MIAMI (AP) — Haywood Highsmith of the Miami Heat was away from the team Wednesday, one day after he was involved in a car crash where others were injured, the team said.

The incident happened after Miami’s game against Orlando on Tuesday night. The Heat listed Haywood out for Wednesday’s game against San Antonio for personal reasons.

“Our hearts go out to those who were injured,” the team said in a news release.

Highsmith was not injured, and there was no listing in the Miami-Dade court system of any charges being filed in relation to the crash. A request to police officials for any incident reports related to the crash was not immediately answered.

Highsmith is averaging 5.8 points this season for the Heat.

LAS VEGAS ‒ The Super Bowl 58 security team is ready for Taylor Swift if she does decide to make an appearance, according to officials. 

While the Sunday game is designated as a SEAR 1 high-risk event by the Department of Homeland Security, officials told members of the media on Wednesday that there are no known specific or credible threats to the game or any of the surrounding events, and no known additional threats related to Swift.

Security officials are already “extraordinarily vigilant” when bringing together 65,000 people in one stadium, even without Swift’s presence, said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

“Our priorities (are) of safety and security for everyone in attendance, and that is what we are focused upon. And when there’s an additional celebrity who will bring more attention, we are already at a heightened state of vigilance,” Mayorkas said.  

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt: Swift ‘obviously’ security issue

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But Hunt noted that Swift’s security team has experience moving her in and out of stadiums after the regular season, when Swift attended a dozen NFL games to cheer on her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

“She has a really talented security team,’ Hunt said. ‘They liaison with our security team, and we make sure we get her into and out of the stadium safely.”

Security around Las Vegas for Super Bowl

Sports security experts say the Super Bowl is always considered a potential target by bad actors, but that’s especially true this year given the United States’ role in recent conflicts in the Middle East.  

“There are so many different parties that want to inflict harm to America. What better way to generate publicity than one of the biggest games in the United States?” said Gil Fried, a professor at the University of West Florida and a specialist in sports facility management.   

“I think the fact that Taylor Swift is there will enhance how this target could be more attractive,” he added.

Despite the concerns, Fried said the people in charge of security at the game “know their stuff.”

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said security officials are ‘well-prepared,’ noting that preparations started as soon as the event was announced.

“I would feel comfortable bringing my family to the game,” Fried said. ‘That’s probably the gold standard. Most of the time, I would not feel comfortable taking my family or young kids, grandkids, to an NFL game.’

And Las Vegas’ history of hosting large events makes it well-equipped to handle Super Bowl security, noted Bobby McDonald, a lecturer in criminal justice at the University of New Haven and a former supervisory Secret Service agent.

“You couldn’t have a better infrastructure already in place,” McDonald said.

Will Taylor Swift be at the Super Bowl?

It’s still not clear whether Swift will make an appearance at Sunday’s game.

The artist kicks off the 2024 leg of her Eras Tour on Wednesday in Tokyo, but it’s possible she lands in Las Vegas before kickoff. (One possible hiccup? Finding parking. Spots available for private aircraft at airports in and around Las Vegas are already spoken for, according to the Associated Press.)

LAS VEGAS — Kendrick Bourne missed the second half of the 2023 NFL season when he tore his ACL. But even from the sidelines, the wide receiver was able to analyze the New England Patriots offense.

Some of the blame was placed on quarterback Mac Jones, who threw 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season. Belichick benched the first-round draft pick during a game four times before handing the starting role to Bailey Zappe.

Bourne, who is a free agent this offseason, gave a glimpse behind the scenes of the team dynamic. He had 406 receiving yards and four touchdowns before getting hurt.

‘I love Mac, we got a good relationship,’ he said. ‘I think it was just more the environment for him and not gelling with the OC or the head coach. It was just tough, so hopefully he bounces back.’

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

The receiver said that the offensive coaching carousel the past few years has been confusing. Belichick didn’t have an offensive coordinator for the 2022 season — which isn’t anything new for him — but he rehired special teams coach Joe Judge as an offensive assistant and reportedly had defensive specialist Matt Patricia doing the offensive playcalling.

‘It was rough, bro. It was rough. Everybody feels the same,’ Bourne said, noting that the team was as puzzled as the rest of ‘the world.’

‘Mac’s so smart, so I think Mac likes complexity. He likes a complex offense to where he has to think. I think it makes him play better. So Matt Patricia, we were just so one-dimensional and kinda stagnant, so I think Mac, it didn’t work with Mac, as we obviously see.’

