The Baltimore Ravens were without their two-time NFL MVP quarterback when Tuesday’s organized team activities (OTAs) began.

Why Lamar Jackson was absent from Tuesday’s media-open practice remains unclear. Monday’s voluntary OTAs were closed to reporters. New Ravens coach Jesse Minter offered little explanation but downplayed concerns about Jackson’s absence and suggested the star quarterback would return soon.

“Lamar’s been one of our leaders of the offseason program, and he had a couple things going on yesterday and today, and I do expect him to be back soon,” Minter said. “We’ve had some great conversations. I know when he’s going to be back and again, I’ll probably leave those between me and Lamar.”

Minter replaced John Harbaugh, who was dismissed in January after 18 seasons as the Ravens’ head coach. The New York Giants hired Harbaugh shortly after his departure from Baltimore.

Jackson’s attendance at voluntary offseason activities has drawn attention because of its inconsistency throughout his NFL career. It’s hard to say how much that matters, but it’s certainly an issue critics have pointed to from time to time. His contract, with two years remaining, has also been a significant topic lately after he and the Ravens did not agree to an extension before the start of free agency. Baltimore instead restructured Jackson’s deal to create cap space.

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The Ravens held minicamp in April — the first under Minter — and Jackson was in attendance.

At the end of Tuesday’s OTAs, the team took part in a little game in which players from the offense and defense competed at throwing medicine balls. Minter said that’s part of preparing the team to play well in the most important moments.

“We end practice every day (with an) ‘At our best when our best is needed’ period, and so that could be anything different. Today, we decided to do a little friendly competition,” Minter said.

“Right now, you can’t really do the football competition, and so I thought it would be something different, something fun. I try to get guys to not know what’s about to happen and answer the bell when their number’s called, and it’s as simple as that. That’s really all we’re trying to get done with that and make it fun, have the guys pull for each other.”

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Star running back Derrick Henry caused a brief scare after a knee-to-knee collision with another player. Though he stayed down momentarily, he later returned to practice.

“The ground felt like a bed for a little while,” he said. “And I saw you all (reporters) looking hot and bored, so I was like, ‘I need to give them something to tweet and write about.’”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The soundtrack of Super Bowl LXIV will have a Nashville, Tenn., twang because the NFL on Tuesday awarded the place known as Music City its biggest event — the championship game set to be played in February 2030.

The announcement was made at the NFL Spring League Meeting in Orlando following a review of the proposal by the NFL’s Fan Engagement & Major Events Committee and a vote by full ownership.

Owners voted 32-0 to approve the Music City Super Bowl.

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“The 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville was one of the great fan events in our history,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Super Bowl LXIV at the new stadium is the next step in this remarkable football journey. The vision of Amy Adams Strunk and the Tennessee Titans helped make this moment possible, along with our great partners at the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. We can’t wait to put on an unforgettable show in 2030.”

This could be the biggest thing for Nashville sports since the Music City Miracle in January 2000. And that happened because the Houston Oilers moved to Nashville in 1997.

The place has come a long way since then.

Nashville and the renamed Tennessee Titans are in the process of building a new $2.1 billion stadium, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2027 season. The new Nissan Stadium will be in operation for its third season when it is slated to host Super Bowl LXIV to culminate the 2029 season (played in February 2030).

 During what was billed as the Steel Topping Out ceremony at new Nissan Stadium in November, Goodell was very complimentary of the franchise’s facility, and even dropped hints that a Super Bowl could be headed to Nashville someday.

Now we know it’s happening.

“Hosting the Super Bowl is a defining moment for Nashville and Tennessee and reflects years of work to build Music City into a globally recognized destination for music, entertainment, and live events,” Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. President & CEO Deana Ivey said in a statement.

“This event is an incredible opportunity to showcase the dynamic and creative character of Nashville to a global audience and to deliver a Super Bowl experience that is distinctly Music City, where music, sports, culture, and hospitality come together in a way few cities can match.”

