The Jaguars signed quarterback Blake Bortles to a contract extension running through the 2020 season on Sunday, which ended speculation that the team will make a big splash by acquiring a veteran quarterback to supplant Bortles this offseason. The length and structure of the deal — $26.5 million guaranteed
Brandon Harkins will tell you that he has a pretty adventurous palate. He never acquired a taste for that thick, salty, black spread that the Australians call Vegemite, though. “Not a fan,â€� Harkins said. “I like a lot of things — but Vegemite, probably not again.â€� But Harkins did become a fan of Aussie Rules Football during the eight months he spent Down Under after graduating from high school. His cousins, who live in Brisbane, Australia, introduced him to the sport. It was a good time to be a Brisbane Lions fan, too. The AFL team, which appeared in four consecutive Grand Finals from 2001-2004, was one of the most feared in the league. “I’d go to a ton of games,â€� recalls the 31-year-old Harkins, who grew up following the San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers — when he wasn’t traveling around Australia and New Zealand, that is. Harkins took full advantage of the gap year gift his mother gave him before heading to play golf at Chico State. “I didn’t even bring my golf clubs,â€� Harkins said. “So I had all this time away from golf and I came back totally ready to play again. (I was) totally ready to go.â€� Harkins’ cousins in Brisbane provided a home base and offered well-informed travel advice. Sometimes they even joined him on trips, as did his mom, his younger brother and his best friend. “They said go here, go there,â€� Harkins recalls. “They helped tremendously.â€� But there were six or seven trips where Harkins, who had gotten an international driver’s license, struck out on his own, often staying in hostels or with friends he met along the way. He went solo to Sydney, Melbourne and Byron Bay, which he remembers as a “really hippie place,â€� as well as up to Cairns near the Great Barrier Reef. “I was totally on my own up in Cairns,â€� Harkins says. “I was probably on my own for a week there. That was a little bit of a learning experience for me. That was probably my first hostel I’ve ever stayed in and by myself.â€� The highlights for Harkins were many during his eight-month excursion. Sydney and its famous Harbour Bridge. The Great Ocean Road outside Melbourne, a city that reminded him of the Bay Area in California where he grew up. “I also really liked getting to know their culture,â€� Harkins says. “It’s a little bit different down there. It’s a little bit slower of a pace and it just seems like from what I was used to that no one was in a rush for anything. That was really cool to see.â€� Harkins, who said he’d like to be featured in Field and Stream Magazine for catching a world record bass someday, saw all kinds of wildlife in his travels, too, including fairy penguins. He hiked. He watched the surfers at Bells Beach and Bondi Beach with great interest — Harkins even tried to learn how to hang ten “to no luck,â€� he said. Harkins also spent some time on New Zealand’s North Island, where he tried his hand at black water rafting. After putting on a full-body wetsuit, he rappelled about 200 feet down into a dark cave with stalagmites and stalactites. “That actually was a little scary,â€� Harkins recalled. “You’re with a guide and you get down and it’s pitch black and you turn your headlamp on. “And then you’re on these zip-lines in these caves. It was really interesting. You’re like walking through the water in the caves. It was a cool experience.â€� Harkins’ travels didn’t stop when he got back from Australia, either. Since graduating from Chico State with a degree in psychology, he has played professionally in nearly a dozen different countries. Harkins even made a 32-hour commute from Nicaragua to Paris about 18 months ago so he could help his mother-in-law celebrate her 60th birthday. Harkins is once again traveling to new places, albeit in his native United States, as a rookie on the PGA TOUR. The Web.com Tour graduate has already posted two top-10 finishes in 10 starts and has found it to be “everything you think it is and more.â€� “I’m just kind of taking it one step at a time, but it’s been a lot of fun,â€� Harkens said.
INDIANAPOLIS — From the moment Ryan Pace announced Matt Nagy as his new head coach, the Chicago Bears’ general manager has had a twinkle in his eyes and a glow to his smile that belies the 14-34 record his club has compiled since he started calling the shots in 2015. Perhaps it is well placed? Forgetting
The NFL offseason is already heating up — we’ve had two big trades, and Blake Bortles has been taken off the quarterback market — but March 14 is when the real fun begins. Over the next two weeks, our panel of ESPN NFL Insiders is taking a closer look at the upcoming free-agent market, answering
Redskins senior vice president of player personnel Doug Williams said he doesn’t expect the team to use the franchise tag on QB Kirk Cousins for the third straight season.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard met with Frank Gore and told the veteran running back that the team doesn’t plan to re-sign him.
After John Henry expressed the inner turmoil he wrestles with, the Red Sox petitioned a Boston city agency to restore Yawkey Way to its original name.
There are five big issues looming ahead of the start of this year’s Supercars championship in Adelaide.
There are multiple contenders for this year’s Supercars championship ahead of the season-opening Adelaide 500.
The Canucks last hosted the draft in 2006.
