Travis Frederick said he thought he played well at centre for the Dallas Cowboys after returning from a nerve disorder that sidelined him for an entire season.
The 2016 All-Pro made it clear Monday it wasn’t good enough.
Frederick retired from the NFL at 29, saying he “could no longer perform at my highest level” even though he went to his fifth Pro Bowl in his only season after recovering from Guillian-Barre syndrome.
“Each day, I faced a struggle: I could no longer perform at my highest level,” Frederick wrote in a long statement posted on Twitter and released by the team. “Playing ‘well’ is not what I expect of myself and not what my teammates deserve. Because of this, I know my days as a football player are done.”
A first-round pick seven years ago, Frederick missed all of 2018 after getting diagnosed with the auto-immune disease during training camp.
According to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Guillain-Barre causes the body to attack a network of nerves around the brain and spinal cord. Most people recover from even the most severe cases, which can include temporary paralysis, but some will continue to have some degree of weakness, according to the institute.
Frederick was asked frequently how he was feeling and how he thought he was playing during a season that started with high expectations for the Cowboys but ended without a trip to the playoffs. The former Wisconsin player’s answers were always upbeat, including during his final session with reporters after the season ended.
The final answer was something different, and leaves a big void in the middle of the offensive line. The Cowboys have invested heavily there with draft picks and subsequent contracts for a decade.
Frederick was among three first-round choices in a span of four years, and all of them signed lucrative second deals. Right guard Zack Martin has made the Pro Bowl in all six of his seasons, and left tackle Tyron Smith is a seven-time Pro Bowler.
There are four years remaining on the $55 million extension Frederick signed during the preseason in 2016.
“His leadership ability, production and intelligence put him at the top level of interior offensive linemen in our league for many years,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.
“At the pinnacle of his success, his career on the field was only exceeded by a rare display of courage and determination in overcoming a life-threatening illness and returning to the game — a challenge that could only be completed by a person with rare levels of perseverance and strength.”
Frederick is married with two young children and said the Guillian-Barre diagnosis caused him to rethink his priorities.
“I spent much of that year thinking about both the past and future,” Frederick said. “I realized how fortunate I was to play a game for a living. I realized how fortunate I was to make friends and become teammates with some great men. Most of all, I realized the importance of my family and how much I want to be there for their peaks and valleys as they were for me.”
Frederick hadn’t missed a game in his first five NFL seasons when he took time away from training camp in California in 2018 because of feelings he said were similar to stingers in his neck and shoulders.
When he returned to camp, Frederick told reporters he checked out OK with doctors in California. Not long after, Frederick saw more doctors in the Dallas area, and received the diagnosis.
Frederick said the year not playing forced him to consider life after football. He said he knew how players feared the moment when they could no longer do something that had consumed them for 20 years.
“After months of contemplation, I not only accepted that moment, but I also, surprisingly, found myself welcoming the moment,” Frederick said. “I was ready for the next stage of my life. However, the competitor in me would not accept going out without returning to the field.”
Veteran Joe Looney started all 16 games and two playoff games in Frederick’s place two years ago and recently re-signed with the Cowboys.
Connor McGovern, a third-round pick last year who missed the season with a pectoral injury, played centre as a sophomore at Penn State before playing all but one game at guard during his final season as a junior.
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
