Living up to a legend’s name is no easy task, and no matter where EJ Smith goes on a football field, he’s looked at a bit differently than most.

That’s because the Texas A&M running back, who hopes to be drafted later this month, is the son of Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher.

Smith worked primarily as a backup in college, but at the very least, he did get a workout with his dad’s former Dallas Cowboys earlier this month.

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Texas A&M Aggies running back EJ Smith runs with the ball during the game against the Miami Hurricanes at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, on Dec. 20, 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)

But there was a time in high school, the Hall of Famer said, that his son began to feel the pressure of living up to the likes of his father.

“He came to me one day, he asked the question, ‘How do I deal with all the pressure?’ And I was wondering the type of pressure he was under. He said, ‘Just the pressure of living up to what everybody expects and everything else,'” Smith recalled in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.

“And I broke it down pretty simply. I just asked the one fundamental question. I said, ‘What is everyone saying?’ ‘Everyone expected me to be this and everyone expected me to be that and do this and do that.’ I said, ‘What are your expectations? Are your expectations any different than what they want for you?’ And he said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Where’s the pressure?’

“Here’s the thing – you gotta run your race, and you gotta disregard what other people are saying. Because you have whatever ability you have, you have to be yourself. And you have to work at being yourself and work at what you need to do to hone your craft. Just go play the game. Put your blinders on. Run your race. You like the horses at the Kentucky Derby. And then when the blinders come off, you may look up one day and find yourself in the damn Super Bowl. You never know.

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed hands the ball to running back EJ Smith during the first half against Florida at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, on Sept. 14, 2024. (Matt Pendleton/Imagn Images)

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“But stay the course, disregard all the noise out there ’cause it is noise. And they’re not playing. They’re trying to put their stuff on you and their expectations on you. But if their expectations are different than yours, it don’t matter. Just go meet every expectation that you’re trying to meet. Everything else doesn’t matter.”

Smith said he and EJ talk about “everything under the sun,” making it clear that his top role in life is being a father. That, along with other personal experiences, is why he joined Narcan’s “Ready to Rescue” initiative to stop overdoses during the current opioid epidemic.

Smith’s sister-in-law had a “couple of overdose episodes” while on pain medication for chemo for colon cancer treatment. Smith also noted that his former teammates have had issues with opioids, and friends have even lost children. Although the circumstances are unfortunate, the recent partnership is a natural fit for Smith.

“I think that’s what makes it such a natural way to talk about it. There’s dealing with someone that you lost, or even growing up and seeing cousins, getting hooked on hardcore drugs, and then seeing them wean themselves off of it, going through that whole entire process of not understanding that there’s mechanisms out there that people can go to get help,” Smith said, adding his concern for the “rampant” run of fentanyl.

“Anybody is subject to get caught up in something at any point in time anywhere, and not even realize it. And so when that happens, you want to make sure that the people that are closest to you or around you have access to something like the Narcan nasal spray.

Jan 30, 1994; Atlanta, GA; FILE PHOTO; Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith (22) prior to facing the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XVIII at the Georgia Dome. (James D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports)

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The Smith family, of course, is hoping they get good news during the draft. But Smith has one more piece of advice for his son on how to deal with the pressure of waiting for a call.

“I told him on draft day, go play golf, go hang out, don’t even look at the damn TV,” he said. “Let your agent call you and say, ‘Hey man, we got something.’ Don’t even worry about draft day.”

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Photos of Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini interlacing their fingers together at a luxury hotel has spawned a social media trend poking fun at their interaction.

Page Six exclusively obtained photos of the New England Patriots head coach and the top NFL reporter holding hands and hugging two weekends ago at the Ambiente in Sedona, Arizona. Vrabel told us the interaction was “completely innocent,” while Russini told us they were in a group of six people “hanging out during the day.”

Barstool Sports’ “The Yak” podcast hosts Big Cat and Kate hilariously interlocked their fingers for an outdoor picture to recreate Vrabel and Russini’s pose on Wednesday’s episode.

