The NFL is launching new concussion-related initiatives dubbed "Play Smart. Play Safe." Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league will devote $60M to "technological development, aimed in part at improving helmets for players," and another $40M to fund "medical research into the effects of head injuries." Goodell said the $100M effort "builds on what we've done the last few years but it takes it to another level." Goodell indicated that the NFL "intends to do a better communications job going forward with its concussion-related efforts" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/14).

The NFL has released an open letter from Goodell outlining the program and created a dedicated site at playsmartplaysafe.com. The league also promotes the new initiatives with a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal: "Our Commitment: The Health And Safety Of Every NFL Player" (THE DAILY).

Vin Scully said that he "would not call any Dodgers playoff games on radio, meaning his career will end" with the Oct. 2 regular-season finale against the Giants in S.F. National broadcasters have "exclusive television rights to playoff games," but Scully "has called the Dodgers' postseason games on radio in recent years." The team "had hoped he would do so again this year." But Scully said that "two farewells will be enough" – the Dodgers' final regular-season home game against the Rockies on Sept. 25 and the Oct. 2 game at AT&T Park (L.A. TIMES, 9/14).

The Blue Jays last night during their game against the Rays “crossed the 3 million mark in attendance," a figure the team last reached in '93, when it won its last of two consecutive World Series titles. The club is on pace for “at least the sixth-best total gate in franchise history, with a shot at the fifth spot." Blue Jays President & CEO Mark Shapiro: "It's a reflection of the intensity of the fan base." The club, which ended a 22-year postseason drought last year, currently occupies one of the two AL Wild Card spots with the Orioles (SPORTSNET.ca, 9/13).

UEFA today elected Aleksander Ceferin as President, succeeding the banned Michel Platini. The "largely unknown Slovenian lawyer" will complete Platini's four-year term through '19. Ceferin, who heads Slovenia's soccer federation, beat out UEFA VP Michael van Praag of the Netherlands in a 42-13 vote in Athens to become the seventh president in the governing body's 62-year history. He "has never served" on UEFA's Exec Committee (AP, 9/14).

FC Dallas last night defeated the Revolution in the U.S. Open Cup Final "before a capacity crowd" at 20,500-seat Toyota Stadium (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/14). After "19 years of disappointment," FC Dallas "snapped its trophy drought" with last night's 4-2 win. The team, which is "currently leading the Supporters' Shield standings" with MLS' best regular-season record, hopes last night's trophy will be "the first of many." FC Dallas President Dan Hunt said, "It's unreal. The feeling is so amazing. ... There's a huge weight off our shoulders. My biggest fear was we weren't going to get the first one" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/14).

Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino “hinted there was a possibility that the league’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments could be pulled” from Asheville, N.C., this March after the NCAA on Monday pulled seven championships for the state due to its HB2 law. Iamarino said that “upcoming meetings in October and November could result in the tournament being moved to a site outside of North Carolina” (Asheville TIMES-CITIZEN, 9/14). Meanwhile, CIAA Associate Commissioner for Communications Adrian Ferguson said there are “no plans to move” its basketball championships from Charlotte “at this time” (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 9/14).

Anaheim city officials last night signed off "on funding a deal that is expected to help the U.S. men’s and women’s volleyball teams keep the city as their home training base" through the '20 Tokyo Games. The agreement in which Anaheim will "remain designated as the U.S. national teams’ host city was approved by 3-2 vote by the Anaheim City Council." Had the council "not approved the agreement USA Volleyball would have moved the two national teams out of Anaheim." Visit Anaheim and USA Volleyball officials "still have to negotiate the final details of the agreement." The deal also "has to be passed" by USA Volleyball’s BOD (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 9/14).

Green said appearing in 2K Sports’ “NBA 2K17” and playing himself in the game is “very strange, but it’s fun.” Green said when he first entered the NBA, he was playing behind F David Lee. But when Green played the video game, Lee “never saw a minute in ‘2K.’” Green: “I was putting myself in no matter what, and I played with myself the entire game, and I ended up with 67 points” (“Conan,” TBS, 9/13).

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The Univ. of Alabama will open its '17 football season against Florida State at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on a Saturday night (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 9/14).

The $424 average resale price for Packers-Vikings at the new U.S. Bank Stadium marks the "highest-priced ticket for a Vikings home game" since SeatGeek started tracking the secondary market in '10. The same "also was true of last week's Packers-Jaguars game" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 9/14).

Drake performed his first of two shows at Oracle Arena last night "wearing a crisp Warriors jersey bearing Kevin Durant's name and number" and later brought out Durant himself "for a quick whirl around the stage" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/14).

Rolex runs a full-page ad in today's N.Y. Times promoting its sponsorship of the LPGA Evian Championship (THE DAILY).

"If a guy wants to stand up and believe in something, you shouldn’t shoot him down and talk down on him and say he put himself above the team when that wasn’t the issue" – 49ers LB Eli Harold, on ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer's criticism of QB Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem protest (N.Y. TIMES, 9/14).

"There are things happening that are just not being talked about. ... Just because you aren't seeing a protest, doesn't mean people aren't doing things" – Mets RF Curtis Granderson, on why he will not be the first MLB player to protest the National Anthem (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/14).

"The great thing about Tiger, Turkey needs some good news" – Int'l Sports Management Founder Chubby Chandler, whose firm runs the European Tour Turkish Airlines Open, on Tiger Woods playing the event as part of his three-event return to competitive golf (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 9/13).

