Ford Trucks has signed a three-year league sponsorship and will activate its new "Official Truck of the NFL" designation by linking the strength, performance and durability of its trucks with the NFL's top offensive lines. The lead activation platform will be the "Ford Tough Offensive Line of the Week" recognition, which will culminate in an Offensive Line of the Year that will be awarded at NFL Honors during Super Bowl week.

Ford also will have dedicated ads supporting the sponsorship, including one Ford VP/U.S. Marketing, Sales & Service Mark LaNeve said should be ready within a few weeks. Pro Football HOFer Anthony Munoz has been signed as a spokesperson for the program. Bears G Kyle Long also has signed as part of a content program for next year, where he will be helping instruct top collegiate linemen on the rigors of the NFL before they are drafted. Also planned are the Toughest Ticket and Toughest Tailgate promotions, where local dealers can tie in. LaNeve was the principal architect of the deal for Ford.

The deal includes rights for trucks, like Ford's F-150 and the Super Duty, along with its lineup of top-selling commercial vans. LaNeve orchestrated GM's NFL sponsorship deal 15 years ago, then largely supporting the Cadillac brand, when it was the official car of the Super Bowl.

Pete Vlastelica is leaving Fox Sports to be President & CEO of Activision Blizzard’s e-sports division, Major League Gaming. He will be based in Santa Monica and will report to MLG parent company Activision Blizzard COO Thomas Tippl. Former ESPN and NFL exec Steve Bornstein will remain Chair and Mike Sepso will remain co-Founder and Senior VP/Media Networks for MLG. “We’re trying to build a world-class team here,” Bornstein said. “The next great movement on the sports scene will be in e-sports.”

The high-profile hire of Vlastelica is a coup for MLG. He is one of sports media’s top digital execs, having held top exec roles at Fox Sports since ‘10, when the net bought Yardbarker. “This is the first digital-native sport -- it’s like nothing I’ve seen in any other sport,” Vlastelica said. "I have lots of experience in building audiences on digital platforms and programming digital-native content."

The U.S. men's national soccer team's World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago drew a crowd of 19,410 to EverBank Field last night. The relatively sparse crowd for the 4-0 win was "not surprising," as the scheduling was "less than ideal." The game came "on a Tuesday night after Labor Day and five days before" the Jaguars' season opener. Last night's win bumped the USMNT's record at EverBank Field to 3-0.

Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said, "For us, playing here in Jacksonville, is really a good feeling. So hopefully, in a future time, when it allows, we come back here. In general, it’s not a problem with less people (in the stands) because of the difficult timing of it." U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said of last night, "We wish it were a bigger crowd, but that's OK" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 9/7).

SI has struck an exclusive deal with N.Y.-based audio engagement company DGital Media to produce a regular series of podcasts featuring writers from SI and sister property The MMQB. The podcasts begin today with a trio of installments from MMQB editor-in-chief Peter King, will continue with weekly installments from King and Albert Breer, also of MMQB, and eventually incorporate other sports including soccer and basketball. The DGital Media-powered podcasts will also be part of SI’s forthcoming NBA-focused site, The Crossover. The debut King podcasts today will feature Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, Broncos Exec VP/Football Operations & GM John Elway and Seahawks DE Michael Bennett.

Meanwhile, SI.com today will also show a special NFL season preview show at 2:00pm ET featuring The Experts Network’s Cris Collinsworth, Boomer Esiason, Howie Long and Phil Simms. The studio-based show follows a draft preview special SI developed with the quartet in April. Segments from the season preview show will distributed across SI’s digital network, including FanSided sites and its social channels.

Thunder Exec VP & GM Sam Presti last night was honored at the Oklahoma Center for Community & Justice's Humanitarian Awards dinner for the way he has "impacted the Oklahoma community and built the Thunder organization." Spurs coach Gregg Popovich "started a waterfall of appearances" in Presti's honor. Thunder staffers like coach Billy Donovan and Assistant GM Troy Weaver also attended, as did team Chair Clay Bennett. The OCCJ "recognized Presti's continual effort and the parallels to its mission to eliminate bias, bigotry and racism in Oklahoma" (OKLAHOMAN, 9/7).

The Steelers yesterday unveiled a new weight room, the "highlight" of a $10M, six-month "upgrade and expansion of their practice facility." The 10,000-square-foot weight room "features state-of-the-art equipment from Keiser, a commercial and home fitness company." Steelers strength and conditioning coach Garrett Giemont said that the weight room "could be the most advanced in the NFL." The performance center also "features a 40-yard stretch of artificial turf that can be used in a variety of ways" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 9/7).

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said that the city had "reached an agreement in principle with Arch Insurance to have the bonding surety company take over construction of Dunkin' Donuts Park and pay for the cost." The plan would have the Double-A Eastern League Hartford Yard Goats "play their first-ever home game on April 13, 2017." Still to be determined is "who finishes the work" (HARTFORD COURANT, 9/7).

