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El trofeo de la Liga estará en el Clásico
Ex-Broncos starting fullback finds new NFL home
Michael Burton has found a new NFL home.
The Cleveland Browns signed Burton on Tuesday, the team announced. The 34-year-old fullback has now joined his seventh club ahead of a 12th season in the NFL.
Burton was with the Denver Broncos from 2023-2025, spending all of last season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. After Burton went down during training camp last summer, the Broncos signed Adam Prentice, and he handled fullback duties in 2025. Prentice was re-signed on a one-year deal last month.
Burton visited Cleveland in March, and he won't count against the NFL's compensatory draft pick formula because he was signed after the Monday following the NFL draft. So signing him won't cancel out any of the Browns' potential 2027 comp picks, and Denver won't gain another 2027 comp pick following Burton's departure.
The Broncos have one remaining unrestricted free agent in center Sam Mustipher, who stepped up late in the 2025 season and in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Additionally, there are six former practice squad players who became street free agents when their contracts expired last month, and they also remain unsigned.
Broncos' unsigned free agents
- QB Ben DiNucci (SFA)
- TE Marcedes Lewis (SFA)
- TE Patrick Murtagh (SFA)
- WR Kyrese Rowan (SFA)
- C Sam Mustipher (UFA)
- OL Geron Christian (SFA)
- DB Delarrin Turner-Yell (SFA)
After drafting seven players and reaching agreements with 14 undrafted free agents, Denver will have to make three roster cuts before rookie minicamp next month to stay under the 90-man offseason roster limit.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL news: Browns sign ex-Broncos fullback Michael Burton
Pitchers Gugala, McAuliffe show why Northville, Salem are KLAA's best
Salem 4-0, Northville 3-0.
For everyone without a rooting interest, that split is exactly how we expected the Kensington Lakes Activities Association-West softball doubleheader to play out April 27.
Both teams entered ranked in the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association’s most recent top-10 poll. Both were undefeated in the division. Both left tied for first place in the league standings.
And the best part? They’ll meet again in the Division 1 district semifinal on May 30 and might see each other in the KLAA playoffs, too. If the standings don’t change, Salem would be the No. 1 seed, holding a one-run tiebreaker over Northville, while the Mustangs would be No. 2. If both win their Round 1 games, we’d get a rematch of the 2025 KLAA championship game, when the Mustangs edged Salem to win back-to-back league titles for the first time in program history.
Yeah, we’re still a month from the postseason, but third-ranked Northville (15-2, 7-1) and No. 8 Salem (13-3, 7-1) are already giving fans that win-or-go-home excitement.
“This is what you coach for,” Mustangs coach Scott DeBoer said. “These are the types of games you want to be in. This is how the kids can develop — by playing under these types of pressures. Everybody — the players, fans and umpires — like playing in these kinds of games.”
In Game 1, Salem mustered enough offense to get past Wayne State commit Mary Gugala, who struck out 12 and allowed just five hits.
In the bottom of the third, Erin Torok drove in the winning run. Then Mikayla Roberts, another WSU commit who tossed the game-winning touchdown pass against Northville in a flag football game the day before, hit a bloop single to score another run.
Two innings later, Joslyn Dawley smacked a solo home run, while Murray State signee Shannon McAuliffe backed up another stellar outing in the circle by driving in a run.
McAuliffe went toe-to-toe with Gugala, striking out 11 while allowing only two hits and one walk.
“We knew this was a really important game, and we knew how we performed today was really going to tell the tale of how the season was going to finish up,” longtime Rocks coach Bonnie Southerland said. “The good news is that we won by four runs in the first, so that puts us a little bit ahead for the tiebreaker. But we have several other Wednesday doubleheaders that we have to get through, play hard and win before we can get to the conference tournament.”
One decision likely decided Game 2, with Southerland electing to start sophomore Theresa DiStefano to give McAuliffe some rest.
DiStefano started strong, pitching two solid innings and striking out two before the Mustangs finally timed her up the second time through the lineup.
In the third, Ohio State commit Kennedi Adams smacked a line drive past second base that scored Avay Yaldou from third for Northville's winning run.
One at-bat later, Kendall Heron doubled to the fence in left field to bring Adams home and force Southerland to move McAuliffe from first base back to the pitcher’s circle.
