Sports shorts Boldin retires after 14 seasons, will focus on humanitarian causes

A deadly, racially charged conflict in Charlottesville, Virginia, caused Anquan Boldin to re-assess his priorities and led to the Buffalo Bills receiver’s decision to retire after 14 NFL seasons.

In an interview Monday on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Boldin said he’s “uncomfortable” with how divided the nation is and wants to dedicate his entire focus to humanitarian and criminal justice causes.

He then clarified that he was referring specifically to what happened in Charlottesville on Aug. 13, when a counter-protester and two Virginia state police officers were killed during a rally involving neo-Nazis and other right-wing groups.

The NFL’s 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year, Boldin oversees the South Florida-based Q81 Foundation, which offers educational support for underprivileged children. He has become an advocate for criminal justice reform since his cousin was killed by a plain-clothes police officer along the side of a Florida highway in October 2015.

Boldin spoke to SiriusXM a day after abruptly informing the Bills he was retiring some two weeks after signing a one-year contract with a base salary of $1.75 million.

Boldin ranks in the top four among active receivers with 1,076 catches, 13,779 yards receiving and 82 touchdowns receiving.

He spent last season with Detroit, where he had 67 catches for 584 yards and eight touchdowns in 16 games. The former Florida State star spent his first seven NFL seasons with Arizona, then played three years with Baltimore and three with San Francisco. He helped the Ravens win the Super Bowl in February 2013.

A person with knowledge of the negotiations tells The Associated Press the NFL is working on a fiveyear contract extension for Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal is not complete. The extension would run through the 2024 season. Goodell’s contract is up after the 2019 season. The collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2020 season.

Goodell became commissioner in 2006. He earned just over $31 million for the 2015 season. Because the league office is no longer classified as a tax-exempt organization, the commissioner’s salary is no longer required to be made public.

The contract negotiations were first reported by Sports Business Journal.

Vincenzo Nibali of Italy won the third stage of the Spanish Vuelta and Tour de France champion Chris Froome took the overall lead after a strong run in the first mountain stage.

Froome was ahead with about half a kilometer to go but Nibali made a charge in the final sprint to clinch the victory at the 158-kilometer (98-mile) stage from Prades to Andorra La Vella. Froome ended third, behind David De La Cruz of Spain.

The British rider has a two-second overall lead over three riders: De la Cruz, Nicolas Roche of Ireland, and Tejay Van Garderen of the U.S.

Nibali moved to fifth overall, 10 seconds behind Froome.

Froome is trying to become the third rider to complete the Tour-Vuelta double in the same season. He has never won the Vuelta, finishing second three times, including last year.

Three-time Vuelta winner Alberto Contador, who is retiring from cycling after the race, finished 37th to move to 30th overall, more than three minutes from the lead.