Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, tissue in hand, dabbed tears from his eyes Friday night. He was overcome with emotion minutes after his son, former LSU tight end Mason Taylor, was drafted in the second round by the New York Jets, the team he played for in 2010.

"The sun has set on my career and I'm done, so it's awesome to be able to sit back and watch him," Taylor said on a Zoom call with New York reporters. "To watch him walk through the same facility and use the locker room and take that same path that I took -- you're trying to make me cry. I'm not going to do it."

He did anyway. He paused a few seconds, choked up. Then something amazing happened.

Lightening the mood, Taylor said, "I have to say it: J-E-T-S! Jets, Jets, Jets!"

To appreciate that, one must understand the complicated relationship between Taylor and the Jets. As a longtime Miami Dolphins legend, he was reviled by Jets fans. Few, if any, opponents enraged Jets fans more than Taylor.

And then he signed with the Jets in 2010, a season that ended with a loss in the AFC championship game, their last playoff appearance. He enjoyed his season in New York, where the fans came to appreciate him.

And now the hate-turned-love relationship between the Taylor family and the Jets is all love again.

"My family's really supporting, my dad's a big supporter, so, I mean, I hate to say it, but I think he'll love the Jets," Mason, smiling, said on a Zoom call.

Mason was selected with the 42nd pick, giving the Jets another potential starter on offense. In the first round, they chose tackle Armand Membou with the No. 7 pick.

Mason, LSU's all-time leader in receptions (129) and receiving yards (1,308) by a tight end, said he was surprised the Jets selected him, considering there wasn't much contact with the team throughout the predraft process. Jason Taylor admitted there was fleeting hope that the Dolphins would pick his son with the 37th pick after trading up.

Mason was 6 when his dad played for the Jets. They lived in Manhattan, and Mason has vivid memories of their time in the big city.

"It was just me, my brother and my sister, running around with my mom in Central Park, tackling each other," he said. "We went to the park maybe every single day to keep us entertained as kids. But running around there and running around New York, it was fun. It was a blast. It's definitely crazy and eye-opening, knowing that I'll be there now older. It's just an amazing experience and I'm so excited for this."

Jason said his sons, Mason and Isaiah, pulled up photos on their phones of them wearing green hair and No. 99 jerseys (their dad's number) at MetLife Stadium when they were kids.

"I've got a lot of really, really fond memories," Jason said. "Listen, my greatest team success was in New York. ... A part of my heart has always been in New York, the greatest city on the planet. I love it and I'm glad he has a chance to go play there now. It's going to be amazing."

Reminded that the Jets haven't been to the playoffs since he left, Jason was taken aback.

"I didn't know that. Is that right?" he said. "Let's change that."

There will be a lot of emotion during Jets-Dolphins games. After all, Mason's uncle is Zach Thomas, a former Dolphins legend and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Thomas attended Mason's draft party Friday night in South Florida. He, too, was emotional, according to Jason.

"I'm sure he's inside crying somewhere," Jason said. "Obviously, we're all so proud."

The New Orleans Saints have fielded questions about their quarterback of the future since Kellen Moore was hired in February.

They might have answered that question Friday night.

The Saints selected Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough with the 40th pick of the NFL draft, opting for him over Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, who was still available when the Saints made their second-round selection.

The Saints passed on Sanders twice in as many nights after selecting Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. with the ninth pick Thursday.

Shough was the third quarterback selected in the draft after Cam Ward (No. 1) and Jaxson Dart (No. 25), while Sanders remained available after being widely projected as a potential first-round pick.

The Saints had never selected a quarterback in the second round and hadn't drafted a quarterback in the first two rounds since 1971, when they took Archie Manning at No. 2.

"That's pretty cool. I didn't know that. That's awesome, man. It's such a great franchise and unbelievable opportunity," said Shough, who still exchanges texts with Manning after two stints at the Manning Passing Academy.

The Saints have mainly opted for free agent quarterbacks under Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, signing Drew Brees in 2006 and Derek Carr in 2023.

Carr's future has been one of the biggest points of speculation this offseason after Moore appeared noncommittal when asked if the team had a quarterback decision to make during his opening news conference in February. Moore backed Carr in subsequent interviews this spring, but things got murkier when news of Carr's shoulder injury became public three days before the start of the offseason program in April.

The Saints are likely tied to Carr's contract after guaranteeing him $40 million when they restructured his deal. However, Carr was open to exploring his other options prior to the restructuring and has not attended the offseason training program to date.

Moore and Loomis remained mum regarding Carr's status in the days leading up to the draft.

Shough, who turns 26 in September, is one of the oldest quarterbacks selected in the first two rounds in the common draft era. He is a year older than second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler and is entering the NFL after seven seasons of college football.

"In a perfect scenario, I play 10, 12 years and I'm still mid-30s, and I think any team would ask for that," Shough said. "Coming into this situation, I've already seen what can happen in the NFL.

