Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
Georgia coach announces dismissal of Rara Thomas following arrest
ATHENS, Ga. | Georgia opened practice on Thursday without wide receiver Rara Thomas, who has been dismissed from the team following his arrest on charges of cruelty to children and battery.
Coach Kirby Smart said before Thursday’s practice he met with Thomas on Tuesday and informed the junior of the decision.
Thomas was arrested early Friday on felony charges of cruelty to children and misdemeanor battery charges. Georgia announced later Friday that Thomas was indefinitely suspended. Thursday’s announcement made the removal of Thomas from the team permanent.
Thomas was released on $3,500 bond Tuesday.
“I had a chance to sit down and meet with him face to face on Tuesday which I think was really important to let him know he can no longer be a part of the football team,” Smart said. “He understands that and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
Thomas had 23 catches for 383 yards and one touchdown last season and ranked as one of the team’s leading returning targets for quarterback Carson Beck.
It is the second arrest for Thomas in two years. Thomas, a transfer from Mississippi State, was arrested by University of Georgia police on Jan. 23, 2023, on a felony charge of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor count of family violence battery. The charges were dropped when Thomas entered a pretrial diversion program.
The latest charges also are regarded as family violence offenses.
Georgia was voted at the Southeastern Conference media days on July 19 as the favorite to win the league.
Georgia had six preseason first-team All-SEC picks, including Beck, running back Trevor Etienne, offensive lineman Tate Ratledge, defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse, linebacker Mykel Williams and defensive back Malaki Starks.
The preseason first-team picks did not include a receiver. The loss of Thomas takes away an experienced target after the losses of tight end Brock Bowers and wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint. Seniors Dominic Lovett and Arian Smith return as veteran wide receivers.
“We have depth at the top,” Smart said. “I think we’ve got to find more guys that can contribute in that room.
“I’m fired up about that group because we’ve got a good group of protectors around them, a good quarterback to get them the ball, and a good group of tight ends.”
Smart also has been forced to address repeated driving offenses by his players. He said players have been suspended and fined through the collective that provides name, image and likeness payments to the school’s athletes.
Georgia players have been involved in 24 driving-related violations (DUI, reckless driving or speeding), The Atlanta-Journal Constitution has reported, including a crash that killed a player and a recruiting staffer in January 2023. Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy were killed in a car crash on Jan. 15, 2023, just days after the Bulldogs won the national title game.
The Bulldogs open their season against Clemson on Aug. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
NFL’s revamped kickoff making it debut in the Hall of Fame game
CANTON, Ohio | The NFL’s new kickoff rule will make its debut when the preseason opens Thursday night with the Chicago Bears facing the Houston Texans.
While both teams are expected to sit starters, all eyes will be on the overhauled kickoffs during the annual Hall of Fame game at Tom Benson Stadium.
NFL owners approved a radical change for kickoffs in order to revive a “dead play” that saw a record-low returns last season.
For a standard kickoff, the ball will be kicked from the 35-yard line with the 10 kick coverage players lined up at the opposing 40, five on each side of the field.
The return team will have at least nine blockers lined up in the “set up zone” between the 30- and 35-yard line, with at least seven of those players touching the 35. There will be up to two returners allowed inside the 20.
Only the kicker and two returners are allowed to move until the ball hits the ground or is touched by a returner inside the 20.
Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air can be returned, or the receiving team can opt for a touchback and possession at the 30. Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air and goes out of bounds or out of the end zone also will result in a touchback at the 30.
If a ball hits a returner or the ground before the end zone and goes into the end zone, a touchback will be at the 20 or the ball could be returned.
If a kick goes out of bounds before the end zone, or hits the ground or is touched by the receiving team before reaching the landing zone, the return team gets the ball at the 40.
Owners agreed to a one-year trial of the new system that was heavily influenced by the kickoffs used in the XFL spring league.
Only 21.8% of all kickoffs were returned last season as both kicking and receiving teams too often chose to avoid the risk of a possible return.
The NFL estimates that more than half of all kickoffs will be returned this season. The goal is to increase the number of returns without making it more dangerous.