Without much of a warmup, McAuliffe gave up a run to Abby Parrinello on a sacrifice fly that saw pinch runner Ella Ross beat the throw home for the final run of the game.
McAuliffe struck out seven, walked three and hit three batters.
“We just throught Theresa could handle it a little bit and give Shannon a little bit of a break because Shannon can’t pitch everything,” Southerland said. “I would’ve started her, and she was ready. Maybe making a little bit of an earlier substitution (would’ve been better) after she gotten throughout the lineup once might have made a bit of a difference. But we were pleased with the performance as far as Shannon goes and Theresa goes.”
Truly, DiStefano performed well and complemented McAuliffe. It took Northville playing small ball to push one run across the plate.
No, the 3-0 loss speaks more to Gugala’s effort in the circle than Salem’s pitching. The Rocks’ defense kept them in the game. Gugala just didn’t give them much to work with.
She struck out seven Rocks while allowing only three hits and one walk.
“Obviously, Shannon and Mary are both, in my mind, all-state pitchers,” DeBoer said. “There’s no doubt about it. They both can control a game. I’m proud of my kids because after you have someone dominate like Shannon did in the first game, and our kids didn’t say that they were done. They came back tough and showed that they can be better the second time though.”
And the third meeting should be even closer.
“It could be,” Southerland said. “It’s two really competitive teams, two great pitchers. Mary’s obviously a great pitcher, and Shannon is phenomenal, too. It’s always a good battle and a good, tough competition. What I told our kids is that you’ve just got to keep plugging away and winning the rest of these (KLAA) doubleheaders because the (division) is now yours to lose.”
Right now, rivals Livonia Churchill, Franklin and Stevenson are battling for the top two seeds in the KLAA-East, which will be sorted out when the three square off during the annual City championship in May at Madonna University.
So, likely only two wins over Livonia teams stand in the way of Northville and Salem meeting once more in the KLAA championship before districts.
Considering McAuliffe recently recorded her 1,000th career strikeout and Gugala reached No. 600 last week, no one is going to complain about a couple more rematches.
Expect both teams to be ready to meet two more times.
“Our motto is fear none, challenge all and embrace hard,” DeBoer said. “You have to embrace hard when you play against Salem. You’re not going to get a lot of chances with either of these teams, and that’s the beauty. It’s just good, solid softball.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Salem, Northville splt KLAA softball doubleheader, 4-0 and 3-0
Patriots using Super Bowl loss as motivation heading into new season
The New England Patriots walked off the field in Santa Clara less than three months ago after coming out on the wrong side of Super Bowl 60.
As players cleaned out their lockers and went their separate ways for the offseason, the disappointment traveled with them.
“I watched a little. It still stings, to be honest with you,” Hunter Henry said. “Obviously, we haven’t played to the capability that we wanted to play at on the biggest stage, and that was very disappointing and hard to process for a while. It’s definitely taken a while — it still stings — but I think that’s good. It’s good that it stings. It makes you want to work a little harder. To get all the way to the end and then not achieve it was hard.”
The Patriots authored a surprising turnaround last season to reach the Super Bowl. After posting back-to-back four win seasons, the team won 13 regular-season games in Mike Vrabel’s first year as head coach.
But after winning three straight playoff games to reach the Super Bowl, they were unable to finish the job, falling 29-13 to the Seattle Seahawks.
“Disappointing. It stings, it hurts. It feels like that wasn’t supposed to be a part of our journey. But obviously it is,” Robert Spillane said. “All you could do from that is learn from it, grow as a person, as a player, and that’s our focus.”
After a shorter offseason than usual, the Patriots returned to the facility last week for the start of the voluntary offseason program.
As they begin the process of coming together again as a team, they are looking to build off both the positives and the lessons from last season in hopes of finishing differently this time.
“There were a lot of positives when you step back and look at the full picture,” Henry said. “Making it all the way there is a blessing, and it’s really, really hard to do. Getting there was big, but we didn’t make it all the way. We didn’t do enough, so you’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror. What can you do more? How can you be better? How can I be a better teammate? How can I be a better player?
“So at the end, we can hold that trophy and be the ones walking off the field.”
