse also lost the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award to Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens. In addition, he totaled 53 tackles (six for losses), forced four fumbles, had six pass deflections, and was again voted to the Pro Bowl.
In 2001, Kearse moved from left defensive end to right defensive end as the Titans traded for Kevin Carter. Kearse responded well and recorded 10 sacks, forced three fumbles, batted two passes while recording 36 tackles. Kearse was voted to his third consecutive Pro Bowl with the Titans in 2001. In 2002, Kearse fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot on the second play from scrimmage against the Eagles in the season opener and was inactive for the next 12 games. Due to the injury Kearse recorded only two sacks, playing in only four games (starting one), as the Titans returned to the AFC championship game but lost to Oakland.
In 2003, Kearse recorded 9.5 sacks through the first nine games but was shut out the final seven games (he missed two due to a sprained ankle injury). He also played a key role on the 2003 Titans who made the playoffs and won their first-round game against Baltimore before losing a hard-fought divisional match against the eventual world champion New England Patriots.
Philadelphia Eagles: 2004–2007.
After his 2003 campaign, Kearse was unable to reach an agreement with the Titans after his contract expired, and thus became an unrestricted free agent. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Kearse to a record-breaking deal for a defensive lineman at the time; in all, the eight-year contract would pay Kearse $65 million, with a $16 million signing bonus.
Kearse played well with the Eagles in 2004, but his tackle and sack totals were not as high as he had previously achieved in his career with the Titans. He was, however, still a defensive force, and figured into the game plans of opposing offenses. During 2004, Philadelphia finished the season with a 13–3 record and earned home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. After eliminating the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons, the Eagles lost Super Bowl XXXIX 24–21 to the New England Patriots.
In 2005, Kearse had a solid year similar to the year before, yet his team fell to a 6–10 record. During the season, starters like Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Hank Fraley, Tra Thomas, Lito Sheppard, and others were out with injuries, and star wide receiver Terrell Owens was suspended from the team nine games into the season. He recorded 7.5 sacks for the second season in a row (also leading the Eagles in sacks for the second straight season), but in 2005 he batted down 8 passes and forced 3 fumbles.
2006 would be a short season for Kearse who recorded 3.5 sacks in the first two games of the season before a severe knee injury. It was feared that he tore several ligaments in his knee, as well as dislocating his kneecap, tearing his knee capsule, straining his quadriceps tendon, and injuring his hamstring, during an overtime game against the New York Giants in week 2 of the NFL season. When he went into surgery, however, doctors were surprised to see that almost everything in his knee was intact, except for a tear to the lateral meniscus cartilage and a fracture to his tibia. The injury was downgraded from possibly career-ending to just a 12-week recovery.
In June 2007, Kearse appeared to weigh around 230 pounds, almost 30 pounds lighter than his normal playing weight. Kearse attributes the weight loss from extensive cardio-vascular exercise as part of his rehab. This brought concern from defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and according to sports reporter Garry Cobb, teammates have claimed that Kearse is "partying like a rock star" in Florida and "is living like he's not playing football anymore". By the time the season started, however, he was said to have bulked up back to his normal playing weight (which is still considered quite light by NFL standards).
However, Kearse did not appear to have regained his burst on the line and, in light of substandard production, he lost his starting job to longtime teammate Juqua Thomas in Week 11 of the 2007 NFL season. Due to this lack of production, along with the expensive contract Kearse carried, many predicted that he would be cut by the start of the 2008 season. This speculation turned out to be well-founded; he was released by the team on February 28, 2008, voiding the final three years of his contract. In his four years with Philadelphia, Kearse earned nearly $29.2 million of his record-setting 2004 contract.
Tennessee Titans: 2008–09.
On March 6, 2008, Kearse returned to the Titans by signing with the team as a free agent. Kearse signed a two-year, $6 million deal, with a $1.3 million signing bonus. He earned a total of $3 million in the first year. Kearse started all 16 games in 2008, finishing with 3.5 sacks. During the 2009 season, Jeff Fisher decided to bench Kearse for William Hayes.
Personal life.
Kearse has been a resident of Moorestown, New Jersey.
His nephew, Jayron Kearse, is currently a member of the Dallas Cowboys.


Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year

The Norwegian Sportsperson of the Year () is an annual award given by the Norwegian Association of Sports Journalists ().


Evan Turner

Evan Marcel Turner (born October 27, 1988) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 10 seasons as an NBA player, Turner played the point guard, shooting guard, and small forward positions. He was drafted second overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2010 NBA draft.