“See, that’s like normal,” Big Cat joked. “That’s totally normal. What the f–k, guys.”

“We do this all the time,” he added, while Kate cracked, “That’s two friends talking ball.”

Big Cat explained the photos to their fellow podcast hosts, sharing that he and Kate wanted to test out the pose for themselves to see if it felt awkward, and admitted it felt “weird.”

“It’s tough,” Kate commented.

They also copied the pose while sitting at a desk and looking at each other.

Big Cat also joked on X, “Sometimes you end up on a private rooftop in a beautiful setting with interlocked fingers. Just friends interlocking fingers. I interlock with my boys all the time. Hey wanna lock up real quick? S—t like that. Normal things of that nature.”

Writer and producer Mark Blutman also interlaced his fingers with actor Jerry O’Connell for a funny pic, sharing on X, “New socially accepted intimate behavior between friends has been unlocked. People free to finger lock without shame.”

Social media has been poking fun at the viral photos of Vrabel and Russini, with one X user joking, “She was probably explaining some new age crystal bulls—t or Vrabel was maybe demonstrating pass blocking techniques this is a perfectly normal interaction.”

A Page Six spy told us that the pair — both married to other people — had breakfast on the patio of the hotel restaurant around 10:30 a.m. on March 28 before spending a leisurely hour or so together at the pool and lounging side-by-side in a hot tub.

Photos show the two hugging at sunset on a private rooftop of one of the hotel’s bungalows, and interlocking their fingers together as they stood face-to-face. The spy said they saw the pair briefly dance together.

Three other eyewitnesses told us that they did not see anyone else with Vrabel, 50, and Russini, 43.

But in a statement Vrabel told us: “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn’t deserve any further response.”

And Russini said: “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”

Davey Lopes, a four-time MLB All-Star known for swiping bags while on the basepaths, has died. He was 80.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who Lopes played most of his 16-year career with, released a statement on Wednesday confirming his death.

“The Dodgers mourn the loss of Davey Lopes, who passed away today at age 80. Lopes was a member of the team’s record-setting infield of the 1970s and 1980s and one of the finest base stealers in MLB history.

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Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers takes batting practice at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, circa 1978. (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

“Our condolences go out to his family and friends.”

Lopes secured one World Series during his years in Los Angeles, as he was part of the 1981 squad that won it all. It was also the fourth straight season Lopes made the All-Star team for the National League.

He also played for the Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros following his time with the Dodgers, and doing so up until 42 years old before getting into coaching.

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Lopes was a late bloomer in terms of debut age, playing his first game for the Dodgers at 27 in 1972. And right after retirement, Lopes remained in MLB, serving as bench coach for the Texas Rangers from 1989-91.

From there, he would bounce around to the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres in various roles until he landed as a manager for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Lopes held that post from 2000-02, going 144-195 in those three seasons before being axed. He went back to the Padres to serve as their first base coach before holding the same position with the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Davey Lopes of the Washington Nationals stands in the dugout before game three of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 10, 2016. (Patrick McDermott/Washington Nationals/Getty Images)

Lopes eventually retired from coaching in 2017, marking 45 consecutive years, almost half-a-century, that he was making an impact on America’s pastime.

But perhaps his biggest impact was being a part of a Dodgers’ infield that has gone down in history as one of the greatest four-man squads to play the game. While Lopes was playing second base, he was accompanied by first baseman Steve Garvey, third baseman Ron Cey and shortstop Bill Russell.

In Lopes’ 1,139 games at second base for the Dodgers, he played 833 with the other three, which is an MLB record, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The next closest is 623 games, set by the Cubs in the 1960s.

Lopes was also a speed demon on the basepaths, tallying 557 stolen bases, which puts him 26th all-time. He led the league while with the Dodgers in back-to-back seasons in 1975 (77) and 1976 (63).

In 1975, Lopes set an MLB record with 38 consecutive stolen bases without getting caught, which was since broken by Vince Coleman in 1988.

