AP Sports

Jets announce they’ve told Aaron Rodgers they’re moving forward without him

The New York Jets announced they told quarterback Aaron Rodgers they are moving on without him next season. While Rodgers hasn’t said whether he intends to continue playing for a 21st NFL season, the Jets with new general manager Darren Mougey and coach Aaron Glenn in charge have officially ruled out a return to New York. In a statement issued by the team, the Jets said they met with the 41-year-old quarterback last week and informed him of their plans. The four-time MVP is the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 touchdown passes in the regular season. He has one year of non-guaranteed money left on his contract.

It’s a 6-pack of All-Star rookies: Wembanyama, Herro, Williams, Sengun, Mobley and Cunningham

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — There are six first-time All-Stars set to play in Sunday’s NBA midseason showcase in San Francisco. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, Miami’s Tyler Herro, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams and Houston’s Alperen Sengun all are headed to the game for the first time. Wembanyama’s selection almost seemed like a formality. The league’s reigning rookie of the year is already a global name; the NBA says Wembanyama content on social media is among the most viewed of all players and his jersey ranks No. 5 on the league’s worldwide sales list.

Golden State Warriors blend sports and music with new album from their groundbreaking record label

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are known for their electrifying plays and superstar Stephen Curry, but now the team is pioneering a fresh gameplan: blending sports and entertainment in a way no NBA franchise has before. As the first and only NBA team with its own record label, Golden State Entertainment, the Warriors are expanding their reach with “For the Soil,” a new album released this week. The project featuring the Bay Area’s top music artists — from E-40, Too Short, Saweetie, G-Eazy, Goapele, LaRussell and Larry June — arrives just in time for the league’s All-Star Game weekend in San Francisco.

Yamamoto, Sasaki are the likely starting pitchers when the Dodgers play in Tokyo next month

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are the likely starting pitchers for the Los Angeles Dodgers when they face the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo next month, according to manager Dave Roberts. The two Japanese pitchers along with two-way star Shohei Ohtani will be the main attraction for Japanese fans during the two MLB games on March 18 and 19. The Cubs also have Japanese players in Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki. Roberts said Sasaki could theoretically pitch in one of the Dodgers’ exhibition games earlier in the week in Tokyo, but the plan is for him to be ready for the second regular season game.

Mikaela Shiffrin, fellow ski racers, clear mental hurdles after traumatic injury at their own speed

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — From a physical standpoint, Mikaela Shiffrin’s back to her winning form after a serious crash. From a mental standpoint, there remains work to be done. That’s why she sat out the giant slalom event Thursday at the world championships two days after taking gold in the team combined event. The two-time Olympic champion said she’s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after a fall in a giant slalom race on Nov. 30 in Vermont, where something punctured her in the side and caused trauma to her oblique muscles. Experts say there’s no decisive roadmap when it comes to getting over an emotional hurdle and each racer processes a traumatic event at their own pace.

At Stanford, Japanese prospect Rintaro Sasaki finds home away from home as a college student

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — As Rintaro Sasaki begins his college baseball career at Stanford with all of Japan watching, he knows there will be growing pains and struggles that will also help him grow. He is embracing everything about being a student-athlete in the United States, zooming around campus on an electric bike and already speaking near-perfect English mere months after his arrival in the Bay Area. Sasaki made the surprising jump from playing high school ball in Japan to attending an American college, forgoing Japan’s professional pipeline in a way that could accelerate his path toward Major League Baseball.

From the same Minnesota hill that produced Lindsey Vonn, Paula Moltzan wins bronze at ski worlds

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — Finishing fourth when medals are on the line can feel like cruel punishment. Paula Moltzan knows the feeling all too well after just missing out on the podium so many times. But Moltzan finally broke through for her first major individual medal by taking bronze in giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships. The Minnesota native finished a mere hundredth of a second ahead of Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway. Moltzan’s medal came in a race that defending champion Mikaela Shiffrin sat out.

Jimmie Johnson scuffled in his first 2 years as NASCAR team owner. Can he make Legacy a winner?

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson has finally scaled back on his racing career to focus on ownership duties at his NASCAR team. Johnson is now the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club under a restructuring in which investment adviser Knighthead Capital Management bought into the Cup Series team. The seven-time NASCAR champion still knows how to turn a fast lap, locking himself this week into Sunday’s Daytona 500 in the first round of qualifying. Johnson scaled back to two races this season. Johnson skipped NASCAR’s Hall of Fame ceremony to shoot hoops and promote his car and the Daytona 500 at a carnival-themed Super Bowl party thrown by Shaquille O’Neal.

Alex Bregman and Red Sox agree to $120 million, 3-year contract, AP source says

Alex Bregman and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a $120 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical. Bregman can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again. He might need to shift from third base to second with the Red Sox, who already have All-Star slugger Rafael Devers at the hot corner. A two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion during nine years with Houston, the 30-year-old Bregman hit .260 with 26 homers and 75 RBIs in 2024.

Trump NIL twist carries small legal impact. But to some ‘it’s putting women’s sports back 25 years’

The U.S. Education Department is scrapping a policy from the Biden administration that threatened to upend colleges’ plans to pay athletes for their name, image and likeness by making those payments subject to federal Title IX rules. President Donald Trump’s education officials announced the change Wednesday, saying the policy from former President Joe Biden’s final days in office had no legal basis under Title IX, the 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination in education. A Jan. 16 memo from the Biden administration told universities that NIL payments must be treated the same as athletic financial aid such as scholarships.