In 2010, Turner was a first-team All-American and the National Player of the Year while playing at Ohio State University; he also became a two-time scoring champion and the Player of the Year for the Big Ten Conference. He was twice the only unanimous selection for the All-Big Ten first team by both the coaches and the media (i.e., 2008–09 and 2009–10). By finishing first in scoring and second in both rebounds and assists in the conference in the 2009–10 season, he was the first men's basketball player to finish in the top two in each of these categories and the first to finish in the top five in each category in the same season. He holds the conference record for most Conference Player of the Week awards, both in a career and in a single-season.
Turner attended St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois. By his senior season, he was one of the top high school basketball players at his position in the nation. As a true freshman, he helped lead the Buckeyes to the 2008 National Invitation Tournament championship. The following year, he was the Big Ten Conference scoring champion for the 2008–09 season and was a first-team 2009 All-Big Ten selection. That season, he was also an honorable mention All-American and was selected as a member of the 2009 All-Big Ten Conference Tournament team, and he became one of five Big Ten players to have been among the top ten in the conference in average points, rebounds, and assists in the same season. He is the conference record-holder for most career Player of the Week awards and despite missing over a month of his junior season for the 2009–10 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team he also set the single-season record for Player of the Week awards. As a pro, he has participated in the Rising Stars Challenge and helped the 76ers reach the NBA playoffs in his first two NBA seasons. During his third season he became an everyday starter. With an impending free agent status, he was traded to Indiana during his fourth season.
Early life.
Turner was born weighing . Within his first year, he endured chicken pox, pneumonia, asthma, and measles. The 1989 Chicago measles epidemic caused Turner to desperately need emergency room services. He encountered severe breathing problems that required the removal of his adenoids and tonsils. At the age of three, he was hit by a car, resulting in a concussion and stitches. Oversized baby teeth and an overbite caused a speech impediment that necessitated speech therapy.
High school career.
Before high school, Turner and fellow NBA player Iman Shumpert were teammates on the 8th grade basketball team at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School in Oak Park, Illinois. He played in the Summer 2004 AAU Boys 15-under Basketball National Championship Tournament for the Illinois Knights. As a high school sophomore, he helped lead St. Joseph to a run in the Illinois AA Boys High School basketball tournament, which helped him get the attention of NCAA Division I basketball coaches. At St. Joseph's, which had once produced Isiah Thomas, he was part of a Chicago area sophomore class (which included Derrick Rose, and his St. Joseph's teammate Demetri McCamey).
Turner started getting major Division I offers early in his junior year, At the beginning of his junior season, "Chicago Tribune" named him to its annual top Chicago metropolitan area basketball players list. His team went to the state sectional final before losing to Proviso East High School in the sectional final. After his junior season, he was considered one of the top 25 prospects in the country in his class and he was given special mention by the "Chicago Tribune" and honorable mention by the Associated Press for all-state honors. During the summer of 2006, he committed to Ohio State, which is located in Columbus, Ohio. Turner's decision was influenced by his relationship with his father, James Turner, who lived in Columbus, Ohio and whom Turner had visited every summer since he was ten years old.
During his senior season, his team was listed second to Rose's Simeon Career Academy in the preseason Tribune Chicago area high school basketball team rankings. That season, he was named to the first-team Associated Press 2006–07 Class AA all-state team, a day before Rose's Simeon eliminated Turner's St. Joseph in the Illinois Class AA supersectional. Turner and McCamey finished third and sixth to Rose in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting, and the "Chicago Tribune" chose both of them as first team All-state selections. Turner was ranked as the #7, #13 and #16 small forward in the nation as a high school senior by ESPN, rivals.com, and scout.com respectively. He received scholarship offers from five Big Ten Conference basketball programs, as well as Wake Forest, DePaul and Notre Dame.
College career.
Freshman year.
As a freshman, Turner averaged 27.1 minutes per game, 8.5 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game over the course of the season and finished second on the team in assists and third in steals. Turner recorded his first career double double on January 19, 2008 at Thompson–Boling Arena against the Tennessee Vols with his first 20-point game and first 10-rebound game. That season, he helped Ohio State win the 2008 National Invitation Tournament by averaging 18.5 points, 7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3 steals in the tournament's semifinal and final round at Madison Square Garden. Turner had also scored in double digits in the quarterfinal round. He was also in the starting lineup for the other two NIT games. Turner contributed at least 24 minutes as a starter in each of the five tournament games.
