Atlanta Falcons safety Keanu Neal‘s 2018 season has come to an end after just one game.

Falcons’ Keanu Neal Out For Season

The 23-year-old safety tore his ACL in the first half of Thursday night’s 18-12 season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Neal re-entered the field after halftime but eventually left the game definitively in the third quarter.

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Neal — a first-round pick by the Falcons out of the University of Florida in 2016 — played in the 2017 Pro Bowl and finished last season with just one interception and three forced fumbles. On Thursday, he logged a pair of tackles. Given his productivity thus far, it doesn’t appear that the Falcons will suffer immensely from losing Neal.

Second-year safety Damontae Kazee replaced Neal in Atlanta’s season opener this week.

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Another NFL player who was listed as injured on Friday was New York Giants outside linebacker Olivier Vernon, who will be unable to play in the team’s opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday due to an ankle injury he suffered during practice last week.

Meanwhile, Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey — who had recently sustained an ankle injury — is now listed as healthy to play in Sunday’s game.

Earl Thomas on Monday sent the Seattle Seahawks a clear message via an Instagram post: extend me or trade me.

Seahawks’ Earl Thomas Gives Team Ultimatum On deal

The 29-year-old safety has been with the team since being drafted as a first-round pick (No. 14) out of Texas in 2014.

“Always been the underdog ain’t nothing new,” Thomas captioned a photo of himself working out. “Extend… if you don’t want me let’s make a trade happen I understand it’s a biz.”

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Thomas, a six-time Pro Bowler, is now entering the last season of a four-year, $40 million contract extension. He is one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL on a per-year basis, a list he topped in 2014 when he first signed the pact.

Among the other actions the Seahawks have recently undertaken are the parting of ways with two defensive veterans: cornerback Richard Sherman, who was released, and defensive end Michael Bennett, who was traded. Defensive end Cliff Avril recently retired following an injury. Another Seattle safety, Kam Chancellor, recently posted a vague retirement message on social media.

According to ESPN, Thomas did not attend Seattle’s minicamp this offseason due to discontent with his contract scenario. The safety is set to earn $8.5 million this year. Several reports earlier this year claimed the Dallas Cowboys offered to trade Thomas during draft week.

This may have been in response to Thomas approaching Cowboys coach Jason Garrett following a game late last season and telling him “If you have a chance to get me, come get me.” Thomas’s plea was caught on a microphone:

Thomas later explained those comments to reporters in the locker room.

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“I don’t literally mean, ‘Come get me now,'” said the safety. “I’m still in the prime of my career. I still want to be here. But when Seattle kicks me to the curb, please, the Cowboys, come get me. This is the only place I’d rather be if I get kicked to the curb.”

The Seahawks’ training camp is scheduled to start on July 26.

Seattle Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor hinted at retirement in a long, vague Twitter post on Sunday, in which he cited his neck injury as a reason for stepping away from football.

Seahawks Safety Kam Chancellor Hints At Retirement

“To walk away from the game by choice is one thing, to walk away from the game because of the risk of paralysis is another,” 30-year-old Chancellor, who played his whole eight-year NFL career with the Seahawks, wrote.

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After sustaining a severe neck injury last year, Chancellor revealed in May that he would only keep playing if he was in sufficiently good health.

“If my body says don’t play, I’m not playing. I’ll listen,” Chancellor told 13News Now in May. “I’m a very good listener.”

On Sunday, the safety struck a different tone.

“I’ve played through all types of bruises and injuries at a high level. But this one, I just can’t ignore,” he wrote on Twitter.

Chancellor, a four-time Pro Bowler, signed a three-year, $36 million extension with the Seahawks last summer. According to ESPN, his 2018 salary of $6.8 million “became fully guaranteed in February, and $5.2 million of his $10 million salary for 2019 is guaranteed for injury.”

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The Seahawks drafted Chancellor as a fifth-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2010. He helped lead Seattle to a 43-8 Super Bowl victory over the Denver Broncos after the 2013 season.

The Washington Redskins have put second-year safety Su’a Cravens on the reserve/left squad list, thus ending his season nearly two weeks after he initially told the team he wished to retire.

Redskins Safety Su’a Cravens News

Cravens, 22, was first placed on the reserve list on Sept. 4. The 2016 second-round pick out of Southern California was spotted on the sideline of the Texas-USC game in Los Angeles on Saturday night standing near Redskins senior vice president of personnel Doug Williams, who was in town for his team’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.

