FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
B3
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
OSU ATHLETICS
Anonymous donor
gives big for Reser
Reser Stadium’s $153
million west side renova-
tion project has picked
up considerable steam
following events of the
past week.
On Thursday, Ore-
gon State University an-
nounced a $50 million
gift by an anonymous do-
nor that is earmarked for
the Reser Stadium proj-
ect. It is the single largest
donation in university
history.
Last week, the OSU
Board of Trustees’ Finance
and Administration com-
mittee gave Stage Gate
1 approval of the proj-
ect. It allows the project
to advance to the de-
sign phase. The Board of
Trustees will consider the
Reser Stadium project for
final approval during their
May meeting.
Plans call for project
construction to begin
following the end of the
2021 football season,
with virtual completion
prior to the start of the
2023 season. Contingen-
cies are in place allow-
ing OSU to play its 2022
home football games at
Reser Stadium.
The intent of the sta-
dium’s west side proj-
ect is a year-round fa-
cility. Among its uses
beyond football is a
35,000-square-foot stu-
dent medical facility, a
welcome center for new
students and meeting
space for university stu-
dents, faculty and staff.
The renovated west
side includes premium
and general seating that
OSU athletic director
Scott Barnes says will pro-
vide the closest proximity
to the playing field of any
college football stadium
in the country.
— The Oregonian
OLYMPICS
Head of Games to
stay on board
TOKYO — The presi-
dent of the Tokyo Olym-
pic organizing committee
said Thursday he would
not resign despite pres-
sure on him to do so after
making derogatory com-
ments earlier in the week
about women.
The controversy sur-
rounding Yoshiro Mori is
one more problem the
postponed Tokyo Olym-
pics really didn’t need as
organizers and the IOC try
to pull off the games in
the midst of a pandemic.
They are scheduled to
open on July 23.
“I am not thinking to
resign,” Mori said.
The International
Olympic Committee said
it will not urge Mori to re-
sign, saying his apology
was enough.
In an online meeting
of the Japanese Olym-
pic Committee board of
directors earlier in the
week, Mori was reported
by the daily newspaper
Asahi Shimbun as saying
women talk too much in
meetings.
“The statement made
at the Japan Olympic
Committee was an in-
appropriate expression,
contrary to the spirit
of the Olympics and
Paralympics,” Mori said.
“I am deeply remorseful.
I would like to withdraw
the statement. I would
like to apologize for any
unpleasant feelings.”
In defending Mori, the
IOC noted its support for
gender equality as “one of
the key pillars” of Olym-
pic values, including an
increase in the number of
women on its own exec-
utive board to 33% with
five of 15 members.
— Associated Press
Super Bowl LV
Star-studded Chiefs
rely heavily on late-
round gems and
undrafted free agents
BY DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
I
t was an easy decision for
Late-
round
fliers
Daniel Sorensen to sign
with the Kansas City Chiefs
as an undrafted free agent.
They were really the only ones
who wanted him.
Sorensen had just finished a
standout career at BYU, but his
game film and measurables went
largely overlooked by the rest of
the NFL. He wasn’t too surprised
when the 2014 draft came and
went without his name getting
Mark LoMoglio/AP file
Kansas City Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen in action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in November in Tampa, Florida. Sorensen has
been a key contributor since he signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2014 after playing in college at BYU.
called.
However, he was a little caught off
guard when the phone rang following
the seventh round and he heard the
voice on the other end.
“Andy Reid was the only head
coach that reached out to me,” So-
rensen recalled, “and that was pretty
big. That was pretty remarkable to get
a phone call from him. And he shot
me straight: ‘You have a good oppor-
tunity to make this team here.’”
Sorensen not only wound up mak-
ing the team, he’s stuck around for
seven seasons, helping the Chiefs put
together the best stretch in franchise
history: They have won the past five
AFC West titles, reached the confer-
ence championship game three con-
secutive years, and on Sunday will
“They get guys that are willing to buy in, willing to practice, willing to
put in the effort of watching the film and doing the little things right, and
you’ve seen the careers of a lot of guys that have blossomed in this system.”
— Daniel Sorensen, Kansas City Chiefs safety
play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for
their second straight Super Bowl title.
Sorensen isn’t an outlier, either.
While the Chiefs roster is undoubt-
edly top heavy — Patrick Mahomes is
due a half-billion dollars over the next
10 years, and stars such as Tyreek Hill
and Travis Kelce are rich beyond their
wildest imaginations — they wouldn’t
be in this position if not for a collec-
tion of late-round draft picks and col-
lege free agents that are the envy of the
league.
No fewer than 22 players drafted in
the third round or later — or not at
all — are on the Chiefs roster as they
finish their prep work for the Super
Bowl. Ten of them are likely to start
on offense, defense or special teams
against the Buccaneers.
That doesn’t include a handful of
players with a similar backstory that
reside on their practice squad.
“I think it goes along with the way
this organization is run,” Sorensen ex-
plained. “They pride themselves and
we pride ourselves on our ability to
trust the process, and the process has
proven to be successful.
“They get guys that are willing to
buy in, willing to practice, willing to
put in the effort of watching the film
and doing the little things right, and
you’ve seen the careers of a lot of guys
that have blossomed in this system.”
At first glance, it shouldn’t make
sense. The Chiefs have won consis-
tently for the better part of a decade,
with a roster dotted by more stars
than there are in the nighttime sky.
There shouldn’t be room for seem-
ingly inferior talent.
See Chiefs / B4
COLLEGE FOOTBALL | OREGON RECRUITING
NHL
NHL revises virus protocols with Assistant coaches hired in 2020 vital
40 players on the COVID-19 list to successful 2021 recruiting class
BY STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer
With COVID-19 problems
cropping up and four teams
currently idled, the NHL has
revised its virus protocols in
a bid to keep the shortened
season on track.
