National governments
FILE - The National Football League logo appears on the 50 yard line for NFL Super Bowl 56 in Inglewood, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. The NFL is telling a judge there are multiple reasons why a lawsuit brought against it by three Black coaches who allege racist hiring practices should fail. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
NFL gives defense against Black coaches' discrimination suit

By Larry Neumeister Apr. 21, 2022 04:29 PM EDT

FILE - Former NFL players Ken Jenkins, right, and Clarence Vaughn III, center right, along with their wives, Amy Lewis, center, and Brooke Vaughn, left, carry tens of thousands of petitions demanding equal treatment for everyone involved in the settlement of concussion claims against the NFL, to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, Friday, May 14, 2021. Black retired football players who were denied payments for dementia in the NFL's $1 billion concussion settlement can seek to be retested or have their claims rescored to eliminate racial bias in the testing and payout formula, under a revised plan finalized Friday, March 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Judge approves fix to stem race bias in NFL concussion deal

By Maryclaire Dale Mar. 04, 2022 12:20 PM EST

Former professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist Spencer Haywood shows an American Basketball Association glass ball with himself and his teammates depicted at his Las Vegas home Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Fights, drugs, racial tension: '70s spelled trouble for NBA

By Eddie Pells Dec. 16, 2021 02:19 AM EST

FILE - Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, and Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark speak before Game 1 in baseball's World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves, Oct. 26, 2021, in Houston. A five-year contract between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association expires at 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Ron Blum, File)
Key people and background in MLB labor negotiations

By Ronald Blum Nov. 29, 2021 05:16 PM EST

FILE - In this Friday, March 19, 2021, file photo, people line up to make sports bets at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, N.J. On Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, the NFL announced it is spending $6.2 million on a responsible betting program with the National Council on Problem Gambling to teach people how to bet on sports responsibly and to fund and expand treatment and prevention programs for compulsive gambling. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)
Column: Sports betting becoming more of a sure thing

By Tim Dahlberg Oct. 21, 2021 02:10 AM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2014, file photo, NFL lawyer Brad Karp leaves federal court after a hearing on the proposed NFL concussion settlement, in Philadelphia. Lawyers for the NFL and retired players filed proposed changes to the $1 billion concussion settlement on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, to remove race-norming in dementia testing, which made it more difficult for Black players to qualify for payments. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
NFL, players agree to end 'race-norming' in $1B settlement

By Maryclaire Dale Oct. 20, 2021 01:05 AM EDT

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2021, file photo, Dallas Cowboys' La'el Collins walks off the field during a preseason NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz. The NFL accused Cowboys offensive lineman Collins of trying to bribe a drug-testing official before he was suspended five games for a violation of the substance-abuse policy, according to court documents released Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
Judge denies request by Cowboys' Collins to halt suspension

Oct. 12, 2021 07:45 PM EDT

FILE- In this Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, a man walks by as betting odds for NFL football's Super Bowl 55 are displayed on monitors at the Circa resort and casino sports book in Las Vegas. Three years after the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and allowed states to legalize sports betting, the NFL has embraced gambling as part of the landscape. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Gambling wave coming to NFL TV screens, but in moderation

By Joe Reedy Sep. 07, 2021 05:28 PM EDT

FILE - This Dec. 4, 2011, file photo shows an exterior view of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome before an NFL football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions in New Orleans. Louisiana lawmakers Thursday, July 22, 2021, decide whether to let the New Orleans Saints make a new naming rights deal for the Superdome, after Mercedes-Benz' contract for its moniker to be emblazoned on the stadium has expired.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Louisiana lawmakers agree to add Caesars name to Superdome

By Melinda Deslatte Jul. 22, 2021 05:00 PM EDT

In this March 11, 2021, photo Debra Katz, an attorney for Charlotte Bennett, a former staffer who has accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of workplace sexual harassment, poses for a picture at her office during an interview with the Associated Press in northwest Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
For top #MeToo legal duo, a pandemic year brings no pause

By Jocelyn Noveck Jul. 11, 2021 12:17 PM EDT

Green Bay Packers' head coach Matt LaFleur watches during an NFL football minicamp Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The Latest: CFL clears hurdle in bid to return this year

