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A20 SPORTS
Saturday 9 September 2017
Juicy matchup in NFL’s opening

week: Seahawks at Packers

NEW YORK (AP) — Green know,” Packers quarter- fairly good chance of mak-
Bay Packers tight end Mar- back Aaron Rodgers says. ing it fairly far this year.”
tellus Bennett plans to give “When you start the sea- The Falcons were a surprise
his older brother, Seattle Se- son, training camp, I’m sure NFC champion last year,
ahawks defensive end Mi- 32 teams are talking about going from 8-8 in coach
chael Bennett, a hug when winning the Super Bowl. It’s Dan Quinn’s first season
he sees him this weekend. not really the case. There’s to 11-5. They appeared
Recent events off the field not that many teams that to be on their way to their
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, free safety Earl make their teams’ juicy NFL have those squads that first Super Bowl victory with
Thomas, center, and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) season-opener on Sunday could do it. Us and Seattle a 25-point lead over New
react on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football
preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Friday, Aug. 25, seem trivial by comparison. are usually in the mix. They England, only to see Brady
2017, in Seattle. Martellus Bennett, who have been and we have and the Patriots rally to
Associated Press went to high school in Tay- been for a long time. You beat them in overtime.
lor, Texas, has been work- know it’s going to be two Not since the Buffalo Bills
ing to raise money and teams that expect to be dropped four in a row in
supplies for residents of there in the end.” the 1990s has a losing team
flood-ravaged parts of that Also, the opener between returned to the Super Bowl
state. And this week, Mi- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following season.
chael Bennett released a and Miami Dolphins that The prime-time spotlight
statement alleging racially was scheduled for Sunday on Monday will shine on
motivated excessive force was postponed by the NFL Adrian Peterson’s return to
by the Las Vegas police. until Nov. 19 because of Minneapolis. He’s not the
“Sometimes, a hug is the Hurricane Irma. top running back for the
best thing you can give,” Nowhere in a medical New Orleans Saints - Mark
Martellus Bennett says as dictionary will you find the Ingram is - but Peterson will
his voice starts cracking. He term “Super Bowl malaise.” be the focal point against
talks to his brother several No matter: It exists. a Minnesota defense that
times a week. Will the Atlanta Falcons fall needs more consistency.
“Two seconds this way, victim to it? They insist not, Peterson was released in
two seconds that way, the saying they have got rid the offseason after 10 years
whole thing is different,” he of all the angst and disap- as a Viking. Vikings coach
adds. “So for me, I’ll just be pointment from their epic Mike Zimmer got testy when
happy to see my brother.” collapse at the Super Bowl asked about Peterson.
Once the game kicks off, well before they gathered “I’m just going to talk about
the Bennetts probably for training camp. my players,” Zimmer says.
won’t have to face each The Falcons come into the When asked if Peterson will
other on Lambeau Field. season eyeing another big have a chip on his shoul-
But the matchup between run, and that starts with the der, Zimmer responds: “I
Seattle’s tough-as-nails Chicago Bears on Sunday. hope we have a chip on
defense and Green Bay’s “The way this team has de- our shoulder. This game
potent offense should be veloped, the way this team isn’t about Adrian Peter-
intriguing. has pushed itself, we are a son. It’s about the Vikings
They appear to be the two better team than we were and the Saints. They’ve
best teams in the NFC, and last year,” Atlanta safety got a lot of great offensive
this could be a preview of Ricardo Allen says. “And weapons and he’s a great
a playoff in January. if we made it to the Super player, but this game isn’t
“Yeah, our two teams Bowl last year, we have a about Adrian Peterson.”q

NHL hires George Parros to run player safety

By STEPHEN WHYNO played the game as physi- quist and Duncan Keith that
AP Hockey Writer cally as anybody and I drew six-game suspensions
NEW YORK (AP) — George never once was fined or would likely be harsher un-
Parros, the bushy-musta- suspended,” Parros said der Parros. Parros says the
chioed Princeton man who Thursday at the NHL office. department does not need
spent almost a decade as “I know where that line is. to make a major shake-
an NHL enforcer, is now I know how to protect my up but to adjust in specific
in charge of the league’s guys or intimidate but not areas. “If you can tell that
player safety department. injure or hurt.” He is suc- something was done on
After a career in which ceeding Stephane Quintal, purpose and it has noth-
he fought 159 times and who is pursuing other op- ing to do with the play ...
racked up 1,127 penalty portunities in hockey but whether it’s stick work into
minutes, Parros believes staying on this season to as- a guy’s face or something
there’s one major reason sist with the transition. like that, these nonhockey
he’ll succeed as the new Parros intends to be stricter types of plays, these major
vice president of player on slashing and what he incidents that don’t hap-
safety. calls “nonhockey plays.” pen too often, but I’d like
“What uniquely positions Recent high-sticking inci- to come down harder on
me for the job is that I dents involving Gustav Ny- those,” Parros said. q