Glass panels have been re-
moved from behind benches
for better air flow, players
and coaches are not allowed
at the arena until 1 hour and
45 minutes before the game
unless they’re getting treat-
ment for injuries and all
meetings must be virtual.
Commissioner Gary Bett-
man said the league is mind-
ful there might be “more ag-
gressive transmission of the
virus and will continue to
make adjustments” to pro-
tocols.
“Every day things change,
and you just go with the
flow,” 66-year-old Dallas
coach Rick Bowness said. “If
there’s no glass behind the
bench, there’s no fans back
there, so it’s not going to af-
fect anything. It shouldn’t at
all.”
The 31 teams were also
told to space out locker
rooms more to provide 6 feet
of space between people.
The league announced an
updated protocol Thursday
and said it was also consid-
ering portable air filters that
would be installed by the
benches.
The league is not yet con-
sidering adding a daily rapid
test to go along with PCR
testing, like the NBA did.
PCR tests are considered to
be more accurate, but there’s
a 12- to 24-hour turnaround
on results.
The moves were made as
the NHL sees some concern-
ing trends, including 40 play-
ers on the COVID-19 un-
available list.
In the first three weeks of
the season, almost 100 play-
ers have appeared on the list,
which can include a positive
test result unconfirmed or
confirmed, symptomatic iso-
lation, high-risk close con-
tact or quarantine for travel
purposes.
Bettman said fewer than
half the players in proto-
col have been because of a
confirmed positive test and
many of those were asymp-
tomatic.
“The way I’m looking at it
is it’s hard to avoid anywhere,
so we’re doing the best we
can,” said Carolina coach
Rod Brind’Amour, whose
team has had four games
postponed because of an out-
break. “It’s still hard to avoid.
Do we feel safe? I think the
good news from our stand-
point is the guys that have
come in contact with it,
they’ve all recovered and re-
ally had no symptoms.”
Vegas, New Jersey, Buffalo
and Minnesota are currently
paused with at least one
player on the list.
See NHL / B4
BY JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
EUGENE — Two of the pri-
mary actors behind the assem-
bly of Oregon’s best recruiting
class in program history and its
third straight atop the Pac-12
weren’t even with the program
a year ago.
Cornerbacks coach Rod
Chance and wide receivers
coach Bryan McClendon were
hired last Feb. 15 and April 17,
respectively, each helped recruit
three players to UO’s 23-mem-
ber 2021 class ranked No. 6
nationally. Each landed a pair
of players ranked in the top 10
at their position groups, which
were Oregon’s biggest areas of
need in this recruiting cycle.
“We had targeted (McClen-
don) for a long, long time,”
Oregon coach Mario Cristobal
said. “His impact was signif-
icant. He immediately con-
nected with guys that we had
identified as top targets. He
identified some other ones as
well and went to work with
him together with the rest of
the offensive and the entire
staff. He hit a home run.”
McClendon was the primary
recruiter of Dont’e Thorn-
ton and helped bring in Troy
Franklin and Isaiah Brevard
as well. All range between
6-foot-2 and 6-foot-6, giv-
ing the Ducks a much needed
boost in size as well as skill at
wideout.
“(Thornton)’s another one of
those size-speed combination
guys that gives you the oppor-
tunity to separate versus big
and small guys and make these
tough traffic catches that you’re
going to be asked to make
in all these critical situations
in games,” McClendon said
during UO’s in-house signing
day broadcast. “He has initial
quickness, has the ability to
separate and also gives you the
ability to make plays once he
has the ball in his hands.”
McClendon and offensive
coordinator Joe Moorhead
both emphasized Franklin’s
ability to create separation be-
fore and after the catch.
“There’s a lot of guys that
catch the ball and they’re good
for where the ball is caught,
they get tackled and they fall to
the ground,” Moorhead said.
“But this is a guy that the ex-
citing thing happens after the
catch.”
Moorhead, also hired last
year, and McClendon worked
together to bring in Brevard
out of Memphis given their
past experience recruiting him
while they were each in the
SEC. Brevard won’t enroll un-
til the summer, but he signed
with UO despite never having
visited because of the relation-
ships with the two offensive
coaches.
Chance, who finished sixth
in the Pac-12 in the 247Sports
recruiter rankings, was instru-
mental in the Ducks adding
four-star cornerback Avante
Dickerson out of Omaha, Neb.,
on Wednesday as well as Jay-
lin Davies and Darren Barkins.
Dickerson was previously com-
mitted to Minnesota, where
Chance worked prior to re-
turning to UO last winter.
“We had to get at least
three guys that could flat out
cover, play man, off man, also
were instinctive and physical
enough to play the run, guys
that can understand concepts,”
Cristobal said. “And we had
a do a lot of this via Zoom.
That’s difficult, but Rod also
did a great job acquiring the
right type of student-athlete
and great talent, what we feel
is elite talent to help us elevate
the standard of both those po-
sitions. Really happy with both
those results.”
Oregon is replenishing its
secondary, which lost starters
Brady Breeze, Nick Pickett, Je-
von Holland, Thomas Graham
Jr. and Deommodore Lenoir
all over the last year. Chance
believes Dickerson, Davies and
Barkins will aid in that mission
at corner.
“Corner will be his home
position for us,” Chance said
of Davies, one of 13 signees al-
ready enrolled at UO. “We’re
excited about him, he has
physicality to his game, he can
make tackles.”
Chance said Barkins is an
under-the-radar player with
extreme top-end speed.
“For us to have an athlete
like that and still have room to
grow his game … comes from
a military family, very humble
young man,” Chance said. “I’m
excited to grow his game.”