Dark side of Moon: Hall of Fame QB pleads guilty

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- The lawyer for Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon said Moon pleaded guilty to negligent driving, a reduced charge from the drunken-driving count that followed his Dec. 28 arrest by police in Medina, Wash.

Attorney Jon Scott Fox said Wednesday the 51-year-old Moon received a 90-day jail sentence, with 88 of those days suspended. Moon was sentenced Tuesday by Kirkland Municipal Judge Michael Lambo.

Fox says Moon must serve either two days in jail or opt for five days of being electronically monitored at home.

Moon is the Seattle Seahawks' radio analyst for regular-season games.

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Bills' Losman misses practice after jamming thumb

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills backup quarterback J.P. Losman was held out of practice Tuesday night, a day after jamming the thumb on his throwing hand.

Losman

Coach Dick Jauron listed Losman as day to day, saying the quarterback's right thumb was too swollen for him to practice. Losman's thumb was heavily wrapped as he watched practice at Bills training camp facility in suburban Rochester.

He was hurt following through on a pass attempt, when his thumb struck a teammate's helmet during the Bills' first practice in full pads Monday. The second of Buffalo's two 2004 first-round picks, Losman lost his starting job to 2007 third-round pick Trent Edwards last season.

Also on Tuesday night, starting free safety Ko Simpson missed the final hour of the two-hour session after jamming his left ankle in the artificial turf.

Jauron said the injury isn't considered serious, adding that trainers held Simpson out as a precaution. The injury was to the same ankle the player broke in the Bills' season opener last year, forcing Simpson to spend the rest of the campaign on injured reserve.

Starting outside linebacker Angelo Crowell was held out of practice as a precaution after experiencing soreness in his left knee.

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Jags' Williams to have arthroscopic knee surgery

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Reggie Williams will have arthroscopic surgery after re-injuring his right knee during training camp, the third setback in two weeks for Jacksonville. AFC South

ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky writes about all things AFC South in his division blog.

• Blog network: NFL Nation Williams initially hurt his knee while working out last week and opened camp on the physically unable to perform list. He was activated Tuesday and returned to practice, but tweaked his knee during the evening session. He made a spin move following a catch and then limped off the field. He was examined by team trainers and then carted to the locker room for tests.

Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said Williams damaged cartilage in his knee. He expected the former first-round pick to make a full recovery, but declined to offer a timetable for his return.

"He is going to need a little clean-out with some cartilage," Del Rio said. "He should return to form. I'll give you a timeframe once I get one. I don't want to guess, but he will need to have that procedure done and then rehab and get back to full speed."

The ninth overall selection in 2004, Williams had his most productive season last year. Although he caught just 38 passes, he averaged 16.6 yards a catch and had 10 touchdowns.

His injury was the third significant one for the Jaguars in two weeks.

Jerry Porter, who signed a six-year, $30 million contract in February to be the team's No. 1 receiver, had surgery July 18 to repair a torn hamstring and will miss at least the entire preseason.

Center Brad Meester, who has started all but nine games the last eight seasons for Jacksonville, injured his right biceps Sunday and could be out even longer.

Meester traveled to Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday to get evaluated by renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, but Del Rio said he had no update on his injury.

"Obviously, we are working through some injuries like everybody is around the NFL, and we're being smart about the way we're working our team," Del Rio said. "The guys that are banged up, we'll just work as hard as we can to get them rehabbed and back on the field as soon as possible."

Del Rio said he didn't expect to bring in another receiver -- at least for now. But Jacksonville clearly has issues at that position.

Not only are Porter and Williams out, but Dennis Northcutt (back) and Mike Walker (knee) missed practice time last week. And former first-round pick Matt Jones is facing a felony drug charge in Arkansas.

With Meester out indefinitely, the Jaguars worked out veteran guard Chris Liwienski on Wednesday. Liwienski started 14 games for Miami last year and has 93 starts the last seven seasons.

Liwienski also spent time in Arizona and Minnesota. He played under current Jaguars assistant head coach Mike Tice with the Vikings.

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Cowboys' Newman out 3 weeks with groin injury

OXNARD, Calif. -- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman will miss at least three weeks of practice because of a groin injury, another early setback for the player coming off his first Pro Bowl season.

Newman

Coach Wade Phillips said an MRI on Tuesday revealed a "significant" injury to Newman's left groin.

"We're a little disappointed because he plays the nickel for us, he really needs working at it," Phillips said. "We had some specific things we thought we could help him with, so it's going to slow down that process. But he'll just have to study those three weeks."

Newman was on the field in shorts and a T-shirt for the team's only practice Tuesday, like he was for afternoon practice Monday after he got hurt in the morning session that day. Newman was injured when he became tangled up with a receiver during a play and his leg twisted awkwardly.

Newman, the 2003 first-round pick going into his sixth NFL season, has refused to answer questions about his injury.

This is the second year in a row Newman has been injured in the preseason. Last year, Newman was sidelined after the first preseason game because of a slight tear in the tissue in the base of his right foot. He missed the first two games of the regular season.

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Newman still had 62 tackles and four interceptions in 2007.

The latest injury to Newman could mean more time for new cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, though Phillips said Jones would for now remain primarily at right cornerback behind starter Anthony Henry on the opposite side of Newman.

"We will move him at some point, but I want to make sure he feels comfortable before we start moving him around," Phillips said. "I think he could certainly do it and he's done it before. I want him to feel comfortable where he is in one place. ... When we get a feel that he's fine there, we'll flip him."

But when the Cowboys started drills Tuesday, Jones was in Newman's spot with the first-team defense instead of rookie Mike Jenkins, one of the team's first-round picks.

While the still-suspended Jones is trying to get back in playing shape after a year out of the NFL, he said this week he was trying to grasp the coverages in the Cowboys' defense.

"He's a football player. He knows how to do a lot of things," Phillips said. "It's getting comfortable with what our terminology is first and then techniques that we want to try to help him do better, and then techniques that are involved in certain coverages that we have."

Returning to the field Tuesday was linebacker Justin Rogers, who sat out Monday due to dehydration sustained when he practiced despite a virus the previous day.

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Ankle, not contract, keeping Burress from practice

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Plaxico Burress says it's his ankle, not his contract, that is keeping him from practicing with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

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"If it was only about my contract, I would be home in South Florida relaxing," Burress said Monday.

There have been suspicions about Burress' injury because he refused to practice during a June minicamp over the team's decision not to give him a new contract. He has three years remaining on a deal that will pay him $3.25 million this season, well below what the league's top receivers earn.

Burress said in his first interview since the start of training camp that he rolled his right ankle a couple weeks ago while running to get in shape. He went to see a doctor in North Carolina and informed the team of his injury.

"The injury I had last year is healed," Burress said. "It's just sore, just something I want to prevent from basically going through what I went through last year. I don't want to do that. It was very frustrating what I went through. I played pretty good, but I know I can be a lot better."

Team doctors examined Burress over the weekend and told coach Tom Coughlin the receiver might be ready to go by midweek. The coach described the injury as "structural."

NFL.com Video

Plaxico Burress remains out of training camp drills with an ankle injury.

"He has a situation where he absolutely has to wear orthotics," Coughlin said. "He really has to wear them all the time. That's really going to help and hopefully the soreness will be gone so he can work this week."

Burress said he will wear the orthotics, provided his ankle feels better using them.

"We're just trying different things with my shoes and cleats and things like that," Burress said. "When I heal up and get to 100 percent, I think everything is going to be OK."

Burress practiced fewer than 10 times last season after spraining his right ankle early in training camp. He still led the team with 70 catches for 1,025 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns. He also caught a game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the team's Super Bowl win over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots.

"I don't want to play at the level I played at last year," Burress said. "I want to be even better, and the only way for me to do that is rest and get to be 100 percent."

Drew Rosenhaus, Burress' agent, met with Giants assistant general manager Kevin Abrams last week in an attempt to reach a new contract. While Rosenhaus said nothing was imminent, Burress feels he will get a new deal.

"At the end of the day it will take care of itself," Burress said. "I know I'm one of the best players in this league at my position. I know I can play. I'm just going to go out and keep doing what I'm doing and look to have the best year of my career."

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Manning arrives at Colts camp; will he practice?

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Peyton Manning finally arrived in town. Where he is or when he'll practice with the Indianapolis Colts remains a mystery.

Manning

The two-time league most valuable player had surgery July 14 to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee but still has not appeared on the Colts' practice fields. Team officials are keeping his whereabouts hush-hush.

"He's doing fine. He's here and he's immobilized," coach Tony Dungy said after Tuesday morning's practice. "We don't want a lot of people seeing him, so that's why we're not saying where he is."

Manning did not report with the rest of his teammates to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Thursday, though he did answer reporters' questions during a conference call and said then that it probably wasn't smart to be around 150 people.

Doctors are taking a cautious approach to Manning's recovery to lower the risk of infection.

He was initially entrenched at his Indianapolis-area home, his knee compressed and elevated while he took antibiotics intravenously. Dungy's statement suggests Manning still isn't able to get around easily and Manning made it clear that if he was going to be immobilized, he'd rather be in Terre Haute where he had quicker access to team trainers.

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For one of the league's best and most durable quarterbacks, it's a rare absence.

The last time Manning didn't report with his teammates was 1998 when he missed five days because of a contract holdout before his rookie season. Since then, Manning has made 160 consecutive regular-season starts, the second-longest streak in league history behind only Brett Favre (253).

He's never missed a regular-season or postseason game and has missed only one play in his career because of injury.

Jim Sorgi, a fifth-year veteran, has replaced Manning during the team's first six non-special teams practices and is expected to start Sunday night's preseason game against Washington. Sorgi has completed 77-of-126 passes for 751 yards with six touchdowns and one interception in sparse backup duty.

Teammates have given Sorgi good reviews for what he's done in training camp so far.

NFL.com Video

Peyton Manning discusses his recovery from knee surgery.

Rookie tight end Tom Santi is recovering from a similar injury and the Colts are using Santi's rehabilitation program to get a better idea of when Manning might return. Santi was diagnosed with an infected bursa sac during the league's rookie symposium last month and had surgery about two weeks before Manning.

Santi reported on time and has been seen on the field although he has not yet practiced. The sixth-round pick out of Virginia has declined to take questions about the injury.

Dungy continues to believe Manning is on schedule to make it back within the four to six weeks the team initially predicted. The prognosis means there's a good chance Manning won't practice at all before the Colts head home from Terre Haute on Aug. 15.

"We were told it would be six weeks from the onset [of Manning's surgery]," Dungy said. "Our big thing is not to rush him out here for Week 3 or Week 4 of the preseason. There's no reason to rush it because we're looking at the long haul."

Manning isn't the Colts' only big-name player missing the early part of training camp.

Defensive player of the year Bob Sanders, 2004 league sacks champion Dwight Freeney, starting guard Ryan Lilja, starting linebacker Tyjuan Hagler and Santi remain on the physically unable to perform list. None is expected to play in this weekend's Hall of Fame Game at Canton, Ohio.

Dungy believes all the players except Hagler will be ready for the regular-season opener Sept. 7 against Chicago.

Should Freeney get his way, he might be the first one back on the field. Freeney is recovering from November foot surgery.

"Dwight is lobbying to be full-go," Dungy said with a smile.

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Buffalo back: Commish upbeat about Bills' future

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Whether it was posing for pictures taken by fans lined along a fence at Buffalo Bills training camp or discussing the franchise's long-term future, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was all smiles Monday.

Goodell met with franchise owner Ralph Wilson and Sen. Charles Schumer, and learned of the tremendous rise in season-ticket sales and the increased interest and revenue the team's generating as it prepares to play games annually in Toronto.

"The nature of the conversation was to find out how the Bills were doing. Fortunately, that's the good news," Goodell said. "The Bills, particularly in their effort here to regionalize the team further to southern Ontario and Toronto has been a very big success. And I think that's something that we're all proud of, the fact that we can now make the team stronger here."

Schumer said he's seen the Bills make progress in the last year.

"This was a good and happy meeting because things are looking up," Schumer said. "I feel a lot better this year than I did last year at this time, and so does Ralph Wilson, about the future of the Bills in Buffalo."

The comments mark a significant turnaround in the two years since Wilson first raised concerns about the long-term viability of the Bills and other small-market NFL teams as a result of the NFL's new labor deal, which he voted against in 2006.

Wilson spoke only briefly during the press conference Monday, but his mood was notably upbeat. He jokingly introduced Goodell as "the boss of everybody," and later referred to Schumer as "a great guy who's done an awful lot for the Bills."

Wilson had good reason to be happy.

The Bills have sold 54,200 season tickets this year, the most since 1992 when they sold a record 57,132. The team has also sold out all but one of its regular-season home games, with only a limited number of tickets available for Buffalo's game against New England on Dec. 28.

That's a big increase from two years ago, when the Bills failed to sell out four of their eight home games.

And then there's an even bigger windfall: The $78 million the team is guaranteed to receive from playing five regular-season and three preseason games in Toronto starting this year and running through 2012. That's more than double the Bills' calculated 2006 operating income.

The move to expand their market north to Toronto makes the Bills the NFL's first team to play annual regular-season games outside the United States. And it has allowed the franchise to tap into Canada's financial capital and North America's fifth-largest market, with a regional population of about 5 million.

"I think it's been very successful in making the Bills stronger in western New York, which is our effort here," Goodell said. "It's bringing more people down from Toronto. They're spending more money in western New York."

Goodell's visit was part of an annual series of trips he makes each preseason, and his first to Bills training camp. The visit coincided with an opening in Schumer's schedule, so both could meet with Wilson.

Schumer allayed fears that the Bills playing in Toronto was the first step to the franchise relocation. But he was unable to provide any assurances about what would happen to the Bills after Wilson dies. Wilson, who turns 90 in October, has previously said his family isn't interested in taking over the franchise, which would potentially put the team on the open market.

Schumer declined to say whether a succession plan that included keeping the Bills in Buffalo was discussed during the meeting.

"To talk about that subject in public would be counterproductive to keeping the Bills in Buffalo, so I'm not going to do it," Schumer said.

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Eagles' Samuel day-to-day with hamstring strain

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro cornerback Asante Samuel is day to day with a mild hamstring strain.

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Samuel was hurt Saturday while working in 7-on-7 drills during the team's first practice in full pads this summer. He had an MRI on the injured right hamstring Sunday.

Samuel signed a six-year, $57 million contract with the Eagles after spending his first five seasons with New England. He missed time during the team's workouts last month with a strained left hamstring.

If Samuel is out for an extended period, the Eagles have depth at the position. Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Lito Sheppard, who lost his left cornerback spot to Samuel and wanted a trade, would step in.

In other news, two-time Pro Bowl right guard Shawn Andrews remained a no-show at camp. Andrews' absence for "personal reasons" is not excused.

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Bears make Hester happy, give him new contract

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- A half hour into his first practice of training camp Sunday, Devin Hester got behind cornerback Charles Tillman and hauled in a 40-yard pass from quarterback Rex Grossman.

It's the type of thing the Chicago Bears are hoping to see a lot during the regular season after signing Hester to a four-year contract extension.

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ESPN.com senior writer John Clayton is reporting the four-year deal is worth at least $30 million, of which $15 million is guaranteed. But according to a source, it also includes a $10 million roster bonus in the final year if Hester reaches performance levels of a No. 1 receiver over the course of the contract. The bonus "de-escalates" to account for performance below the level of a No. 1 receiver.

The maneuver is similar to the one Chicago gave defensive tackle Tommie Harris in June. Harris has a de-escalator clause that requires him to make the Pro Bowl in three consecutive years, among other requirements, in order to reach the maximum level of bonus money in the deal.

"I think the Bears have a lot of faith in me, and they feel that I do a lot of things on the offensive side of the ball, so they rewarded me," said Hester, who in two seasons is two touchdown returns short of Brian Mitchell's record of 13 kick or punt return touchdowns -- a mark that took 14 years to set.

After a standoff between Hester's agent, Eugene Parker, and the team ended Sunday morning, Bears coach Lovie Smith wore a huge smile.

"I'm smiling most of the time I'm talking about Devin Hester; now I can … a little bit more," Smith said after practice.

NFL.com Video

The best moments from Devin Hester's historic season highlighted by some of his most ridiculous returns.

At issue for the Bears was whether to pay Hester like a return man or like a top wide receiver when they made him the 22nd player on the current roster to receive a contract extension. They converted Hester to wide receiver last year when he made 20 catches, and this year expect him to start in place of lost free agent wide receiver Bernard Berrian.

"This one was probably the most difficult one we've had to do and probably ever will do because we're not only rewarding a special player," Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. "If you look at it as a returner, we blew that [money total] out of the water. It was now looking at him as what he might be or could be as a receiver. That's where the real difficulties were and a real challenge."

It was a challenge that led Hester to hold out for two days before reporting Friday and watching from the sidelines for two days with what the Bears called a hamstring injury. After signing Sunday, he showed no signs of a hamstring pull.

"It's feeling great," Hester said of the hamstring. "It's a little tight, but I was able to push through it and just try to work it out and stretch it a lot. Right now I feel great. I wouldn't say it's a major issue."

The deal adds four years to the two years already remaining on Hester's contract.

The Bears this past year also negotiated contract extensions for Grossman, kicker Robbie Gould, linebacker Brian Urlacher, tight end Desmond Clark, defensive end Alex Brown and Harris, and signed linebacker Lance Briggs and quarterback and Kyle Orton to new deals.

"I don't think I've ever been this busy in an offseason, and I don't think I ever will again," Angelo said. "We did a lot, hopefully we accomplished a lot."

Angelo said it should be obvious now he wasn't just paying lip service to the notion that the Bears try to reward their own.

"Talk is cheap," Angelo said. "We put teeth into it. The good news is the players we have here want to be Bears. Certainly they want their money, we're all understanding of that, but they also make the commitment to me, to [coach] Lovie [Smith] and to our fans that they want to be Bears."

Now comes the task of turning Hester into a premier wide receiver. He struggled learning the offense at times last year.

"Last year he was a guy who was a return specialist, obviously, that was going to be a part-time player at receiver, play a little bit and have a small package in the offense for him," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "This year he's committed to being a full-time receiver and to learn the entire offense. We didn't hold anything back in the minicamp and [offseason workouts] so he's way ahead of where he was last year at this time. He's made that commitment and he's learned it and done a good job and we're excited to get him back out there."

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Rams RB Jackson no-show for first camp meeting

MEQUON, Wis. -- St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson, entering the final year of his contract, was a no-show for the opening day of training camp on Friday and will be fined as an unexcused absence.

Jackson's agent, Eugene Parker, turned down an offer Friday afternoon that the team said would have put Jackson in the top tier at his position in terms of pay.

Jackson

Rams president of football operations Jay Zygmunt's said, "We will not be negotiating while he's out of camp."

Coach Scott Linehan had anticipated a holdout Thursday when Jackson informed him he would not be on the team charter flight from St. Louis, although he didn't relay those fears until after the first practice.

"When he said he wasn't going to make the trip, let's be honest, I knew something was going on," Linehan said. "I know we've had a lot of dialogue with his representative and I know it's been fairly positive from what I've been told."

Both Zygmunt and Linehan have said getting a contract extension for Jackson was a priority. Zygmunt said the team approached Jackson about a longterm deal shortly after last season, but talks were delayed when the running back switched agents last month.

Zygmunt said the team has made several contract offers, and declined to say how far apart the parties remained. Parker told him after turning down the offer that Jackson would not be in camp Friday, but Zygmunt was unclear how much longer the holdout would last without a deal.

Jackson became a holdout after missing the initial team meeting and the Rams held their first practice without him Friday afternoon at Concordia University, their new training site after three years of staying home in St. Louis.

Jackson is in the final season of a five-year contract he signed after the Rams drafted him in the first round in 2004. He has had three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons after totaling 1,002 last year despite injuries that sidelined him for four games.

Quarterback Marc Bulger staged a brief holdout last year while negotiating a new deal. He was a no-show for a mandatory team meeting but was on the field for the first day of training camp after getting a six-year, $65 million contract.

The Rams also were negotiating with Donnie Avery, a second-round pick in this year's draft and the lone unsigned pick. Avery was the first wide receiver taken in the draft after a run on offensive linemen, which likely factors into the impasse.

"All I can say is we offered him more money than the pick behind him in this year's second round, a little less money than the guy ahead of him and more money than the same slot a year ago," Zygmunt said. "I don't know what to tell you."

Linehan addressed the one-year suspension of defensive end Claude Wroten on Thursday for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, saying the third-year player might have had trouble making the team. The Rams used the second pick of the draft on end Chris Long.

"We really thought Claude was going to be in a battle to make this team going into camp," Linehan said. "What the suspension does is it eliminates him from the mix."

Notes
OT Orlando Pace participated in most of the drills after entering training camp as an early question mark following his second straight season-ending injury. He injured his shoulder in the 2007 opener. ... Rookie wide receiver Keenan Burton, a fourth-round pick, thrived in Avery's absence with several nice catches. "It's one of the best motivators in sports," Linehan said. ... The Rams will alternate single workouts with two-a-days for the forseeable future.

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Seahawks LB Tatupu discusses one-day jail stint

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Lofa Tatupu was noticeably nervous while fielding questions about pleading guilty earlier this month to drunken driving.

And he wasn't eager to elaborate Friday on his experience as a three-time Pro Bowl linebacker serving a one-day sentence recently among other inmates at a jail near the team's headquarters.

"It was 24 hours, just like anyone else does if they have that offense," said Tatupu, who signed a six-year, $42 million contract extension in March, six weeks before Kirkland police arrested him.

He registered 0.155 and 0.158 in breath test readings, nearly twice the Washington state intoxication threshold of 0.08, according to an arrest report. He was also fined $1,255.

"I want to apologize ... to anyone I have let down, especially the kids out there. It's not the right thing to do. You shouldn't drink and drive," Tatupu said. "I'll never forget about it. I'm just glad no one was injured. I think I'll be a better person for it. I already know I have taken great strides."

Tatupu, lauded by team executives as the player all Seahawks should emulate, said he doesn't believe his leadership status has changed on the team.

"I'm still the same guy," he said.

"Not necessarily something you want to have associated with your name, as I've worked so hard to have my name in a good light. I'm going to do everything I can to earn the trust and respect back, to restore it."

Starting defensive tackle Rocky Bernard was less revealing while addressing for the first time his offseason arrest for domestic violence. Bernard, entering the final year of $13 million, three-year contract, pleaded not guilty to a domestic violence assault charge. He was accused of hitting his girlfriend in the head at a Seattle nightclub in April.

Bernard, who is back on the field after a surgery for a double hernia, will have a domestic violence charge erased from his record if he complies with a series of stipulations over the next two years.

"I'm just glad it's over with," Bernard said. "It's over and done with, so I'm just glad to put that past me and move forward, really."

