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SPORTS Wednesday 5 February 2020
NFL 101: What's ahead as next century of pro football begins

By BARRY WILNER triots owner Robert Kraft will aged by negotiations to-
MIAMI (AP) — The NFL's pony up the bucks — say ward a new collective
centennial season con- a two-year deal in which bargaining agreement.
cluded with a champion- the second season can be The current 10-year deal
ship a half-century in the voided without too much expires in March 2021, but
making. cost to the team — it's fun the league in particular is
Now that the Kansas City to think of other landing eager to get a contract
Chiefs have ended that 50- spots for pro football's most finalized well before that.
year drought and own their successful quarterback. Indeed, well before next
second NFL championship, Try the Chargers if they season.
the focus will turn mostly are looking to make, uh, a Union officials are being
elsewhere in what could charge into the new sta- coy, but simply the fact
be a very busy offseason. dium they will share with both sides have been
The NFL really never goes the Rams. Brady would be meeting semi-regularly and
away, so even as their an intriguing addition down reaching accords on a va-
fans will chant and do the the road from Hollywood, riety of issues is good news.
Tomahawk Chop when the particularly if Philip Rivers is The public expects the
Chiefs have their celebra- done with the Bolts. main sticking point to be
tory parade, questions will Or the Raiders to make a expanding the regular sea-
arise on all fronts. splash in Sin City, though son by one game, which
Here are some things to Derek Carr isn't exactly would include reducing
contemplate: headed out the door. the preseason, probably
QB CAROUSEL Though wouldn't Brady adding another bye week
It starts — some might say want to go to a potential and pushing the Super
it ends — with Tom Brady. contender seeking a win- Bowl back into mid-Febru-
For the first time in his six- ning QB to push it to the ary. Player safety concerns
ring career, the 42-year- top? Perhaps Tennessee, need to be paramount in
old Brady is on the market. where former teammate any such discussions.
Maybe the fact the Patriots Mike Vrabel is the coach? But 17 games could be a
went 4-4 in the second half Or Chicago with its strong Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton arrives for the NFL done deal if the union gets,
of the schedule, blew a defense? Honors football award show Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, in Miami. say, three or four more
bye in the AFC playoffs with Brady and Rivers hardly are Associated Press roster spots per franchise.
a last-week loss at home to the only passers likely avail- That's anywhere from 96 to
the lowly Dolphins and then able. Cam Newton, Nick lowed video reviews was a murkier proposition. 128 additional jobs.
went out, also at home, to Foles, Joe Flacco, Marcus flop. Coaches who were so Will the powerful compe- TUA
Tennessee in a wild-card Mariota, Andy Dalton, Ryan adamant about needing tition committee recom- Cincinnati doesn't need
game made New England Tannehill and perhaps Ja- a change after the egre- mend more alterations? Or to wait until April 23 to an-
think twice about spending meis Winston could be out giously botched call in the drop the modification alto- nounce LSU All-America
multimillions on a middle- there. NFC title game a year ago gether? quarterback Joe Burrow
aged man whose skills just OPI/DPI got little to no traction with LABOR AND 17 GAMES as the top overall draft
might be declining. The adjustment to the pass their challenges. Interfer- Commissioner Roger choice. That's a no-brainer,
While it still seems likely Pa- interference rules that al- ence became an even Goodell has been encour- even for the Bengals.q

Continued from page 18 the "extraterritorial" jurisdic- weaken the system, and those funds to undermine Russia appealed that case
The measure, named af- tion the bill proposes — a compromise the quest for legislation, then that's not to the Court of Arbitration
ter the Moscow lab direc- clause that would allow U.S. clean sport." going to be a cooperative for Sport, and on Tuesday,
tor who blew the whistle authorities to pursue those The athlete-advocacy and effective way to go WADA asked the hearing
on Russia's cheating at the who perpetuate doping group FairSport sent out a forward," said Kendel Eh- to be made public. WADA
2014 Sochi Olympics, calls schemes at international news release responding to rlich, the U.S. government said it was urging a "go-
for fines of up to $1 million events in which Americans the WADA document, giv- representative on WADA's slow" approach to any leg-
and prison sentences of up are involved as athletes, ing a point-by-point rebut- foundation board. islation "authored in revul-
to 10 years for those who sponsors or broadcasters. tal of the clauses with which The U.S. government pro- sion to Russia's cheating."
participate in schemes de- Many U.S. corruption laws, the agency disagrees. vides about $2.5 million an- "Such a move would jeop-
signed to influence interna- including those used to In that statement, Rod- nually to WADA. ardize the international sys-
tional sports competitions prosecute FIFA executives chenkov's attorney, Jim In its letter to the Senators, tem, could undercut the
through doping. (Individual in the soccer-bidding scan- Walden, said similar laws WADA also defended its foundation upon which
athletes who get caught dal, include similar extra- with extraterritorial jurisdic- action in the long-running WADA sanctioned Rus-
doping would not be sub- territorial jurisdiction. "The tion weren't always popular doping case involving Rus- sia; and send shockwaves
ject to punishment under effort to criminalize doping "with corrupt nations." sia. WADA recently ruled through the system pre-
the law.) acts under U.S. law and The Rodchenkov act "will on the latest development cisely at a time when clean
It would also allow the U.S. then apply that law extra- do the same in the fight in the Russia saga: proof sport needs a strong and
Anti-Doping Agency to ob- territorially (cq) will shatter against doping fraud de- that the country had tam- globally recognized sys-
tain information collected the international harmoni- ployed by gangster states pered with the data it was tem," the letter said.
by federal investigators, zation of rules that is critical who hijack internation- supposed to turn over as Niggli wanted it made
which could help in pros- to advancing clean sport," al sports competitions," part of a deal to be rein- clear that WADA's intent is
ecuting anti-doping cases. WADA wrote in the memo. Walden said. stated. WADA set a frame- not to scuttle the bill. But,
The WADA letter said the It predicted that if the U.S. At meetings last Novem- work that would ban the he told AP, "currently, there
agency agrees with the passes the law, "other na- ber, WADA officials took Russian flag and its dignitar- are elements of the Act
information-sharing lan- tions will follow suit and criticism for lobbying efforts ies from the upcoming To- that could backfire and be
guage. inevitably competing juris- on the bill, which has bipar- kyo Games while allowing counter-productive for the
But there is also a long list diction on the same set of tisan support in Congress. for some of the country's protection of clean sport
of concerns, notably over facts will result in confusion, "If we, as payers to you, use athletes to compete. around the world."q