“We sincerely hope that Su’a uses this time away from the club to reflect upon whether or not he’d like to resume his career in the National Football League in 2018,” the Redskins said in a statement Monday.

Cravens did not disclose a specific reason for his desire to retire, and instead only said he made the decision for personal reasons. The safety still has three years remaining on his contract with the Redskins. If he returns, the team still controls his rights for that length of time.

During a conference call Monday, coach Jay Gruden said before the news was announced that he had not spoken to Cravens since he was placed on the reserve list two weeks ago.

“I’ve seen him at USC, I’ve watched him at practice,” Gruden said earlier this month, when rumors began circulating that Cravens was no longer interested in playing football. “I’ve watched him play in games, and I know he loves football. So I don’t think that’s the issue. There are things weighing on his mind that he has to take care of. If he gets those things cleared up, then sure, we will take another look at him. He is one of our guys.”

According to ESPN’s John Keim, the Redskins could replace Cravens with either rookie safety Montae Nicholson — a fourth-round draft pick from Michigan State who is 6-foot-2 and weighs 216 pounds — or D.J. Swearinger, a fifth-year veteran who signed a three-year deal with Washington in March after spending one full season with the Arizona Cardinals.

Nicholson was injured in the Redskins’ 27-20 victory over the Rams on Sunday, although the injury (AC joint sprain) is not believed to be serious.

“He is a big, physical guy that can run, and we are excited about his prospects,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Monday. “Nothing against [Deshazor] Everett; we are just trying to get him out there and get him some reps. We know how important that position is. The last couple years we have had a lot of injuries, so we are trying to get all our guys ready to play.”

“Montae has all the traits to be a great safety. We just have got to get him in there and get him some experience, and the more experience he gets, the better he will get.”

The Redskins (1-1) next host the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

TAMPA, FL – AUGUST 31: Defensive back Su’a Cravens #36 of the Washington Redskins warms up before the start of an NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on August 31, 2016 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

Detroit Lions legend Yale Lary, a Pro Football Hall of Fame safety, died Friday morning at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, at the age of 86.

Lions Pro Football Hall Of Fame Great Yale Lary Dead at 86

The Pro Football Hall of Fame confirmed the news.

Lary played 11 years for the Lions (1952-53, 1956-1964), and interrupted his NFL career in Detroit by serving in the U.S. Army. The nine-time Pro Bowler, who was also named All-NFL five times and selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979. Lary was also included in the 2009 inaugural class of the Pride of the Lions. His nine Pro Bowl appearances are the third-most in Lions franchise history.

“Yale Lary lived a life of character that will serve as great inspiration to generations of fans,” Pro Football Hall of Fame CEO David Baker said in a statement. “His legacy will forever be celebrated at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.”

Baker also called Lary a “true American hero.”

“He was defined by his heart and character that made him one of the game’s greatest players,” Baker added. “Yale led by example and raised the level of all his teammates that resulted in multiple league titles for the Detroit Lions. Those same traits were on display during his service to our country as a member of the United States Army.”

Lary served as a defensive back, kickoff returner and punter. He recorded 50 interceptions and averaged 44.3 yards per punt and helped the Lions win three NFL titles in 1952, 1953 and 1957. His rookie year with the Lions (1952), Lary recorded four interceptions, and logged another five intercepted the following season.

“On behalf of my family and the Detroit Lions, I would like to extend my deepest, personal sympathies to Mary Jane and to his children Yale, Jr. and Nancy Jane on the passing of Yale,” Lions owner Martha Ford said in a statement. “As his Hall of Fame career indicates, Yale truly was one of our all-time great players and one of the greatest of his generation. As good as he was on the field, he also was a genuinely wonderful person, one whose company and friendship Mr. Ford and I greatly cherished.”

The late safety described the Lions as a close family.

“What I remember best of those times were not the games we played — the only one that sticks in my mind was the ’53 championship game when the pass to Jim Doran beat Cleveland in the last few minutes — but the closeness of everybody on the team,” Lary said in 1979. “I was talking to Torgy [former lineman Laverne Torgeson] just last night and we agreed there never was a team like the Lions of the 1950s. It was just one big happy family — our family against the rest of the football world.”

Lary also played minor league baseball during his NFL off-seasons, and was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1958 and again in 1960 while remaining an active player.