Someone asked how much of a "distraction" the case was for him in the offseason.

"Not really. It wasn't much for me, you know what I mean?" he said. "It happened. It got over with, you know. And that's pretty much all I have to say about it, really."

Both Tatupu and Bernard could face league discipline for their arrests.

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Manning misses another day of Colts practice

INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning still hasn't made it to training camp.

Manning

The two-time league MVP missed his second straight day of Colts practice Saturday as he continues to recover from knee surgery at his Indianapolis-area home. He had an infected bursa sac removed from his left knee July 14 and doctors have instructed him to stay home to avoid risking another infection.

Neither Colts coach Tony Dungy nor Manning, who addressed the injury during a conference call with reporters Thursday, have said when he is expected to arrive at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where the Colts practice through Aug. 15.

It's an unusual situation for the Colts. Since signing his rookie contract in 1998, after a five-day holdout, Manning has rarely missed a practice or team meeting. One of the most durable quarterbacks in league history, Manning has started all 160 regular-season games during his 10 seasons, the second-longest streak in league history behind Brett Favre's record 253 consecutive starts.

Jim Sorgi, who has backed up Manning the last four seasons, has replaced Manning at practice. Indy also signed two veteran quarterbacks, Quinn Gray and Jared Lorenzen, on Thursday. AFC South blog

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Receiver Marvin Harrison, who returned to practice Friday, was not on the field Saturday morning but took to the field in the afternoon. Dungy said Harrison was scheduled to practice only once a day.

Two other veterans were missing from practice Saturday -- linebacker Clint Session and defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. Dungy said both were excused for personal reasons.

Both are in their second season with the Colts, and Session could play a critical role in replacing the injured Tyjuan Hagler (torn pectoral muscle). Hagler has been placed on the physically unable to perform list and Dungy does not expect to him back until at least October. When practice opened Friday, Session was practicing with the starters.

Dungy said that the team may have an announcement Monday about Pitcock.

Two players left practice early with injuries.

Rookie linebacker Philip Wheeler, a third-round pick out of Georgia Tech, hurt his knee. Second-year defensive back Melvin Bullitt injured his knee.

Dungy said Bullitt will probably miss a few days, and he wasn't sure how long Wheeler would be out.

Indy has six players -- Manning, Hagler, 2007 NFL defensive player of the year Bob Sanders, former league sacks champion Dwight Freeney, starting guard Ryan Lilja and rookie tight end Tom Santi -- on the PUP list, meaning they're not yet eligible to practice.

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Giants' Kiwanuka: It hurt missing the Super Bowl

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Having also missed the Super Bowl with a broken leg, linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka has a good idea why four-time Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey became alienated with New York Giants following their run to the NFL title.

The pain from the broken bone is bad enough, Kiwanuka said Saturday between practices on the second day of training camp at the University at Albany.

There is also the mental pain of missing a sport you love and then a stabbing pain when someone says that if the team won without you, you might not be needed after all.

"That guy, he put his heart and soul into the organization for a long time," Kiwanuka said of Shockey. "He was a vocal leader, an energy guy and he was kind of the face and voice of this team for a long time. So for guys to say, and people here to say we are better off without him as a player, it stings a lot, especially when you play as hard as he did."

Shockey never seemed to recover. He complained to the team about his role in the offense and later accused the organization of leaking things to the media.

When minicamp rolled around in June, he refused to either talk to the media or to stand on the field for even a few minutes to watch practice. He was nursing a badly sprained ankle at the time.

"I understand how he got to that point because like I said, it stung a little bit that we couldn't be out there," Kiwanuka said. "But it had nothing to do with the Super Bowl run. It had to do with the fact we are men with jobs, and we weren't able to produce and contribute to the team. That's a tough thing to do."

The Giants on Monday made sure there would not be any distractions this year, trading Shockey to the New Orleans Saints for two draft picks.

Kiwanuka, who broke his leg in mid-November, a month before Shockey was sidelined, said the tight end's life is focused on football.

"For him, everything is magnified when he can't do what he's meant to do," Kiwanuka said. "He is a tight end in the NFL and he is one of the best out there. When you are that driven and that focused on your life and your job, and everything you do revolves around that and then you can't do it one day, that's got to be tough."

Kiwanuka made the transition from defensive end to strongside linebacker last season and seemed to be learning on the job when he broke his left leg against Detroit on Nov. 18 and missed the rest of the season and the playoffs.

"The fact that I wasn't a part of it is not something I am happy about," Kiwanuka said. "At the same time, I was so proud of these guys and so proud of being a part of the Super Bowl, all the other stuff faded away when the confetti started flying."

Kiwanuka is ahead of schedule in his recovery. The Giants had planned to have him practice once at day at the start of camp, but he did make both practices on Friday and on Saturday.

"His attitude is this: if you tell him to be in there twice, he's in there three times," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He's a very focused guy. I've looked at all of those things that happened -- there is no feeling sorry for himself. He's done a nice job out here in the first few practices."

Kiwanuka has some residual effects from his injury, but insists he would be able to play if the Giants had a game.

"It has been a long time since I've been on the field," Kiwanuka said. "I'm just excited to be back out there, I'm not anxious to have any days off yet."

The former Boston College star and first-round draft pick acknowledges he still has a lot to learn about playing linebacker.

"This is my second year at linebacker and I know some people are going to get some stuff faster than I am," he said. "At the same time, I am studying (hard) and I know a lot more of the defense than I did a year ago. I am confident where I am at."

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Panthers sign first-round pick Stewart

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Carolina Panthers signed running back Jonathan Stewart to a five-year deal that includes $10.8 million in guaranteed money, putting all their draft picks under contract early Saturday before the team's first training camp practice.NFC South blog

ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas writes about all things NFC South in his division blog.

• Blog network: NFL Nation Stewart came to terms on the deal that could be worth up to $20 million hours after fellow first-round pick Jeff Otah signed his contact late Friday. Both players were on the field for the team's opening practice Saturday morning.

"It was incredibly important for Jonathan and everyone involved to have him there for camp in time," Stewart's agent, Ben Dogra, said. "It's an important year for him, as well as the team, being his rookie year. We're all glad we were able to complete the deal."

To make room on the 80-man roster, the Panthers released running back Alex Haynes and linebacker Brandon Jamison.

Stewart, the 13th overall pick out of Oregon, is expected to compete for the starting running back job with last year's backup, DeAngelo Williams. The Panthers released last year's starter, DeShaun Foster, after struggling to get a consistent running game last season.

The 5-foot-10, 235-pound Stewart missed offseason workouts following toe surgery, but passed his physical and was cleared to practice.

The 6-6, 330-pound Otah, the 19th overall pick from Pittsburgh, is expected to start at right tackle as part of an overhaul of Carolina's offensive line. The Panthers will likely have different players starting at all five positions this season.

The deals mean the Panthers avoid a rookie holdout for a second straight year. First-round pick Jon Beason missed the first eight days of training camp last year in a dispute over how his bonus money would be distributed.

"There are no distractions, team-wise now," general manager Marty Hurney said. "Everybody is signed and it's a good way to start training camp."

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Chiefs agree to 5-year deal with top pick Dorsey

RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- Glenn Dorsey walked up and shook hands with the man who'd just made him rich.

"I promise I'll work hard," said the big defensive tackle, towering over Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.

"I know you will," Hunt said. "It's great to have you with us."

After a brief contract holdout that essentially cost him only one practice, Dorsey signed a five-year, $51 million deal Saturday morning that includes an option year and more than $22 million in guaranteed money. The 300-pound All-American from LSU, the fifth player taken overall last April, will be the cornerstone of a line that's being rebuilt to make up for the loss of Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen.

After getting word about 4:30 a.m. that a deal was agreed upon, Dorsey hopped a flight out of Baton Rouge, La., and arrived at the Chiefs' offices on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus just in time for meetings. Greeting him were a throng of media and Hunt, who stood in the back smiling as Dorsey and general manager Carl Peterson conducted a short news conference.

"He is going to be a very good player for us," Hunt said. "He's got all the tools."

The rebuilding Chiefs, who will be one of the youngest teams in the NFL this season, have agreed to terms with all but one of their 12 draft picks. They've opted to delay signing tight end Michael Merritt, a seventh-round selection out of Central Florida, until he recovers from injury.

"I'm just excited to be here, to stand before you all and get to work with my teammates and my coaches," Dorsey told the media. "My agent did a great job. The Chiefs did a great job. It was a great agreement."

Joel Segal, Dorsey's agent, said he was glad to get his client in camp almost on time. Since Friday's opening workouts were both forced indoors by rain, he really missed only one workout, on Saturday morning. He was expected to be on the field for Saturday's afternoon practice.

"Glenn is a very disciplined guy who loves football," Segal said. "He was anxious to get to camp. He indicated to me that he's excited now to help the Chiefs win."

Dorsey will be handed a starting job on the inside while Tamba Hali moves from left defensive end to right, replacing Allen. After leading the NFL with 15½ sacks, Allen became disgruntled and was traded to Minnesota.

The Chiefs, coming off a 4-12 year, will need an immediate impact from Dorsey to ease the loss of Allen.

The newcomer declined to make any predictions on what might happen his rookie season in the NFL.

"It's a totally different world now, playing against everybody who's one of the best at what they do," he said. "I can't really tell you right now. I have to go through camp and see how it goes.

"I'm just going to have fun. I like to have fun when I play."

The money, he said, wasn't anything he'd thought much about yet.

"That's down the line," he said. "That's going to be way down the line. It's time to get down to business. I look forward to taking care of my family. But now it's time to get down to business."

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New Lions CB Bodden signs four-year extension

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions signed cornerback Leigh Bodden to a four-year contract extension and also signed second-round pick Jordon Dizon on Friday.

Bodden's deal, which has club options through 2013, adds $27 million onto his contract including a $2 million signing bonus and an $8.6 million roster bonus if he's on the team next March.

Bodden was acquired from Cleveland, along with a third-round pick, in a February trade for defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.

Bodden had a career-high six interceptions and 76 tackles last season, his first as a full-time starter. In his first four seasons, he started 22 games.

Dizon, a linebacker, missed the first three practices of training camp before reaching an agreement between the two-a-day sessions Friday.

"The first rule of getting better is to show up to work," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said after the day's first practice.

Dizon was arrested for driving under the influence on April 20 in Colorado, six days before the draft, but the Lions did not learn about the incident until last month.

Financial terms were not available.

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Chadiha: Redskins' Campbell rolling with the changes

ASHBURN, Va. -- You have to hand it to Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell: The guy really knows how to roll with whatever comes his way.

Some of that nature comes from the laid-back southern vibe he developed while growing up in Mississippi. The rest of it comes from ample life experience. After all, Campbell is once again learning another offense -- for the third time in four NFL seasons no less. And, once again, he's taking it in stride, as if change will always be the one constant in his career.

It's easy to underestimate what Campbell is going through because we tend to focus on more measurable factors when evaluating young quarterbacks, especially statistics like touchdown-interception ratios and quarterback ratings. In Campbell's case, those numbers don't mean nearly as much as his mental toughness. Ask other young quarterbacks how hard it is to frequently go from one offensive system to another, and most will tell you that lack of continuity can kill a career. Campbell just sees it as another reason to work harder at his craft.

Now don't misunderstand this. The man doesn't deserve pity because he's trying to absorb the West Coast offense that new head coach Jim Zorn has installed this offseason. But it is important to note that Campbell is proving his leadership by how deftly he handles another change.

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Instead of growing frustrated by constant change, Redskins QB Jason Campbell is embracing the challenge of learning yet another new offense.

"It does feel like I'm starting school all over again," said Campbell, who threw for 2,700 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2007. "I thought I had graduated, but it does feel like starting over. I'm putting a lot of time and effort in but I also realize we have a long way to go before we're where we want to be."

You couldn't blame Campbell if he felt a little more frustrated with the trajectory of his pro career. He spent his rookie season sitting and learning behind former Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell. He played six games in 2006 but he still had to wait patiently for his chance. Then he became a full-time starter last season, only to see his season end with a dislocated left kneecap in Week 13. Then there was the retirement of head coach Joe Gibbs. Every time Campbell starts building momentum, something interferes with the process.

Still, there is one main advantage Campbell has in Zorn's offense: Familiarity. Campbell turned into a first-round pick in the 2005 draft primarily because Auburn installed a West Coast system during his senior year. In that offense, Campbell displayed his decision-making and his efficiency, and he's hoping it can do the same this season. At the very least, he knows he's gone through so many systems (including four in college) that he's finally running out of new offenses to learn.

NFL.com Video

Redskins QB Jason Campbell talks with Scott Hanson about his optimism for the 2008 season.

But that doesn't mean there aren't challenges involved in this process. For one, Campbell is learning new mechanics again. He had to revise his technique when former Redskins assistant Bill Musgrave coached him as a rookie and he did it a second time when the team hired former offensive coordinator Al Saunders in 2006. Now Zorn is asking Campbell to alter his fundamentals once more. The most noticeable change, according to Campbell, involves how he stands in the pocket -- Zorn wants Campbell to avoid standing so upright so the quarterback can deliver the football more quickly.

For a 6-foot-5, 233-pound quarterback like Campbell, learning to stay low can be a chore -- Zorn has even had his signal-callers play dodgeball in practice to hone that skill -- but Campbell has impressed his coach with his quick learning.

"You can see he's very serious about wanting to be great," Zorn said. "What I really like is that he can make his body make the changes that I want technique-wise. If you tell him to hold the ball higher as he drops back, he can do that. Some guys can make the change in an individual drill and then they revert back to their old habits in a competitive situation. Jason doesn't do that."

It's hard to explain how much Zorn could mean to Campbell's development. In fact, the first big move the coach made was to avoid a quarterback controversy. It would be easy to think backup Todd Collins deserves a shot at starting, especially after he rallied the Redskins to three straight wins last season while Campbell was sidelined. Instead, Zorn said Campbell was his quarterback immediately after the team hired the coach in February. Campbell earned that opportunity and he wasn't going to lose it because of an injury.

Campbell says he wasn't worried about the possibility of competing for his job -- "I knew I didn't do anything to lose the job," he said -- but it had to feel good knowing Zorn was in his corner. Zorn made a point to say he wasn't going to play mental games with his young quarterback. He was going to coach him as well as possible and hope Campbell responded. So far, that's the case. Fantasy Snapshot: Jason Campbell •  Overall rank: 118
•  Quarterback rank: 18
•  Auction value: $5
•  Redskins depth chart
'08 Projection: 3,410 passing yards, 17 TDsPlay


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Super Bowl hero Tyree (knee) sidelined by Giants

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Super Bowl hero David Tyree was placed on the physically unable to perform list by the New York Giants on Thursday because of lingering problems recovering from surgery on his right knee.

Tyree

Tyree, whose one-handed catch of a pass against his helmet led to the game-winning touchdown against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, is uncertain how long it will take to recover from his surgery in April.

"If they tell you four months, you want to get back in three weeks," Tyree said after reporting to training camp at the University at Albany. "But it's not guaranteed with everything working perfectly, and most times things don't work perfectly."

The six-year veteran can come off the injured list any time during training camp, but the team had to put him on it before the first practice if it wanted to put him on PUP during the regular season.

If that happens, Tyree will have to miss the first six weeks of the season. He would be eligible to return to practice any time between weeks seven through nine. The team would have 21 days from the day he returns to practice to either activate, waive or place him on season-ending injured reserve.

NFL.com Video

Giants David Tyree discusses his remarkable catch and winning the Super Bowl.

The Giants also placed linebacker Gerris Wilkinson and recently signed free agent offensive tackle Jonathan Palmer (quad) on the PUP list on Thursday, the day before the team's first practice. Backup quarterback David Carr was placed on the non-football related injury list with a strained foot he hurt working out last week.

With a receiving corps that includes Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Steve Smith, Sinorice Moss and rookie Mario Manningham, Tyree was going to be pushed to keep his spot on the roster.

The one thing he has in his favor is that he is an excellent special teams player.

"I have been a bubble guy for the last five years, what difference does it make now?" Tyree said. "It's not that big of a deal. I am happy to compete and I am happy to be a New York Giants. I guess when you make one of the best plays, it gives everyone something to write about."

Tyree even joked about his helmets.

"I have all kinds of helmets, one with bubble gum, one with Velcro and one with a good old fashioned Krazy Glue," he said.

Tyree had only four catches in the regular season for 35 yards. He had four catches in the playoff run to the Super Bowl for 47 yards, including the memorable 32-yard reception of pass that Eli Manning threw after escaping a Patriots rush.

Burress, who caught the game-winning TD in the Super Bowl, will be limited to one practice at camp because of an ankle injury. Linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka (ankle), cornerback Sam Madison (hernia), defensive end Osi Umenyiora (hip), and linebackers Zak DeOssie (back) and Danny Clark (hernia) also will practice only once for now.

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Browns' Winslow: 'I don't want to be a distraction'

BEREA, Ohio -- Kellen Winslow could be home resting or relaxing on a beach in California with a cold drink as his teammates sweat through grueling two-a-day practices.

If he desired, the Pro Bowl tight end, who wants the Cleveland Browns to tear up his contract which still has three years left, could be just about anywhere but training camp.

Winslow

Instead, Winslow is where he's happiest -- on the field.

"My job," Winslow said Thursday following the team's first workout in full pads, "is to just be out here and play football. I don't want to be a distraction."

For a while, that's all he was.

Winslow, who came to the NFL with a fiery reputation, missed 14 games as a rookie in 2004 after breaking his leg. He was then sidelined for all the next season following a near-fatal motorcycle accident. But in the past two years, the 25-year-old has become one of the game's top tight ends, fulfilling the promise that the Hall of Famer's son always had.

However, until he arrived at camp this week, there was concern that Winslow would have a negative impact on the Browns even before their 2008 season kicked off.

Not long after making the Pro Bowl, Winslow hired agent Drew Rosenhaus and made it known he wanted to be the league's highest paid tight end. Then, Winslow had surgery -- at least his fourth procedure -- on his right knee, which he wrecked in the crash and later became infected.

In April, the Browns traded a draft pick to select a tight end as a possible successor for Winslow, who then missed the Browns' voluntary practices in May and June. A contract holdout seemed imminent. Trouble, it seemed, was brewing.

This time, Winslow stiff-armed it. He's a happy camper.

"I'm sure [the media] thought I wasn't coming, but I'm not that type of guy," Winslow said. "I don't want to be a distraction. My job is to just help this team win and come out here and play to the best of my ability."

Rosenhaus has engaged in negotiations with the Browns. He characterized the talks as a "dialogue with the team. Nothing is imminent and we're at a very preliminary point." He has spoken with general manager Phil Savage and plans to visit Cleveland soon.

In the past, Rosenhaus has kept clients out of camp until they got paid. But he and Winslow decided not to use a contract holdout as leverage with the Browns.

"There is a sense of urgency on our end," Rosenhaus told the Associated Press. "Kellen and I have discussed it and we decided to take the high road and handle it professionally. There will be no holding out and there will be nothing that will keep Kellen off the field."

While not providing specifics on what he's seeking from the team, Rosenhaus did describe Winslow's rookie contract as "outdated."

The Browns, who initially withheld some bonuses from Winslow following his accident, have already reworked his contract once. Before his third season, they changed some of his performance clauses, allowing him to recoup some of the financial hit he took by missing most of his first two seasons.

Winslow said it's easy for him to separate off-the-field business from what he has to do between the hash marks.

"You can't focus on the contract. I am under contract. I just want to be a Cleveland Brown for a long time, so my agent and the organization are in talks," he said.

Winslow said he wouldn't be upset if the sides didn't agree to a new deal this year.

"It is up to them. If they don't do it, they don't do it. If they do it, they do it. My job is to just get out here and play," he said.

Getting ready to play each Sunday has been a challenge for Winslow. Last season, he often lugged around some type of medical apparatus to help his body recover from the pounding he'd take in games. If his shoulder wasn't aching, it was his knee.

But despite the bumps and bruises, Winslow caught 82 passes for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns to earn his first trip to Honolulu. He intends to go back.

"I left a lot on the field last year," he said. "I watched the film from last year, and saw things that I can do better. I probably could have caught 100 balls. Touchdowns, I only had five, so I can get a lot better in each category."

While his game has matured, Winslow has grown as a person. At the University of Miami, his infamous "I'm a soldier" rant during a postgame locker room tirade painted him as a hothead. And although he can still get edgy, Winslow has calmed down considerably.

"We all go through that maturation process and he's in the middle of it," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "We've seen him settle down from the first year I was here and he can manage himself better than he used to. He has a better understanding of how the team works and how he fits in the team and what is expected and required of him."

Winslow concedes he has changed -- for the better.

"Coming out of college, I was probably viewed in a different light," he said. "I'm growing up. I'm 25 now. That stuff was a long time ago, and just like everyone else you have to grow up. I'm older now, married, and just grown up."

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Raiders sign Asomugha, tell Jordan to stay away

NAPA, Calif. -- Nnamdi Asomugha could have easily skipped the two-a-days and the monotony of training camp practices and signed his franchise player tender offer in a few weeks to be ready for the start of the season.

AFC West blog

ESPN.com's Bill Williamson writes about all things AFC West in his division blog.

• Blog network: NFL Nation

Instead, he decided to put the contract dispute to rest and report to training camp in time for the Oakland Raiders' first practice.

"The organization is trying to turn it around and we can see that, it was evident during the offseason," Asomugha said. "I felt that being here would help as far as that camaraderie and as far as getting the team together. So I felt that it was important."

Asomugha signed his $9.765 million franchise player tender offer early Thursday, making sure the Raiders would have every player under contract by the time camp started.

"Obviously he didn't have to be here," coach Lane Kiffin said. "He could have stayed out of camp, and for him to be here the first day to run the conditioning test with us today shows what a team player he is and who he is."

Asomugha has not practiced with the team for the entire offseason while waiting to have his contract situation resolved. He was designated as the exclusive franchise player in February, which prohibited him from even negotiating with any other teams.

He talked with the Raiders about signing a long-term deal but the two sides were unable to agree before a deadline last week. Shortly after that, Asomugha decided to show up on time for training camp.

"The negotiations never got antagonistic or anything like that to where we were going back and forth and fighting," he said. "It was always amicable so I knew I could come and everybody would be ok with it. We were never fighting like people say that we were."

As the Raiders handed out big contracts to Tommy Kelly, DeAngelo Hall, Javon Walker and Darren McFadden this offseason, Asomugha admitted he wondered at times when his turn for a big deal would come up.

Asomugha has been one of Oakland's best players the past two years, developing into an elite cornerback. But any bitterness over the other contracts passed quickly.

"I am 100 percent a human being, so there was a piece of me in the beginning that was wondering what was going on," he said. "You kind of look and wonder, 'Ok, maybe it's your turn, maybe it's not.' So that did come up in the beginning. But after a while, a short while, you realize that what's for you is for you; what's for them is for them."

