The mother of four-year-old Leah Still says her daughter’s medical bills have left them in financial duress.

Devon Still, the NFL player whose 4-year-old daughter is battling cancer, hasn't paid child support since August, a lawyer for the child's mother first told the New York Daily News.

Andrew Weber/Usa Today Sports

Andrew Weber/Usa Today Sports

According to the letter:

Because Mr. Still is refusing to pay child support, Leah and her mother are unable to afford housing and are forced to live with a friend of Channing's mother who has been kind enough to allow them to live in her home.

But for the kindness of this person, Leah and Channing would be homeless because of Mr. Still's failure to pay child support.

In addition, Channing has no car of her own and cannot afford to rent one to transport Leah to the hospital in Philadelphia for treatment. Channing has been forced to ask a friend to please loan her their car to use to take Leah to and from the hospital. Channing should not have to rely on the charitable acts of acquaintances in order to transport Leah to the hospital for the medical care which is so necessary for the health and welfare of her child.

Also, to make matters worse because Mr. Still has declined to pay child support, Channing has had to rely on food stamps in order to feed their child.

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We’re forever tired of inexplicably having to defend our football fandom.

"You're a [insert team here] fan?! Name five starting players on the team."

Oh you like coffee? Name five top-selling brands...

Via giphy.com

"Real fans don't talk about how hot the players are."

Interestingly enough, I can assess a player's physical appearance and their performance on the field... AT THE SAME TIME. It's like a superpower.

Via giphy.com

"Girly team gear annoys me. Those girls don't know anything about the game. They are just trying to look cute."

Uhhh right...

Via giphy.com

"Have you ever even been to a game?"

You can't be using that as a serious way to gauge whether I actually follow a team. My socioeconomic status, work schedule, family life, relative location to the team itself, or any other mitigating factor as to why I may or may not have been to a game is a way for you to tell how legit my fandom is? It's called a television.

Via giphy.com

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The Brazilian soccer legend has been interned for four days. He was moved to a “special care unit” to receive renal support.

The greatest soccer player in history is in the hospital with a urinary tract infection and has been moved to a "special care unit", AFP reported Thursday.

Ricardo Moraes / Reuters

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, was taken to Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paolo four days ago, after he developed a urinary tract infection following a surgery to remove kidney stones.

Doctors said the 74-year-old soccer star is "clinically unstable" but "conscious and conversational." He is receiving renal support therapy in the hospital's special care unit. The special care unit is reserved for patients who need a higher level of support but whose condition is not critical enough to merit a bed in intensive care.

In a statement, Pelé reassured his fans that he is doing well, and insisted that the move to the special care unit should not be interpreted as a worsening of his health.

"I want to take this opportunity to let you know that I am doing fine. I was not put into intensive care today, I was simply relocated to a special room within the hospital for privacy purposes only," the statement read.

Considered by many a Brazilian national hero, Pelé led the South American nation's team to three victories at the FIFA World Cup. He holds the record for the most goals scored during league games — a grand total of 541.

Yikes.

Jemele Hill of ESPN of the story on the incident — and the history behind it — that shocked fans and the league.

Earlier today, Ray Rice won his appeal against his indefinite suspension from the NFL and was immediately reinstated to the league.

Matthew Emmons/Usa Today Sports

In conjunction with the news of Rice's reinstatement, ESPN has released Janay Rice's full account of what happened between her and her husband that night.

Mike Segar / Reuters

After the club, our friends from Baltimore, Ray and I decided to go to the late-night restaurant in the casino. Ray and I were bickering. We were drunk and tired and while I know that some people may find it hard to believe, none of the six of us can remember exactly what Ray and I were arguing about. It was that insignificant.

As we were arguing, he was on his phone and not looking at me. I went to reach for his phone, and when he grabbed it back, he spit at me and I slapped him.

We got into the elevator and what happened inside is still foggy to me. The only thing I know -- and I can't even say I "remember" because I only know from what Ray has told me -- is that I slapped him again and then he hit me. I remember nothing else from inside the elevator.

The next thing I do recall is being in the casino lobby, surrounded by cops.

Via espn.go.com

Janay tells the story of how she and her future husband met as teenagers, eventually turning their friendship into a relationship while Ray Rice was at Rutgers. She mentions an often-ignored challenge for wives of NFL players, discussing how difficult it is to transition to a strange, new city and build an identity and life for herself. Rice says that "until this past year, that first one in Baltimore was the most difficult in our relationship. After their daughter Rayven was born, the couple entered premarital counseling as a precautionary measure to set themselves up for success.

