Auburn football’s already talented cornerback room added another piece on Wednesday.
Former Tulane corner Rayshawn Pleasant announced his commitment to the Tigers on Instagram, becoming Auburn’s first incoming defensive back transfer of the spring portal window.
His commitment helps with Auburn’s numbers in the secondary after it lost reserve corners JC Hart and Tyler Scott to the portal. Starting corners Jay Crawford and Kayin Lee are still returning, meaning Pleasant will likely battle for a rotation spot with players like Raion Strader and Blake Woodby.
Pleasant spent two seasons at Tulane, playing a significant role for the Green Wave in 2024. He made 35 tackles, three pass deflections and one interception last season. He’s expected to have two years of eligibility remaining.
Pleasant was also dangerous in the return game, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2024 and tallying 449 yards on 13 kick returns.
The judge overseeing the sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit settlement involving the NCAA and the nation’s five largest conferences delayed final approval of the plan Wednesday until it is modified to address concerns about roster limits.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken signaled she is ready to approve the rest of the settlement but wants both sides to come up with a way to not harm current athletes who will lose their spots on teams. The settlement calls for scholarship limits to be replaced by roster limits.
“With the exception of the immediate implementation of the roster limits provisions that will cause harm to certain members of the Injunctive Relief Settlement Class … the Court tentatively finds that it can grant final approval of the remainder of the settlement agreement as fair, reasonable, and adequate,” Wilken wrote in her five-page order.
One of the attorneys who hashed out the settlement proposed last year reacted with cautious optimism.
“We appreciate the court’s guidance and thoughtful review of this monumental case,” plaintiffs attorney Steve Berman said. “We are pleased that the court has rejected all of the objections but the roster issue, and we will work hard to convince the NCAA and the conferences to address the court’s concerns. If we are unable to do so, then we are off to trial and we will return to fighting the NCAA in court with next steps.”
The NCAA did not immediately comment. After a hearing earlier this month, NCAA attorney Rakesh Kilaru told Wilken it had been “a long road to get to this point” and made no promises that her concerns about roster limits would be addressed — and that’s what happened. when the plan was resubmitted a week later.
Wilken took issue with that choice, saying the immediate implementation of roster limits “will result in harm to a significant number” of athletes in addition to those who were on a roster but were removed in the last several months because of the “premature implementation” of the agreement.
The effect of the proposed roster limits would be to allow every athlete to be eligible for a scholarship while cutting the number of spots available. During an April 7 hearing, Wilken told attorneys that the cuts could be phased in initially and even suggested grandfathering in current athletes. Both sides responded by saying such moves were not practical and would lead to chaos, but Wilken was not moved.
“Any disruption that may occur is a problem of defendants’ and NCAA members schools’ own making,” she wrote in Wednesday’s order.
Roster limits could signal the end of the walk-on athlete in college sports and, as Utah freshman swimmer Gannon Flynn noted in his testimony as an objector, also imperil smaller sports programs that feed the U.S. Olympic teams. It is not clear how many roster spots across hundreds of schools will vanish under House, though it it is estimated to be in the thousands.
Steven Molo, an attorney for a group of athletes objecting to the plan, told the judge that roster limits would unnecessarily restrict opportunities. He noted that football teams would be capped at 105 players. The average roster size in 2024 was 128.
According to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, Landon Phillips, 20, was found in his vehicle after being shot at 111201 Trace Lane.
Phillips’s aunt, Mikka Jones, said in the GoFundMe description that her nephew was loved by many and was the “absolute best truly.”
“We all loved Landon more then word’s can begin to say if you needed him he was just a call away,” Jones said. “He’d help anyone. He was such an amazing son amazing nephew amazing boyfriend, amazing grandson he was the absolute best truly.”
The sheriff’s office said the shooter, Jason Covington, allegedly admitted to shooting at Phillips’s vehicle.
