Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. hopes for bigger success in his second NFL season and he’ll bring a bigger body with him in pursuit of that goal. Harrison had a press conference at the team’s facility on Monday and one of the first questions concerned the 2024 first-round pick having a bulkier build than he had during his first NFL season. Harrison confirmed that there’s more of him this spring, which “just happened naturally” as a result of eating the right foods and the wideout said he’ll spend the rest of the offseason figuring out the best weight for him during the season. “I definitely put on some pounds,” Harrison said. “I think I added some muscle to my body a little bit. Still just trying to see how my body feels throughout OTAs . . . Kind of get that specific weight to settle in for training camp and go from there.” Harrison, who was the fourth overall pick last year, said “contested catch situations, run off the catch” when discussing areas he thinks that the added muscles could help him with in 2025. He had 62 catches for 885 yards and eight touchdowns to kick off his NFL career.

The fan who filed what appears to be a frivolous lawsuit against the NFL over the draft-day free fall of Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders is committed to the bit. Via Ayrton Ostly of USA Today, the fan who inexplicably sued under the John Doe pseudonym has filed an emergency motion for early and targeted discovery. The plaintiff, citing “the urgency, public interest, and volume of evidence likely to be in the exclusive possession of the NFL,” seeks: (1) emails and text messages between and among a broad range of team and league officials regarding Sanders from April 1, 2025 through May 1, 2025; (2) scouting reports, internal assessments, draft boards, and interview notes used by NFL teams when evaluating quarterbacks during the 2025 draft; (3) avoid and video recordings of team meetings, draft room communications, or NFL Scouting Combine sessions involving Sanders; (4) communications with third-party media outlets regarding the public portrayal and narrative regarding Sanders before the draft; (5) all documents regarding the NFL’s investigation regarding the prank call placed to Sanders; (6) results or report of the inquiry into why Sanders’s personal phone number was provided to NFL teams via the waiver wire; and (7) the 61-page arbitration report that found evidence of collusion against Black quarterbacks. We’ll give John Doe credit. Even though the lawsuit seems to be destined for dismissal for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, he seems to be knowledgeable regarding the areas of factual inquiry that proving a case like this would entail. And we’re on #TeamJohnDoe, if it means getting a look at the arbitration ruling from earlier this year that, for whatever reason, neither the NFL nor the NFL Players Association will discuss. (We’ve heard that the arbitrator found reason to believe that collusion happened as to the refusal to give guaranteed contracts to certain veteran quarterbacks including Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson, but that the NFLPA failed to prove financial damages.) Still, the motion for early and targeted discovery undoubtedly will be denied. There’s nothing pressing or compelling about the case that would require the NFL to open its files before having a chance to prove why the case should be thrown out of court, with prejudice. Complicating the case is the fact that the plaintiff is proceeding without a lawyer. In such situations, the presiding judge usually shows extra lenience to the non-lawyer who is attempting to pursue justice. Still, based on the complaint that was filed immediately after the draft, there seems to be no basis for finding that the plaintiff’s rights were violated.

CHICAGO — There is a new landmark at the home of the Chicago White Sox — Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2. That’s where Father Bob — the future Pope Leo XIV — sat for Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. The White Sox unveiled a graphic installation Monday that pays tribute to the new pontiff and that moment during their last championship run. The pillar artwork features a waving Pope Leo XIV, along with a picture from the TV broadcast of the future pope sitting with good friend Ed Schmit and his grandson, Eddie. The team also is planning to do something to commemorate the Rate Field seat the pope occupied during the 2005 World Series opener. “When people come into the ballpark, it’s an interesting piece of our history and they’re going to want to see it,” said Brooks Boyer, the chief executive and marketing officer for the White Sox. “So we’re going to be able to put something on that seat.” Robert Prevost became the first pope from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church when he was elected on May 8. The Chicago-born missionary, who took the name Leo XIV, is a White Sox fan, according to his friends and family. Prevost attended the World Series opener with Schmit, a longtime season-ticket holder who died in 2020. The White Sox beat the Houston Astros 5-3 on their way to a four-game sweep for the title. Eddie Schmit, 25, who works in the family’s day-care business, described the future pope as a great guy and kindhearted. “A lot of this is about the White Sox. It should be more about what kind of guy the pope is,” Schmit said. “You look at some of the things he’s done with his missions, I mean it’s incredible. He’s been in places that are so poor, just trying to help other people.” Prevost and Schmit knew each other through their work at a Catholic high school on Chicago’s South Side, and Schmit’s son, Nick, remains the account holder for the pope’s World Series seat. Ed Schmit used to tell Father Bob he was going to be the next pope, Schmit’s daughter, Heidi Skokal, said. “Right around when my dad was passing, Father Bob made sure, he couldn’t be there, but made sure he spoke with him and everything,” an emotional Skokal said. “And he said, ‘Father Bob, Father Bob, I know you’re going to be the next pope. I may not be here to see it.’ And he goes, ‘But I’ll be definitely looking down.’ And I’m sure he is today.” The White Sox, who have struggled on the field in recent years, and their fans have embraced their connection to the new pope since he was elected. The team said it sent a jersey and a hat to the Vatican after the announcement. Some fans have been dressing as the pope for White Sox games, and there are several different T-shirts that celebrate the team’s most famous fan. “The pope absolutely has an open invite to come back,” Boyer said. “To come sit in Section 140, to throw out a first pitch. Heck, maybe we’ll let him get an at-bat.”