Sophomore year.
As a sophomore, Turner was named player of the week three times during the 2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season (December 8, 2008, February 2, 2009, and February 9, 2009). On February 26, Turner became the only Big Ten player selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) as a Top 15 finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy. As a guard/forward for the Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team of the Big Ten Conference, he led his team in the following per-game statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Turner led the Big Ten in scoring as a sophomore. Turner and Manny Harris became the fourth and fifth players in conference history to finish in the top ten in the conference in points, rebounds and assists since assists became a statistic in 1983–84, following Steve Smith, Jim Jackson and Brian Evans.
Although Turner was not selected as a preseason All-Big Ten conference player, he was the only person chosen as a unanimous first-team All Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media at the end of the regular season. On March 5, the National Association of Basketball Coaches honored Turner as a District 7 (Big Ten) first-team selection along with four other sophomores. He was also chosen on March 10 by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for its 2008–09 Men's Division I District V (OH, IN, IL, MI, MN, WI) Team, based on voting from its national membership. Turner was selected as a 2009 All-American honorable mention by the Associated Press. On March 15, he was selected to the 2009 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament team, despite Ohio State's loss in the final game to Purdue. Turner played for the 2009 Junior USA World University Championships team, along with conference foes Robbie Hummel of Purdue and Talor Battle of Penn State. He helped them to the bronze medal and a 6–1 record.
Junior year.
His junior season began with numerous accolades. ESPN chose both Kalin Lucas and Turner to its 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season preseason second-team All-American list. FOX Sports preseason All-American list included him on its fifth team. Turner was named among the 50 preseason Wooden Award watch list nominees and the 50 preseason Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist nominees. The 24-member Big Ten media panel selected him as a first-team preseason All-Big Ten team member.
Turner, nicknamed "The Villain", opened the season by recording the first triple double by a Big Ten player since January 13, 2001, and the second in school history (Dennis Hopson was the first) during the Coaches vs. Cancer classic against Alcorn State University. This earned him his fourth career Big Ten player of the week honor and first of the 2009–10 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season. The following week, he ran his streak of double doubles to four to earn back-to-back player of the week honors. Two weeks after his first triple-double, he repeated the feat at home against Lipscomb University on November 24. This earned him his third consecutive Big Ten player of the week award. On December 5, 2009, in the fourth week of the season, he suffered transverse process fractures of the second and third lumbar vertebrae in his back, which was expected to cause him to be inactive for two months. Turner returned early from his injury on January 6, 2010. This occurred two days after Ohio State fell out of the top 25 in the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings on January 4 in his absence. With Turner back in the lineup, Ohio State returned to the top 25 on January 18, and Turner earned his fourth Big Ten Player of the Week award on the same day after leading his team to wins over two ranked conference foes. Then on February 8, Turner established a new Big Ten Conference record with his eighth career Conference Player of the Week award, surpassing Glenn Robinson and Jackson. The fifth of the season also tied Robinson's single-season record. Two weeks after tying the single-season record, he broke the record when he averaged 24.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists against two ranked conference opponents (No. 4 Purdue and at No. 11 Michigan State). Then he won the award again on March 1.
Turner helped lead the Buckeyes to the regular-season co-championship of the Big Ten Conference and helped them earn the number one seed in the 2010 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. On March 12, 2010, in their first game in the tournament, Turner helped the Buckeyes get a win over their arch-rival Michigan Wolverines with a last-second 37-foot three-pointer. In the second game, against Illinois, Turner scored 31 points, scoring the game-tying points to send the game to overtime and then the final four points in overtime to send the game into double overtime. Turner scored a total of 12 points in overtime. He then led Ohio State to victory in the championship game against Minnesota with another 31 points. Turner was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player and part of the All-Tournament team. Turner also repeated as the Big Ten scoring champion, and although he lost the rebounding championship to Mike Davis (9.167 to 9.161), he led the conference in defensive rebounds. He also ranked second in assists and third in steals. He improved upon his sophomore showing by becoming the first player to finish in the top two in average points (1st, 20.4), rebounds (2nd, 9.2) and assists (2nd, 6.0), becoming the first men's basketball player to do so and the first to finish in the top five in all three categories.
Awards.