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Super Bowl LXI is set for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Feb. 14, 2027. Super Bowl LXII will be played at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Feb. 13, 2028.

And then Las Vegas will host Super Bowl LXIII in February 2029 with a date to be set later.

NFL owners on Tuesday also voted to approve holding the 2028 NFL Draft in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota bid was focused on the major event at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Twin Cities will hold other portions of the draft’s festivities at the Mall of America and other sites.

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After leaving New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and Marriott Marquis before that, the draft was in Chicago twice, and then in Philadelphia, Dallas, Nashville, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Detroit, Green Bay and Pittsburgh. Next year’s draft will be in Washington, D.C.

Pittsburgh set a record for NFL Draft attendance in April when 775,000 people attended the three-day event. The draft next year in the nation’s capital is expected to set a new record.

Long before Billie Jean King won dozens of Grand Slam tennis titles, founded the Women’s Tennis Association, became part owner of the Dodgers and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she enrolled in what was then called Los Angeles State College.

Three years later in 1964, King left without a degree to devote full attention to her burgeoning tennis career.

Failing to earn the degree bothered her, and King would correct anyone who said she had graduated.

“I said, ‘Don’t ever say ‘graduated.’ I haven’t earned it — yet,’” she said.

“Yet” became a reality Monday when King, 82, received her bachelor’s degree in history from the same school she attended more than 60 years ago — now called Cal State Los Angeles — walking across the Shrine Auditorium stage with the rest of the Class of 2026.

King also served as a commencement speaker, telling the roughly 6,000 fellow graduates, “It is a privilege for me to be here.

“Yeah, baby, only 61 years!”

King mentioned that “like many of you,” no one in her immediate family had graduated from college.

She noted that her lifelong fight against discrimination began when she realized at age 12 that nearly everyone at tennis clubs was white.

“I asked myself, ‘Where is everybody else?’” King said. “From that day forward, I committed my life to equality and inclusion for all. Tennis is a global sport and it became my platform, but equality was my dream — to make the world a better place.”

“We can never understand inclusion unless we’ve been excluded.”

Known then as Billie Jean Moffitt, she chose Los Angeles State because tennis coach Scotty Deeds trained men and women together. She soon became an international star, winning a Wimbledon doubles championship at 18 with Karen Hantze, who was only 17.

She married her college sweetheart Larry King in 1965 and they divorced in 1987. Afterward, King and Ilana Kloss, an accomplished tennis player in her own right, were a couple for decades before marrying in 2018 in a secret ceremony in the apartment of former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.

“You’re finding your truth, and it doesn’t have to stay the same,” King told People magazine at the time. “I only liked guys when I was young. I didn’t think about girls. And then all of a sudden I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’ My truth was changing over time. It took me forever.”

King became a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ and women’s civil rights and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 in part for her advocacy for equality. King and Kloss co-founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative to promote inclusive workplaces and gender equality.

Shortly after they married, King and Kloss became part owners of the Dodgers and the Sparks, acquiring undisclosed minority stakes in the franchises through an invitation from controlling owner Mark Walter.

“We believe all professions, and professional sports, need to be more inclusive and equitable,’’ Walter said at the time. “It’s going to be wonderful to have a role model like her in both clubhouses from time to time.’’

King returned to Cal State L.A. in the 2025 spring semester. She also earned course credit for her interaction with fellow students enrolled through the university’s Prison Graduation Initiative.

“They have made a commitment to improving their lives through education,” she said, and “getting their degree will be life-changing for them.”

King now knows the feeling firsthand. At the graduation ceremony on Monday, she wore a gold stole embroidered with a multicolored tennis racket and the letters G.O.A.T — greatest of all time.

“It means a lot more to me than I thought,” she told reporters. “I am so glad I did it. My hope is that one other person will go back to school.

“It’s never too late, whatever age you are, whatever your abilities are, go for it if you want it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.