Seahawks’ Allen to give $100M to Ebola fight

Seahawks owner Paul Allen is lending a hand in the fight against Ebola. (Getty Images)

Seattle Seahawks owner and billionaire Paul Allen will donate $100 million to fight Ebola, the New York Times reports. The virus has killed more than 5,000 in West Africa. In the United States, nine people have contracted Ebola and one has died.

"Everybody feels called sometimes to really pursue a certain thing that resonates with them, and this has resonated with me,” Allen, who previously committed $26 million to fighting Ebola, told the Times

Allen felt compelled to act when, in July, he had a "nagging sense" that the Ebola outbreak could snowball into something much bigger.

"We're up against an extremely tough opponent here," Allen said. "The exponential nature of the growth of this disease is really a challenge -- we've already seen in the U.S. where one case quickly became two.'

More details via the Times:

Part of Mr. Allen's money will go to the University of Massachusetts Medical School to underwrite training, medical workers and lab equipment in Liberia, where the public health system struggles for funding and many district hospitals are closed. The goal is to reopen these medical facilities so they not only can care for victims but also provide routine health care that has been all but abandoned during the crisis. ...

Mr. Allen's money will go toward the development of two evacuation and containment units in partnership with the United States State Department. Additional money will help the World Health Organization better coordinate the logistics involved in getting health care workers to where they are needed. More of his money will help create a fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation designed to cover the gap between what insurance would cover should a medical professional need evacuation and the actual cost.

"This is really more about trying to attack every element of this problem," Allen said. "This disease expands at an exponential rate, so there is a need for exponentially more health care workers."

Last week, the NFL sent sent an informational letter to team doctors and trainers about the virus, which can only be transmitted by "direct contact with body fluids of a person who has symptoms of Ebola disease."

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Rookie QB Zach Mettenberger to start for Titans; Jake Locker's future with team in doubt



The Tennessee Titans are moving to their third quarterback of the season in Week 8. Rookie Zach Mettenberger will be under center for Tennessee when the Titans face off with the Houston Texans Sunday. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt made the announcement Thursday. "We're going with Zach," Whisenhunt emphasized, "and we're going to stay with Zach."This likely spells the end for QB Jake Locker in Tennessee. The Titans have not picked up the option to re-sign him for 2015. He is set to become a free agent in March. Locker, the Titans' first-round pick (eighth overall) in the 2011 draft, has been a huge disappointment, as he's been unable to stay healthy enough to remain the team's starter. In his four games this season, Locker has completed 58 percent of his passes for 764 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions.Mettenberger, the Titans' 2014 sixth-round draft pick out of LSU, will be making his first career start. He threw for 3,082 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions his senior year for the Tigers.



When you get to your third-string QB by week 8, and that guy is a rookie you drafted in the sixth round, that isn't good. Such is the life of the Titans this week. Mettenberger is unproven and has never seen a defense like the ones he'll see from now until the end of the season. Obviously, he's not a QB you're going to start. The players that take the biggest his are WRs Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter. They have a good matchup in Week 8 against a Texans secondary that allows the third-most fantasy points per game to receivers. With Mettenberger at QB, knock them down a notch. Wright probably drops to a low-end WR2 option this week. Hunter is a flier at flex, at best.