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• Jamaican Olympic gold medalist Roje Stona leaning towards potential NFL career shift: "I'm curious to see what I can do on the field..."

  Roje Stona, Jamaica’s Olympic discus champion who created history in Paris this summer with a record-breaking throw of 70m, is contemplating a surprising career shift to the NFL. The 25-year-old, who became the first Jamaican to win Olympic gold in the shot put, is exploring the possibility of trying his hand in American football, a sport he has little experience in but significant curiosity about.

  Prior to the Paris Olympic Games, the former Ruseas and St Jago High School student and Clemson University and University of Arkansas alumnus took part in NFL rookie training camps with the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints. Though unfamiliar with the game—he donned a football helmet for the first time during these sessions—Stona is intrigued by the opportunity to translate his athletic prowess to the football field. "If there’s like a 99 percent chance that I’ll make a team, then, obviously, I’ll go for it,” Stona shared in an interview with CNN Sport, acknowledging the risk to his athletics career, "but if it’s like one or two, though, I got to be realistic."

  Having initially been inspired by Usain Bolt's Olympic gold at Beijing 2008, Stona gravitated toward athletics after a youth spent exploring various sports, including soccer, his first love. It wasn’t until high school that he found his true calling in track and field, particularly the discus throw. "I yanked it, it just dropped right out of 20 meters," he recalled of his first experience with the discipline.

  Stona’s path to Olympic glory was further shaped by his collegiate career in the United States. At Clemson and later at the University of Arkansas, he was mentored by Ryan Crouser, a three-time Olympic shot put champion. Crouser’s guidance during Stona’s final year of collegiate eligibility instilled in him the confidence to push his limits, ultimately leading to his standout performance in Paris.

  While his NFL aspirations remain in the exploratory stage, Stona is taking a calculated approach. With the NFL season already underway, he plans to prioritize rest and recovery after a demanding athletics season but admits his interest is piqued. "Everywhere I go, people don’t ask, ‘Hey, you’re a discus thrower?’ No, people don’t ask that!" Stona joked. “Especially in the States, they ask, ‘Do you play football?’”

  Stona’s next steps will involve discussions with agents and coaches to assess the feasibility of an NFL career. "As soon as I get advice from agents and coaches, that will put me in a better position to make a very important decision or just be more decisive if it’s worth it or not,” he said. “If that part leads me there, then I’m going to give it my all because it’s kind of now or never. I’m curious as to what I can do on the field, and if I end up playing in the NFL, that would be a part of my legacy – I’d love to do that.”

• 'Everybody eats' for Bills as Allen dismisses stats after historic game

  Josh Allen had a historic performance as the Buffalo Bills crushed the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday, but he said stats were not important to a team where "everybody eats".

  The Bills rolled to a 3-0 start by routing the winless Jaguars 47-10 in New York, with Allen maintaining his best start to an NFL season with a brilliant display.

  Allen became the first quarterback in NFL history to complete 75% of his passes (23-of-30), throw four touchdown passes, have no turnovers or sacks and lead his team in rushing yards (44) in the same game.

  It is the first time he has not thrown a pick through three games of a season, while he also has the highest total QBR (92.6), completion rate (75%) and yards per dropback (8.2) through three games in his NFL career.

  However, Allen says he and his team-mates are not focused on individual stats, with the collective being the most important thing.

  "I think it's paying dividends from what we've worked on throughout the entire offseason and through training camp, the 'everybody eats' mentality," Allen said. 

  "It could be your play this play, you never know when it's going to happen, and that's the beauty of it, when guys get to buy into this.

  "It's a fun and wonderful thing when you've got a bunch of guys that don't care about the stats, they don't care about the touchdowns.

  "I think throughout practice we just had this mindset of, 'let's just do things the right way and find ways to win football games'. That's what we're doing right now."

  The Jaguars, meanwhile, are 0-3 for the season and have lost eight of their last nine games in a run dating back to last year, having made a flying 8-3 start to the 2023 campaign.

  Their offense has toiled since the first half of their 20-17 defeat to the Miami Dolphins in Week 1, scoring just 23 points and converting five of 27 third-down attempts in their last 10 quarters.

  Quarterback Trevor Lawrence – who signed a huge $275million contract extension during the offseason – has completed just 47.5% of his passes in that time, being sacked 10 times.

  The Bills defense got to him four times on Monday as he suffered his eighth straight loss as a starter, leading coach Doug Pederson to give a non-committal answer when asked whether Lawrence's place in the lineup could be at risk.

  "You say everything is on the table, we've got to take a look at injuries," Pederson said. 

  "Tonight, we had some guys injured. Things could be moved that way, it could be performance. They're all things we have to evaluate as we move forward.

  "This is who we are right now and it's not very good. We have to be honest with ourselves and I've got to be honest with myself and just keep plugging away."

• Jamaica's Sports Minister congratulates Sheldon Clarke on history-making NFL advance

  The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has said that Sheldon Clarke former student of Munro College, deserves hearty congratulations and best wishes for his history making advance to the National Football League's International Player Pathway (NFL-IPP) Combine in the United Kingdom.

  The NFL International Player Pathway programme offers the opportunity for athletes to bridge the gap between their current skills and the demands of professional American football.

  The Combine is scheduled for October 10-12, 2024.

  If successful at the Combine, Clarke who is 21, could earn a place in a training programme designed to prepare international athletes for the rigours of the NFL.

  Minister Grange said, “This selection is not just a personal triumph for Sheldon, but an inspiration for every young athlete in Jamaica who aspires to play American football."

  At the Combine, he will undergo rigorous physical tests, skill evaluations, and interviews with NFL personnel.