Davey Lopes bats during batting practice before a Major League Baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, circa 1980. Lopes played for the Dodgers from 1972 to 1981. (Focus On Sport/Getty Images)

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In the field, Lopes collected a Gold Glove Award in 1978, while providing solid defensive work for whichever team he played for throughout his career.

Lopes slashed .263/.349/.388 with a .737 OPS for his career, collecting 1,671 hits, 232 doubles, 155 home runs and 614 RBI in 1,812 games.

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Plans have been unveiled for festivities across Canada as the country prepares to co-host the FIFA World Cup this summer

FIFA released the route Wednesday for Canada Celebrates, a tour that will make 38 stops in 34 cities from Halifax, N.S., to Whitehorse, Yukon, between June 1 and July 19.

Vancouver and Toronto are among the 16 cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico hosting games in this summer’s tournament.

The plan has long been to include the entire country in the excitement, said Victor Montagliani, FIFA vice president and CONCACAF president.

The first stop will be in Mount Pearl, Nfld., on June 1 when Canada faces Uzbekistan in a friendly in Edmonton, and the final events will take place in Brampton, Ont., and Niagara Falls, Ont., on July 19 when the championship game is held in East Rutherford, N.J.

The tour will swing through every province and one territory, with FIFA saying in a release that it will bring “FIFA World Cup energy” within a two-hour drive of more than 75 per cent of Canadian residents.

“This really, I think, wraps up, sort of in a big hug, the diversity and the breadth and width of our country, because it will go close to coast to coast,” Montagliani said.

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“It’s a sort of a festivity of football, where you can go watch the game on the big screen, you can go interact and have games that are going to be there for families, there’ll be food, there’ll be music. So it’s a real festival of what football and the community really is. It’s a real Canadiana feeling in the end.”

Plans for a cross-country celebration were included as part of Canada’s bid to host World Cup games more than eight years ago. Montagliani said.

Now he believes Canada Celebrates can be a legacy for other host nations.

“I think it’s something we could give as Canadians to the World Cup moving forward, where it’s a project that could be used in future World Cups,” he said.

There are less than 70 days to go before the tournament kicks off in Mexico City and Guadalajara on June 11.

Canada will play its first game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12 before finishing out the group stage in Vancouver with a tilts against Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.

Toronto will host six games across the tournament while Vancouver stages another seven.

World Cup excitement is starting to build, Montagliani said. He’s seeing people on the streets wearing World Cup gear and recently returned from Mexico City where he took in the grand reopening of Estadio Azteca.

The reality of having the tournament on home soil will only grow over the coming months, he added.

“I’ve been around the game my whole life, and been around it internationally for 20 years. So these experiences I’ve had in other countries,” he said. “To have them in your own country is almost a bit of an out of body experience, because it’s something you thought could never happen.

“But to know that the work that’s been done by a lot of people in the last 20 years to get this country to be a World Cup country host, you know, I think a lot of people should take pride in that.”

There’s still work to be done getting both Toronto and Vancouver ready for the games.

Construction continues at B.C. Place Stadium and BMO Field, which will be renamed Toronto Stadium during the tournament. Plans are being refined for fan events in both cities. Head coach Jesse Marsch continues to ready his team to play the tournament on home soil for the first time.

“The beauty about the World Cup, it’s about a country,” Montagliani said. “And I know that this country has always risen to the occasion in terms of big events, and this is going to be no different.”

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Minnesota’s high school softball season will be under a national spotlight for the second year in a row, and a hotter one than in 2025.

As the U.S. Department of Justice has launched a Title IX lawsuit against the state’s education agencies for letting biological male trans athletes play in girls’ sports, Champlin Park High School is set to be a political target.

The high school rosters a trans pitcher on its softball team, who emerged as a dominant force en route to a state championship last year.

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Transgender pitcher Marissa Rothenberger. (Amber Harding)

Now, that pitcher is playing for Champlin Park again this year while President Donald Trump’s administration tries to crack down.

