Thursday’s Sports In Brief

NFL

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have acquired star running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers for a haul of draft picks.

The Panthers announced the deal that sends McCaffrey back to the Bay Area where he starred in college at Stanford. They said it will be finalized when McCaffrey passes a physical.

The Panthers will receive picks in the second, third and fourth rounds of the 2023 draft, as well as a fifth-rounder in 2024, according to a person familiar with the terms. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were not announced.

Carolina had been seeking a first-round pick, but San Francisco had already dealt their 2023 first-round pick in a deal to draft Trey Lance last year.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott will be “in the lead chair as far as reps” for practice in the latest sign that the star quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys will return from injury Sunday against Detroit.

Coach Mike McCarthy left little doubt about the end of Prescott’s five-game absence because of a fractured thumb on his throwing hand. The quarterback said over the weekend he expected to play.

Prescott threw 40 passes during a scaled-back practice Wednesday coming off a late game at Philadelphia. The Cowboys (4-2) lost to the undefeated Eagles 26-17 with first place in the NFC East on the line.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady apologized for making a comparison between football and military deployment while interviewing NBA star Kevin Durant on the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s weekly podcast.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback said he used a “very poor choice of words” on the SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray” while he and Durant were discussing the difficulty of balancing a commitment to being highly successful athletes with life outside of sports.

“Earlier this week I made a statement about playing football and the military. It was a very poor choice of words,” Brady said. “I just want to express that to any sentiments out there that people may have taken in a certain way, so I apologize.”

Durant was a guest on the podcast Monday.

BASEBALL

HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve was more than happy to oblige when a fan ran onto the field and asked Houston’s star second baseman to take a selfie with him during Game 2 of the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

Security at Minute Maid Park had other plans, wrestling the man away from Altuve before he could click off the shot with his cell phone as the ninth inning was set to begin.

A group of six security guards and police officers pulled the man away before wrestling him to the ground, handcuffing him and escorting him off the field. An Astros spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press that the man was arrested.

NBA

Tony Brown, who officiated more than 1,100 NBA games over almost two decades, has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his family announced. He was 55.

Brown was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in April 2021 and recovered to the point where he was able to return to work in the NBA replay center last season. He entered hospice care in Atlanta in recent days, his family said.

Brown was selected to officiate a pair of NBA All-Star games, plus worked a game in the 2020 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat. He also worked championship-round games in the CBA and WNBA, plus was a WNBA All-Star official before moving to the NBA in 2003.

SOCCER

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo will be left out of Manchester United’s squad to face Chelsea, the club said after the Portugal international walked out of the team’s 2-0 win over Tottenham before the final whistle.

United manager Erik ten Hag said after Wednesday’s match at Old Trafford that he would “deal with” Ronaldo a day later.

Ronaldo will also train away from the first team until after that match, with United saying it fully backs the decision made by Ten Hag.

United would not comment on reports Ronaldo refused to come on as a late substitute. The manager has a regularly scheduled pre-game press conference Friday.

GOLF

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) — Tom Kim felt as much a spectator as a player in the CJ Cup, amazed at how Rory McIlroy produces so much power with so little effort.

Kim wasn’t too bad himself.

They were the star attractions on a beautiful morning at Congaree Golf Club, one of them pursuing the No. 1 world ranking, the other a 20-year-old who is quickly becoming one of the more popular players among his peers.

Trey Mullinax and former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland each had a 6-under 65. McIlroy and Kim, who played together in the same group with Rickie Fowler, were among those another shot back at 66.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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