Category: Sport

The NFL scouting combine is back starting Monday as hundreds of draft hopefuls will make their way to Indianapolis to showcase their athletic talents and formally meet with teams as the slow roll to April’s draft picks up.

In recent years, the combine’s scope has drastically changed, altering the event’s overall importance. The days of the combine being a true showcase for all the best players in each draft is long over, leaving a product that’s been diluted by a lack of participants and a questionable need to be on prime-time television.

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But there still are a few hidden elements that are important to the league’s overall health. Sure, the list of what matters in Indianapolis dwindles by the year. The number of players who participate in drills and coaches who attend the event continues to shrink. Yet, there is one part of the process that is still incredibly important: the interview.

The combine is still a centralized hub for teams to get face-to-face time with prospects for the first time. Those interviews can heavily sway clubs to draft (or not draft!) them in April.

Being a leaguewide communication hub is also important for the combine. Beyond player interviews with prospective teams, it’s one of the few times a large percentage of NFL teams’ front-office personnel and agents will be in the same city over a prolonged period of days. The extended face-to-face time ignites preliminary discussions that allow free agents to agree to terms at the very second the “legal tampering” window opens — this year, it’s March 9 at noon ET — followed by the official start of the new league year on March 11 at 4 p.m.

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Those are conversations the public isn’t privy to, but they become tangibly important shortly after the combine ends.

Perhaps the most critical part of the combine that still matters are the medicals. Again, that’s information that is largely hidden behind the scenes, but it will matter throughout the draft process even if the information leaks out well after the combine is over. Sometimes these issues aren’t heard about until early April when players head back to Indianapolis for medical re-checks. Yeah, real riveting information for viewers.

The on-field workouts still matter for lower-level players and prospects who have a chance to put their name into the sphere of public opinion, but the amount of notable players who have been participating in the workouts has drastically reduced the overall importance of this event from a consumer perspective. Considering the NFL has flatly shown that players not participating in the event doesn’t matter to its teams, there’s no reason to think that the athletic showcase that used to be a hot topic will be coming back soon.

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For the players who do participate in the on-field action, here are few drills to keep an eye on beyond the 40-yard dash.

Broad jump: This is great at measuring lower-body explosion in a way that projects how players can perform through contact. Some of the best tacklers, running backs and linemen have elite scores in this area.

3-cone drills: This one is crucial for wide receivers and defensive linemen. The ability to cut through tight spaces in short time is critical in getting open versus man coverage or beating offensive tackles around the edge.

Short shuttle: Some of the best offensive linemen and defensive backs in the league have high scores in this area because it shows the ability to immediately be explosive from a disadvantageous position. The Packers have historically valued offensive linemen who perform well in this drill.

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Everything else, especially the throwing sessions, is going to be noise. It’s nice to see how players move in some drills, but game tape is more useful.

The spectacle of some prospects standing out in the 40-yard dash is always going to be interesting, but the degrees have fallen as fewer players do workouts in Indianapolis. For hardcore observers of the draft, there are plenty of things to follow. For everyone else, the most relevant information derived from the combine will likely be hidden for a few weeks.

MILAN — Quinn Hughes admits he was crushed last February when an ill-timed oblique injury robbed him of the chance to play for the U.S. men’s hockey team at the 4 Nations tournament.

A year later, it’s safe to say that the Americans are grateful to have him now.

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Hughes called game three-plus minutes into overtime against Sweden on Thursday to help the U.S. survive its first real test of these Olympics. The 26-year-old defenseman ripped a laser shot past Swedish goaltender Jacob Markstrom, securing a 2-1 American victory in an Olympic quarterfinal matchup that very easily could have come a round or two later in knockout play.

Asked how it felt to see that puck ring off the post and into the net, a smiling Hughes responded, “Just relief.”

“I’m really enjoying wearing the crest, playing with the superstars we have on this team, getting to know these guys, living in the [Olympic] Village,” Hughes said. ”You just want to extend it as long as you can.”