The Packers have officially renewed their assault on the tush push. In advance of Tuesday’s ownership meeting, the Packers have submitted a revised proposal that turns the clock back to 2005, when both pulling and pushing of the ball carrier was prohibited. The move addresses the root cause of the tush push. Some 16 years after the league allowed pushing in part because the officials never throw a flag when it happens, the Eagles seized on the loophole and engineered it into their playbook. By making a general attack on all pushing of the runner, it no longer seems to be a direct assault on the Eagles’ signature play. Even though anyone with a functioning brain knows that’s what’s happening. The proposal requires 24 votes. The league reportedly was split, 16-16, on the Packers’ flawed proposal that prohibited immediate pushing of the player who receives the snap. If that had passed, it would have invited confusion and inconsistency among crews, along with a fresh avenue for claiming the fix is in if/when a subjective decision that a push was “immediate” turns a key touchdown or first down into a 10-yard penalty. The given reason for the proposal is player safety and pace of play. There is no data to prove that pushing the runner will create a safety issue — and no one has ever suggested that the tush push impacts the “pace of play” (except when a defense pinned against its goal line decides to keep jumping offside in the hopes of perfectly timing the move in order to stop the play). Here’s what will happen if this passes. First, although there may be an early effort to police downfield pushing early in the 2025 season at the direction of 345 Park Avenue, officials will go back to not calling a foul for assisting the runner. (It last happened in the 1991 playoffs, with a flag thrown against Tim Grunhard in a game between the Chiefs and Bills.) Second, the Eagles will still run a largely unstoppable quarterback sneak without the pushing of the tush. But, hey, the powers-that-be (possibly starting with the guys whose autograph is on every football) don’t like the tush push. It doesn’t look like football. It poses a safety risk, despite all evidence to the contrary. So it will be gone. It will create a horrible precedent. The league is coming up with phony reasons for banning a play that someone doesn’t like. And it raises an obvious question: What’s next? The lesson to all teams is simple. Keep on innovating. But beware. If you come up with something so good that it can’t be copied, they’ll find a way to stop you from doing it.

The Lions aren’t taking probably not for an answer. Detroit has resubmitted a proposal that strips the automatic home game for division champions and seeds all seven playoff participants based on record. The proposal, revised to make it read a little more cleanly, would take the seven playoff participants (division winners and three wild cards) and seed them based on record. Although the proposal came from the Lions and not from the Competition Committee, Detroit president Rod Wood admitted last month that the proposal was made at the behest of the league office. We thereafter reported that the Commissioner wants this change, in the hopes of making late-season games more compelling. By not putting the issue to a vote in March, the Commissioner didn’t take the L. Since then, he’s had time to twist arms and/or do deals in an effort to get to 24 votes. Under the current system, division winners often lock into a specific seed with a week or two left in the season. With no fear of losing their spot on the playoff tree, they can rest starters in Week 17 and/or 18. It’s all about ensuring that as many games as possible are interesting and compelling, so that the various and ever-expanding standalone windows will include games worth watching. The rule, if passed, also would eliminate the potential inequity of requiring a wild-card team with a superior record to travel to face a division winner with a lesser record. Still, it’s not about competitive fairness in the playoffs; it’s about trying to ensure that more games will be more interesting in the final weeks of the regular season.

