Two fishermen accused of putting lead weights in fish in order to win a tournament in Ohio were indicted in Cleveland Wednesday for attempted grand theft, possessing criminal tools and misdemeanor charges of owning wild animals. They are set to be arraigned on Oct. 26.

The scandal broke on Sept. 30 at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Tournament, when Director Jason Fischer became suspicious of fish caught by Ohio resident Jacob Runyan and Pennsylvania resident Chase Cominsky.

Fischer cut the fish open in front of a large audience and revealed lead weights and walleye fillets stuffed inside. The fishermen were subsequently disqualified from the tournament, and a legal process is now underway to determine their guilt and the unlawful nature of the accusations.

If Runyan and Cominsky were not caught, they could have won nearly $30,000 in prize money, which could make them culpable of attempted grand theft, the primary charge against them. The pair had spent several months on an impressive winning streak in multiple tournaments. They had been accused of cheating on several occasions, but there had never been sufficient evidence to prove it.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in a statement that he intends to handle Runyan and Cominsky’s conduct in a criminal context.

“I take all crime very seriously, and I believe what these two individuals attempted to do was not only dishonorable but also criminal,” O’Malley said. “I would like to formally thank the officers with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Hermitage Pennsylvania Police Department, the Mercer County District Attorney’s Office, and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for their quick actions and their execution of a search warrant resulting in the seizure of criminal tools, including Defendant Cominsky’s boat and trailer.”

If convicted, the fishermen may have to serve several months in prison and would likely have to pay fines.

Fifteen-year-old Russian karting driver Artem Severiukhin has denied making a Nazi salute Sunday on the podium after winning his event at the FIA Karting European Championship in Portimão, Portugal.

Video footage suggests otherwise, though. Online footage shows the kid hitting his chest and then holding his right arm out as the Italian national anthem played. Laughter with people off camera ensued.

Severiukhin was competing under an Italian license after FIA banned drivers from racing under the Russian flag after the Ukraine invasion.

“It is not true, I have never supported Nazis,” he said and added that the laughter was just him celebrating. “I consider it one of the worst crimes against humanity.

“I know I am a fool and I’m ready to be punished but please believe that there was no intention in my actions. There was no support of Nazism or racism.”

FIA says it has opened an investigation and would “communicate shortly on the further steps that will be taken in this case.”

Russian athletes have repeatedly been taken to task for appearing to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s war in Ukraine.

Jackson State football player Abdul-Malik McClain was arrested in Los Angeles earlier this week on charges of fraud relating to COVID-19 unemployment money.

McClain, 22, pleaded not guilty to being the ringleader of a scheme that raked in at least $227,736 in unemployment payments. He was released on a $20,000 bond and ordered to stand trial on February 15.

The school has since removed McClain’s bio page from its athletics website. He’s charged with 10 counts of mail fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft that occurred while he was a member of the Southern Cal football team — he transferred to Jackson State last December.

Each mail fraud count carries a maximum 20-year federal prison sentence; the aggravated identity theft counts carry a two-year minimum.

McClain’s accused of causing “at least three dozen” fraudulent applications to be filed with the California Employment Development Department during the summer of 2020. The fraudulent applications sought at least $903,688 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits.

“While a member of his university’s football team, McClain organized and assisted a group of other football players in filing fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits, including under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program established by Congress in response to the pandemic’s economic fallout,” a press release states. “The indictment alleges that the claims contained false information about the football players’ supposed prior employment, pandemic-related job loss, and job-seeking efforts in California.”

The claims led to the authorization of Bank of America to mail debit cards to the claimants in their names.

“Those debit cards were loaded with at least hundreds of dollars, and sometimes thousands of dollars, in unemployment benefits, which the recipients used to make cash withdrawals at ATMs and to fund personal expenses,” according to the release. “In some cases, McClain sought and obtained a cut for helping others file fraudulent UI applications.”

McClain appeared in one game this season, recording three tackles against Louisiana-Monroe on September 18.

After a video surfaced this weekend showing cornerback Damon Arnette making death threats while brandishing firearms, the Las Vegas Raiders have decided to waive the second-year player.

“Very painful decision,” said Raiders general manager Mike Mayock in a conference call. “We spent significant time, effort and resources trying to help him in all aspects of his life. There have been a series of bad decisions over the last year or so, but we can’t stand, we cannot stand for the video of Damon with a gun, threatening to take a life. The content was unacceptable, contrary to our values and our owner Mark Davis has been very clear and very consistent that this is not how we will conduct ourselves in this community. The bottom line – the Raiders will not tolerate this type of behavior.”