The Anoka-Hennepin School District, which oversees Champlin Park, is standing by the athlete amid the renewed national scrutiny.

“The Champlin Park Softball team will compete in compliance with Minnesota State High School League rules and applicable Minnesota law this upcoming season. All participating student-athletes will meet the criteria for eligibility which aim to elevate standards of sportsmanship and encourage the growth of responsible citizenship for all involved. Because the school district is named in an active lawsuit involving last season, the District is limited in what additional information can be shared on this matter,” the district said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

A girls’ softball player, who is anonymously part of a lawsuit with Alliance Defending Freedom that challenges the state laws on trans athletes, shared her thoughts on the distracting political dynamic of this season with Fox News Digital.

“I just want a fair and competitive season. My hope for this season is that the focus stays on the game, while also making sure girls’ sports remain a place where female athletes have equal opportunities to compete and succeed,” she said.

Meanwhile, another anonymous plaintiff in that lawsuit shared gratitude for the DOJ’s intervention.

“Thank you, President Trump! I’m so grateful for the support towards girls in sports in Minnesota,” she said.

The lawsuit was originally struck down by a federal judge, but ADF has filed an appeal in appellate court and is awaiting a decision there.

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Former Minnesota high school and current NCAA softball player Kendall Kotzmacher lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Champlin Park last season, in what was her final high school game.

But Kozmacher’s younger sister, who lost with her in that game, is still set to play this season, and could be on a collision course with the trans pitcher again.

“My little sister, she played with me last year. She’s still playing, so it’s really hard,” Kotzmacher said. “I’m lucky enough that it’s not allowed at the NCAA level. But there’s all of these girls that I do not want them to ever have to go through the situations that I did, and I do not want my sister to have to deal with what I had to do and what she had to deal with last year again.”

Minnesota has faced its own internal conflict over the issue dating back to early 2025, when Democratic lawmakers in the state legislature struck down a bill that would have prevented biological males from competing in girls’ sports.

State Republicans renewed that effort in recent weeks amid the DOJ crackdown, but were once again unsuccessful due to Democrat control, as they failed to push a bill forward on the House Floor Tuesday.

“Protecting girls is not hate,” said state representative Krista Knudsen. “When biological males enter girls’ sports, girls lose. They lose medals, they lose roster spots, they lose college scholarships and they lose their safety.”

Democrat state representative Kelly Moller dismissed concerns over the issue.

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“My colleagues across the aisle say that you are bringing this to protect women and girls and that couldn’t be further from the truth. The real threat to women and girls is sexual assault and gender-based violence,” Moller said.

Meanwhile, 326 school board members in 125 school districts in the state signed a letter pleading with the state’s leadership to comply with Trump’s mandate to protect girls’ sports.

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Dominiq Ponder’s mother, Catrina Hughes, gave a heartbreaking update in a statement about her late son, a former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback who died in a fiery car crash in March.

“What matters most to me is who Dominiq was as a person,” Hughes said in a statement.

“He was a determined student-athlete, a leader, and someone with a huge heart who fiercely loved his family, his teammates, and the game of football.”

Hughes said she will be promoting good decision-making among young adults in her son’s memory, as the Boulder County Coroner revealed in a report that he had a blood alcohol level two times the legal limit at the time of the accident.

“If anything good can come from this loss, it’s the conversations it can start about responsible decision-making, supporting young adults, and making good choices even in ordinary moments,” she said.

Ponder, who died at the age of 23, played for Bethune-Cookman University in 2023 and transferred to Colorado, attempting just one pass in 2025.

His cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries from the accident.

“One bad decision can alter everything. Odds are that 95% of the population has made the same decision, but got lucky, and most would never admit to it,” Hughes continued in her statement.

Daniil Medvedev suffered a notorious crashout after a historic loss at the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

The former world No. 1 smashed his racket seven times in a row midway through a 6-0, 6-0 loss to wildcard Matteo Berrettini. The outburst came after Medvedev fell behind 2-0 in the second set. 

