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Tyreek Hill detention leads to wild Trump insinuation from ex-ESPN personality

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Tyreek Hill detention leads to wild Trump insinuation from ex-ESPN personality

Jemele Hill, a former ESPN personality and current contributing writer at The Atlantic, insinuated a Donald Trump connection in the wake of Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s detention on Sunday.

The NFL player was detained during a traffic stop with Miami-Dade police officers before the Dolphins played the Jacksonville Jaguars. Video showed Hill handcuffed on the ground in an intense moment with officers. One officer was later placed on “administrative duties.”

The columnist fired off a theory about the detention on X.

Jemele Hill on the red carpet at the ESPN The Party event in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 3, 2017. (Kirby Lee-USA Today Sports)

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“A reminder that Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins, is a huge Donald Trump supporter – the same Trump who supports giving ALL police immunity from prosecution,” Hill wrote. “Do with that what you will.”

Ross hosted a Trump fundraiser in 2019, which drew backlash toward some of the companies he invested in like Equinox and SoulCycle.

Ross also founded the RISE program, which is a “national nonprofit that educates and empowers the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice and improve race relations,” according to its website. He left the board in 2022 and was named an emeritus board member.

In April, Trump promised to give police officers a blanket of protection following the death of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller. Trump promised to “restore law and order” and “indemnify” and “protect” law enforcement.

Trump was asked about his stance again at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in July when it came to the case of Sonya Massey, who was killed during an incident with officers in Illinois.

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Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reacts after the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Sept. 8, 2024. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

He said he would help a person who “made an innocent mistake,” according to Fox 32 Chicago.

“If I felt or if a group of people would feel that somebody was being unfairly prosecuted because the person did a good job, maybe with a crime, or made a mistake, an innocent mistake.… I would want to help that person.

OFFICERS’ HANDLING OF TYREEK HILL DETENTION ‘COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE,’ AGENT DREW ROSENHAUS SAYS

“Sometimes you have less than a second to make a life and death decision and sometimes very bad decisions are made. They’re not made from an evil standpoint, but they’re made from the standpoint of ‘they made a mistake.’”

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There was no indication there was any scheme involving Trump and Ross in the Tyreek Hill detention.

South Florida Police Benevolent Association defended officers involved in the incident. The police union’s president, Steadman Stahl, said Hill was detained for “officer safety after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger.”

“Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on the scene, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs,” the statement read. “Mr. Hill, still uncooperative, refused to sit on the ground and was therefore redirected to the ground.”

Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill speaks during a postgame news conference, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Stahl said Hill was issued two traffic citations and reminded those who happen to be involved with police officers to “obey lawful police commanders first and complain later.”

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He added that “while we are confident in the actions that led to the stop of Mr. Hill, as with any investigation, we will wait for all the facts to come out, along with any explanation Mr. Hill may have for his actions that initiated this unfortunate incident.”

Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, called the incident “completely unacceptable” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“What happened today to Tyreek at the stadium is completely unacceptable,” he said. “Tyreek did not deserve to be treated that way by the police involved. Tyreek’s legal team will be pursuing this matter on Tyreek’s behalf and I’m sure they will consider taking legal action.”

The wide receiver maintained he had “no idea” why police officers placed him in handcuffs.

“I wasn’t disrespectful because my mom didn’t raise me that way,” Hill said. “Didn’t cuss. Didn’t do none of that. Like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out, man.”

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Dolphins fans show support for wide receiver Tyreek Hill during the Jacksonville Jaguars game, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Hill said he wondered what would have happened if he had not been an NFL player.

“I don’t want to bring race into it, but sometimes it gets kind of iffy when you do,” he added. “What if I wasn’t Tyreek Hill? Lord knows what that guy or guys would have done. I was just making sure that I was doing what my uncle always told me to do whenever you’re in a situation like that, ‘Just listen, put your hands on the steering wheel and just listen.’”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Toronto Maple Leafs top pick Gavin McKenna reveals that he’s changing his jersey number

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Toronto Maple Leafs top pick Gavin McKenna reveals that he’s changing his jersey number

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Toronto Maple Leafs No. 1 draft pick Gavin McKenna has already been on the ice with the team as it held its development camp this week, but the highly-touted rookie is going to have to make a big change for this fall.

His number.

When he was playing for the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers and then again at Penn State this past season, McKenna wore the No. 72.

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Toronto Maple Leafs top pick Gavin McKenna has revealed that he’ll be opting for a new number for his rookie campaign. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

The expectation was that McKenna would wear No. 72 with the Maple Leafs, and he did so this week at development camp. Plenty of fans have also already ordered No. 72 jerseys with his name on the back.

On most rosters, No. 72 is unique enough that he wouldn’t run into any issues wearing it. However, on July 1, the Leafs signed two-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who has worn No. 72 for most of his career, except during his first two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, when he wore No. 35.

So, some were wondering how this would work out. Would the Leafs want their new franchise player to get his pick of the number litter, or would they defer to a two-time Vezina winner?

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Gavin McKenna wore No. 72 in juniors, as well as last season at Penn State. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

Well, it turns out that McKenna will be the one swapping numbers, and he’ll be switching to No. 92 this season.

McKenna had to get creative here because the obvious number changes were a no-go in Toronto. Adding 7 and 2 would be 9, but that was retired in honor of Charlie Conacher and Ted Kennedy.

