Sports
Miami QB Cam Ward not taking field at combine, will throw March 24
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) drops back to pass against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first quarter during the Pop Tarts bowl at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images INDIANAPOLIS — Top-ranked quarterback Cam Ward came to the NFL Scouting Combine to interview with teams but will not participate in on-field workouts with the position group on Saturday.
Ward could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and met with the Tennessee Titans this week. Tennessee has the first overall pick but general manager Mike Borgonzi said the franchise is interested in trading the selection to accumulate draft picks in the top 100.
“Whether I go first round or second round, at the end of the day, that draft pick doesn’t mean nothing,” Ward said. “It’s all about establishing yourself once you get the opportunity.”
Ward plans to throw for scouts at the Miami pro day on March 24.
Ward threw an NCAA-record 158 touchdown passes. He had a total of 18,184 yards in five seasons at three different schools. He started his career at FCS program Incarnate Word (2020-21), transferred to Washington State (2022-23), then headed to Miami (2024).
“It’s a positive that he has that grit and determination to prove other people wrong,” Borgonzi said. “Every place he was at, he performed at a high level — that’s something you certainly take into account when you see someone that plays with that chip on their shoulder.”
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is another contender to be the top quarterback selected in the 2025 draft. The Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2024, he threw 37 touchdowns and completed 74 percent of his passes. He also won’t throw for scouts and coaches in Indianapolis this weekend.
Ward, 22, said he had nothing to gain taking the field at the Scouting Combine. His five seasons of production in college tell teams everything they need to know about him as a player, he said.
“The tape says everything,” he said. “I think just what separates me from everybody is the way I approach it, the mindset I have going onto the field each and every game.”
Ward said he watched multiple Titans games last season and found the route concepts and general framework of the offense to be so familiar that he believes he’s a “plug and play” fit for Tennessee.
“They’ve got unbelievable players. So I just hope that God puts me, you know, in the situation,” Ward said.
Sanders, 23, made two college stops and won big at Jackson State and Colorado playing for his dad, Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. He said NFL teams know he was a driving force in turnarounds at both college programs and should not hesitate to invest in him to do the same at the next level.
“I’ve done it over and over and over, so it should be no question why an NFL franchise should pick me,” he said Friday.
Overall, Sanders was 36-15 as a starter — 13-12 at Colorado — with 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He said he respects all of the quarterbacks in this draft class but views himself as the best option, even if NFL teams see it differently.
“The number where you (are picked in the draft) don’t matter,” Sanders said. “I reference Tom Brady, because he is the best of the best in all categories. He ain’t go first. So, the number you get picked don’t matter. I wasn’t the top-rated quarterback coming out of high school, because there are a lot of things that people will like and don’t like about me. I’m realistic, and I’m realistic about my family and everything that people say that comes with it.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Orioles 2B Jackson Holliday (hand) suffers setback
Sep 20, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday (7) looks on during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday will have an MRI following another setback in his recovery from a right hand injury.
The former No. 1 overall draft pick was removed from Triple-A Norfolk’s game against Memphis on Tuesday after he experienced discomfort during a swing.
Holliday, 22, has been working his way back to the majors since fracturing a hamate bone in batting practice in February. This is the second time in a week that he has experienced soreness in his hand and wrist.
“We’re getting him up to Baltimore for an MRI,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said following the team’s 6-5 loss at Kansas City on Tuesday.
Holliday played 11 rehab games at Norfolk from March 27 to April 12 and two games at High-A Fredericksburg on April 18-19 before returning to Norfolk on Tuesday. He is batting a combined .176 (9-for-51) with no homers and four RBIs in 14 games.
Holliday, the top pick in 2022 and the son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday, batted .242 with 17 home runs, 55 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 149 games with the Orioles in 2025.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Steelers owner has Ravens' fan seating moved at Pittsburgh draft
Apr 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; A general overall aerial view of Acrisure Stadium, the site of the 2026 NFL Draft. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Brotherly love is not in the air in Pittsburgh, where Steelers owner Art Rooney II ceases to give the franchise rivalry with the Baltimore Ravens a day off.