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With two minutes left in regulation, the Americans didn’t think they would need overtime heroics to set up a semifinal matchup against Slovakia. American goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had held strong, turning away all 28 shots that Sweden sent in his direction.

Then, with the Americans 91 seconds from the semifinals, the three-time Vezina Trophy winner finally buckled. Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad fired a shot from the faceoff circle that snuck through Hellebuyck to tie the game and force overtime.

“Anytime that happens, it can be tough but you’ve got to turn the page quick,” U.S. defender Noah Hanifin said. “Our leaders did a really good job of settling everyone down and the guys who were out there in overtime did a great job for us.”

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The last time the U.S. men’s hockey team captured Olympic gold, a group of college standouts and minor-league nobodies engineered the Miracle on Ice. Forty-six years later, the Americans boast the strongest roster they’ve ever brought to an Olympics and the belief that it is at last their time again.

For the Americans to advance to the gold medal match, they will first have to survive a semifinal matchup against upstart Slovakia. The Slovakians aren’t loaded with NHL talent like the other semifinalists, but they won a group that included both Sweden and Finland and then routed Germany on Wednesday morning to advance to the semifinals.

“It’s going to be an extremely hard test,” Matthews said. “They’ve been rolling, they’re competitive, they’re fast. It doesn’t matter how many superstars you have or whatnot. The desperation level is so high. It’s Game 7 every night now.”

In some ways, the Americans entered Wednesday in exactly the position they hoped to be. Placed in a group without another realistic medal contender, the U.S. comfortably dispatched of Germany, Latvia and Denmark to earn a bye to the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed.

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And yet while the results were satisfactory, it seldom felt like the Americans played to their potential. They started slowly in all three games and their forwards didn’t consistently display the chemistry or firepower expected against lesser competition.

For the U.S., drawing Sweden in the quarterfinals provided an entirely different caliber of test. The Swedes are the other team besides the U.S. and Canada whose roster consists of nothing but NHL players. They’re one of the so-called Big Four. They beat the Americans last February during round-robin play at the Four Nations tournament.

Despite winning two of three preliminary games to finish in a tie with Slovenia and Finland atop its group, Sweden slipped to the No. 7 seed because of goal differential. The Swedes had to swat aside Latvia on Tuesday just to earn the right to meet the U.S. the following night.

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Which team would emerge battle-tested and better prepared for the meat of the tournament? And which would endure a sudden end to their gold medal pursuit? A scoreless opening period offered little in the way of answers. Both teams generated 10 shots apiece but very few threatening scoring chances.

The breakthrough arrived at last more than 11 minutes into the second period. American forward Dylan Larkin, parked directly in front of the Swedish net, deftly redirected a Jack Hughes shot from the point past Markstrom for the opening goal of the game.

Hellebuyck made that one-goal lead stand up for 58-plus minutes, a display of brilliance that underscored that the USA’s biggest advantage at these Olympics will be at the defensive end of the ice. While Canada’s forward corps is loaded with superstars, the Americans boast the tournament’s deepest group of defensemen and a goalie who is the reigning NHL MVP.

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Of course, one of those defensemen stepped up when the Americans needed an offensive spark too. The U.S. bench spilled onto the ice to mob Hughes after a goal that will be talked about for a long time if the Americans go on to win gold.

Matthew Tkachuk said he didn’t know if Hughes’ shot went in until he saw the defenseman celebrate and heard the crowd roar.

“It was definitely the highest I’ve jumped since my surgery,” said Tkachuk, who underwent offseason surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia.

For Hughes, the goal was a reminder of how grateful he is to have the opportunity to play in these Olympics after not getting the chance to help the U.S. last February.

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“I felt like I was playing great hockey at the time and wasn’t able to be there,” he said. “It sucked, but you move on. I’m here this time and I’m really enjoying it.”

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will miss the team’s first game back after the All-Star break against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday due to an issue with his shin, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported. Embiid will be re-evaluated before the team’s following game Saturday.

Embiid has appeared in just 31 games this season, but has looked good when he’s been able to play. His average is back up to over 26 points per game after averaging 23.8 points last season in only 19 games. The Sixers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 30-24.