While Asomugha showed up, running back LaMont Jordan was told to stay home as the Raiders try to trade him. Jordan is scheduled to make $4.7 million this year and $5 million next season but has no role with the Raiders after the team drafted McFadden.

Kiffin said owner Al Davis is dealing with Jordan's agent, Alvin Keels, to resolve the situation. Jordan visited the Detroit Lions earlier this month but has not found a new team willing to trade for him. The Raiders might be forced to release Jordan if they can't make a deal.

"That's Al and LaMont's agent on that and I'm out of that," Kiffin said. "They're handling it so all the information I've got for you that was relayed to me is that they're continuing to work on it. LaMont won't be here and we won't be fining him."

In other news, Walker has been cleared to practice after being seriously injured last month during a robbery in Las Vegas. Walker was discovered unconscious and beaten on a back street near the Las Vegas Strip following a night of partying. Walker was treated at a hospital for a concussion and facial injuries.

Walker declined to address the topic, saying it was too soon to talk about it. He said he doesn't believe his reputation took a hit because of the incident in Las Vegas.

"You know you want to look at my reputation as far as an organization or a team, like I said, you can't find any charges against me," Walker said. "Everybody knows my personality off the field. When it comes to what I feel I believe and what I want to do, I just stand up for it, and from what I know, I think that is right."

The Raiders are counting heavily on Walker after signing him to a six-year, $55 million deal after the Denver Broncos released him in February.

Walker will only practice once a day at the start of camp because he is still recovering from a knee injury sustained last season. Walker said he has lost 15 pounds since he was last with the team and Kiffin said he is in better physical shape than he had been in the spring.

"We're just happy that in the end he was able to work through it, play again and that he's safe, and he needs to have a really big year, and he knows that," Kiffin said. "I think he's put it behind him, and he's come back, obviously, weight-wise and body fat-wise, than he was before."

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Ex-Viking Scott sentenced for child endangerment

Scott

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Darrion Scott on Thursday received a two-year stayed sentence for putting a plastic bag over his 2-year-old son's head.

Scott, who was also fined $200, pleaded guilty earlier this month to child endangerment and called his actions "stupid and reckless."

Scott said he put the plastic bag over his son's head to show the boy there was nothing to fear.

If Scott does not violate terms of his probation, the gross misdemeanor will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Scott, currently a free agent, was a third-round pick in the 2004 NFL draft and played in 48 games with the Vikings.

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Bears' Hester misses practice in midst of holdout

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- Devin Hester, who has electrified the NFL with 11 punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns in his first two seasons, skipped the Chicago Bears' first training camp practice Wednesday in a holdout.

Hester, a two-time Pro Bowler, was placed on the Bears' Reserve/Did Not Report list.

"I'm not coming," Hester told the Chicago Tribune in a phone interview. "I have to make a statement. I showed by going to [organized team activities] that I was a team player. But then, I just felt like they weren't taking it seriously that I wanted to get a new deal."

Hester

Hester, who also played wide receiver last season, has two years remaining on his initial deal. He was the Bears' second round-draft pick in 2006.

According to ESPN.com's John Clayton, talks on a contract extension ran out of time now the Bears are expected to fine Hester $15,000 a day.

In addition to his four kickoff returns and seven punt returns for touchdowns over two seasons, he also returned a missed field goal 108 yards for a TD and took the opening kickoff of the 2007 Super Bowl 92 yards for a score.

As a receiver last season, trying to learn the nuances of the position, he had 20 catches, with an 81-yard TD.

"I can't go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man," Hester said.

The Bears have given new deals this offseason to Lance Briggs, Tommie Harris, Brian Urlacher, Desmond Clark and Alex Brown.

In a deal first reported by Clayton, the Bears on Wednesday agreed to a five-year, $16 million contract with first-round pick Chris Williams. The deal includes a little less than $10 million in guarantees.

NFC North blog

ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert writes about all things NFC North in his division blog.

• Blog network: NFL Nation

Hester's holdout also comes a day after Urlacher signed a one-year extension. The team did not reveal terms of the deal but ESPN.com reported on Monday Urlacher will receive a $6 million signing bonus along with a $1 million bump in salary each of the next four years. The sides also have agreed to extend the pact into 2012, at a salary of $7.5 million. Urlacher can earn an additional $500,000 from a workout bonus in 2012.

Urlacher had initially signed a nine-year, $56.65 million deal in 2003.

General manager Jerry Angelo said after practice Wednesday he was surprised and disappointed that Hester was a no-show.

"Unexpected. We thought Devin was going to be here. As you know, we've been negotiating with Devin for a while and we are continually negotiating with him as well. So I really don't know why he isn't here today," Angelo said.

Angelo said he'd talked a few days ago to Eugene Parker, Hester's agent.

"He floated it out there, but I didn't really take it serious because, as I say, we are still talking, we're still in the process, there's no closure. Usually when you say, 'Hey, it's over, take it or leave it, we're out of money,' you might get a reaction like that. But as you're continuing on in negotiations as we have been, it is surprising."

Parker could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Angelo said the Bears didn't necessarily have a pecking order this offseason for getting new contracts done with players.

"We did tell Devin we were going to address his situation and we have," Angelo said. "That's where it is. The timing of it maybe wasn't satisfactory to him, but again, those things just kind of run their course."

Hester wasn't the only player missing the first day of drills on a warm but comfortable afternoon at Olivet Nazarene University.

Star center Olin Kreutz (Achilles' tendon) and newly acquired running back Kevin Jones (knee) were placed on the physically unable to perform list, while defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek (calf) and guard Chester Adams (stomach) were put on the non-football injury list.

But it was the absence of the speedy No. 23 that created a buzz on the first day of a camp that will feature an open competition for the starting quarterback's job between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton.

Grossman won a coin flip at a meeting Wednesday and worked with the first team on the first day. And now they will alternate with the first unit each practice, with Orton getting that opportunity on Thursday.

But when they'll be able to throw to Hester is not clear.

"He's got to do what he's got to do and I'm not really going to comment on it," Grossman said.

Bears coach Lovie Smith said he had spoken with his Hester.

"I don't have any idea how long it will be. We would like to get him out here as soon as possible," Smith said.

"I know he would like to be out here. He realizes how important this work is, especially this early work with him becoming a full-time receiver."

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Army now saying Campbell can't play for Lions

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Caleb Campbell was a day away from practicing with the Detroit Lions and taking a step toward his dream of playing in the NFL.

"He was issued a helmet, ready to go," coach Rod Marinelli said Wednesday.

Now, Campbell, who was the Lions seventh-round draft pick, is closer to joining his fellow West Point graduates in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"When I got drafted, I told people that I was going to have the best of both worlds," Campbell said. "I was going to be in the United States Army and I was going to have a chance to play professional football. Now, I have the best of one world and I'm very positive about that. It's all going to work out.

"I'm in great shape and I'm going to stay in great shape. I'm going to fulfil my duty to the United States Army and do what I've got to do. One day, hopefully I'll get another opportunty to play in the NFL."

The U.S. Army revised its interpretation of U.S. Department of Defense policy two weeks ago regarding soldiers playing professional sports, requiring cadets to complete two years of active duty before applying for a release. Campbell and the Lions didn't officially receive notice of the change until the eve of training camp.

"It's unfortunate, but it doesn't mean Caleb Campbell's dream is dead. It just means it will be delayed," Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb told The Associated Press. "We want to take care of soldiers and dashing their hopes is not what we intend. But it is what it is."

Edgecomb said minor league baseball players Nick Hill and Milan Dinga, former West Point standouts, will be allowed to finish their seasons before eventually joining their units.

"We did an internal review of our policy and found that based on the DOD policy, we needed to adjust our policy," Edgecomb said Wednesday.

Campbell agreed to contract terms but did not sign the deal. The Lions will retain his rights until the 2009 draft, but he will not be eligible to play until 2010.

"Obviously, he's disappointed," said Marinelli, a Vietnam veteran. "But I obviously know what he's about. He got his orders and he's ready to report."

When Detroit drafted Campbell in April, it created a lot of publicity and led to some debate whether it was fair for a cadet to play pro sports while classmates were at war.

The buzz might have also made the Navy and Air Force bitter because their graduates were playing under different rules under the same Department of Defense directive, which was implemented in 1994, reiterated in 2007 and again just a few days after the NFL draft.

"The policy has not changed," Department of Defense spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said.

Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter ruled last month that Mitch Harris must serve a five-year active duty commitment. Harris, a 22-year-old pitcher with a 95-mph fastball, was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round in this year's draft.

Harris acknowledged being surprised by the ruling because Campbell was being allowed to pursue football while completing his military service as a recruiter and in the reserves.

"Army has redefined the Alternative Service Option to include playing professional sports," Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk has said. "Our coaches are now operating under a significant handicap when recruiting head-to-head with Army. It may not be reflected on the playing field today, but I can guarantee you that it will result in a competitive disadvantage down the road."

The Air Force agreed, saying the academies recruit cadets from the same pool of candidates.

Last month, the Army embraced the advantage.

"The real advantage for the Army is just the amount of publicity we get," Edgecomb said in an AP story published on June 13. "When you think about it, who's the best recruiter for the Navy you can think of? David Robinson. He's called the Admiral, for goodness sake. The attention that we get in our primary demographic to have someone playing sports who's in the Army, that's where [we] in the Army see the advantage in this program."

Before he became a superstar center with the San Antonio Spurs, Robinson served two years of active duty for the Navy after graduating from the academy in the 1980s. He benefited from a policy that allowed him to apply for an early release to pursue "an activity with potential recruiting or public affairs benefit to the Navy and Marine Corps."

In 1986, Navy running back Napoleon McCallum played his rookie year with the Los Angeles Raiders while stationed at the Long Beach, Calif., naval base.

The Army changed its policy on July 8, but it wasn't until July 23 that the Lions received a letter from U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jonathan P. Liba, informing them in writing that Campbell had to cease playing football in order to perform "full time traditional military duties," until at least 2010.

"It's unfortunate that the timing of the new policy is happening at the same time that he was about to begin trying out, but that's not something we planned," Edgecomb said. "But he's been at West Point for four years and he went there to be an officer. What he's accomplished on a football field has been outstanding, but what he'll accomplish as a soldier will be even greater."

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Pats lineman pleads guilty; drug charge on hold

WHITESTOWN, N.Y. -- New England Patriots offensive lineman Nick Kaczur pleaded guilty Tuesday to speeding in a deal with prosecutors that will put a misdemeanor drug possession charge on hold.

Kaczur

The 28-year-old Kaczur was ordered to pay $355 in fines and fees by Whitestown Town Justice Stanley Wolanin, who said the drug possession charge will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for the next six months.

The plea deal also requires Kaczur to comply with any type of treatment, monitoring or employee assistance program imposed by the Patriots, Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone said.

"We are pleased with this disposition," said Louis Viviani, a Syracuse lawyer who represented Kaczur at Tuesday's 10-minute proceeding.

Viviani said Kaczur is ready to go to Patriots camp on Wednesday.

Kaczur, who was accompanied by his wife, had no comment.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said the team had no comment.

Kaczur was originally charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. He was also charged with going 76 mph in a 65 mph zone.

According to police reports, Kaczur had 202 OxyContin pills labeled as made in Canada when he was pulled over April 27 by state troopers near Utica.

Kaczur was returning from his hometown of Brantford, Ontario, when he was stopped.

According to published reports, Kaczur has helped federal authorities arrest the man accused of supplying him with the drug, Daniel Ekasala. Kaczur reportedly told federal drug agents he bought hundreds of oxycodone pills weekly from Ekasala starting in November 2007.

Ekasala's attorney has said his client was not the source of the pills police found in Kaczur's truck. Ekasala has pleaded not guilty to three counts of possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute, said his attorney, Bernard Grossberg.

Kaczur was drafted by the Patriots in 2005 after playing four years at Toledo, where he was the first player in school history to make the All-Mid American Conference team in four seasons. He has started 35 games for the Patriots over three seasons.

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Dungy says Manning might play during preseason

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony Dungy is certain Peyton Manning's left knee will be ready for the Colts' season-opener.

Manning

Heck, the Colts coach said he thinks Manning might even play during the presesason.

On Tuesday, Dungy said he was optimistic the Colts' biggest question heading into training camp -- Manning's valuable knee -- could be resolved quicker than most people expect. Manning had surgery last week to remove an infected bursa sac, a procedure doctors said would require four to six weeks to heal.

Typically, Dungy defers to the medical experts on injury matters, but the Colts' Super Bowl-winning coach knows Manning well enough to realize keeping Manning off the field for six weeks may be tougher than the rehab process.

"I have talked to Peyton and we're just following the doctors instructions right now," Dungy said. "I'm hoping for four weeks, but if he's truly out six weeks, I think it will be hard to keep him out. However it goes, he'll be ready when he comes back." AFC South blog

ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky writes about all things AFC South in his division blog.

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Manning has not spoken publicly since having surgery last Tuesday and is expected to take questions Thursday when the Colts report to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.

Over the past decade Manning has earned a reputation as one of the league's best and most durable quarterbacks. He has started all 160 regular-season games in his 10-year career, the second-longest streak of any quarterback in NFL history behind Brett Favre's record of 253. Manning has never missed a playoff start, either, compiling a postseason record of 7-7, and has missed only one play in his pro career because of injury.

It's not the first time Manning has battled a bursa sac injury.

During the SEC championship game of his senior season at Tennessee, Manning ruptured a bursa sac in his right knee then played through the injury in the Orange Bowl. He was later hospitalized when it became infected but showed no ill-effects; he produced the best statistics of any rookie quarterback in league history.

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Despite the loss of several star players, Peyton Manning guided the Colts to a 13-3 season.

Still, this is the first time Indy enters camp with any questions at quarterback since Manning's five-day contract holdout in 1998, his rookie season.

But Manning's absence may have less effect this summer since Dungy, offensive coordinator Tom Moore and associate head coach Jim Caldwell had already decided to limit how many snaps the 32-year-old Manning would have in camp.

"It may be a blessing in disguise because Tom, Jim and I talked in June about giving Jim [Sorgi] some extra work with the first group anyways," Dungy said. "Peyton would like to take every snap, but Jim [Caldwell] has scaled it back every year. It would be optimal to get a couple of weeks in, but if not I think we'll be able to go."

Manning won't be the Colts' only prominent player missing from Friday's first practice.

Dungy expects four other starters to join Manning on the PUP list -- safety Bob Sanders, last year's NFL defensive player of the year; defensive end Dwight Freeney, the 2004 NFL sacks champion; guard Ryan Lilja and linebacker Tyjuan Hagler. All are expected to be ready for the season-opener, Sept. 7 against Chicago.

The good news is that Indy now expects record-setting receiver Marvin Harrison to be available for practice. Harrison missed most of last season with a left knee injury, had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in January and also was expected to open camp on the PUP list.

"The last I heard from the doctors meeting was that Marvin would be ready to go," Dungy said of his 35-year-old receiver. "He's been running and feeling good and everyone is optimistic."

The optimist in Dungy also anticipates a rash of rookie signings before Thursday's midafternoon reporting deadline.

On Tuesday, sixth-round pick Pierre Garcon, a receiver, became the first of Indy's nine draft picks to sign. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Colts also appear close to an agreement with their top pick, offensive lineman Mike Pollak, who was taken late in the second round.

"Things are going smoothly and we expect him to be in camp on time," said Ken Zuckerman, Pollak's agent.

Dungy said another sixth-round pick, Tom Santi, is expected to open camp on the PUP list because of an infected bursa sac. But for everyone other than Dungy, the biggest concern is Manning's left knee.

"Santi has a bursa sac infection too although his didn't get quite the national attention Peyton's did," Dungy joked. "My biggest concern is that we don't take things for granted. I think if we focus in, our talent level will be good enough to make us a good team."

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Bears have QB battle but Favre likely not in fray

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- A quarterback competition promises to heat up the Chicago Bears' training camp, and coach Lovie Smith wanted to make it clear there was no perceived favorite between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton.

"It's dead even," Smith said Tuesday as the Bears reported to Olivet Nazarene University for a camp that kicks off with a first practice Wednesday.

Grossman

Orton

"I think it will be a great competition between Rex and Kyle or Kyle and Rex, however you want to say it. The guy who ends up winning the position, we feel real good about him leading us where we want to go."

So who gets the first snap with the first team on Wednesday?

"Practice is tomorrow at 3 [p.m.]. See you there," Smith replied.

Smith wouldn't set a date for deciding the starter, even if he has one in mind. He said teams generally like to have their starters play together for the third preseason game. The Bears begin their preseason schedule Aug. 7.

"As far as competition when it goes, I want the players to think they have as many chances as they possibly can to prove they deserve to be in a certain position," Smith added. "I just don't think that's anything that no one else really needs to know right now."

One guy who isn't in the Bears' picture is a player who has beaten them often -- Brett Favre. Favre and the Green Bay Packers are embroiled in a rift after he decided he wanted to play again and not retire.

"Brett Favre is one of the all-time great players to play our game for a long period of time," Smith said. "I assume he'll play for the Packers this year. If not there, I assume somebody out there, I don't who that is."

The Bears have plenty to sort out during training camp other than the battle between Grossman, who led the team to the Super Bowl two years ago but whose career has been characterized by erratic play, and Orton, who started 15 games in 2005 and the final three last season.

Orton is eager to play again after sitting for so long.

"I was kinda stuck back at three these last three camps and this is the first time I've come in with a chance to be the guy opening day," he said, adding that he expects an even competition.

"I definitely think so. It's been extremely fair through OTAs and I don't see any reason why that would change."

Grossman said what's happened during his first five seasons is behind him.

"I'm focusing on the present. The past or the future doesn't really matter. I'm living in the now right now," he said. "In some ways I think everyone has to prove themselves every single year. So you know this is a little bigger for me in this instance. But no doubt I am extremely motivated, ready to go."

Chicago is revamping its offensive line and a lot is contingent on getting first-round pick Chris Williams signed so he can learn the left tackle spot that is so crucial to protecting the quarterback.

With the departures of Ruben Brown and Fred Miller, John Tait has moved to right tackle alongside Roberto Garza. Terrence Metcalf, Josh Beekman and veteran John St. Clair are all candidates for playing time on the left side.

Williams is expected to be the starter and Smith said he thinks the young tackle will sign soon.

"If you're a rookie and if you're just looking at what history tell you, you need to be in camp that first day. You want to blend in that first day, you don't want to come out and stick out as being the only story that's happening that day," Smith said.

"I assume he'll be here and ready to play."

After the release of the Cedric Benson following two off-field incidents, the Bears could turn to second-round pick Matt Forte as their starting running back, but it could be recently signed Kevin Jones, who's coming off a knee injury and will be brought along slowly.

With speedy Bernard Berrian now with the Vikings, the Bears brought back Marty Booker and added Brandon Lloyd to a receiving corps that will feature return star Devin Hester.

And Smith said he expects the Bears to play defense like they did two years ago en route to winning the NFC. Tackle Tommy Harris and linebackers Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher, who form the core of the defense, all have new deals since last season. Urlacher signed a one-year contract extension Tuesday through 2012 that is worth $18 million. He is coming off minor neck surgery in the offseason.

The Bears also need a healthy Nathan Vasher in the secondary. He played only four games last season.

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Son of Eagles coach Reid sentenced to drug rehab

NORRISTOWN, Pa. -- The son of Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid was sentenced to two years in a drug rehabilitation program on Tuesday.

Garrett Reid

Garrett Reid had pleaded guilty in May to trying to smuggle dozens of pills into the Montgomery County Jail.

Reid, 25, was serving time in the jail for a heroin-fueled car crash that injured a motorist.

When Reid surrendered on charges related to that crash in October, prison guards found 89 prescription pills inside his rectum.

He was sentenced Tuesday via video conference from a facility in Camp Hill by a judge at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown.

Reid will spend at least five more months behind bars as part of the program intended to integrate drug and alcohol addicts back into society.

A Montgomery County judge said he hoped the sentence will help Reid address a "long history of addiction," which also includes a conviction on charges related to a heroin-fueled car crash that injured a motorist.

"You are an addict," Judge Steven O'Neill told Reid. "The intention is to get this young man treatment. His addiction is deep, long-lasting and he is in need of treatment."

The two year program includes seven months of jail time -- two of which Reid has already served -- followed by 17 months of integration into society. That may include halfway houses, private facilities and possibly staying at private residences, Reid family attorney Paul Rosen said after the sentencing.

Reid has been in prison since November, first serving his sentence related to the DUI crash, then to be evaluated for the state rehab program.

Reid was also sentenced to three years of probation following the program. If Reid should fail to complete the program, he would return before the judge and could face two years in state prison.

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Gates tests out big toe at Chargers' training camp

SAN DIEGO -- Chargers tight end Antonio Gates tested his surgically repaired left big toe Monday at training camp and said it's about 65 to 70 percent healed.

Gates

While rookies and select veterans opened camp, Gates went through a 45-minute workout on a side field. He tested the toe by running and cutting.

Gates was hurt in a wild-card playoff win against Tennessee and then played against Indianapolis and New England despite being in obvious pain. He underwent surgery in late-February to repair what he said was a tear in the plantar plate.

"Obviously, it's a process," Gates said. "I'm a lot better than I felt a month ago. I can say that. I have no determinant on when and how fast I'll be coming back. But right now, I feel good. It's a little sore, but it's tolerable."

Meanwhile, first-round draft pick Antoine Cason officially became a holdout when he missed Monday's workout. Selected 27th overall, the cornerback from Arizona hasn't reached contract terms.

"I wish he was here, but he's not," coach Norv Turner said. "I never try to speculate on progress and are they close or are they not close? There's no such thing in my mind. It's either done or it's not done. I thought it would be done now. It's not."

Said general manager A.J. Smith: "I just hope he's here soon, is all I can say."

Also Monday, Turner said linebacker Anthony Waters underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Friday and will be sidelined two to three weeks. Waters missed last season while recovering from a torn ACL in the same knee while playing for Clemson in 2006.

Gates said it was too early to know whether he'll be ready for the season opener against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 7. Monday was the third time Gates tested the foot by running, and saw progress when comparing the session to the other two workouts.

"The first time I went out there, I wasn't able to finish the workout," Gates said. "The second time, I finished it, but I was really, really sore. Now it's to the point where I can finish the workout and the next day it will be a little bit sore. As it continues to go on and the progress continues, hopefully I can just get through a workout and feel really good the next day."

Gates caught 75 passes for 984 yards and nine touchdowns last regular season.

Quarterback Philip Rivers, who played hurt in the AFC Championship Game, said he's fully recovered from the torn anterior cruciate ligament that required surgery.

"I've been going full-go now for over a month," Rivers said. "There's nothing I can't do. There are times throughout the day I can't tell which knee I hurt."