Bourne also commented on Jones’ future with the team. The quarterback has one more year left on his rookie contract and a fifth-year option on the table. There’s speculation New England is one of the teams vying for USC’s Caleb Williams in this year’s draft.

‘I think he sticks around. I think he’s too valuable,’ Bourne said. ‘The backup role is so important now. So if they’re going to draft someone or whatever they’re going to do, he’d be a great backup. I think he could be the starter. I think he could be the guy. Like I said, I got a good relationship with Mac, I’m team Mac for sure. So hopefully he can turn around.’

Kendrick Bourne wants to see Bill Belichick take on a broadcast role

One of the biggest questions in the sports world is what Belichick will do next. He left the Patriots last month after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl wins. He was in the running to become the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, but the team ultimately went with Raheem Morris. All the other head coaching vacancies were filled by people other than Belichick.

Bourne thinks that Belichick should follow in the footsteps of coaches Sean Payton, Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy in becoming a television analyst.

‘Woo! I want him to be on TV, I want him to be on media,’ he said.

Even though Belichick is known for his stoicism, Bourne pointed out that fans were thrilled when he put on the old school Army helmet during ‘College GameDay’ for this season’s Army-Navy game.

‘He took over the internet, so he know how to go viral,’ he said. ‘He know how to go viral while being stalemate. … I think he’s a good fit for a role like that.’

LAS VEGAS — Tony Romo has the perfect answer for anybody who asks how he handles the criticisms slung at the NFL on CBS broadcaster. 

‘I was the quarterback for the Cowboys for many years, so,’ Romo said Tuesday. 

Which job, then, makes it easier to deal with the naysayers? 

‘These are small potatoes,’ Romo said of his current situation. 

Well, then somebody pass the gravy.

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

As Romo prepares to call his third Super Bowl since transitioning straight from the playing field to the broadcast booth in 2017, the detractors of the CBS broadcast − namely of Romo − feel like they have become the majority. 

‘I think you’re always trying to do new things,’ Romo said. 

One area he has experimented, Romo said, is in showing his non-serious side more often in broadcasts. 

‘I add humor in a lot of time,’ he explained. ‘So the people who really know me kind of get it. So when I’m joking about Taylor Swift being the wife (of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce), it’s a joke, not everyone gets it.’

The problem for Romo is that while his small circle may chuckle, the millions watching − make that hundreds of millions for the Super Bowl − aren’t. Innocently, Romo says he is trying to add levity to a broadcast that lasts more than three hours. 

‘But it’s really about the game,’ Romo said. ‘And you’re always trying to make it about the game. So I just try and keep that focus. I know these teams so well now and you see them consistently.’

(To that last comment, Romo has to do some explaining, then, about how Jaylen Warren was a revelation to him ahead of the AFC wild-card round despite the Pittsburgh Steelers running back having a considerable role all season.) 

In early 2020, CBS reset the football announcers’ market by signing Romo − who was being courted by ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’ property − to a 10-year contract worth $17 million per year. 

A few offseasons later, the network staged an intervention regarding his level of preparation, according to the New York Post, which CBS denied. Romo’s catchphrase − “Ohhhhhhh I don’t know, Jim,” − has become a meme on the Internet. The Ringer detailed how Romo fixates on the quarterback, the stars, and rarely names other players on the field. 

THE LAW OF (TRAVIS) KELCE: Will CBS show Taylor Swift during Super Bowl? Depends on Chiefs tight end.

At the outset of his broadcasting career, Romo could do no wrong. He had a plethora of experience playing against the NFL defenses of the time and could predict a play with uncanny ability. Nantz called him ‘Romo-stradamus.’ It was entertaining and educational − the best of football broadcasting. 

‘He has a huge presence and I think he’s grown tremendously over the years,’ sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson told USA TODAY Sports. ‘I think our broadcast has as well.

‘I learned a lot being alongside him. He just really shows you the nuances.’

Romo still has a swath of fans who appreciate the excitement and his analysis. For others, his style has become grating. 

Too often, airtime becomes filled with Nantz and Romo asking each other − or other members of the broadcast, like rules analyst Gene Steratore − to describe what everyone watching on television can already see. The insight is thin. And compared to other top booths with less experience working together − NBC’s Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth and FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen − their chemistry does not match up. 

