Football

Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll dead at 82 — Chuck Noll, the Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Friday night at his home. He was 82. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner said Noll died of natural causes. The Steelers won four Super Bowls over six seasons from 1974-79, an unprecedented run that made Pittsburgh one of the NFL’s marquee franchises. Noll’s 16-8 record in postseason play remains one of the best in league history. He retired in 1991 with a 209-156-1 record in 23 seasons, after inheriting a team that had never won a postseason game in club history.

Texans’ Clowney has sports hernia surgery — Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft by the Houston Texans, is recovering from sports hernia surgery. Coach Bill O’Brien disclosed the procedure Friday and said Clowney had been struggling with a groin issue. O’Brien said the standout from South Carolina was sent to a specialist in Philadelphia. The surgery was performed Thursday. O’Brien expects Clowney to be ready for training camp in late July.

Chiefs release Flowers after voluntary workouts — The Kansas City Chiefs released cornerback Brandon Flowers on Friday, shortly after finishing up three weeks of voluntary workouts in which the former starter was conspicuously absent. Kansas City has been bumping up against the salary cap, so the move to part ways with Flowers was largely expected. He was due to make $5.25 million this season, and the former starter carried a salary cap number of $10.5 million next season.

Motor sports

Harvick takes pole in Michigan — Kevin Harvick posted the fastest qualifying speed in NASCAR’s top series since 1987, winning the pole at Michigan International Speedway on Friday at 204.557 mph. Harvick’s pole-winning speed was the fastest since Bill Elliott set the record of 212.809 mph at Talladega Superspeedway in April 1987, but drivers have routinely broken 200 mph at Michigan since the track was repaved before the 2012 season. Marcos Ambrose had a speed of 203.241 in 2012, the first time anyone won a pole at over 200 mph since Elliott did it before horsepower-sapping restrictor plates were introduced at Talladega and Daytona. Last August, Joey Logano pushed the track record to 203.949. Harvick was even faster in winning his third pole of the year and ninth of his career.Points leader Jeff Gordon was second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third.

Olympics

Four U.S. cities in running for 2024 Games — Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington are the cities still in the running for a possible U.S. bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. A process that began 16 months ago when the USOC sent letters to leaders in 35 cities is now at four finalists after Dallas and San Diego were scratched from the list. Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics. The other three cities would be first-time hosts. The International Olympic Committee will award the Games in 2017. The last two U.S. candidates both suffered humiliating fourth-place finishes: New York for the 2012 Olympics and Chicago for the 2016 Games that went to Rio de Janeiro.

— From wire reports