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev smashes his racket during a round of 32 match against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, on April 8, 2026. (Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images)

He continued to smash his racket against the clay, chasing it down and repeating the tantrum. The crowd egged him on, letting out a drawn-out chant in sync with each swing.

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Medvedev eventually made his way to the bench, throwing the broken racket into the garbage can before receiving a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. He will also likely receive a hefty fine for the outburst.

Medvedev lost the match in 49 minutes, marking his first professional loss without winning a game – also referred to as a double bagel loss.

“I wouldn’t expect to win like that and it doesn’t happen that often,” Berrettini, a 2021 Wimbledon finalist, said. “It was definitely one of the best performances of my life.”

Matteo Berrettini of Italy hits a forehand during his Round of 32 match against Daniil Medvedev at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, on April 8, 2026. (Mateo Villalba/Getty Images)

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Medvedev had five double-faults, won just 17 points, and had just 36% of his first serves in play. It was his first clay match of the season. 

Medvedev paid a large fine for a similar incident at the U.S. Open last year following a first-round elimination. He was fined $30,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and an additional $12,500 for racket abuse.

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev reacts during his round of 32 match against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini at the Monte Carlo Masters in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, on April 8, 2026. (Manon Cruz/Reuters)

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 The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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EDMONTON – Connor Ingram went from being told not to report to Utah Mammoth training camp to starting in goal for the playoff-bound Edmonton Oilers.

His performance with the Oilers, where he seized the No. 1 goaltending job after three others failed to hold it, earned him the team’s nomination for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy on Wednesday.

The trophy is awarded annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” It is named after Minnesota North Stars forward Bill Masterton, who died following an on-ice injury in 1968.

The Oilers are one of eight teams that have never won the award. Ingram won it in 2023-24 with Arizona after overcoming mental health struggles and tying for the league lead with six shutouts.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” the 29-year-old Saskatoon native said of this season’s journey. “I never heard of someone not being invited to camp before. They put it in writing for me that they had asked that I not attend camp.

“At that point, it was just, whatever came next was what you were gonna deal with. And luckily it was here in Edmonton and (general manager) Stan (Bowman) gave me a chance, and I’ll be forever grateful.”

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Ingram was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016, but never played for them and was traded to Nashville in June 2019. He recorded his first NHL win Oct 24, 2021, nine months after entering the league’s player assistance program to deal with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and alcoholism.

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In October 2022, he was claimed off waivers by Arizona and spent two seasons there before the franchise moved to Utah.

Ingram was traded to Edmonton last September and called up from Bakersfield on Dec. 19 when Tristan Jarry, newly acquired from Pittsburgh, was injured.

“There’s a lot of things that happen in hockey that, as a human being, I understand,” he said of the Utah situation. “It’s when you get into how you treat people that bothers me. I’m an athlete, but I’m still a human being, and that’s what brothered me more than anything.”

The son of parents who were both teachers and first responders, Ingram struggled in Bakersfield, but credited the coaching staff there for giving him the chance to resettle his life and career.

“They never gave up on me. They kept letting me play,” he said of Bakersfield head coach Colin Chaulk and goaltending coach Kelly Guard. “A quote I always go back to is, ‘sometimes rock bottom’s a great place to build a foundation.’ That’s what it was. Nobody told me to quit, so I just kept playing, and here we are.

Ingram still deals with some mental health issues, but gets through those days with the help of his wife, Sarah, and simple walks.

“She sees it coming before I do most days,” Ingram said. “She takes care of me more than a wife probably should. I’ll be forever grateful for everything she does for me.

“I go for walks some days just to get some sunlight, but I mean, there’s nothing that I can do that’ll snap me out of it immediately. There’s no one fix for all of this.”

Regaining his position as a starting NHL goaltender helped restore his belief in himself.

“You have to believe in yourself,” he said. “There’s a lot of outside noise. You know, can you, can you not? If you believe you can, you’re gonna be just fine.”

The Masterton winner, which is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, will be announced at the league’s annual awards celebration.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2026.

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