Turner was selected as a Midseason Top-30 finalist for the 2010 John Wooden Award in January. He was included on the March 15, 26-man final national ballot for the Wooden Award. From that ballot he was selected to the ten-man Wooden All-American team. Then the list was shortened to five finalists (Turner, Sherron Collins, John Wall, Wesley Johnson and Da'Sean Butler) who were flown out to Los Angeles for the announcement. On April 9, Turner was announced as the winner. In February, he was named a midseason Top 30 candidate for the Naismith College Player of the Year and was announced the recipient of the award in Indianapolis April 5, 2010. Turner won the USBWA's Robertson Trophy as the consensus choice by voters in all nine geographical districts. Fox, Associated Press and "Sporting News" selected him as their National Player of the Year. He earned 54 of the 65 Associated Press panel members' votes. He was recognized the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Division I Player of the Year.
By winning the Wooden, Naismith, Robertson, Fox Sports, NABC, TSN, and AP Player of the Year awards, he nearly swept all of the major player of the year awards. Wall won the Adolph Rupp Trophy (and Yahoo! Sports player of the year). Turner was again the only person chosen as a unanimous first-team All Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media at the end of the regular season and was selected as the 2010 Big Ten Men's Basketball Player of the Year. Turner was also selected as the Big Ten Conference male Athlete of the Year for all sports.
Turner was selected as a first-team 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American by Associated Press, "Sporting News", Fox Sports, National Association of Basketball Coaches, United States Basketball Writers Association and Yahoo! Sports. He was also selected in March as one of six finalists for the Bob Cousy Award.
Professional career.
Philadelphia 76ers (2010–2014).
On April 7, 2010, Turner held a press conference and announced that he would forgo his final season of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2010 NBA draft, where he was expected to be selected as one of the top 3 draft picks. Turner signed with Michael Jordan's agent, David Falk.
He was selected with the 2nd overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2010 NBA draft, and signed a 2-year deal with a third-year option worth an estimated $12 million.
On October 27, 2010, in his debut on the Philadelphia 76ers (also his 22nd birthday), Turner recorded 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, coming off the bench for 30 minutes to lead the team in scoring in a 97–87 loss to the Miami Heat. On November 7, 2010, Turner got his first NBA start and ended the game with a double-double, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with his 3 assists, in a 106–96 win over the New York Knicks in place of the injured Andre Iguodala. On December 29, 2010, Turner scored a career-high 23 points in a 123–110 win against the Phoenix Suns, going 9–12 from the field and a perfect 4–4 from the free throw line. He ended the season with fourteen starts and two double-doubles. The team had gone 27–55 the previous season, but were able to improve to 41–41 in Turner's first season. They reached the 2011 NBA Playoffs as the seventh seed, and were matched up against the new-look Miami Heat led by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Turner was praised for his aggressiveness in the series, handling Wade on the defensive side, and scoring 17 points and six rebounds on 50% shooting in the 76ers' win in Game 4. That would be Philadelphia's only win of the series however, as they fell to the eventual Eastern Conference Champions Miami in five games.
On February 8, 2012, Turner was selected to play in the 2012 Rising Stars competition. During the game, he unveiled a new model of Li-Ning shoes. On March 7, 2012, in only his second start of the season, Turner recorded a career-high, 26 points, against the Boston Celtics. On March 9, 2012, and March 11, 2012, against the Utah Jazz and the New York Knicks, he posted back-to-back double doubles in his third and fourth consecutive start. He again scored 26 points on April 3, 2012, against the Miami Heat. On April 25, 2012, he recorded another double-double while setting a career-high with 29 points and adding 13 rebounds. Over the course of the season, he made twenty starts and recorded five double-doubles. He posted his first postseason double double on May 12, 2012, against the Boston Celtics in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He repeated the feat on May 21 in game five of the series, recording 10 rebounds and 11 points. He started 12 of Philadelphia's 13 playoff games, but the team was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
Turner started all 82 games during the 2012–13 NBA season and tallied 14 double-doubles, while averaging a career high 15.3 points 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. On December 7, 2012, he posted a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double against the Boston Celtics and made the game-winning shot in overtime with 3.9 seconds remaining. On March 1, 2013, he fell one assist short of a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists against the Golden State Warriors.
The 76ers did not sign Turner to an extension prior to the October 31, 2013, deadline, meaning that the 76ers had the right to make him a restricted free agent at the end of the season. On November 9, 2013, Turner established a new career high with 31 points, including the game-tying basket with 8.7 seconds remaining in the first overtime against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Turner hit the game-winning buzzer beater on December 20 against the Brooklyn Nets. Turner sat out on December 28 due to knee soreness, but he returned to the lineup the following night against the Los Angeles Lakers with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. On January 22, 2014, Turner recorded a career-high 38 points in a 110–106 win over the New York Knicks, he also recorded 11 rebounds in the game. Turner hit the game-winning buzzer beater on January 29, 2014 against the Boston Celtics.
