John Urschel truly has a good head on his shoulders. 
Baltimore Ravens guard John Urschel began pursuing a Ph.D in applied mathematics last year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But yesterday, we learned that he truly has a good head on his shoulders. 

Following the release of a damning study in which all but one of the 111 brains of former National Football League players showed signs of the frightening degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the 26-year-old announced he was retiring from the sport.

Urschel isn’t the first to retire from the NFL because of well-founded fears of long-term, irreversible brain injury. Former Stanford and Buffalo Bills linebacker A.J. Tarpley retired at 23-year-old last year after several concussions. Promising San Francisco 49er linebacker Chris Borland retired in 2015 after just one season rather than risk permanent damage to his brain. Also this week, Patriots wide receiver Andrew Hawkings announced he was retiring, saying he would be donating his brain for CTE research.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that the results of the recent study weren’t great for those who only played football in high school and college, either. 

If things weren’t bad enough, Flacco suffers back injury.

While lifting weights at home in New Jersey, Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco injured his back. During day one of training camp, the injury flared up. Following an orthopedic surgeon’s examination, Flacco will sit out from practice for one week. In the meantime, coach John Harbaugh teased the idea of signing free agent Colin Kaepernick, but the team instead signed Arena Football League David Olson. 

Chase Kalisz is picking up where Phelps left off. 
Bel Air’s Chase Kalisz captured the 200-meter individual world title this week in Budapest, an event previously owned by Michael Phelps, who won the 200-meter individual medley at the last FOUR Olympic Games.

“When I had the opportunity to step into the 200m IM, it was an honor,” Kalisz told NBCSN.  

The entire Maryland women’s basketball team will represent the U.S. next month at the World University Games.
For the just the second time, an entire women’s college hoops team will rep the U.S. at the biennial World University Games, which are being held in Taipei this year. The Terps, who lost their two stars, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Brionna Jones to graduation and the WNBA (Walker-Kimbrough was selected in the draft by the Washington Mystics), started practice in June to prepare. It’ll be interesting to see how this new-look Terps squad does in Taipei—the medal round begins August 25—and, of course, if all the preseason work helps them get off to a strong start once their regular season begins. 

The Terp women, lest anyone forget, have won or tied for the Big Ten Conference championship each of the last three years.

Baltimore gymnast makes a name for himself.
Donnell Whittenburg, the Baltimore native and U.S. national team athlete we wrote about last year as tried to make the Olympic team, recently added a new move to his repertoire—and the sport. The powerful Whittenburg nailed a triple pike dismount from the still rings, which you can check below, for the first time in the sport’s history at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Koper, Slovenia. Afterward, the move was promptly nicknamed “The Whittenburg.”

The likeable gymnast’s larger goal is the 2020 Olympic Games—which means he still has time to perfect “The Whittenburg,” too.

Lone Orioles All-Star Jonathan Schoop is bright spot for team.
This has been a rough first half of the Orioles season, to say the least. As we head into the All-Star break, the Orioles have a record of 40-45, a starting pitcher ERA of 8.66 in the month of July, and are averaging 3.25 runs per game this month—the worst run differential in the American League.

But we here at Baltimore magazine are optimists so, through our rose-colored glasses, we see that Jonathan Schoop was selected to play in his first All-Star Game on July 11 at Marlins Park in Miami. The second baseman, who leads the Orioles with 51 RBIs and 16 home runs, was selected by the MLB to be an AL reserve and becomes the fourth player from Curacao to become an  All-Star.

“I’m excited, happy,” Schoop told The Sun. “My head is spinning everywhere right now. I’ll just go in there and try to enjoy it . . . All I know since I was a kid was playing baseball. It was tough times for me to go through all this and now I’m an All-Star.”

Of course, his baseball BFF Manny Machado couldn’t contain his excitement either, and said he’s already offered to host Schoop and his family while they’re in Miami for the game. 

“To finally see what he’s turning into as a player, it’s unbelievable to watch,” Machado said. “His game has gone to another level and finally other players and teams and coaches are seeing it . . . words can’t describe how happy I am for him.”

Cue the chorus of awes. 

Plus, Britton is back!
Is it just us or does it seem like a lot of our problems can be traced back to May 5 when closer Zach Britton was put on the 60-day disabled list with a strained left forearm. Up until then, the closer had recorded a save in all five chances with a 1.00 ERA.

Though Buck Showalter says he’s easing him back into the ninth inning, things are looking promising as Britton pitched a scoreless seventh on Wednesday against the Brewers. And, clearly, fans are excited, too.

Swimmer Chase Kalisz dominates in 400-meter IM at Nationals.
Cheering on a local swimmer comes naturally to us, which is why we were so excited to see Bel Air native Chase Kalisz dominate in the 400-meter individual medley at the National Championships this past week. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist—who trained with the North Baltimore Aquatic Club—clocked in a winning time of 4:06.99—the fastest in the world this year.

All of this is fuel for Kalisz’s next big goal—the Olympics Games Tokyo in 2020.

“I’m really happy with that progress,” Kalisz told TeamUSA.org. “I tell people all the time that the best thing that happened to me for this four-year period was me getting silver. It motivates me every single day.”

Dunbar alum Jamel Artis shines in Knicks Summer League.
Though he was undrafted in the two-round selection process, Dunbar alum Jamel Artis is hoping to change is his story in the New York Knicks Summer League team in Orlando. In the team’s first three summer games, he has averaged nine points in under 18 minutes a game. Though he’s a swingman, Artis is playing mostly at forward and made five of 12 3-pointers.

“I’m in a good position right now with the Knicks,” told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’m in a great position, actually. I can only be thankful and grateful for the position I’m in now. I’ve just got to go out there and play hard.”

“The young bucks brought tears to our eyes,” Phelps told the Today Show. “I was trying to hold back as much as I could. Nathan started shedding tears, then Ryan was shedding tears. Being a part of the 400-free relay has been a dream of mine. I’ve been on the good side and bad side of it. I was happy we could win that relay as a team.”

Phelps admitted that having his 3-month-old son, Boomer, in the audience while he won his 19th gold medal, made the experience “a lot more emotional.”

“I tried to look for him up there and, when I finally found him, he was asleep,” he said with a laugh. “Hopefully we was awake during the race but, if not, I can play it for him when he’s a bit older. It’s just an inspiration to have him here.”

Kalisz and Phelps, of course, have their training at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club in Mt. Washington to thank. Kalisz has trained at the NBAC since 2000—and, more recently, in Scottsdale, Arizona—with mentor Phelps and coach Bob Bowman. In a 2013 interview, he talked about how rewarding that experience has been.

“Training at NBAC with the greatest swimmer of all time has been probably the best environment for me,” said Kalisz, pictured, clearly enjoying himself in Rio.

“I’ve always dreamed about racing and swimming with him. I never thought that would happen to me.”

Phelps’s work in Rio isn’t done yet. On Tuesday night, he’ll swim the men’s 200-meter fly, on Thursday he’ll swim the 200-meter IM he finishes up on Friday night with his signature 100-meter butterfly.