By The Associated Press Jun. 10, 2021 03:36 PM EDT

FILE - Former NFL players Ken Jenkins, right, and Clarence Vaughn III, center right, along with their wives, Amy Lewis, center, and Brooke Vaughn, left, carry tens of thousands of petitions demanding equal treatment for everyone involved in the settlement of concussion claims against the NFL, to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, in this Friday, May 14, 2021, file photo. The NFL on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
NFL judge: Lawyers for Black players can join mediation

By Maryclaire Dale Jun. 03, 2021 06:09 PM EDT

FILE - This Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007, file photo shows Pittsburgh Steelers' Najeh Davenport in Pittsburgh. The NFL on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
NFL pledges to halt 'race-norming,' review Black claims

By Maryclaire Dale Jun. 02, 2021 02:23 PM EDT

Former NFL player Clarence Vaughn III, center left, and his wife Brooke Vaughn kiss before delivering tens of thousands of petitions demanding equal treatment for everyone involved in the settlement of concussion claims against the NFL, to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Retired Black players say NFL brain-injury payouts show bias

By Maryclaire Dale And Michelle R. Smith May. 14, 2021 01:09 PM EDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, July 12, 2017, file photo, New Orleans Saints super fan Jarrius "J.J." Robertson, right, accepts the Jimmy V perseverance award with his parents, from left, Patricia Hoyal and Jordy Robertson at the ESPYS at the Microsoft Theater on in Los Angeles. Jordy Robertson, whose seriously ill son Jarrius gained fame in New Orleans for his devotion to the Saints football team, was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday, May 11, 2021, for drug trafficking and for fraudulently capitalizing on his son's illness with a phony charity. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
8 years for dad of Saints 'super fan' in charity, drug case

By Kevin Mcgill May. 11, 2021 06:39 PM EDT

FILE - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport (44) sits on the bench during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Pittsburgh, in this Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, file photo. A federal judge on Monday, March 8, 2021, dismissed a lawsuit that challenged “race-norming” in dementia tests for retired NFL players, a practice that some say makes it harder for Black athletes to show injury and qualify for awards. Davenport was denied an award but would have qualified had they been white, according to their lawsuit. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
Judge tosses suit over 'race-norming' in NFL dementia tests

By Maryclaire Dale Mar. 08, 2021 11:49 AM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith appears before an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. Cardell Hayes, who fatally shot former NFL star Smith following a 2016 traffic collision, has a bond hearing scheduled Thursday, March 4, 2021, seeking freedom after his manslaughter conviction in Smith's death was overturned because his trial jury's vote was not unanimous. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Bond hearing for man who killed ex-Saints star Will Smith

Mar. 04, 2021 01:06 AM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith appears before an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. A lawyer for the man who fatally shot former NFL star Will Smith in 2016 said Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 he'll seek the man's release on bond now that a Louisiana appeals court has officially vacated the manslaughter conviction by a non-unanimous jury. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Verdict vacated; bond request next for ex-NFL star's killer

Feb. 23, 2021 06:58 PM EST

FILE - In this April 2, 1999, file photo, the late Harry Fujiwara, a former wrestler known as "Mr. Fuji," appears at a movie theater where he worked part time as an usher in Knoxville, Tenn. Fujiwara is among dozens of former pro wrestlers, named as plaintiffs in lawsuits charging that World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head injuries, who are taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Byron E. Small/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP, File)
Former WWE wrestlers take brain damage case to Supreme Court

By Dave Collins Feb. 18, 2021 04:16 PM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, New York Jets running back Joe McKnight (25) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. The new trial for Ronald Gasser, convicted of manslaughter in 2018 by a jury vote of 10-2 in the 2016 shooting death of McKnight following a traffic dispute, cannot include a murder charge, a Louisiana judge ruled Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court held that Louisiana law allowing convictions on 10-2 or 11-1 votes is unconstitutional, which resulted in Gasser being granted a new trial. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File)
New trial in ex-football hero's killing can't be for murder

Feb. 11, 2021 01:07 PM EST