Witnesses said that Phillips was arguing with another individual when Covington came out of the house with a shotgun and told Phillips to leave, according to the agency.
That is when Covington is said to have fired two shots at Phillips’s car, striking Phillips and killing him.
Covington was arrested and charged with murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle/building and certain persons forbidden for possessing a pistol.
Jones said that Landon leaves behind many including his mom, dad and eight siblings.
Jones said that all donations to assist in Phillips’s burial were appreciated and the funds would go directly to the funeral home.
“We’ve never been the type to ask for help ever but, God we sure do any an everyone’s help so we can lay Landon to rest properly,” Jones said.
“If you’re able to donate please do a thank you in advance truly from the bottom of our hearts if your, not please pray we need all the prayers we can get truly to. Me an my husband loved Landon like he was our very own and, we called him that to so, this pain were feeling of (losing) a child we wouldn’t wish this on our worst enemy not even the devil himself this is the worst.”
Steve McMichael, a Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle with the Chicago Bears who later enjoyed a second career as a celebrated professional wrestler, has died. He was 67.
McMichael had since 2021 been suffering from ALS, which left him unable to speak and requiring around-the-clock care. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024.
Longtime friend Jarrett Payton, son of McMichael’s legendary Bears teammate Walter Payton, announced McMichael’s death via social media.
“With deep sorrow, I share that Steve McMichael passed at 5:28 PM after a brave fight with #ALS, surrounded by loved ones,” Payton wrote. “I’m grateful to have been with him in his final moments. Please keep Steve and his family your prayers.”
Born Oct. 17, 1957, in Houston, McMichael was a two-time All-Southwest Conference selection at Texas, earning and a unanimous All-America honors as a senior in 1979. He was selected in the third round of the 1980 NFL draft by New England, but was released after just one season.
McMichael latched on with the Bears in 1981 and started 101 consecutive games at one point. A strapping 6-foot-2 and 270 pounds, he was a key member of Chicago’s 1985 Super Bowl championship defense, considered by many to be among the best in NFL history.
Nicknamed “Mongo” after the brutish character from the classic comedy Western film Blazing Saddles, McMichael was twice selected first-team All-Pro and three times made the second team, and also played in two Pro Bowls during his 13 seasons with the Bears. He retired after spending the 1994 season with the Green Bay Packers, finishing his career with 95 sacks, an extraordinarily high total for an interior defensive lineman.
McMichael then transitioned into professional wrestling with first WWE and then WCW, beginning as an announcer and guest commentator who would often “brawl” with the in-ring talent. After becoming a full-time performer, he had memorable turns as a tag team partner with fellow football-player-turned-wrestler Kevin Greene and also as a member of one iteration of the legendary “Four Horsemen” team with Ric Flair, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko.
McMichael left wrestling in 1999, save for a brief return as a guest referee with the Total Nonstop Action promotion in 2008. In later years, he worked in radio, coached an indoor football team, unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Romeoville, Ill., sang in an oldies rock n’ roll band and made numerous appearances at reunions and special events with other members of the 1985 Bears.
Due to his ALS diagnosis, McMichael was unable to travel to Canton, Ohio, for his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction last summer. Several former teammates — including fellow Hall-of-Famers Richard Dent, Dan Hampton and Mike Singletary — delivered McMichael’s Hall-of-Fame bust and gold jacket to him at his home on the day of the ceremony.
McMichael is survived by his wife, Misty, and teenage daughter, Macy.
Patel toured the FBI facility along with Alabama’s two senators, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala, and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.
According to WAFF, Patel told reporters that Redstone Arsenal was, “one of the gems in the FBI’s crown jewel,“ due to it being an important and reliable place to train agents.
“And I just want to let America know, part of the move to get FBI agents, and intel analysts and support staff out in the field is going to come right through Redstone Arsenal,” Patel said.
“We’re going to put more and more and more people here on a permanent basis from the FBI.”
