RENTON, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman declined to take questions at his weekly news conference Wednesday as a form of protest to recent police shootings.Instead, he shared his thoughts on athletes and social change.Im not going to answer any questions today, and its no offense to you guys, but I think the state of things in the world today is very interesting, Sherman said.I think you have players that are trying to take a stand and trying to be aware of social issues and try to make a stand and increase peoples awareness and put a spotlight on it, and theyre being ignored. Whether theyre taking a knee or whether theyre locking arms, theyre trying to bring people together and unite them for a cause. I think the last couple days, a couple more guys have gotten shot and killed in the middle of the street. More videos have come out of guys getting killed, and I think people are still missing the point. The reason these guys are kneeling, the reason were locking arms is to bring people together, to make people aware that this is not right. Its not right for people to get killed in the street.Shermans protest comes one day after police fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, and five days after 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was fatally shot by an officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma.I do a lot of community service. I go out there and try to help kids and try to encourage them to be better and to aspire to more. And when you tell a kid, When youre dealing with police, just put your hands up and comply with everything, and theres still a chance of them getting shot and no repercussions for anyone, thats an unfortunate time to be living. Thats an unfortunate place to be in. Theres not a lot you can tell a kid. Theres not a lot you can try to inspire, say to inspire a person. When you say, Hey, we need black fathers to be in the community to stay there for your kids, but theyre getting killed in the street for nothing, for putting their hands on their cars. And I think thats the unfortunate part. Thats the unfortunate place that were living in. And something needs to be done.Last month, Sherman said he felt San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernicks protest came from a good place, though added that you cant ever stand against the flag.?Shermans teammate, Jeremy Lane, knelt during the national anthem before the Seahawks final preseason game, but the Seahawks have since stood together, arms locked as a demonstration of unity.When a guy takes a knee, you can ignore it, Sherman said. You can say hes not being patriotic, hes not honoring the flag. Im doing none of those things. Im saying it straight up. This is wrong, and we need to do something. 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From filmmaker Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), The Price of Gold revisits the saga that rocked the figure skating world ahead of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games: the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and the plot that led its way back to her rival Tonya Harding. It has been 40 years since Oregon fired a head coach. That was also the last time the Ducks went outside the program to fill the spot.Now Oregon is again looking beyond its current staff following the dismissal of coach Mark Helfrich.Athletic director Rob Mullens told players that he would be hitting the road on Wednesday and moving quickly to make a hire. Oregon has hired an executive search firm to aid in the process.Were going to look far and wide. Were going to have a broad, diverse pool of candidates, Mullens said. We want somebody who embraces the student experience, who understands the high expectations at the University of Oregon, who understands our community, you know, really, really wants to be here.Helfrich spent four years as head coach of Oregon, promoted to the job after serving under previous coach Chip Kelly. Kelly was previously the offensive coordinator under head coach Mike Bellotti, who was the offensive coordinator under coach Rich Brooks.Brooks, who coached the Ducks from 1977-94, was hired when the Ducks dismissed Don Read in 1976.Among the possible candidates being mentioned for the Oregon job are Western Michigans P.J. Fleck and Boise States Bryan Harsin, as well as Floridas Jim McElwain and Penn States James Franklin.Kelly, currently head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, said Wednesday he had not spoken to anyone at Oregon except for Helfrich. He was asked if there was a chance hed be coach of the Ducks and he shook his head and said simply No.I just felt bad for Mark. I love him like a brother, Kelly told reporters in Orlando, Florida, where the Niners (1-10) were practicing while in the midst of a two-game road trip. Hes a tremendous person. Hes a hell of a football coach but hes an even better person.Helfrich was fired Tuesday evening following a meeting with Mullens, three days after the Ducks ended the season with the 34-24 loss to the rival Oregon State Beavers in the annual Civil War game.Oregon finished 4-8 overall and won just two games in conference play to finish in the basement of the Pac-12 North. It was a dramatic fall for a team that two seasons earlier had gone to the College Football Playoff title game.Oregon had not finished with a losing season since 2004, which was the last time the team missed out on a bowl game.Everybody wants to try and pinpoint to one thing that changes, but clearly over the last couplee of years, particularly this year, we werent as competitive as we needed to be in a number of games.dddddddddddd. Thats not the only thing. Then you start to look at the totality of the program and, again, there was a shift in culture. Culture has been the winning edge here and we need to get that edge back, Mullens said at a news conference late Tuesday.Helfrich, who went 37-16 in his four years as head coach, had an $11.6 million buyout on his contract with the Ducks. He signed a five-year deal worth at least $17.5 million with the Ducks in February 2015.Once known for their innovative spread offense under Kelly, the Ducks started showing vulnerability last season when they went 9-4 and got embarrassed in the Alamo Bowl by blowing a 31-0 lead at the half before falling in triple overtime to TCU, 47-41.Oregon struggled for the past two seasons to find a replacement for Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2014 before turning pro. Last year, the Ducks brought in graduate transfer Vernon Adams, whose season was marred by a finger injury. This season, Oregon turned to another graduate transfer, Dakota Prukop out of Montana State, who was unseated by freshman Justin Herbert at midseason.The Ducks also had trouble on defense. Last seasons defensive coordinator, Don Pellum, was demoted and Oregon hired former Michigan coach Brady Hoke.But players had a hard time adapting to Hokes new 4-3 defensive scheme and the Ducks finished the season ranked 126th out of 128 FBS-level teams for total defense, allowing opponents an average of 528.4 yards per game. Oregon allowed an average of 41.4 points per game, ranked 125th nationally.The Ducks lost to Nebraska in the third week of the season, touching off a five-game slide that was the teams longest since 1996. Along the way was Washingtons 70-21 rout of Oregon at Autzen Stadium, which ended the Huskies 12-game losing streak in the series.On Wednesday, a few players spoke to reporters about Helfrich and the uncertainty about the future.Its difficult. Hes the guy that recruited me, came to my house, said he had my back, freshman linebacker Troy Dye said. It hurts a little bit. But its a business.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '
