- Cleveland Browns Training Camp Recap: Day 10 – Watkins Shining Dawgs By Nature
- Browns training camp Day 10 recap: Jerome Ford’s role, the versatile secondary, more Cleveland Browns on cleveland.com
- Browns camp updates, day 10: All’s quiet on QB front vs. Commanders Akron Beacon Journal
- Browns training camp: Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore continue to connect with Deshaun Watson Dawgs By Nature
- Browns training camp Day 10 recap: Jerome Ford’s role behind Nick Chubb, the versatile secondary and more cleveland.com
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Tag Archives: Watkins
Jessica Watkins: Oath Keepers member and Army veteran sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for January 6 – CNN
- Jessica Watkins: Oath Keepers member and Army veteran sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for January 6 CNN
- Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for role in Jan. 6 insurrection: What we know Yahoo News
- Oath Keepers founder sentenced for Jan. 6, ‘The Little Mermaid’ returns; 5 Things podcast USA TODAY
- Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keeper sentenced to prison, wanted Sen. John McCain hanged The Arizona Republic
- Oath Keepers defendant Jessica Watkins sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison for role in Jan. 6 attack CBS News
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Ravens claim WR Sammy Watkins as Devin Duvernay put on IR
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday made a surprise reunion for their banged-up and struggling passing attack.
The Ravens claimed wide receiver Sammy Watkins off waivers Tuesday, the team announced. Baltimore is bringing back Watkins with the hope he will improve the NFL’s sixth-worst passing attack and help an offense that hasn’t scored a touchdown in its past seven quarters.
Baltimore is bringing back Watkins at a time when the passing game is reeling, and another injury hit the wide receiver group Tuesday. Devin Duvernay, who has started 13 games this season, limped off the field early in Tuesday’s practice and was placed on injured reserve, the team announced. Duvernay could barely put any weight on his right foot after the injury.
With Duvernay sidelined and Rashod Bateman (foot) out for the season, the Ravens were left with Demarcus Robinson, DeSean Jackson and James Proche II before picking up Watkins. The Ravens’ wide receivers rank last in the NFL in receiving yards (1,328) and haven’t made a touchdown catch since Week 3 (Sept. 25).
Watkins, 29, was waived by the Green Bay Packers on Monday after failing to make a catch in his past three games. He signed a one-year, $1.85 million deal with Green Bay this offseason and managed 13 catches for 206 yards and no touchdowns in nine games.
His return was unexpected because he finished with career lows in receptions (27) and receiving yards (394) in his one season in Baltimore last year. By the end of last season, Watkins was near the bottom of the depth chart, which was a far fall for the No. 4 pick of the 2014 draft.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (knee) missed his seventh straight practice Tuesday, which means backup Tyler Huntley could make his third start of the season Saturday against the Atlanta Falcons.
NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen: Preview, picks, stream, how to watch the Go Bowling at the Glen
The village of Watkins Glen in upstate New York has long attracted visitors from all across the world — not necessarily for its lakes or its woodlands, but for its world-renowned racetrack. On Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual trip to Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at the Glen, a race significant for far more than being the penultimate race of the regular season.
This 3.45-mile, 11-turn road course — long the site of Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix — will see 39 drivers representing seven countries compete on it this Sunday, making for the most international drivers in a single race in the history of NASCAR.
The group of international stars is headlined by 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who is making his NASCAR Cup Series debut behind the wheel of Trackhouse Racing’s No. 91 Chevrolet. The legendary Finnish driver is joined by:
- Former 24 Hours of Le Mans champion and German driver Mike Rockenfeller
- Former F1 standout and Russian driver Daniil Kvyat
- Loris Hezemans of the Netherlands
- Kyle Tilley of Britain
All of them join the NASCAR regulars, 33 of whom hail from the United States and one from Mexico (Daniel Suarez).
How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen
- Date: Sunday, August 21
- Location: Watkins Glen International — Watkins Glen, New York
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
- TV: USA Network
- Stream: fuboTV (try for free)
What to watch for
Kimi Raikkonen
Of all the international drivers in the field, Kimi Raikkonen is undoubtedly the star attraction. “The Iceman” comes to the Cup Series through Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 program for international racing superstars, coming out of retirement to try his hand at the highest level of stock car racing. This isn’t Raikkonen’s first try at NASCAR: In May of 2011, Raikkonen competed in a pair of NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, first driving a Truck Series race for Kyle Busch Motorsports before competing in an Xfinity Series race the next weekend. Raikkonen finished 15th and 27th respectively.
