The Iranian government reportedly
threatened its national soccer team and the players' families - Colts coach
Saturday takes heat - Terrell Owens knocks down heckler outside a CVS - Auburn
hires new football coach
The Iranian government reportedly threatened its national soccer team and the players' families
The Iranian government allegedly threatened its national soccer team and the players' families, according to a report from the New York Post.
The Iranian team has been threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players do not "behave" in the lead-up to the game with the United States on Tuesday. Eight days ago, Iranian players stood silent as the national anthem was played before a match with England in a show of protest, remaining stony-faced and staring straight ahead, NBC reported.
Afterward, the players were called into a meeting with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and were told that their families would face "violence and torture" if they did not sing the national anthem or if they joined any political protest, CNN reported.
The allegations come as Iran has been facing persistent domestic protests for over two months. The protest began after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini (also known as Jina Amini) reportedly died in police custody after being arrested for improperly wearing her hijab.
Interim Colts coach Saturday takes heat for late game time management
Interim head coach of the Indianapolis coach Jeff Saturday is taking some heat for Monday night's loss to the Steelers for his management of the clock late in the game as the team ended up having two timeouts remaining at the end – and everyone noticed, Yahoo reported. The Colts were trailing 24-17 with all three timeouts left and picked up a fourth-down conversion right after the two-minute warning, ESPN reported.
Matt Ryan was sacked on first down with about one minute and thirty seconds left, and the clock kept running. Saturday didn't call a timeout until only thirty seconds were remaining. He defended the move saying he "didn't feel like time was really of the essence at that moment."
Terrell Owens knocks down heckler outside a CVS
Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens and a 49ers fan were coming outside of a CVS store in Inglewood, California, when a man started harassing the fan. Owens attempted to make peace until the man threatened to beat the fan and the six-time Pro Bowler. The aggressor threw the first punch, and Owens then landed a knockout blow. Owens left the scene, and police were reportedly not called, the New York Post reported. TMZ Sports obtained a video of the incident.
Auburn hires new head football coach
Auburn has hired its next head football coach, the school announced on Monday. Auburn signed a deal with Hugh Freeze, who spent the past four seasons at Liberty, where he led the team to its unprecedented heights and is widely regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game, ESPN reported.
"After a thoughtful, thorough, and well-vetted search, we ended where we started, with Hugh Freeze," Auburn athletic director John Cohen said in a news release. "Of all the candidates we considered, Hugh was the best fit. Fit has several meanings, but the most important factors were student-athlete development, football strategy, recruiting and SEC experience."