Kyler Murray wins Heisman Trophy

Oklahoma two-sport star Kyler Murray won college football’s most prestigious individual award. On Saturday in New York, Murray was named the country's top player, honored with the Heisman Trophy. After throwing for more than 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns this season, he beat out fellow quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama and Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State. Murray is the seventh player to win the Heisman in Oklahoma history, tying the Sooners with Notre Dame and Ohio State for the most winners by a school. This is the second straight year Oklahoma has had a Heisman winner, with Murray following in the footsteps of Baker Mayfield. It also marks the first time since 1945-46 that different players from the same school won the award in back-to-back years (not counting Reggie Bush's vacated Heisman for USC in 2005, which followed his teammate Matt Leinart). Although Murray has another season of eligibility remaining and is also considered a potential first-round pick in the NFL draft, he has said he is prepared to give up football to focus on baseball (Murray was drafted ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in this year's MLB draft, agreeing to a $4.66 million signing bonus). Murray's Heisman came with 517 first-place votes (the bulk of the votes for the Heisman come from sports journalists as well as some from previous Heisman winners. Not all went smoothly however, because not long after winning, Murray apologized for using homophobic language in a series of tweets dating from 2011 and 2012.

In Other News Nick Ayers, the leading candidate to replace John Kelly as President Donald Trump's chief of staff, announced Sunday he will not be taking the job, reviving discussions about who will succeed the retired Marine general when he leaves at the end of the month. Ayers, who has served as Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff for more than a year, turned down the position because he could not agree to terms with the President. Apparently, Trump pushed Ayers to commit to two years, but he declined. He has young children, he told the President, and wants to move back to his home state of Georgia. He offered to become chief of staff temporarily, but Trump was firm on a two-year commitment, and talks fell apart. Instead, Ayers will leave his position as Pence's chief of staff at the end of the year to run the super PAC set up to assist the President's re-election campaign. A political action committee (PAC) is an organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates. The streets of Paris were filled with thousands of protesters again on Saturday, in what has become French President Emmanuel Macron's biggest challenge as demonstrations grow more intense. It's the fourth rally by the gilets jaunes, or "yellow vests," protesters wearing the fluorescent jackets required by French law to be in every vehicle. The unrest started in November, spurred by anger over Macron's controversial hike in gas taxes, which were meant to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels and to mitigate the effects of climate change in accordance with the Paris climate agreement. Over three weeks, the demands of protesters have expanded to include a raise in the minimum wage and a decrease in the retirement age. The rallies have also attracted anarchists, nationalists and extremists on the far right and left, resulting in deaths, injuries, vandalism and looting.