While Raikkonen only has limited experience in stock cars, what he has going for him is the strength of Trackhouse Racing’s road course program: The team has won two of the four road course races so far this season, with Ross Chastain taking the victory at Circuit of the Americas and Daniel Suarez having won at Sonoma.
The road course warriors
While the presence of international racing stars throughout the field provides this race with a lot of its intrigue, those drivers will likely take a backseat to the Cup Series regulars once the green flag flies. Especially since it is absolutely imperative for a significant chunk of the field to perform well this weekend. At the head of the table among that group is Martin Truex Jr., who has been outstanding at Watkins Glen ever since winning at this track in 2017. In the last three Watkins Glen races since his win, Truex has two runner-up finishes and was third last year.
Chris Buescher, surely, also enters this race with an enormous level of confidence. He finished second at Sonoma, sixth at Road America and 10th at Indianapolis. He is also coming off of an extremely strong run at Richmond in which he challenged for the win before finishing third. Another Ford driver, Michael McDowell, has no finishes worse than 13th and only one finish worse than eighth on road courses this year — including a third-place outing at Sonoma.
The possibility of some completely unexpected drivers entering the picture shouldn’t be discounted, either. Indianapolis, for instance, saw rookies Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland take advantage of late-race anarchy to earn third and fourth-place finishes respectively.
A cleaner race
Speaking of Indy, keep an eye out for something that was a major sore point after the most recent road course race. The end of the race at Indianapolis saw many drivers lament how that race devolved on late restarts, with ill-advised divebombs and overaggressive driving leading to a series of incidents that spoiled several drivers’ days and left them grumbling about a lack of respect.
Watkins Glen should be a little better in that regard, as the configuration of the course is far more natural than the road course at Indianapolis. The trouble spot at Indy was an extremely sharp Turn 1 that led the field out of the oval and onto the infield road course, a spot that was ill-suited for any semblance of order on double-file restarts. Watkins Glen’s more sweeping corners don’t present that same issue, even if the downhill section leading from the frontstretch to Turn 1 makes for an ideal passing zone on restarts and long runs alike.
Pick to Win
(Odds via Caesars Sportsbook)
Tyler Reddick (+650): It’s never a bad idea to go with the hot hand when trying to handicap road course races. And right now, Reddick is the hot hand. He’s won the last two road course races in Cup, leading the final 16 laps to win at Road America before dominating at Indy by leading 38 of 86 laps on his way to victory. Reddick also contended for the win at Circuit of the Americas and finished fifth, and he had a top five qualifying run at Sonoma before finishing many laps down due to left rear damage.
Reddick can stake his claim to being NASCAR’s King of the Road with another win here, but Chase Elliott isn’t going to give up that title without a fight. Elliott is the favorite to win this weekend (+450) and for good reason: he’s won two of the last three at the Glen and ran second here last year.
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Weekend Preview – Watkins Glen
Battle for final NASCAR Cup Playoff spot takes center stage at Watkins Glen
It would be difficult to imagine more distinct storylines in a single NASCAR race than those present in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
After breaking a 65-race drought on Aug. 7 at Michigan International Raceway, Kevin Harvick goes for his third consecutive Cup victory.
An international field at Watkins Glen International includes former Formula 1 drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat, who together made up one tenth of the F1 starting grid in 2020.
Chase Elliott will try to reclaim the title “King of the Road Course” from usurper Tyler Reddick, who has won the last two road course events, at Road America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Elliott, who has fashioned seven of his 17 career victories on road courses, is all but certain to clinch the Cup Series’ regular season title on Sunday.
The focal point of Sunday’s proceedings, however, will be the continuing saga of Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr., who are battling for the final spot in the Cup Playoffs with two races left in the regular season.
Last Sunday at Richmond Raceway, Blaney used an 11-1 superiority in stage points to increase his lead over Truex to 26 points, despite finishing 10th to Truex’s seventh.
Though Blaney and Truex are second and fourth in the points standings, they occupy the two sides of the Playoff bubble because neither has a win this season, and 15 other drivers do.
