Buffalo Bills hire first ever full-time female coach
For the first time in NFL history, a woman will be a full-time assistant coach. The Buffalo Bills announced that it will hire Kathryn Smith as a full-time female assistant coach. Smith will serve as special teams quality control coach after serving as administrative assistant to Rex Ryan, Bills head coach, in 2015. Smith has worked with Ryan for seven years, including during his coaching stint with the New York Jets from 2009 to 2014.
Panthers coach bans hoverboards
Ron Rivera, coach for the Carolina Panthers, banned players from riding hoverboards in the Bank of America Stadium after watching videos in which the devices caught fire. According to ESPN, he said, “Have you seen those things on YouTube blowing up?” Rivera also cautioned players against riding hoverboards to and from work. He also showed the players a video of a hoverboard short-circuiting and bursting into flame. Although Rivera banned the devices a few weeks before Christmas, the restriction didn’t become public until recently.
Rodney Henry pursues racial discrimination suit against Gayle Benson
Rodney Henry, former personal assistant to New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans owner Tom Benson, alleged in the suit that his wife, Gayle Benson, “treated him with disdain and disrespect,” forcing him to leave his job last year. Henry alleged that Gayle Benson used derogatory and racially charged language when referring to him. He maintained that his relationship with Tom Benson remained positive while he worked with him, but since Benson married in 2004, his wife displayed discriminatory behavior. In one instance, Gayle Benson required that Henry stay in a small, un-air conditioned and towel-less room in the Benson’s home in West Virginia. The Saints denied “any wrongdoing by anyone within the organization.”
Joe Blanton signs with Dodgers
Blanton, 35, signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers after starting 10 games with the team in 2012. After playing with the Los Angeles Angels in 2013, Blanton retired in 2014, resuming his career in 2015 with the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Blanton had a 1.57 ERA with the Pirates.
Patriots LB Jerod Mayo on injured reserve
The New England Patriots placed Jerod Mayo, linebacker, on the injured reserve for the rest of the season after he suffered a shoulder injury in the team’s Jan. 16 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs. Mayo has totaled 49 tackles and one sack during the season, playing in all 16 of the regular-season games.
Cardinals reliever fined for gambling
A Seoul, South Korea, court fined Seung Hwan Oh, a St. Louis Cardinals reliever, approximately $8,300 for betting heavily at a casino In Macau, breaking gambling laws. The court also fined Lim Chang-yong, former Chicago Cubs pitcher and Oh’s ex-teammate with a South Korean team, the same amount. Prosecutors charged both players for betting approximately $33,000 each at a Macau casino in 2014, prompting the Korean Baseball Organization to penalize them with half-season bans. South Korea has only one local casino and 16 that admit foreigners, at which South Koreans are banned from betting large sums of money.
