Drew Brees celebrates Saints Hall of Fame induction with fans in the Dome
Updated: 8:56 PM CDT Oct 17, 2024
New Orleans Saints legend Drew Brees was honored Thursday night during halftime of the game against the Denver Broncos.Brees became the 59th inductee into the Saints Hall of Fame, dating to 1988.Universally considered the greatest player in franchise history, Brees guided the Saints to victory in Super Bowl XLIV and was the Most Valuable Player in the 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Brees also led the Saints to two other NFC championship games. Brees was a two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year and made 12 Pro Bowls in his 15 years with the Saints. Brees set numerous NFL passing records, and is among the greatest quarterbacks and players in NFL history.
NEW ORLEANS —
New Orleans Saints legend Drew Brees was honored Thursday night during halftime of the game against the Denver Broncos.
Brees became the 59th inductee into the Saints Hall of Fame, dating to 1988.
Universally considered the greatest player in franchise history, Brees guided the Saints to victory in Super Bowl XLIV and was the Most Valuable Player in the 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Brees also led the Saints to two other NFC championship games.
Brees was a two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year and made 12 Pro Bowls in his 15 years with the Saints. Brees set numerous NFL passing records, and is among the greatest quarterbacks and players in NFL history.
Dikembe Mutombo (SLL ’91, H ’10), a Georgetown University men’s basketball icon who became a basketball Hall of Famer for his rebounding and blocking prowess with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks,died Sept. 30 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. He was 58.
Mutombo, a center from the Democratic Republic of Congo, became one of Georgetown’s greatest-ever players, dominating in the paint and defensively before achieving stardom in an 18-year NBA career. Throughout, Mutombo was known for his philanthropy, funding and supporting humanitarian efforts particularly in Central Africa.
“Basketball fans remember him for his defense, rebounding and that trademark finger wag, but to those of us that knew him well, we will miss the father, teammate, mentor and friend,” Georgetown Athletic Director Lee Reed wrote in a press release. “Dikembe left his mark on the Georgetown community in so many ways, but he will be best remembered for his unique gift of leveraging his platform as a Hall of Fame basketball player to maximize his global impact as a humanitarian. Our deepest condolences to the entire Mutombo family, Dikembe is a true Hoya who will not be forgotten.”
“The world lost a special person in Dikembe Mutombo, but he will live on through his humanitarian work and commitment to family. Dikembe truly embodied what it means to be a global ambassador – he is forever a Hoya, and Dikembe’s legacy transcends the sport of basketball,” Georgetown men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley wrote on X.
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo was born June 25, 1966, in Kinshasa, the Congo’s capital. He won an international science competition his senior year of high school and received a USAID scholarship to Georgetown in 1987, initially planning to study medicine.
Standing 7-foot-2, he was recruited by former men’s basketball coach John Thompson Jr. and played on a basketball scholarship his final three years at Georgetown. Mutombo did not speak English when he arrived in the United States and learned the language in just a few weeks.
“I went to English class from 9:30 to 2:30, then I had to go to my other classes after I got out from my English class,” Mutombo told The Hoya in 2021. “Then I had to go to basketball practice, then I had to lift weights, then I had to go eat, then I had to go study. I used to get back to my dorm at 8 p.m., after leaving at 8 in the morning.”
Dikembe Mutombo (#55) dunks against Villanova in a 1990 game. Mutombo, one of the Hoyas’ greatest ever players, died Sept. 30. He was 58. (Jim Mangan/The Hoya)
A virtual unknown outside Georgetown’s gates, Mutombo began playing for the men’s basketball team in the 1988-89 season as a sophomore. His performance on the court instantly spoke to his defensive prowess: During his rookie season, Mutombo blocked 12 shots in a single game against St. John’s University — an NCAA single-game record — setting the stage for a formidable frontcourt partnership with Alonzo Mourning (COL ’92) known as “Rejection Row” and helping his team to an Elite Eight finish.
During his junior season, Mutombo began to play more, averaging a double-double — 10 points and 10 rebounds — in the 24 games he started. Though the Hoyas were knocked out early in the NCAA tournament, Mutombo was named Big East defensive player of the year and second-team all-Big East.