In other injury news, Turner said center Nick Hardwick is making progress from offseason foot surgery, but is a candidate to be placed on the physically unable to perform list. If he were placed on that list and not removed before the start of the season, he would be required to sit out the first six games of the regular season.

Receiver Eric Parker, who missed all of last season with a toe injury, wasn't at the team complex Monday and his tenure with the Chargers could end within the next couple of days.

"If we have any developments regarding Eric, we'll let you know immediately," Smith said.

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Bucs safety tasered twice during nightclub arrest

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers reserve safety Donte Nicholson was tasered twice and arrested during a weekend scuffle with police officers at the entrance of a St. Petersburg nightclub.

Nicholson

The third-year pro, who appeared in one game last season, was taken to Pinellas County Jail early Sunday and charged with misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest without violence. He was released after posting $300 bond.

The Bucs had no immediate comment on the arrest.

Pinellas County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said Nicholson's roommate, Torrey Robinson, was also arrested after scuffling with security guards, who were trying to prevent him from re-entering the club when it was closing.

Sheriff's deputies outside the club noticed the scuffle and intervened.

While Robinson was being taken into custody, a separate scuffle involving Nicholson ensued, and Bordner said the football player was tasered after he did not obey instructions when deputies moved in to arrest him.

Nicholson was drafted in the fifth round in 2005. He's appeared in 11 games over parts of three seasons, making 10 tackles on special teams.

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Fine for Super Bowl 'wardrobe malfunction' tossed

PHILADELPHIA -- A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction."

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show prompted changes to later halftime shows.

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing the fine for the fleeting image of nudity.

The 90 million people watching the Super Bowl, many of them children, heard Justin Timberlake sing, "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song," as he reached for Jackson's bustier.

The court found that the FCC deviated from its nearly 30-year practice of fining indecent broadcast programming only when it was so "pervasive as to amount to 'shock treatment' for the audience."

"Like any agency, the FCC may change its policies without judicial second-guessing," the court said. "But it cannot change a well-established course of action without supplying notice of and a reasoned explanation for its policy departure."

The 3rd Circuit judges -- Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica, Judge Marjorie O. Rendell and Judge Julio M. Fuentes -- also ruled that the FCC deviated from its long-held approach of applying identical standards to words and images when reviewing complaints of indecency.

"The Commission's determination that CBS' broadcast of a nine-sixteenths of one second glimpse of a bare female breast was actionably indecent evidenced the agency's departure from its prior policy," the court found. "Its orders constituted the announcement of a policy change -- that fleeting images would no longer be excluded from the scope of actionable indecency."

In a statement Monday, CBS said it hoped the decision "will lead the FCC to return to the policy of restrained indecency enforcement it followed for decades."

"This is an important win for the entire broadcasting industry because it recognizes that there are rare instances, particularly during live programming, when it may not be possible to block unfortunate fleeting material, despite best efforts," the network said.

The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman of the Media Access Project, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a group of TV writers, directors and producers, said the ruling "is an important advance for preserving creative freedom on the air."

"The court agreed with us: the FCC's inconsistent and unexplained departure from prior decisions leaves artists and journalists confused as to what is, and is not, permissible," Schwartzman said in a statement Monday.

But Tim Winter of the watchdog organization Parents Television Council said the court's decision "borders on judicial stupidity."

"If a striptease during the Super Bowl in front of 90 million people -- including millions of children -- doesn't fit the parameters of broadcast indecency, then what does?" Winter said in a statement.

The FCC had argued that Jackson's nudity, albeit fleeting, was graphic and explicit and CBS should have been forewarned. Jackson has said the decision to add a costume reveal -- exposing her right breast, which had only a silver sunburst "shield" covering her nipple -- came after the final rehearsal.

At the time, broadcasters did not employ a video delay for live events, a policy remedied within a week of the game.

In challenging the fine, CBS said that "fleeting, isolated or unintended" images should not automatically be considered indecent.

But the FCC said Jackson and Timberlake were employees of CBS and that the network should have to pay for their "willful" actions, given its lack of oversight.

The $550,000 fine represents the maximum $27,500 levied against each of the network's 20 owned-and-operated stations.

Shortly after the 2004 Super Bowl, the FCC changed its policy on fleeting indecency following an NBC broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show on which U2 lead singer Bono uttered an unscripted expletive. The FCC said at the time that the "F-word" in any context "inherently has a sexual connotation" and can trigger enforcement.

NBC challenged the decision, but that case has yet to be resolved.

In June 2007, a federal appeals court in New York invalidated the government's policy on fleeting profanities uttered over the airwaves in a case involving remarks by Cher and Nicole Richie on awards shows carried on Fox stations. The Supreme Court will hear the case this fall.

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No. 2 pick Long agrees to six-year deal with Rams

Chris Long, the second overall pick in the NFL draft, reached agreement with the St. Louis Rams on Saturday night.

The financial terms of the five-year deal, with the option for a sixth, were not available. The Rams report to training camp at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis., on Thursday.

The Rams anticipate the 279-pound Long starting at right end to beef up an anemic pass rush.

Long's signing means the top three picks have agreed to contracts before training camp. The Dolphins signed first overall pick Jake Long, an offensive tackle from Michigan, before the draft and quarterback Matt Ryan has signed with the Falcons.

The Rams have signed half of their eight picks.

Long is the son of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long.

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Favre returns to Lambeau as favor to teammate

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Brett Favre stuck to the script, declining to address his public rift with the Green Bay Packers in an appearance at Lambeau Field on Saturday.

In town to present former teammate Frank Winters for induction into the Packers' Hall of Fame at a banquet Saturday night, Favre briefly spoke with reporters about his former center's career before abruptly stepping off the stage and ducking out a side door.

But before he left, Favre paused to praise the place where he used to play -- and now is trying to make a play to get away from.

"That's the thing about Green Bay," said Favre, who spoke for about three minutes. "It's a special place. There's a lot of tradition. You think of the Packers, you think of all these great names, and to be a part of that -- and I know Frank feels honored -- is a special thing. I'm thankful that he asked me to be here."

With that, Favre introduced Winters and walked off the stage.

Favre also put the smoldering controversy aside when he received a team MVP award during Saturday night's event, calling himself "an old, gray-haired quarterback showing I can still do it."

Favre went out of his way to thank former teammates, something he chided himself for forgetting to do during the taping of the ESPY awards in Los Angeles earlier this week.

"It's all about the team," Favre said. "I hope I have never lost sight of that."

Favre also put the matter aside as he introduced Winters. Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy both were present for the ceremony.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Mike Roemer

Brett Favre talks during a news conference before the Packers' Hall of Fame induction banquet.

The only passing mention to the latest chapter in the Favre retirement saga came from event master of ceremonies Larry McCarren, a former Packers player and current broadcaster.

"There are bigger problems in the world than the one the Packer nation is wrestling with now," McCarren said early on as he urged attendees to put the issue aside for the night.

On Saturday afternoon, Winters said he was glad Favre kept his commitment to present him to the Packers' Hall of Fame despite the fact that it might be an awkward situation, given the very public nature of Favre's rift with the team in recent weeks.

"There's a lot of people probably, around the NFL and the United States probably thinking Brett wouldn't show up today," said Winters, who had asked Favre to present him several months ago. "But I knew deep down inside he would, and he told me he would be here, and it's a great honor."

Favre retired in early March, but recently has been having second thoughts about playing in 2008. But the latest, and most intense, episode in several offseasons' worth of Favre's flip-flopping on his future in football was met with lukewarm enthusiasm by the Packers, who spent the offseason planning to move forward with Aaron Rodgers as their starter.

Favre asked to be released from his contract, a request the team has no plans to grant. The next step for Favre could be to petition NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstatement, a move that would force the Packers to release him or place him on their active roster. He also could be traded.

The Packers have filed tampering charges against the Minnesota Vikings, suspecting that interest from the Vikings is the main reason Favre has changed his mind about playing in 2008.

Favre's rights belong to the Packers until his current contract expires after the 2010 season.

In an interview with Fox News last week, Favre criticized Thompson for being untruthful with him. Packers officials have gone out of their way not to criticize Favre, instead laying out a specific timeline of their dealings with him in the offseason in hopes that fans will understand why the team decided to move forward without No. 4.

The most significant episode in their timeline came in late March, when Favre led the Packers to believe he was going to unretire and they were prepared to welcome him back -- only to change his mind once again and stay retired.

Despite the public acrimony, Winters said Saturday night's dinner -- where Favre was to present Winters and receive a team MVP award from the Hall of Fame for his performance last season -- wouldn't be a problem.

"I don't think it's awkward," Winters said. "I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that would like to ask him a lot of questions. But this is a special night for a couple of guys, and we're just going to keep it to that."

Saturday night's inductees included Winters, former defensive tackle Gilbert Brown and former video director Al Treml.

Brown deflected a question about whether Favre's situation is going to overshadow the evening's event.

"I don't know," Brown said. "All I know is tonight is (about) Gilbert Brown, Frank Winters and Al Treml. That's all I care about."

Winters also ducked questions about the Favre situation.

"When it plays out, however it plays out, I'll comment at that point," Winters said. "But right now, I'm not going to comment on it and take anything away from the other guys that are getting inducted tonight."

Despite putting himself in a potentially awkward situation, Favre still managed to laugh about the good times he had while playing with Winters -- including the first time they met in 1992, when Favre's conditioning was less than ideal.

"I said, 'What do you play?' He said, 'I play center," said Favre, who weighed 252 pounds at the time. "He says to me, 'What do you play, linebacker?' And from that point on, we were inseparable."

Winters said he didn't have any insights on Favre's next move. But he acknowledged that it's difficult for players to leave the game.

"You miss the guys," Winters said. "I'm not going to lie, you miss the paycheck. It's a great way to make a living. But sooner or later, you realize it's time to move on."

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Jets sign fifth-round pick Ainge, free agent DeVan

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Quarterback Erik Ainge, the New York Jets' fifth-round draft pick, signed a contact with the team Thursday.

The left-handed Ainge became a starter in his freshman year and started 35 games overall for Tennessee. He won two bowl games and ranks third in school history in completions (516), pass attempts (854) and touchdown passes (51). He also ranks fourth for Tennessee with 6,308 yards passing and third with 6,107 yards of total offense.

The 6-foot-5 Ainge is the nephew of Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge. He likely will compete for the third-string job behind Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens.

New York also signed Oregon State offensive lineman Kyle DeVan, who was not drafted this year. DeVan originally signed with Washington, but was released. He appeared in 50 career games with 38 consecutive starts for the Beavers.

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Veteran Gibbs assistant retires for health reasons

ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins assistant coach Don Breaux retired Thursday because of a heart condition after 27 NFL seasons. He spent 17 seasons with Washington and was part of three Super Bowl championship teams.

Breaux is leaving just before the start of training camp, which opens Sunday. He worked for head coach Joe Gibbs as running backs coach from 1981-93, and as offensive coordinator from 2004-07.

Gibbs retired for a second time after last season and was replaced by Jim Zorn.

"It was a privilege to coach for one of the NFL's premier franchises for 17 years under an outstanding leader of men in Joe Gibbs," Breaux said.

He also worked for the New York Jets in 1994, and for the Carolina Panthers from 1995-02.

Breaux played three seasons in the AFL. After coaching in college, his first NFL coaching job was with the Houston Oilers in 1972.

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Vikings, NFL won't discuss Favre tampering charge

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings have declined to comment on allegations by the Green Bay Packers that they made inappropriate contact with quarterback Brett Favre.

Vikings spokesman Bob Hagan issued a two-sentence statement on Thursday that said the Vikings "are not commenting on the issue. These types of matters are handled by the league."

The Packers filed a tampering charge with the league, contending Favre, who has asked the Packers for his release, has been talking with Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. The two became friends when Bevell was an assistant coach with the Packers.

A source in Green Bay told ESPN.com's John Clayton the Packers believe they have a strong case against the Vikings. They believe the Vikings were willing to talk to Favre in order to cause chaos within the Packers family during the summer.

Another source suggested Favre might have had a conversation with Vikings coach Brad Childress.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Wednesday the league had no comment. The Vikings open the season in Green Bay.

Fellow NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers told Bloomberg Television he believes Favre was forced to retire before he was ready to.

"Brett Favre should have the opportunity to control his own destiny,'' the running back and 2006 MVP said Thursday. "If he wants to come back and play football, then let him come back. I think that he was forced to retire prematurely. He finally realized that's not what he wants to do."

"I think they are making a mistake," Tomlinson said of the Packers. "If they don't want [Favre] back, that's one thing. Release him, let him go to another team, but don't tell him he can come back but he's going to be a backup. That's not fair to Brett Favre and everything he's done for the organization."

On June 20, Favre, who retired on March 3, called Packers coach Mike McCarthy and told him he had the "itch" to return to the NFL. On Saturday, Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Favre could return to active status on the Packers if he comes out of retirement, but his role would not be determined. During Favre's retirement, Aaron Rodgers has been deemed Favre's successor.

NFL.com Video

Packers file tampering charges against Vikings for illegal contact with Brett Favre.

The Packers said they were ready to welcome Favre back to the team later in March when Favre expressed reservations about his decision to retire, only to be assured by the quarterback that he was finished.

Favre has said that he felt pressured by the Packers to retire and now has been told that if he returns to Green Bay, he wouldn't necessarily get the starting job back.

If the Packers can prove the Vikings tampered with Favre, they could be subject to fines or a possible loss of a draft choice.

Childress called the situation a "soap opera," and said earlier this week that it's been interesting to watch, but he remained committed to going forward with Tarvaris Jackson as the Vikings' starting quarterback.

Bevell was not available to comment on Thursday and neither were any other Vikings officials, Hagan said.

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, the Favre-Packers feud has begun to weigh on former players in addition to the fan base. Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis remains respectful of Favre's iconic status but believes the team has a need to move on.

"It is a bit of sadness," Davis said this week in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "And it's a bit of sadness because I know how much of a burden this places on everybody."

Davis, an emeritus member of the Packers' board of directors, played for Green Bay from 1960 to '69 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981. From his own experience, he knows how hard it can be for a player to know when to retire.

But he hasn't quite seen anything quite like this.

"It's not only a surprise to me," Davis said. "I cannot believe the magnitude of this thing."

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Redskins, TE Davis agree to $3.5 million contract

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins and rookie tight end Fred Davis agreed to a $3.5 million, four-year contract on Saturday, a day before training camp opens.

The deal includes a $1.8 million signing bonus for the 6-foot-4, 247-pound Davis, who was taken in the second round, 48th overall, out of Southern California in April's NFL draft.

"I can say I'm finally a Redskin," Davis said.

Davis said it was important for him to sign before training camp began.

"I didn't want to lose any time, any chance to play or get out there," he said. "I wanted to learn everything. I knew that would be the smartest thing."

The Redskins now have deals with all 10 of their picks going into training camp.

"It's not only important for us, it's important for those guys to be able to start on day one with the team," Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. "I think it creates a great atmosphere, we all start out right and we all start out on the first day."

Also Saturday, Washington released tight end Tyler Ecker, a 2007 seventh-round draft pick who spent all of last season on injured reserve.

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If reinstated, Henry open to return to Bengals

Now that former Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry's legal issues are behind him and he could possibly be reinstated, the question is: Where will he land next?

Henry

According to Henry and his agent, Marvin Frazier, a return to the Bengals is a possibility.

"We have interest in several teams, including Cincinnati,'' Frazier said Thursday. Frazier says it's still early in the process, but the Bengals have shown preliminary interest in Henry since his assault charge was dropped in Hamilton County (Ohio) court earlier this week. Perhaps expecting a suspension following Henry's fifth arrest, the team released Henry before the legal system ran its course. But Henry says he wouldn't hold any grudges against the organization that drafted him in 2005. In fact, he would welcome a return to the Bengals with open arms. "Going back to the Bengals is possible,'' Henry said. "I wouldn't mind it happening because I loved playing in Cincinnati. I got real close with all the guys out there and I planned on being out there for a long time. I really had a good time playing ball out there in Ohio."

NFL.com Video

Carson Palmer 52-yard TD pass to Chris Henry.

The Bengals, in a prepared statement issued by public relations director Jack Brennan, said they could not respond to Henry's comments about a potential return. "Chris is presently under NFL suspension, and until such time as he may be reinstated, we are not in position to comment," the team said. "Even in the event he is reinstated, he is no longer our player, and rarely if ever do we comment on any player who is not under contract with us." Henry says he's been working out and getting back into football shape. He has no doubts that he can help a team this season. He had 88 career receptions for 1,370 yards and 17 touchdowns as Cincinnati's No. 3 receiver behind Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Henry still has to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to seek a lifting of his suspension. A date has not been set, but a meeting could take place within the next two weeks.

"All we could say is this would be reviewed at the appropriate time, and all factors would be considered," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday, when the assault charge against Henry was dropped.

Overall, Henry, 25, knows this is an important time for him, wherever he signs, and he's looking at this opportunity as a new beginning in his life and football career. "That's what I'm trying to make it,'' Henry said. "I'm just focusing on what I need to be doing off the field so I can keep doing what I do on the field. I just have to be smart and handle myself like a professional at all times. Off the field, if I'll handle situations like I'm supposed to everything else will take care of itself."

He was suspended by the NFL for eight games last year. When he returned for the second half of the season, he caught 21 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns.

Henry had nine touchdown catches in 13 games in 2006, when he was suspended by the league for two games and benched for another by coach Marvin Lewis because of misconduct.

Henry's legal problems include arrests for possession of marijuana in northern Kentucky, carrying a concealed weapon in Florida, drunken driving in Ohio and providing alcohol to minors in northern Kentucky.

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WOODS OPTS FOR OPEN RETURN

Jets ink TE Keller; Gholston remains unsigned

The New York Jets have come to terms with one of their first-round choices, tight end Dustin Keller, the team announced Friday. Terms of the Keller deal weren't available.

"There was never really any doubt in my mind that we were going to get everything done on time," Keller said. "I'm just happy that everything's done and to officially be a New York Jet -- just happy that all that stuff's done now and we can actually get down to the real football business and get the pads on."

Keller was the 30th selection in the first round and his signing leaves the Jets with one unsigned rookie, linebacker/defensive end Vernon Gholston, the sixth pick in the draft.

Keller caught 142 passes for 1,882 yards and 16 touchdowns for Purdue.

"I feel pretty confident with the offense right now. I've been doing a lot of studying and getting everything down," Keller said. "As far as expectations for the season, I haven't really set any true expectations for myself. For right now, I just want to get the offense down as good as I can and I want to go out there and give the Jets everything I've got every chance I'm out there."

The Jets have had some of their rookies in for orientation this week. Their camp begins Wednesday.

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Giants price seat licenses from $1,000 to $20,000

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- More than 80 percent of the New York Giants' current season ticket holders will be charged between $1,000 and $7,500 for the right to buy tickets for the team's new stadium under a personal seat license plan announced by the Giants on Thursday. Licenses for some of the best seats will cost as much as $20,000.

The plan gives the first detailed breakdown of the costs season ticket holders will incur and their options to downgrade.

The Giants announced two weeks ago that they would be imposing seat license fees, which have become a common means of helping sports team owners finance new stadiums.

Giants chief executive John Mara noted that revenue from the one-time fee will raise $371 million toward the cost of the $1.6 billion stadium being built and paid for by the Giants and Jets. It is scheduled to open for the 2010 season.

Mara said half the money raised by PSLs would have to be paid in taxes.

The Jets have not announced whether they will require season ticket holders to buy PSLs, but Mara said he would be shocked if they did not, knowing the debt the Giants have incurred.

"I don't particularly like to come out with a PSL program, but I also know that it is in the best long-term interests of this franchise," Mara said in terming the PSL decision one of the toughest of his life.

Realizing that current longtime season ticket holders who are sitting in some of the best seats cannot afford the top PSL prices, Mara said the team is offering 10 PSL plans, ranging from the top fee of $20,000 to a low of $1,000.

One-third of the 78,448 seats covered under the PSL plan will have $1,000 licenses. All of those seats will be in the upper bowl of the new stadium, which is being built adjacent to the current Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands sports complex.

Other licenses will cost $4,000; $5,000; $7,500; $10,000; $12,000; or $20,000, depending on location.

Mara said he has received some complaints, including a few from fans who insisted that his late father, Wellington, would never have required PSLs.

"And believe me, I feel that," John Mara said. "But my father was not faced with this kind of debt on a new building like this either, and we thought that we had to make this tough decision."

Mara noted that PSLs will allow season ticket holders to pass their tickets from one generation to the next.

Some 1,600 season ticket brochures outlining the PSL plan were mailed this week to people who currently hold 5,000 midfield seats in Giants Stadium.

Mara said the team plans a series of mailings through February 2009 to inform season ticket holders of PSL options. About 21,000 interests control all the Giants seats, Mara said.

Fans will have 30 days after receiving the literature to decide whether to buy the PSL at the level offered, to downgrade or to reject the offer, which would free up the seat.

The team said it has lined up financing for the PSLs for season ticket holders who may need it.

Mara expects the team to be able to accommodate anyone who wants to move their seat.

"We are not interested in getting new blood," Mara said when asked if the PSL concept might result in the loss of present season ticket holders. "We have a very loyal fan base who have been there for a long time, and we want to keep them in the building."

Any season ticket holder who opts not to buy a PSL will be able to keep the tickets for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

The Giants also announced that the average individual 2010 season ticket price of non-Club seats will be $112.

Capacity at the new stadium is expected to be 82,500, which includes approximately 9,300 Club seats. With the inclusion of those Club seats, the average season ticket price is projected to be $157.

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Dolphins QB McCown injured in chain saw accident

MIAMI -- Dolphins quarterback Josh McCown has decided to quit using chain saws, which should please his team.

McCown

A brush with a chain saw two weeks ago left McCown with a cut on the index finger of his throwing hand that required six stitches. But he expects to be ready for the start of training camp next week, said his agent, Mike McCartney.

"He has been throwing the football, and he's even playing golf," McCartney said. "He's fine."

The accident occurred at McCown's home in Jacksonville, Texas, while he and his brother, Tampa Bay quarterback Luke McCown, were cutting a tree stump.

McCown pledged to stay away from chain saws once he arrives in South Florida this week, McCartney said. The Dolphins open camp July 26.

The new Bill Parcells regime signed McCown to a $6.25 million, two-year contract in February. He'll bid to become the 13th starting quarterback for Miami since Dan Marino retired following the 1999 season.

McCown will compete with holdover John Beck and rookie Chad Henne. Last year McCown started nine games for the Oakland Raiders, throwing for 10 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.

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Favre won't petition for reinstatement immediately

If Brett Favre is really going to force a showdown with the Green Bay Packers, it won't happen right away, his agent told ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

"We have no definite plans to ask for reinstatement," Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, said of the former Packers quarterback, who has asked the team for his release. "Right now we have until the sixth week [of the regular season] and Brett has made it pretty clear that he is not willing to come in as a backup.