In his last 10 games leading up to the All-Star break, Embiid really seemed to hit his stride, averaging 33.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. During that span, Embiid shot 52.9% from 3-point range and 86.9% from the free throw line. More importantly, Philly went 7-3 in that stretch.

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With Embiid’s injury history, any time he misses is always concerning. Before playing in 19 games last season, he played 39 the year before that. During his MVP campaign of 2022-23, Embiid missed 16 games, appearing in 66, which were the second most of his career. The previous year, Embiid played in 68 games for Philadelphia.

Despite all the injuries, Embiid is still considered one of the best centers in basketball when healthy. At this point, the Sixers and the fan base know Embiid is going to miss some time each year. For Philadelphia, it’s about having him healthy in April and May as it attempts to make a title run. The Sixers have never advanced beyond the Eastern Conference semifinals during Embiid’s tenure with the franchise.

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Philly and Atlanta tipoff at 7 p.m. ET Thursday from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Mick Cronin wasn’t going to let officials have the chance to eject center Steven Jamerson II on Tuesday night.

Instead, he did it himself.

The UCLA head coach threw his own player out of the Bruins’ blowout 82-59 loss at No. 15 Michigan State on Tuesday after he picked up a technical foul.

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With about four minutes to go at the Breslin Center, Jamerson came from behind and fouled Michigan State center Carson Cooper as he went up for a breakaway dunk. Jamerson hammered Cooper, and sent him down to the court awkwardly. Cooper jumped up immediately and squared up with Jamerson under the rim before the two were separated without issue.

After seeing the incident with his team down by almost 30 points at the time, Cronin called Jamerson over to the bench, grabbed him by his jersey and started walking him off the floor while pointing to the locker room. Jamerson didn’t protest much, and jogged to the tunnel.

“I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant 2, huh? That’s the first time I’ve saw a coach do that,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That sounded like Mick, he’ll get that straightened out.

Jamerson finished with two points and two rebounds in eight minutes. The senior has averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game this season in his first year with the Bruins. Before UCLA, Jamerson played for three seasons at San Diego after spending his first year of college as a student at Michigan State. He attempted to be a walk-on for the Spartans and a manager that season, but Izzo said on his pregame radio show that he didn’t have much of a recollection of Jamerson.

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Both Jamerson and Cooper were assessed technical fouls for the play, and Cooper split his free throws for the original foul on the dunk attempt. That put Michigan State up by 28.

Jeremy Fears led Michigan State with 16 points and 10 assists in the win. The Spartans led nearly the entire way, and entered halftime with a 20-point lead despite not scoring in the final two minutes of the period. Coen Carr added 16 points and Cooper finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. They shot 52% from the 3-point line, and outrebounded UCLA by 10.

After the game, Cronin was in a bad mood. He chastised a reporter for asking a question about the Michigan State student section and then asked if the reporter was raising his voice at him.

As for the ejection, Cronin said he was “thoroughly disappointed” in Jamerson.

“You know, true toughness is how you compete and how you go to work every day. Steve’s a good kid. He made a bad decision,” Cronin said, via ESPN. “But if you want to be a tough guy, you need to do it during the game, for a blockout, for a rebound.

“So, I was thoroughly disappointed; the guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game’s a 25-point game. You don’t do that.”

The win came amid a rough stretch for Michigan State. The Spartans have lost three of their last five, including at unranked Minnesota and a 21-point loss at Wisconsin. They now sit at 21-5 on the season and third in the Big Ten race.

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Tyler Bilodeau led UCLA with 22 points and six rebounds. Skyy Clark was the only other Bruins player to hit double figures with his 12 points off the bench. The loss dropped the Bruins to 17-9 this season as they try to hang on for an NCAA tournament bid. It marked their second straight blowout loss, too, after a 30-point loss at Michigan just days earlier.

Cronin is in his sixth season with the Bruins, who opened the season at No. 12 in the national rankings before falling out completely. He holds a 155-73 record with the Bruins, whom he led to a Final Four in his second campaign in Southern California.

