INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen announced Wednesday that linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither will have the “green dot” radio helmet Sunday night in Kansas City.
Teams designate one offensive player and one defensive player to have radio contact with the play-callers, and those wearing the green dots then relay the play calls to their teammates.
The move comes in the wake of Sunday's 41-23 season-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens. On Monday, Steichen told reporters the defense needed to improve both its communication and tackling.
Most NFL teams give linebackers the responsibility of wearing the radio helmet on defense, but the Colts opted to use safety Cam Bynum because of their young linebacking group.
Davis-Gaither signed with Indy as a free agent in March after spending his first five seasons in Cincinnati, all with second-year Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Davis-Gaither played last season with Arizona and had eight tackles against the Ravens on Sunday.
“We worked through that yesterday and we're going to have Akeem do that," Steichen said in making the announcement. “I think it's going to be better for everyone to communicate. It'll free up Cam on the back end as well to communicate with those guys. We've got a lot of respect for Cam. Cam knows the defense really well, but I think it's just going to be better from a communications standpoint for everybody.”
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Indianapolis Colts' Akeem Davis-Gaither stops Baltimore Ravens' Derrick Henry during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Baltimore Ravens' Derrick Henry gets past Indianapolis Colts' Akeem Davis-Gaither for a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fencing went up Wednesday around the main Kennedy Center building, a day after the Trump-aligned board voted to close most of the performing arts center for repairs.
That vote came after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning President Donald Trump’s name to the building.
The Republican president had said in a social media post that the closure was needed for safety repairs. But he said the repairs, which Congress has allocated $257 million to cover, would only happen if the board was permitted to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
Activists who have opposed the closure said there has been no vehicle or pedestrian access to the building. An Associated Press reporter who approached the main building was told by a security guard that it was closed.
Laura Bligh, who has attended protests with the advocacy group “Hands Off the Arts,” said she feared some or all of the building may be torn down before a legal case is concluded.
"The worst case scenario is a wrecking ball,” she said, adding that the Trump administration can’t be trusted because “look what they did to the East Wing.”
The administration demolished the East Wing of the White House and is replacing it with a massive ballroom. Trump also plans to build a triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and is eyeing a golf course renovation along the Potomac River.
The Kennedy Center board voted in August to inscribe his name on the Kennedy Center’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”
The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also be renamed in Trump’s honor.
All of those proposals were shot down Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who ruled that nothing could happen “without Congress's blessing.”
Spokespeople for the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Maria Shriver, John F. Kennedy's niece and former first lady of California, called the standoff over the name “a sad state of affairs” and a “tragedy.”
She said in a post on X that it appears Trump “will not rest until his name is permanently connected to the name of a great president, whose memory this building was dedicated to.”
“Imagine spending your days focused on this, while a war rages under your leadership,” she added.
Fencing is placed outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)
Barriers are placed outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)
Fencing is placed outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)
Fencing is placed outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)
Barriers are placed outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)
