Washington — More than 50 former football players and coaches, including several Pro Football Hall of Famers and Super Bowl MVP’s, announced their endorsement Friday of Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The group represents 25 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU’s) and consists of 10 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, two Super Bowl champions and MVPs, former No. 1 overall picks and some of the first Black athletes and coaches to break the color barrier. 

“Given [Vice President Harris’] integrity, values and demonstrated commitment to justice and equality of opportunity, we are confident that as President she will serve the best interests of all Americans,” the athletes and coaches said in a letter exclusively obtained by CBS News. 

The letter is signed by Art Shell, the NFL’s first Black coach, Leslie Frasier, former Minnesota Vikings coach, James “Shack” Harris, the NFL’s first Black full-time starting quarterback, Greg Coleman, the NFL’s first Black punter, and former Super Bowl MVP and Chicago Bears Hall of Famer Richard Dent, who previously played for Tennessee State University.  

They join a list of athletes supporting the Harris-Walz Democratic ticket, including NBA all-star Steph Curry and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. 

The announcement is being rolled out on National Black Voter Day, an initiative aimed at getting Black Americans registered to vote by November. The initiative is led by Black Entertainment Television, a division of Paramount, which partnered with 40 civic organizations including the NAACP and National Urban League.  

It also follows Harris’ appearance this week before the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia, where she was asked about her standing among Black men. A recent poll conducted by the NAACP found roughly a quarter of young African American men under 50 support former President Donald Trump, while about half back Harris.  

“I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket,” Harris said during the NABJ interview. “I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black.” 

Harris is an alumna of Howard University and would become the first HBCU graduate to serve as President if she is elected. The Harris campaign has touted her HBCU ties, citing the Biden-Harris administration’s record investments in historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions. 

“As a proud graduate of Howard University, I know firsthand that our HBCUs are centers of academic excellence,” Harris said in a White House statement in May. “For generations, these anchors of our communities have played a pivotal role in building and contributing to America’s leadership at home and abroad.”

The Howard grad hasn’t been shy about showcasing her sports enthusiasm, especially for her alma mater. In December, Harris attended the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, featuring Howard and Florida A&M University. She also cheered on her fellow Howard Bisons in Des Moines when they made the first round of the NCAA tournament last year.

Nikole Killion

Nikole Killion is a CBS News congressional correspondent based in Washington D.C. As a correspondent, Killion played a key role in the Network’s 2020 political and election coverage, reporting from around the country during the final stretch of the campaign and throughout the Biden transition.

Jan. 7, 1994, started out like any other typical winter morning for Rebecca “Becky” Savarese of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. There was snow on the ground, and it was bitterly cold as the 12-year-old walked to school. Then, at around 7:10 a.m., at one of the busiest intersections in town, a man came up beside her. “He had a mustache, but he didn’t shave. He seemed like a nerd to me,” said Savarese. The stranger quickly pulled out a gun and held it up against her.

Becky said the gunman threatened her: “Just do everything I say, everything will be perfectly OK.” Then he steered her toward his truck and told her to get in. But Becky refused. “I didn’t care if he shot me. I just knew I was not going to get into that truck,” she told “48 Hours.”

Instead, that’s when Becky said she came up with an idea that possibly saved her life. She faked an asthma attack. She explained, “I was like, ‘Can I sit down? Can I just sit down a minute?’ I was trying to take my backpack off … and he tried to grab me, and he got my backpack and then I just started to run.”

The gunman jumped into his truck and sped off. Becky ran into a man clearing snow off a sidewalk who called police. At about the same time, a witness called in with three digits from the truck’s license plate.

Police learned that a 43-year-old handyman and former movie theater janitor named Lewis Lent had been driving that truck. He at first denied knowing about Becky Savarese, but he later confessed to trying to abduct her.

When police searched Lent’s truck they found disturbing evidence. New York State Police Detective Reece Treen said they found “Rebecca’s backpack. They found a gun. They found what Lou called his ‘snatch kit.’ Duct tape and a clothesline rope. Basically, his kidnapping abducting kit he had with him.” 

