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Sports

QB Nick Foles, released by the Chicago Bears this month, signs with the Indianapolis Colts to back up Matt Ryan

INDIANAPOLIS — Now Nick Foles and Frank Reich can start diagramming the “Indy Special.”The Indianapolis Colts announced Monday they signed Foles to a two-year contract that reunites the quarterback and coach who combined on a trademark play call to help the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl in the 2017 season.AdvertisementFoles adds depth behind 37-year-old Matt Ryan, the 2016 league MVP whom the Colts acquired from the Atlanta Falcons in a March trade. And the signing gives Reich a proven backup, someone he knows well and who had long been rumored to be Indianapolis bound.“I love Nick Foles,” Reich said last August when the rumors began after Carson Wentz injured his foot in training camp. “I haven’t talked to him, but I think he’s a great player, I think he’s proven that. I think he’s a great teammate. There’s nothing about Nick Foles that I don’t like. I think he’s a winner. He’s certainly a guy that fits our kind of culture, but he plays for the Chicago Bears.”Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] 3 Bears storylines to watch, including Justin Fields versus Mac Jones — and Lucas Patrick’s nasty edge ]Foles spent the last two seasons in Chicago but appeared in only one game in 2021. The Bears still were paying him under the four-year, $88 million contract he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019. The Bears released the 10-year veteran May 1.It didn’t take long for Reich and Foles to get back together.Two weeks ago, they appeared together in Buffalo at Reich’s Call to Courage Awards breakfast. Monday’s announcement means they’ll be spending time working at the Colts complex, figuring out how best to use Foles and maybe even replicate his touchdown catch in the Super Bowl that was dubbed the “Philly Special.”“Frank was the one who recognized before the playoffs that the way that we were designing plays for me wasn’t exactly my strength,” Foles said on a November 2019 conference call, referring to the only season they were together in Philadelphia. “He was someone who observed that and he impacted me because he recognized that in me.”ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 65Nick Sacrinty, left, played in 11 games during the Bears’ 1947 season. (Chicago Tribune)A backup to Wentz in Philadelphia, Foles took over late in the 2017 season when Wentz injured his knee. He led the Eagles to the Super Bowl, outdueled Tom Brady in a 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots and was the game’s MVP.He also helped the Eagles win a playoff game against the Bears at Soldier Field the next season before joining the Jaguars. Foles barely played in Jacksonville after breaking his collarbone in the season opener.He eventually landed in Chicago, where he backed up Justin Fields last season.[ [Don’t miss] 4 things we heard from Bears assistant coaches, including Justin Fields reinforcing expectations ]By adding Ryan and Foles, the Colts have solidified a position at which they didn’t even have a clear starter in mid-March. They traded Wentz to the Washington Commanders after just one season. They got Ryan for a third-round pick when it became clear the Falcons were looking for Ryan’s successor.AdvertisementNow, with two Super Bowl-playing quarterbacks, the Colts have one of the league’s most experienced quarterback depth charts.Foles has played in 68 career games (56 starts) with five franchises, including two stints with the Eagles. He has completed 1,277 passes for 14,003 yards with 82 touchdowns and 43 interceptions. He has started six postseason games with 1,633 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.The Colts released quarterback James Morgan to make room for Foles on the roster.

Sports

NFL quarterback Dwayne Haskins drank ‘heavily’ before dying on South Florida interstate

