Morning sports update: Devin McCourty trying to avoid ‘NFL vs. Donald Trump’
While the Red Sox’ magic number fell to just one, the Boston sports news cycle had a number of other prevalent stories on Thursday. Discussion has continued in the wake of various NFL players kneeling during the national anthem last Sunday. Also, the Celtics continue to gear up for the season.
Devin McCourty hopeful after participating in league meeting: Patriots safety Devin McCourty, along with teammate Matthew Slater and team owner Robert Kraft, were part of a group (totaling 20-30 people) who met with commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday. The purpose was for players and owners to gain better understanding of each other’s goals following a weekend in which a number of NFL players knelt for the national anthem.
“I think we have to make sure this whole thing doesn’t turn into the NFL versus Donald Trump,” McCourty explained. (MassLive)
Celtics’ Rhode Island training camp called a success, but the team has “a long way to go”: After escaping from their usual routine for a few days, the Celtics will be back in Massachusetts on Friday. Coach Brad Stevens took the team to Rhode Island following Monday’s media day and they practiced at Salve Regina University to work on team chemistry.
“We’ve made progress,” Stevens said. “Today was an important day to kind of just do a lot of walkthrough mental work and stay off our feet. We did nothing live. We went really hard yesterday afternoon. So it’s been a good start. But we have a long way to go. We have a long way to go.” (Boston Globe)
Former Patriot Andre Tippett “proud” of players who knelt for the national anthem: Speaking at an event for the new anti-racism “Take the Lead” initiative at Fenway Park on Thursday, former Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett said he was encouraged to see current Patriots players expressing their beliefs.
“As cliche as it sounds, we were doing it as a patriotic community. I was proud to see the players do it,” Tippett said of seeing players take a knee during the anthem. (WEEI)
Rob Gronkowski only reflected on the Patriots’ last – controversial – clash with the Panthers for a moment: Speaking with the media on Thursday, Rob Gronkowski was reminded of the last time the Patriots and Panthers played, in 2013. The game culminated with the Patriots not being able to score the winning touchdown on the game’s final play, due in part to a controversial non-call in the play where Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly appeared to hold Gronkowski. When asked about Kuechly admitting he “might have got away with one,” Gronkowski at first avoided the subject. But he couldn’t help adding one line.
“Might be right,” said Gronkowski with a grin. (Boston Globe)