With Mourning injured, Mutombo became the Hoya offense’s focal point as a senior, leading the team in scoring and repeatedly leading the team in rebounds — tallying 27 in the Big East Tournament quarterfinal matchup against the University of Connecticut. In all, Mutombo recorded 947 points, 354 blocked shots and a whopping 823 rebounds over his three-year college career.
After graduating from Georgetown with degrees in linguistics and diplomacy, Mutombo was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, going to the Denver Nuggets.
“I like to sit back and listen to how people say how great some of these are now, because in a few years Dikembe’s going to surpass them all,” Thompson said of the 1991 draft picks.
Mutombo wasted no time propelling to stardom, ending his rookie season as an All-Star and runner-up in rookie of the year sweepstakes. Mutombo became known for wagging his right index finger at opponents, teasing them after blocking their shots.
Over his long NBA career, including stretches with the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, Mutombo racked up four defensive player of the year awards to go with over 11,000 points, 12,000 rebounds and 3,000 blocks.
“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote in a press release. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”
Throughout his career and after, Mutombo was a tireless advocate for his home country, spearheading multiple charity initiatives to support education and healthcare in the Congo. Mutombo founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 and helped fund the construction of a general hospital in Kinshasa, established a primary school focused on science and entrepreneurship and championed children’s issues with UNICEF and Special Olympics International, serving on the boards of both organizations. Mutombo founded Mutombo Coffee in 2021, which aims to work mostly with female farmers in the Congo and other African countries to close the gender gap in the coffee industry.
“The health and the development of a country are closely linked to the health of its people,” Mutombo said in a speech at Georgetown in 2001. “Education is so important to good health.”
The NBA named Mutombo its first global ambassador in 2009. Mutombo worked with the NBA on international outreach efforts including Basketball Without Borders, a program that provides basketball instruction in 33 countries.
Mutombo was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2015 for his average of 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his career.
Beyond his basketball stardom, Mutombo served on the university’s board of directors, an advisory body which helps to govern Georgetown, from 2017 to 2023, serving on two of its committees, according to a university press release.
“Dikembe Mutombo was the embodiment of the spirit of Georgetown,” Joseph Ferrara, a university vice president and chief of staff to university president John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95), wrote in the release. “From his prolific college and professional basketball careers to his tireless work in retirement to improve the lives of those in need of better health and opportunity, he lived Georgetown’s values in a way we always will hold with great esteem and pride. His passing is a tremendous loss for the Georgetown community and indeed the United States, Congo, and everywhere else where he uplifted those around him.”
Mutombo is survived by his wife, Rose; his children, Carrie (COL ’19, LAW ’22), Jean Jacques and Ryan Mutombo (CAS ’24), who played three seasons on Georgetown’s men’s basketball team; and four nieces and nephews whom he and his wife adopted.
This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre told lawmakers he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease as he testified Tuesday before the House Ways and Means Committee investigating Mississippi’s misuse of welfare funds — a scandal that has tainted the Green Bay Packers legend after his retirement.
At a hearing titled, “Reforming Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): States’ Misuse of Welfare Funds Leaves Poor Families Behind,” the former quarterback said state officials “failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse” and then attempted to blame him.
“When this started, I didn’t know what TANF was. Now I know TANF is one of the country’s most important welfare programs to help people in need,” Favre testified.
Former NFL football player Brett Favre testifies before a House Committee on Ways and Means in Washington, Sept. 24, 2024.
House TV
Favre, wearing a sportscoat, untucked dress shirt and blue jeans, told the committee he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“I also lost an investment in a company that I believe was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me, because I recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” Favre revealed.
Favre, 54, said he is under a gag order that prevents him from discussing the details of the case. He has not been criminally charged but faces a civil lawsuit stemming from his advocacy to state officials to obtain federal TANF funds.
At least $77 million in TANF funds, supposed to be given to poor families, were instead given to rich people, according to a Mississippi state audit, ESPN reported.
“I believe that I got swept up in a civil lawsuit at the instigation of a state auditor shading an ambitious public official who decided he was determined to tarnish my reputation to try to advance his own political career,” Favre said.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said TANF has been “undermined by rampant waste, fraud, and abuse” — leaving fewer services for those who really need them.
“But we all know this problem is not limited to Mississippi,” Smith said, pointing at California and Michigan as additional examples. “How big a problem is it? What is the rate of improper payments? No one knows, because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has never reported a rate of improper payment. Together, this lack of federal protections has created the perfect storm for waste, fraud and abuse.”
Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre participates in a question and answer session at a fundraiser for Willowood Developmental Center, a facility that provides training and assistance for special needs students, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018 in Jackson, Miss.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP, FILE
Smith explained that Favre’s testimony “can help shed additional light on the need to pursue reforms to states’ ability to spend TANF.”
“We look forward to hearing his insights into how weak federal oversight and self-dealing state officials contributed to Mississippi’s case,” Smith said. “He saw how embezzlement and mismanagement hurt the people whom welfare is supposed to help. Thank you for coming here and using your name and platform to draw attention to the need for stronger federal safeguards in TANF spending to ensure what happened in Mississippi doesn’t happen again.”
Lawmakers were expected to press Favre about his efforts to help fund a volleyball facility at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was a student-athlete, as well as Prevacus, a company developing a concussion drug where Favre had invested substantial capital.
Text messages made public in legal filings show Favre pushed state officials for funding for the volleyball facility during the time his daughter was on the team. The university’s athletic foundation received $5 million in TANF funds. Favre donated $1.4 million of his own money to construct the facility, ESPN reported.
“I wanted to help my alma mater and benefit the community,” Favre testified. “I had no way of knowing that there was anything wrong with how the state funded the project, especially since it was publicly approved by many state agencies and multiple attorneys, including the attorney general.”
Favre was also paid $1.1 million from TANF funds for speeches the state auditor said Favre never made. He paid that money back, but the auditor has demanded he also pay $228,000 in interest, according to ESPN.
“Importantly, I have learned that nobody was or is watching how TANF funds are spent,” Favre said. “I urge Congress put down guardrails in place to ensure that what happened in Mississippi doesn’t happen again.”
Favre was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016 after a 20-year career with the Falcons, Packers, Jets and Vikings. He built his legend in 16 years in Green Bay, winning three straight MVPs from 1995-1997. He finished top 5 in MVP voting four other times as well.
He owned the career record for most passing yards and most touchdowns when he retired, though Tom Brady now holds both marks. Famously known as a gunslinger at the QB position, he still holds the ignominious record for most career interceptions. He was also famously durable in his career, holding the record for most consecutive starts (297).
He won his lone Super Bowl title in January 1997 with a 35-21 victory over the Patriots in New Orleans.
So, it is no surprise that McCoy, in his first year of eligibility, will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame on Sunday, November 3, 2024, when the Eagles host the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lincoln Financial Field. The official announcement was made during a special halftime ceremony on Saturday afternoon as part of the Eagles Legends Homecoming Game during which many of the franchise’s greats returned to commemorate their time with the Eagles.
“LeSean was an incredibly gifted player who always approached the game with great joy and enthusiasm,” said Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles Chairman and CEO. “His elusiveness as a dual-threat back, coupled with his uncanny ability to make breathtaking plays, captivated everyone who had the privilege of watching him compete. His energy was contagious, but more importantly, it was his competitive spirit and commitment to being a great teammate that truly shaped his legacy as one of our league’s all-time greats. We look forward to celebrating LeSean’s remarkable career when he is rightfully enshrined in the Eagles Hall of Fame on November 3.”
Over the course of his 12-year NFL career, McCoy registered 15,000 yards from scrimmage (11,102 rushing; 3,898 receiving) and 89 touchdowns (73 rushing; 16 receiving) in 170 regular-season games. As a member of the Eagles, he led the NFL in rushing yards (1,607 in 2013), scrimmage yards (2,146 in 2013), rushing touchdowns (17 in 2011), and total touchdowns (20 in 2011). From 2009-19, McCoy ranked second among all active running backs in rushing yards (11,071) and rushing touchdowns (73).
Selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2010s, McCoy was a member of two Super Bowl-winning teams, first with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019 and then with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.
The Harrisburg, PA native formally retired as a Philadelphia Eagle on Friday, October 1, 2021.
LAS VEGAS — There’s a solid chance you didn’t plan on being thumped on the forehead by kismet while watching what Kemon Hall was able to do for the Dallas Cowboys against the Las Vegas Raiders, by way of a pick-six, but that’s exactly what happened.
If you’re wondering what that is referencing, settle in for the explanation to come.
But, first, Hall’s reaction to the highlight of the day: a 69-yard interception return against quarterback Aidan O’Connell atop the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday.
