📰🏟️ NFL blockbusters
Plus: Lone Star showdown…
Good afternoon. Welcome back to another week full of top sports stories. Let’s rock and roll.
—Kyle
1) Two blockbuster NFL trades went down
The Cleveland Browns traded DE Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, to the LA Rams for star edge Jared Verse and draft picks in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds.
- The Rams are the 1st team to have the previous season’s DPOY and MVP (QB Matthew Stafford) occupying two roster spots; the same player has won both awards twice.
- In the other major deal, the Philadelphia Eagles sent star WR A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots in exchange for 1st- and 5th-round picks.
Trade grades: who won both deals?
2) Serena Williams is returning to tennis
The arguable GOAT of women’s tennis is officially coming out of retirement, nearly four years after leaving the sport to focus on family.
- Williams accepted a wild-card invitation to play doubles in next week's HSBC Championships in London, becoming the oldest former #1 to launch a comeback.
- She'll play alongside world #9 Victoria Mboko, a 19-year-old rising Canadian star.
- Williams’ return has raised speculation about playing in Wimbledon later this month, though she has yet to announce her future tournament schedule.
3) It’s a Lone Star State showdown in the WCWS
Texas’ softball team swept Tennessee yesterday to reach its 3rd straight Women’s College World Series finals, and 4th in 5 years.
- They’ll face in-state rival Texas Tech, who earned two wins over Alabama in a doubleheader yesterday to advance.
- The best-of-3 WCWS championship series is a tale of two rosters: 15 of Texas Tech’s 23 players are transfers, while Texas only has 4.
- Game 1 of the WCWS finals is tomorrow night (7 pm CT).
Highs (and lows) of the tournament so far
4) Steph Curry signs with Chinese apparel company
The Golden State Warriors superstar signed an endorsement deal with controversial Chinese company Li-Ning, ending a months-long recruitment following Curry's departure from Under Armour.
- The reported 10-yr agreement includes basketball products, athleisure lifestyle wear, a full golf line, and the ability for Curry to sign athletes under his brand.
- Curry joins several other NBA athletes signed to Li-Ning, including Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade.
- The Chinese company’s products have been restricted from entering the US since 2022 due to suspected use of North Korean labor.
- Li-Ning has also been identified by rights groups as using forced labor to produce goods in China’s Xinjiang region.
Curry is Li-Ning towards global expansion
5) College Baseball Tournament enters next round
The college baseball Super Regionals are now set following 6 winner-take-all games yesterday.
- The “Sweet 16” includes two #4 seeds—the equivalent of #12-#16 seeds in March Madness—for the first time since expanding to 64 teams in 1999.
- The top-2 overall seeds were eliminated for the 2nd straight year (#1 UCLA and #2 Georgia Tech), while 5 other teams in the top-8 advanced.
- In perhaps the unlikeliest Super Regional matchup of all time, two mid-major Trojan teams are facing off for a berth in the CWS: #4 seed Little Rock and #3 seed Troy.
Breaking down the Super Regionals
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