"It's extortion, and it's shameful extortion" – North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, on the NCAA's decision to relocate championship events out of the state due to the controversial HB2 law (Greensboro NEWS & RECORD, 9/14).

THE UNDEFEATED's Howard Bryant writes baseball is the "original civil rights sport with the deepest connection to the American story of sports and social justice," but it "won't willingly be one of the fronts" where the latest movement against racial injustice occurs.

Univ. of Texas professor Michael Cramer in a special to the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM writes two "key factors" in the Big 12's expansion decision will be "the TV market in which a prospective school resides and the appeal of the school to the networks that have contractual obligations to the Big 12."

Also: 

• Gary Bettman has "always made sure the biggest decisions best suited the Penguins."
• What can the "Madden" videogame series teach us about football?
• Should universities offer academic credit for participating in athletics?
• Unusual things happen at Fenway Park "long before the games begin."

Steph Curry asked Hillary or Trump? Curry: "Hillary"

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) September 14, 2016

Coincidence that NFL chose Matt Lauer to interview Goodell on concussions? Methinks not.

— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) September 14, 2016

One NFL GM was surprised to hear of my knee surgery. "I wouldn't expect you to be active enough to tear the meniscus in your knee," he said.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 14, 2016

The Drone Racing League has partnered with ESPN & Sky for broadcast distribution and closed their first round of investments at $12 million.

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) September 14, 2016

How to celebrate in style: The @Cavs Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy rides in the @GoodyearBlimp. #OneForTheLand pic.twitter.com/VhWPCa2ESo

— Goodyear (@goodyear) September 13, 2016

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “19th Century Military Men.”

“In 1895 he wrote to his family that with ‘superhuman strength’ he would discover the truth … on the tragic affair.”

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “In the Baseball Team’s Lineup.”

$200: “1969: Ed Kranepool, Bud Harrelson and Tom Seaver ... What an amazin’ team.”
$400: “1975: Fred Lynn, Bernie Carbo and Carlton Fisk, who will always wave it fair.”
$600: “1994: David Justice, Greg Maddux and Deion Sanders, moonlighting from the gridiron.”
$800: “1906: Charley O’Leary, Pinky Lindsay and here’s one who might help a bit … Ty Cobb.”
$1000: “1991: Kent Hrbek, Dan Gladden and Kirby Puckett, and we’ll see you tomorrow night!”

NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson appeared on CBS’ “The Late Late Show” last night and was asked about whether he had any pre-race superstitions. Johnson: “That whole concept (of superstitions) was on my mind when I was younger, but there’s really very little that’s ever proven out. ... But I do have a thing with numbers. If I’m going to get up around 7:00, I should probably pick 6:48 because I drive the 48 car. Instead of a minute on the microwave, 48 seconds. I know it sounds really dumb, but I used to do this all the time. And now as I’m reciting this to you, I realize that I was winning championships when I was doing that, so I should probably get back to it” (“The Late Late Show,” CBS, 9/14).

Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah said, “At the start of every football season there is some controversy. It’s about some concussions, it’s about teams moving cities, somebody murdered someone in the offseason so now they’re suspended for a couple of games. But this season the biggest story in the NFL has come out of nowhere.” Noah noted 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick has been protesting police violence by sitting during the National Anthem, which is “a bold stance” and a great “excuse for anything he does poorly on the football field from now on.” Noah: “If he gets sacked or intercepted, people are like, ‘Kaepernick, you suck!’ He could be like, ‘No, actually this was also a protest. How can I move the ball forward when my people are being held back?’” Noah said of fans burning Kaepernick’s jersey, “You realize you have to buy the jersey to burn the jersey. Like in other countries, they just make an effigy of the thing that they hate. This guy is buying the actual jersey. That’s like 100 bucks that he's spending. At night, his kids are like, ‘Mommy, why don't we have any food tonight?’ ‘Because daddy wanted to make a point, that's why.’” Noah: “Kaepernick could be the Muhammad Ali of this generation. I mean, except for the achievement and the talent and stuff” (“The Daily Show,” Comedy Central, 9/13).

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon: “Last night was the big season premiere of ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ and at one point, two protesters rushed the stage as Olympian Ryan Lochte got his scores. Security stopped them within about 10 seconds, or as Lochte put it, ‘They kidnapped me, put a gun to my head and dropped me off at the Grand Canyon’” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 9/13).

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel said of the “DWTS” incident, “Protesters interrupted the show to protest Ryan Lochte, upset that the Olympic swimmer is part of the competition, and decided to run onstage to tell everyone about it.” After airing footage of one of the protesters being tackled, Kimmel said, “That tackle, sadly, was the closest that ABC will ever get to having ‘Monday Night Football’ on the network again. … The Los Angeles Rams made their season debut last night on ‘Monday Night Football.’ It’s their first game with the L.A. logo on their helmets, and they were promptly shellacked by the 49ers 28-0. I think that's good: What's more L.A. than having your premiere tank?” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 9/13).

“Who was Alfred Dreyfus?”

Correct responses to the “In the Baseball Team’s Lineup” category:

$200: “Who are the Mets?”
$400: “Who are the Red Sox?”
$600: “Who are the Braves?”
$800: “Who are the Tigers?”
$1000: “Who are the Twins?”