On paper, Truex would appear to have a decided edge over Blaney at the Glen. Truex has one victory, seven top fives and 10 top 10s in 15 starts at Watkins Glen. Blaney has posted one top five (fifth in 2019) and two top 10s in five visits to the 2.450-mile, seven-turn circuit in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
NASCAR’s Next Gen car, however, has changed the paradigm. In four road course races this season, Truex has a best finish of seventh at Circuit of The Americas and no other result better than 13th.
“If you look at our season,” Truex said, “the road courses have been our biggest struggle, at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota as a whole. I have confidence in what I can do there (at Watkins Glen), but if you don’t have the car to drive, it’s hard to make up for it.”
Both Truex and Blaney can establish a claim to the final Playoff spot by winning one of the final two regular-season races, but so can currently winless drivers below them in the standings.
“It would be disappointing not to make it with the season we’ve had,” Truex said, “but you have to win to get in.”
Both Elliott and Reddick have done their share of winning this season, but Reddick has asserted his dominance at the road courses. Elliott readily concedes that point.
“He’s won the most road course (races) this season, so he’d probably be the obvious choice,” said Elliott, who is 116 points ahead of Blaney in the race for the regular season title. “I just look at the facts. He’s won two of the last however many, so he’s pretty good.”
Though Watkins Glen is a high-speed track, sometimes called the “superspeedway of road courses,” Elliott doesn’t expect the same sort of chaos drivers recently experienced at Indianapolis.
“Entering Turn 1 (at Watkins Glen), it doesn’t ask everyone to be dumb,” Elliott said.
AJ Allmendinger looks to extend road course dominance at the Glen
It would be easy to identify the favorite in Saturday’s Sunoco Go Rewards 200 if it weren’t for the interlopers from NASCAR’s Cup Series.
Reigning NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, Ross Chastain and Cole Custer all are entered in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Nevertheless, the 2.45-mile road course at Watkins Glen International may still be the special province of Xfinity Series leader AJ Allmendinger.
The driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet has won three of the four road course races in the series so far this season—at Circuit of The Americas, Portland, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Driving for JTG Daugherty Racing in 2014, Allmendinger picked up the first of his two Cup Series victories at The Glen. In three Xfinity Series starts at the track, he finished second all three times (though his runner-up result in 2019 was followed by a disqualification for a ride-height violation).
In 22 Xfinity Series starts on road courses, Allmendinger has posted a remarkable nine victories and 18 top fives. So, if any driver can fend off challenges from the Cup regulars, Allmendinger can.
“Watkins Glen will always be a special place for me,” said Allmendinger, who also is running the Cup race this weekend. “The crowd is always amazing, and the memories from my first Cup win will last forever.
“Ever since they repaved the track (in 2015), it’s been a challenge for me, but with the Next Gen car in the Cup Series, it may be completely different. Hopefully, we will have two really great finishes for the weekend.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Go Bowling at The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International
The Date: Sunday, August 21
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $6,664,145
TV: USA, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 220.5 miles (90 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 90)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Sunoco Go Rewards 200 at The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International
The Date: Saturday, August 20
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,159,436
TV: USA, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 200.9 miles (82 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 82)
— NASCAR Wire Service —
Sammy Watkins: My career hasn’t been what I projected, and my back is against the wall
Sammy Watkins was the fourth overall choice in 2014. He is with his fifth team, has never made the Pro Bowl, has missed 30 games because of injuries and has had only one 1,000-yard season, and that was 1,047 yards.
Watkins, now with the Packers, understands why his career might be viewed as a disappointment.
“I think I told the coaches, ‘My back is against the wall,’” Watkins said Wednesday, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com. “My career hasn’t been what I projected it to be, and it’s a great opportunity for me to come here, play hard, catch a ton of balls, compete at the highest level and win games and fight to stay healthy. That’s been the knock on my career — to stay on the field.”
Watkins, who turns 29 next week, was signed by the Packers to help replace Davante Adams, the ninth receiver off the board in the 2014 draft, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Packers traded Adams to the Raiders and Valdes-Scantling left for the Chiefs in free agency after the two players combined for 149 receptions for 1,983 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2021.
