Founded five years ago as an advocacy group for athletes, the College Football Players Association announced on Monday that Stanford football players have formed the CFBPA’s first chapter led by active athletes — a first step toward what the group hopes will eventually become a collective bargaining unit.

Regarding who the athletes will negotiate with, CFBPA founder and executive director Jason Stahl points to the conferences.

“We are very optimistic that other chapters will be announced soon,” Stahl, a former faculty member at the University of Minnesota, told The Athletic.

After communicating with Stanford players for more than a year, Stahl met with more than 50 players at the school’s campus in Palo Alto, Calif., late last month. The Cardinal players elected fifth-year offensive lineman Fisher Anderson and fifth-year linebacker Ernest Cooper as player representatives.

“We (at Stanford) have always had a pretty tight relationship with the NFL Players Association,” Anderson said on a podcast produced by the CFBPA, which was founded with a goal of organizing players from major colleges. “Last year when this opportunity came about, it made me think if this is something that has had such a benefit on the National Football League, could it be done on the college football level?”

Stanford third-year defensive lineman Benedict Umeh echoed his teammate’s sentiment.

“Whenever I leave those meetings (with the NFLPA) I think, ‘Why don’t we have one of those?'” Umeh told The Athletic.

A bipartisan bill, the Protect College Sports Act, introduced in May by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), is unlikely to be voted on before the session ends in early August, The Athletic reported last week.

The bill aims to establish antitrust protections and national compensation standards for the NCAA and college conferences. Without it, college sports leaders believe that collective bargaining with athletes could create stability and ensure compliance with antitrust laws without needing government involvement.

“Standardization is necessary,” Umeh said. “The congressional bill could serve toward that purpose, give us the legal scaffolding to get everything in place. The issue with a congressional bill, in my eyes, is the players don’t get much of a say at all.”

This isn’t the first time college athletes have tried to form a union, but none of the previous movements have panned out, including Northwestern football players in 2014 and Dartmouth men’s basketball team in 2024.

Stahl in 2020 was involved in another athlete-organized movement initiated by Pac-12 players and, the following year, started the CFBPA.

In 2022, he attempted to organize Big Ten athletes to negotiate better long-term medical benefits and possibly a share of conference revenue. The plan also fizzled out despite some progress, especially at Penn State.

Although schools have been allowed to pay athletes directly since 2025 as part of a revenue-sharing plan, the athletes are not technically being paid to play. The compensation is for their name, image and likeness (NIL), and the players are regarded as independent contractors.

“The schools are paying us to play,” Umeh said.

A wide variety of state labor laws could make it difficult for the CFBPA to operate nationwide. Therefore, Stahl said the CFBPA hopes Division I players will establish local chapters and negotiate collectively with their respective conferences.

“College football players deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their athletic, academic and economic futures,” Stahl said. “Stanford football is the first of what the CFBPA envisions as 17 ACC football chapters, creating the framework for conference-wide player representation and, ultimately, collective bargaining.”

–Field Level Media

One win has put Jackson Koivun on the map. It might also be enough to get him a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Koivun won the 3M Open on Sunday in Minnesota in his third start since turning pro. The 21-year-old, a former college star and No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, went 25 under par at TPC Twin Cities and beat World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler by three shots.

Not only did it secure Koivun a two-year exemption on tour and an invitation to the Masters, it also put him in the playoff hunt.

Koivun jumped 124 spots in the FedEx Cup points race to No. 70, the final spot that will qualify for the first leg of the playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with two weeks to go in the regular season.

Koivun is ahead of recognizable names such as Australia’s Jason Day (No. 74), Keegan Bradley (No. 76), Brooks Koepka (No. 84) and Tony Finau (No. 87), who would miss the playoffs were the season to end Monday.

The 3M Open victory also vaulted Koivun from No. 206 to No. 73 in the Official World Golf Ranking. When Koivun entered the U.S. Open for his final start as an amateur, he was ranked No. 260; by making the cut and tying for 23rd there, he moved up to No. 217. He’d since climbed a bit higher after tying for 10th at the ISCO Championship.

Koivun was a three-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, a three-time All-American and a two-time national champion at Auburn. He turned pro ahead of the John Deere Classic in early July.

–Field Level Media

While many national baseball writers craft trades involving various Padres dealt to teams they see as playoff contenders, the National League wild-card race has turned back in the Padres’ favor.

A 5-5 road trip that ended with a sweep of Miami has enabled San Diego to gain ground on multiple teams ahead of it. And a six-game homestand that starts Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies appears to offer a chance to move further into the playoff picture.

The Padres are just two games behind Arizona, which holds the final NL wild-card spot, with seven games left against the Diamondbacks. They also have chances to overtake the likes of Pittsburgh and Washington, who they host in late-season series.

An offense that was the worst in baseball during the first half of the season seems to have found its best form. San Diego averaged 6.3 runs per game on its road trip as stars like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill finally, well, starred.

“If we keep playing like this,” said second baseman Jake Cronenworth, “we’re going to put ourselves in a position to make A.J. help this team.”

That would be general manager A.J. Preller, who rarely hesitates to make multiple blockbuster trades when just one would suffice. His history shows it would take a lot for the Padres to become sellers, even if the logic suggests it’s the right move.

They will try to get over the .500 mark Tuesday night behind Michael King (6-7, 3.24 ERA). He last pitched Wednesday night in Atlanta, allowing one run on five hits and four walks in six innings of the team’s 7-6 loss while fanning seven. King is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in four career outings against Colorado.

The Rockies counter with Michael Lorenzen (3-9, 6.53). He last worked on July 21 in his team’s 8-7 win over Washington, allowing seven hits and six runs over 3 2/3 innings with a walk and five strikeouts. Lorenzen is 1-3 with a 5.59 ERA in 17 career appearances (four starts) against San Diego.

While the Padres seek their third straight postseason appearance, Colorado is in seller’s mode. An 11-2 loss Sunday in Milwaukee dropped it 23 games under .500. While they will improve greatly over last year’s 119 losses, the Rockies might still reach 100 defeats.

The snapshot of this year’s team is familiar to Colorado fans. The Rockies boast a top-10 offense in average, on-base percentage, runs, and slugging percentage, but can’t get anyone out. They rank last in the majors in ERA (5.55) and opponents’ batting average (.289).

Colorado figures to flip assets into prospect capital while giving younger players like Cole Carrigg plenty of playing time the rest of the season. The center fielder has hit .287 with five homers and 26 RBI in 39 games since being called up, including a homer off a 101.9 mph fastball Sunday against Jacob Misiorowski.

“Just trying to be as short as I could, trying to get something over the plate,” Carrigg said.

“Honestly, we were scratching, clawing, trying to get to him in any way, shape or form,” said Carrigg. “Obviously, he throws real hard — great pitcher — but personally, I was just trying to be as short as I could, trying to get something over the plate.”

San Diego is 6-1 this year against Colorado, including a four-game sweep from April 9-12 at Petco Park.

–Field Level Media