“It felt great, just being in the right place at the right time, reading my keys and the quarterback taking me the ball,” said the 27-year-old cornerback. “That feeling of going down the field, it’s like you’re in a tunnel, man. It took me back to college, because I hadn’t had a pick-six since college.”
Ah, a perfect segue by Hall to the promised explanation.
Do you know who knew about Hall far before the entirety of Cowboys’ fans were formally introduced to him on Saturday evening? Owner and general manager Jerry Jones, that’s who, and for one very good reason that predates Hall’s time in the NFL by roughly one year.
You see, the last time Hall had a pick-six in a football game was on Sept. 15, 2018.
That’s when Hall, playing for the University of North Texas, took on Arkansas and quarterback John Stephen Jones, a Texas high school state football champion, son of executive vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones and grandson of Jerry Jones; and helped to lead Mean Green to a blowout victory that included a 24-yard pick six to take home the bacon against the hogs.
Claimed by the Cowboys off of the waiver wire early in camp following his release from the San Francisco 49ers, Hall is torn between playfully mentioning that pick-six to John Stephen Jones — who is employed by the Cowboys and present in Oxnard — or the elder Joneses responsible for adding him to Dallas’ roster this summer.
He prefers to take the angle of self-preservation ahead of roster cuts.
“Not yet,” said Hall when asked if he’d brought up that fateful play to any of the Joneses. “I saw Jerry after practice but I was like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna hold back. I’m gonna hold back.'”
Then again, it’s possible that play is why Hall is here in the first place — the Joneses remembering what Hall is capable of and wanting to put him under the mentorship of Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland; and the coaching of Mike Zimmer and Al Harris.
“Yeah, maybe,” Hall said, with a grin and a nervous laugh.
It’s been quite the journey for Hall thus far in the NFL.
He’s gone from enjoying the highs of his days at UNT to being an undrafted free agent of the Los Angeles Chargers (2019), waived and then signed by the Minnesota Vikings (2019), waived and then signed by the New Orleans Saints (2020), waived and then signed by the Cowboys (2020), and subsequently waived and then signed once again by the Chargers (2021) — where he was awarded live game action for the first time in the NFL.
After playing in 18 games for the Chargers, the bulk of his work being on special teams (334 total) with minimal defensive reps (21 total) sent his way, Hall was waived by the Chargers and signed by the 49ers (2023) before joining the Cowboys, again, this past July.
With a journey like that, no one understands better than Hall that every single rep matters.
“I’ve worked so hard to stay in the mix,” he said of his NFL career. “And every opportunity that’s come around, I try my best to capitalize on it, and I’m grateful for that.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity right now. The [pick-six versus the Raiders is] everything. I really wanna be on the 53-man roster — being productive on the squad. I worked so hard in the offseason to stay in the mix. Even though things might not go my way, I got released, but God had something bigger for me.
“I just stayed ready, and when the opportunity comes, I try to capitalize.”
His success in Las Vegas was not a coincidence, film readily proving Hall’s nose for the ball both in the two preseason outings and in practice, where he had a multiple interception day in Oxnard on Aug. 6, grabbing one against Cooper Rush and the other against Trey Lance.
When he isn’t intercepting the ball, he’s in the vicinity just narrowly missing out on one; and that’s a testament to both his work ethic and, as noted, the teachings of a coach like Al Harris.
“Al always preaches about the ball,” Hall said of the Cowboys’ assistant head coach and defensive backs coach. “He said if you’re not touching the ball, you’re not doing something right. That’s what he harps on everyday. Once you get that mindset about the ball, you’re gonna try to find it.
“It’s just like second nature.”
And it’s clearly exactly that, second nature, for Bland and Diggs as well — Hall in awe of what they’re able to do on a football field and, as such, is a sponge soaking up as much of their aura and football IQ as he possibly can seeing as, at no point in his arduous journey, has he ever been in a room and on a roster with a record-setting cornerback … let alone two of them at the same time.
For Hall, this is a chance to inhale greatness with the hopes of exhaling some of his own in 2024 and beyond.
“Watching them operate everyday, their knack for the ball, I just ask them questions like, ‘How’d you read that so fast?'” said Hall. “They give you the game piece by piece and you just try to put it in yours and make plays.”