Indiana Pacers (2014).
On February 20, 2014, Turner and Lavoy Allen were traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Danny Granger and a second-round draft pick. Turner debuted for the Pacers on February 25, 2014. He scored 13 points and added 6 rebounds as part of the Pacers bench that scored a season-high 50 points against the Los Angeles Lakers. When the Pacers benched their entire starting lineup on April 6, he scored 23 to help the team to a win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Turner was reported to have an acrimonious relationship with Indiana teammate Lance Stephenson because both were "free agents to be...looking for their first big contract" who played the same style and they were both trying to fill the role of "next big thing". The conflict led to a fist fight between the two on April 21, 2014, in a team practice on the eve of the team's second game of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs. Stephenson has a reputation for irritating people however. Less than a month earlier, Turner had come to the rescue when Stephenson had derailed against Dwyane Wade. In game 6 of the first round series against Atlanta with Indiana trailing 3–2, head coach Frank Vogel changed the rotation and Turner was left out, playing no minutes, while some of his playing time went to Rasual Butler. In Round 2 against the Washington Wizards, he returned to the lineup. In the first game of Round 3 against the two-time defending champion Miami Heat, he sat out with strep throat.
Boston Celtics (2014–2016).
After Indiana elected not to make Turner an $8.7 million qualifying offer, he became an unrestricted free agent. According to his agent, Turner agreed to sign with the Boston Celtics on July 21, 2014. He officially signed with the Celtics on September 29, 2014. He began the season as a reserve, but when Marcus Smart and Rajon Rondo endured concurrent injuries, Turner scored a team-high 19 points in a starting role in a win against the Chicago Bulls. On December 8, 2014, against the Washington Wizards, Turner forced overtime by sinking a three-point shot with 0.9 seconds left in regulation, but missed a jump shot with 0.9 seconds remaining in the second overtime which would have given the Celtics the lead. When he was inserted into the starting lineup at point guard on December 31, 2014, against the Sacramento Kings, he posted a double double with 11 assists and 10 points. Chicago native Turner posted a season-high 29 points at the United Center against the Chicago Bulls on January 3. Turner hit his fourth (in eight attempts) career last second game winning shot with a three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left as his team trailed 89–87 against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 22, 2015. Then on February 11, 2015, he hit a game winner with 0.2 seconds left against Atlanta Hawks. Evan Turner posted his first career triple double on February 25, 2015, against the New York Knicks with 10 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds. On March 13, 2015, Turner scored 24 of his season-high 30 points in the second half, including 16 in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics rally past the Orlando Magic. He posted two more triple doubles on March 23 against the Brooklyn Nets (19 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists) and on April 1 against the Indiana Pacers (13 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists). On April 10, he recorded a career-high 13 assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Turner played every game in the 2014–15 season and finished with averages of 14.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and a career-high 6.5 assists per game. During the offseason, he was named as a participant in the first-ever NBA Africa Game.
On January 4, 2016, Turner started in place of an injured Avery Bradley and posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double against the Brooklyn Nets. He posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench against the New York Knicks on February 2. On February 16, at halftime of the Ohio State–Michigan game at Value City Arena, Turner's collegiate number, 21, was retired by Ohio State. On March 26, Turner posted a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double and blocked Devin Booker's potential game-tying shot with 3.9 seconds left against the Phoenix Suns.
Portland Trail Blazers (2016–2019).
On July 6, 2016, Turner signed a four-year, $70 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Turner battled Maurice Harkless for the starting small forward role through the preseason, but in the end he lost out. He debuted with a 3-point, 5-rebound and 5-assist performance in a 113–104 win over the Utah Jazz in 26 minutes off the bench. With Harkless injured on December 8, Turner started against the Memphis Grizzlies and notched a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double in an 88–86 loss, despite a pair of go-ahead free throws by Turner with 27 seconds left. On January 5, 2017, he scored 15 of his season-high 20 points in the fourth quarter of the Trail Blazers' 118–109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Turner's 11 assists off the bench on January 11 against the Cleveland Cavaliers was the most by a Portland reserve in nearly 3 years. On February 8, he was ruled out for approximately five to six weeks after sustaining a fracture of the third metacarpal in his right hand the night before playing against the Dallas Mavericks. He returned to action, wearing a protective brace, on March 18 after missing 14 games. The team was 7–7 without Turner. At the end of the season he finished with 13.0 points, the most since the 2014-15 season. He opened the 2017 NBA playoffs with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in a 12-point loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Trail Blazers were swept in four games, however.
