SOCCER
Czech Republic midfielder Jakub Jankto posted a video on social media on Monday saying he is gay, making him one of the most high-profile male soccer players to come out.
Jankto, 27, posted a video on Twitter saying: “I’m homosexual. And I no longer want to hide myself.”
Jankto is playing for Sparta Prague this season on loan from Spanish club Getafe. He has previously played for Italian clubs Sampdoria and Udinese and has made 45 appearances for the Czech national team, scoring four goals and setting up 13 more.
“Like everyone else, I want to live my life with freedom, without fear, without violence, without prejudice, but with love,” Jankto says in the video.
Sparta Prague’s official Twitter account retweeted the video and said “you have our support.”
“Live your life, Jakub,” the club added.
Getafe also posted a message on Twitter, saying: “Our utmost respect and unconditional support to our player Jakub Jankto.”
The Czech national team said “nothing is changing for us.”
The Premier League responded to Jankto’s video with a comment saying: “We’re with you, Jakub. Football is for everyone.”
Jankto has a 3-year-old son, David, with his partner Marketa. Their relationship ended in 2021.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND: Borussia Dortmund will be without Youssoufa Moukoko for about six weeks, ruling the Germany forward out of the Champions League match against Chelsea on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old Moukoko sustained an ankle ligament injury in Saturday’s Bundesliga game with Werder Bremen, the club said.
FOOTBALL
NFL: According to a source, the Jets have hired Todd Downing as their passing game coordinator. NFL Network was the first to report the Jets hire of Downing.
The Jets’ passing game coordinator role has been a vacant position since 2021. Coach Robert Saleh hired Greg Knapp to be the Jets’ passing game coordinator that year. However, on July 17, 2021, Knapp died following injuries in a biking accident in California.
Downing will work with Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who was hired last month. They each will look to improve a Jets offense that finished at the bottom of several statistical categories, including 25th in offense (318.2 yards per game) and 29th in points scored (17.4 per game).
Downing brings a ton of experience as he has been an assistant coach in the NFL since 2005. From 2010-13, Downing was the Lions quarterbacks coach as he worked with a young Matthew Stafford.
Following a year as the Bills quarterback coach in 2014, Downing became the Raiders quarterbacks coach (2015-16) and later their offensive coordinator (2017).
Most recently, Downing was Titans tight ends coach (2019-20) and offensive coordinator (2021-22) as he worked to revive Ryan Tannehill’s career after he was traded from the Dolphins. During his two seasons guiding the Titans offense, they finished 17th and 30th in the league. Tennessee also ended each year 24th and 30th in passing, as the team averaged 17.5 points per game under Downing’s direction.
Downing was fired by the Titans last month following the team’s 7-10 season.
• When Patrick Mahomes rallied the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory, he also led a comeback for the sportsbooks.
Kansas City’s 38-35 win over Philadelphia on Sunday night meant the books were winners on the betting line, which generally favored the Eagles by 1 1/2 points and drew plenty of wagering on the NFC champions. That victory by the sportsbooks offset a loss on the total, which was 51 1/2 points at many places that were hit hard by bets on the over.
Jason Scott, BetMGM vice president of trading, expects the national handle on the Super Bowl to set a record simply because sports betting is legal in many more states. Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports operations at Westgate Las Vegas, expects the handle to be the highest, but probably will come in below expectations.
• Fox was hoping the matchup of two top teams in the Super Bowl and a close game would lead to a record night.
Even though Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles came down to a field goal with 8 seconds remaining, Fox fell just short of its goal.
The Chiefs’ rally to defeat the Eagles 38-35 is on pace to become the third most-watched television show in history, with an estimated 113 million people watching, according to preliminary numbers released.
Fox said the audience estimate includes the broadcasts on Fox and Fox Deportes as well as streaming on Fox and the NFL’s digital sites. The figures are via Nielsen’s Fast National data and Adobe Analytics.
The 2015 game between New England and Seattle on NBC holds the record at 114,442,000 viewers (not including streaming), followed by Super Bowl 51 in 2017 on Fox between Atlanta and New England (113,668,000).
• Conrad Dobler, one of the NFL’s top offensive linemen with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1970s, has died. He was 72.
The Cardinals announced Dobler died Monday in Pueblo, Colorado. No cause of death was given.
Dobler played left guard on an offensive line that included Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf for a St. Louis team that became known as the “Cardiac Cardinals.”
“Our hearts go out to the family, friends and former teammates of Conrad Dobler,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in a statement. “He was the kind of tough, physical and fierce player that you love to line up with as a teammate and hate to line up against as an opponent. On the field, Conrad was a big reason for the success of the Cardiac Cards of the 1970s. Away from it, he brought authentic joy and caring to everyone who had the privilege of being his friend and that is what I will remember most.”
Dobler earned three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances from 1975-77 while playing under Hall of Fame coach Don Coryell. He played for the Cardinals from 1972-77 before moving on to play two seasons with New Orleans and Buffalo.
Dobler was a fifth-round pick out of Wyoming in the 1972 NFL draft. He is survived by six children and 12 grandchildren.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR: Sunday’s Daytona 500 is a sellout for the eighth consecutive year, this one recognizing the 75th anniversary of NASCAR.
Daytona International Speedway announced all remaining tickets had been sold for the 65th running of “The Great American Race,” including grandstand seats, infield camping spots, fan-zone admission and all hospitality options.
FORMULA ONE: Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso said his new Aston Martin team would “not be happy with second” as it tries to build toward a title challenge in future years.
Alonso joins as a replacement for fellow former champion Sebastian Vettel, who retired at the end of last season.
SKIING
CLIMATE CHANGE: Overall World Cup winners Mikaela Shiffrin, Federica Brignone and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde are among nearly 200 athletes from multiple disciplines who have signed a letter addressed to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation demanding action over climate change.
The letter was delivered during the skiing world championships after warm weather and a lack of snow wiped out nearly a month of racing at the start of this season, with preseason training on melting European glaciers heading toward extinction and the impact of climate change on the schedule being seen even in January.
The letter was written by Austrian downhiller Julian Schutter, an ambassador for the nonprofit organization Protect Our Winters, known as POW.
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