(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) rolls out looking to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers knew this game might be coming five years ago.

Maybe it’s why he appears to be at peace with what will be the very jarring visual of the four-time MVP standing on one side of the line of scrimmage and the team he long defined being on the other when Pittsburgh (4-2) hosts Green Bay (4-1-1) on Sunday night.

Asked this week if his first-ever meeting with the Packers was about revenge, Rodgers simply shook his head.

“What do I got to be avenging here?” Rodgers said this week, 2 1/2 years after his remarkably successful run with Green Bay ended with a trade to the New York Jets so the Packers could hand the keys to the franchise to Jordan Love. “They made me a ton of money. I grew up there, spent some of the best years of my life there. I’ve got nothing but love for the organization.”

And nothing but love for the man who replaced him.

The moment NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced Love’s name near the end of the first round of the 2020 draft, Rodgers understood his time in Green Bay was on the clock.

In a perfect world, Rodgers would have guided the Packers to another Super Bowl title and headed off into the California sunset while gracefully ceding the spotlight to Love.

Yet Rodgers learned long ago that things rarely wrap up so tidily. And they didn’t.

While Rodgers fended Love off for three years — a third and fourth MVP season helped — by early 2023, Love looked ready to take over, and the Packers were ready to move on. Somewhat begrudgingly, so was the quarterback who helped bring “Titletown, USA” its fourth Super Bowl.

So no, Rodgers is not bitter. If he were, why has he stayed in contact with Love since his departure? The two swapped texts last week, exchanging notes on what they’ve seen from common opponents. Their “student/teacher” dynamic has been replaced by something that sounds an awful lot like friendship.

“(Love is) one of the real good guys in the league,” Rodgers said. “I’m sure his leadership has continued to grow over there, but I like the way he’s playing. He’s super accurate. He’s taking care of the football. He’s been opportunistic, making great throws down the field and using his legs as well.”

All words that have been used to describe Rodgers through the years. There is a symmetry to that, and maybe that’s the point. While Love was initially wary when he arrived in Green Bay, knowing his job was to eventually replace a future Hall of Famer, there was never the edginess that defined the relationship between Rodgers and Brett Favre, whom Rodgers replaced in 2008 much in the same way Love took over for him 15 years later.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for how he handled it, the way he went about me coming in and like I said before, he welcomed me with open arms,” Love said.

Those arms have remained open through the years.

Yes, Rodgers is enjoying his time in Pittsburgh. Yet he knows there is only one team he will be forever associated with. And it’s not the one he’ll be playing for under the prime-time lights this week.

“Regardless of when I hang it up, that’s the bulk of my career,” Rodgers said, “I’ll retire a Packer and see what happens after that.”

(File Photo: Source for Photo: United States’ Alex Morgan stands during her retirement ceremony before an international friendly women’s soccer match between the United States and Portugal, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Chester, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. women’s team stumbled Thursday in its first game since July, allowing a goal in each half that sent Portugal to its first win against the Americans, 2-1 on a night two-time World Cup winner Alex Morgan was feted with a star-studded farewell.

Portugal not only beat the U.S. for the first time in 12 matches, it scored its first goals against the Americans in international play.

U.S. coach Emma Hayes said she could tell at practice ahead of the match the nearly four-month layoff could affect the team.

“It felt to me like we just hadn’t played together for a long time,” Hayes said. “I just didn’t recognize us.”

Rose Lavelle scored only 33 seconds into the friendly for the Americans, only for Inês Pereira to shut them down the rest of the game.

Lavelle electrified the crowd that included retired Eagles great Jason Kelce inside Subaru Park — the home field for the MLS’ Philadelphia Union — when she scored before many of the more than 17,000 fans had even settled into their seats following a pregame ceremony for Morgan.

“Sometimes, you can start the game like that and you think to yourself, I hope we don’t sit back and be passive,” Hayes said. “That’s what we did.”

