FOOTBALL

As expected, Zack Martin is now the highest-paid guard in NFL history.

The Dallas Cowboys and Martin reached a six-year, $84 million extension with $40 million guaranteed, a source told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The extension kicks in after 2018, so Martin is under Cowboys control for the next seven seasons at $93.41 million. This deal easily makes him the highest-paid guard in football, topping the five-year, $66.5 million contract with $30 million guaranteed that Andrew Norwell received from Jacksonville earlier this offseason.

Martin, the Cowboys’ 2014 first-round pick, has been named to the Pro Bowl in his first four seasons.

• San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin won the 2018 George Halas Award from the Professional Football Writers of America.

The Halas Award is given to an NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed. Goodwin had a career year on the field while dealing with family tragedies during the 2017 season.

His wife, Morgan, lost a premature baby boy due to complications during pregnancy on Nov. 12. Hours later, he caught an 83-yard touchdown pass. He blew a kiss to the sky before crossing the goal line, and dropped to his knees in the end zone in prayer, overcome with emotion.

Goodwin also went through the loss of his biological father in December, then was carted off the field after being injured in the season finale. He finished with 56 receptions for 962 yards and two touchdowns and was third in the NFL in reception average at 17.2 yards.

BASEBALL

EASTERN LEAGUE: Miguel Gomez and Jerry Sands hit back-to-back home runs in a three-run first inning, and the Richmond Flying Squirrels went on to a 3-0 victory over the Portland Sea Dogs at Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday.

Richmond (33-29) used four pitchers in shutting out the Sea Dogs on eight hits and sending Portland (22-41) to its third straight loss.

Teddy Stankiewicz (5-6) allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings for Portland. Sea Dogs catcher Jhon Nunez was 3 for 3.

• The Boston Red Sox signed outfielder Johnny Bladel from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League and assigned him to the Portland Sea Dogs. He started in right field and batted ninth for the Sea Dogs on Wednesday.

The Sea Dogs also assigned left-hander Kyle Hart to the short-season Lowell Spinners.

NECBL: Jake Alu hit a two-run homer in the first and Josh Zbierski had a two-run shot in the fourth, helping the Sanford Mainers take control in a 6-4 victory over the Keene Swamp Bats at Keene, New Hampshire.

Sanford led 5-2 after four innings. John Rizer added a solo homer for the Mainers (4-2) in the seventh.

Alex Griffith homered for the Swamp Bats (3-3).

REGENCY MORTGAGE SUMMER LEAGUE: Henry Westphal’s two-run double keyed a four-run second inning, and Sam Knop hit a two-run double in a five-run third as Bruno’s (3-0) cruised to a 13-1 victory over host Windham (0-1).

JUNIOR LEGION: Tucker Ford took the lead in the second inning with an RBI single from Ted Norton and a pair of runs off a suicide squeeze by Jacob Gautreau, and went on to a 5-1 win over Lewiston in an opener at Yarmouth.

Brody Farinas had a pair of hits for Lewiston. Sam Laroche added a double.

TENNIS

STUTTGART OPEN: Roger Federer rallied to beat home favorite Mischa Zverev 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in Stuttgart, Germany, in his first match in nearly three months.

Federer converted four of his 10 break points to end a two-match losing streak and start his grass-court season with a win.

QUEEN’S OPEN: French Open champion Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the tournament that starts July 2 in an attempt to be ready for Wimbledon. After playing 27 matches on clay the past two months, the 32-year-old Spaniard said he feels he needs time to recover.

COLLEGES

NCAA: College athletes will no longer need permission from their coach or school to transfer and receive financial aid from another school.

The NCAA Division I Council approved the change Wednesday. It takes effect Oct. 15.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Anne Donovan, the Basketball Hall of Famer who won a national championship at Old Dominion, two Olympic gold medals as a player and another as a coach, died of heart failure. She was 56.

Donovan was at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee, last weekend.

She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995, was part of the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 and was inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

Copy the Story Link