Hot Button: Mayfield named Panthers starter, sets showdown with Browns ... Jackson wants fully guaranteed extension like Watson: Report ... Former Penn State punter quips about drug test

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Hot Button is a 'round-the-clock feature that covers anything across the scope of sports. We're here to bring you everything hot: News items, highlights, takes — everything but hot meals — whether local, national or international. Better yet, it’s interactive. Share your thoughts in comments, and even post your own links to interesting, safe-for-work sports stories.

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MAYFIELD WINS STARTING
JOB IN CAROLINA

Monday, August 22: The most anticipated revenge game of 2022 has been cemented as the Panthers have named Baker Mayfield their starting quarterback, who will face the Browns at home in Week 1, September 11 at 1 p.m.

Head coach Matt Rhule said the decision was based not three things, "No. 1, mastery of the offense; No. 2, situational football excellence; and No. 3, moving the ball and getting guys involved. ... Baker has made a lot of improvement, a lot of growth in all three areas in a short amount of time." Mayfield was acquired from the Browns in July.

Mayfield beat out incumbent starter Sam Darnold, who got off to a 3-0 start in his first season for the Panthers in 2021, but lost eight of the last nine games he started, missing five games to injury.

Mayfield began taking the bulk of first-string snaps after the first week of training camp and started the team's preseason opener, going 4 for 7 for 45 yards in two series. He did not see action in the second game. Darnold also did not play last weekend, going 2 for 3 for 16 yards and a touchdown in relief of Mayfield in the opener.

The depth chart is now set for Carolina, with veteran P.J. Walker likely to secure the No. 3 spot after rookie third-round pick Matt Corral is likely lost for the season with a Lisfranc foot injury.

My take: It's the game we all wanted to see and now we will. Not quite the same as Mayfield going up against Deshaun Watson for drama, but there's irony that he's starting Week 1 and Watson isn't. I'd still expect the Browns to be favorites in that game, though. Can Baker work his magic to exact revenge or will he prove right away the Browns were right to move on from him? — Bob

RAVENS, JACKSON CLOSER
BUT TERMS IN WAY OF DEAL

Monday August 22: The Ravens have 20 days to sign Lamar Jackson to a contract extension — the former MVP set the opening day of the season as a deadline — and according to FOX NFL Sunday's Jay Glazer, the organization has made an offer greater than Kyler Murray's $46.1 million per year average, which would make Jackson second to four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers in average salary. 

However, it is also being reported that Jackson wants a fully guaranteed deal, akin to what Deshaun Watson got from Cleveland. For comparison, Murray's five-year, $230.5-million deal contained a guaranteed $160 million (70 percent). 

My take: The NFL owners were livid with the Browns for giving a fully guaranteed deal to Watson because of the precedent it set. Now that deal is rearing its ugly head on the Ravens. Jackson has some hardware (the MVP) as leverage, but does he really want a full guarantee or is it just a ploy to increase what the Ravens want to guarantee in the deal? Either way, that Watson contract is already beginning to cause problems. — Bob

GILLIKEN QUIPS ON
TIMING OF DRUG TEST

Monday, August 22: Saints punter Blake Gillikin reminded everyone Sunday that kickers are football players too, tweeting his notification from the National Football League the place and time of his random drug test that day. Gillikin made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the timing of it all:

The former Nittany Lion is entering his second season. He averaged 47.7 yards per punt and a 42.0 net average in 2021, while earning Special Teams Player of the Month in October.

My take: Not sure what's happening, but an 80-plus-yard punt has happened three times already this preseason.  I'm not sure Bobby Walden ever accumulated 80 total yards punting in a single game. — Bob

LIGUE 1 RECORD TIED WITH 
MBAPPE'S RAPID TALLY

Sunday, August 21: Scoring in soccer is hard, in fact it's so difficult it's often ridiculed by those who don't appreciate the sport. Sunday, however, brought a goal right out of a video game as Paris Saint-Germain forward and French national Kylian Mbappe scored just eight seconds into the match against Lille, tying a Ligue 1 record:

It was a set play off the opening kick with Neymar passing to Marco Verratti who returned it to Neymar for a touch over to Lionel Messi, who passed deep to Mbappe who had rushed down the field at Neymar's first touch, finishing with a chip over the goalie.