On January 1, 2018, Turner scored a season-high 22 points in a 124–120 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls.
On April 1, 2019, Turner recorded his fourth career triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists off the bench in a 132–122 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was a perfect 5 of 5 from the floor, making his triple-double just the seventh in NBA history to happen on five or fewer field goal attempts. Two days later, he had a second consecutive triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists off the bench in a 116–89 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, becoming the first Trail Blazer with back-to-back triple-doubles since Clyde Drexler in the 1989–90 season. After scoring just four points in the first six games of the Trail Blazers' second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Turner had 14 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, in the deciding Game 7, helping Portland win 100–96 to advance through to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
Final years (2019–2020).
On June 24, 2019, Turner was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kent Bazemore. On February 5, 2020, Turner was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Retirement.
On November 30, 2020, Turner announced his retirement from professional basketball.
Coaching career.
For the 2020–21 season, Turner joined the coaching staff of the Boston Celtics, replacing Kara Lawson.
Personal life.
Turner's mother is Iris James, and he has two older brothers named Darius and Richard.
On August 23, 2010, CNBC reported that Turner had signed a multi-year endorsement contract with Chinese apparel maker Li Ning Company Limited.
On December 20, 2017, a semi-trailer truck crashed into Turner's pool at his Portland home.


Keenan Reynolds (American football)

Keenan Reynolds (born December 13, 1994) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football for the Navy Midshipmen as a quarterback, and finished his career with an NCAA Division I record 88 career touchdowns and an FBS record 4,559 rushing yards by a quarterback. Reynolds currently serves in the United States Naval Reserve with the rank of lieutenant junior grade.
Early life.
Reynolds was born to Donald Reynolds, a former UT Martin football player, and Jacqueline Reynolds in Antioch, Tennessee. Reynolds started playing football when he was the age of five. He attended Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, where he led the school to a 27–6 record and consecutive district championships. He started for all four years. Reynolds also ran track and field, and was a member of the National Honor Society. Reynolds graduated in 2012 with four varsity letters.
College football career.
After his senior year of high school, Reynolds received offers from Navy, Air Force, and Wofford. He also garnered interest from Middle Tennessee State and Vanderbilt. Eventually, he committed to Navy, being impressed by the school's campus and football record.
2012 season.
Reynolds started his freshman season as the fourth-string quarterback, seeing minor action limited to garbage time. In the fourth game of the season against Air Force, starting quarterback Trey Miller injured his ankle and Reynolds took over, leading the Midshipmen to the win. Afterwards, Reynolds was named the starter, becoming the third freshman in school history to do so, for the final eight games of the season. The Midshipmen went 8–5 in 2012, but lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl 62–28.
2013 season.
In 2013 against San Jose State, Reynolds scored seven rushing touchdowns, the most by a quarterback in NCAA history. At the end of the season, Reynolds had 29 rushing touchdowns, breaking Ricky Dobbs and Collin Klein's single season records. Navy finished the season 9–4 and won the Armed Forces Bowl against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
2014 season.
Reynolds started eleven games in 2014. Against Temple, Reynolds twisted his knee and missed the game against Texas State. The 8–5 Midshipmen ended the season with a 17–16 win over the San Diego State Aztecs in the Poinsettia Bowl.
2015 season.
In the 2015 game against SMU, Reynolds broke the record for the most career rushing touchdowns in FBS history with 78, passing Montee Ball. Later in the season in the Army–Navy Game, Reynolds surpassed Adrian N. Peterson's record for the most rushing touchdowns in NCAA Division I history with 85. He later broke the record for most career total touchdowns with 88 and most rushing yards by a quarterback with 4,559. Reynolds also holds other quarterbacking records including the most career rushing attempts and touchdowns, most rushing touchdowns and most rushing touchdowns in a game. He is also the only Navy QB to go 4–0 against Army. Reynolds finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy running, the highest by a service academy player since Navy quarterback Roger Staubach's win in 1963. The 11–2 Midshipmen ended the season with a win over the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Military Bowl, winning 44–28 at home in their own stadium. With this win, Reynolds helped contribute to the first Navy team to ever achieve 11 wins in a season. Also, Reynolds and his senior class picked up their 36th win, which tied the Midshipmen class of 1909.
