Gymnast who sparked abuse inquiry into coach at elite US academy says she 'needed to speak out'
Free from the grip that Sean Gardner had during her years of training at an Iowa academy known for producing Olympians, Weldon told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that she is among the few who survived his abuse and are still in the sport.
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Eagles' All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson lands at No. 23 on the NFL's Top 100 list
Lane Johnson is the straw that stirs the Eagles' drink, and as he prepares for season No. 12 in Philadelphia, he's set to enter rare air among the NFL's elite. After a dynamic season that saw Johnson again earn All-Pro status, he landed at No. 23 on the NFL's Top 100 players list. Last season, Johnson ranked 1st among NFL RTs in PFF pass-blocking grade (88.1), pressure percentage (2.2%), and knockdown percentage (0.2%). He allowed zero sacks and 1 QB hit in 451 pass-blocking snaps. According to Adam Schefter, Johnson reworked his contract to add $8 million over the next two years and an additional $30 million in guarantees. As he closes out his career, the soon-to-be 35-year-old Johnson will earn $48 million over the next two years, including $40 million guaranteed. This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Lane Johnson is ranked No. 23 in the NFL's Top 100 Players of 2025
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Jerry Jones throws shade at Buffalo Bills' Super Bowl drought
The Dallas Cowboys haven't won a Super Bowl since its 30th iteration in 1995. But team owner and general manager Jerry Jones just wants to remind everyone that the Buffalo Bills' title drought runs much longer. The recently released Netflix docuseries about Jones' ownership of the Cowboys has an episode dedicated to Dallas' 29-year span without another Super Bowl championship. Throughout the drought, Jones has remained in control as the head of the front office in addition to his ownership duties. In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell, Jones flipped the script on his critics by throwing the Bills under the bus. JARRETT BELL: 'I bust my (expletive)': Jerry Jones defends Cowboys' marketing over winning 85518977007 "How long has it been since Buffalo won the Super Bowl?" Jones said. "Buffalo hasn't been chopped liver. They're solid. They're probably in the top third of the NFL." The Bills have won the AFC championship four times since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. All four of the titles were in consecutive years between 1990 and 1993. All four times, they lost the ensuing Super Bowl, including twice in a row against Jones' Cowboys in Super Bowls 27 and 28 (following the 1992 and '93 seasons, respectively). Jones said he remains confident that his approach as Dallas' head of personnel decisions will eventually lead to a championship. "I just can't get as convicted that the way we're doing it, that our approach to trying to win a Super Bowl, that that needs to change," Jones said. "I guess that's why I'm so defensive." The Cowboys won 12 games in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons before losing in the divisional round in 2022 and wild-card round in 2023. In 2024, Dallas finished with a 7-10 record as it dealt with injuries to some of its star players, including a season-ending hamstring injury to quarterback Dak Prescott. The Bills have won five straight AFC East titles, dating back to 2020, and haven't won fewer than 11 games in a season over that stretch. However, Buffalo also hasn't returned to a Super Bowl since that last AFC title in 1993. Four times in the last five years, they've fallen to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, including twice in the AFC title game. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones throws shade at Bills' title drought
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Appeals court throws out Trump's $454 million civil fraud judgment
A New York appeals court has thrown out the half billion-dollar civil fraud judgment handed down last year against President Donald Trump, his family and his company. The Appellate Division's First Department upheld last year's ruling finding Trump, his eldest sons and his business liable for a decade's worth of business fraud. The appellate court, however, found the penalty of $454 million to be an excessive fine at odds with the Eighth Amendment. "The documentary evidence supports Supreme Court's conclusion that the Attorney General made a prima facie showing that each defendant participated in the fraudulent scheme," the opinion said. "The trial record is also replete with evidence supporting the court's determination that the individual defendants had the requisite intent to defraud, a necessary element of each Penal Law claim." MORE: Trump civil fraud case: Judge fines Trump $354 million, says frauds 'shock the conscience' However, said the opinion, "while harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the State." The decision allows either side to pursue an appeal to the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals. "Today's ruling by the New York appeals court is a resounding victory for President Trump and his company," said Trump's former personal attorney Alina Habba, who helped represent Trump in the case and was later named interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey. "The court struck down the outrageous and unlawful $464 million penalty, confirming what we have said from the beginning: the Attorney General's case was politically motivated, legally baseless, and grossly excessive." After a three-month civil trial last year, New York Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable for committing a decade of business fraud by inflating his net worth to secure better business deals. In his written decision, Engoron said that Trump and his co-defendants engaged in frauds that "leap off the page and shock the conscience" including wrongly claiming that Trump's penthouse was three times its actual size and valuing his Mar-a-Lago estate as a personal residence, rather than a social club. "Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again," Engoron wrote, claiming that Trump and his co-defendants were "incapable of admitting the error of their ways." The former president has long criticized the case as politically motivated, including during an impromptu closing statement he delivered in court last year where he declared himself an "innocent man." "I've been persecuted by someone running for office," Trump said, referring to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case. "This statute is vicious. It doesn't give me a jury. It takes away my rights." In his February decision, Engoron temporarily barred Trump and his sons from leading New York-based companies and ordered Trump to pay a fine of more than $454 million. That number increased to around half a billion dollars based on interest accrued on the judgement. Trump has denied wrongdoing and argued that the alleged victims in the case were sophisticated counterparties who eagerly agreed to go into business with the Trump Organization and profited from the deals. Those arguments formed the crux of his appeal, filed in July, in which his lawyers argued that James violated the statute of limitations, misapplied the relevant law, and encouraged an exclusive penalty. MORE: Trump civil fraud case: Judge fines Trump $354 million, says frauds 'shock the conscience' During a hearing in September, several of the judges on the appellate panel appeared receptive to Trump's arguments seeking to reverse or reduce the his penalty, questioning the size of the massive judgment and the application of the fraud statute used to bring the case. Since Trump's reelection win in November, his lawyers have implored James to drop the case, citing the dismissal of Trump's federal criminal cases. Lawyers for James have rejected the request, arguing that Trump's return to the White House does not impact his civil cases. "The ordinary burdens of civil litigation do not impede the President's official duties in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution," New York Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale wrote in a letter to Trump's lawyer. Trump owed more than $550 million between three civil judgments, including a $83.3 million judgment in damages for defaming former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll and a $5 million judgment awarded after a jury found he sexually abused Carol in the 1990s. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
