Hockey

NHL announces $18.9M concussion settlement — The National Hockey League announced a tentative $18.9 million settlement Monday with more than 300 retired players who sued the league and accused it of failing to protect them from head injuries or warning them of the risks involved with playing. The lawsuit, consolidated in federal court in Minnesota, was by far the largest facing the league. The NHL, as it has for years, did not acknowledge any liability for the players’ claims in the proposed settlement and can terminate the deal if all 318 players or their estates do not elect to participate. The settlement is significantly less than the billion-dollar agreement reached between the NFL and its former players on the same issue of head injuries. Each player who opts in would receive $22,000 and could be eligible for up to $75,000 in medical treatment.

MOTOR SPORTS

Pearson, NASCAR’s ‘Silver Fox,’ dies at 83 — David Pearson, a NASCAR pioneer and longtime rival of Richard Petty, has died. He was 83. Pearson died Monday, The Wood Brothers racing team said, but details were not immediately available. Pearson was a three-time Cup champion and his 105 career victories trail only Petty’s 200 on NASCAR’s all-time list. Pearson made his NASCAR debut in 1960 and joined Petty, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough racing all over the country as the cornerstone during NASCAR’s period of slow growth beyond a regional racing series. Pearson was inducted into the second class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Initially nicknamed “The Fox” for his calculated attack on the race track, the moniker evolved into “The Silver Fox” as Pearson aged. His career paralleled Petty’s and the two combined for 63 finishes in which they finished 1-2.

— From wire reports