After Lent was arrested for the attempted abduction of Becky Savarese, authorities wondered if Lent could have abducted other children — including a 12-year-old-girl who had disappeared five months earlier. Sara Anne Wood, from Sauquoit, New York — 100 miles from Pittsfield — was last seen on her bike, leaving church as she was headed home less than a mile down the street.  

When authorities questioned Lent about Sara’s disappearance, he eventually confessed, in horrific detail, that he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed Sara. He also admitted to kidnapping and murdering 12-year-old Jimmy Bernardo from Pittsfield.

Hunters had found Jimmy’s body in a rural and isolated area 200 miles away from Pittsfield. But detectives had no idea where Sara was buried. When they asked Lent, authorities say he continuously lied as to where he buried her.

The search for Sara and the cat-and-mouse game between authorities and her killer to get him to reveal where her remains are located is the focus of “The Unending Search for Sara Anne Wood.” Correspondent Erin Moriarty reports in the season premiere of “48 Hours,” airing Saturday, Sept. 21 at 10/9c on CBS and streams on Paramount+.

Authorities credit Becky for breaking Sara’s abduction case wide open. New York State Police Detective Frank Lawrence said, “She’s the key, she’s the linchpin. She’s what made it all happen … She got away … That’s what put us on to Lewis Lent.”

Treen, who spent many long hours interviewing Lent in prison, said that Lent admitted he would often drive for many miles hunting for children to kidnap. “(Lent) had a large hunting area. He mentioned that if he had money and he had the gas, that’s what he would do … he would go out looking for vulnerable children.”

But Becky Savarese’s bravery and quick thinking changed all of that. In 1995, Lent was convicted for her attempted kidnapping and was sentenced to 17 to 20 years in prison. In 1996, after taking a plea, he was given a life sentence for murdering Jimmy Bernardo. Then, later that year, Lent pleaded guilty to killing Sara Wood. In 1997, he was sentenced to 25 years to life for her murder. Lent will serve the rest of his life in prison. Sara’s brother Dusty Wood said, “He (Lewis Lent) will never cause harm to anyone else.” 

Herkimer County District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter often wonders what would have happened if Becky had not been able to escape. “I think Becky Savarese not only saved herself, she saved countless children because this man (Lewis Lent) was developing his skills. He was getting better at it. She outsmarted him … and brought an end to his reign of terror,” he told “48 Hours.”

Back in 1994, Becky’s mother, Chris, told “48 Hours” that she often lectured her daughter about the steps to take in case she was ever abducted: to “kick, punch, bite, spit and do anything to get away.” Becky had also been warned about strangers from a policeman who came to her school the year before the incident.

Dusty Wood says Becky’s actions are an example as to why educating youth about abduction prevention is so important. “If no one had said anything to Rebecca … she would have had a different outcome.”.

Every year, Dusty Wood and some family members participate in the “Ride for Missing Children,” a 78-mile bike ride that was created in Sara’s honor by their father Bob Wood. Riders stop at schools along the route to talk to children about how to stay safe. Riders also pay silent tribute to those children who are missing and never coming home and those that they hope may be found alive.

Dusty Wood says he cannot do anything to bring his sister Sara back, but he can try and make positive change by educating the public about how to keep children safe. He told “48 Hours,” “The most important thing for us as a family is to protect kids … and make sure that if there’s anything that can be done to protect them from monsters like Lewis Lent, that it be done.”

To learn more about how to educate children about abduction prevention, please visit the  National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website missingkids.org.

Everyone wants a good night of sleep, but your go-to sleeping position can affect how restful your night is — and how your body feels the next day.

So which position is best: side, back or stomach sleeping?

Ellen Wermter, Better Sleep Council representative, family nurse practitioner and behavioral sleep medicine specialist, told CBS News it’s more about what works for you, not which is considered the “best” position overall — though each has some pros and cons.