If what happened in Vegas is any indication, he’s been taking notes. It’s now on to the preseason finale against, guess who, the Los Angeles Chargers with a chance at showing them they made a mistake, twice, in letting him go and that the Cowboys made the right decision in bringing him back this summer.
It’s kismet at its most cosmic level.
So, folks, how’s your forehead?
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The Cowboys will host 2024 “Cowboys Night,” presented by American Airlines, at The Star in Frisco on Aug. 27-28. For more details visit www.DallasCowboys.com/TrainingCamp.
Dirt track racing legend Scott Bloomquist is believed to be the sole fatality in the crash of a single-engine, vintage plane on the Bloomquist family farm in Tennessee on Friday morning.
He was 60.
NASCAR titan Kenny Wallace on Friday called Bloomquist “the greatest dirt racer to ever live.”
The Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the remains are “believed to be that of Scott Bloomquist,” but official identification will come later from county forensics officials.
Reid Millard, owner of the popular dirt track Moberly Motorsports Park in Moberly, Missouri, cited a Bloomquist family member when he reported on Facebook the crash took place on the Bloomquist family farm in Mooresburg, Tennessee.
The crash was reported to the Hawkins County Rescue Squad at 7:47 a.m. on Brooks Road, near the address for Scott Bloomquist Racing, the driver’s organization, team, shop and merchandise shop.
The squad also indicated in its statement that the plane crashed into a barn and set it ablaze. A body was removed from the aircraft and sent to forensics investigators, it said.
Only the pilot was on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The plane was a Piper J3C-65 Cub, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash.
The model debuted in 1937 and was deployed by the U.S. Army in World War II, according to the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Dirt track racer and journalist Nick Graziano said in an obituary for the World of Outlaws racing website that Bloomquist was 60. He’s also listed as 60 in a dirt racing series announcement on his planned return to the track from March.
Bloomquist was inducted into the Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2002. His accomplishments also include the following: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion in 2009, 2010 and 2016; World of Outlaws champion in 2004; DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion in 1990, 1991 and 2002; driver with the most wins in the Hav-A-Tampa Series and Lucas Oil Series.
Dirt track racing, around since the 1920s, includes two main types of vehicles: tall, winged, open-wheel sprint cars, and more traditionally bodied stock cars or “late model” cars, which Bloomquist drove.
Dirt tracks can attract some of motor sports’ most skilled drivers, particularly those from stock car racing looking for an edge, because it involves nonstop attention to steering and acceleration. The cars are on a constant hunt for balance and traction as they race in a tail-out drift a majority of the time on their short tracks.
Bloomquist started his career in California, according to the World of Outlaws obituary, but eventually moved to Tennessee so he could help on the family farm and continue racing.
NASCAR legend Tony Stewart, speaking on social media platform X, said Bloomquist “made dirt racing better.”
“Scott Bloomquist was one of a kind, and he’s probably the smartest guy I’ve ever been around when it comes to dirt racing,” Stewart continued. “What he could do behind the wheel of a race car was matched by the ingenuity he put into building his race cars.”
Wallace agreed in a video on X: “It’s a very sad morning for me. He was the smartest dirt racer of all time.”
Bloomquist planned to return to dirt track racing with fuller participation than the occasional race he participated in during his later years, according to the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series in March. It isn’t clear if he made that return.
In his statement, Millard, the track owner, said: “Along with Scott’s daughter Ariel his parents his sister and along with all of you who knew and loved Scott — you are in our hearts and prayers of all our Millard Family.”
He continued, “God’s speed Scott. May you fly high on an Eagle’s wing forever.”
Dennis Romero
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.
Tangni Noriega
Tangni Noriega is an assignment editor for NBC News.
Daniel Oyefusi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. Prior to ESPN, he covered the Miami Dolphins for the Miami Herald, as well as the Baltimore Ravens for The Baltimore Sun. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielOyefusi.
Cleveland Browns rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. was charged with domestic violence in Avon, Ohio, after allegedly threatening a woman with a gun Monday night, according to a police report.
Hall was arrested and booked Tuesday, a police spokesperson told ESPN. He pleaded not guilty, according to a clerk at Avon Lake Municipal Court. His bond was set at $10,000 and he has a hearing scheduled for Sept. 10.
According to a police report, Hall grabbed a handgun during an argument, pressed it against a woman’s temple and threatened, “I will f—ing end it all. I don’t care.”
The woman told police she is engaged to Hall and shares an 11-month-old child with him. She said the altercation began when she and Hall were discussing the financial needs of her daughter from a different relationship.
According to the report, the woman said that Hall screamed at her to leave the house, grabbed her by the feet and dragged her on her back down the driveway.
Hall left the house before authorities arrived, according to the report.
The woman’s mother corroborated details of her account in a written statement, according to the report, including that on Monday night she witnessed Hall strike her daughter on the head with a baby bottle, choke her by the neck, push her head through a wall and break open a bedroom door to drag her out.
Authorities observed several indicators of a physical altercation during a walk-through of the home, according to the report, and also saw two handguns lying on a mattress.
The police received the report of a domestic dispute at approximately 10:01 p.m. on Monday.
The Browns released the following statement on Tuesday morning: “We are aware of the incident involving Mike Hall Jr. last night. Mike and his representatives have been in touch with the appropriate authorities. We are in the process of gathering more information and will have no further comment at this time.”
“We have been in contact with the club regarding the matter, which will be reviewed under the personal conduct policy,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement.
The team did not practice Tuesday and will hold joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday and Thursday before hosting an exhibition game Saturday.
The Browns selected Hall with the No. 54 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Hall, a Streetsboro native, played college football at Ohio State University.
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. was arrested Tuesday and charged with domestic violence after police said he threatened his fiancee with a gun during a fight.
Hall was booked and arraigned at Avon Lake Municipal Court, said James M. Drozdowski, a public information officer with Avon Police. He posted bond and was released, the officer told The Associated Press.
Hall appeared in court with his attorney, Kevin Spellacy, who did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The Browns said in a statement they were aware of the incident involving Hall, a second-round pick from Ohio State.
“Mike and his representatives have been in touch with the appropriate authorities,” the team said. “We are in the process of gathering more information and will have no further comment at the time.”
The team did not practice Tuesday as players were only getting treatment and working out at Cleveland’s training facility in Berea, Ohio. The Browns are hosting the Minnesota Vikings for joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday before playing an exhibition game on Saturday.
A detailed incident report obtained by the AP said officers responded to a call at 10 p.m. Monday night from a woman who claimed that Hall had pushed her daughter and struck her with a baby bottle.
According to the report, the woman told police she is engaged to Hall and they share an 11-month-old daughter. The woman said their fight escalated after the couple were discussing financial needs for the child. The woman told police Hall is not the biological father.
The woman said Hall, 21, became “increasingly agitated,” threw her belongings outside and dragged her on her back along a porch and driveway. At one point, the woman said Hall put a gun to her temple and said, “I will (expletive) end it all. I don’t care.”
The woman did not seek medical treatment.
Hall locked the woman out of the house and left in a pickup truck, according to the report.
Police said they found evidence including a damaged door frame and a hole in a door the woman said Hall had punched. Officers also seized two handguns — a .40-caliber Glock and a 9mm Smith & Wesson.
20-time LPGA Tour winner becomes 35th member, joining an illustrious list of honorees
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Aug. 10, 2024 – With her gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Lydia Ko has reached the 27 points necessary for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. The 27-year-old New Zealand native achieved this milestone through a stellar career that includes LPGA Hall of Fame points earned for 20 LPGA Tour victories, highlighted by two major championship titles, two Rolex LPGA Player of the Year awards, twice earning the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy for the season’s lowest scoring average and now the Olympic gold medal. Ko becomes the 35th individual enshrined in the LPGA Hall of Fame, joining the ranks of the most accomplished and influential athletes in the history of women’s golf.
Ko is now a three-time Olympic medalist, taking silver at the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil and bronze at the 2020 Summer Games in Japan. On the LPGA Tour, Ko has amassed 20 LPGA Tour victories since 2012, including major titles at the 2015 Amundi Evian Championship and the 2016 Chevron Championship. She earned 18 of her titles since her rookie season in 2014, having won the 2012 and 2013 CPKC Women’s Open as an amateur prior to becoming an LPGA Tour Member. Ko was the 2015 and 2022 Rolex LPGA Player of the Year and won the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the season’s lowest scoring average, in 2021 and 2022.