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The Bruins will host No. 10 Illinois next on Saturday. Jamerson’s status for that contest at Pauley Pavilion, after Tuesday’s incident in East Lansing, is unknown.

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Andrew Siciliano deep dives on the 2026 NFL Draft with Nate Tice & ESPN’s Matt Miller. Andrew kicks things off with Nate Tice as they parse through Nate & Charles McDonald’s latest mock draft and cover a few of the more interesting selections, including EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. going second overall to the New York Jets, RB Jeremiyah Love in the top ten, EDGE David Bailey to the Washington Commanders and more. Next, Andrew & Nate set their sites on Indianapolis for the NFL Combine as Nate gives his top prospects he’s most excited to watch test next week.

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Later, Andrew is joined by ESPN’s Matt Miller to get his thoughts on the draft (including Ty Simpson, Caleb Downs and more) before talking through his latest NFL mock draft.

(6:55) – Nate Tice breaks down latest NFL mock draft

(21:55) – Nate’s top prospects to watch at the NFL Combine

(44:00) – Matt Miller talks latest NFL mock draft

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An Iowa fan and his phone got up close and personal with Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg on Tuesday night.

Hoiberg was not having it. He smacked the phone out of the fan’s hand as Iowa fans rushed the court during the postgame handshake line. He also inadvertently smacked an Iowa staffer in the back of his head on his follow-through. Hoiberg and the Iowa staffer quickly made nice.

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Video from the stands captured the incident.

The fan whose phone got smacked captured first-person footage.

The unidentified fan — or someone nearby — screamed, “Nice game, buddy!” in Hoiberg’s face just prior to the smack.

Hoiberg’s Cornhuskers were fresh off a 57-52 loss to the Hawkeyes. It was their fourth loss in six games following a 20-0 start. He was in no mood to be taunted.

Iowa, Big Ten respond: No discipline for Hoiberg

Iowa released a statement Wednesday afternoon addressing the court storm and the fan.

“Unfortunately, an individual gained access to the court through a restricted area, directly confronting Coach Hoiberg and putting Nebraska players, coaches and staff in a reactive situation,” the statement reads.

“We apologize for this incident and will conduct a review of our procedures and security measures to determine what adjustments may be needed to further strengthen our protocols and help prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The Big Ten issued a statement in response to Iowa’s announcing that it will not discipline Hoiberg for the phone smack.

“The conference has discussed the situation with both institutions, is taking no action in relation to Coach Hoiberg, and appreciates the efforts by Iowa’s administration to address postgame security protocols in the interest of preventing a similar occurrence from happening in the future,” the statement reads.

Nebraska did not publicly address the incident and previously directed questioning regarding it to the Big Ten.

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More court-storming drama

Tuesday’s court storm was the latest to raise the ire of a prominent head coach.

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer claimed after a last-second road loss to rival North Carolina on Feb. 7 that a member of his coaching staff “got punched in the face” in the ensuing court storm, leaving him with a bloody lip.

There’s so far been no footage or evidence to confirm Scheyer’s account, prompting Orange County District Attorney Jeff Nieman — a UNC graduate — to dispute Scheyer’s claim.

Tempers are flaring across college basketball, and it’s not even March yet.

The Milan Cortina Olympics had a bit of everything Wednesday: redemption for a U.S. skiing great, inspiration from a relentless American snowboarder, more cross-country skiing history, a men’s hockey quarterfinals to remember, another Olympic proposal and a dog making a tension-breaking cameo.

Here are five of the top stories from Day 12 of the Winter Games:

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Mikaela Shiffrin ends Olympic medal drought, dominates for gold in slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin exorcised her recent Olympic demons on Wednesday in Cortina with a redemptive gold medal in the women’s slalom.

Shiffrin came into this year’s Games with more World Cup wins than any other skier, male or female, period. But she still arrived in Italy with something to prove because, after scattering two golds and a silver across her first two Olympics — Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018 — she didn’t medal in Beijing four years ago. In fact, she didn’t even finish three of her events during the 2022 Games. Then, this year, she struggled in the women’s team combined event, failing to reach the podium even after teammate Breezy Johnson established a lead in the downhill portion of the competition. Just three days ago, Shiffrin finished 11th in the giant slalom.