"I've already gone through those challenges in college, so I feel much more prepared now to come in and just play free and have fun and do everything I can to make the team better. ... I think when you're a younger guy at 21, 22, you ... don't know what you don't know, and there's some growing pains, and the support system around me with my wife and my family, I just feel a lot more equipped to come in and handle it."

Shough began his college career at Oregon in 2018 behind Justin Herbert and played with current Saints tight end Juwan Johnson, who was a wide receiver at Oregon in 2019. Shough started seven games in the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020.

Shough transferred to Texas Tech and started nine games there over the next three seasons, missing time because of collarbone breaks in 2021 and 2022 and a broken left fibula in 2023.

Shough's final season was at Louisville in 2024, when he started 12 games and completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 3,915 yards and 23 touchdowns. He ran for one touchdown and threw six interceptions. He was named the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year by College Sports Communicators.

Shough played in the Senior Bowl, where the Saints have gotten many recent draft picks, including Rattler, who was drafted in 2024, and Jake Haener, who was drafted in 2023. The Saints had several assistants coach at the Senior Bowl this year, and they also brought Shough in for a visit and attended his pro day.

"I think the greatest part about this process is I've gotten a whole new perspective and humility with it," Shough said. "My whole thing was, 'Man, it's probably not going to work out,' but I'm going to give it everything I can and if it does great and if it doesn't, I'm going to be fine and I'm going to make the most of it. ... I've always been confident in myself and I just needed an opportunity at Louisville and that's my whole goal going in the NFL is just to have fun with it. You got to be prepared, you got to go make every moment count."

PITTSBURGH -- Tiffany Saine, the mother of Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Derrick Harmon, died Thursday night shortly after her son was selected No. 21 in the NFL draft.

Saine, who suffered a stroke in 2022 that left her paralyzed on her left side, was on life support in the hospital while Harmon learned of his NFL future surrounded by the rest of his family in his hometown of Detroit.

"On behalf of the entire Pittsburgh Steelers organization, I extend our deepest condolences to Derrick Harmon and his family during this difficult time," Steelers president Art Rooney II said Friday in a statement.

"Though we are excited to select Derrick in the first round of the NFL Draft, our hearts are heavy as we mourn the death of his mother, Tiffany Saine. We will support Derrick and his family however we can as he navigates this period of grief. In times like this, we hope Derrick finds comfort in the love and support from the organization and Steelers fans around the world.

"Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with Derrick's entire family."

Harmon told reporters he was leaving his draft party to see his mother in the hospital Thursday night.

"It was a little bittersweet, man," Harmon said Thursday of the moment he got the Steelers' call. "My mom wasn't with me, she's at the hospital right now on life support, so that was a little bittersweet, because she worked just as hard as me to get to this moment."

Ahead of the Rose Bowl in December, Harmon shared that he used some of his NIL money to buy his mom a wheelchair-accessible van. Harmon, a Detroit native, spent the first three years of his career at Michigan State to be close to his mom before making the difficult decision to transfer to Oregon for his senior season.

Harmon said Thursday night he learned resilience from his mom as he watched her endure multiple brain surgeries before the stroke.

"After all those brain surgeries, man, she did not give up," Harmon said. "She still took me to practice, still went to work, and I always, always, in the back of my head from the beginning of my college career was, why can't I keep going?

"If I'm tired, I'm injured, whatever it is, why can't I keep going if she can get up and she keep going after brain surgery."

All-Stars Darius Garland and Tyler Herro have entered into a battle on the court and now a war of words off it during the first-round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.

After the Cavs' 121-112 Game 2 victory on Wednesday, Garland was brutally honest about his team's offensive game plan to get out to a 2-0 lead.

"Pick on Tyler Herro," said Garland, who is averaging 24.0 points on 52% shooting in the two games. "Take care of the ball, don't play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders. Go at them."

Herro, who scored 33 points in the Game 2 loss, responded on Friday.

"To go to the media to talk about the game plan and this and that says a lot about him. I'm not worried about Darius Garland," Herro said. "Somebody that doesn't play defense shouldn't be talking, either. He don't play any defense and we'll see that [in Game 3 on Saturday]. He don't play no D."

The assessment made by Garland, who is questionable for Saturday's game with a sprained left big toe, was blunt but perhaps unnecessary. The Cavs' strategy has been blatantly obvious as they have relentlessly attacked Herro in pick-and-rolls and isolations.

According to GeniusIQ, Herro has defended 50 on-ball screens as the screener defender in the two games. In Game 2, Herro defended 32 on-ball screens as the screener defender, the second guard to defend more than 30 on-ball screens as the screener defender in a playoff game since player tracking began in 2013-14, joining Stephen Curry, who has done it multiple times..

The Cavs are doing it so often because it's working. They are 18-of-31 shooting (58%) with Herro as the primary defender according to ESPN Research tracking. The Cavs were the No. 1 offensive team in the NBA this season, averaging 121 points per 100 possessions. So far against the Heat, the Cavs are averaging 133 points per 100 possessions.

