Golden Nuggets: Keenan Allen Comes Home Again

Football - Jahvid Best

Former Lions RB Jahvid Best first ex-NFL player in Summer Olympics

Former Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best is set to become the first former NFL player to participate in the Summer Olympic Games after being approved to represent St. Lucia in track and field next month in Rio.

Best will run in the 100 meters for St. Lucia, a Caribbean island with an estimated population of just over 163,000. Best was born in Vallejo, California, but his father holds dual citizenship in St. Lucia and the United States.

"This is a huge accomplishment for me, but at the same time this is just the beginning," Best told NBC Sports. "I have only been in this sport for two years professionally, and plan on being around for a long time."

According to NBCSports.com, Best will become the first former NFL player to compete in the Summer Games.

Football - Australia Game

Cal's Australia Game Is New Move to Take Football Down Under

California coach Sonny Dykes has prepared for the travel challenges associated with a season-opening game in Sydney.

Dykes has spoken with NFL coaches who have taken their teams to London, prepared onboard exercises for players and consulted Nike for compression apparel they can wear during the flight when the Golden Bears depart the Bay Area on Aug. 20 and arrive down under on Aug. 22.

But for a real understanding of how taxing travel to and from Australia can be, Dykes could have just asked Oregon State punter Nick Porebski.

"When I first did it, I was jet-lagged for about two days," the Melbourne-born Porebski said at Pac-12 media days. "It is a tough flight. You're sitting there for a long time. Your legs are going to get heavy."

Porebski is one of a growing number of Australians to find success playing what his countrymen call American football, fueling growth in the sport back home.

A Cal spokesman said approximately 70,000 tickets have been sold for the Aug. 27 game against Hawaii at the 83,500-capacity ANZ Stadium, the first college football game to be played in Australia since BYU defeated Colorado State in 1987.

Football - Keenan Allen

Keenan Allen comes home again

GREENSBORO — Keenan Allen came home today, finding friends and family and former coaches waiting for him.
The former Northern Guilford student who now plays wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers believed holding a youth football camp would be a good way to show his appreciation for people in Greensboro who helped him along the way.

Instead, it became a way for them to show support for him.

On a sunny morning at his old high school, Allen came home to see much of his life flash before his eyes, throwing footballs with his brother and his buddies, just as they'd done as kids themselves, with their parents and their coaches yelling and blowing whistles.

"It brings back memories," Allen said. "I think about this place all the time."