Angel City's Savy King was discharged from the hospital Saturday following heart surgery after she collapsed on the soccer pitch this month, stopping the match and leaving her teammates visibly shaken. The team said King, a 20-year-old defender, was discharged from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and is home with her family and "resting comfortably" after heart surgery. It thanked the medical center for the expert care King received and added that it is prepared to support King and her family as she recovers. The team said last week that her prognosis is "excellent." It was not immediately clear whether and when she will return to soccer. "I’m still finding the words to express just how much your love and support have meant to me over these past few days," King wrote on Instagram. "What I do know is that I wouldn’t be getting through this without my incredible family by my side, my amazing teammates who have shown up for me and prayed for me, the fans, the entire soccer community, and the outstanding medical team here at ACFC who saved my life and cared for me every step of the way." King collapsed on the field in the 74th minute of Angel City's National Women's Soccer League match against the Utah Royals on May 9. Trainers rushed to her side before she was taken off the field on a stretcher and then to the hospital. While she was being evaluated, doctors discovered a heart abnormality, prompting surgery Tuesday to remedy the problem, the team said last week. No other information about the abnormality and the surgery have been revealed. The team asked for respect for King's privacy as recovers. "I'm looking forward to recovering and getting back out on the field!" King said on Instagram.

The 49ers and linebacker Fred Warner are reportedly on the verge of agreeing to a new contract. Warner’s camp and the team are very close to finalizing a multi-year contract extension, according to Jennifer Lee Chan of NBCSportsBayArea.com. Warner said on Saturday that after tight end George Kittle and quarterback Brock Purdy got new deals this offseason, he feels good about the direction the 49ers are heading in with getting deals done now so that they can focus on football during football season. “I think it’s obviously worked out really well being able to knock those things out earlier,” Warner said. “Allowing us to focus just purely on ball and getting better as a team, so things are moving in the right direction.” The 28-year-old Warner was a 2018 third-round draft pick of the 49ers who has been chosen as a first-team All-Pro in four of his seven seasons in San Francisco. Warner still has two seasons remaining on his five-year, $95 million contract, but he has a $29.2 million salary cap hit this season, and it would make sense for both sides to structure an extension so that Warner gets more money in future years while lowering his cap number for this year. That deal should get done soon.

After trading for wide receiver George Pickens this month, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said that the team does not view the former Steeler as a No. 2 receiver. The Cowboys’ incumbent No. 1 receiver doesn’t see Pickens that way either. CeeDee Lamb and Pickens were both in attendance at Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray’s charity softball game over the weekend and Lamb addressed how their partnership will work during an interview with DLLS Sports. “Now we both ones,” Lamb said. “It ain’t no A, B, none of that. It’s one. You look over there, you see one. You look over here, you see another one. So do what you gotta do with that.” Amari Cooper led the Cowboys in catches and receiving yards during Lamb’s rookie season in 2020, but Lamb took over both spots the next season and has been the unquestioned top dog in the Dallas passing game the last three years. Pickens may not match his numbers, but it’s clear that the Cowboys see their offense taking on a new look in 2025.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Striding down the 15th fairway Sunday at Quail Hollow, Scottie Scheffler couldn’t help but glance over his left shoulder, across the pond, as the only man standing between him and the Wanamaker Trophy was shrinking from the moment. Scheffler knew what Jon Rahm was capable of; it wasn’t long ago that he was measuring himself against Rahmbo. But things are different now, the stakes higher, their trajectories reversed. That was before Scheffler’s mind-bending consistency has kept him atop the world rankings for 140 weeks, third-most all time. That was before Rahm bolted for LIV, stunting their budding rivalry by limiting their on-course battles. And that was before Scheffler put up numbers not seen since peak Tiger Woods. Because with another display of surgical execution and steady nerve on the back nine of a major, it’s clear they’re all no match for Scheffler right now. Not just Rahm. The rest of ’em too. Scheffler took another step toward becoming a player for the ages by stabilizing himself after a few early wobbles, executing to near-perfection down the stretch and, ultimately, leaving little doubt. He won this PGA Championship by five shots – and that, he said modestly, was with nowhere near his best stuff. “I