The series has largely centered on guard play with Donovan Mitchell scoring 30 points in both Games 1 and 2 and Davion Mitchell leading a Heat comeback attempt in Game 2 with 14 fourth-quarter points.

But Herro also downplayed that Garland's comments would affect him.

"I have enough fuel in me, in this locker room, around the organization, in the building," Herro said. "I don't need any fuel from that guy over there."

Heat captain Bam Adebayo, however, said Garland's comments made an impact in the Heat's locker room.

"Obviously, he said what he said. We all take that personally," Adebayo said. "Not only just Tyler, we all take that personally."

ST. LOUIS -- Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell left Friday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning with left oblique tightness.

Mitchell grounded out to Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn in the top of the fourth and did not take the field in the bottom half of the inning.

Isaac Collins replaced Mitchell in the lineup, playing left field with right fielder Sal Frelick moving to center field and left fielder Jackson Chourio moving to right.

Mitchell is hitting .209 in 69 at-bats over 25 games this season for Milwaukee, which had lost three of its past four games entering Friday.

NEW YORK -- Max Scherzer threw 27 pitches off the mound Friday and Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider said it was a step in the right direction as the right-hander recovers from a troublesome thumb.

Scherzer threw off the mound a week after getting a second cortisone shot in the thumb and then throwing off flat ground earlier this week in Houston.

"It wasn't max effort by any means, but he threw all of his pitches," Schneider said before the Blue Jays opened a three-game series against the Yankees. "He spun a few breaking balls in there and I think just a good step in the right direction."

Scherzer was placed on the 15-day injured list because of thumb inflammation on March 30 and had a cortisone injection the following day.

The 40-year-old Scherzer exited his debut start with the Blue Jays against Baltimore on March 29 after three innings because of soreness in his right lat muscle. The three-time Cy Young award winner allowed a homer to Colton Cowser on his second pitch of the game and another homer to Jordan Westburg in the first inning of his debut.

Scherzer said afterward his thumb issue was to blame for that soreness.

Earlier in March, Scherzer had a spring training start pushed back because of thumb pain.

Scherzer signed a $15.5 million, one-year contract with the Blue Jays in February. He went 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA in nine starts for Texas last season, starting the year on the injured list while recovering from lower back surgery. He also had a stint on the IL with shoulder fatigue and didn't pitch after Sept. 14 because of a left hamstring strain.

LOS ANGELES -- An MRI exam on the left shoulder of Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell revealed no structural damage, manager Dave Roberts said Friday.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner hasn't pitched for his new team since April 2 due to left shoulder inflammation, and the Dodgers stopped Snell's throwing program earlier this week after he felt discomfort. The results of Thursday's MRI were a cause for optimism, Roberts said.

"At some point I think he'll get an injection to calm it down, and then we'll figure out when we pick up the throwing program," Roberts said. "But I think for us, we feel given the findings of the MRI that we dodged a bullet."

The Dodgers still don't know how long the 32-year-old Snell will be sidelined, Roberts added. They signed the veteran starter to a seven-year contract worth $182 million last November to take a major role in their frequently injury-plagued rotation, only for Snell to go down with an injury two starts into the season.

Roberts also said Shohei Ohtani will throw his next bullpen session Saturday as the three-time MVP ramps up to his Dodgers pitching debut later this season.

LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball issued a one-game suspension to Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham for what it described as "inappropriate actions towards fans" in a game at Angel Stadium earlier this week.

The suspension was to be served during Friday's road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Pham has appealed. His suspension will be on hold while the appeal process plays out.

Pham, 37, was caught on camera giving a lewd hand gesture toward fans in the left-field seats during Wednesday's fifth inning. Moments earlier, a fan in that vicinity reached over the wall and placed his glove on Pham as he attempted to make a play on a ball hit down the line. That fan was then moved to a different section of Angel Stadium.

The NHL fined the Ottawa Senators $25,000 and forward Nick Cousins $2,083.33 for an incident of "unsportsmanlike conduct" in warmups ahead of Game 3 of the team's first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Cousins' fine is the maximum allowed to a player under the NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement.

With warmups underway, Cousins was spotted flipping a puck across the center ice line at Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz as he went through his pregame routine.

The two players have history as teammates with Philadelphia Flyers from 2016-17 and last season with the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers. Senators coach Travis Green emphasized that familiarity when asked about the NHL's investigation Friday, while otherwise keeping his answer lighthearted.

"It's an active investigation. I don't know if I should be commenting," said Green, drawing laughter from the gathered media. "I have people that have advised me maybe not to comment on it.

"I'm kidding. I saw the video. Stolarz and Cousins have played together. [Cousins] is probably trying to laugh at him or make a joke or get him off his game. It is what it is."

Green went on to confirm he had spoken to Cousins about the puck flip.

"[He just said] I know him," Green said of Cousins' reasoning. "Game within the game. Happens probably a lot more than you think."

Toronto took a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 3-2 overtime victory. Ottawa will try to stave off elimination in Game 4 on Saturday.