Arnette, 25, had been on injured reserve since October 9. He is also facing lawsuits stemming from a Las Vegas car accident last October.

Mayock added that he had talked with Arnette, his father and others in his life, and “from my perspective, he’s a very talented young man with a good heart. He cleans up his life, I know he can make a living in the NFL. But not now, with the Raiders.”

Mayock acknowledged there was “significant concern” over Arnette’s character coming out of college, but the Raiders felt they could help him on and off the field and knew the Ohio State coaching staff well enough to trust its advice and take on Arnette.

“At the time, we thought it was an acceptable risk … after doing more homework on Arnette than anybody we’ve done in the years I’ve been here. And obviously, we missed, and that is 100% on me.”

The Raiders last week released receiver Henry Ruggs III in the wake of his car crash that claimed the life of 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog and has Ruggs facing felony DUI resulting in death and reckless driving charges that carry a possible sentence of 46 years in prison.

Ruggs and Arnette were the Raiders’ two first-round picks in 2020.

Las Vegas Raiders star Henry Ruggs III is facing a felony for driving under the influence charge after a collision left another person dead, as well as their dog, early Tuesday morning, authorities said. The Raiders later released Ruggs from the team.

Local police said Ruggs was driving a Chevrolet Corvette at 156 mph when he struck the rear of a Toyota Rav4. When officers arrived at the scene, the Toyota was in flames. Fire officials pulled a deceased victim, a 23-year-old woman, from the Toyota. Ruggs, 22, remained on the scene and showed “signs of impairment,” police said. He was transported to a local hospital with injuries. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Ruggs would be charged with DUI resulting in death. If convicted, Ruggs could face two to 20 years in prison.

His attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said they would be conducting an investigation and asked the public to “reserve judgment until all the facts are gathered.” The Raiders selected Ruggs with the 12th pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He played three years at the University of Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide win a National Championship in 2017. He was having a stellar year for the Raiders, serving as a deep threat. He tallied 24 catches for 469 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 19.5 yards per catch. He seemed to be coming into his own, and the Raiders sit at 5-2 and atop the AFC West. They seemed primed for a big season, with Ruggs being a featured part of that.

Now, the former first-round pick could face 20 years in prison, and his NFL career is almost certainly over. The Raiders offered condolences to the victim’s family on Tuesday. “We are devastated by the loss of life and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family,” the team said in a statement. “We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time.”

After his resignation as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Jon Gruden has now come under fire from former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver, Keyshawn Johnson.

The former NFL player and now current NFL analyst went on ESPN’s morning show Keyshawn, Jwill & Max to speak out on his feelings against his former coach. As Johnson, who was coached by Gruden in 2002 and 2003 when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, experienced first hand the real Coach Gruden.

“I didn’t know that Jon would say things like that and put ’em in an email,” Johnson exclaimed. “He’s just always been a fraud to me. He’s just always been a fraud to me. Never, never — from Day 1, he’s been a used-car salesman.”

“And people bought it because he inherited a championship team built by Tony Dungy and Rich McKay [Dungy was the Buccaneers head coach from 1996-01; McKay was the former Buccaneers general manager from 1994-03), and he came in there with a little bit of different energy than we had with Tony and it kind of kicked us over the top to get our world championship — which I am grateful for. But at the same time, I also saw through who he was, through that journey of getting a championship.”

Johnson then recalled the time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the National Football League championship, and Gruden took away the trophy from then-general manager McKay. “Think about it — we won the championship and we’re standing on the podium in the Super Bowl and the general manager’s trying to raise the trophy and the head coach takes the trophy from him, basically says, ‘Give me this, this belongs to me,” he said.

Johnson then explained why McKay left the Buccaneers. “And then the next year, general manager leaves in the middle of the season, because he doesn’t want to deal with all the shenanigans going on … Rich McKay left in the middle of the season to go take another job with another team because he didn’t want to be around this guy,” he said.

Johnson recalled the way Gruden would talk behind everybody’s back. “And he didn’t know that the players knew, but players are close to assistant coaches,” he said. “Patting you on the back on the practice field and then going inside of the coaches’ offices and film room is shredding you to pieces, and then see you 30 minutes later and act like y’all getting ready to go to dinner.”

After the 2003 season, Johnson was traded to the Dallas Cowboys.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer is under fire this week after a video that surfaced Monday showed a young woman dancing close to his lap at his restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. Meyer, 57, apologized in a team meeting on Monday and also said it was “stupid” to put himself in such a compromising position last Friday, one day after the Jaguars’ 24-21 loss at Cincinnati.