NFL on CBS lead producer Jim Rikoff said the broadcast team enters each week focused on its craft, not any outside critiques. Romo and Nantz complement each other and are looking forward to putting a bow on one of their better years, Rikoff said. 

‘He’s learning as he’s going,’ Rikoff told USA TODAY Sports when asked about Romo’s progression. 

Growth is always good, but that’s not necessarily the type of comment a person in the seventh year of any occupation would necessarily want to hear. 

Romo entered broadcasting when a back injury − two surgeries have left him needing an hour to prep his body for daily movement − and the emergence of Dak Prescott in Dallas ended his playing days. But he doesn’t harbor any ill will for taking his last snap at 36 years old. 

‘It’s almost humbling why anybody deserves everything I’ve gotten,’ said Romo, now 43. ‘So I don’t look at it in any negative capacity. I feel like I’m the luckiest guy on earth.’

A father of three boys ages 11, 9 and 6, Romo added: ‘I’m a dad first. I announce second. And this is probably my favorite time in life right now.’ 

Football fans would appreciate if he started announcing like it.

Nick Saban is headed to ESPN.

The sports media company announced Wednesday the decorated former coach, who retired from Alabama nearly one month ago, will be joining its popular college football pregame show ‘College GameDay.’ The 72-year-old seven national championship winner will join the program as an analyst on the set and he will contribute to the network’s NFL draft coverage, as well as the SEC Media Days.

Saban joins the crew headlined by host Rece Davis, as well as analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee.

‘ESPN and College GameDay have played such an important role in the growth of college football, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to join their team,’ said Saban. ‘I’ll do my best to offer additional insights and perspectives to contribute to College GameDay, the ultimate Saturday tradition for college football fans.’

Saban’s first assignment with ESPN will be announced at a later date, the company said, but he’s no stranger to ESPN programming. He recently has made regular appearances on ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ which now airs on ESPN, and he was on several college football shows during his tenure as the Crimson Tide head coach.

‘College GameDay’ is coming off one of its most successful seasons, with the 2023 season being its second-most watched year since 2011 and fourth-most all time in its 30 years. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement Saban is an ‘extremely gifted communicator’ who will ‘immediately add even more credibility, authority and entertainment value to ESPN.’

Saban retired as Alabama head coach in January after spending 17 seasons in charge of the program. In his tenure, the Crimson Tide won six national championships, nine SEC championships and eight College Football Playoff appearances. He also won a national championship as head coach at LSU, making his seven national championship wins the most in Division I history. His last game came in the 2024 Rose Bowl in the College Football Playoff, which was an overtime loss to Michigan.

Saban’s overall college football record was 297-71-1.

LAS VEGAS – This might be the week when Kadarius Toney finally returns to the lineup for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Or maybe not.

The status of the controversial wide receiver is one of the big mysteries on the ramp-up to Super Bowl 58, which is even more compelling when considering what went down during the weekend of the AFC championship game as Toney missed his sixth consecutive game and seemingly blasted the Chiefs during a social media rant.

Is he back in this week? 

‘We’ll see,’ Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. ‘We’ll see how it goes.’

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

You’d think that Reid wants to employ all the firepower that he can as the Chiefs try to become the first repeat Super Bowl champion in nearly two decades. When Toney is at his best, he’s a weapon, as demonstrated a year ago with a 65-yard punt return that is the longest in Super Bowl history.

But it’s deeper than that. Toney, scratched from the lineup officially because of injuries, has been a full participant in practices in recent days but hasn’t played since a mid-December victory at New England in Week 15. That’s when he added to a series of glaring mishaps by bobbling a perfectly thrown pass that popped into the hands of a Patriots linebacker for an interception. The miscue left star quarterback Patrick Mahomes fuming on the bench, a week after Toney’s offsides penalty wiped out a stunning 49-yard, go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute to play in a loss against the Buffalo Bills.

It’s not a stretch to think that injuries weren’t the only reasons Toney hasn’t been active. Before the AFC title game, the Chiefs listed him out due to a hip injury and ‘personal reasons,’ which was later revealed to be the birth of his daughter.

His absence was one thing. His reaction to the latest case took it all up a few notches. Toney said during a profanity-laced audio recording posted on Instagram the morning of the championship game that he wasn’t injured and implied that the Chiefs were not truthful with their injury designation.

So, of course, Toney has engaged in some damage control as the big game approaches. He told NFL Network on Monday night that his recording ‘got like a mixed message behind it, I guess you could say.’