Rice explains: "Even though counseling has a certain stigma among both men and women -- especially in the African-American community -- Ray and I wanted to work toward building better communication between us."

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“He did good for an old geezer.”

ESPN / espn.go.com

ESPN / espn.go.com

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In a letter to the NFL Players Association, the league said they are considering whether the Commissioner should determine initial disciplinary action.

In a letter to the NFL Players Association, league chief counsel Jeff Pash says the organization is willing to restructure its process of disciplining players who have violated the league’s Personal Conduct Policy.

The letter to the NFL Players Association was first obtained by The Washington Post, though the NFL will make it public shortly.

Mike Segar / Reuters

In the letter, Pash says the league is willing "to consider modifying" the clause in the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows the commissioner to be the sole determinant of player disciplinary action, from initial decision through appeal. The letter to the NFLPA makes it clear that the Commissioner, currently Roger Goodell, would still retain the power to determine appeals, or appoint someone to do so.

Pash says the NFLPA proposed an extreme reform of the process, including waiting to punish players at all until they've been convicted of the alleged crime in a court of law. It's a motion the league is very unlikely to accept, and Pash makes that clear in his letter to the NFLPA.

As you know, that is not how the policy has been applied, as the legal considerations and standards applicable to a criminal conviction are quite distinct from those that apply to a violation of a workplace policy. We do not agree that the Commissioner's disciplinary authority should be limited to cases involving a criminal conviction.

Via washingtonpost.com

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This announcement makes him the first out gay male official currently active in all four major leagues. Scott has been a Major League Baseball umpire since 1985.

MLB umpire Dale Scott came out quietly in a profile in a subscription-only, low-circulation publication called Referee Magazine. Scott has been an MLB umpire since 1985.

Elaine Thompson / AP Photo

This is not a surprise to Major League Baseball, the people I work for. It's not a surprise to the umpire staff. Until Mike and I got married last November, he was my same-sex domestic partner and had his own MLB I.D. and was on my insurance policy.

Via outsports.com

Ted S. Warren / AP Photo

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Representatives from the four major professional sports leagues met with the senators today to discuss policies addressing players and violence against women.

While speaking today in front of a U.S. Senate committee, Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, broke down while talking about his own childhood experiences witnessing domestic violence in his home.

nbcnews.com

Domestic violence was a way of life in my home growing up. As young boys, my brother and I watched helplessly numerous times as our mother was beaten, and we called 911 while she lay unconscious.

We saw how she struggled to seek help, and find the voice and courage to say "no more." The sense of fear, powerlessness, and all the complexities that accompany this violence remain very real for me today.

I have worked for over 20 years as an advocate against domestic violence to try to help keep others from experiencing this pain. So I very much relate to the more than 12 million victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in every community in this nation, amongst every economic class and racial and ethnic group.

This is not an issue limited to the NFL, or to professional sports.

Doug Benc / AP Photo

In outlining the NFL's intent to change their handling of domestic violence and sexual assault cases, Vincent outlined the following:

The NFL intends to create a "Conduct Committee of Owners" who will be responsible for regularly reviewing and recommending changes to the league's Personal Conduct Policy.

The league is creating a "comprehensive and mandatory education program for the more than 5,000 men and women in the NFL family."

In two weeks, anyone on the NFL's payroll will be required to undergo an education program on domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault, but family members of league employees are welcome to attend as well.

The NFL already has a Critical Response Team that Vincent said offers support for "anyone in the NFL family." The team, though, will be retrained to handle issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The NFL is also "supporting" organizations that focus on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, although Vincent did not explicitly say if that support is financial.

The league is also promoting programs that "develop the character of young people" in an attempt to help educate coaches and players at the college, high school, and youth level.

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The school’s decision to cut the program could impact membership in its conference and division for other athletic programs.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham immediately suspended its football program on Tuesday.

Wesley Hitt / Getty Images

The program was the biggest casualty of the school's restructuring of its athletic department. Along with football, the bowling and rifle teams were disbanded.

UAB's athletic department operates on a $30 million budget, $20 million of which is said to be subsidized. The school expects football expenses to grow exponentially in the upcoming seasons while the program's revenue remains insignificant. Though rifle and bowling have relatively lower operating costs — expected $1 million combined — they were low priorities for the school.

The idea is that by eliminating the sinking deficit football brings, UAB can direct funds toward sports in which UAB can actually be competitive within their conference and division. UAB football has posted poor records for the past 10 seasons, but Bill Clark was hired as head coach at the beginning of the season and led them to bowl eligibility.