Ko has seven wins on the Ladies European Tour, five wins on the WPGA Tour of Australasia and one win on the Korean LPGA Tour. She also partnered with Jason Day to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed-team unofficial event featuring PGA Tour and LPGA Tour stars, in December 2023.
Ko has set numerous Youngest Ever marks in her career. On Aug. 19, 2012, she became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history when she won the CPKC Women’s Open at 15 years, 4 months and 2 days. She became the youngest player, male or female, to reach World No. 1 when she ascended to the top of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings on Feb. 2, 2015, at 17 years, 9 months and 9 days. Later that year, Ko became the youngest female major winner when she captured the 2015 Amundi Evian Championship at 18 years, 4 months and 20 days. She then became the youngest female ever to win two major championships at 18 years, 11 months and 9 days following her win at the 2016 Chevron Championship.
Now at 27 years, 3 months and 17 days, Ko becomes the youngest player to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame under its current criteria. Prior to March 2022, induction criteria included the requirement that a player be active on Tour for 10 years. Karrie Webb reached the 27-point threshold at age 25 with her victory at the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open but did not reach the 10-year requirement until age 30 in 2005.
“Lydia’s qualification into the LPGA Hall of Fame isn’t just a milestone in her extraordinary career; it’s a testament to her generational talent, having built an unmatched resume of success at such a young age,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “Beyond her unprecedented achievements on the golf course, Lydia has inspired so many through her perseverance, kindness, generosity, and commitment to leaving the game better than she found it. She is a role model to us all and particularly to young girls, to whom she has shown what a true champion is, in sport and in life. Cementing her place in the Hall of Fame by winning the gold medal here in Paris is iconic, and it is something we will all remember for a long time. We are immensely proud of Lydia’s achievements and the impact she’s made on the world of golf and in global sports.”
Lydia Ko’s Road to the LPGA Hall of Fame
Year
Tournament Name
Points
2012
CPKC Women’s Open
1
2013
CPKC Women’s Open
1 (2)
2014
Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic
1 (3)
2014
Dana Open
1 (4)
2014
CME Group Tour Championship
1 (5)
2015
ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open
1 (6)
2015
Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic
1 (7)
2015
CPKC Women’s Open
1 (8)
2015
Amundi Evian Championship
2 (10)
2015
Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA
1 (11)
2015
Rolex Player of the Year
1 (12)
2016
Kia Classic
1 (13)
2016
The Chevron Championship
2 (15)
2016
Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G
1 (16)
2016
Dana Open
1 (17)
2018
LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship
1 (18)
2021
LOTTE Championship
1 (19)
2021
Glenna Collett Vare Trophy
1 (20)
2022
Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio
1 (21)
2022
BMW Ladies Championship
1 (22)
2022
CME Group Tour Championship
1 (23)
2022
Rolex Player of the Year
1 (24)
2022
Glenna Collett Vare Trophy
1 (25)
2024
Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions
1 (26)
2024
Gold Medalist at the Paris Olympic
1 (27)
The most recent inductees of the LPGA Hall of Fame were Lorena Ochoa and eight of the LPGA Tour’s original Founding Members. Ochoa had earned enough points to qualify when she retired in 2010 after eight seasons but did not receive enshrinement until the 10-year requirement was lifted in 2022. These nine women were honored in March 2022 for their years with the LPGA Tour. Prior to that, Inbee Park was the last player enshrined in the LPGA Hall of Fame when she earned the honor in 2016.
To qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, members of the LPGA Tour must meet a minimum point threshold of 27 points, earned by the following criteria:
Must have won/been awarded at least one of the following titles/honors
An LPGA Tour major championship
Glenna Collett Vare Trophy
Rolex Player of the Year
Must have accumulated a total of 27 points
One point for each LPGA Tour official tournament win
Two points for each LPGA Tour major tournament win
One point for each Glenna Collett Vare Trophy honor earned
One point for each Rolex Player of the Year honor earned
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) — One gold short of the Olympic medal collection, one win away from the LPGA Hall of Fame, Lydia Ko pondered what it would be like to knock out both at the same time and said when she arrived, “It would be a hell of a way to do it.”
What the 27-year-old Kiwi didn’t share was her decision that the Paris Games would be her last Olympics. The goal Saturday in the women’s golf competition was never more clear.
“I knew the next 18 holes were going to be some of the most important 18 holes of my life,” Ko said. “I knew being in this position was once in a lifetime.”