Watkins admits he was “worried” after hamstring and knee injuries last season and career-lows with 27 receptions for 394 yards and a touchdown whether he would get another opportunity to continue his career.
“I think this is probably one of the best situations I’ve probably ever been in in my career, to play with one of the best quarterbacks in the league, one of the best coaches, one of the best organizations,” Watkins said. “To get this opportunity is really a blessing because I did nothing last year.”
Watkins is not guaranteed a spot on the 53-player roster, but the Packers are hoping he can stay healthy and contribute.
“I’m not done yet,” Watkins said. “I feel like I’ve got a lot more in my tank, a lot more football to be played at the highest level, and hopefully I can be consistent and stay on the field. . . . When I’m on the field, I can ball; I can catch balls; I can score; and I’m a dominant player. But the key is staying on the field.”
Jessica Watkins makes history as first Black woman launched to ISS for extended space mission
by Asha C. Gilbert
Jessica Watkins made history on Wednesday by becoming the first Black woman launched into space for an extended mission on the International Space Station.
Watkins, 33, and three other astronauts rocketed into space from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida at 3:52 a.m. EDT.
“I think it really is just a tribute to the legacy of the Black women astronauts that have come before me, as well as to the exciting future ahead,” Watkins said during an NPR interview.
Last November, NASA announced Watkins would be the fourth and final seat on Crew Dragon for SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission.
The assignment meant she would be the first Black woman to join an ISS crew for scientific research, station maintenance, training and more over a six-month period. Previously, Victor Glover, part of SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission that launched in November 2020, became the first Black astronaut to join a station crew.
Out of 248 astronauts who have visited the ISS, only seven have been Black and none were included in expeditions lasting several months.
In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first Black astronaut to travel to space. Mae Jemison followed nine years later and became the first Black woman to do the same.
NASA also announced last year that Watkins was chosen for the Artemis program that aims to put astronauts back on the moon no later than 2025.
Wednesday’s flight sent NASA’s Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren and the European Space Agency’s Samantha Cristoforetti to orbit.
They’re expected to dock at the ISS at 8:15 p.m. EDT if schedules hold.
“For me, growing up, it was important to me to have role models in roles that I aspire to be in, contributing in ways I aspired to contribute,” Watkins told NPR. “So to the extent that I’m able to do that, I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to return the favor.”
SpaceX launches 4 astronauts for NASA after private flight
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NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins will become first Black woman on the ISS crew
She is set to launch into space in April 2022 on the SpaceX Crew-4 mission, according to NASA.
Watkins was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2017 and has been preparing for her first space mission since then.
The other three crew members on the mission include NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Robert Hines, as well as the European Space Agency’s Samantha Cristoforetti.
This is the fourth crew rotation flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, the space agency said.
The team will blast into space from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The astronauts will spend six months in the ISS microgravity laboratory conducting scientific research, NASA said.
Watkins attended Stanford University in California and earned her bachelor’s degree in geological and environmental sciences, then went on to earn a doctorate in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The astronaut has a long history with NASA, having begun her career there as an intern, and she previously held roles at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
She was a member of the science team for the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, while working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
“Geology provided a means for me to study the surface of another planet and particularly look at Mars, which was my passion,” Watkins said in a NASA video.
A number of her NASA colleagues congratulated Watkins on her new role and upcoming trip to space.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim said, “More Turtles in space! Congrats to my friend and teammate, Jessica Watkins. She’s going to be an amazing crewmate for @SpaceX Crew-4.”
Kathy Lueders, lead of NASA’s human spaceflight program as associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate, said, “Congrats to @NASA_Astronauts’ Jessica Watkins! She’s been chosen to join @astro_kjell, @Astro_FarmerBob, and @esa’s @AstroSamantha on the upcoming @SpaceX Crew-4 mission, the fourth crew rotation flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the @Space_Station.”
A history of trailblazers
Countless people of color paved the way over the past half a century for Watkins to achieve her extraterrestrial dreams.
Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. spent decades recruiting minority and female astronauts and would later become the first Black person to walk in space in 1995.
Dr. Mae Jemison became the first Black woman in space while aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor in 1992.
In 2013, Victor Glover Jr., a legislative fellow in the US Senate, was selected as an astronaut and became the first Black person to hold a long-duration crew assignment on the ISS. He was a crew member from November 15, 2020, to May 2, 2021.
