Football Player

RICHARD M. Nixon knew baseball and football as no other president in history. When Baltimore returned to the major leagues in 1954, Mr. Nixon was elated to be the one to throw out the ceremonial first ball because his boss, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was off somewhere playing golf.Mr. Nixon reveled in the role of sports fan. He attended the only world championship football game Baltimore hosted when the Colts beat the New York Giants in 1959 at Memorial Stadium.I recall two other occasions when Mr. Nixon's familiarity with and love for sports were demonstrated impressively.

"Now is the time... " -- Martin Luther King, Aug. 28, 1963 Brendon Ayanbadejo is wrong. It is painful to say that. Mr. Ayanbadejo's heart is in a good place, and the advice he gave recently on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" was practical and well intentioned. But mainly, yes, it was wrong. Here's the back story. It seems NFL prospect Nick Kasa recently told ESPN Radio that he was asked in an interview with a team he won't specify whether he is married, if he has a girlfriend and whether he likes girls.

When a college football player first scores a touchdown before the home fans, it should be a moment of unfettered joy, of promise fulfilled. For Darryl Hill, who integrated the U.S. Naval Academy's football program, then became the ACC's first black football player, it was more complicated. After he caught his first touchdown pass at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium, the traditional cannon shot sounded. Hill threw up his arms and discarded the ball in fright. He had been told by school officials that someone had threatened to shoot him from the top of the stands.

COLLEGE PARK -- What do you want to talk about? Football? Maryland's chances at a fourth straight 10-win season? Sure, Domonique Foxworth can do that. He can tell you anything you need to know about the 2004 Terps, about what it's like to be an all-conference cornerback, about how it feels to be a leader on a team that's finally getting some national respect. He's happy to give you his take on Maryland's quarterback competition, and if asked, he'll even (reluctantly) talk about conference expansion.

No Triple Crown winner this year, no first-female-jockey-to-win, no sunshine? No problem, said those who flocked to Pimlico Race Course on Saturday and waited out a midafternoon downpour to watch Oxbow leave behind Kentucky Derby winner Orb to capture the 138th Preakness Stakes. "This is always an exciting race," said Tom Meek, 59, of Phoenixville, Pa., smoking a postrace cigar. "As much as I love Orb and as much as I want a Triple Crown, this is great for Oxbow. That horse rocked.

Within a couple of hours of picking up his first ring, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was back on a football field, a champagne bottle in his right hand and his bride and his groomsmen crouched down in front of him like hulking offensive linemen. Flacco barked out commands to his tuxedo-clad teammates as he waited for his new wife to toss him the bouquet from underneath her lacy white dress. The steel bleachers at Audubon High School were empty, save for a few friends and family members.

[ Editor's note: This blog post initially included Joshua Davis as one of six Dunbar football players signing national letters of intent to play football on scholarship. Davis, who will play at Morgan State, is not receiving an athletic scholarship. He is receiving need-base financial aid, which allows Morgan to not use one of its football scholarships on him, Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith said.] Dunbar football coach Lawrence Smith is getting used to sending a lot of players to college, but he continues to make signing day an special event for the Poets.

USC's Lee amazing Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune My Heisman choice will remain a secret until Saturday's announcement. So removing the four players (Collin Klein, Jordan Lynch, Johnny Manziel and Manti Te'o) that made up my ballot I'm left with two defensive studs and a game-breaker at USC. The game-breaker is Marqise Lee, a sophomore stud at USC. He's so good, his five-catch, 75-yard effort against Notre Dame qualified as his second-worst performance of the season.

It was amusing to read Paul Marx's complaint ("Towson U.: football factory?" April 17) about the hardest working football team in America - the CAA Champion Towson Tigers - the morning after I attended Towson's 10th annual Scholar Athletic Dinner. I sat with the football coach and several of his student athletes - each of whom had over a 3.5 GPA. Well over 100 students attended, approximately 40 percent of whom were male athletes. I have been privileged to serve as an adjunct faculty member at Towson University for 12 years.

Four North Harford High School student athletes have signed to attend and play football at the college level. Pictured are, Ben Kenley, front left, Salisbury and Cody Turner, front right, Stevenson; Brandon Bayer, standing left, Stevenson; and Nate Brockmeyer, Frostburg State.