She delivered a dream finish at Le Golf National with a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory. The win pushed her career total to 27 points for the LPGA Hall of Fame, one of the strictest criteria for any shrine.
Ko watched the documentary of gymnastics great Simone Biles, “Rising,” and was so inspired by one quote from Biles that she wrote it in her yardage book: “I get to write my own ending.”
This final chapter featured Ko building a five-shot lead, watching it cut to one over the final hour and then delivering a steady diet of pars until she made a 7-foot birdie putt at the end to finish at 10-under 278.
Esther Henseleit of Germany finished birdie-birdie for a 66 to make Ko work for it. Henseleit wound up with the silver. Xiyu Lin of China birdied the final hole for a 69 to take the bronze.
“I kept telling myself, ‘I get to write my own ending.’ I wanted to be the one that was going to control my own fate,” Ko said. “To have it end this way, it’s honestly a dream come true.”
Ko won the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro. She won the bronze in Tokyo. The missing one turned out to be more valuable than its weight in gold.
For Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Morgane Metraux and so many others, it was a day to forget. All of them were in range early. All of them fell back with mistakes that paved the way for Ko.
Catch up on the latest from Day 15 of the 2024 Paris Olympics:
This is the latest prize in a remarkable career for Ko, who won her first LPGA title as a 15-year-old amateur and rose to No. 1 in the world for the first time at 17. She began this year with a victory in Florida, leaving her one point short of the Hall, and had a spell this summer when she doubted she would get the last one.
Ko becomes the 35th player to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, and the second-youngest behind Australian great Karrie Webb to earn the required 27 points — two points for each of her two majors, one point for her other 18 LPGA victories, one point for winning LPGA Player of the Year (twice) and for the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average (twice).
And one big point for Olympic gold.
Ko needed only two putts from short range to win, and when the putt fell, she stepped away with her hand over her mouth and it wasn’t long before she began to sob.
The final round was harder than it needed to be. Ko was ahead of a tight chasing pack when it suddenly, shockingly, came undone for everyone but her.
Ruoning Yin of China, who got to within one shot of the lead, bogeyed two of three holes after she made the turn. Hannah Green was two behind until her tee shot went left into the water on the 10th for a double bogey, ruining her bold comeback from a 77 in the opening round.
Miyu Yamashita and Rose Zhang each played tennis on the ninth green, chipping from one side of the green to the other, back and forth, until both made double bogey.
And just like that, Ko was five clear of the field and the only drama appeared to be a wild race for the other two medals. At one point, 12 players were separated by two shots in what amounted to the B-Flight.
If only it were that simple for Ko.
She was cruising along, birdie looks on every hole, until she found the water on the 13th for a double bogey. That cut her lead to three shots, still plenty safe until Henseleit made Ko play her best down the stretch.
Henseleit watched from a red sofa in the clubhouse as Ko played the final few holes, never considering going to the practice range in case of a playoff.
“There’s just some players you know they’re not going to mess up coming down the last two holes, and she’s definitely one of them,” said Henseleit, the first European woman to earn an Olympic medal in golf. “I was happy sitting there enjoying my silver medal.”
Lin is the second player from China to win a medal — Shanshan Feng won the bronze in Rio — and she somehow avoided a playoff with the number of players in the mix.
The pint-sized Yamashita showed a big game, two off the lead, until she hit into the water on the par-3 16th and made double bogey. She had a chance to force a playoff for the bronze until missing a 35-foot eagle putt on the 18th.
Yamashita finished one shot out of the podium with a 73, along with Green (69), Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines (68) and Women’s PGA championship winner Amy Yang (69).
Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf and the gold medalist at the Tokyo Games, was right there in the mix until the closing stretch got her again. This time, she hit wedge in the water on the 15th for a triple bogey. She closed with a 75. For the week, Korda had a triple bogey on the 15th, a quadruple bogey on the 16th and a pair of three-putts bogeys on the 17th.
“I played pretty solid until the last couple holes,” she said. “Again, I feel like that was the story of my week. Other than that I played some solid golf.”
Zhang closed with a 74 with two birdies on the last three holes. Metraux, who shared the lead with Ko going into the final day, didn’t make birdie until the 15th hole and shot 79.
At the end, the stage, the podium — and the shrine — all belonged to Ko.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