felt like this was as hard as I battled for a tournament in my career,” he said. In his increasingly legendary career, Scheffler has won with stirring comebacks at the Olympics and The Players. He has won with commanding coronations at the Masters and recent Byron Nelson. But this major runaway will be remembered for his grittiness and his tenacity, for his chilling effectiveness in crunch time. It’s why he raised his arms as the crowd chanted his name. It’s why he spiked his hat and screamed. It’s why, as he approached his family, his father Scott told him: “Words cannot describe what we just witnessed. You are so tough.” With a three-shot advantage at the start of the final round, Scheffler found just two fairways and four greens on the opening side to drop into a share of the lead with the hard-charging Rahm. Battling a left miss, Scheffler asked caddie Ted Scott if he noticed anything askew in his setup. Trying to lighten the mood, Scott quipped, “Aim further right,” but he actually may have been onto something. On the 10th tee, Scheffler closed his shoulders slightly, made a fuller turn and laced a 312-yard tee shot down the left side of the fairway. “There he is,” Scott said. From there, Scheffler didn’t miss a shot. He peppered the fairways and hit approaches pin-high and experienced not even the slightest bit of stress on the greens. He birdied the drivable 14th with a slick bunker shot and added a deft, two-putt birdie from the back edge on the reachable par-5 15th. He played the fearsome “Green Mile” stretch with a six-shot lead as Rahm, forced to get aggressive, imploded. “Most people throw in the towel, and he just has a way to dig deep,” Scott said later. “He has an ability to be like, Oh, no – you’re not coming after me, bud. Sometimes you have the game, sometimes you don’t. But when he’s feeling it, he’s so tough.” Scheffler’s major triumph had weighty historical significance, as it nudged him ahead of not just Rahm, his former rival, in the two-major club but the rest of those in his age division, too, from Xander Schauffele to Justin Thomas to Collin Morikawa. For the 28-year-old Scheffler, Brooks Koepka (five majors), Rory McIlroy (five) and Phil Mickelson (six) are also squarely in his crosshairs over the next few years. Of course, Scheffler doesn’t view his career achievements through that comparative lens. He wasn’t a grand goal-setter, didn’t plaster posters on his bedroom wall, never made any bold declarations about what he could become. When he ascended to No. 1 in the world for the first time in spring 2022, he said, earnestly: “I never got this far in my dreams.” When he admitted to sobbing before the final round of the Masters that year, it was because he had no earthly idea how, or why, life was coming at him so fast. And so even now, with a simple home life and extravagant career, he finds comfort in his inner circle and calm in the monotony of his simplistic routine. “When I can be by myself and I can just practice, it’s one of the most fun things for me,” he said. “It’s so peaceful, and I love the pursuit of trying to figure something out. You’re always battling yourself, and you’re never going to perfect it. There’s always something you can do better.” Of course, just when it seemed like he was running out of areas of improvement following a nine-win season, Scheffler suffered a freak hand injury over the holidays that required surgery. As he crammed for a return to competition without his usual practice, preparation and gym time, Scheffler battled the occasional wild miss off the tee, wasn’t as sharp with his scoring clubs and looked streaky on the greens. His frustration grew. He slammed clubs. He looked and sounded grumpy. Temporarily indisposed, only able to rack up five top-10s, other players filled the void. For them, at least, it was a welcome respite from his suffocating dominance. “A little fire in the belly doesn’t bother me in the least bit. Sometimes you have to let that out,” said Scheffler’s longtime swing coach, Randy Smith. “You can sit there and you can take jabs, and you can jab yourself. You’ll be all right. Just don’t throw any uppercuts into your own jaw, that’s all.” McIlroy was the story of the first half of the year, nabbing three significant titles and etching his name in history, but it may have been a brief diversion. The remember-me? reminder came three weeks after McIlroy’s Masters moment, when Scheffler shot 31 under par at the Nelson and romped to an eight-shot win in his hometown. Here at Quail Hollow, he became the second player since 1985 to win consecutive events by at least five shots. Just like that, his early-season fits have already been forgotten, his stats normalized, his mood lightened. “He never left in the first place,” Smith smiled. No, statistically, Scheffler is as good, if not better, than he’s ever been. Not since Woods two decades ago has a player possessed this rare combination of precision, touch and poise. Scheffler is the most accurate driver among the elite players. He is – by far – the most lethal iron player. He’s turned into an elite putter. He routinely ranks among the top scramblers. He records the fewest bogeys and, on the off-chance he does drop a shot, has nearly the highest