Tepper was emotional at times in his commencement speech, sharing lessons from his lifePAUL BOYD
New NFL Panthers Owner DAVID TEPPER delivered the commencement address at Carnegie Mellon Univ. in Pittsburgh yesterday. Tepper in the speech "was emotional at times" and "shared stories and life lessons that he said helped pave his path to success." Tepper said, "A kid from the streets of Pittsburgh who had to work his way through college at Pitt and grad school at CMU just got an honorary doctorate and is giving a commencement speech at this university. A kid who couldn’t afford to go to an NFL game until well into his 20s is on the verge of getting NFL’s approval to buy the Carolina Panthers. Not too shabby” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/21).
STAR YOUR ENGINES: NASCAR driver AUSTIN DILLON during his introduction before the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was accompanied by Panthers WRs DEVIN FUNCHESS and JARIUS WRIGHT and RB CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY. Panthers coach RON RIVERA, offensive coordinator NORV TURNER, former NFLer DEANGELO WILLIAMS and NASCAR team co-Owner FELIX SABATES were also in attendance at the race (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/20).
ON CAMPUS: Univ. of Illinois student CHARLIE YOUNG, who does analytics for the UI baseball team, worked last summer in the Reds' analytics department and this week "started a similar job" with the Orioles. The Illinois baseball team is still playing, and Young "continues to generate reports for them from the East Coast." Young "recently finished his sophomore year as a double major in computer science and astronomy, and he carries" a 3.78 cumulative GPA (AP, 5/17)....Multiple donors have committed $30M to establish the Chad Carr Pediatric Brain Tumor Center at the Univ. of Michigan, in honor of the late CHAD CARR, the grandson of former UM football coach LLOYD CARR (MLIVE.com, 5/19)....Eighteen Georgia Tech athletes and three staff members took a "week-long service trip" to Puerto Rice earlier this month. The trip "fit under the umbrella of the athletic department's Total Person Program," an initiative to "help athletes achieve academic excellence, athletic achievement and personal well-being" (AJC.com, 5/18).
NAMES: Warriors F KEVIN DURANT appeared as himself on Showtime's "BILLIONS" last night. As a favor to one of the show's main characters, he recorded a "happy bar mitzvah" video message for the son of the fictional Secretary of the Treasury. Durant is the third NBA figure to appear in Season 3, joining Bucks co-owner MARC LASRY and Mavericks Owner MARK CUBAN (THE DAILY)....Rams DE ETHAN WESTBROOKS, along with several other current and former Rams players, on Saturday spoke with young men at the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility in Camarillo, Calif., as “part of the Rams’ ‘Cleats for Character’ session” (LATIMES.com, 5/19)....WNBA Sparks F NNEKA OGWUMIKE is now represented by Wasserman. She was the first overall pick in the ’12 WNBA Draft after playing collegiately at Stanford. The ’16 WNBA MVP also plays for Dynamo Kursk in Russia (THE DAILY)....A GoFundMe account has been “set up with a goal to raise” $1M to “put up a life-size statue in Akron” of LEBRON JAMES. The man behind the campaign is “fellow St. Vincent/St. Mary alumnus” AARON CAREY (OHIO.com, 5/20)....The Ringer's KEVIN CLARK and Wall Street Journal's EMILY GLAZER were married Saturday at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu (NYTIMES.com, 5/20).