Before his career in the NFL, Lary helped lead Texas A&M to a 22-21 victory over Texas his senior year, 1951. That marked the first time in 12 years the Aggies defeated their greatest rival. In that championship game, Lary ran for a 68-yard touchdown and caught a 37-yard scoring pass. That same year, he propelled A&M’s baseball team to the College World Series and set a Southwest Conference record for doubles.

Eric Berry is now the highest-paid safety in the NFL.

Chiefs Sign Safety Eric Berry to record six-year deal

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that the Pro Bowler has agreed to a new deal with the Kansas City Chiefs worth $78 million over six years.

The lucrative contract, which includes $40 million guaranteed and a $20 million signing bonus, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, makes Berry the top-paid safety in the league ahead of Arizona’s Tyrann Mathieu and Minnesota’s Harrison Smith. 

The deal seems well-deserved. The Chiefs failed to reach a long-term agreement with Berry last July after the sides were “miles apart” in contract negotiations.

Thus, the 28-year-old was forced to play under the franchise tag, something Berry, a seven-year veteran, had no intention of repeating in 2017.

“I want to end my career in Kansas City,” Berry said earlier this month. “I want to play there. I love the city, I love the vibe, I love my teammates. I really look at them more than teammates. We’ve been through a lot and they supported me a lot. And the organization. But I don’t feel comfortable playing under the franchise tag this year.”

As recently as Sunday, Berry told The Kansas City Star he was “going to keep being patient” for a new deal, an approach that evidently worked for the Chiefs.

Bery was fantastic last season, earning All-Pro honors and finishing the year as the NFL’s eighth-ranked safety, per Pro Football Focus.

His incredible play over 16 starts only added to his big return from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which ended his 2014 season early before he bounced back to win Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2015.

The Chiefs are also reportedly set to release running back Jamaal Charles on Tuesday.

In other NFL news, the Vikings released running back Adrian Peterson on Tuesday, while the Washington Redskins placed a franchise tag on quarterback Kirk Cousins.

KANSAS CITY, MO – NOVEMBER 29: Eric Berry #29 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates his teams fumble recovery at Arrowhead Stadium during the third quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills on November 29, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Kent State safety Nate Holley has been suspended from the football team effective immediately after being arraigned on a first-degree felony kidnapping charge in Kent, Ohio.

Kent State Suspends Safety Nate Holley Following Kidnapping Charge

Police arrested Holley — a senior from Toledo, Ohio — on Friday, and he was given a court date on Monday, according to The Associated Press.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred last week in Franklin Township, Ohio. Little else is known about the incident, and the female involved has not been identified.

“We are aware of the situation and take this matter very seriously,” Kent State spokesman Eric Mansfield told the AP on Monday via e-mail. “He has been suspended from the team indefinitely.”

Holley leads the Golden Flashes and the nation in solo tackles this season, averaging 8.9 per game, and is second nationally in total tackles, averaging 12.3 per game. The first team All-MAC defender the last two seasons leads the Mid-American Conference in total tackles with 111 after nine games.

Kent State (3-6, 2-3) hosts undefeated Western Michigan (9-0, 5-0) on Tuesday night.

Holley’s twin brother, Nick, took over as Kent State’s starting quarterback earlier this season following injuries to two other QBs.

STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 3: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions avoids a tackle by Nate Holley #18 of the Kent State Golden Flashes during the second quarter at Beaver Stadium on September 3, 2016 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

Antrel Rolle, a former Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants safety, has officially retired from the NFL.

Ex-Cardinals, Giants Safey Antrel Rolle Announces Retirement From NFL

The three-time Pro Bowler — a former first-round pick who also won a Super Bowl — announced his retirement during an appearance Monday on “Good Morning Football.”

Rolle, 33, last played for the Chicago Bears during the 2015 season, but his campaign was cut short by a knee injury. He was released in May.

“I’m done, yeah, I’m done,” Rolle said. “I’m at peace. I’m at total peace. You know, like I said, going out, you’re 33 years old going on injured reserve last year, that’s going to scare a lot of teams away. I understand how the business works and I’m fine with that either way.”

The safety finished his career with 834 tackles, four sacks, eight forced fumbles, 69 broken up passes, 26 interceptions and five defensive touchdowns.