Rooney surveyed the stage and draft layout ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft in his home city and was surprised to find the chart called for Ravens fans to be seated in front of the hometown Steelers fans positioned outside of Acrisure Stadium.
He asked the NFL to do something about it.
“On the normal seating chart, I noticed that the Ravens fans were sitting in front of the Steeler fans in one section of the draft theater,” Rooney said in a radio interview with WDVE 102.5 FM. “So I asked (the NFL) to make that change — and they agreed to make that.”
The Steelers and Ravens both changed head coaches in the offseason but the rivalry remains intense.
Baltimore lost a virtual division championship game in the stadium where the draft is held starting Thursday and will pick 14th overall. The Ravens attempted to trade that pick and more to the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby, but general manager Eric DeCosta backed out of the deal for what he claimed were concerns with Crosby’s physical.
Pittsburgh has pick No. 21 in the first round Thursday but will be readily apparent Friday during a stretch in the second and third rounds in which the Steelers hold four picks between selections Nos. 53 and 99.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Led by CJ McCollum, Hawks look to seize series lead vs. Knicks
Apr 20, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum (3) and New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado (5) are separated by referee Zach Zarba (15) during the third quarter of game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images CJ McCollum is filling the exact role the Atlanta Hawks had in mind when they acquired him in January. The veteran is not only scoring plenty of points, but he’s also providing an experienced presence for a young team.
McCollum scored 32 points on Tuesday to spark Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback and 107-106 road win against the New York Knicks. The best-of-seven first-round series is tied 1-1 and shifts to Atlanta on Thursday for Game 3.
“I really liked CJ’s leadership as much as the shot making,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “CJ’s leadership was really good with the ball in his hands.”
The Knicks had been 40-1 in the postseason since the advent of the shot clock in 1954-55 when leading by 12 or more points after three quarters. The only loss was when Reggie Miller scored 25 points in the fourth for Indiana in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about over the course of the last couple of months,” Snyder said. “It’s a different type of leadership in my mind than he’s had at other times, because he’s got to find a balance of communicating and talking to the guys but still not losing his aggressiveness scoring the basketball.”
The mild-mannered McCollum also stepped into an unfamiliar role as villain. The crowd at Madison Square Garden, turned their vitriol — formerly directed at ex-Hawk Trae Young — toward McCollum. He just shrugged it off.
“I ain’t no villain, I’m a nice guy with two kids and a wife,” McCollum said. “I think it’s admiration. Great passionate fans in a really hostile environment. It’s fun, it’s basketball, it’s the playoffs.”
The Knicks lost the game despite 29 points from Jalen Brunson. He scored 10 of the team’s 15 fourth-quarter points when New York shot just 5-for-22 from the floor.
“We got the ball in the right people’s hands down the stretch and we didn’t convert,” New York coach Mike Brown said.
Brunson has been outstanding in both games. He scored 28 in the series opener. But Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 25 in the first game, scored only 18 — and none in the fourth quarter in Game 2. Brown blamed 14 turnovers, which led to 18 Atlanta points, and shooting 63 percent (17-for-27) at the line.
“At the end of the day we’ve got to lock in at the free-throw line, and we’ve got to take care of the ball,” Brown said. “And in that fourth quarter you could tell they were playing with a level of desperation. They got three of four 50-50 balls in the fourth quarter, which is what we use to measure the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter their aggression stepped up.”
The competition between the teams has been close all season. New York won the first playoff game 113-102, the most lopsided score this year. The Knicks won two of the three regular-season games by three points, while Atlanta had a two-point win.
“Atlanta did what they wanted to do. They came in here and took one from us at home,” Brown said. “In my opinion, you’ve got to be able to win on the road if you expect to get where you want to do. So, for us, we’ve got to go win on the road.”
–Field Level Media
Orioles 2B Jackson Holliday (hand) suffers setback
Steelers owner has Ravens' fan seating moved at Pittsburgh draft