"If he asks for reinstatement and they start fining him $15,000 a day [for not reporting to training camp], well, that just doesn't make sense," Cook said.

"We're going to let Green Bay decide what they want to do. It's their move."

Reached by The Associated Press on Wednesday evening, Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb indicated no response was forthcoming from the team.

Packers general manager Ted Thompson has said the team does not plan to grant Favre, who announced his retirement in March, his release. And while Thompson said Favre could return to the Packers if he applies to the league for reinstatement, it would be "in a different role than he was" because the team has committed to backup Aaron Rodgers as its quarterback of the future.

"I just want him to be happy, whatever he does," Rodgers told ESPN The Magazine's Sam Alipour. "If he comes back and plays, [or] stays retired and does charity work, I just want him to be happy. I care about him a lot. He's been good to me. If that means coming back and playing another year or two, as long as he's happy, that's what I want."

Meanwhile, ESPN.com has confirmed that the Packers have filed tampering charges with the NFL against the Minnesota Vikings, alleging "inappropriate dialogue" with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, a close friend of Favre's and a former Packers assistant.

The Vikings, according to a source, are expected to contend Bevell may have had conversations with Favre as a friend but had no involvement in discussing a job with the Vikings.

NFL.com Video

Highlights of the best moments from Brett Favre in 2007.

Vikings coach Brad Childress has said in recent days the franchise is content with Tarvaris Jackson as its starting quarterback. What the Packers contend is that Favre and Bevell may have discussed Favre coming to the Vikings.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had no comment on the report. Thompson declined comment on tampering rumors in an interview with AP on Saturday.

FoxSports.com first reported the tampering charges.

Favre was in Los Angeles for Wednesday night's taping of the ESPY Awards. Host Justin Timberlake zeroed in on Favre sitting in the audience with his wife, Deanna.

"What have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you anywhere," Timberlake said. "Just chillin'? Yeah, me too."

Later, Timberlake went into the seats to hug Rodgers, the Packers' 2005 first-round draft choice. Favre sheepishly looked down with a slight smile on his face as the crowd laughed.

Favre currently is on the Packers' reserve/retired list. To be reinstated, Favre must write a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Once that request is approved -- a step considered a formality -- the Packers would have to release Favre or place him on their active roster.

Favre told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that he won't return to camp simply to spite the Packers. The team's players are scheduled to report on July 27.

"It's tempting just to, as everyone said, you know, call their bluff or whatever," Favre said. "I think it's going to be a circus in itself already, whether I go there, whatever."

But, Favre added: "I don't want to go back there just to stick it to them."

Favre's growing rift with the Green Bay Packers could lead to a few awkward moments for the three-time MVP this weekend.

Favre is scheduled to present former teammate Frank Winters at the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame induction banquet at Lambeau Field on Saturday night. Winters, former Packers defensive tackle Gilbert Brown and video director Al Treml will be enshrined in the Packers' Hall of Fame.

Should Favre keep his commitment to Winters, his close friend and former center, his return to Lambeau will come a little more than a week after formally requesting to be released from his contract -- and only days after expressing his distrust of Packers management and insisting that the team pressured him into making his retirement decision in his interview with Fox News.

Favre could see some of the same folks he criticized in his trip back to the place he played for 16 seasons. He also might run into Packers offensive line coach James Campen, a former teammate who was dragged into the middle of the controversy this week.

In an unaired portion of Favre's interview with "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren," Favre apparently said Campen recently made an unexpected visit to his home in Mississippi and said he had "an answer" for Favre regarding his desire to unretire.

"He says, 'You know, I know they told you they're moving on and playing there's not an option," Favre said, according to a full transcript of the interview obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Playing here in Green Bay is not an option, which that's what they want. They want to move on. But I'm telling you, if you reinstate or you force their hand, back them in a corner, they feel like they have no other option, they're going to accept you back.'

"And he said, 'Just telling you.' And I said, 'OK.'"

In an interview with AP on Saturday, Packers coach Mike McCarthy chastised the Favre camp for putting Campen in a "tough spot."

McCarthy said the Packers told Campen to visit Favre as a friend, not on behalf of the team, once they had heard Favre was having second thoughts about retirement earlier in the offseason. McCarthy said it was Favre and his representatives, not the team, who turned Campen into an "intermediary" between Favre and the front office.

"I think he's totally, wrongly been illustrated in this," McCarthy said. "Ted would not even talk to Campen about this. He said, 'Hey, your personal relationship with Brett Favre is bigger than this, so don't ever put yourself in that position.' … James was put in a tough spot. He was put in a situation that was purely personal."

While Favre's comment isn't likely to get Campen fired, it certainly didn't do his old buddy's career any favors. Would another team consider hiring Campen away for a more prestigious job if it seems he's capable of undermining its front office?

McCarthy said Saturday that Campen would not be available for interviews.

Meanwhile, members of the Packers' management team could face a few awkward moments of their own next week, as the Packers hold their annual shareholders meeting at Lambeau Field July 24.

A movement to rally fan support for Favre has fizzled so far -- a rally in Green Bay drew fewer than 200 fans Sunday, and Monday's rally in the Milwaukee suburbs drew only 30 despite widespread local media attention -- but shareholders supporting Favre could call attention to the issue.

Shareholders aren't given the chance to ask questions during the meeting, but Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy and Thompson are expected to be present in the Lambeau Field Atrium area to mingle with them and answer their questions afterward, along with other members of the Packers' staff.

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Giants' Super Bowl win tops list of ESPY winners

The New York Giants took home the Vince Lombardi Trophy for winning the Super Bowl and they can add some ESPYS to their trophy case as well.

At the 16th annual celebration of the year's best sports stories, the Giants won in three categories: Best Game, Best Upset and Best Play. The last came for David Tyree's acrobatic catch of an Eli Manning pass that kept the game-winning drive alive in the Super Bowl.

The ESPYS, which were hosted by Justin Timberlake at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, will be televised on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Tiger Woods surpassed Lance Armstrong with his record fifth Best Male Athlete ESPY. He also won his fourth straight Best Golfer award and took home the Best Championship Performance award for winning the U.S. Open on an injured left leg. His 21 ESPYS are the most anyone has won.

Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett captured the Jimmy V ESPY for Perseverance, named after former North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano. Everett suffered what was believed to be a paralyzing spinal cord injury but after rehabilitation is walking again and was on hand to accept his award.

[+] Enlarge

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Justin Timberlake hosted Wednesday's ESPY awards in Los Angeles.

Embattled quarterback Brett Favre was honored with an ESPY for Best Record Breaking Performance. He snapped Dan Marino's mark for most career touchdown passes.

When receiving his award, Favre was shown a video of his accomplishments.

"Watchin' that makes me want to play again," Favre said with a smile.

Earlier, Timberlake zeroed in on Favre sitting in the audience with his wife, Deanna.

"What have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you anywhere," Timberlake said. "Just chillin'? Yeah, me too."

Later, Timberlake went into the seats to hug Favre's would-be successor Aaron Rodgers, the Packers' 2005 first-round draft choice. Favre sheepishly looked down with a slight smile on his face as the crowd laughed.

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, who put on a legendary display in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium on Monday, won the ESPY for Best Comeback. After battling drug addiction, Hamilton became an All-Star this year and leads the league in RBIs with 95.

ESPYs on TVDate: Sunday, July 20
Time: 9 p.m. ET
Network: ESPN
• Complete award winners

Roger Federer won his fourth straight Best Male Tennis Player ESPY. Other repeat winners were: Sidney Crosby (Best NHL Player), Norm Duke (Best Bowler), Floyd Mayweather (Best Fighter) and Maria Sharapova (Best Female Tennis Player).

The NBA champion Boston Celtics won their first ESPY in the Best Team category.

The Arthur Ashe Courage award was presented to 1968 Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who dropped their heads and raised their fists on the victory stand in Mexico City to raise awareness for the American struggle for racial equality.


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Hamlin, Cowboys come to terms on 6-year deal

IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys safety Ken Hamlin won't have to wait until after the season for a long-term contract.

The Cowboys and Hamlin agreed Tuesday on a $39 million, six-year deal that includes a $9 million signing bonus and guarantees the Pro Bowl safety about $15 million.

Hamlin

After coming to Dallas on a $2.5 million free-agent deal following four years in Seattle, the 27-year-old Hamlin set career highs with five interceptions and 102 tackles for the Cowboys last season. He was a starter for the NFC in his first Pro Bowl.

Hamlin didn't participate in offseason workouts because he never signed a one-year, $4.4 million tender after the Cowboys in February designated him as their franchise player. But he remained in contact with defensive coaches the entire time.

Had Hamlin not reached another deal by Tuesday, he would have had to play the 2008 season under the one-year deal based on the average salary of the five highest-paid safeties in the NFL. He then wouldn't have been able to sign a multiyear contract until after the season.

The six-year deal signed by Hamlin is similar to what safety Gibril Wilson got from Oakland this offseason. Kerry Rhodes signed a $33.5 million, five-year deal with the New York Jets.

Hamlin was one of the NFL-record 13 Pro Bowlers the Cowboys had last season, when they matched a franchise record with 13 victories before losing to the New York Giants in the divisional playoff game.

The Cowboys also gave new long-term contracts this offseason to four other Pro Bowlers: receiver Terrell Owens, left tackle Flozell Adams, running back Marion Barber and cornerback Terence Newman.

The Cowboys report to training camp in Oxnard, Calif., on July 24.

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Defendants in Walker robbery get new court date

LAS VEGAS -- Two men accused of abducting, beating and robbing NFL player Javon Walker got new lawyers and another court date Tuesday from a judge who told them he'll consider requests to reduce bail later this month.

"We need to find both of them new lawyers and reset the preliminary hearing," Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo said as Deshawn Lamont Thomas, 40, and Arfat Abdo Fadel, 30, appeared before him by videoconference from the Clark County jail.

The judge canceled a Wednesday hearing for Fadel, combined the cases and scheduled a July 29 evidence and bail hearing for both men on felony kidnapping, robbery and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction carries a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Neither Thomas nor Fadel has entered a plea.

Police allege Thomas and Fadel followed Walker while he spent a night club-hopping and gambling, and talked the Oakland Raiders wide receiver into willingly getting into their vehicle just before 6 a.m. June 16 at the valet entrance of the Bellagio resort.

Walker was found a little more than an hour later, robbed and unconscious on a side street off the Las Vegas Strip. Police have said Walker was hospitalized for two days with facial injuries and a concussion. He told investigators that about $3,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of jewelry were stolen.

At the time of Thomas' July 8 arrest, the five-time convicted felon was free on $200,000 bail in a pandering, kidnapping and prostitution case set for trial in August in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, according to court records. He was being held on $1 million bail in the Walker robbery case.

Thomas has five prior felony convictions dating to 1987 in California's Alameda County, on charges including cocaine possession, assault with a firearm, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm and possession of cocaine base for sale, according to court records.

Fadel was arrested June 20 and charged several days later in the Walker case. He asked the judge to lower his $73,000 bail, citing his plea of no contest July 9 to an unrelated misdemeanor battery domestic violence charge.

Fadel was sentenced in that case to 30 days, including time already served, a court spokesman said. Felony charges of kidnapping and coercion were dropped.

Prosecutor Joshua Tomsheck told the judge that Fadel represented a flight risk because he has few roots in the community and no permanent address. The prosecutor said Fadel was being evicted from an extended-stay motel when he was arrested in the Walker case.

Lawyers Betsy Allen, for Thomas, and Gabriel Grasso, for Fadel, each said they were too new to the case to comment immediately after the brief hearing.

Allen and Grasso were appointed after Robert Lucherini, Thomas' lawyer in the pandering case, withdrew. The county public defender's office said it could not represent either man because of conflicts.

Walker was a first-round draft pick in 2001 by the Green Bay Packers. He was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2006, and was released last February before he was signed by the Raiders to a six-year, $55 million contract.

Walker's agent, Kennard McGuire of Richmond, Texas, and a spokesman for the Raiders did not immediately respond Tuesday to messages seeking comment.

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Steelers sale would affect Heinz Field financing

PITTSBURGH -- Allegheny County Controller Mark Flaherty says the Pittsburgh Steelers may have to reimburse taxpayers for public money used to build Heinz Field if the team is sold.

The new stadium opened in 2001 with the Steelers contributing about $76.5 million and state and county taxpayers paying $281 million.

Flaherty says he sent a letter to the team's owners saying a new stadium funding agreement must be struck if the team is sold.

Steelers chairman Dan Rooney is haggling with his four brothers over ownership of the team. Each brother owns 16 percent of the team and another family owns the rest. The other brothers are said to want more money than Dan Rooney is willing to pay for their shares, leading both sides to look for investors who might buy part of the team.

On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, the chairman of Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Capital Management, is interested only in purchasing a majority share of the team from the four Rooney brothers. The newspaper said that according to a source with knowledge of Druckenmiller's dealings with the brothers, he will not get into a bidding war if the shares of the team are opened to public bid.

According to the report, Druckenmiller is involved solely in financial discussion with the four Rooney brothers -- Art Jr., Tim, Patrick and John -- and is not part of the plan team majority owners Dan Rooney and his son, Art II, have put forward to retain control of the franchise.

Druckenmiller has reportedly had discussions with Dan Rooney about him remaining in control of the franchise if Druckenmiller becomes majority owner.

Analysts have put the franchise's value at between $800 million and $1.2 billion.

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Sources: Ex-Bronco Henry tests positive for pot

A source close to free-agent running back Travis Henry has confirmed he has tested positive for marijuana again and is subject to a one-year suspension by the NFL.

Henry

The source said Henry will soon start serving the year suspension. An NFL spokesman said today that the league has no comment on Henry's status. Henry, 29, was released by the Denver Broncos on June 2, and a Broncos' source said Friday that the team did not know about Henry's positive test when he was released.

Henry was cut because he stopped showing up to work this spring while he was recovering from a nagging hamstring injury. A source close to Henry said Henry was informed of the positive test in May and the Broncos were not aware of it.

Last October Henry was suspended by the NFL for one year after a positive marijuana test. However, he won an appeal eight weeks later, overturning that suspension.

Because of this pending suspension, there is a strong likelihood Henry's career could be over because of his repeated issues and his advanced age for a running back. Henry, who previously played for Buffalo and Tennessee, signed a five-year, $22 million contract with Denver in the spring of 2007.

It appeared to be a good fit because Henry seemed custom-made for Denver's zone-blocking running scheme. After the first four games of last season, it was a perfect match as Henry was leading the NFL in rushing. But because of his off-field issues and nagging knee injuries, Henry's one season in Denver ended as a disaster.

In February, Henry took a drastic pay cut down to $1 million this season so he could stay with the Broncos. But the team's frustration with him this spring led to the Broncos cutting him.

Henry has 6,086 rushing yards and 38 rushing touchdowns in seven NFL seasons.

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House report cites 'lack of recall' in Tillman death

After a 16-month investigation into the friendly fire death of former NFL player Pat Tillman, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a report Monday that is critical of what it termed a "near universal lack of recall" by top White House and Defense Department officials about events surrounding the fratricide.

The 49-page report made the case that top Bush administration officials, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, had effectively stonewalled the investigation. But it failed to issue any recommendations and effectively washed its hands of the issue. The full committee is expected to review and vote on the report Thursday, with the possibility that committee Republicans could offer a minority view.

"It disappoints me that there is no recommendation and they are not trying to take this further," Mary Tillman, Pat's mother, told ESPN.com. "What's particularly troubling is these top officials all have convenient amnesia. That is absurd. Everybody in the White House can't remember?"

The Tillman family has long believed that Tillman's celebrity was used to prop up the war effort and was a factor in the five-week delay between his death and the Army's acknowledgement that he had been killed by his own men. Immediately after Tillman died on April 22, 2004, the family was told he'd been killed at the hands of the enemy in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan.

According to a report produced by the Army Chief of Staff's Office of Public Affairs on April 25, 2004, news of Tillman's death had helped generate the most media interest in the U.S. Army "since the end of active combat last year." The report also noted that "The Ranger Tillman story had been extremely positive in all the media."

The Army didn't go public with news that Tillman had been killed by his own men until May 29, 2004, even though top Army officials knew that fratricide had been suspected almost immediately.

The House report depicts committee investigators as stymied at nearly every turn in their efforts to get answers from key White House and administration officials concerning who knew what about the fratricide. According to a person close to the investigation, "Nobody remembers anything. That is what we walked away with."

Investigators revealed in the report that White House officials sent out nearly 200 e-mails concerning Tillman on April 23, 2004 -- the day after his death. Several came from staff members of President George Bush's re-election campaign, urging the president to respond publicly to Tillman's death.

The White House made an immediate statement, despite a Department of Defense policy intended to provide a 24-hour period for private grieving before publicly discussing a casualty.

But in contrast to the earlier flurry of e-mail, not a single discussion of the fratricide was found by investigators in approximately 1,500 pages of e-mails between senior White House officials, as well as in other documents turned over by the White House.

"[T]he complete absence of any communications about his fratricide is hard to understand," the report noted. "Not a single written communication about the personal reactions or the substantive, political, and public relations implications of the new information was provided to the Committee."

Tillman was on the radar of Washington leaders soon after he left a lucrative deal with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers. Secretary Rumsfeld sent him a personal note commending him for his "proud and patriotic" decision after his enlistment in 2002. Rumsfeld also dispatched a memo to the Secretary of the Army, noting that Tillman "sound[s] like he is world-class" and saying, "We might want to keep our eye on him."

As for when he learned that the Army's prize soldier had been killed by his own men, Rumsfeld testified at the second of two committee hearings, "I don't recall when I was told and I don't recall who told me."

Investigators found that Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue a day after Tillman's death to alert him of the incident. But Myers told the committee he couldn't recall whether he informed Rumsfeld or the president about the possible fratricide.

The report said that investigators interviewed seven key White House officials about the response to Tillman's death, noting: "Universally, these officials said they could not recall when they learned about the fratricide or when the President learned."

"That is not believable to me that in every situation with regards to this administration and all of them, everybody has collective amnesia," Mary Tillman said. "There is something suspicious about that. It is ridiculous and very suspicious."

In that context, the report of the committee, chaired by Henry Waxman, D-Calif., isn't far out of step with the Tillman family, concluding: "If the testimony the Committee received is accurate and if the documents submitted are complete, then the intense interest that initially characterized the White House's and Defense Department's reaction to Corporal Tillman's death was followed by a stunning lack of curiosity about emerging reports of fratricide and an incomprehensible carelessness and incompetence in handling this sensitive information."

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Titans, Haynesworth can't agree on long-term deal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- All Pro defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth doesn't have the security of the long-term contract with the guaranteed money he wanted. What he does have is a one-year deal paying him $7.25 million and a season to make his case that he deserves what he's asking.

The Tennessee Titans and Haynesworth failed to reach an agreement on an extension by Tuesday's deadline for franchised players.

Haynesworth

Team officials and Haynesworth's agent, Chad Speck, talked most of Monday and up to Tuesday's 4 p.m. EDT deadline without reaching an extension to keep the six-year veteran past the 2008 season. Both sides can keep talking, but no long-term contract could be signed until after the Titans finish the season.

Now Haynesworth must decide when to sign the tender the Titans say makes him the highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL. Speck disagreed and cited five tackles earning more than Haynesworth this year.

Speck called it disappointing they could not reach a deal before the deadline when Haynesworth repeatedly has said he wants to remain with the Titans.

"We offered several fair and balanced proposals to the Titans over the past few days that would have paid Albert like one of the top defensive tackles in football -- all of which were rejected," Speck said in an e-mail.

"We moved considerably off those proposals as the deadline approached today in an effort to close the deal; these movements were also rejected by the Titans. While we certainly respect the Titans' position, it is unfortunate that Albert will not be signed long term when training camp opens next week."

With the Titans opening camp July 25, general manager Mike Reinfeldt said nobody wins with Haynesworth not being there at the start. He also thinks both sides can benefit in one-year deals.

"He still has the carrot in front of him. At the same time, we can still get something done in the future," Reinfeldt said.

The Titans have had money to spend to keep their own players, and they already have signed left tackle Michael Roos and right tackle David Stewart to contract extensions this offseason along with receiver Justin Gage and fullback Ahmard Hall.

But Reinfeldt said they couldn't agree to the right number with Haynesworth's agent after months of talks, even though it looked like they might reach a deal before the deadline. He declined to discuss what the Titans' offer was in money or years.

"Unfortunately at the end, we couldn't quite bridge the gap to get it done," Reinfeldt said.

"He's a player who is a big part of what we do and have done in the past and will do in the future. Albert has said on a number of occasions this is where he wants to be. When you have a player and a team that wants to be together, we did make a lot of progress in the negotiations, so there is hopefully some optimism for getting it done at the end of the season."

Teams gave out some big contracts for tackles this year, including lots of guaranteed money.

Tommy Kelly receives $13.62 million from Oakland in 2008 from his $50.5 million deal, and Tommie Harris takes home $10.6 million in his four-year deal. Kris Jenkins will receive $9.5 million from the Jets.

Now talks with Haynesworth will turn toward the one-year tender, and a team can franchise a player three times, but also can waive its right to use the tag on a player in a contract.

"Our focus will shift to discussing an agreement with the Titans that would prevent them from franchising him again next year," Speck said.

Reinfeldt said the Titans were open to talks involving the future use of the franchise tag.

Tennessee had not used the tag on a player since safety Blaine Bishop in 1997.

The 6-foot-2, 320-pound Haynesworth is coming off his best season after getting six sacks, 23 quarterback pressures and earning All Pro and Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career.

But the Titans see a player who has yet to play an entire 16-game season, missing 20 of a possible 96 games either due to injuries or the five-game suspension Haynesworth served in 2006 for swiping his cleated foot over Dallas center Andre Gurode's face. Haynesworth missed three games in 2007 with a strained hamstring and had only one sack in his final five games.

Haynesworth sat out the team's offseason program, working out on his own. When he returns and what shape he is in will play a key role on a defense that was the NFL's fifth-best and led the Titans back to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

Notes
The Titans have agreed to terms with receiver Lavelle Hawkins and also confirmed that they had agreed to terms with linebacker Stanford Keglar.

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Giants running back Bradshaw released from jail

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw still could face a suspension from the NFL after being released from jail for a probation violation.

Bradshaw was released from the Abingdon (Va.) Regional Jail on Sunday after serving most of a 30-day sentence. The league is investigating whether the player, who helped the Giants win the Super Bowl as a rookie, violated its player conduct policy.

Charles A. Stacy, Bradshaw's attorney, said the underlying charge for which Bradshaw was placed on probation stems from an offense that occurred while Bradshaw was a juvenile.

Bradshaw was recruited by and originally enrolled at Virginia, but was dismissed from the football team without playing a game after pleading guilty to resisting arrest and underage drinking, both misdemeanors, and being placed on probation.