Portugal’s Diana Gomes scored her eighth international goal when she got a header past Phallon Tullis-Joyce that tied the game 1-all in the first half. Portugal had been outscored 40-0 by the United States in the previous 11 matches between them, plus Lavelle’s goal.

Fatima Pinto scored her fifth international goal from atop the box through traffic late in the second half for the winner that gave Portugal its landmark victory.

“There is a standard of winning, and it kind of exceeds all those things, whether it’s the time apart or the age of the team or experience. We have a choice now of how we respond,” midfielder Sam Coffey said.

The U.S. women returned after a 113-day layoff for the start of a true ramp-up toward World Cup qualifications. There’s another match scheduled against Portugal and one against New Zealand to close out the three-match window at the end of the month.

The team needs the work before the results truly matter.

“We didn’t look like the team that we’ve been working on but that’s what happens when you’ve got 113 days apart,” Hayes said.

With Morgan in the house, the stadium underwent a makeover in honor of her big night.

Her greatest moments (such as her four-goal game for the U-20 women’s World Cup team) were recognized in stand-up cutouts that lined outside the stadium. Girls lined up at the Alex Morgan pre-wrap station to get their hair “game-day ready” and T-shirts and banners with her name on them were the hot items at merch stores. Fans everywhere raised signs showing Morgan love in her national team send-off.

Even national team members who couldn’t take the field wouldn’t miss Morgan’s night. The 36-year-old Morgan retired from soccer last year when she became pregnant with her second child.

American forward Trinity Rodman was on hand for Morgan’s celebration but did not play as she recovers from a knee injury. Rodman has only played for the Americans once since they won the 2024 Olympic gold medal in France. Abby Wambach, Kelley O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe also attended the game.

Besides World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, Morgan also won an Olympic gold medal in 2012. She played in 224 matches for the U.S. — and was honored with a framed jersey with that total as the number — with 123 goals and 53 assists. She was chosen the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year in 2012 and 2018.

Morgan also played in 150 NWSL matches over her career, which included stints with the Portland Thorns and the Orlando Pride. She rejoined the Wave in May as a minority stakeholder.

Hayes only had Morgan for one game during her tenure. But the former Chelsea coach has been around the sport long enough to appreciate Morgan’s impact on the game — and for her to be feted at the same stadium where she scored her first national team goal in 2010.

“There was nothing she didn’t achieve,” Hayes said a day earlier. “She was a player that epitomized everything this program is about. She’s an unbelievable credit to her family because her drive, her desire, her determination to prove herself at the highest level is second to none.

“You can’t go anywhere in this country without them talking about Alex Morgan, and I think the sport should show a lot of gratitude to that, because it’s important for our players to be recognizable. And she is, without question, in recent times, one of the most recognizable faces in our sport.”

(Photo Courtesy of the Wampum Community Revitalization)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Wampum, PA) There will be an official dedication ceremony for the mural of the late baseball player Richard “Dick” Allen tomorrow in Wampum at 4 p.m. Allen, who played nine seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame of Cooperstown, New York on July 27th, 2025 and the mural located on 331 Main Street depicts him. The artist of the mural, Ernel Martinez, the son of Allen, Richard, Jr. and the brother of Allen, Ron will be among the guests at this ceremony set in Allen’s hometown. There will also be a digital paranormal investigation event following the mural dedication ceremony tomorrow starting at 6 p.m. and ending at 9 p.m.

(Photo Courtesy of Getty Images and Focus on Sport, JANUARY 20: American professional football player L.C. Greenwood #68 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XIV against the Los Angeles Rams at the Rose Bowl on January 20, 1980 in Pasadena, California. The Steelers defeated the Rams 31-19. (Photo by Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The late Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman L.C. Greenwood is still in consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 in the seniors category after a recent second round of voting from people from the museum located in Canton, Ohio. Greenwood and thirty-three others were considered as candidates for this honor. Greenwood was a four-time Super Bowl Champion who played all thirteen of his NFL seasons with the Steelers. 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – This combo of images shows, from left, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers’ Damon Jones. (AP Photo/File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and a player for the Miami Heat were arrested Thursday along with more than 30 other people in a takedown of two sprawling gambling operations that authorities said leaked inside information about NBA athletes and rigged poker games backed by Mafia families.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups was charged with participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games tied to La Cosa Nostra organized crime families that cheated unsuspecting gamblers out of at least $7 million. Heat guard Terry Rozier was accused in a separate scheme of exploiting private information about players to win bets on NBA games.