“I just apologized to the team and staff for being a distraction,” Meyer said. “Just stupid, and so I explained everything that happened and owned it. Just stupid. Should not have myself in that kind of position.”

Meyer did not fly back to Jacksonville with the team last Thursday night and instead went to Columbus to visit with his grandchildren. Meyer said he and family members went to his restaurant, Urban Meyer’s Pint House, on Friday night, and people at a nearby event asked to take photos with him. Meyer said he should have left when people tried to get him to dance with them.

“There was a big group next [to] our restaurant and they wanted me to come over and take pictures, and I did,” Meyer said. “They were trying to pull me out on the dance floor, screwing around, and I should have left.”

Meyer said his family was understandably upset after the nine-second video showing Meyer sitting at the bar in an Ohio State pullover while the young woman danced close to his lap was posted to social media on Saturday night and quickly went viral.

Roughly an hour after Meyer’s news conference Monday, another video emerged on social media that appeared to show Meyer touching a woman’s bottom while he was sitting at the bar. The woman appeared to be wearing the same clothes – jeans and a white top – as the woman in the first viral video.

Meyer said his players and owner Shad Khan were receptive to his apology. “I’ve always been so defensive of them [the players],” Meyer said. “I remember when Trevor [Lawrence] told me he was going to go to Vegas for his bachelor party. I was just like, ‘My gosh, man, be careful and surround yourself because I’ve seen this happen.’ The team, I spoke to a bunch of leaders one-on-one, spoke to all the players. They’re good. They’re focused on Tennessee. I apologized again for being a distraction. A coach should not be a distraction,” he said.

This is the latest controversy involving Meyer since he was hired in January. Meyer hired former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle, who was accused of making racist remarks and belittling and bullying players while at the university, in February, but Doyle resigned a day later after the organization was criticized for the hire by the Fritz Pollard Alliance. For the sake of the franchise, which has lost 19 straight games, hopefully, Meyer can figure it out both on the field and off it.

Earlier this year, former San Francisco 49ers player Dana Stubblefield was found guilty of raping a woman under the false pretense of needing a babysitter. On Thursday, Stubblefield received a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. The sexual assault reportedly occurred on April 9 2015 after his appeal was denied by Judge Arthur Bocanegra. 

Stubblefield played in the NFL for 10 years and is a former pro-bowler. And spent half of his time in San Francisco. The 49ers have declined to comment on Stubblefield’s trial.

During their commentary on Monday night, Fox Sports commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were caught on a hot mic lamenting the military flyover before the game which was held in an empty stadium.

After the Twitter firestorm that follows literally everything that happens these days, Aikman took to his Twitter account and clarified what he meant. “I love a flyover but It was odd to see one over a mostly empty stadium,” he wrote, “but I am an unwavering patriot that loves this country, has always respected our flag, supported the men and women in the armed forces as well as those in uniform who serve & protect and for anyone to suggest otherwise doesn’t know me, my beliefs or what I have stood for my entire life.”

It was estimated that a flyover like that costs taxpayers over $100,000.

Before Monday Night Football’s Bills-Chiefs matchup, a hot mic caught commentators Troy Aikman and Joe Buck lamenting a military flyover that took place over New Era Field, which was completely devoid of fans. Aikman and Buck criticized the money and jet fuel that the flyover likely cost the taxpayers with their back and forth ending with Aikman saying, “That stuff ain’t happening with Kamala-Biden ticket I’ll tell you that.”

It is estimated that the flyover would have cost American taxpayers over $100,000.

Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach apologized Thursday for a tweet that showed a woman knitting her husband a noose while being quarantined inside their home. The post was tweeted Wednesday night, but has since been removed by Leach. The caption above the woman read, “After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf ..”

The tweet tallied over 3,000 likes but Mississippi football players weren’t shy about what their coach decided to post. Defensive lineman Fabian Levett was the first to reply and it was clear he did not approve (shown below). Defensive end Kobe Jones backed up his teammate’s opinion as well.

Leach posted his apology on Twitter and said he wasn’t trying to upset anyone.

The 59-year-old was hired in January after coaching Washington State for the last eight seasons, but this isn’t a good look just two months into a new coaching job.

NFL free agent and former wide receiver Terrelle Pryor was hospitalized after being stabbed during a dispute in Pittsburgh on Saturday. He arrived at Pittsburgh’s Mercy Hospital around 4:30 a.m. and appeared to be in stable condition after surgery.