He rushed for almost 3,000 yards and 31 touchdowns in three seasons at Marshall after joining the team as a walk-on, but had another arrest for allegedly stealing a PlayStation 2 video game.

He pleaded guilty in that case to misdemeanor petit larceny and was given two years probation. A 12-month jail sentence was suspended.

Bradshaw was a key player in the Giants' three playoff victories and their Super Bowl win against the New England Patriots last February.

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Ex-Bengals WR Henry has assault charge dropped

CINCINNATI -- A second assault trial for former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry has ended abruptly with prosecutors dropping the last remaining charge against him.

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Henry was accused of punching a University of Cincinnati student in March and of breaking his car window with a beer bottle.

The first trial ended earlier this month when a jury could not reach a verdict on an assault charge against Henry and the judge dismissed another misdemeanor count, a charge of criminal damaging.

On Monday, prosecutors dropped the assault charge after a judge ruled against them on several motions just before the retrial was to begin.

The Bengals cut Henry after his April arrest, his fifth since joining the team in 2005. Henry remains under suspension by the National Football League.

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Contrite Favre 'clears it up' in interview with Fox

MILWAUKEE -- Brett Favre finally is speaking for himself: He wants to play but doesn't feel welcome in Green Bay, so he's asking to be released.

The quarterback's first substantial comments on his latest retirement decision reversal come in an interview with Fox News on "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."

"OK, you guys have a different path, fine," Favre said, recalling a June 20 conversation with Packers coach Mike McCarthy. "What does that mean for me? So that means either you give me my helmet, welcome back, or release me, or attempt to trade me. We all know that's a possibility, but way-out-there possibility.

"And he says, 'Well, playing here is not an option, but we can't envision you playing with another team, you know, either.' And I thought, so basically, I'm not playing for anyone if I choose to come back."

According to Van Susteren, who spoke to the AP by telephone Monday afternoon, Favre said he was "never fully committed" to retiring and felt pressured by the Packers to make a decision, a notion Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy tried to dispel in an interview with the AP on Saturday.

"Ted always wanted Brett back," McCarthy said. "We always wanted Brett back."

The team had no immediate reaction to Favre's interview Monday.

"We currently have nothing to add on this matter," a team spokesman said.

Favre Transcript

In an interview with Fox News on "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren," Brett Favre speaks about his situation with the Packers. Read the complete transcript. Blog

Favre told Fox he understands that the Packers want to move on -- but if they're doing so, they should let him go.

"Them moving on does not bother me," Favre said. "It doesn't. I totally understand that. By me retiring March 3, I knew that could possibly happen. All I was saying is, you know, I'm thinking about playing again."

Favre said he has thought about the ramifications of playing for another team, moving to another city, and angering some Packers fans.

"You know, the bottom line is, I may not play anywhere," Favre said. "But we have thought of all those things. We have thought about it."

Van Susteren -- who is from Appleton, Wis., is a Packers shareholder and previously had interviewed Favre and his wife, Deanna -- said Favre made it clear he would not return to the Packers if he wasn't the starter. And while Favre said the Packers asked him for a list of teams to which he would accept a trade, he wants to be released to make sure he ends up on a competitive club.

Thompson said the team wasn't going to release Favre, but he could come back in a "different role than he was" because the team is committed to going forward with Aaron Rodgers.

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"You're telling me playing there is not an option, but playing elsewhere, we just can't -- we're trying to protect your legacy," Favre said. "Well, thank you. I appreciate that. But apparently now, they're trying to protect my legacy by bringing me back and having me be a backup. Boy, that is really good."

Thompson and McCarthy wouldn't discuss the possibility of trading Favre and said they hadn't received any trade inquiries as of Saturday. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel received a complete transcript of the interview, including segments that were not aired. Favre outlined other instances that created this rift with the Packers. Favre told Van Susteren that "I worked my butt off two years ago to try to get them to sign Randy Moss." Favre added that he offered to give up salary to sign the receiver who ultimately landed with the New England Patriots.

Favre said that Thompson publicly denied that the quarterback had lobbied for Moss.

Favre also said that he tried to convince Thompson to re-sign linemen Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle, but the two key contributors signed elsewhere. In a final instance that riled the quarterback, Favre said that he told Thompson that he should interview Steve Mariucci, an old friend, for the head coaching job after Mike Sherman left. Mike McCarthy was hired instead. "And none of those had anything to do with me retiring once again but, you know, it's hard for me to trust, you know, this guy when I -- either I'm told one thing and everyone else is told another, or he's telling the public one thing and telling me another," Favre said, according to the newspaper. "And so -- and that's part of the reason for [requesting] the release. Not only was I told that playing here was not an option, we're moving on -- it's kind of in their company line, moving on. That's OK." Thompson and McCarthy gave AP a detailed description of their dealings with Favre throughout the offseason, including an episode a few weeks after Favre's retirement where the two were prepared to fly to Mississippi to seal the deal on a Favre comeback -- only to have the quarterback change his mind again.

A portion of Favre's interview aired Monday. A second segment is scheduled to air Tuesday.

"If you move on, you tell me one thing, don't come back and tell the public ... just say it, 'You know, we've moved on and we'll work with Brett on whatever it is,'" Favre said. "Don't make up a lot of stuff or give half of the truth."

McCarthy and Thompson also expressed concern Saturday that Favre spent most of the offseason questioning whether he still had the commitment to play football. But Favre told Fox News it wasn't going to be an issue.

"If I'm going to play it's going to be 100 percent commitment," Favre said.

Favre's interview -- which was receiving top billing over an interview with presidential candidate John McCain in promos for Van Susteren's show that aired during the day Monday -- is the latest development in what is looking more and more like an irreparable schism between one of the NFL's most storied franchises and perhaps its most beloved quarterback.

Thompson called the situation "gut-wrenching" Saturday.

"I mean, it hurts," he said. "I'm not talking about physically hurting, but the sensitivity. We understand where the fans are coming from. This is a hot-button issue that surpasses anything I've ever gone through."


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Jaguars owner Weaver denies report team for sale

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver is refinancing debt, considering taking on a financial partner, and struggling to sell tickets and secure a stadium naming rights deal.

The team is not moving to L.A. I don't know how I can say that any more clearly than that. Everybody wants me to sit here and speculate on the future. I'm not going to speculate on the future.

-- Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver

Despite the problems, he wants to make one thing clear: His team is not for sale and is not going anywhere.

"I just wanted to ... clarify that I'm not selling the Jaguars," Weaver said Thursday in response to a newspaper report. "The team is not moving to L.A. I don't know how I can say that any more clearly than that. Everybody wants me to sit here and speculate on the future. I'm not going to speculate on the future.

"At some point, maybe I would sell the team, but not now. Whatever happens in the future, I can assure you one thing: The Jaguars are going to be the Jacksonville Jaguars."

The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Weaver was negotiating to sell the Jaguars to billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos, who might consider moving the team to Los Angeles.

Weaver said the situation has not changed from last year, when he hired a New York investment firm to help him refinance $110 million in debt and look at the possibility of adding investors. He chose not to bring anyone on board then, but hasn't ruled out getting help down the road.

"I'm not going to tell you that I don't have, from time to time, people calling me inquiring if I have an interest in selling a minority interest," said Weaver, who built his fortune from popular shoe chains Shoe Carnival and Nine West. "That's always an option, but if I ever do that, it will be with someone that shares the same commitment and passion to winning football and being a part of the Jacksonville partnership."

Small-market Jacksonville has other problems.

The Jaguars blacked out three home games last season, the first since covering up nearly 10,000 seats two years earlier. The move, designed to lower ticket sales requirements, came after the Jaguars blacked out 12 of 16 home games in 2003 and 2004.

Even after finishing 11-5 last season and winning its first playoff game since 1999, Jacksonville has dealt with more slumping sales this summer.

Making matters worse, Alltel Corp. decided not to renew its naming rights contract with the stadium last year and left the franchise without its most lucrative sponsorship deal.

Weaver believes the NFL will eventually be a strong sell in Jacksonville, after a few generations grow up rooting for the team.

More success should help, too. That's one reason Weaver signed high-priced free-agent receiver Jerry Porter and gave lucrative, long-term contracts to coach Jack Del Rio and quarterback David Garrard.

"That's not the kind of activities you engage in if you're trying to sell a football team," Weaver said. "I just don't know how I can do anything more to reconfirm my commitment to how excited I am about this football team and our chance to be special and compete at the highest level, to bring a championship to Jacksonville."

Metropoulos, the former chairman and chief executive officer of New Jersey-based Pinnacle Foods, also denied the report.

The Daily News reported that discussions between Weaver and Metropoulos were being brokered by Sal Galatioto of the New York sports investment firm Galatioto Sports Partners. The newspaper reported that Metropoulos previously has unsuccessfully tried to buy two other NFL franchises, the Oakland Raiders and the Miami Dolphins.

According to the report, Metropoulos was interested in a 100 percent purchase of the Jaguars and that he would keep Weaver on for two years while he learns how to operate an NFL franchise.

The whole thing caught Weaver by surprise.

"I think clearly until there is a solution to the L.A. market, you're going to have all kinds of speculation whether it's the Jaguars or whoever it may be," he said. "But I can emphatically tell you the Jaguars are not one of the clubs lining up to go to L.A."

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Former NFL kicker Zendejas charged with rape

LOS ANGELES -- Former Los Angeles Rams kicker Tony Zendejas was arrested early Thursday on charges of drugging and raping a female customer of his San Dimas sports bar in January.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said the 48-year-old Zendejas was arrested on felony warrants at his Yorba Linda home.

Deputy District Attorney Rouman Ebrahim said Zendejas was charged with one count each of rape by use of drugs, rape of an unconscious person, sodomy by anesthesia or controlled substance and sodomy of an unconscious victim.

Prosecutors alleged that on Jan. 26, Zendejas gave the customer a drink that made her groggy. The patron told authorities she woke up in a nearby motel room and alleged she had been raped.

Zendejas was later released from custody, said his attorney, Timothy Younger. Arraignment was scheduled for Friday at the Pomona courthouse.

"Mr. Zendejas was shocked and surprised upon being advised of the allegations against him," Younger said. "He is anxious to begin immediately to defend his good name and he is very grateful and appreciative of the support he has already received from family and friends who know these allegations are simply slanderous."

Zendejas was held in lieu of $260,000 bail, with arraignment scheduled for Friday at the Pomona courthouse.

If convicted, Zendejas could face up to 15 years in prison.

Zendejas retired in 1995 after playing 10 NFL seasons, including stints with the Rams, Houston Oilers, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers.

He was perfect kicking field goals for the Rams in 1991, going 17-of-17. His only miss that year came on one of his 26 extra-point attempts.

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Northern Ohio police seek ex-Bengal Thurman

SANDUSKY, Ohio -- Northern Ohio authorities were seeking former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman on Friday on a felonious assault warrant.

Thurman

The 25-year-old Thurman, of Cincinnati, was indicted last week by an Erie County grand jury on the charge, accusing him of punching a 19-year-old North Royalton man, the Erie County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

Police said Thurman punched the man in the face, breaking his jaw, on May 27 at Kalahari Waterpark Resort in Sandusky after they argued about a place in line.

Thurman's agent Safarrah Lawson said he had been unable to speak to his client and could not comment on the charges. A message seeking comment was left late Friday with Thurman's lawyer, John Michels.

Thurman was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in June after violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Thurman sat out the last two seasons after skipping a drug test and getting arrested for drunken driving. He had been reinstated by the league in April, but the Bengals released him in May after he skipped a series of voluntary workouts.

He was a second-round pick in 2005 out of Georgia.

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Report: Packers official thinks Favre to stay retired

The current and former team presidents of the Green Bay Packers both believe that Brett Favre will remain retired, rather than come back for a hinted-at 18th season in the NFL, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported.

Kids Grill McCarthy GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Packers coach Mike McCarthy was grilled about rumors of a Brett Favre comeback Wednesday -- not by the media, but by kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay. On hand to announce a $100,000 donation, McCarthy was asked by 11-year old Miranda Black of Oconto Falls the biggest question in the state: Is Favre coming back? McCarthy politely punted, saying such questions would be addressed later. After McCarthy dodged a few more questions about Favre, one child asked the coach if he would sign their T-shirts. "Sure," he joked. "It's better than answering these questions." -- The Associated Press

Current team president and CEO Mark Murphy and chairman emeritus Bob Harlan, appearing at a charity auction in Fond Du Lac, Wis., as part of the team's "Tailgate Tour" through the state, said they took Favre at his word when he said in March that he was done with professional football.

"I keep going back to his retirement announcement and how sincere and heartfelt that was," Murphy said, according to the report. "I think it's pretty reasonable that, as an organization, we're going to move on."

"What I remember about him is he was ready to retire, and that's how I feel today," Harlan added, according to the newspaper. "I think down deep, that's exactly how he feels."

The Packers have yet to publicly address reports that Favre, who announced his retirement on March 6, again has "the itch" to play football.

Presumptive starting Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn't have much to say Wednesday morning on Favre's possible comeback.

Speaking on a conference call to promote his participation in a celebrity golf tournament, Rodgers said: "I'm not really going to speculate about any rumors that are out there."

Rodgers also said he hasn't spoken to Favre about a possible comeback.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported last week that Favre had communicated his potential desire to return to coach Mike McCarthy, but that talks had not advanced to a substantive stage. And a Milwaukee television station reported that Favre and Packers GM Ted Thompson had exchanged text messages, with Thompson saying he would talk with Favre once he returned from a vacation.

Favre has not publicly commented on the speculation, other than telling the Sun Herald of Biloxi, Miss., that "it's all rumor" and that there was "no reason" for a media frenzy.

But Packers players and officials have fielded plenty of questions about Favre's potential return.

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"We've had 5-year-old kids ask us about it," Murphy said, according to the Press-Gazette. "It's obviously on a lot of people's minds."

Neither Murphy nor Harlan has spoken with Favre since the latest round of speculation began, according to the report. But both men believe Favre's mind is not yet made up.

"No player leaves the game gracefully," Murphy said, according to the newspaper. "It's kind of the nature of what makes great players great, is they're competitors and they always want to compete and they want that next challenge, and it's hard to find that next thing that's going to give you that excitement and adrenaline. That's what we're seeing a little bit here."

Harlan, Murphy's predecessor as team president, agreed.

"It's tough to any competitor to walk away," Harlan said, according to the report. "Whether you talk [golfer] Jack Nicklaus or no matter who it is, when you've been at the top, it's tough to turn your back on it, so I'm not surprised at all. I think you'd almost be more surprised if it were the other way."

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DUI forces Stabler to take leave from radio job

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama football color analyst Ken Stabler has been granted a leave of absence for the upcoming season following his arrest on a drunken driving charge.

A star quarterback for Alabama in the 1960s, Stabler led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl title in 1977. He also played for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints during a 15-year NFL career.

"It is with much regret that I will not be part of Crimson Tide football broadcasts this coming year, but there are matters in my personal life that demand my full attention at this time," Stabler said Friday in a statement released through the university. "I will deeply miss being part of the Crimson Tide Sports Network team and the wonderful interaction that I always enjoy with the many Tide fans throughout the season."

Stabler's arrest in south Alabama in June was at least the third time he has been charged with DUI.

Stabler, the Tide's color analyst for 10 years, will be replaced by Tom Roberts.

"We regret that Kenny will not be part of our broadcast team during the upcoming season, but accept and understand his decision," said Jim Carabin, general manager of Crimson Tide Sports Marketing. "We are entirely supportive of Kenny and his family and feel that this is the right thing for them at this time."

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Butkus says steroids tainting football, role models

CHICAGO -- NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus is upset that steroid use has tainted football and that young athletes are questioning their role models.

"I owe everything to football," Butkus said Friday. "I'm embarrassed that for some other kid, it won't be as pure as when I was able to play."

The former Chicago Bears linebacker said professional leagues like the NFL should take the responsibility to reach out to high schools and teach students that steroids don't create success.

Butkus spoke to more than 200 students at a Soldier Field rally on Friday, along with former Bears coach Mike Ditka, former Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Anthony Munoz and former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller, who was suspended by the NFL in 1999 after he tested positive for drugs.

At the rally, students signed a pledge promising to play sports without taking steroids. The event launched "I Play Clean," a campaign Butkus is undertaking to teach high school students about the risks of using steroids.

Professional sports have drawn scrutiny in recent years as news surfaced about athletes using performance-enhancing drug use. In baseball, last year's Mitchell Report identified 86 players who used steroids.

Butkus said he was partly motivated to organize the campaign by Taylor Hooton, a 16-year-old baseball player from Plano, Texas, who committed suicide in 2003 after using steroids on the recommendation of his coach.

Butkus said students feel pressure to use performance-enhancing drugs, but don't know the consequences.

"A lot of coaches sell the [steroids]," Butkus said. He said those coaches are selfish and are in need of "a hell of a guilt-trip," which he hopes to give them by spreading information about how steroid use can lead to heart failure, personality changes and suicide.

Miller said he took over-the-counter supplements and now cautions athletes against those supplements, which are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

"You have to be wary," Miller said. "A lot of them aren't labeled properly."

Adayemi Sosina, a 14-year-old student at Bremen High School in Midlothian, signed the pledge Friday. He said hearing about the harm steroids can cause reminded him that taking drugs isn't the best way for him to achieve his goal of playing college football.

Sosina said if he ever found out his favorite players were using steroids, he'd lose respect for them.

"It would be kind of like fake," he said.

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Storms cause water damage to new Colts stadium

INDIANAPOLIS -- Three roof drains in Lucas Oil Stadium sprang leaks when thunderstorms hit Indianapolis on Tuesday night, leading to some water damage in a data center and other areas.

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Take a tour of the future home of the Indianapolis Colts.

But stadium officials say the damage shouldn't delay the Aug. 16 public opening for the new home of the Indianapolis Colts. Construction work continued Wednesday, said John Klipsch, executive director of the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority.

"At this juncture, no one's reporting that we're going to miss our opening dates," he said.

Some high school football games will be played a few days after the public opening, and the Colts are scheduled to play the Buffalo Bills in an Aug. 24 preseason game.

Klipsch said crews were still investigating how three of the stadium's 20 main roof drains leaked. It was too early to estimate the damage total or say whether problems stemmed from design, manufacturing or installation issues.

Crews had repaired the three fractured drain pipes by Wednesday afternoon.

At least a couple feet of water poured into the stadium's data room, which is below ground, after a drain on the stadium's northeast corner cracked. The room serves as a control center for telephones, Wi-Fi and Internet access and houses some recently installed computers and receiver components.

The roof drains caused leaks in three corners of the stadium. Ceiling tiles, drywalls and carpets were damaged. Water entered electrical boxes, telephone closets and several meeting rooms. It also reached an underground loading dock but caused no problems.

The $700 million stadium is scheduled to host the 2012 Super Bowl.

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Judge sides with Redskins in suit over team name

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Redskins have won the latest round in a 16-year court battle against a group of American Indians, prevailing on a technicality that again skirts the issue of whether the team's nickname is racially offensive.

In a ruling dated June 25 and first circulated Thursday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the youngest of the seven Native American plaintiffs waited too long after turning 18 to file the lawsuit that attempts to revoke the Redskins trademarks.

The lead plaintiff, Suzan Shown Harjo, said Friday the group will appeal.

"She ruled as we anticipated she would: for the loophole that would allow everyone to avoid the merits of the case," said Harjo, president of the Washington-based Morning Star Institute that advances Native American causes.

Harjo and her fellow plaintiffs have been working since 1992 to have the Redskins trademarks declared invalid. They initially won -- the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office panel canceled the trademarks in 1999 -- but Kollar-Kotelly overturned the ruling in 2003 in part because the suit was filed decades after the first Redskins trademark was issued in 1967.

The U.S. Court of Appeals then sent the case back to Kollar-Kotelly, noting that the youngest of the plaintiffs was only 1 year old in 1967 and therefore could not have taken legal action at the time.

But Kollar-Kotelly's new ruling rejects that possible argument. She wrote that the youngest plaintiff turned 18 in 1984 and therefore "waited almost eight years" after coming of age to join the lawsuit.

The judge did not address whether the Redskins name is offensive or racist. She wrote that her decision was not based on the larger issue of "the appropriateness of Native American imagery for team names."

The Redskins declined to comment, referring calls to attorney Bob Raskopf, who has been representing the team and the NFL in the case. Raskopf did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The case now heads back to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Should it agree that Harjo's group was too old to sue, she has a backup plan: A group of six American Indians ranging in age from 18 to 24 filed essentially the same lawsuit two years ago. That suit is on hold until Harjo's case is resolved.

Harjo therefore anticipates that one day, a court will have to decide once and for all whether the Redskins name is offensive.

"It's so ironic that they would like to get rid of this though the loophole of passage of time, when we're in our 16th year of litigation," Harjo said. "Unbelievable. If this [lawsuit] were a child, we would be preparing the child to go to college."

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Pacman appears before grand jury in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Suspended NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones appeared before a grand jury investigating a Las Vegas strip club shooting that left a man paralyzed and two others wounded.

Attorney Robert Langford declined to comment Friday about Jones' testimony Thursday to the grand jury, an investigative panel whose proceedings are secret.

The Las Vegas Sun reported the grand jury questioned the 24-year-old Dallas Cowboys cornerback for about 90 minutes behind closed doors and that he made no comment as he left the Clark County Regional Justice Center with Langford and a bodyguard, Robert "Big Rob" Reid.

Jones had agreed to tell authorities what he knew about the Feb. 19, 2007, shooting in return for an agreement to plead no contest last December to a disorderly conduct charge. Jones was accused by police of inciting a brawl at a strip club minutes before the shooting, which took place outside the club on the weekend of the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.

Reid also pleaded no contest to a disorderly conduct charge in the fight inside the club, and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger was out of town Friday and did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The shooting investigation focuses on a 29-year-old Renton, Wash., man held in a Washington state jail on $1 million bail.

Jones was traded from the Tennessee Titans to Dallas this year after missing all of the 2007 season while serving an NFL suspension because of numerous legal run-ins, including the Las Vegas case. He has been arrested six times and involved in 12 police incidents since being drafted in the first round by Tennessee in 2005.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said he hasn't decided whether to reinstate Jones.

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Pats' Faulk pleads no contest to marijuana charge

LAFAYETTE, La. - New England Patriots running back Kevin Faulk has pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Kevin Faulk

Running Back
New England Patriots

Profile

2007 Season StatsRushYdsTDRecYdsTD622650473831

Faulk was issued a misdemeanor summons for simple possession of marijuana at a Lil Wayne concert at the Cajundome in February. A Lafayette Parish sheriff's deputy allegedly found four marijuana cigarettes in Faulk's jacket during a routine search.