“By the end of the year, we’re going to have over 500 more FBI full time employees living [here], not part time, coming here, moving here, working here, living in your communities,” Patel said.
“And they’re going to do the thing that coach (Tuberville) and senator Britt said, we’re going to get after violent crime, we’re going to crush down the narcotics trade, we’re going to seal up our borders.“
The number of FBI workers in Huntsville could balloon to 6,000 after Patel told Britt he was in favor of moving 4,000 workers to Redstone Arsenal during a confirmation hearing in January.
Members of the Birmingham Water Works Board are united and on the defensive as a bill to snatch away their power heads to the state senate floor.
The board Wednesday afternoon spent the first 90 minutes of a marathon meeting with speeches defending the quality of the utility, its management and board chair.
“You’ve got one of the best boards involved that you’ve ever had at this facility,” said board vice chairman Butch Burbage, a member from Shelby County.
Burbage, who also appeared before a senate committee hearing about the bill Tuesday, restated his arguments that the board was moving in the right direction with recent improvements.
State Senator Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, introduced the bill, which was co-sponsored by fellow Republicans Sen. Jabo Waggoner and Sen. Shay Shelnutt.
“This is not an easy fix to change on a dime,” Burbage said. “It takes some time to change those types of things.”
“At the end of the day, my integrity will always preserve me,” she said.
Members derided the filing as a politically motivated conspiracy from an unnamed disgruntled employee.
“There is absolutely no merit to this complaint,” said board member Dalton NeSmith, an attorney from Blount County. “It is trying to ruin your reputation or your name. I think it was dirty politics.”
Several board members hinted that they knew some of those behind the complaint and vowed to find the others.
“At some point in time we’re going to find out who wrote this complaint,” Nesmith said. “That’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Birmingham Water Works Board chairwoman Tereshia Huffman and vice-chairman Butch Burbage discuss the exit of general manager Michael Johnson In 2024.Joseph D. Bryant
Nesmith said Huffman has championed ethics on the board, including the board’s ethics policy and pledge.
That same pledge was also the source of a lawsuit from former board member George Munchus, who sued and accused Huffman and the board of withholding his stipend for refusing to sign the policy with language that he considered to be a ‘loyalty pledge.’
That lawsuit was dismissed in Jefferson County court and is being appealed to the state supreme court.
“I hope they come forward,” Huffman said of the alleged whistleblower. “We will find out their name later.”
However, while board members assailed the ethics complaint and the complainant, state law offers some protection to whistleblowers.
Section 36-25-24 of the Alabama Code prohibits employers from retaliating against public employees who in good faith report violations. On the other hand, supervisors are allowed to file civil action against employees who file reports without good faith.
Board member Larry Ward also defended Huffman.
“It ain’t fair, but there’s not a lot in life that is,” he said.
Ward went on to laud the board for its financial management and infrastructure improvements. Ward said the utility has been unfairly characterized in the press, including over its recent controversial public comment policy.
“I am extremely disappointed in the media this time,” said Ward, adding a few personal insults, directed at AL.com columnist John Archibald. “What we see is just not the way it was presented.”
The policy, which reduced speaking time from three minutes to two minutes, and which requires advance notice to appear before the board, created a firestorm just days before the state legislation was filed. While the board officially paused the policy Wednesday, Huffman and others still defended it.
“It was never an intent to restrict anyone’s voices,” Huffman said. “That policy was for us to get your information in advance and for us to come to you.”
On the contrary, Huffman assailed the proposed legislation as the real attack on the public. Huffman said she hoped public ire against the bill would be as strong as it was against the speaker’s policy.
The New Orleans Saints chose Auburn defensive lineman Frank Warren with the first pick in the third round of the 1981 NFL Draft – six selections after they took future Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Rickey Jackson.
Warren was a good pick, too. Only three of the other prospects chosen in the 1981 draft played in more NFL regular-season games than Warren – Jackson, offensive tackle Tim Irwin and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott.