UAB says they "honor players' scholarships and coaches' contracts," but for many young men who came to the school to follow their football dreams, the program's shuttering severely damages their career trajectory. UAB mentions that "NCAA bylaws, players who transfer from a discontinued program can play immediately at another school," but the act of finding a new team, especially for upperclassmen, poses unexpected challenges.

Frederick Breedon / Getty Images

Division I membership without football requires a minimum of 14 sports (eight women's and six men's teams), compared to 18 with football. UAB is down to five men's sports without football. [Sports business consultant Bill] Carr's report recommended UAB add men's cross country and track and field to maintain Division I requirements.

Conference USA also requires its member schools to have a football program. UAB reportedly does not have enough support from other schools to act as an exception. Athletes whose sport was not cut now face the uncertainty of their team changing conference and level of competition.

This uncertainty has led students to fear the worst for their school. A student told BuzzFeed News that they fear the school will be less appealing to recruits without a football program, and that will eventually lead to repercussions for other undergrad programs. As a result, UAB students are protesting the school's decision.

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“But to place blame solely on me for the conditions of our community, and country, after the grand jury decision goes way too far and is wrong as the decision itself.”

Lesley McSpadden (right), the mother of slain teenager Michael Brown, is greeted by her husband, Louis Head, as she returns from a hearing of the Committee Against Torture at the United Nations in Geneva, at the airport in St. Louis, Missouri, Nov. 14.

Jim Young / Reuters

The stepfather of the unarmed black teenager whose slaying by a local police officer sparked months of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, has apologized for an expletive-filled response to news that the police officer who fatally shot his stepson would not be charged.

"I was so angry and full of raw emotions, as so many others were, and granted, I screamed out words that I shouldn't have screamed in the heat of the moment," Louis Head said in a statement. "It was wrong and I humbly apologize to all of those who read my pain and anger as a true desire for what I want for our community. It wasn't."

Head's stepson Michael Brown was killed by former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in August. A protest outside the Ferguson police department last Monday deteriorated into a riot after the announcement that a grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson for Brown's death. The New York Times shot video of Head screaming, "Burn this motherfucker down" to a crowd of protesters after St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced the grand jury's decision.

Parks & Crump, the law firm representing Brown's family, released Head's statement following media reports that Ferguson police were considering charges against Head for allegedly attempting to incite a riot on Nov. 24.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said officers have interviewed people who were with Head when he addressed the crowd but haven't spoken with Head, according to CNN.

On Fox News, Jackson told talk show host Sean Hannity that they were considering filing charges against Head.

"We are pursuing (an investigation into) those comments, and there is a lot of discussion going on about that right now," Jackson said. "But I really can't get into that right now."

Benjamin Crump, one of the attorneys representing the Browns, has called Head's rant inappropriate but also noted that the family was under a lot of stress on the night of the announcement.

Head echoed that sentiment in his statement.

"Something came over me as I watched and listened to my wife, the mother of Michael Brown, Jr., react to the gut-wrenching news that the cop who killed her son wouldn't be charged with a crime," he said. "My emotions admittedly got the best of me. This is my family."

Here's the full statement from Head:

"Something came over me as I watched and listened to my wife, the mother of Michael Brown, Jr., react to the gut-wrenching news that the cop who killed her son wouldn't be charged with a crime. My emotions admittedly got the best of me. This is my family.

I was so angry and full of raw emotions, as so many others were, and granted, I screamed out words that I shouldn't have screamed in the heat of the moment. It was wrong and I humbly apologize to all of those who read my pain and anger as a true desire for what I want for our community. It wasn't.

But to place blame solely on me for the conditions of our community, and country, after the grand jury decision goes way too far and is wrong as the decision itself. To declare a state of emergency and send a message of war, and not peace, before a grand jury decision was announced is also wrong. It set the stage for my outbursts.

In the end, I've lived in this community for a long time. The last thing I truly wanted was to see it go up in flames. In spite of my frustration, it really hurt to see that.

Now it's time to rebuild. If we are to honor Michael Brown's memory, we need to work together to make rebuilding happen.

I plan to remain here and do my part in earnest and in truth."

Lol.

The announcement comes just one month short of the professional wrestler’s one year anniversary of his infamous departure from WWE.

Almost one year after abruptly walking out of the WWE, 36-year-old professional wrestler CM Punk has signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White announced on Saturday night during UFC 181 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

instagram.com

CM Punk appeared ringside with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, saying "I have a limited window like all fighters do, and I'm here for a fight... This is my new career, 100%."

UFC

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Alia Atkinson could barely believe she had become the first black woman to claim a world title in the pool. h/t CNN .