Setting the tone early, PSG went on to win, 7-1.

My take: Great sequence. Clearly planned and it worked, which is rare in soccer because multiple-touch sequences require so much precision, and then a world-class finish by a great player. Fun. — Bob

GRINER GETTING RODMAN
AS IN-PERSON ADVOCATE

Sunday, August 21: Brittney Griner is getting a U.S. defense specialist to help secure her release from a Russian prison, just not an official one. Eight-time NBA All-Defensive team forward Dennis Rodman claims he has received permission from Russia to travel and lobby for Griner, who was recently convicted of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to nine years in prison.

Rodman, 61, told an NBC News affiliate in Washington, D.C. Saturday, “I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl. I'm trying to go next week," later adding, "I know Putin too well," in reference to Russian president Vladimir Putin, whom he met in 2014, later calling him "cool."

Rodman has dabbled in diplomacy before and has been roundly criticized for meeting with controversial leader Kim Jong Un of North Korea in 2013, becoming the first U.S. citizen to meet the enigmatic ruler. He has traveled to that country three times since and claims he helped secure the release of former detained American Kenneth Bae.

When asked for comment, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State simply repeated the government's advice and warned against all travel to Russia. The government's official classification on Griner's arrest, conviction and imprisonment is "unlawfully detained."

My take: Rodzilla in Russia. Rodman has a way with dictators, I guess. He certainly can't hurt Griner, who is going to do nine years without intervention of any kind. Her lawyers have filed for an appeal, but that likely won't do much beyond reducing her sentence a smidge, if any. — Bob

FORMER OPEN CHAMPION AND
NOTED ARCHITECT WEISKOPF DIES

Sunday, August 21: Tom Weiskopf, who won The Open Championship in 1973 and went on to become a noted golf course designer, died Sunday at his home in Big Sky, Montana. He was 79. Cause of death was complications due to pancreatic cancer, of which he was diagnosed in 2020.

Golf luminaries Tom Watson, Gary Player, Annika Sorenstam and Judy Rankin were quick to tweet tributes, condolences and remembrances as the word of his passing hit the news.

Weiskopf was one of the top golfers of the 1970s, but had the misfortune of playing against fellow Ohio State Buckeye alum Jack Nicklaus in his prime, along with likes of Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson, though he was widely considered their equal in talent. Weiskopf finished second in five major championships, including four Masters tournaments in seven years from 1969 to 1975. A 16-time winner on the PGA Tour, Weiskopf's Open Championship win at Royal Troon in 1973 was his breakthrough moment and was his only major championship victory, besting Johnny Miller and Neil Coles by three strokes. He also played on two winning Ryder Cup teams (1973 and 1975). He finished his PGA Tour career in 1992 and joined the Senior PGA Tour the following year, and beat Nicklaus at the U.S. Senior Open in 1995 for his only major win on that circuit.

Often volatile on the course, off it Weiskopf became a highly-regarded golf-course architect, including Loch Lomond in Scotland — a former venue for the Scottish Open and a one-time host of the Solheim Cup — Troon North in Scottsdale, Arizona, and two 18-hole additions to the famed Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Weiskopf also spent more than two decades in his post-playing career as a television golf analyst, primarily for The Masters and the Open Championship.

My take: One of the prettiest golf swings ever. Big and powerful, with a temper to match, he was always fun to watch because you never knew when he was going to go off, on the scorecard or on the course. A great personality in the game and widely respected for his golfing and design talents. Rest In Peace. — Bob

PUJOLS SLUGS
PAST MUSIAL

Saturday, August 20: Albert Pujols hit two home runs Saturday, the first sending him past Hall of Fame outfielder Stan Musial for second all-time on MLB's total bases list. 

After the second home run, Pujols now sits at 6,143 bases, trailing only Hank Aaron's 6,856. Willie Mays is the only other player to have 6,000 total bases, at 6,080.

Pujols, 42 is in his 22nd and last major-league season, signing for one year with St. Louis after indicating he would retire last season after splitting the season between the Angels and Dodgers. He's slashing .254/.333/.472 with 13 home runs and 37 RBIs, as he helps push his beloved Cardinals toward another postseason — St. Louis is atop the National League Central by 5.0 games.

