Morning sports update: Trent Brown sounded off on free agency and getting ‘disrespected’ in the draft
Also: A puck came within inches of Pierre McGuire's face, a new report on Tim Donaghy, and remembering a golden recovery from an Olympic crash.
The Bruins won a back-and-forth game against the Sharks on Monday night in San Jose, 6-5. After squandering a three-goal lead, the Bruins tied the game late in the third period to force overtime.
Ultimately, defenseman Charlie McAvoy won it by finishing off an end-to-end sequence highlighted by a delightful assist from David Krejci. The victory extends Boston’s winning streak to six games.
He definitely likes the bright lights.@CMcAvoy44 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/tM3XhuGfri
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 19, 2019
Trent Brown says he would ‘love’ to be back in New England: Patriots left tackle Trent Brown went from being a talented but largely unknown quantity after arriving in an offseason trade to anchoring a Super Bowl-winning line over the course of the 2018 season. Now, he’s due for a payday.
The 25-year-old is an unrestricted free agent, and — barring a franchise or transition tag from the Patriots — will hit the open market. Still, the man who protected Tom Brady’s blindside all season is certainly open to returning to New England.
“That’s definitely something I would love, by hey, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Brown told Adam Schefter on a recent episode of the ESPN’s reporter’s podcast. The most important thing for Brown is to find the right fit on a few factors.
“Hopefully it’s somewhere where I can build some longevity, somewhere where that would be a great place and a great fit schematically, in the locker room, on the field, and also somewhere that’s also a great fit for my family as well.”
Either way, Brown has prove his original draft position wrong. In 2015, he had to wait until the seventh round of the NFL draft to hear his name called by the 49ers with the 244th pick.
“Ever since I got drafted, seventh round, that was definitely lower than expected, lower than I ever wanted to go, but it all happened for a reason. But I felt disrespected by it, and I’ve been waiting for this time for a long time.”
Brown also sees himself continuing to improve. He’s already back from his post-Super Bowl break.
“I’ve been putting in the work, busted my ass,” said Brown. “I took a week-and-a-half off, and I’m already back to training because I definitely don’t want people to feel like, ‘Oh, he’s going to get paid and get lazy now.’ No, I want to continue to win. I want to continue to get better, and I want to continue to chase my goals.”
More from Boston.com:
- 7 things we’ve learned from the start of Red Sox spring training
- Robert Kraft hung out at the 2019 NBA All-Star Game
- Jaylen Brown elected vice president of NBPA
- The Carolina Hurricanes are proud to be ‘jerks’ in war with Don Cherry
- A short-track star from Connecticut finished eighth in the Daytona 500
- Serena Williams back in top 10 for the first time since giving birth
Is 2019 the year Rafael Devers breaks out?
While 2018 was a season in which virtually every key contributor to the Red Sox had a standout season, 22-year-old Rafael Devers proved to be the opposite. Though he smashed 21 home runs, his other numbers disappointed following his 2017 MLB debut. That said, Devers improved down the stretch, delivering some clutch hits during the World Series run. This season, he could be primed for new heights. [The Boston Globe]
How Tim Donaghy fixed NBA games: Over a decade ago, the NBA was rocked by the scandal of a referee admitting to betting on games. Yet Donaghy maintained that he never fixed games by “throwing calls” in favor of the team he was betting on. Investigators at the time also concluded that it was difficult to detect. A recent report from ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” has reopened the subject. [ESPN]
A puck came perilously close to hitting NBC Sports broadcaster Pierre McGuire in the head on Monday:
HEADS UP! pic.twitter.com/utul8x2tWP
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) February 19, 2019
Malcolm Mitchell, who was cut by the Patriots in preseason, let fans know his thoughts:
https://twitter.com/malcolmjarod/status/1097678228528029699?s=21
On this day: In 1998, Austrian skier Hermann Maier won his second gold medal at the Nagano Winter Olympics, storming to victory in the giant slalom by 0.85 seconds. The feat was particularly impressive considering that Maier — one of the best skiers in the world at the time — endured a horrifying crash in the downhill event only days before.
“Not so good,” Maier said of his crash with characteristic understatement. “I’m skiing, I catch big wind behind me, then I am looking at the sky.”
Still, he miraculously walked away from the crash with only a bruised shoulder and a sprained knee. His body recovered just in time for the Super-G and giant slalom, both of which he won to etch his name among Olympic legends.
Daily highlight: This between-the-legs goal from Aleksander Barkov from over the weekend is one of the best of the NHL season.
https://youtu.be/Gj_-Q_eAXkk
