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PHOENIX (AP) — For all the off-field shenanigans Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , verbal discord and injuries, Odell Beckham Jr. still is a special player. Giants owner John Mara recognizes that in the wake of the team trading the standout wide receiver to Cleveland earlier this month.“They made an offer that Dave (Gettleman, the Giants’ general manager) and Pat (Shurmur, the coach) found compelling, and we ultimately approved it,” Mara said Sunday at the NFL owners meetings. “It was a reluctant approval because I like Odell.”Mara, whose grandsons cried when told of the trade, acknowledged it’s “not going to be easy” to see what Beckham does for the Browns. He didn’t specify if he might bawl as well.“The toughest phone call I had to make was to my grandsons to tell them we traded their favorite player,” Mara said. “They sobbed uncontrollably.”But Beckham is gone in exchange for a first- and third-round draft selection and safety Jabrill Peppers, who should be a starter with Landon Collins leaving for Washington in free agency.New York wound up 5-11 and last in the NFC East, including going 2-6 at home. Beckham missed four games; the year before, he missed 12 with a severe ankle injury that could have threatened his career.“There were always extra issues Austin Seibert Jersey ,” Mara said, referring in part to a one-game suspension in 2015 for an on-field feud with then-Carolina cornerback Josh Norman. “But I thought they were manageable ones, particularly given the talent.”One thing Mara doesn’t find so manageable is the criticism his team is taking for keeping Eli Manning as the starting quarterback. The Giants pick sixth in next month’s draft and have two first-rounders, so selecting a QB is highly possible. But the two-time Super Bowl MVP, at 38, is considered the No.1 guy.“Do I feel a certain amount of sentimentality toward Eli? Of course I do,” Mara said. “But would I ever let that get in the way of making a football decision? Absolutely not.“We’d never tell a coach or a general manager we have to keep this guy because we love him or because he’s done so much for the franchise. You make a football decision based on whether you think he can play or not. I do believe we can win with him if we continue to surround him with the right people.” Without a lacrosse field of their own, youth teams in the Lower Sioux Indian Community in southwestern Minnesota have been traveling more than two hours to play in tournaments in South Dakota.

But the kids will soon be able to play closer to home, thanks to a $100,000 award from the Super Bowl host committee’s grant program. The tribe is using the funds to build its own lacrosse field, resurface a gymnasium floor and update equipment in a community kitchen to teach tribal members healthy cooking habits.

”We’re very hopeful this is going to have a significant impact on us,” said Brian Pendleton Trysten Hill Jersey , president of the Lower Sioux Indian Community’s tribal council. ”All communities are striving to become healthier and have some better fitness opportunities.”

Throughout the past year, the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee Legacy Fund has awarded $5.5 million to projects that are dedicated to improving the health of children in underserved communities. The funding includes $1 million from the NFL; the host committee raised the rest through philanthropic donations.

The projects include an outdoor ice rink and skate park in the city of Roseau, on the northernmost edge of the state; programs to create sustainable, healthy food choices for residents on Minnesota’s Indian reservations; a wellness hub that will offer health services and classes to people in Minneapolis’ predominantly Somali neighborhood; and playgrounds for kids on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, where some children’s only option for outside play is currently along busy highways.

Dana Nelson, vice president of community and legacy partnerships for the host committee, said the committee gave out one grant a week – a total of 52 grants – in the year leading up to Super Bowl 52. The committee also decided to invest in programs around the state, not just in the Twin Cities, and worked with the Minnesota Department of Health to identify areas where health disparities were the worst.

Nearly 80 percent of the grants will impact children living at or below the state poverty line; 70 percent are serving kids of color, the host committee said.

”These are capital grants. They are going to new projects,” Nelson said. ”Five, seven Connor McGovern Jersey , 10 years from now, kids will be enjoying all of this … probably without any idea it was connected to the Super Bowl, and that’s fine. We want them to be moving, eating produce and being healthier because of these grants.”

The final grant was awarded Thursday to Anwatin Middle School in Minneapolis. The school will use the $220,000 grant to upgrade its athletic field for flag football, soccer, cross country and other activities, and will also restore an Indigenous garden where students can produce nutritious foods and learn about native planting and harvesting.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell participated in a groundbreaking for the field. He said the Legacy Grant Program leaves a lasting impact in communities that host the Super Bowl – long after the game is over. School principal Ellen Shulam said ”this grant will ensure that Anwatin is a school where students can learn and grow safely, for many generations.”

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