He went on to suggest that footage was ‘chopped up’ to distort his message. His anger, he contended, was directed at fans of his former team, the New York Giants, who had posted comments on his Instagram page.

‘I never attacked the Chiefs,’ he maintained, ‘never said anything about the Chiefs…I just wanted to get my message across as far as my injury, but I shouldn’t have (done) that at the end of the day.

‘I’m a man, and I can accept my mistakes, just like I can accept my wins. But I’m just moving past it right now. We’re heading out. We’re just trying to win.’

Asked whether the rant changed the way he is viewed inside the Chiefs organization, he offered no assurances.

‘At the end of the day, I’m not a fortune teller,’ Toney told Newsday. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’

Regardless, it’s fair to wonder whether Toney’s case lingers as a distraction.

‘He’s not a distraction,’ Reid flatly stated to USA TODAY Sports. ‘That hasn’t been a problem.’

That’s about what you’d expect to hear from Reid, whose job involves minimizing distractions – especially this week.

From over here, it seems like Toney is a shoo-in to make anybody’s ‘distraction watch list.’ That’s not to suggest that Toney is a candidate to get distracted by the temptations of Las Vegas (which, by the way, has the buffer of a 25-mile distance between the hotels where the Chiefs and 49ers are headquartered and The Strip) but rather to pay attention if he’s idled again with a Super Bowl on the line.

Considering that Toney hasn’t suited up in a game for nearly two months and the diatribe was less than two weeks ago, another subplot could formulate if the big-play artist is benched again.

And if it happens this time, it likely won’t be because of an injury as the Chiefs went into practices this week expecting that Toney was healthy enough to fully participate.

‘I think he’s good,’ Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman told USA TODAY Sports. ‘When he’s in the building, he works hard and does what he has to do. Everything after that, it is what it is.’

If Toney doesn’t play this time, it might be a simple matter of trust. Given Toney’s miscues this season, which included too many dropped passes, the Chiefs might not want to risk putting a championship into hands that have been so shaky.

Sure, a year ago Toney was one of the Super Bowl heroes. Minutes after he caught a 5-yard, go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles, Toney ripped off the record punt-return that set up another touchdown. The potential for such explosive plays was one of the reasons the Chiefs obtained the former first-rounder in a trade with the Giants in 2022, despite his inconsistent production and disagreements with the team regarding injuries.

But the game-swinging Super Bowl play seems like a long time ago, given what has happened since.

Toney is a mystery now, with a chance to redeem himself on the big stage…or not.

It looks like another famous NFL family isn’t willing to pay for a suite at Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas.

Less than a week after the mother of San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey said her family could not afford a ‘stupidly expensive’ luxury suite at Allegiant Stadium, the site of the game, Donna Kelce, the mother of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, said something similar.

‘Well, you can understand that the boxes in Vegas are multi-million dollars so I have a feeling I’m not in a box,’ Kelce said Wednesday morning during an appearance on the TODAY show. ‘I have a feeling I am in the stands. As far as I know I am in the stands with everybody else because it is a pricey Super Bowl.’

Ticket prices at Allegiant Stadium are the most expensive in history, according to TickPick, with average prices around $9,619 on the secondary market. Tickets to Super Bowl 57, in comparison, averaged $5,795. Suites at Allegiant Stadium range from $1.4M all the way up to $2.5M for an Owner’s Club Suite, which includes 20 suite tickets, two parking passes and a food and beverage package.

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

Lisa McCaffrey made her comments about the luxury suite prices on her ‘Your Mom’ podcast with Ashley Adamson. In response to that, however, her son’s fiancée, model, actress, influencer and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, said in an Instagram post that she had reserved a suite for Lisa McCaffrey’s birthday.

That plan eventually was thwarted, all because of Christian McCaffrey.

‘She tried to, but I will not let anybody pay to watch me play,’ Christian McCaffrey said Monday at Super Bowl 58 Opening Night, according to ExtraTV. ‘I had to nix that.’

Travis Kelce, of course, is dating pop music icon Taylor Swift. It’s still unclear if Swift will be attending the Super Bowl — she is performing a concert in Tokyo, the first leg of the 2024 Eras tour — though she has attended several Chiefs games this season, always in a luxury suite.

Still, whether the Kelce family makes it into a luxury suite or not, Donna Kelce is looking forward to the experience.