The Cardinals selected Rolle eighth overall out of Miami in the 2005 NFL Draft. He spent five years in Arizona, and was part of the 2008 team that lost Super Bowl XLIII. He made his first Pro Bowl during his final season in Arizona.

Rolle then joined the Giants in 2010, and established himself as one of the top safeties in the league over his five years with the team.

After losing a SuperBowl with the Cardinals, Rolle went on to win a national championship with the Giants in 2012 after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

He peaked statistically in 2013, racking up 98 tackles, two sacks, and leading his position in interceptions with six.

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – SEPTEMBER 21: Antrel Rolle #26 of the New York Giants carries the ball against the Houston Texans at MetLife Stadium on September 21, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Former NFL safety Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 18 years in prison following his guilty pleas of drugging and raping several women, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled Thursday.

Ex-NFL Star Darren Sharper Gets 18 Years For Drugging, Sexually Assaulting Women

Sharper, 40, was accused of drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states.

U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Sharper, six months after she rejected an earlier agreement that would have seen the former New Orleans Saints star serve nine years behind bars.

Milazzo added she could not understand how he did what he did, since he was college educated and obviously had grown up “in one of the most loving households.”

“We can never ignore the damage you inflicted on those women and society at large,” she said.

Sharper, jailed since February 2014, had pleaded guilty in federal court in New Orleans to drugging three women so he could rape them. He also has pleaded guilty or no contest in state courts in Louisiana, Arizona, California and Nevada to charges arising from allegations of drugging and raping women.

“I would like to apologize a thousand times,” Sharper said. He looked at the floor as he said, “I’m still trying to figure out why I made some of these choices. … I lived my life right for 38 years, then I took this path.”

His voice also broke slightly as he added his parent’s hadn’t raised him to behave in that manner.

Defense attorney Billy Gibbens requested leniency because Sharper’s testimony helped get “late” guilty pleas from two co-defendants who will be sentenced in October. Sharper will be sentenced on Aug. 25 in Louisiana state court, Gibbens said outside court.

Sharper, shackled and wearing an orange prisoner’s jumpsuit, on Thursday said he apologized to his victims “1,000 times,” and sounded genuinely remorseful.

“They didn’t deserve anything being a part of my heinous decisions,” he said sobbing.

An Arizona judge sentenced him to nine years and what both Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon and Gibbens said amounted to lifetime probation.

McMahon told the judge in court, “I don’t think Mr. Sharper has really wrapped his head around the fact that he is a serial rapist.”

Prosecutors suggested a 9-year prison term for Sharper under a multi-jurisdictional plea deal, but Milazzo rejected it in June as too lenient. The sentence she imposed, 18 years and four months imprisonment, was 15 months short of the maximum. Sharper also was fined $20,000.

Sharper is receiving the same sentence on each of three counts of distributing drugs with intent of rape, but they will run concurrently with each other and with state sentences, the judge said. She added he will be on three years’ supervised release after he gets out of prison, including “sex treatment conditions” and registration as a sex offender.

Sharper’s family exited the courtroom without addressing any reporters. Gibbens later stated that the federal sentence won’t affect plea agreements in the four state courts.

Sharper or his friend Brandon Licciardi, a former sheriff’s deputy in neighboring St. Bernard Parish, put anti-anxiety drugs or sedatives into women’s drinks so they could rape them, according to a 15-page statement signed as part of Sharper’s plea agreement.

Milazzo has scheduled sentencing Oct. 13 for Licciardi and a second New Orleans codefendant, Erik Nunez.

Like Sharper, Licciardi and Nunez admitted distributing drugs with the intent to commit rape. Their federal plea agreements say Licciardi has accepted a 17-year sentence, with 10 years for Nunez.

Sharper was named All-Pro six times and chosen for the Pro Bowl five times during a career that included stints with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. He played in two Super Bowls, one with the Packers as a rookie and one with New Orleans Saints when they won in 2010.

He ended a 14-year career in 2011. He began working as an NFL network analyst when women began informing police in several cities similar stories of blacking out while drinking with him and awakening groggy to find they had been sexually assaulted.

LOS ANGELES, CA FEBRUARY 20: Former NFL safety Darren Sharper pleads not guilty to charges of allegedly drugging and raping a pair of women he met at a West Hollywood nightclub, in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom February 20, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Sharper’s bail has been increased from $200,000 to $1 million. (Photo by Bob Chamberlin-Pool/Getty Images)