IOC President Thomas Bach will miss tonight's Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Rio, the "first time" the organization's top official will "not have attended the event for 32 years." Bach instead will be attending "the official state mourning ceremony for Walter Scheel, the former West Germany President, who died at the age of 97" (INSIDETHEGAMES.biz, 9/6).

Ticket Galaxy will serve as the title sponsor of Phoenix Int'l Raceway's NASCAR Xfinity Series race in November and as the track's official secondary market ticket provider (PIR).

The Hornets and the NBA today will announce that they are partnering with the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to "renovate three neighborhood basketball courts" after the county commissioners approved the project last night (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/7).

Yesterday marked the "final scheduled match at Louis Armstrong Stadium" at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The stadium will be "torn down and replaced" for the '18 U.S. Open (N.Y. TIMES, 9/7).

The "contractually mandated rematch" between boxers Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko today was rescheduled for Oct. 29 at the Manchester Arena in Fury's hometown of Manchester, England. The bout is "expected to be added to the HBO schedule" in the U.S. (ESPN.com, 9/7).

The NFL runs a full-page ad in today's USA Today promoting tomorrow night's Panthers-Broncos Kickoff game. The ad also touts televised pregame performances by Dierks Bentley and OneRepublic (THE DAILY).

Cavaliers F Richard Jefferson yesterday on Snapchat shared what appeared to be a sneak peek of the team's NBA Championship rings, which are scheduled to be given to the players during a ceremony prior to an Oct. 25 game against the Knicks. Jefferson later removed the image from his Snapchat story (CLEVELAND.com, 9/7).

"Tom and I have a great relationship, want the same things. Expecting it to happen" – Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein, via text message, on whether he expects to agree to terms on a contract extension with team Chair Tom Ricketts (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 9/7).

"There was Unitas. There was Peyton. And now it’s Andrew’s time. I believe we can get to the top of Mount Everest and plant that Colts flag" – Colts Owner Jim Irsay, on his expectations for the team under QB Andrew Luck (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 9/7).

"They want me to be here for three years" – F1 President & CEO Bernie Ecclestone, on his role with the series following an imminent takeover by Liberty Media (REUTERS, 9/7).

"There's no risk. If it doesn't work, we'll be honest with Tim early, and we can move on. If it does work, it's great for the Braves and it's great for baseball" – Braves GM John Coppolella, on the possibility of signing former NFLer Tim Tebow to a minor league contract (MLB.com, 9/6).

The WASHINGTON POST's Dan Steinberg notes how media members are adjusting to the "weirdly boring Redskins." Covering the Redskins has "changed this summer." The controversies surrounding the team are "who should start at left guard" and just "how much the secondary has improved." It is "without a doubt the least amount of preseason buzz" around the team in 20 years. The Redskins' PR team should be "cracking nightly bottles of champagne." 

Also: 

• The Paralympics should be held before the Olympics, not after. 
• Campaign results from the biggest Super Bowl 50 advertisers. 
• As he nears retirement, David Ortiz weighs in on Trump, other issues. 
• Introducing the new health care ambassador of e-sports. 
• The Cowboys should pay back Jerry Jones' generosity with some playoff wins. 

Big 12 commish Bob Bowlsby says the league sent out RFPs for hosting upcoming FB title games last week, hopes to name site/sites by Nov. 1

— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) September 6, 2016

Drew Brees wants $100M over 4 years? At his age? Long term and disability care must be getting expensive. #aints

— J.W. Cannon (@cannonjw) September 7, 2016

UPDATE @Drake said "sun devils" // move over, @UKAthletics

— Grace Hoy (@gracehoy) September 7, 2016

NFL starts German Twitter feed (doesn't appear to be Facebook *official* equivalent). #smsports https://t.co/7zRbV1igF3

— Neil Horowitz (@njh287) September 7, 2016

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Countries of the World.”

“This countries two main ethnic groups are Punjabi (who are also found in India) and Pashtun (also living in Afghanistan).”

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said, “College football kicked off this weekend, and Texas Longhorns quarterback Shane Buechele told reporters that he was born after his dad had a vasectomy. Or in other words, he was the very first quarterback sneak. ... The U.S. Open tennis tournament is going on here in New York this week. It's very exciting. It's amazing; amazing athletes. Of course, fans are eager to watch the world’s best players, but it seems like everyone there is even more excited about something else (the new retractable roof).” After video aired of players and commentators discussing the roof, Fallon said “even Trump was like, ‘We’re adding a roof to the wall. A wall and then a roof. A big, beautiful, giant roof’” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 9/6).

Last night’s edition of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” featured the recurring segment “Pros and Cons,” in which Fallon discussed the opening of the NFL season Thursday night. Fallon said, “Football is back, baby!” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 9/6).

“What is Pakistan?”