On Tuesday, Faulk, a Louisiana native and an LSU graduate, received a five-month suspended sentence, one year of supervised probation, 40 hours of community service to be served in the form of anti-drug lectures to students at Lafayette Parish middle and high schools and 20 hours of NFL-approved substance-abuse treatment.

Faulk told The (Lafayette) Daily Advertiser the case is behind him and he is "focusing on football and getting ready for the season."

Last season, Faulk had 47 catches for 383 yards and a touchdown, and had 62 carries for 265 yards. Faulk, who has spent his entire career with the Patriots, was a second-round draft choice in 1999.

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Jags WR Jones charged with cocaine possession

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Matt Jones faces a felony drug charge in his former college town after police say he was inside a car cutting up cocaine with a credit card.

The 25-year-old Jones and two others were arrested early Thursday. A police report said officers approached the car and an officer drew his handgun after Jones did not immediately show his hands.

Police said they searched the vehicle and found a plastic bag filled with a white substance that tested positive for cocaine and a jar with possible marijuana residue.

Jared Hicks and Benjamin Cook were also arrested on misdemeanor drug charges.

Jones was released from the Washington County jail on $2,500 bond. His arraignment on a charge of felony possession of a controlled substance was set for Aug. 11, two days after Jacksonville's preseason opener against Atlanta.

AP Photo

Jaguars receiver Matt Jones is shown here in the booking photo released by the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, Ark.

Police said 6 grams of cocaine was found. The threshold for potential charges of possession with intent to deliver is 1 gram. However, prosecutor John Threet said there is no evidence that Jones intended to deal the drug.

Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said he was waiting to learn details of the case.

"We're trying to investigate that now," Weaver said. "We don't have all the facts. We will comment on that once we have all the facts."

Jones, a star quarterback at Arkansas and a first-round pick in 2005, failed to develop into the go-to receiver for Jacksonville.

Jones caught 77 passes for 1,075 yards and nine touchdowns in his first two pro seasons, but he struggled in 2007.

Last season, coach Jack Del Rio became increasingly frustrated with Jones' demeanor and work ethic, making him inactive for three games. In the offseason, the Jaguars signed free agent Jerry Porter and traded for former first-round pick Troy Williamson.

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Fired Rooney brother may decide Steelers' owners

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney faces an uphill climb in trying to acquire majority control of one of pro sports' best-known franchises now that his four brothers have hired an investment firm to field offers for their shares of the club.

[+] Enlarge

Scott Boehm/Getty Images

Former Steelers owner Art Rooney is an icon in Pittsburgh. But family control of the franchise may be in question as Rooney's heirs decide what to do with their shares of the NFL franchise.

In a curious twist, Art Rooney Jr., a Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee for his drafting skills who was fired by Dan Rooney 21 years ago, may decide if the team stays in the Rooney family's control.

Dan Rooney, widely viewed as the NFL's most influential owner, has spent two years in an unsuccessful attempt to buy out his four younger brothers' stakes in the five-time Super Bowl championship franchise. Each brother owns 16 percent, or a total of 80 percent.

The other 20 percent is owned by the family of the late Barney McGinley, who helped Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. reacquire the Steelers in the 1940s after Rooney sold the team for a brief time. The McGinleys' share is not believed to be for sale.

To prevent an outside investor -- possibly investment billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, a longtime Steelers fan -- from obtaining a majority stake, Dan Rooney needs to persuade at least one brother to sell to him.

That would give him 32 percent of the team, enough to satisfy the NFL's requirement that the primary owner have at least a 30 percent share. If the McGinleys don't sell, no other investor could own more than 48 percent.

Druckenmiller, the chairman of Duquesne Capital Management, acknowledged Thursday for the first time he is involved in trying to buy into the team.

In a statement, Druckenmiller said the Rooneys are "working through a number of complicated issues regarding the ownership structure. .. I have been involved in these discussions and am interested in participating in a transaction that builds on the legacy of this great franchise and one that makes economic sense to everyone involved."

Art Jr., who helps run the Rooneys' real estate holdings, is the only other Rooney brother who lives in Pittsburgh. He said his three out-of-town brothers are loyal Steelers supporters who dislike being part of any possible disruption of the Rooney family's ownership.

"We bleed black and gold," Art Rooney Jr. said at a signing for his new book about Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. and the family. "What bothers me is I hear people say the out-of-towners [the Rooneys who don't live in Pittsburgh] don't love the Steelers. They love the Steelers."

Still, Art Jr. finds it ironic he may decide if the Rooney family keeps the Steelers, giving his falling out with Dan.

Art Jr., the only other Rooney brother who worked full time for the team, was so skilled as a scouting director that his drafts in the late 1960s and early 1970s were largely responsible for the Steelers winning four Super Bowls in six years.

How about that? I've become a big shot after being exiled 20 years ago.

-- Art Rooney Jr.

His 1974 draft alone produced Hall of Famers Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster and led to Art Jr. being nominated for the Hall of Fame.

After the Steelers drafted only two Pro Bowl players from 1978-86, Dan fired his bother in 1987 as the scouting and player personnel chief, and Art Jr. has not been involved in the Steelers' football operations since.

"How about that? I've become a big shot after being exiled 20 years ago," Art Jr. told KDKA-TV.

However, Art Jr. called the current ownership crisis "sad," although he said his father would understand the brothers' desires to be properly compensated for their shares.

A revamping of the ownership group is needed because the Rooney family runs race tracks in Florida and New York that now offer video slots and other forms of gambling not permitted of NFL owners.

A troubling sign for Dan Rooney is that his brothers -- Art Jr., Tim, Pat and John, all of whom will be at least 70 by next year -- retained Goldman, Sachs & Co. to weigh offers. Their shares are likely worth more than Dan Rooney and son Art II, the team president, could raise and still remain under the NFL's ceiling of $150 million in ownership debt.

Steely Dan and the Rooneys

With the future of the ownership of one of the NFL's signature franchises up in the air, ESPN.com's John Clayton answered five primary questions about the potential reorganization of the Pittsburgh Steelers' hierarchy. Steelers Q&A

The brothers likely would not have retained Goldman, Sachs if they felt they could soon work out a deal with Dan Rooney. The move also reflects their fears that selling to Dan Rooney, coupled with the ensuing taxes, could leave their children and grandchildren with far less money than their shares are worth.

If any of the brothers were to die in the near future without a change in ownership, their heirs would face estate taxes of up to 45 percent of the shares' value.

A year ago, Forbes Magazine valued the Steelers at slightly less than $1 billion -- quite a return on Art Rooney Sr.'s initial investment of $2,500. Each Rooney brother's stake is worth about $160 million, or less than Dan Rooney is believed to be offering.

Dan Rooney has been working with Morgan Stanley and PNC Financial Services to attempt to bring in additional investors who might prop up his buyout attempt. Rooney hopes that former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who is representing the league in the matter, may help work out a deal.

The NFL supports Dan Rooney's attempts to keep the team in the Rooney family, not surprising given how Art Sr. and Dan Rooney have been among the most influential figures in league history. Both are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"The league will continue to support the Rooneys in their efforts to retain control of the Steelers," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Thursday.

Dan Rooney does not necessarily need to own 50 percent or more of the club to continue to operate it. Among his closest friends are the Mara family, which runs the Super Bowl champion New York Giants although it shares a 50-50 ownership split with Steve Tisch, the son of former co-owner Robert Tisch.

Druckenmiller, an avid golfer whose $500,000 gift helped Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh land the 2007 U.S. Open, has long coveted the Steelers and first tried to buy into them 10 years ago. He is believed to want only financial control, not day-to-day control of the club's operations.

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Imprisoned Vick files for bankruptcy protection

RICHMOND, Va. -- Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dogfighting charges, saying he owes between $10 million and $50 million to creditors. Vick filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News on Monday. The seven largest creditors listed in the court papers are owed a total of about $12.8 million.

The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback hopes he "can, after the conclusion of the bankruptcy case, rebuild his life on a personal and spiritual level, resurrect his image as a public figure, and resolve matters with the NFL such that he can resume his career," according to the filings.

Vick is serving a 23-month prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., after pleading guilty last year to bankrolling a dogfighting ring. He was subsequently suspended indefinitely without pay and lost all of his major sponsors, including Nike. He also faces state charges related to dogfighting.

The debt includes part of a signing bonus that the Falcons are seeking to recover.

After the plea on dogfighting charges, the Falcons tried to recover about $20 million in bonuses Vick earned from 2004 to 2007. But a federal judge held that Vick is entitled to keep all but $3.75 million of the money paid to him for playing football through the 2014 season.

According to the filings, Vick's other debts include $4.5 million owed to Richmond-based Joel Enterprises Inc.

In May, a federal judge ordered Vick to repay about $2.5 million to a Canadian bank for defaulting on a loan. The Royal Bank of Canada had sued Vick in September, arguing his guilty plea to a federal dogfighting charge -- and the resulting impact on his career -- prevented him from repaying the loan.

A default judgment for $1.08 million also was entered in January against Vick and a business partner in a lawsuit brought by Wachovia Bank over a loan for an Atlanta-area wine shop and restaurant.

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Pittsburgh financier makes bid for Steelers

A deal could be reached within days to sell a majority interest in the Pittsburgh Steelers to the chairman of a Pittsburgh-based investment firm, taking control of the NFL franchise away from the Rooney family.

[+] Enlarge

Scott Boehm/Getty Images

Former Steelers owner Art Rooney is an icon in Pittsburgh. But family control of the franchise may be in question as Rooney's heirs decide what to do with their shares of the NFL franchise.

The shares would be sold to Stanley Druckenmiller, chairman of Duquesne Capital management, making him principal owner of the team. Two officials familiar with the talks identified the buyer as Druckenmiller and said Monday that the deal could be completed by the end of the week. They declined to be identified because they were not directly involved in negotiations.

Druckenmiller's interest was first reported Monday by The Wall Street Journal, which said a secret study by Goldman Sachs valued the franchise at between $800 million and $1.2 billion. The report came a day after Dan Rooney said he and his son, team president Art Rooney II, were attempting to buy out his four brothers in an effort to retain "substantial ownership of the team."

Each brother owns 16 percent of the team, adding up to 80 percent, with another Pittsburgh family, the McGinleys, owning 20 percent.

Even if the deal with Druckenmiller goes through, it would still need approval by 24 of the league's 32 owners. Dan Rooney is, without question, the most influential and respected member of that group.

During the past 40 years, Rooney has helped resolve labor disputes, promoted racial diversity within the league and helped elect Paul Tagliabue and Roger Goodell as commissioners.

The impending sale is the result of a feud among members of one of sport's most renowned families and has been simmering about two years.

The 75-year-old Rooney is the oldest of five brothers. Their father, Art, bought the franchise in 1933 for $2,500.

Dan and Art are enshrined in Pro Football's Hall of Fame.

The other four brothers -- Art Jr., Timothy, Patrick and John -- want to drop their interest in the Steelers to concentrate on their race track and other interests, many of which involve the gambling industry. The Rooney family owns race tracks in New York and Florida and has added forms of gaming that are inconsistent with NFL gambling policy.

Goodell has asked Tagliabue to represent the league on Dan Rooney's behalf in talks to reach an agreement on a separation of the gambling interests and restructured ownership if part of the team is sold.

Rooney said in a statement Monday that with Tagliabue's help, he was attempting to put together a financing plan that would buy out his brothers and their families over a period of time.

"For the past two years, the Rooney family has had discussions about a restructuring of the ownership of the Steelers in order to ensure compliance with the NFL ownership policies and the continuation of the Rooney family ownership and operation of the team," the team said in the statement.

"I have spent my entire life devoted to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football League," Dan Rooney said in the statement. "I will do everything possible to work out a solution to ensure my father's legacy of keeping the Steelers in the Rooney family and in Pittsburgh for at least another 75 years."

Druckenmiller did not immediately return a call placed to his office by The Associated Press.

Although he lives primarily in New York, he frequently attends Steelers games and is said to want to include Dan and Art Rooney II in his ownership group.

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Williamson: Opportunity knocking for Broncos' Torain

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Ryan Torain's eyes were caught by the television. It was the fourth pick of the fifth round in April's NFL draft. He noticed that Denver, the team of choice for every college running back, was on the clock.

Torain's mind predictably started to envision 1,000-yard rushing seasons with the Broncos. Suddenly, he was brought back to the draft board by the sound of his ringing cell phone. He looked at the incoming call. There it was. [+] Enlarge

AP Photo/ Jack Dempsey

Ryan Torain is thrilled to be in Denver, where many young running backs have blossomed.

"It was a 303 [area code] number," Torain said. "I knew the call was coming from Colorado. I have a couple of friends from Colorado and I know the 303 is in Colorado. I was hoping it was the Broncos and not my friends calling."

Indeed, running back heaven was calling.

"I picked up the phone real quick and the voice on the other end said, 'Are you ready to be the next star running back for the Denver Broncos?'" Torain recalled of his brief conversation with a Broncos personnel official. "I said, 'Yes' and I've been smiling ever since."

With the 139th pick of the 2008 draft, the Broncos took Torain, a rugged running back from Arizona State. Even though he was drafted in the fifth round, Torain has a legitimate chance to make an impact this season. He is a prototypical Broncos running back. He hits the hole quickly and he's a downhill runner. He fits in Denver's zone-blocking scheme.

The Broncos using a fifth-round pick on a running back is the equivalent of any other NFL team selecting a tailback in the second round. After all, the Broncos have made a living out of scoring with late-round running backs. Terrell Davis was a sixth-round pick, as was Mike Anderson. Olandis Gary, a fourth-round selection in 1999, rushed for 1,159 yards as a rookie. Mike Bell and Selvin Young became contributors in the past two years after both were picked up as undrafted free agents.

Torain, whom Denver took with the draft choice acquired from AFC West-rival Oakland for defensive tackle Gerard Warren last August, is now part of Denver's running back consortium. And that means he has a chance to be the team's leading rusher this year. Yes, even as a fifth-round pick. Torain will be in the Broncos' camp, so he has a chance to be the top running back. That's how it works in Denver.

Bust-Out Broncos Since Mike Shanahan took over as Denver's head coach in 1995, several running backs have come out of nowhere to star in the Broncos' zone-blocking running system. Fifth-round pick Ryan Torain is hoping to be the next in line. The following is a look at the runners who had big success under Shanahan in Denver: Terrell Davis: The first and the best of the bunch. The sixth-round pick from Georgia was the spark to Denver's only two Super Bowl wins. He was a Super Bowl and NFL season MVP and tallied 7,607 career rushing yards and 60 touchdowns before knee injuries cut short his brilliant career. Olandis Gary: He took over for an injured Davis in 1999 and ran for 1,159 yards. He was injured the next year and was never a factor again. Mike Anderson: The sixth-round pick from Utah became the offensive rookie of the year after rushing for 1,487 yards in 2000. The tough Anderson dealt with injuries but came back in 2005 with another 1,000-yard season. Clinton Portis: He was a second-round pick and more highly touted than any other Denver running back of this era. Portis ran for more than 1,500 yards in both of his seasons in Denver before he was shipped to Washington for star cornerback Champ Bailey. Reuben Droughns: The former fullback and special-teams player emerged during the 2004 season and ran for 1,240 yards. He was traded to Cleveland the next spring. Tatum Bell: The 2004 second-round pick ran for 1,025 yards in 2006 and then was traded to Detroit for cornerback Dre' Bly. Mike Bell: The undrafted rookie from Arizona shook up the league in 2006 with eight rushing touchdowns, but he was converted to fullback and rarely played last season. Selvin Young: The 2007 undrafted rookie from Texas led Denver in rushing with 729 yards and is going to camp No. 1 on the depth chart. -- Bill Williamson

In Mike Shanahan's running system, easily the best in the NFL since 1995, five different players have led the team in rushing since 2003: Clinton Portis, Reuben Droughns, Anderson, Tatum Bell, and Young. Only Portis started his respective season as the sure No. 1 runner in training camp. Portis, Droughns, Anderson and Bell each left the team the season after leading the Broncos in rushing.

Shanahan thought he found his long-term answer at running back last year when Denver signed tested veteran Travis Henry to a five-year, $22 million deal. After four games in 2007, the plan was unfolding beautifully as Henry was leading the NFL in rushing. However, injuries and off-field issues ruined Henry's season. After he stopped showing up to work this spring, Henry was cut. His departure once again opened Denver's revolving door at running back.

When training camp opens July 25, Young will go in as the No. 1 back. He is followed by veteran Michael Pittman, recently signed from Tampa Bay, small playmaker Andre Hall and Torain.

Even though he is fourth on the depth chart, Torain shouldn't enter training camp feeling buried. No running back in Denver should ever feel that way. Both Mike Bell and Young came out of nowhere in the past two training camps and became big parts of the offense. The word inside the Denver organization is that Torain has performed well in minicamps and has picked up the running scheme quickly.

"This is a great place for any running back to be," Torain said. "This is the place you want to be. I know I have a long way to go. But running backs can and have done well here. I couldn't think of a better place to be. I'm ready to go for it."

Still, Shanahan maintained during minicamps that his running back crew may be a committee. In the past, Shanahan has been open to the idea, and he likes what he has in this group.

"We have good young players at running back," Shanahan said. "It is going to be interesting in training camp with a lot of good, hard competition. I like what I have in all my guys."

Young has a chance to be the top back, but because of his slight frame, there is concern. He has worn down at Denver and in college at Texas. Young led the Broncos with 729 yards rushing last year, but he spent a lot time on the sideline dealing with nagging injuries. With his game-breaking speed, there will be a place for Young in Denver's offense, but it remains to be seen if he can carry the load on a consistent basis. Shanahan himself has questioned Young's durability multiple times. Young has impressed the Broncos this offseason with his worth ethic and is out to prove he can handle as many carries as the team gives him.

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Highlights from Arizona State running back Ryan Torain's performance at the 2008 NFL combine.

"It's my job to show the coaches I can be productive in that sense, and it's up to me to stay healthy and do the things off the field and in the weight room to combat his ideas," Young said.

Pittman was brought in to be a short-yardage back and to provide toughness with his blocking and receiving in key situations. He'll be a role player. Hall made some big plays last year and will have a chance to get some carries, but like Young, he is small and injury prone.

Then there's Torain, the wild card of the bunch. Many in the Denver organization hope and believe Torain will emerge as the top running back this year. Because he's big and strong, Torain has the ability to carry the ball 20-25 times a game if needed. If he can meet those expectations, Denver will be in great shape and will be able to utilize all four of its tailbacks. But somebody has to be the lead runner and Torain is going to camp ready to stake his claim. And in Denver, even a fifth-round pick can feel this way in July.

"It's all in front of me," Torain said. "I just have to do the right things and hard work and great things can happen for me in Denver."

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Police arrest second suspect in Walker attack

LAS VEGAS -- A second man was arrested on charges of abducting, beating and robbing Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker in Las Vegas last month.

Walker

Deshawn L. Thomas, 40, was arrested Monday in Las Vegas and held without bail at the Clark County jail, police said Tuesday.

Thomas will be scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court to face felony kidnapping, robbery and conspiracy charges, police said in a statement. Jail officials said it was not immediately clear if Thomas had a lawyer.

Investigators did not immediately respond to messages seeking details of Thomas' arrest.

Walker was found unconscious on a side street near the Las Vegas Strip shortly after dawn June 16, police said. He was hospitalized for two days with facial injuries and a concussion and told investigators that about $3,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of jewelry were taken. It was not clear Tuesday if any money or jewelry had been recovered.

Police released a grainy surveillance videotape June 24, identifying the man in it as a second suspect after the arrest of 30-year-old Arfat Fadel.

Fadel remained jailed pending a preliminary hearing July 16. His lawyer has said he will plead not guilty to kidnapping, robbery and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction carries a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Investigators have said Fadel and another man appeared on surveillance videotapes at some of the same casinos and clubs where Walker partied and gambled the night of June 15. Walker was photographed spraying champagne into a crowd at the Body English nightclub at the Hard Rock hotel-casino.

Early on June 16, police say Walker willingly got into the front passenger seat of a black Range Rover in the valet parking area at the Bellagio.

Fadel and the other man "clearly and methodically lured Walker into the vehicle as he represented [an] easy target due to his level of intoxication," police said in a report. Police say Fadel was driving and the other man got in the back seat.

Walker later told police he was grabbed by the neck from behind and did not recall much more. He said he did not know who the men were.

Walker's agent, Kennard McGuire of Richmond, Texas, and a spokesman for the Raiders did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Walker was a first-round draft pick in 2001 by the Green Bay Packers. He was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2006 and released last February before he was signed by Oakland to a six-year, $55 million deal.

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NFL hires Pennsylvania's top cop for security post

NEW YORK -- The NFL hired Pennsylvania's state police chief for a new position that will cover all aspects of stadium security from fan behavior to signal stealing.

But Col. Jeffrey Miller, who begins work as director of strategic security Aug. 18, said Tuesday there was far more to the job than ensuring no repeat of the episode last year involving the New England Patriots.

"I think it's safe to say that the league is obviously sensitive to any issue which could affect the integrity of the product that they put out on the field," Miller said at a news conference in Harrisburg, Pa. "Obviously, I wasn't in the room when they worked this all out, but it is a new security director position and it's going to cross over a number of different areas."

Those areas will include overseeing pregame security screening, initiated by the league after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as well as fan behavior, an area commissioner Roger Goodell stressed last spring at the annual league meeting.

The league has been trying to get beyond Spygate since last September after a team employee was caught taping the New York Jets' signals in the season opener. Goodell fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away a first-round draft choice.

The issue, however, persisted. Sen. Arlen Specter suggested that Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers might have been at a disadvantage in postseason games against New England, including the 2005 Super Bowl, when the Patriots beat the Eagles. The Pennsylvania Republican did not drop the issue until last month.

Miller said he didn't want to speak for the NFL and didn't know how much time he would devote to any one task.

"I know that [Spygate] was an important issue to the league, but I think what people need to understand is the NFL takes great steps to ensure the integrity of the product on the field, just for instance the great work they do with their officials," Miller said. "They just approach things in such a well-thought out way, you'd be amazed at the steps that they take to ensure the integrity of the process."

The 45-year-old Miller has been commissioner of the state police since his appointment by Gov. Ed Rendell in 2003.

Three years later, Miller oversaw the investigation after a gunman killed five girls at an Amish schoolhouse before taking his own life. He was praised for balancing the public's need for information and the Amish community's desire for privacy.

He graduated from Elizabethtown (Pa.) College and has a master's degree from Penn State in public administration.

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Seahawks' Tatupu pleads guilty to DUI charge

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu pleaded guilty Monday to drunken driving and was sentenced to a day in jail and fines totaling $1,255.

Tatupu

"Lofa fully accepted responsibility by pleading guilty as charged. He asked for no special consideration and he received none," said Tatupu's lawyer, Jon Scott Fox. "He will pay his dues and put this matter behind him."