FORT LAUDERDALE — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins died with alcohol and ketamine in his system and had been out at a South Florida club where he drank “heavily,” records from the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office released Monday say.Haskins, 24, died April 9 after he was hit by two drivers on Interstate 595 near the Fort Lauderdale airport, first by a dump truck driver and then by the driver of a Subaru Outback, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.AdvertisementHaskins died from multiple blunt-force injuries, and his manner of death was an accident, the report says.[ RELATED: 911 calls released: NFL quarterback Dwayne Haskins had run out of gas before he was struck and killed on I-595 ]The Medical Examiner’s Office report says Haskins had been training in South Florida with his teammates, and they all went to dinner. Then Haskins and a relative went to a club, possibly in Miami, where they “drank heavily” and separated after a fight.AdvertisementHaskins’ alcohol levels were at 0.20 and 0.24, the toxicology report found from two separate samples. A driver is considered to be driving under the influence in Florida if the blood-alcohol content is at 0.08 or more.NFL quarterback Dwayne Haskins throws a pass in 2020 at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. Haskins died from multiple blunt-force injuries, and his manner of death was an accident, a medical examiner’s report says. (Joe Cavaretta / South Florida Sun Sentinel)A urine sample also came back positive for ketamine and norketamine, which is found in the body after ketamine is metabolized. Ketamine is “a dissociative anesthetic,” according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, that can be used as a sedative and pain reliever and also may cause hallucinations.The report does not say how much of the drugs was detected in the sample. It notes that Haskins’ medical history was unknown, but he did not take daily medications.The Steelers’ head of security told investigators Haskins did drink alcohol “heavily sometimes” and “would never take any unknown substances” and did not use illegal drugs other than marijuana, the report says.[ RELATED: Dwayne Haskins, NFL quarterback who died in South Florida, described as ‘selfless’ by coaches, teammates ]Drivers reported seeing Haskins “waving cars down” while in the shoulder on the westbound side of the interstate, the report says, before the Interstate 95 northbound exit.He had run out of gas, pulled over to the side of the highway and got out in search of fuel about 6:15 a.m., the Medical Examiner’s report says. The 911 calls started pouring in about 6:33 a.m.One woman who saw Haskins waving cars down told investigators she saw a man wearing all black, standing on the right shoulder of the road waving at cars. By the time she pulled over, parked and went to help him, he had already been hit, the report says.The driver in the dump truck told investigators a man suddenly appeared in the center lane he was driving in, sending him into the left lane. The Subaru driver tried to swerve to avoid hitting him, nearly hitting a median wall, the report says.AdvertisementTroopers found the abandoned car on the side of the highway with a woman inside. She said she had been with Haskins since about 7 p.m. Friday up until he got out of the car to find a gas station.The report does not say what Haskins relationship to the woman who was waiting inside the car was.[ RELATED: NFL QB Dwayne Haskins killed after getting hit by truck on I-595 near Fort Lauderdale airport ]Haskin’s wife, Kalabrya, told a 911 operator that her husband told her he was “stuck on the side of the highway” and would call her back once he got gas, according to the call released by FHP in April. But he never did.“I don’t want you to panic, but I’m going to be honest with you,” the 911 operator said. “We do have an incident on the highway, but I can’t confirm if that’s your husband or not.”Both drivers stopped and no criminal charges are expected to be filed in his death. Fire rescue crews pronounced Haskins dead at the scene at 6:48 a.m.In a statement released Monday through her attorney Rick Ellsley, Haskins’ wife asked for privacy and “for the public to withhold any judgment during this period while the law enforcement authorities continue to investigate and conduct their important work.”AdvertisementSun Sentinel staff writers David Fleshler and Chris Perkins contributed to this report.

Sports

Josh Donaldson gets a 1-game suspension for ‘inappropriate comments’ to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson

NEW YORK — New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson received a one-game suspension and undisclosed fine Monday for what Major League Baseball described as “inappropriate comments” made to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson during Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium.“There is no dispute over what was said on the field,” Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said in a statement. “Regardless of Mr. Donaldson’s intent, the comment he directed toward Mr. Anderson was disrespectful and in poor judgment, particularly when viewed in the context of their prior interactions.Advertisement“In addition, Mr. Donaldson’s remark was a contributing factor in a bench-clearing incident between the teams and warrants discipline.”Donaldson has elected to appeal.AdvertisementDonaldson was running between second and third base after Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s flyout to right ended the third inning when Anderson said Donaldson “made a disrespectful comment.”“Basically tried to call me Jackie Robinson: ‘What’s up, Jackie?’” Anderson said Saturday. “He made the comment and it was disrespectful and I don’t think it was called for. It was unnecessary.”Donaldson and Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal exchanged words before Donaldson’s fifth-inning at-bat, and the benches cleared.Donaldson admitted after the game, “I called him Jackie,” later adding: “I thought that was a joke between him and I because we have talked about it before. … He’s called himself Jackie Robinson. That’s why I thought it was funny between us.”Donaldson referred to a 2019 Sports Illustrated article that came out soon after Anderson’s bat flip against the Kansas City Royals and subsequent plunking made news.The article discussed a “have-fun barrier.”“I kind of feel like today’s Jackie Robinson,” Anderson said in the article. “That’s huge to say. But it’s cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I’m getting to a point to where I need to change the game.”Anderson expanded later, telling reporters on May 1, 2019: “Just more so on the side of I’m trying to have fun — and they don’t want me to have fun. So I think it’s cool when you bring excitement to the game and you bring something different. I think I bring something different to the game, and that’s a lot of energy and a lot of excitement.”AdvertisementDonaldson added on Saturday: “My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the matter. It was just off of an interview. … Just trying to defuse it, make light like, ‘Hey, we’re not trying to start any brawls or anything like that.’ Obviously he deemed that it was disrespectful and if he did, I apologize. That’s not what I was trying to do by any manner.”Sox closer Liam Hendriks on Sunday said Donaldson’s explanation was “complete bull(bleep).”Saturday’s bench-clearing incident was the second between the teams this season.On May 13 at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox loaded the bases with one out in the first. Gavin Sheets struck out and Yankees catcher Jose Trevino threw to third to try to get Anderson.Anderson made it safely by diving, but Donaldson, playing third, tried to nudge him off the base. The benches and dugouts briefly cleared.