MIAMI — Because of Tua Tagovailoa’s ability, the Miami Dolphins were willing to gamble on his durability.
The Dolphins made the Alabama quarterback the fifth overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday, and hope he can become a franchise quarterback and the centerpiece of their rebuilding effort that began a year ago.
Miami was undeterred by his long injury history, most recently a dislocated and fractured hip that ended his 2019 season in mid-November.
“For me and my family, whoever decided to take a chance on us, that’s where I belonged,” Tagovailoa said. “My biggest thing is I’m trying to prove this was the right decision.”
The Dolphins added some potential protection for Tagovailoa with the 18th overall pick, selecting 322-pound tackle Austin Jackson of Southern California. Jackson is only 20 and turned pro after his junior season.
“We’ve got good news for Tua,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said when he announced the selection of Jackson.
Miami also had the 30th overall pick and took Auburn cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, the son of two Nigerian Olympic track athletes.
Doctors cleared Tagovailoa last month to run and begin football activities, and he expects to be able to play in his rookie season.
“What makes me confident in being able to play is what the doctors have told me,” Tagovailoa said. “As far as rehab, as far as the medical rechecks, I’ve checked off all the boxes.”
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said the team is comfortable with Tagovailoa’s health, despite an injury history that includes at least four surgeries at Alabama.
“Football is a violent game,” Grier said. “Guys are going to get hurt.”
Tagovailoa will compete with returning starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is 37 and is expected to serve as an idea mentor to the rookie. At some point, Tagovailoa will become the 22nd quarterback to start for Miami since Dan Marino retired 20 years ago.
They share the same uniform number, which is why Tagovailoa won’t wear his familiar No. 13 in Miami.
“I understand No. 13 is retired, and it should be,” Tagovailoa said. “Whatever number I’m given by the organization, if it’s 78 or 99, I’ll wear it.”
Even before the Dolphins’ off-season began, team owner Stephen Ross said the priority was to acquire a franchise quarterback. To start a draft widely considered the Dolphins’ most consequential in many years, they took a quarterback with their first pick for only the second time since 1983.
Miami stockpiled picks last year while enduring a 5-11 season under first-year coach Brian Flores, and during a historically bad start was accused of tanking for Tua.
The dynamic Tagovailoa immediately raises the profile of a team that has too often been off the NFL radar in the past two decades. He threw 76 touchdown passes in 24 starts the past two seasons.
Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts in the national championship game two years ago and rallied Alabama past Georgia, and the following season he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up.
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, an Alabama alum, was among those applauding the selection of Tagovailoa.
“So excited to see what you accomplish and I know good things are in store for you,” Henry wrote in an Instagram message.
NFL talent evaluators doubted Tagovailoa only because of his health. Along with the hip injury, which at one point was feared to be career-threatening, the left-hander has had surgery on both ankles and the index finger of his throwing hand. He also suffered a broken nose and a concussion while at Alabama.
The Dolphins disguised their intentions well until they were on the clock. Leading up to the draft, speculation had them trading up to select an offensive tackle or even quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 pick, or taking Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert instead of Tagovailoa.
“We didn’t know where a lot of this stuff was coming from,” Flores said with a chuckle. “It was very interesting, to say the least. It was something we would talk about on a daily basis — ‘Did you see that? Did you see this?’”
The Dolphins have three selections Friday, including the seventh and 24th in the second round, which gives them five of the top 56 choices as they try to build a team around Tagovailoa. They’ve already spent $235 million to sign 10 free agents.
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
___
Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.
The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.
“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”
Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.
Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans
Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.
Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
