Buffalo remains in ques

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More than 140 survivors of sexual abuse by a former team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University joined hands on stage to be honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYs.

The women who spoke out against the abuse by Larry Nassar stood together Wednesday night in a powerful and solemn closing to the show highlighting the past year’s top athletes and moments in sports.

Gymnast Aly Raisman Sylvester Williams Jersey Lions , softball player Tiffany Thomas Lopez and gymnast Sarah Klein, who said she was Nassar’s first victim 30 years ago, took turns speaking. Klein chided the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics and Michigan State for placing ”money and medals above the safety of child athletes.”

Olympic snowboarding champion Chloe Kim won a leading three ESPYs, including best female athlete, while Alex Ovechkin claimed best male athlete.

Kim had tears in her eyes as she listened to the Arthur Ashe recipients.

”We must start caring about children’s safety more than we care about adults’ reputations,” Klein said. ”If we can just give one person the courage to use their voice, this is worth it.”

Raisman added: ”For too long we were ignored. It could have been avoided. All we needed was one adult to have the integrity to stand between us and Larry Nassar.”

The audience gave the group a prolonged standing ovation and remained on its feet while the women spoke.

”What a powerful stage up here,” host Danica Patrick said before signing off.

Ovechkin joined Roger Federer and Olympic snowboarder Shaun White as double winners. Ovechkin was in Russia with his wife, Nastya, who is 8 months pregnant.

Newly retired racecar driver Patrick became the first woman to host the show, held at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Her opening monologue mostly fell flat Ravens Robert Griffin III Jersey , with athletes sitting stone-faced or wincing at many of the jokes.

Kim took female athlete honors over Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin, WNBA player Sylvia Fowles and soccer player Julie Ertz.

”This year has been filled with so many incredible memories I will hold onto the rest of my life,” Kim said as she held the silver trophy. ”I really want to thank my family. They’ve sacrificed so much for me.”

Kim also claimed trophies for best female Olympian and female action sports athlete. At the Pyeongchang Games in February, she became the youngest to win a snowboarding medal when the then-17-year-old claimed gold in halfpipe.

Ovechkin, who led the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup championship, also won for best NHL player. He beat out Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and fellow first-time nominees Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros and James Harden of the Houston Rockets for male athlete.

Federer’s five-set victory at the Australian Open in January for his 20th Grand Slam singles title earned honors for record-breaking performance, and he also received best male tennis player.

White won best Olympic moment with his final-run performance in South Korea featuring back-to-back 1440s to take gold, and best male Olympian.

The Astros were honored as best team for winning the franchise’s first World Series.

LeBron James, soon to be starring across the street at Staples Center with the Los Angeles Lakers, won best NBA player for the third straight year on his 14th consecutive nomination in the category.

Brady claimed best NFL player, while Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels won MLB player.

On a big night for Olympians, the U.S. women’s hockey team earned best game honors for its shootout victory over Canada in the gold-medal game in South Korea.

Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz earned breakthrough athlete honors.

Quarterback Nick Foles received the championship performance trophy for leading the Philadelphia Eagles to their first Super Bowl title.

The Minnesota Vikings earned best moment honors for beating the New Orleans Saints on the last play of the NFC divisional playoff game.

Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale won in the best play category for hitting a buzzer-beater in the NCAA women’s title game.

The best coach award was given posthumously to Aaron Feis Authentic Todd Frazier Jersey , Scott Beigel and Chris Hixon, all of whom died in the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Former quarterback Jim Kelly received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for his struggle with jaw cancer. Fellow NFL Hall of Famers Dan Marino and John Elway presented Kelly with the honor.

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This story has been corrected to change the game in which the best moment award occurred to the NFC divisional playoff game instead of the NFC championship game.

The Latest on the NFL combine (all times EST):

2:15 p.m.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst says that the team would like to extend the contract of quarterback Aaron Rodgers ”sooner rather than later.”

Gutekunst was asked about the two-time NFL MVP at the combine. He says that the team realizes it’s ”not going to be inexpensive.”

Rodgers is under contract through the 2019 season following a five-year extension signed in 2013 that boosted his annual average salary to $22 million, making him the highest-paid player in the league back then.