Jessica Watkins To Be First Black Woman To Join International Space Station Crew
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins is set to make history as the first Black woman to go on a mission to the International Space Station as part of the crew.
On Tuesday, NASA announced that Watkins will serve as a crew member on an upcoming SpaceX Crew-4 mission, set to launch in April and last six months.
Watkins told the New York Times that she hopes her mission to the space station would serve young girls of color as “an example of ways that they can participate and succeed.”
In 2018, another astronaut, Jeanette Epps, was set to make history as the first Black woman to live at the space station, but she was replaced by another astronaut without explanation from NASA. At the time, her brother alleged the decision was a result of racism at the agency. NASA did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Watkins, who is from Colorado, went to Stanford University for her undergraduate degree and then got her doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles. She started her career at NASA as an intern, and the space station mission will be her first trip to space after being selected as an astronaut in 2017.
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Jessica Watkins Will Be First Black Woman to Join Space Station Crew
Two decades after the International Space Station became humanity’s long-lasting home in orbit, Jessica Watkins, a NASA astronaut, is poised to become the first Black woman to join its crew for a long-term mission.
NASA announced on Tuesday that Dr. Watkins, a geologist raised in Lafayette, Colo., would serve as a mission specialist on SpaceX’s next astronaut flight, known as Crew-4, to the space station. She will join two other NASA astronauts and an Italian astronaut for a six-month mission aboard the orbital lab that is scheduled to start in April.
In an interview, Dr. Watkins said she hoped going to the space station would set an example for children of color, and “particularly young girls of color, to be able to see an example of ways that they can participate and succeed.”
She added, “For me, that’s been really important, and so if I can contribute to that in some way, that’s definitely worth it.”
Only seven of the 249 people who have boarded the space station since its creation in 2000 were Black. Victor Glover, a Navy commander and test pilot who joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013, became the first Black crew member in a regular long-duration mission at the station; his mission started last year. The six Black astronauts who had visited the space station before Mr. Glover were part of space shuttle crews that stayed for roughly 12 days.
In 1983, Guion S. Bluford became the first Black American to go to space, and Mae Jemison was the first Black woman to do so, in 1992. In 1961, Ed Dwight, an Air Force pilot, was NASA’s first Black astronaut trainee, but he was not selected. In September, Sian Proctor, a member of SpaceX’s Inspiration4 amateur astronaut mission that went to orbit but not to the space station, became the first Black woman to serve as a spacecraft pilot.
Jeanette Epps, a NASA astronaut, was initially set to be the first Black woman to live and work on the space station, in 2018. But she was replaced by another astronaut for reasons NASA has not explained. She remains scheduled for a six-month mission as part of the first operational astronaut crew to fly Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the station. But development of that capsule is years behind schedule. This summer, a faulty set of valves discovered on Starliner’s propulsion system before an uncrewed test launch further delayed Dr. Epps’s mission to late 2022 at the earliest.
Dr. Watkins completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and earned a doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a study of landslides on Mars and Earth. She has worked with NASA’s science labs, on projects including the Mars Curiosity rover mission, and joined the astronaut corps in 2017. Becoming an astronaut, she said, was “something I dreamed about for a very long time ever since I was pretty little, but definitely not something I thought would ever happen.”
Last year, she was among 18 astronauts NASA named to represent the agency’s Artemis program, a multibillion-dollar effort to return humans, including the first woman and the first person of color, to the surface of the moon in 2025. The astronauts NASA sent to the moon during the Apollo program were all white men. In recent years, the agency has sought to make its astronaut programs more representative of the American population.
“Exploring space beyond L.E.O. is a huge effort, and we have to have the participation from all parts of our society,” Ken Bowersox, a senior official in NASA’s space operations wing and a former astronaut, said during an event last week, referring to the agency’s goals beyond low-Earth orbit.
Dr. Watkins had been training for a trip to space for months before her crew assignment. She has completed spacewalk simulations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and learned the ins and outs of the space station, a football-field-size science laboratory 260 miles above Earth.
“It is certainly not lost on me that we’ve arrived in this moment in history,” she said of being the first Black woman to carry out a long-duration mission. “This moment is not as worthwhile if we are not able to focus on the job and perform well.”