FOOTBALL
Eagles sign Tebow
The Philadelphia Eagles signed quarterback Tim Tebow to a one-year contract Monday, giving the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner his first shot in the NFL since the New England Patriots cut him before the 2013 season. The team announced the deal Monday but did not disclose financial terms. Tebow hasn’t played in the NFL since 2012 with the New York Jets. He worked as a television analyst last year with the SEC Network and ESPN. The 27-year-old player is still highly popular after leading Florida to two national titles and spending two seasons with the Denver Broncos. The Eagles already have four other quarterbacks on their roster: Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and G.J. Kinne. Tebow worked out for the Eagles last month and Chip Kelly later said that he’s always “been a fan of Tim.” Tebow had some success in Denver — including a playoff victory over Pittsburgh in January 2012 — but struggled with accuracy. He was known for running the ball and improvising. Kelly has had one of the busiest offseasons in the NFL, bringing in Tebow, Bradford and running back DeMarco Murray while trading away Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy and allowing Jeremy Maclin to leave in free agency.
m A person with knowledge of Adrian Peterson’s offseason workouts tells The Associated Press that the star running back has decided not to attend Minnesota’s spring strength and conditioning program. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation on Monday, the first day Vikings players gathered at team headquarters for supervised workouts. Peterson’s absence was expected, of course, given his expressed disinterest in returning to the organization. Even in a normal year, Peterson’s presence during the offseason has been rare. He spent some time in Minnesota last year to get acclimated to Coach Mike Zimmer’s staff, but Peterson’s preference has been to prepare with his personal trainer at home in the Houston area.
BASKETBALL
Williams wins Sixth Man
Toronto Raptors guard Lou Williams won the NBA’s Sixth Man Award. He was honored as the league’s best reserve Monday after averaging a career-high 15.5 points in his 10th season and helping Toronto win a franchise-record 49 games. Williams received 78 first-place votes and 502 total points from a panel of 130 sports writers and broadcasters throughout the U.S. and Canada. Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics finished second with 324 points (33 first-place votes). Two-time winner Jamal Crawford of the Los Angeles Clippers was third with 131 points (eight first-place votes). Williams came off the bench in all 80 of his appearances and averaged 25.2 minutes. He led or tied for the team lead in scoring 18 times, second most in the league for a reserve. The Raptors went 14-4 in those games. He also led the Raptors in free throw percentage (86.1) and made a career-high 152 3-pointers.
m Former Alabama guard Ricky Tarrant said Monday in a text message he is transferring to Memphis. He expects to graduate in May, which would allow him to play for his new team in the 2015-2016 season. Tarrant averaged 13.1 points per game for Alabama this past season, but he missed the Crimson Tide’s final 15 games with a foot injury. He averaged 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game while making 13 starts. New Alabama Coach Avery Johnson announced on April 10 that Tarrant was transferring and had been granted his release. Tarrant, 6-2, played two seasons at Tulane before heading to Alabama. He missed the 2013-2014 season because of NCAA transfer rules.
HOCKEY
Sharks fire McLellan
Todd McLellan is out after seven years as coach of the San Jose Sharks. The team announced Monday that he and the Sharks agreed to part ways after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003. McLellan, who had one year remaining on his contract, had a successful run with the Sharks despite the latest disappointing season and an inability for the team to get over the playoff hump and make the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. McLellan had a 311-163-66 regular-season record with the Sharks, the third best in the league since he took over before the 2008-09 season. But San Jose finished 12th out of 14 teams in the Western Conference this season and missed the postseason.
HORSE RACING
Antley going into Hall of Fame
Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Chris Antley, thoroughbreds Lava Man and Xtra Heat, and trainer King Leatherbury have been elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame. Antley, who died of a drug overdose in 2000, won the Derby in 1991 with Strike the Gold and in 1999 with Charismatic. In a career that ran from 1983 until his death at 34, Antley won 3,480 races and had purse earnings of $92,261,894. He won 127 graded stakes races and 293 overall stakes and was the leading North American rider by wins in 1985 with 469. He also won the Preakness Stakes with Charismatic and ranked in the top 10 nationally in wins each year from 1984 through 1987. On Halloween in 1987, Antley won nine races — four at Aqueduct and five at the Meadowlands — and in 1989 had a streak of 64 consecutive days with at least one win. Leatherbury, 81, ranks fourth all time with 6,449 wins. He has won 52 training titles in Maryland (26 each at Pimlico and Laurel) and four at Delaware Park and has career purse earnings of $62,792,375. He also has finished in the top 10 nationally in wins 18 times and in earnings four times and has won 23 graded stakes races and 153 overall stakes. In 1987, Leatherbury won the Grade 1 Hempstead Handicap with Catatonic and in 1994 won the Grade 1 Philip H. Iselin Handicap with Taking Risks. He also bred, owns and trains Ben’s Cat, a winner of $2.3 million. Ben’s Cat has won 22 stakes to date, including four graded events. Lava Man posted a career record of 17-8-5 from 47 starts with earnings of $5,268,706 and won seven Grade 1 races, more than any other California-bred in history. Lava Man won the Hollywood Gold Cup three straight times (2005-07), matching a feat Hall of Famer Native Diver accomplished from 1965 to 1967, and won back-to-back runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap in 2006 and 2007. Other significant wins included the Pacific Classic, Californian, Sunshine Millions Classic, Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap, Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap and Sunshine Millions Turf. His victory in the Whittingham in 2006 made Lava Man the first horse since Vanlandingham 21 years earlier to win a Grade 1 on both dirt and turf in the same year. Xtra Heat, the Eclipse Award winner for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2001, was bred in Kentucky by Pope McLean’s Crestwood Farm and sold as a 2-year-old for $5,000 at Maryland’s Timonium sale to trainer John Salzman Sr. and partners Ken Taylor and Harry Deitchman. She compiled a career record of 26-5-2 from 35 starts and had earnings of $2,389,635. Xtra Heat won 25 stakes races, 10 of which were graded events. The four will be inducted during a ceremony Aug. 7 at the museum in Saratoga Spring.
TENNIS
Granollers advances in Barcelona
Marc Granollers of Spain eased past Marinko Matosevic of Bosnia 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Barcelona Open on Monday. Granollers will play sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the next round, and said he would need to play “his best version to stand a chance” against the Frenchman. In a late match, Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia made fewer errors throughout to beat Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 7-5, 6-4, clinching the win with a powerful forehand passing shot. Gabashvili takes on defending champion and top-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan in the second round. Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal will play either Paolo Lorenzi of Italy or countryman Nicolas Almagro on Wednesday. Pablo Andujar of Spain and France’s Benoit Paire were among other first-round winners on Monday.
m Sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki was knocked out of the Nastase Tiriac Trophy in the first round on Monday, losing 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 to Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain on the first day of the tournament. Gimeno-Traver, who was runner-up in the Grand Prix Hassan II this month, earned his first win over the Serb in four meetings. Also, Malek Jaziri won 75 percent of his first service points to defeat Florian Mayer 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in just over two hours. Borna Coric of Croatia also advanced by defeating Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2).