Reynolds later played in the 2016 East–West Shrine Game, an annual all-star game for seniors, where he made the East team upon switching from quarterback to running back. Even though he did not play in the game due to tightness in his back, he was made a unanimous captain for the East team. Moreover, during the East–West Shrine Game, Reynolds won the Pat Tillman Award, which "is presented to a player who best exemplifies character, intelligence, sportsmanship, and service. The award is about a student-athlete's achievements and conduct, both on and off the field."
After Navy.
On February 28, 2016, the Naval Academy announced that Reynolds would be the last player to wear Number 19. Reynolds joins the list of Roger Staubach (No. 12), Joe Bellino (No. 27), and Napoleon McCallum (No. 30) whose numbers have been retired by the academy.
Reynolds returned to college football in 2019 as an analyst for CBS Sports Network.
Statistics.
"Source":
Professional career.
Reynolds was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but worked out as a wide receiver with the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots, while also attending a pro day with the Baltimore Ravens.
Baltimore Ravens.
In the 2016 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens drafted Reynolds in the sixth round with the 182nd overall pick.
On September 3, 2016, Reynolds was released by the Ravens during final team cuts and was signed to the practice squad the following day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 30 for the final game of the season. However, he was on the inactive list for the game, and became an exclusive rights free agent after the season.
Reynolds signed his exclusive rights free agent one-year contract tender with the Ravens on April 26, 2017. On September 1, 2017, he was waived by the Ravens during final roster cuts.
Washington Redskins.
On November 8, 2017, Reynolds was signed to the Washington Redskins' practice squad.
Seattle Seahawks.
On May 16, 2018, Reynolds signed with the Seattle Seahawks. He was waived on September 1, 2018 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on September 12. Reynolds made his NFL debut five days later in the Seahawks' 24–17 loss to the Chicago Bears. He was waived on October 13 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 24, but was waived three days later and re-signed back to the practice squad.
On January 7, 2019, Reynolds signed a reserve/future contract with the Seahawks. He spent the 2019 training camp competing to replace the retiring Doug Baldwin, but lost to John Ursua and was waived on August 31.
Seattle Dragons.
In October 2019, Reynolds was selected by the Seattle Dragons in the 2020 XFL Draft. Dragons head coach Jim Zorn described Reynolds as his "secret weapon", playing receiver, returner, and emergency quarterback.
Prior to the start of the 2020 XFL season, he was named a team captain on special teams. In Seattle's first game against the DC Defenders, Reynolds returned the opening kickoff and caught an extra point as the Dragons lost 31–19. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.
Naval career.
Reynolds graduated from the United States Naval Academy in May 2016. To dedicate more time to playing professional football, he currently serves in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a lieutenant junior grade. His assignment is a cryptologic warfare officer in the Naval Reserves; he had considered becoming a naval flight officer after the Academy, but elected to enter intelligence after the Navy revised its eligibility policies for the field.


Best Sports Movie ESPY Award

The Best Sports Movie ESPY Award was an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of sports film making. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, and was discontinued nine years later. The Best Sports Movie ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, was bestowed annually to the sports film adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year. From 2004 onward, the winner was chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The inaugural winner of the Best Sports Movie ESPY Award in 2002 was the baseball themed film "The Rookie" released the same year. It is based on the true story of Jim Morris' minor but notable Major League Baseball career. Films that predominantly feature American football have received the award more than any other sport, with three wins and six further nominations, followed by baseball and basketball with two victories apiece, and were nominated twice. John Lee Hancock is the director who holds more victories than any one else, one for "The Rookie," and a second for "The Blind Side" (2010). The two sports with the most nominations that did not win the award are golf and horse racing, with three each. The final winner of the Best Sports Movie ESPY Award in 2011 was the Boxing film "The Fighter", which centers on the lives of former professional boxers Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund, and the issues they are confronted with in both their personal and professional lives.


Liz McColgan

Elizabeth McColgan-Nuttall (née Lynch; born 24 May 1964) is a British former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a silver medal over the same distance at the 1988 Olympic Games. She was also a two-time gold medallist over the distance at the Commonwealth Games, as well as winning the 1992 World Half Marathon Championships, 1991 New York City Marathon, 1992 Tokyo Marathon and 1996 London Marathon. Her 10,000 metres best of 30:57.07 set in 1991, made her only the third woman in history to run the distance in under 31 minutes. Both that time and her marathon best of 2:26:52 in 1997, still stand as Scottish records (as of 2018).