bounce-back birdie percentage. “He’s maturing as a player,” Smith said, “and when you add good decision-making with good golf, he’s putting together some nice work. And it’ll get better and better.” His best work at Quail Hollow came in spurts. During a scratchy opening round, he overcame a mud-ball double bogey and played 2 under the rest of the way to get into red figures for the day. Needing to separate from a crowded leaderboard on Saturday, Scheffler hit eight perfect shots on Quail’s stout closing holes and gained more than five shots on the field in a five-hole stretch to snag a three-shot lead. Cameras captured Si Woo Kim and Max Homa’s dazed expressions in the scoring room after Scheffler vaporized them on his way to a 65 that marked the first time in his major career that he fired the lowest round of the day. “If I can hit it just as well and make every putt I look at, I’ll have a chance,” Matt Fitzpatrick snarked later. “But I don’t see Scottie bobbling it.” Actually, Scheffler did – three bogeys, uncertainty with his swing, a blown lead – and yet it still didn’t matter. Beginning with his striped tee shot down 10, he played six perfect holes to seize control of the tournament while everyone else around him folded. “The greatest gift that he has,” Scott said, “is his mental thought process and his ability to do what he did today, to not have his game, hang in there, stay tough, stay resilient, and then all of a sudden you find a little something, start hitting it good – and now you’re winning by a lot.” That’s happening more and more often these days. All three of Scheffler’s major victories have been by three or more shots, becoming the first to do that since Seve Ballesteros. He also joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win 15 times (including three majors) before the age of 29. The consistency, the dominance, the completeness of his résumé – it gives the impression that he’s not battling this current crop of players as much as he is the legends of the sport. “He’s got that fire, and there’s been no signs of dimming,” Smith said. “In fact, I think that fire is just going up a little bit.” Isn’t that a terrifying prospect? “Nope, not for me,” Smith said. “And not for him, either.”

Two weeks after entering the Kentucky Derby as the favorite only to finish second, Journalism appeared beaten again entering the final straightaway at Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, the middle leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Once trailing by as many as five lengths, Journalism was still far behind Gosger at the top of the homestretch as it squeezed between Clever Again and Goal Oriented — the horses so close they and their jockeys rubbed together — before finally finding open ground. From there, with jockey Umberto Rispoli urging him on, Journalism ran down Gosger at the post, needing all of the course’s 1 3/16th miles to author a stunning comeback victory at the 150th Preakness at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. It was the second Preakness victory for Journalism's trainer, Michael W. McCarthy, who previously won in 2021 with Rombauer. As the gap between the leader and Journalism widened, McCarthy said he was resigned to a loss. “My initial thought was, ‘Proud of the horse,’” McCarthy said. “‘Great effort, just gonna come up a little bit short.’” Except, the race was far from over. Gosger finished second, with Sandman third. “The horse is a champion,” Aron Wellman, a co-owner of Journalism, said on NBC in the winner’s circle. “Our jockey Umberto Rispoli is a champion. Our trainer Michael McCarthy is a champion.” Rispoli became the first jockey from Italy to win a Triple Crown race. “I wish everybody over there are proud of me,” Rispoli said. Journalism outlasted eight other competitors, a small field that did not include Derby winner Sovereignty, after trainer Bill Mott withdrew the horse due to the short turnaround between races. It marked the third time in the last four years that the Derby winner skipped the Preakness. The Triple Crown, Mott said earlier this month, is “not something we’re not going to think about.” It was the fifth time in the last seven years that the Preakness started without a true shot at the Triple Crown, a trend that has sparked a debate about whether the two-week turnaround between Triple Crown races has become antiquated. The field of nine horses was still anticipated as the trainers — including Bob Baffert and his record eight Preakness victories, and D. Wayne Lukas, who has won seven times at Pimlico over 44 years — had amassed a combined 19 previous Preakness victories. Journalism was still considered the favorite following the Derby and opened with 8-5 odds Saturday morning. By race time, it had become an even bigger favorite at 6-5. Yet its path to victory was made difficult only a quarter of a mile in Saturday, as Clever Again led entering the first turn, followed closely by Gosger and River Thames, with Journalism sixth. Both Rispoli, the jockey, and McCarthy, the trainer, said in post-race interviews they believed their horse was in trouble and might run hard, only to come in second, as at the Derby. Yet Journalism was in first at the end, right on deadline.