Jamaica's Alia Atkinson has become the first black woman to claim a world title in the pool, finishing first in the final of the 100 meters breaststroke at the world short course swimming championships in Doha.

AP Photo/Osama Faisal

The 25-year-old went into the final as the second favorite behind Lithuania's Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte.

AP Photo/Osama Faisal

So when she finished the race, lifted her goggles, and looked to the scoreboard to see she had won, her reaction was priceless.

Francois Nel / Getty Images

"In the last 25 meters, I made sure the pull-out was the best, I really wanted to get that momentum coming up and I think I did that for the most part," she told the swimming website FINA. "While I was going up I realized I was catching up so I was just trying to get a good finish."

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How on Earth did she do that?

The girl flying through the air in this video is Angel Rice.

youtube.com

Facebook: Angel-Rice

Facebook: Angel-Rice

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His injuries reportedly are life-threatening.

A man was shot in downtown San Jose less than an hour after the Raiders' win over the 49ers, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Cary Edmondson/Usa Today Sports

A source told Mercury News that "the victim was a security guard who was trying to break up a dispute outside the bar." He was shot at least once, and underwent surgery at a hospital in San Jose. The men involved in the fight were detained by the San jose Police Department.

Brian Bahr / Getty Images

Games between the local rivals have historically been tense and often violent. Their last meeting — a 2011 preseason game — culminated with a Raiders fan being shot in the parking lot at Candlestick Park. Because the Raiders and Niners are in different conferences, they meet only once every four years for regular season games. Alameda County Assistant Sheriff Casey Nice told Mercury News that there were "about 20 arrests," which is not a uniquely high number.

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The conference announced a new set of standards that teams must comply with or be subject to disciplinary action. They’re the strongest such rules in NCAA and professional football.

On Monday, the Big Ten college football conference announced new, strong standard policies for how concussions are handled by its member teams.

Leon Halip / Getty Images

Brian Spurlock/Usa Today Sports

Big Ten says "the concussion protocols will move from best practices and minimum requirements for schools to regulatory standards by the conference."

Earlier this season, University of Michigan quarterback Shane Morris left a game after taking a big hit, but was not immediately tested for a concussion, and was sent back in later in the game. The University of Michigan recently fired Brady Hoke, who was head coach at the time.

The effect of concussions and cumulative, non-concussive brain trauma on football players in particular is a growing concern for the NCAA and NFL. It affects players at all levels, though, and BuzzFeed News recently reported about how it is a problem in youth football. A recent study showed brain changes can occur after only one year of high school football.

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The IOC voted on an agenda that included initiatives to foster equal protection of LGB athletes.

On Monday, the International Olympic Committee voted unanimously to add sexual orientation to the list of traits for which an athlete can not be discriminated against.

AFP / Getty Images ODD ANDERSEN

"Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."

The issue of LGB discrimination in the Olympics has been a hotly debated subject since the 2014 Sochi Olympics due to Russia's many discriminatory laws.

David Gray / Reuters

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The diagnosis was confirmed Monday.

Earlier this month, x-rays and an MRI revealed a "mass" in the right side of the chest of Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry. He has now been officially diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph tissues that originates in white blood cells.

John Sleezer/Kansas City Star / MCT

This is a diagnosis that is very treatable and potentially curable with standard chemotherapy approaches. The goal of Mr. Berry's treatment is to cure his lymphoma and we are beginning that treatment now.

Via kcchiefs.com

My family and I are very grateful for the amount of support we have received over the last couple of weeks. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate all the words of encouragement, the blessings and well wishes. I want to thank the Emory University School of Medicine, along with Dr. Flowers and his team, for all of their hard work and effort in diagnosing and creating a plan for me to battle this thing. I will embrace this process and attack it the same way I do everything else in life. God has more than prepared me for it. For everyone sharing similar struggles, I'm praying for you and keep fighting!

Via kcchiefs.com

Berry is now on the NFL's non-football injury list, where the team can choose to continue to pay Berry his full (or partial) salary. He is only 25, and made the Pro Bowl his first three seasons in the league.

Orlin Wagner / AP Photo/

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Monday night’s Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers game at Barclays Center drew protesters speaking out against Eric Garner’s death. Britain’s royal couple were also scheduled to attend.

LeBron James wore an "I Can't Breathe" shirt before Monday's game at Barclays Center, joining other professional athletes in protesting the death of Eric Garner.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

Fellow Cleveland Cavalier Kyrie Irving was among several other players showing his support for protesters.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

Nets players, including Kevin Garnett and Deron Williams, joined the Cavs star in wearing the shirt.

Robert Deutsch/Usa Today Sports

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