Flash forward to Wednesday, and Shiffrin zoomed to the bottom of the mountain and back to the top of the skiing world when she crushed the field with a pair of legacy-defining runs. Shiffrin recorded the fastest time in her first run. After watching skiers ahead of her spin out or DQ, she maintained an even keel and stayed aggressive amid her second run, transforming her already significant 0.82-second lead into a 1.5-second domination. That margin of victory, according to NBC’s Nick Zaccardi, is the largest in any Olympic Alpine skiing event since 1998. The monkey is off Shiffrin’s back, and the gold is once again around her neck. She’s the first American woman skier to win three Olympic gold medals, and she now holds titles as both the youngest and oldest American woman to win Alpine gold. She was 18 in 2014. She’s 30 in these Games.

U.S. and Canada men’s hockey both need OT to advance to semifinals

Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild lit the lamp three-plus minutes into 3-on-3 overtime to push Team USA past Sweden 2-1 and into the men’s hockey semifinals. The Americans needed overtime because Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad slapped a shot by U.S. netminder Connor Hellebuyck for the game-tying goal with 91 seconds left in regulation. The Swedes provided a stiff, NHL-themed test. The Americans passed, albeit in OT. They’ll now play Slovakia in the semis.

Earlier in the day, Canada booked its spot in the semifinals, but only after it outlasted Czechia in overtime. The Canadians were down 2-1 after the first period, marking the first time Team Canada had trailed in the Olympics with NHL players since 2010, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Then, with less than eight minutes to go in the third period, Ondřej Palát scored to put Czechia up 3-2. Fortunately for Canada, Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki saved the nation from the embarrassment of an early exit with a deflected goal. Mitch Marner completed the comeback, scoring less than two minutes into OT with a backhand winner.

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Team Canada didn’t make it out unscathed. It lost captain Sidney Crosby to a lower-body injury. The Canadians will play Finland next, as the U.S. and Canada continue on a collision course for a gold-medal final.

Team USA earns silver in cross-country team sprint, but Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo joins rare air with 10th gold

This sounds like a broken record, but Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo just broke another Winter Games record. In the men’s cross-country skiing team sprint on Wednesday, the 29-year-old Klaebo and his Norwegian teammate, Einar Hedegart, took gold. Klaebo now has five gold medals at this year’s Games, and a record-breaking 10 overall at the Winter Games. He joins Michael Phelps as the only athletes to collect at least 10 Olympic golds. Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, has 23 golds, eight of which he won during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

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The American men gave Klaebo and Hedegart a run for their money. In fact, Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher finished only 1.4 seconds behind them for the silver. Schumacher made a push, however, Klaebo preserved Norway’s lead on the final hill.

Last week, Ogden became the first U.S. men’s cross-country skier to medal since 1976, with a silver in the cross-country sprint. Now he has two Olympic medals. Schumacher has his first.

As for Klaebo, he can go 6-for-6 at these Games with a gold on Saturday in the 50-kilometer mass start. If he accomplishes that feat, he’ll accompany swimmers Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto, plus gymnast Vitaly Scherbo, as Olympians with at least six gold medals at a single Games, per ESPN.

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U.S. snowboarder Jake Canter rides to bronze in slopestyle nine years after suffering life-threatening brain injury

The triumphant and celebratory words that burst from the mouth of a fiery Jake Canter — “Let’s go! Come on!” — were laced with relentless passion. He had just stuck the landing on his final run of the men’s snowboard slopestyle Wednesday in Italy, where he eventually won bronze after sweating out the rest of the field as he clung to a top-three finish.

The 22-year-old Colorado native took home the Aspen World Cup in January, and now he’s an Olympic medalist nine years after suffering a traumatic brain injury that put him in a coma for four days when he was just 13. That life-threatening injury took place on a trampoline at an action-sports camp, as reported by The Associated Press. He was kicked in the head. It was a freak accident. Six months later, he reportedly ended up in another four-day coma, that time because of meningitis. The surgery he needed called for him to learn how to walk and talk again.