“As far as advantages and disadvantages, it all of it depends on how you feel the most comfortable and pain free,” she said. “In general, we’re trying to maximize a couple of things: spine alignment and breathing.”

Here’s what to know about each position: 

Back sleeping

Certain sleep conditions like sleep apnea are “very positional,” Wermter said, which can make some positions — like back sleeping — worse than others.

“When you’re on your back, you have a lot of gravity working against you,” she said. “Your tongue tends to fall back, things tend to relax and you get more obstructions of the airway.”

So if you are prone to airway obstruction, it’s might not be the best option.

Back sleeping can also cause snoring, according to the National Sleep Foundation, since it can narrow your airways due to gravity.

The positive of back sleeping? It’s excellent for spine alignment. 

“It keeps everything in such a nice, neutral position. And your weight is very evenly distributed when you’re on your back — those are really big pros,” she said.

Side sleeping

Side sleeping, on the other hand, is “pretty good for breathing,” Wermter said. 

“The left side in particular is considered excellent for cardiovascular (circulation), the return of the blood flow — that’s why (it’s often) recommended for pregnancy as well,” she added.

Sleeping on your right side can also make heartburn and GERD — gastroesophageal reflux disease— symptoms worse, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. 

Side sleeping can also be OK for spine alignment, Wermter said, particularly when using pillows to keep things as neutral as possible.

“When you’re on your side, it’s really about filling in that little gap your neck makes,” she said. “The other piece is lining up the hips — putting a pillow between the legs is often comfortable or supporting a shoulder or an arm to keep that neutral alignment with the spine.”

Stomach sleeping

“Stomach sleeping is considered the most problematic because it is hard to get that neutral spine (and neck) position,” Wermter said. “Your face is sort of pressed into the mattress or the pillow, so you have to turn your neck to one side or the other.”

Superficially, you can also get more wrinkles from stomach sleeping because of the pressure of your face into your bed.

“So if that’s something you’re worried about, then that’s a negative for stomach sleeping,” she said.

If you’re not washing your pillowcases regularly enough, stomach sleeping can also lead to breakouts, according to Johns Hopkins. 

If you do stomach sleep, Wermter suggests choosing a flatter pillow (or none at all) in order to reduce your neck from being arched back more.

What sleep position should I use?

Listening to your body is key to finding what sleep position is best for you.

“If you’re gasping awake and you’re on your back, well that’s probably not the best position for you for breathing, or if you’re on your stomach and you’re feeling the pain in your neck, that’s probably not working for you,” Wermter said.

Position preferences can also change as you age or as you deal with things like surgeries, so be open to adjusting as needed. 

 “You do have to adapt to what’s going on in your life or what recovery you’re currently dealing with,” Wermter said, adding she’s personally switched from her previously preferred stomach sleeping to side sleeping as she’s gotten older. “It does change over time based on how flexible you are, how stiff you get.”

While it can be really difficult to train yourself into a different sleeping position, it can be done.

“Because our brains get so used to their comfort position, it can take some time and some persistence,” she said. 

Wermter also suggests using pillows to your advantage. In addition to testing out what height and size works best for your position of choice, you can also use them to prop or stabilize yourself in a particular position. 

Still struggling with sleep?

If no position is leaving you rested, consider what you’re sleeping on. 

“All of these positions are going to be best on a good sleeping surface. So if you’re starting with a mattress that doesn’t have good support anymore or is sagging, then even your best efforts aren’t going to be optimized,” Wermter said.

Consistent tossing and turning despite your best efforts could also mean you’re dealing with a sleep disorder, which can affect your energy level, mood, productivity and cognitive function, according to the National Sleep Foundation. 

“It can also lead to more critical problems down the road, including conditions like high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke,” the foundation’s website states. “If you’re regularly having trouble sleeping or experiencing daytime fatigue even though you thought you slept soundly through the night, it might be time to talk to a doctor about your concerns.”