BYU, Weber State cheer crowned national champions in Daytona
Utah powerhouse cheer programs brought home some hardware from Anaheim and Daytona Beach as Brigham Young University, Weber State and Utah Valley University competed at the USA (United Spirit Association) and NCA (National Cheerleaders Association) competitions.
Back-to-back national champions
The BYU cheer team knocked off Army West Point with a score of 96.39 to secure back-to-back national championships in Game Day Division 1A.
BYU head coach Jocelyn Allan says she takes pride in showcasing the amazing game day experience BYU offers at competitions.
“I get to travel all over the country to these different schools, and now in the Big 12, we see a lot of big game day atmosphere, and I can honestly say that I think BYU does it better than absolutely anybody,” she told Mitch Harper on "Cougar Tracks." “We just wanted to make sure that we stayed true to that and that we were able to show how big of a deal it’s become at BYU.”
The championship routine featured flips, drum lines and BYU mascot Cosmo the Cougar but did not fully capture the BYU game day experience, according to Allan. We would need fireworks, fire dancers and drones in the sky, Allan joked, but notwithstanding, “we did a really good job of showing just how incredible and how much it’s evolved, how far our game day experience has come at BYU.”
Since joining the Big 12 almost three years ago, Allan felt the need to go bigger and better, to step up, just as the other sports programs at BYU like football and basketball have done.
“What else can we do that’s bigger, that’s better, that shows that we are where we belong?”
The mindset has clearly elevated BYU cheer as they have captured their second straight Game Day National Championship at Daytona.
Weber State continues its dominance
Weber State was in very familiar territory in the Daytona competitions as the large coed team took the crown in Division I, making it the team’s ninth straight year of winning a national championship.
With a national championship for the small coed team as well, Weber State claimed its third straight year where the program has won a grand national championship in both advanced divisions, large coed and small coed.
In a post on X, Weber State Athletics wrote, “GREAT! GREAT! GREAT! For the third straight year, Weber State Cheer has won two Grand National Championships in Large and Small Coed! Nine straight National Championships for Large Coed! An incredible dynasty.”
GREAT! GREAT! GREAT!
— Weber State Athletics (@weberstate) April 12, 2026
For the third straight year, Weber State Cheer has won two Grand National Championships in Large and Small Coed! 🏆🏆
9️⃣ straight National Championships for Large Coed!
An incredible dynasty! #WeberStateGreat // #WeAreWeberpic.twitter.com/SyojvdPtjG
Competing for such a prestigious program was not always in the plans for some of the team members. Cayli Niederhauser, who says Weber State is in her “backyard” from where she grew up, never imagined she would get the opportunity and cherishes the relationships she has with others on the team.
“The feeling of even walking off that mat, before we even knew if we won or not, we had already won. As a team, it was the most amazing feeling, we all have each other’s backs at every single moment,” she told Fox13.
It was Zach Adams’ first year competing, who called it an “out of body experience” when he got to hoist the trophy.
“I never thought I’d be able to compete and do it, but we finally got there and did it,” he said to Fox13.
13 Wildcats accomplished even more as they represented Team USA at the International Cheer Union World Cheerleading Championships. The roster made up of roughly a third of Wildcats took gold at the competition in Orlando on April 24.
UVU posts two zero-deduction routines
Posting two zero-deduction routines in the USA Four-Year College All-Girl Show Cheer Advanced division in Anaheim, UVU captured its second consecutive championship on Feb. 22, a month and a half before the squad took second and third place in Florida.
12 rookies making their competitive debut could not deter the team from posting two perfect routines.
“UVU is incredibly proud of these student-athletes,” said program director Trista Tempest. “They are not only outstanding cheerleaders but also remarkable individuals of character and integrity.
Full results (NCA):
BYU
- First place, Game Day Division 1A: 96.39
- Third place, Advanced Small Coed Division 1A: 89.63
Weber State
- First place, Advanced Large Coed Division I: 97.00
- First Place, Advanced Small Coed Division I: 96.01
UVU
- Second place, Game Day Division I: 93.88
- Third place, Advanced All Girl Division I: 94.06
Salt Lake Community College
- Fourth place, Advanced Large Coed Junior College: 80.30