The two indictments unsealed in New York create a massive cloud for the NBA — which opened its season this week — and show how certain types of wagers are vulnerable to massive fraud in the growing, multibillion-dollar legal sports-betting industry. Joseph Nocella, the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”

“My message to the defendants who’ve been rounded up today is this: Your winning streak has ended,” Nocella said. “Your luck has run out.”

Both men face money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy charges. Also charged was former NBA assistant coach and player Damon Jones, who stands accused of participating in both schemes.

“The fraud is mind boggling,” FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation.”

The alleged fraud, however, paled in comparison to the riches the athletes earned on the court. Billups, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, had about $106 million in earnings over his 17-year career. Rozier made about $160 million in his stops in Boston, Miami and Charlotte.

Billups and Rozier have been placed on leave from their teams, according to the NBA, which said it is cooperating with authorities.

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said in a statement.

Hours after his arrest, Rozier appeared in a federal court in Orlando, Florida, wearing a Charlotte Hornets sweatshirt, handcuffs and shackles. Billups appeared before a judge in Portland, Oregon. Both men were ordered released from custody on certain conditions.

Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, issued a statement Thursday evening denying the allegations, calling his client a “man of integrity.” “To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall-of-Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game,” Heywood said.

Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, said in a statement that his client is “not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.” Trusty criticized authorities for not allowing his client to surrender on his own and accused officials of wanting “the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk.”

Messages were left Thursday at a phone number and email address listed in public records for Jones.

Roughly 20 other defendants appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, where most of them pleaded not guilty. Many of those charged with violent crimes or with lengthy criminal records and ties to organized crime were detained.

Mafia families profited off gambling scheme, officials say

The poker scheme lured unwitting players into rigged games with the chance to compete against former professional basketball players like Billups and Jones. The games were fixed using sophisticated cheating technology, such as altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in poker chip trays, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table to read cards, authorities allege.

The scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to court papers. Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.

Athletes accused of leaving games early

In the sports betting scheme, Rozier and other defendants are accused of accessing private information from NBA players or coaches that could affect a player’s performance and giving that information to others so they could place wagers. Players sometimes altered their performance or took themselves out of games early to rig prop bets — a type of wager that allows gamblers to bet on whether a player will exceed a certain statistic, such as a total number of points, rebounds or assists, according to the indictment.

In one instance, Rozier, while playing for the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, told people he was planning to leave the game early with a supposed injury, allowing gamblers to place wagers earning them tens of thousands of dollars, authorities said. That game against the New Orleans Pelicans raised eyebrows at the time. Rozier played the first 9 minutes and 36 seconds of the game before leaving, citing a foot issue. He did not play again that season.

Posts still online from March 23, 2023, show that some bettors were furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that Rozier was not going to return to the game after the first quarter, with many turning to social media to say that something “shady” had happened regarding the prop bets involving his stats for that night.

The indictments contain the descriptions of several unnamed NBA players whose injury status and availability for certain games were the source of betting activity. Those players are not accused of any wrongdoing, and there is no indication that they would have even known what was being said about their status for those games.

Those players include LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard. Their identities are clear based on a review of corresponding injury reports surrounding games mentioned in the indictment. The indictments show that certain defendants shared information about the availability of those players in a game on March 24, 2023, involving the Portland Trail Blazers, and two games in 2023 and 2024 involving the Los Angeles Lakers.

The NBA had investigated Rozier previously. He was in uniform as the Heat played the Magic on Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the season opener for both teams, though he did not play in the game.