Early life.
Born Elizabeth Lynch, she grew up in the Whitfield area of Dundee and was a pupil of St Saviour's RC High School.
She joined her local athletics club, Hawkhill Harriers, aged 12 on the advice of her PE teacher Phil Kearns Coached by Harry Bennett, she soon discovered a talent for distance running and won her first UK titles aged 18. Following Bennett's death, McColgan coached herself in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986. From 1987 to 1989 McColgan was coached by John Anderson, including at the 1988 Olympics, after which she coached herself to the world 10,000m title and to wins in the London, New York and Tokyo marathons. She then met Grete Waitz, who coached her from 1992 to her retirement in 1996.
Athletics career.
At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, as Liz Lynch, she took the gold medal in the 10,000 metres, finishing nearly 12 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor and giving the host country its only gold medal in athletics. Earlier that year, she had won the NCAA National Championship in the mile representing Alabama Crimson Tide in the American collegiate Indoor Track and Field national championships. In 1987, she won a silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Warsaw representing Scotland (Great Britain would not send a unified team to the World Cross until 1988). She finished behind Annette Sergent of France but ahead of Ingrid Kristiansen. In September, she improved the UK 10,000m record to 31:19.82 while finishing fifth at the World Championships in Rome, in a race won by Kristiansen.
In 1988, now competing as Liz McColgan, she improved her own UK record with 31:06.99 in July to defeat Kristiansen in Oslo. Almost three months later, she ran 31:08.44 to win an Olympic silver medal in the inaugural women's 10,000 metres at the Seoul Olympics. She was defeated by the Soviet Union's Olga Bondarenko. McColgan won silver in the 3,000 metres at the World Indoor Championships in 1989. In January 1990, she became the only Scot to successfully defend a Commonwealth title at the 1990 games in Auckland, New Zealand, when she again took the gold in the 10,000 metres, as well as bronze in the 3,000 metres. She missed the rest of the 1990 season due to pregnancy, giving birth to her daughter (future Olympic athlete) Eilish in November. Nike dropped her the moment she told them she was pregnant.
Just six weeks after her daughter Eilish was born, she contested an international 5km race in Florida and won a bronze medal at the 1991 World Cross Country Championships. In June 1991, she ran her lifetime best for the 10,000 m with 30:57.07 in Hengelo to move to second on the world all-time list behind Kristiansen and narrowly ahead of Bondarenko. In August 1991, she won gold in the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. In November of that year at the New York City Marathon, her first marathon, she won with a time of 2:27.23, breaking the record for a debut marathon by three minutes.
In March 1992, McColgan struggled to a 41st-place finish at the World Cross Country Championships in Boston. Then, in the summer, she finished fifth in the 10,000m final at the Barcelona Olympics. In September, she won the inaugural World Half Marathon Championships, where she also helped the British team claim the silver medal in the team competition. Two months later, she won the Tokyo International Women's Marathon.
After more than two years struggling with injuries, McColgan finished fifth in the 1995 London Marathon and sixth in the 10,000m final at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In 1996, she won the London Marathon in a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds, before finishing 16th in the marathon at the Atlanta Olympics. She finished second in the London Marathons of 1997 and 1998, running her career-best time of 2:26:52 in 1997. She gave her medal to a youngster in the crowd after the 1997 event.
McColgan retired from competing in August 2001 when she fractured a bone in her foot while training for selection for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. However, she returned in 2004 to win the Scottish Indoor Championships 3000 metres (in 9:31). In 2007, she ran the London Marathon, finishing 25th in 2:50:38. She also completed the 2010 New York Marathon in 3:10:54. In 2017, she completed the inaugural Stirling Scottish Marathon in 3:18:32.
Personal life.
In 1987 she married Northern Irish athlete Peter McColgan; they had five children together - Eilish, Martin, Eamonn, Kieran and Orla. The eldest, Eilish, won the 2004 British cross country championships in her age-group, was ranked top in Scotland over 800 metres and 1500 metres in her age-group, competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 3000 metres steeplechase and won the bronze medal in the 3000m at the 2017 European Indoor Athletics Championships. Eilish won a silver medal in the 5000 meters at the European championship 2018. The couple separated in November 2010 and finalised their divorce in March 2013. On 18 January 2014, McColgan married John Nuttall, a coach who has worked as head of endurance coaching for British Athletics and now coaches in Qatar.
Awards.
In December 1991, McColgan appeared on "This Is Your Life" and was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to sport in 1992 and inducted to the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.