My take: Once he left St, Louis for the Angels, Pujols left the collective consciousness of Pirates fans, but he still produced until his last two seasons on the Left Coast. He's now 10th in hits all-time, 13th in runs, fifth in doubles, and fifth in Home runs — four shy of Alex Rodriguez — and third in extra base hits and RBIs. One of the game's best hitters ever, but achieved it quietly. — Bob

SOURCES: WOODS, MCILROY 
PROPOSING LIV-STYLE TOUR

Saturday, August 20: Details of a meeting held by many of the PGA Tour's top-20 golfers Tuesday ahead of the BMW Championship this week have begun to trickle out, and one suggestion to be a lot like LIV Golf.

According to Sports Illustrated sources, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are going to propose to the PGA Tour a LIV-style slate — 18 tournaments, each with $20 million purses for the tour's top-60. This would be an exclusive  group of tournaments inside the PGA Tour schedule and golfers would be eligible to participate following the existing points system.

The group that met also will propose to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan a stipend for golfers playing in any PGA Tour event.

My take: Phil Mickelson's sole motivation in promoting LIV Golf was to get the PGA Tour to amend its practices and it seems to have worked, at least in the nascent stage of these proposals. Not sure how the PGA Tour would be able to pull this off without damaging all the other tournaments on the calendar, which would in essence be Korn Ferry-level tourneys, but it's apparently going to have to make some changes according to its elite players. — Bob

LA RUSSA ORDERS ANOTHER FREE 
PASS WITH TWO STRIKES

Friday, August 19: It's these types of decisions that make people hate analytics: White Sox manager Tony La Russa ordered an intentional walk Friday night against the Guardians with a one-and-two count on the hitter. 

This is the second time this season La Russa has ordered a free pass when his pitcher has worked a one-and-two count. The last time, done while trailing by three runs, backfired immediately when the next batter hit a three-run home run. After that game, he defended the decision by saying the analytics supported his decision.

Friday's result was better — no runs scored — but once again La Russa ordered the intentional walk down by three runs.

My take: I have difficulty with a mathematical model which shows a free pass is better when the hitter is behind in the count, one strike from an out without a ball being put in play ... and that it's better for the opponent to have more men on base while you're trailing. The guy's in the Hall of Fame, but he was a better manager then. Now he's just a slave to the numbers. — Bob

TRIPLE-A TEAM SCORES
17 RUNS IN ONE INNING

Friday, August 19: The name is a bit odd, but the result sure was sweet Friday night, when the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, the Astros' Triple-A affiliate — affectionately known by their former Independent League name the Skeeters — scored 17 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Oklahoma City Dodgers, en route to a 21-4 win in seven innings — the second game of a doubleheader. It's a franchise-best mark for Sugar Land.

The Skeeters collected 10 hits — including three doubles and three-run homer — nine walks and a hit batsman in the inning, sending 23 men to the plate. Four Dodgers pitchers were needed to get the three outs, throwing 108 total pitches in the half-inning, with two relievers not recording an out and responsible for 13 of the runs.

My take: Somehow the game managed to end in under three hours, but that's a crazy inning. 108 pitches? Talk about blowing up another team's bullpen. Imagine trying to score that one with a golf pencil. — Bob

GRIFFIN III AMONG CHORUS OF VOICES
UPSET WITH WATSON SETTLEMENT

Thursday, August 18: The Browns quarterbacks club isn't as tight as one might think. Robert Griffin III was very upset with the National Football League's settlement with Deshaun Watson, enough to savage the league in a tweet shortly after it was announced:

Griffin wasn't alone in his displeasure over what many thought should have been a minimum one-year suspension, not the negotiated 11 games. Many athletes and pundits bemoaned Watson's punishment in comparison to those players who've lost entire seasons to substance abuse violations and gambling, each non-violent offenses and things that are legal in most states.

My take: Good for Griffin. He could toe the party line but he's long been critical of the league's handling of this situation. As I've written previously, I don't like the comparisons to punishment for substance abuse and gambling because those penalties were codified in their respective CBAs. This was uncharted territory for the league and they should have waited for the appeal decision, then railed against it if it was anything less than it wanted. But here we are, with Watson coincidentally returning the week he plays his former team. What are the odds? Who wants to bet that game gets flexed to Sunday or Monday night?— Bob