‘I really am, it is going to be a dream,’ Donna Kelce said on the TODAY show when asked if she was excited to be attending the game. ‘To go back-to-back like this, back to the Super Bowl, I’m really excited.’

The HBO documentary series ‘Hard Knocks’, an inside look at what goes on behind-the-scenes in an NFL locker room during the season, has been a pretty big commercial success. In 2023, the show averaged 4.4 million viewers per episode, its highest viewership since 2010. Even though the season was considered subpar from a content standpoint, people still watched.

The NFL has a large, devoted fanbase and there’s a sizable group that want to consume every tidbit of content they can. That’s what makes ‘Hard Knocks’ so popular.

Well, now other platforms are trying to capture some of that magic with their own series covering a professional sports team.

On Wednesday, Netflix announced two projects including a documentary offering a behind-the-scenes look at the 2024 Boston Red Sox. The streaming service will have a team follow the Red Sox throughout the entirety of the MLB season. Netflix also announced that they will be releasing another documentary about the Red Sox World Series championship in 2004 that broke an 86-year championship drought. That championship run was particularly special due to the numerous iconic moments that came from it.

Not only did those Red Sox become the first team ever to come back from a 3-0 series deficit in the ALCS, but they did it against their division rivals, the New York Yankees. That was the same series that saw Curt Schilling pitch seven innings of one-run ball with a bloody sock.

HOT STOVE UPDATES: MLB free agency: Ranking and tracking the top players available.

The 2004 Red Sox documentary will premiere ‘later this year,’ while the 2024 Red Sox series will premiere in 2025. There has been no word yet on the exact release date.

What to expect from the 2024 Red Sox documentary?

Netflix stated that the docuseries will ‘provide viewers a window into what it takes to compete across a season’s ups and downs in one of the most rabid sports environments.’ Netflix has done incredible work with other sports-based documentary series in the past such as ‘Quarterback’, ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’, and ‘Full Swing’, all of which received massive praise from sports and non-sports fans alike.

The series will likely lean heavily into the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and could even attempt to paint the Yankees as a massive supervillain given their acquisition of Juan Soto during the offseason. Although, that is entirely speculation.

What makes the Red Sox so appealing for a docuseries?

The Red Sox are one of the biggest brands in baseball. Fenway Park is one of the most iconic ballparks in America as well. Outside of their history though, the Red Sox are also in a very tough position. While they still have a talented roster, they’ve finished last place in the tough American League East in three of the last four seasons. The trials that come with having a solid team, but failing to reach the postseason because of the teams you have to compete against is already a compelling topic.

The decision to choose the Red Sox only seems odd from the perspective of players to follow. Outside of Rafael Devers as well as maybe Masataka Yoshida, Triston Casas, and Jarren Duran, the Red Sox don’t have any proven, big name, All-Star caliber players. Trevor Story just fought through an injury-riddled 2023 campaign, but wasn’t that great when he came back. Tyler O’Neill is a solid glove, but hasn’t produced since his breakout 2021 season. Kenley Jansen is a potential Hall of Famer, but is past his prime.

Perhaps the hope is that someone will break out or that the characters in the Red Sox locker room will carry the show. Netflix has done a great job at making the most of their subjects in previous sports series. We should expect nothing less from this series.

What do the Red Sox players think of being followed around?

According to Red Sox middle infielder Trevor Story, this was an opportunity the players could not pass up. ‘I’ve enjoyed the behind-the-scenes access in Netflix’s other sports documentaries,’ Story told CBS News. ‘And now we get to give the fans an unparalleled look at the passion, sacrifice, and hard work it takes to be a Major League Baseball player.’

Do sports docu-series affect team performance?

One of the biggest issues fans have with these types of documentaries is that it can wind up being a distraction for the team or individual players. However, these notions tend to be false.

‘Hard Knocks’ specifically chooses NFL teams that haven’t made the playoffs recently to be featured on their show. Is it any shock that only seven of the 18 seasons they’ve filmed have reached the playoffs? It shouldn’t be.

Season 1 of ‘Quarterback’ on Netflix featured three quarterbacks, two of which made the postseason – Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes even wound up winning the Super Bowl that year. Even if ‘Hard Knocks’ has a curse attached to it, it’s clear that Netflix’s documentary crew has no such problems.

When does the Red Sox season start?

The Red Sox kick off the 2024 MLB regular season on March 28 with a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners. Their first home game will not be until April 9 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Spring training starts on Feb. 24.