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“I really just hope I made 13-year-old me lying in that hospital bed proud,” Canter said, per the AP. “This is for him and everyone who supported me.”

In his Olympic debut, Canter delivered Team USA’s first men’s snowboard slopestyle medal since 2018, thanks to a gutsy, rotation-filled spin on his final jump.

U.S. curling has a rough day: Women can still make playoffs, but men need some help

Team USA has cooled off in curling of late. The American women missed a chance to put themselves in the playoffs on Wednesday when they let a game against Great Britain slip through their grasp in the 10th end. The U.S. women’s team was a point away from reaching the medal round. But an incredible throw by skip Rebecca Morrison helped Great Britain steal two and win 8-7.

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The American women are 5-3 in round-robin competition. A win over 6-2 Switzerland or a Great Britain loss to 2-6 Italy would clinch the U.S. women a spot in the four-team playoff field. There are more complicated ways for them to reach the semifinals, too, but those are the most clear-cut paths.

The U.S. men’s curling team technically can make the playoff as well. It’s going to need a lot more to go right, though. The American men followed three consecutive wins — and a 4-2 start — with three straight losses to end round-robin play, including a lopsided defeat that the U.S. men conceded to Great Britain 9-2 on Wednesday. The young group needs Italy (4-4), Norway (4-4) and Germany (3-5) all to lose Thursday. That would force a tiebreaker the American men would own over Italy and Norway.

Highlight of the day

Hilary Knight, a linchpin of the gold-medal-contending U.S. women’s hockey team, proposed to American speedskater Brittany Bowe this week. The couple connected at the 2022 Games in Beijing.

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“Olympics brought us together. This one made us forever,” Knight wrote in her Instagram caption on Wednesday.

Knight, 36, has won four Olympic medals — three silvers and a gold — and Bowe, 37, has two bronzes to her name. This is their last Olympics.

Medals are being handed out in Italy, and so are rings. This isn’t the first proposal of these Games.

Perhaps most notably, after U.S. downhill skiing gold medalist Breezy Johnson crashed out of the women’s super-G last week, she got engaged to her boyfriend, Connor Watkins.

Others have agreed to tie the knot, too.

One more thing

Dogs are fun-loving creatures that just keep on giving — not only love but also iconic moments. Another was on display Wednesday during a qualifying round of the women’s cross-country team sprint.

A 2-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul was seen running alongside skiers and even racing past the finish line. He reportedly is local and had escaped from his owner before embarking on a journey that made headlines everywhere.

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Nazgul was eventually returned to his owner with a tale that will have other pups wagging their tails.

One day after Tony Clark’s surprise resignation amid a reported inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, the Major League Baseball Players Association elected Bruce Meyer as its interim executive director, the union announced Wednesday.

The vote was reportedly unanimous for Meyer, who was previously serving as deputy executive director. Matt Nussbaum, the union’s general counsel, was promoted to interim deputy executive director.

Meyer was the natural choice, as Clark’s No. 2 and the union’s lead negotiator with MLB. He spoke earlier Wednesday about the importance of the union remaining united in the wake of Clark’s ouster.

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According to ESPN’s Passan, Clark resigned on the heels of an internal investigation that revealed an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who worked for the union beginning in 2023. The union held an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon but did not vote on an executive director until Wednesday.

The news comes less than 10 months before the current CBA is set to expire on Dec. 1. The union and MLB owners are expected to engage in a furious labor battle ahead of a new CBA, which many expect could lead to a lockout extending into the 2027 MLB season. There is speculation that the owners will push hard for a salary cap, something the players have opposed for years.

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Meyer joined the MLBPA in 2018 and played a central role in the previous CBA negotiation as well as the 2020 agreement to play baseball amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This election confirms he’ll be at the table for the upcoming negotiation.