A prep standout at Phillips High School in Birmingham, Warren appeared in 189 regular-season and three playoff games and recorded 56 sacks and 11 fumble recoveries in his 13 seasons with the Saints.
Despite Warren’s career, New Orleans has not drafted an Auburn player since, but every other team in the NFL has.
Auburn has had 171 players chosen in the NFL Draft since the Saints selected Warren. That’s the longest active draft drought for SEC players from one program for one NFL team when measured by picks.
There is a conference member with a longer pick drought with an NFL team, but it did not involve SEC players. Texas played its first season as a league member in 2024 and will be sending SEC players to the NFL for the first time this week.
There have been 187 players drafted from Texas since the New York Jets tabbed one. New York took wide receiver Lam Jones from the Longhorns at No. 2 in the 1980 draft, and while the Jets have not picked another player from Texas in the 44 drafts since then, every other NFL team has.
The longest draft drought in terms of years involving an SEC program and an NFL team involves Vanderbilt and the Detroit Lions. Detroit made its most recent selection from the Commodores in 1959, when the Lions took center Ben Donnell. Since then, the other NFL teams have chosen 80 players from Vanderbilt in the draft.
The longest droughts (as measured by the number of drafted players) in the NFL Draft for each SEC team include:
· Alabama: 104 Crimson Tide players have been drafted since the Kansas City Chiefs made their most recent pick from Alabama – LB Nico Johnson in 2013.
· Arkansas: 124 Razorbacks have been drafted since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made their most recent pick from Arkansas — RB Jerry Eckwood in 1979.
· Auburn: 171 Tigers have been drafted since the New Orleans Saints made their most recent pick from Auburn — DL Frank Warren in 1981.
· Florida: 93 Gators have been drafted since the Tennessee Titans made their most recent pick from Florida – DB Ryan Smith in 2007.
· Georgia: 90 Bulldogs have been drafted since the Dallas Cowboys made their most recent pick from Georgia – RB Shaun Chapas in 2011.
· Kentucky: 132 Wildcats have been drafted since the Miami Dolphins made their most recent pick from Kentucky — RB Larry Seiple in 1967.
· LSU: 95 Tigers have been drafted since the Indianapolis Colts made their most recent pick from LSU – DT Drake Nevis in 2011.
· Mississippi State: 133 Bulldogs have been drafted since the Los Angeles Chargers made their most recent pick from Mississippi State — WR Sammy Milner in 1971.
· Missouri: 84 Tigers have been drafted since the New York Giants made their most recent pick from Missouri — OT Conrad Goode in 1984.
· Oklahoma: 117 Sooners have been drafted since the Houston Texans made their first pick in an NFL Draft in 2002, and the team has never selected a player from Oklahoma.
· Ole Miss: 107 Rebels have been drafted since the Cleveland Browns made their most recent pick from Ole Miss – LB Curtis Weathers in 1979.
· South Carolina: 123 Gamecocks have been drafted since the Pittsburgh Steelers made their most recent pick from South Carolina – G Steve Courson in 1977.
· Tennessee: 81 Volunteers have been drafted since the Jacksonville Jaguars made their most recent pick from Tennessee – DT John Henderson in 2002.
· Texas: 187 Longhorns have been drafted since the New York Jets made their most recent pick from Texas – WR Lam Jones in 1980.
· Texas A&M: 101 Aggies have been drafted since the Tennessee Titans (as the Houston Oilers) made their most recent pick from Texas A&M – RB Rodney Thomas in 1995.
· Vanderbilt: 80 Commodores have been drafted since the Detroit Lions made their most recent pick from Vanderbilt — C Ben Donnell in 1959.
The draft streaks for Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas A&M extend to before they became SEC members. Oklahoma and Texas played their first SEC seasons in 2024, so this week’s draft will be their first as conference members.
The first round of the 90th NFL Draft begins at 7 p.m. CDT Thursday in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The draft resumes at 6 p.m. Friday with the second and third rounds. The four concluding rounds begin at 11 a.m. Saturday. ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network will televise the event.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
Alabama football added depth at what had been one of its thinnest positions during spring football on Wednesday. Tight end Jack Sammarco, previously of West Virginia, committed to the Crimson Tide out of the transfer portal.
Sammarco shared the news on social media Wednesday. He will have three seasons of eligibility remaining in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama began spring ball already thin at tight end with Danny Lewis Jr. out. When Josh Cuevas and Marshall Pritchett went down with injuries, the Crimson Tide was down to just redshirt freshman Jay Lindsey in terms of scholarship players at the position.
Sammarco, who joined the Mountaineers as a three-star prospect before the 2024 season, played in all 13 games for WVU last season. He made one catch for four yards.
The upcoming sophomore entered the portal after spring football ended for West Virginia. He was recruited by the former staff, led by head coach Neal Brown, who was fired before WVU hired Rich Rodriguez from Jacksonville State.
“After a lot of thought, prayer and conversations with my family, I’ve decided to enter my name into the NCAA transfer portal,” Sammarco said in a statement announcing his departure from Morgantown. “WVU will always have a special place in my heart, and I appreciate everything this program and facebase have done for me.”
The Crimson Tide lost much of its tight end production from last season to the NFL Draft, with CJ Dippre and Robbie Ouzts both eligible to be picked starting Thursday. Sammarco, at 6-foot-5, 238 pounds, could help replace them in the run-blocking game, where both Dippre and Ouzts most excelled.
Sammarco is Alabama’s first transfer portal pickup of the spring window. Ahead of the portal opening, Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer noted that the Tide would need to be choosy, given its lack of open scholarships.
“We’ll be careful, and they’ve gotta meet all those areas that we feel good about – the culture of our team, the chemistry from within, the work that’s being put in,” DeBoer said after spring practice ended.
The spring transfer portal window is open through Friday.
A 19-year-old wanted on murder charges in two cities – Tarrant and Birmingham – was captured Wednesday by the U.S. Marshal’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Eddie Jordan Jr. and Javaris Russell Jr. are charged with capital murder in the Jan. 22 shooting death of 36-year-old Buford Troman “Pete” White.
Russell remains at large.
U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said the fugitive task force members – in search of Jordan – were conducting surveillance earlier today on 32nd Place North when they spotted Jordan get into a blue Volkswagen Jetta.
The deputy marshals tried to stop the car in the 2900 block of 21st Avenue North.
The car slowed and Jordan jumped out and ran. He was taken into custody after a brief foot chase.
The female also was captured a short time later.
Keely said two guns were recovered from the vehicle, including one equipped with a machine gun conversion device.
The second gun had been reported stolen.
Jordan is also charged in a separate Birmingham homicide, authorities said. Details of that case weren’t immediately available.
Eddie Jordan Jr., left, and Javaris Russell Jr., right, are wanted on capital murder charges in the 2025 shooting death of a Tarrant man outside his home.Tarrant Police Department
A neighbor told police White had just backed in his driveway and exited his vehicle when someone opened fire on him.
Police Chief Wendell Major at the time of the homicide said investigators believe White was targeted and said at least 15 shots were fired. White was struck three times in the chest, and the vehicle peppered with bullet holes.
White’s mother found him wounded and called 911. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 7:33 p.m.
White worked with his father as a concrete finisher. He was also a musician and songwriter.
Major said money and illegal drugs were found at the scene.
Det. Jacob Rouse said White knew at least one of the suspects, but said authorities aren’t disclosing how they knew each at this time.
Rouse the motive is not being released at this time.
Investigators were able to identify a suspect vehicle and used that information, as well as other undisclosed evidence, to identify and charge the suspects.
Anyone with information is asked to call Tarrant police at 205-849-2811 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
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