Another option would’ve been to flip the digits and go with No. 27, but that was retired in honor of Frank Mahovlich and Darryl Sittler.

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So, 92 it is.

However, McKenna reached out to one of the three previous players to wear the number, Jeff O’Neill, to ask whether he was comfortable with him using it.

It’s fair to say he was down with the idea.

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McKenna will be a key piece of a Maple Leafs team that is looking to bounce back after a nightmare 2025-26 campaign that saw them finish last in the Atlantic Division.

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Dodgers’ Eliezer Alfonzo praying his sister and stepmother will be found in Venezuela

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Dodgers’ Eliezer Alfonzo praying his sister and stepmother will be found in Venezuela

It’ll be the culmination of nine minor-league seasons. But Eliezer Alfonzo‘s major-league debut on Sunday won’t include his family watching from Dodger Stadium.

Alfonzo’s younger sister, Eliana, and stepmother, Patricia, have been missing since last month when earthquakes caused widespread devastation in his home country of Venezuela.

“I’ve been trying to support my dad a lot, every day talking to him, trying to be with him,” Alfonzo said of the elder Eliezer Alfonzo, a retired major-league catcher. “It’s a little tough from here because I would like to be there with him, supporting him every day.”

His father, of course, would love to be in attendance for his son’s debut. He told him as much when he heard the Dodgers were calling him up.

The Dodgers switched their backup catchers Saturday, optioning Chuckie Robinson. They saw an opportunity to give Alfonzo some runway behind Dalton Rushing, with starting catcher Will Smith’s stay on the injured list expected to extend through the All-Star break.

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The elder Eliezer Alfonzo, however, is doing whatever he can to locate his wife and daughter. Their dog was found alive, which gave the younger Eliezer Alfonzo hope.

“We’ve just gotta stay together as a family, as a country,” Alfonzo said. “Because I feel like we’re a beautiful country, we’re a really beautiful people over there. It’s not just about my family, it’s all families that have lost people already. But we’ve got hope. We just pray, we ask God to give them back to us alive.”

Alfonzo’s locker in the clubhouse is next to countryman Miguel Rojas’ stall. Rojas’ wife, Mariana, and their two children were in Venezuela, planning to renew Mariana’s passport and seek Venezuelan citizenship for their children, when the earthquakes hit. They managed to stay safe and have returned to the U.S.

“I just want to be here for him,” Rojas said. “At the end of the day, that’s the best thing I can do for him, is being a good teammate and being a friend for him. Because I know there’s going to be ups and downs. He’s going to have a lot of time to be caught [up] in baseball, and that’s going to probably take his mind away from stuff. But sometimes he’s probably going to feel weak, and he’s going to start thinking about his family. So I’m going to be here, I’m right next to him. And that’s what I told him.”

Rojas, who played against the elder Eliezer Alfonzo for years in Venezuela, reached out Saturday morning and promised him he’d save the ball from his son’s first major-league hit.

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Kylian Mbappé’s seventh goal of the World Cup lifts France past Paraguay in physical Round of 16 match

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Kylian Mbappé’s seventh goal of the World Cup lifts France past Paraguay in physical Round of 16 match

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The United States may not have been in action on Independence Day, but France — who fittingly played an important role in the Revolutionary War — was on the pitch in Philadelphia against Paraguay in a massive Round of 16 clash for a trip to the quarterfinals.

It was a hot day in the birthplace of our nation, and that made things difficult for both teams in more ways than one.

While Paraguay is a great squad, they were significant underdogs against a heavily favored French team led by superstar Kylian Mbappé, who has been lighting it up this tournament.

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French and Paraguayan players get into a shoving match during their Round of 16 match on Saturday in Philadelphia. (Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)

Obviously, the heat itself is a factor, but it also made for a slower pitch, something that was believed to play into the hands of Paraguay.

However, most of the action in the first half was played on their end as France put the pressure on through the first half hour of the match.

It was intense, and that intensity boiled over in the 35th minute with some pushing and shoving after Mbappé and Paraguay’s Andrés Cubas started a wild shoving match.

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But while the intensity ramped up — and stayed high for pretty much the entire game — Paraguay weathered the storm and had every reason to feel good about reaching halftime with the game scoreless.

France got some more scoring opportunities in the early part of the second half, including a near-breakaway for Mbappé.

France’s Kylian Mbappe scored the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning goal against Paraguay on a penalty kick. (James Lang-Imagn Images)

In the 67th minute, France was awarded a penalty kick for a foul against Desire Doue that had to go to VAR for review, and it was Mbappé who took it.

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Mbappé has tended to do most of his damage in the second half, and that trend continued here with him drilling the penalty past Paraguay goaltender Orlando Gill.

That was his 19th career World Cup goal, and his seventh of this tournament alone, tying him with Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament lead.

Paraguay seemed to fade after the Mbappé goal, but turned it on again late, forcing Mike Maignan to make his first save of the day about 89 and a half minutes into the match.

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It seemed like Paraguay’s plan was to try and get a rise out of the French, and they succeeded in drawing three yellow cards. In fact, they even tried to keep that going after the match with players meeting near midfield for some more pushing and shoving.

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But France is moving on, and they will take on Morocco in a quarterfinal match on Thursday in Boston.

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