SI:AM | Brittney Griner Is Coming Home

Plus, the four quarterbacks vying for the Heisman Trophy.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Brittney Griner is finally coming home.

In today’s SI:AM:

🏀 Griner’s release

🏈 Meet the Heisman finalists

⚾ What the Judge signing means for the Yankees and Giants

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Biden: “Brittney is in good spirits”

Nearly 10 months after she was first detained in Russia, Brittney Griner is coming home.

President Joe Biden announced this morning that Griner has been released from a Russian prison and is on a plane home. Her release comes as part of a prisoner swap in which the United States agreed to release Viktor Bout, an arms dealer who had served 11 years of a 25-year sentence after he was convicted of selling weapons to Colombian rebels.

Griner, who has played in Russia during the WNBA offseason for UMMC Ekaterinburg, was detained in February as she attempted to fly home from Moscow. Russia’s Federal Customs Service said it found two vaporizer cartridges containing hashish oil in her bag. Following a highly publicized trial, she was sentenced in August to nine years in prison.

She began serving her sentence at a detention center in Ishka, on the outskirts of Moscow, but was transferred last month to a penal colony. The IK-2 penal colony is notorious for its brutal conditions, according to the Los Angeles Times. Inmates there work 10- to 12-hour days sewing uniforms for military and prison employees. They are housed in large dormitories with dozens upon dozens of beds and face food shortages, especially during the winter.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle, was at the White House this morning as President Biden spoke with Griner by phone.

“So over the last nine months, you all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life, and so today I’m just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion that I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration,” Cherelle told reporters later.

“Today my family is whole, but as you are all aware, there are so many other families that are not whole,” she added, referring to Paul Whelan, who remains imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges. Cherelle said that she and Griner hope to help free other wrongfully imprisoned Americans.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated (TCU); Carlos M. Saavedra/Sports Illustrated (Georgia); Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated (Ohio State); John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated (USC)

In today’s Daily Cover, Pat Forde looks at the four quarterbacks vying for the Heisman Trophy this weekend in New York:

So when you tune in and see four young men, extremely confident on the field and assuredly nervous in that moment, appreciate what it took for them to get there. Talent plus sacrifice plus determination plus belief plus familial and community support form a common set of characteristics for a quartet of unique and diverse players.

• Conor Orr believes that the Rams’ Baker Mayfield gamble could pay off.
• Tom Verducci writes the pressure is on the Yankees to win a World Series now that they have stepped up to pay Aaron Judge.
• Meanwhile, for the Giants, losing out on Judge means they have to go to their backup plan, Stephanie Apstein writes.
• Albert Breer thinks the Packers could turn to Jordan Love if they lose another game.
• Justin Barrasso spoke with Jamie Hayter, who went from sleeping on a friend’s couch during the worst of the pandemic to becoming AEW’s women’s champion.

Bengals Super Bowl ticket prices are up 32% following the team’s impressive win over Patrick Mahomes and company.

The top five...

… things I saw last night.

5. Joey Chestnut’s eating 47 pierogies at halftime of the Cavs game.

4. The Celtics’ shellacking of the Suns in a matchup of the top team in each conference.

3. Mitchell Robinson’s succinct comeback to a hater on Twitter.

2. The Jazz’s comeback from down four with 10 seconds to play.

1. Tage Thompson’s four goals in the first period. (He added another later to become the second player in Sabres history with five goals in a game.)

SIQ

The Bears beat Washington 73–0 in the NFL championship game on this day in 1940. It remains the most lopsided game in NFL history, but it came just three weeks after Washington beat Chicago 7–3. What did Washington owner George Preston Marshall famously call the Bears after that game?

• Crybabies and quitters
• Losers and wimps
• Sad sacks and charity cases
• Scallywags and fools

Yesterday’s SIQ: On Dec. 7, 1937, the Red Sox acquired Ted Williams from which minor league club?

• Minneapolis Millers
• St. Paul Saints
• Sacramento Solons
• San Diego Padres

Answer: San Diego Padres. Williams, a San Diego native, joined the Padres in 1936 for their inaugural season in San Diego when he was still in high school. That same year, Red Sox general manager Eddie Collins took a trip to take a look at two players Boston had an option to sign—George Myatt and future Hall of Fame second baseman Bobby Doerr. While there, Collins became intrigued by the 17-year-old Williams, who was fresh off his final season as a star pitcher at Herbert Hoover High School. Collins reached an agreement with Padres owner Bill Lane on an option to acquire Williams.

After Williams’s impressive season in 1937, Collins exercised that option. On Dec. 7, 1937, the Red Sox sent three players and cash to the Padres in exchange for Williams. The teenager first learned of the deal when he was contacted by a reporter.

“Go on, you’re kidding me,” Williams told The San Diego Evening Tribune. “'Boy, this is the happiest day of my life. If the Red Sox give me a chance, I’ll make good. I’m going to keep myself in fine shape this winter so I will be able to impress my new bosses in spring training.”

Williams did not impress his bosses at spring training. For one thing, a flood that disrupted train service made him arrive in Florida 10 days late, and when he got there, there were concerns about his attitude. The team thought he was a “brash and cocky young kid,” according to Williams’s SABR biography, and sent to the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association for additional seasoning. He turned out just fine, though.

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