Clark also played a role in helping negotiate previous CBAs for the players. He reportedly took an active part in negotiations as a player before being hired by the MLBPA in 2010. He was initially a director of player relations before he was hired as the union’s executive director in 2013. He oversaw negotiations ahead of the 2016 CBA and the contentious 2022 lockout, which resulted in Opening Day being postponed by a week as negotiations extended into March.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — In the first public comments from the MLB Players Association since the shocking and sudden resignation of executive director Tony Clark and hours before he was unanimously elected as the union’s interim executive director, Bruce Meyer emphasized Wednesday that the unforeseen change in leadership will not impact the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations with MLB’s team owners.

“The Executive Board has been in discussions … to determine the future leadership of the union,” Meyer said. “But regardless, we have people on staff, including myself and others — former players, lawyers — who have been here for a long time. We don’t expect anything to change in terms of bargaining. We’ve been preparing for bargaining for years. Players have been preparing. Players know what’s coming.

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“At the end of the day, leadership is important, and leadership comes and goes, but what remains is the players,” he continued. “At the end of the day, it’s the players who determine the direction of the union.”

Clark, the former All-Star first baseman who had been in the executive director role since taking over for Michael Weiner in 2013, resigned Tuesday as a result of revelations that he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who also worked for the union. Clark was already the subject of a federal investigation involving potential financial misconduct related to business dealings tied to the union, and the relationship was uncovered as part of an internal inquiry into those matters.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Kansas City Royals’ spring training complex after the MLBPA met with Royals players as part of their annual tour of Cactus and Grapefruit League camps, Meyer emphasized how quickly the situation has developed and how player leadership responded.

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“The information that really led to this came out within the last 72 hours or so. So this is not something that has been sat on,” he said. “When the information came out, the players on the subcommittee made their feelings known. And Tony, to his credit, he’s always been about players first. And Tony decided to take the action he did in the interest of the players.”

This chaotic sequence just days before spring training games begin has left the MLBPA in a perceived state of disarray, but Meyer insisted that these recent events do not meaningfully alter the union’s focus or mission entering the season.

“Anybody who is gonna assume that and act on that is really making a mistake,” he said. “I’m not going to say this is, you know, a great thing. This is unforeseen. … I’m not going to say this is like a nothing and that there’s not going to be some disruptions. But again, at the end of the day, bargaining is the most important thing. It’s always been the most important thing. Our team that’s been preparing for that for years remains in place. Players have been getting educated on the issues that are going to come up for years. And so it’s not going to affect it in any respect.”

With Clark’s resignation, the members of the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee — Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Brent Suter, Pete Fairbanks and Cedric Mullins — became the leading figures in the pivotal task of identifying an interim executive director entering the final year of the current CBA.

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“We’re all fairly devastated by things that happened in the last 48-72 hours,” Meyer said of Clark’s sudden departure. “… But I think that this was something that the players determined had to happen at this particular point in time. We’ll move forward and be strong as we always are.”

Meyer, the former deputy executive director, was considered the top candidate to succeed Clark, but he said repeatedly Wednesday morning that choosing the next executive director would be entirely up to the players, and it would take more than just the eight subcommittee members to determine a successor. Indeed, the 72 players on the union executive board voted later Wednesday to elect Meyer in an interim capacity.

“Major league bargaining agreement, that’s just the major leaguers. Minor league bargaining agreement, that’s just the minor leaguers,” Meyer said. “Something like this, which affects the leadership of the union — our executive committee consists of 72 members, 38 of whom are major leaguers, 34 of whom are minor leaguers — the entire executive board will be voting.”

With Meyer taking the reins, he will be tasked with navigating what is expected to be a highly contentious round of CBA negotiations. Meyer said he expects to maintain his role as lead negotiator, and as interim executive director, he will become a central figure in the upcoming labor battle, a surprising main character at a crucial crossroads in baseball history.

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Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Meyer made clear his confidence that the union remains in a strong position to take on the fight ahead.

“At the end of the day, our union is strong and always has been strong because of the solidarity of our members, of our players,” he said. “That is going to continue. As I’ve said in the past: Anybody who underestimates the strength and solidarity of the MLB Players Association does so at their peril.”