D’Onta Foreman to be released from hospital after neck injury
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. | Cleveland Browns running back D’Onta Foreman was expected to be released from a hospital Thursday after sustaining a neck injury during a kickoff drill in practice.
Foreman was immobilized on the field Thursday morning and flown by helicopter from the Browns’ training camp at The Greenbrier Resort to Carilion Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia. The team said X-rays and other imaging tests were negative and the 28-year-old will return to the team.
That was the news the Browns had hoped to hear after a scary scene hours earlier.
The team said Foreman took a “direct blow to the head that resulted in neck pain.” Foreman had movement in all of his extremities.
Foreman, who was wearing a protective, padded Guardian Cap over his helmet, was treated on the field by medical staff before being strapped to a backboard. He was driven a short distance from the facility in an ambulance and transferred to the helicopter for the fight to the hospital.
The Browns continued practice after Foreman was taken away. When it ended, head trainer Joe Sheehan addressed the team and players and coaches took a knee in prayer.
“It’s tough,” linebacker Jordan Hicks said. “It’s part of football. It’s probably the worst part of football, but we’ve got a great medical team and praying and hoping for the best.”
Foreman signed with the Browns as a free agent in March. He gives Cleveland some depth at the position as Nick Chubb works his way back from a season-ending knee injury and two surgeries.
Foreman is entering his seventh season. He was drafted by Houston in the third round in 2017 after playing at Texas.
Foreman played two seasons with the Texans, two with Tennessee and one each with Carolina and Chicago. He’s rushed for 2,326 career years and 14 touchdowns.
Last season, Foreman rushed for 425 yards and four TDs in nine games with the Bears.
U.S. shooter Sagen Maddalena breaks
an Olympic record
in qualification
CHATEAUROUX, France | The United States’ wait for a medal in shooting at the 2024 Olympics could be nearing its end after Sagen Maddalena laid down a marker by breaking the Olympic record in qualification for the women’s 50-meter rifle three positions event Thursday.
The U.S. is traditionally a power in Olympic shooting, but it hasn’t made the podium in the first six days of medal competition at Chateauroux, south of Paris.
Maddalena and China’s Zhang Qiongyue both scored 593, a record for this Olympic qualifying format, as they made it to Friday’s final as two of the top eight qualifiers. Maddalena had a perfect score of 200 in shots from the prone position.
“Clearly, I’m happy, and that was a very big mountain to climb. It was a big success, and I’m proud of it, but the work’s not done,” said Maddalena, who was fourth in the women’s 10-meter air rifle Monday.
Earlier, Ukraine picked up its second medal of the Paris Olympics as Serhiy Kulish took silver in the men’s 50-meter rifle three positions final.
“This medal is for my family and my country,” he said.
China’s Liu Yukun, the world record holder, scored 463.6 points for the win. Kulish had 461.3 for the silver medal, to add to the bronze fellow Ukrainian Olga Kharlan won in fencing Monday, while Swapnil Kusale won India’s third shooting bronze of the 2024 Olympics.
Judge removed from Olympics surfing panel
TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti | A surfing judge was removed from the Paris Olympics judging panel after a photo circulated online of him embracing a competitor along the shore’s edge in Tahiti this week.
During one of the competition’s off days, a commentator shared a photo on his social media showing Australian judge Benjamin Lowe posing alongside Australian surfing team member Ethan Ewing. Bede Durbidge, coach of the Australian team, was also in the photo.
The International Surfing Association released a statement Thursday saying it removed Lowe from the judging panel for the remainder of the competition to “protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition.”
“The ISA is aware of a photo circulating on social media in which one of the Olympic surfing judges from Australia is seen socially interacting with an Australian athlete and the team manager,” the ISA said. “It is inappropriate for a judge to be interacting in this manner with an athlete and their team.”
The decision was made in accordance with the ISA’s code of conduct and the International Olympic Committee’s code of ethics, it said.
Australia’s team management didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The surfing federation said it had “communicated with all judges and teams to remind them of their responsibilities regarding appropriate behavior.”
—From AP reports