The 34-year old Rodgers has since been passed by other players, including the five-year deal worth a reported $137.5 million that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo agreed to with the San Francisco 49ers.

Gutekunst says that taking care of Rodgers is a high priority, ”and I think that should take care of itself at some point.”

Gutekunst is in his first year as the Packers GM after replacing Ted Thompson.

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1:45 p.m.

Browns coach Hue Jackson hopes to avoid starting a rookie quarterback in 2018.

Cleveland owns the No. 1 overall pick, and is expected to use it to select a quarterback from a talented group that includes Southern Cal’s Sam Darnold, UCLA’s Josh Rosen, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Wyoming’s Josh Allen.

The Browns will use this week’s combine to evaluate that foursome and other top players.

Last season, the Browns started rookie DeShone Kizer, who went 0-15 as the Browns became the second team in NFL history to lose all 16 games.

”I would hope not,” Jackson said when asked if he intends to start a rookie QB. ”There’s going to be other opportunities as we all know. We just go to see how it all fits as we move forward.”

The Browns are expected to be active in free agency and it’s possible they’ll land their starting quarterback there. Jackson refused to comment on Cleveland’s intended targets, but one of them is certain to be Cincinnati quarterback AJ McCarron. The Browns were poised to acquire McCarron in a trade last season before the deal was scrapped because the teams failed to file paperwork with the league on time.

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1:30 p.m.

The Chicago Bears plan to part ways with quarterback Mike Glennon.

General manager Ryan Pace said the Bears will release him rather than bring him back for a second season after he lost his starting job to rookie Mitchell Trubisky.

Pace Authentic Sergei Bobrovsky Jersey , speaking at the NFL combine, said a mechanism in Glennon’s contract prevents the Bears from letting him go until the start of the league’s calendar year on March 14. The Bears were also releasing linebacker Willie Young.

Glennon left Tampa Bay to sign a three-year contract with the Bears last March and replace Jay Cutler as the starter. He went 1-3 with five interceptions, three lost fumbles and four touchdown passes before Trubisky – the No. 2 overall draft pick – took over.

”We were going to be aggressive at that position,” Pace said. ”We were going to take swings at that position and be aggressive at the most important position, really, in sports. There are multiple factors that go into that. But really, what stands out, as I look back, was Mitch’s acceleration, too.

”So, it was kind of twofold. So I can sit back now and be happy that we have a guy that we feel good about, a young quarterback that we want to build around.”

A triceps injury limited Young to four games last season. He had 26 sacks in four seasons with Chicago Blake Martinez Packers Jersey , giving him 32 in eight years with the Bears and Detroit Lions.

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1 p.m.

The NFL’s competition committee is meeting in Indianapolis this week and the group is looking into ways to redefine the troublesome catch rule. The committee also is entertaining the notion of turning the defensive pass interference call into a 15-yard penalty.

It’s currently a spot of foul flag.

At least one head coach is certain the league won’t mess with that rule.

Broncos coach Vance Joseph was among the first coaches to step to the podium at the NFL combine and he says the catch rule certainly needs to be addressed.

But Joseph insists there’s no way the NFL would follow the NCAA’s lead in making defensive pass interference a 15-yard infraction instead of putting the ball at the spot of the foul.

Joseph says pro football fans like seeing points scored and if that rule is changed, there will be ”a lot of defensive backs grabbing and pulling guys, so that’s not going to change.”

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11 a.m.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott says cutting quarterback Tyrod Taylor is not part of the team’s current plans, though he won’t rule out trading the three-year starter.

McDermott says it’s too early to remove any option off the table ”other than cutting him at this point,” in answering a question as to whether the Bills would consider trading Taylor. ”We’re in a good position with some options out there, so that’ll work itself out,” he added at the NFL combine on Wednesday.

Taylor’s future in Buffalo remains in question even though he helped lead the Bills to a 9-7 record and clinch the team’s first playoff berth since 1999. Taylor has a 23-21 record with the Bills and went 8-6 last season while also being benched for one game in favor of rookie Nathan Peterman.

The Bills considered cutting Taylor last March before the quarterback agreed to restructure his contract by reducing it from a five-year to a two-year term.

Taylo.
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