Police arrested 24-year old Shalaya Briston on suspicion of attempted homicide and aggravated assault. Pryor was charged with simple assault. Police say that both Pryor and Briston are mutual combatants in the incident.

Witnesses say Briston and Pryor lived together and co-signed the lease on the apartment where the altercation took place and that the two had a history of domestic issues. It is unclear on the status of legal representation for either Pryor or Briston.

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The incident began after the couple went out to dinner with a few witnesses and upon returning to the Heinz Lofts apartment complex, an argument turned physical. One witness says that Pryor grabbed Briston and they fought from the hallway into the kitchen. Pryor then pulled away grabbing his chest. Three woman drove him to the hospital and one witness is quoted as saying, “the only reason I’m here was to make sure that he didn’t die” and “we should have just let him die.”

Pryor, who was the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2008-2010, was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft. Since 2011, his stint in the NFL has included the Raiders, the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Cleveland, the Washington Redskins, the New York Jets, Buffalo and ending with Jacksonville in 2019. Signed and later dropped by some, he has only seen time with Oakland, Cleveland, Washington, New York and Buffalo.

Gregory Diulus, one of Pryor’s agents, said Pryor was with family at the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. His career in the NFL hangs in the air at this time and there is no word about his professional future in the league.

Calgary Flames General Manager Brad Treliving said this week he is looking into an allegation that head coach Bill Peters used a racial slur ten years ago.

The former player who accused Peters is Akim Aliu, a Nigerian-born player that Peters coached from 2008-10 on the Rockford Ice Hogs, a minor league team affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks and that plays in the American Hockey League.

Aliu claims that Peters and him did not get along because of the coach’s distaste in his music. Aliu tweeted on Monday that the protege of former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock had “dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn’t like my choice of music.”

Aliu also said he was the “first to rebel” against Peters because of his alleged use of the racial slur. The Flames are looking into this because Babcock was Peters’ coach in college.

According to Aliu, he was having a very good season that year for a 20-year-old and was on pace to score 20 goals. He claims Peters called two Chicago Blackhawks executives who were trying to get him demoted.

“Instead of remedying the situation he wrote a letter to John McDonough and Stan Bowman to have me sent down to the ECHL,” Aliu wrote of Peters.

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Aliu was ultimately sent to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL during the 2009-10 season. Aliu, who is originally from Africa, was raised in Canada and Ukraine. Later in his career, he ended up playing seven games in two seasons with the Flames.

“We’re aware of the tweet from former player Akim Aliu. Obviously we’re playing so I haven’t had the chance to sit down with Bill or our people internally to talk about this and get to the bottom of it.  We take these matters very, very seriously, ” said Treliving. The Flames said they would address the issue after they had an opportunity to discuss it internally.

John Skipper is leaving ESPN after five years in charge.

John Skipper ESPN resignation news

The network’s president announced his resignation on Monday, citing a long-standing “substance addiction.” Skipper, who turns 62 on Tuesday, had recently signed a contract extension through 2021.

“I come to this public disclosure with embarrassment, trepidation and a feeling of having let others I care about down.”

“I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction. I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem.”

Skipper had been at ESPN, a division of the Walt Disney Company, since 1997. George Bodenheimer, a former president for ESPN, will step in as the company’s acting chairman for 90 days.

In recent months, ESPN has been facing a string of problems. Pay-TV subscriptions have declined substantially as younger viewers switch to digital products and services, and the network has also laid off scores of employees, including about 100 workers this past summer. Two more employees were also recently fired for sexual misconduct, and the company also canceled a partnership with controversial media outlet Barstool Sports after one of the latter’s employees laced vulgarity at ESPN sideline reporter Samantha Ponder on social media.

Some hosts, like SportsCenter’s Jemele Hill, caused an uproar twice in recent months that led to her suspension from ESPN after she tweeted comments in which she lambasted President Donald Trump, for his response to the alt-right rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia in August and to the NFL national anthem protests.

On Monday morning, Hill took to Twitter again to praise Skipper for his mentorship since she joined ESPN in 2006.

In 1998, Skipper helped launch ESPN The Magazine. Seven years later, he became the network’s head of content.

Disney, which owns ESPN, announced this week that it had reached an agreement to purchase most of 21st Century Fox’s assets, including its 22 regional sports networks.

In the spring, ESPN will launch ESPN Plus, a digital streaming service that is set to stream more than 10,000 live events, although it won’t include games shown on ESPN or ESPN2.