Municipal Judge Michael J. Lambo also ordered that Tatupu's license be suspended for 90 days and have an ignition interlock breath alcohol device installed in his car for one year, said Sarah Roberts, a prosecutor in this Seattle suburb.

The 25-year-old Tatupu, who is a co-captain and cornerstone of the Seahawks' defense, will likely serve his sentence before the start of training camp on July 24, Roberts said.

He will be assigned to the same type of jail cell and receive the same treatment as any other inmate, she added.

"Oh, yeah, he won't be treated any differently," Roberts said.

The Seahawks signed the third-year pro to a six-year, $42 million contract extension on March 25, lauding him as a player teammates should emulate.

Tatupu was stopped in Kirkland, home of the Seahawks' headquarters and practice facility, at 2 a.m. May 10 for driving faster than 15 mph above the posted 35-mph limit. A police officer said Tatupu was driving erratically before finally stopping at a fast-food parking lot.

At the police station two hours later, Tatupu registered 0.155 and 0.158 in breath test readings, nearly twice the state intoxication threshold of 0.08, according to an arrest report.

Lambo sentenced him to 365 days in jail, with 364 days suspended, plus fines. Roberts said the sentence was normal for first-time drunken driving offenders in Washington state who had no arrest record and when no accident or injuries were involved.

Tatupu has completed an eight-hour alcohol and drug informational school, a court-ordered victims panel and a court-ordered evaluation which indicated he did not have a problem with alcohol, she added.

Tatupu has not spoken publicly about the arrest and issued a statement through his lawyer Monday that was almost a repeat of his statement released through the team in May.

"I again want to apologize to my family, teammates, the Seahawks ownership and organization, and the fans for making a poor decision and putting myself in a bad situation," his statement read. "I take seriously my role as a leader on this team and in the community and because of that, I'm disappointed and embarrassed by the level of poor judgment I used. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. This will never happen again, and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again."

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Ex-Vike Scott pleads guilty to child endangerment

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Darrion Scott pleaded guilty Monday to child endangerment for putting a plastic bag over the head of his 2-year-old son.

Scott

Scott pleaded guilty to the gross misdemeanor as jury selection was scheduled to begin in his trial.

Scott's attorney, Joe Friedberg, said the other charges will be dismissed when Scott is sentenced July 24.

Friedberg said Scott said he had no intent to injure the boy. Scott's plea was to an amended child endangerment count -- not the original one that accused him of keeping a loaded, unsecured handgun in his nightstand, where a 2-year-old could get at it.

Scott faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine. He also had been charged with third-degree assault and domestic assault by strangulation, both felonies.

Scott was a third-round pick in the 2004 NFL draft and played 48 games with the Vikings. He is now a free agent.

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Steelers looking to restructure ownership of team

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and his son, team president Art Rooney II, want to buy other family members' shares to assure that one of the NFL's most storied franchises does not leave Rooney control.

In a statement Monday, the team said some of Dan Rooney's four brothers want to focus their business efforts on racetracks and other non-football interests. The brothers -- Art Jr., Timothy, Patrick and John -- all own an interest in the team as does another related family, the McGinleys, although it has only a small stake in the 75-year-old franchise.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has asked former commissioner Paul Tagliabue to represent the league in talks to reach an agreement on a separation of the gambling interests and the restructured ownership if part of the team is sold, according to the statement.

"For the past two years, the Rooney family has had discussions about a restructuring of the ownership of the Steelers in order to ensure compliance with the NFL ownership policies and the continuation of the Rooney family ownership and operation of the team," the team said in the statement.

Some family members apparently want to gauge if their shares would be worth more money if the club was sold outside the family.

The Steelers are one of the NFL's most successful franchises despite not winning any form of championship until their 40th season, a division title in 1972. The five-time Super Bowl champions have sold out all home game for the last 36 years and have one of the league's largest fan bases outside their own region, a national following rivaled by only a handful of NFL teams.

Dan Rooney is the eldest of team founder Art Rooney Sr.'s five sons and a Pro Football Hall of Fame owner who first worked for the team as a ballboy while in grade school.

"I have spent my entire life devoted to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football League," said Dan Rooney, one of the most influential owners in NFL history. "I will do everything possible to work out a solution to ensure my father's legacy of keeping the Steelers in the Rooney family and in Pittsburgh for at least another 75 years."

Art Rooney Jr., Dan's brother, was the Steelers' scouting director when the team had some of the best draft classes in NFL history in the 1970s, leading to a run of four Super Bowl championships in six seasons.

Dan and Art Jr. had a falling out in the late 1980s, with Art Jr. leaving the football side of the business. Art Jr. has since been involved in the Rooneys' real estate holdings, though he recently wrote a book focusing on his work for the Steelers.

Their father, Art Rooney Sr., was heavily involved in gambling and, according to legend, bought the Steelers in 1933 with $2,500 in racetrack winnings. But the NFL now frowns on any ownership association with gambling.

The Rooney family owns racetracks in New York and Florida and has added forms of gaming that are inconsistent with NFL gambling policy.

Art Rooney II says the discussions should have no affect on the team or its fans. The Steelers, who won the AFC North with a 10-6 record last season, open training camp July 27.

"There is no reason to believe that the current internal discussions will have any impact on our fans or on our team this season or in the seasons to come," Art Rooney II said.

The Rooney family has owned the team since its inception, except for a brief period in 1941 when Art Rooney Sr. sold the team to Alexis Thompson and bought into the Philadelphia Eagles. Rooney regained control of his hometown Steelers in less than a year.

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Chiefs' Gonzalez saves man's life in restaurant

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A California man says Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs kept him from choking to death.

"Tony saved my life. There's no doubt," Ken Hunter, a shipping company manager, told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Tony came up behind me and gave me the Heimlich maneuver. Thank God he was there."

Gonzalez, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection who has set numerous NFL records, was having dinner with his wife, brother and 5-week-old daughter at Capone's restaurant in Huntington Beach Thursday night. Hunter, 45, was dining with his girlfriend at the next table when suddenly a piece of meat stuck in his throat.

"I tried to take a drink of water, but I couldn't swallow," Hunter told The AP. "Then I couldn't breathe. That's a terrible feeling. I couldn't breathe. Then I guess I started to panic."

Gonzalez, sitting with his back to Hunter's table, looked around when he heard Hunter's companion yelling.

"She was screaming, 'He can't breathe, he can't breathe,'" Gonzalez said by phone from California, where he lives in the offseason. "The whole restaurant was quiet. Nobody was doing anything.

"Then I saw he was turning blue. Everybody in the restaurant was just kind of sitting there wide-eyed."

The 6-foot-5 Gonzalez, about a foot taller than Hunter, jumped out of his chair and came up behind the stricken man and began to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"After just a few seconds, the piece of meat popped out," Hunter said. "I could breathe again. It's a good thing Tony is so tall because I had stood up -- I think."

Diana Martin, a restaurant employee, said no one else seemed to know what to do.

"He was so lucky Tony was there," Martin said. "In a situation like that, every second counts. It helped a lot that Tony's a big, strong guy because you have to be able to apply some pretty good pressure. I don't think I would have been strong enough to help him."

Hunter went into the restroom to clean up and didn't realize he'd been saved by a famous athlete until he came out.

"I'm a big NFL fan and I recognized him right away. I was still kind of dazed when I went over and thanked him and said, 'What can I do for you?' I guess I said it about 1,000 times."

Gonzalez, who has been active in charity and community activities during a brilliant career with the Chiefs, said he had no intention of having the incident become public.

"The next night I had a dinner for my grandmother's 90th birthday, and people were saying, 'Why didn't you tell me about that?' I honestly don't want to make a big deal out of it. But of course it does give me a lot of satisfaction to know that I was able to help somebody."

One of the most productive receivers in pro football history, Gonzalez holds the NFL record for tight ends with 820 career receptions and 102 catches in a season. He needs only 79 more yards receiving to become the career leader among tight ends.

He has never received any formal instruction in the Heimlich maneuver.

"I had seen it done, so I just did it," Gonzalez said. "When you find yourself in those situations where you have to take action in a crucial situation, you just do it. I got the same feeling I get when I go on a hospital visit."

Hunter is a lifelong fan of the San Diego Chargers, one of Kansas City's key rivals in the AFC West, and plans to be at the game when the Chiefs visit the Chargers on Nov. 9.

"I'm Tony's No. 1 fan now," he said.

And what will this longtime follower of the Chargers do if they're ahead by four or five points in the final minute and Gonzalez runs into the end zone and leaps up for what would be the game-winning touchdown for K.C.?

"I'm going to be yelling for Tony to catch the ball," Hunter said. "I think all my friends will understand."

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Patrick, Olbermann reuniting on NBC's NFL show

NEW YORK -- Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann are reuniting on television on NBC's Sunday night NFL coverage.

'Inside the NFL' Hosts Named James Brown, Phil Simms and Cris Collinsworth will host "Inside the NFL" when it moves to Showtime in the fall. Brown hosts the CBS pregame show on Sundays, while Simms is the network's lead analyst. Collinsworth is a holdover from the program's previous run on HBO and also works for NBC and NFL Network. CBS Sports chief Sean McManus said Monday in announcing the hosts that a fourth person will join them each week. Whether it will be another full-time analyst or a rotating current or former player has yet to be determined. The show will be produced by CBS Sports and NFL Films. CBS owns Showtime. -- The Associated Press

The network announced Monday that it had hired Patrick, hoping the recapture the chemistry that hooked viewers to ESPN's "SportsCenter" during the pair's run from 1992-97.

"It was seamless. We never tried to understand why it worked," Patrick said on a conference call. "It just did."

Patrick joins the returning cast of NBC's studio show that includes Olbermann and host Bob Costas. Patrick said the idea originated in casual conversations with Costas, some of whose highlight duties he will take.

Patrick's discussions with NBC initially took place last summer. But his then-employer, ESPN, invoked a clause in Patrick's contract and barred him from covering the NFL or Olympics on TV for a year, said NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol.

Since leaving ESPN in August, Patrick has hosted a radio show and written for Sports Illustrated.

Patrick will work Super Bowls that NBC broadcasts and will participate in the network's Olympic coverage starting with the Winter Games in 2010.

Olbermann recalled that their old SportsCenter shows were an "attempt by him to crack me up or by me to crack him up."

"As long as we kept that undercurrent going," Olbermann said, "we knew it would be entertaining for the audience."

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Attorney: Foley to settle lawsuit for $5.5 million

SAN DIEGO -- Former San Diego Chargers linebacker Steve Foley agreed to settle his lawsuit for $5.5 million against a police officer who shot him two years ago, ending his football career.

Foley's lawyer, Harvey Levine, said his client wants to get on with his life.

Foley reached the agreement last week with the city of Coronado and Officer Aaron Mansker. Terms were not disclosed until Monday. The Coronado City Council was to meet Monday to consider approving the settlement.

Foley was shot in his leg, hip and hand in September 2006. Mansker was off-duty when the shooting occurred. He tailed Foley's car home from San Diego on suspicion the driver was drunk.

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Ex-Chargers safety Kiel dies following car accident

SAN DIEGO -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Terrence Kiel was killed after he was thrown from a sedan he was driving, police said Saturday.

Kiel, 27, was driving alone after leaving a party at about 10:15 p.m. PT Friday night when he hit a wall in San Diego's upscale Scripps Ranch neighborhood and was thrown from the car, police Sgt. Alan Hayward said.

Kiel was barely breathing when paramedics reached him and he died about an hour later, Hayward said.

Friends had tried to keep Kiel from driving home from the party, Hayward said, and witnesses told police he appeared to be driving in the wrong direction when he crashed.

Police would not know whether Kiel had been under the influence of drugs or alcohol until toxicology tests were performed, Hayward said.

A second-round draft pick out of Texas A&M in 2003, Kiel played four years in the NFL from 2003 to 2006, all with the Chargers.

In February 2007 he pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor drug charges for shipping prescription cough syrup to Texas, the most significant of several scrapes with the law.

He was released by the team after his plea.

Kiel had been led off the practice field and arrested in the locker room by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in September 2006, suspected of shipping at least two parcels of prescription cough syrup, apparently to be mixed with soft drinks to make a concoction known as "lean."

The felony charges were later dropped after he completed community service, and he was serving three years' probation for the misdemeanor charges.

He was cited for urinating in public outside a San Diego nightclub in January 2007, but the city dropped that charge.

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Kuharsky: Juniors preparing for early departure

Highly touted juniors across the country are enjoying a little downtime. Soon enough, they'll be back on campus, getting ready for football season.

But that's not all they should be getting ready for, because early departure to the NFL may soon become a more attractive option.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently called it "ridiculous" to reward unproven rookies with contracts like the one No. 1 pick Jake Long got from the Miami Dolphins -- a five-year deal with $30 million guaranteed. Plenty of players around the league would prefer to see more of the money go to veterans.

The owners recently opted out of the collective bargaining agreement, which means it will expire in 2011 instead of 2013. But if there isn't a new deal by March 2009, an absence of one would trigger big changes -- there would be no 2010 salary cap, and the framework of free agency would change. [+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Jason DeCrow

Count Roger Goodell, left, among those who believe No. 1 pick Jake Long is making too much money.

Let's presume the sides find common ground for a new deal next spring, keep 2009 in place under its existing structure, but agree on some revision to rookie salaries starting in 2010.

If you're a junior this fall, you'll want to get into the league as soon as you can. Wait, and you'd be part of the first draft class to enter after the system is changed, perhaps costing yourself millions.

Agent Ian Greengross thinks that if an inequity exists in the salaries top picks are getting, it doesn't last very deep into the draft. He's negotiated first-round deals for Oakland running back Darren McFadden, Houston defensive tackle Amobi Okoye and Indianapolis running back Joseph Addai.

Greengross and his fellow agents cannot talk to players who are true juniors or younger. Barring family issues or hardships, he said he's always offered blanket encouragement for juniors to stay in school. If there is potential for the financial landscape for rookies to change, however, he might come to see things differently.

"As the 10th pick [in 2007], Amobi Okoye got $12.5 million in bonuses and guarantees," Greengross said. "If next year [the 10th pick] still gets the two-year increase above him but there is the possibility that the year after that you'd get cut down to $5 million, you would think some of those juniors would look at that and say, 'It's to my economic advantage to declare early and take my chances. Because even if I go in the second round, I'm not losing that much -- next year will be cut down anyway.'"

Former Denver general manager Ted Sundquist said he expects things will change for the NFL's college advisory committee on which he once served. He hopes juniors who consider declaring for the draft still listen to the committee's recommendations.

NFL.com Video

Jake Long, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 Draft.

"What it may do is at least temporarily overload the system," he said. "The CAC may get blasted with, who knows, twice as many evaluations as they have in the past."

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach doesn't believe juniors will rush to beat changes to the NFL's system.

"I don't think that would happen, because if they leave early, they're idiots because the scale would go up [the next year]," he said. "They need to remember that the success rate of players who leave early is dismal. Historically, guys lose money if they come out early, and a lot of these agents are nothing but loan sharks. And all these players who would be so worried about how much money they're going to make just need to be worried about making the team."

Those involved have not publicly floated any solid proposals about how rookie salaries could be changed.

Will Goodell and the owners push for a NBA-style rookie salary scale in which the numbers are predetermined? Will owners look to cut down the numbers only on the first handful of picks? Will they try to negotiate something in between?

Some of the conversation amounts to posturing.

Few teams didn't have the cap space they needed to chase whom they wanted when free agency began. And if teams are so concerned about rookies outdoing proven performers in the paycheck department, plenty of clubs still have enough room to redo the contracts of select veterans right now.

Sundquist thinks an adjustment to rookie deals needs to be made and said he thinks one fair way to alter rookie salaries is to get back to the intention of the rookie pool -- the total cap number a team is allowed to spend on its draft class, figured by a formula that considers the previous cost of the same slots.

Agents and teams manage to keep first-round picks in line with the rookie pool by negotiating option or roster bonuses for later in the deal.

"There would have to be some sort of cap on guaranteed money -- signing bonus, option bonus," Sundquist said. "The rookie pool in a sense was a good idea -- in a sense it controlled those first-year numbers. But it ended up controlling those first-year numbers and putting a great deal of guaranteed money in the second year, which at times becomes very difficult for teams to swallow.

"After one year, you can quickly figure out sometimes that you've missed. Then you're staring down the double barrel of an option bonus or a guaranteed buyout."

Complicated contracts can be difficult to compare in real dollars, but on a recent edition of ESPN's "NFL Live" it was suggested the deal for the third pick in the draft, Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, actually puts him ahead of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Ryan's deal has been framed as worth $72 million for six years and includes $34.75 million guaranteed.

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Find out what makes Matt Ryan a legitimate franchise quarterback.

Ryan said he understands both sides of the debate.

Green Bay cornerback Al Harris is OK with some rookies hitting the jackpot, but unsurprisingly prefers when it's veterans who get the big bucks.

"I think some guys, they do a great job in college and they should get a significant amount of money," Harris said. "If you get paid, that's your blessing, and I'm for that. But if there is another quarterback that's making more than Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, you probably should look into it."

Like Harris, NFLPA president Kevin Mawae has said he's not mad at rookies, that all players should get all they can get when they can get it.

The Titans center doesn't consider rookie salaries a huge issue at this point, though he said he's aware it may rate as one for management.

"You've got what, 250 kids getting drafted this year, and only five of them are making that kind of money," Mawae said. "So the problem is probably not as big as everybody's making it out to be."

He pointed to two young players on his own offensive line, Michael Roos and David Stewart, who recently signed big extensions.

"Guys are getting the money, and it's not just the top three draft picks, but it would seem that way because the media focuses on the rookies coming out," he said. "It's one of those deals. You get the big contract, a lot is expected out of you, and if you don't perform you're not going to get another one."

Which is what makes the first one so important.

Which is what will prompt more juniors to declare for the draft and get that contract before anything changes.

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Ex-Kentucky WR Burton reaches deal with Rams

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Former University of Kentucky receiver Keenan Burton says he's reached a three-year deal with the St. Louis Rams.

Burton says his agent, Todd France, finished the deal on Thursday. Burton says he believes the contract to be worth more than $1 million.

Burton was selected by the Rams in the fourth round of the NFL Draft in April.

Burton ranks fourth in receptions, third in receiving yards, second in touchdowns and third in all-purpose yards for the Wildcats. He was the fifth Kentucky player to amass more than 4,000 all-purpose yards.

Burton's best season came in 2006 when he caught 77 passes for 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Burton will report to training camp July 25.

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Bills defensive tackle re-signed through 2012

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Defensive tackle Kyle Williams signed a three-year contract extension with the Buffalo Bills on Thursday potentially worth $14.4 million.

The two-year starter is now signed through 2012 and is guaranteed $5.2 million over the next two seasons.

"We're very flattered," Williams' agent Albert Elias told The Associated Press. "When you're two years into a contract, these types of extensions aren't normally made.... We're really excited about it." Elias said the Bills contacted him last week to restructure Williams' contract.

The Bills confirmed the new deal, but did not release the terms.

Williams received a roster bonus of $1.75 million and will make a base salary of $700,000 this season, a significant raise over the $445,000 he was scheduled to make under his previous contract. Williams is also due a $1.5 million bonus in March. Williams had two years left on his contract.

Under the new contract he will make a base salary of $12 million over the next five years, not including bonuses.

The Bills' fifth-round pick in the 2006 draft out of Louisiana State has two sacks, both last season, in 32 career games.

Williams is expected to get significant playing time while competing with former first-round pick John McCargo for the starting job alongside newly acquired veteran Marcus Stroud this season.

The Bills are off until the opening of training camp on July 25.

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Ryan respects Goodell's view on rookie contracts

Matt Ryan isn't apologizing for benefiting from a system that allows top NFL draft picks to receive massive contracts. Even so, he appreciates where Roger Goodell was coming from last week when the commissioner questioned paying millions in guaranteed salary to rookies who have yet to play a down in the league.

"You can also understand the other side of it, the concern of veterans who have been in the league 10, 12 years and proven themselves but not seen the money," Ryan said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I can understand both sides."

The third pick in this year's draft, the quarterback signed a $72 million, six-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons that included $34.75 million in guaranteed pay.

All that money means first-year players need to quickly develop a lot of financial savvy. On Monday night, Ryan and his fellow draft picks participated in a presentation by Visa about credit scores during the NFL Rookie Symposium in Carlsbad, Calif.

Ryan said players were chatting afterward about the concept of assets vs. liabilities -- how some purchases, such as a house, generate wealth, while others decline in value over time.

Most people can afford to make some financial mistakes early in adulthood because they'll have a long career and their peak earnings won't come for a couple of decades, said Lisa Withers, Visa's national financial literacy educator. But for professional athletes, there's little room for error, since their highest incomes may come for a few years in their early 20s.

Withers was impressed by all the hands that flew up around the room as she gave her 45-minute presentation to players Monday. At the end the rookies were divided into two teams, the Patriots and Giants, to play a game to test their financial knowledge.

"They were talking smack back and forth just like if they were in a football game," she said.

Withers emphasized that a low credit score can burn a player no matter how much money he makes. Veteran quarterback Drew Brees learned that the hard way early in his career. In a phone interview Tuesday, he recalled how he failed to pay a cell phone bill and it went to collections.

"It took me my first couple of years in the league to learn through experience," he said.

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Seifert: History working against Favre-less Packers

Brett Favre is destined for the Hall of Fame, but for now he is reportedly contemplating a return to the field after four months of retirement. [+] Enlarge

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Brett Favre walked away from the game in March. Should the Packers be pushing him to return?

But do the Green Bay Packers want him back? With Aaron Rodgers apparently entrenched as the team's new starting quarterback, the Packers haven't reacted to reports that Favre has expressed interest in returning.

Perhaps a better question is this: Should the Packers want Favre back? With that tweak in mind, ESPN.com examined the departures of the 17 Hall of Fame quarterbacks who retired after the 1970 merger between the NFL and AFL. (George Blanda was excluded because his career as a full-time quarterback ended in 1965.)

Not surprisingly, the quarterback's team posted a better record the following year in only seven of the 17 instances. Otherwise, the team fared worse or the same. The Packers can't do much better than last season's 13-3 mark, but it's nevertheless worth noting the hardships most teams face when replacing a future Hall of Famer.

A look at the list:

Hall of Famer: Bart Starr
Team: Packers
Final season: 1971
Replacement: Scott Hunter
Victory differential: +6
Analysis: Starr passed the torch during the '71 season, playing only at the end of a lost season. Hunter led the Packers to their first playoff berth in five seasons in '72.

Hall of Famer: Johnny Unitas
Team: Colts
Final season: 1972
Replacement: Marty Domres
Victory differential: -1
Analysis: Unitas played one final year for the Chargers while the Colts moved on under new coach Howard Schnellenberger. Domres gave way to Bert Jones in '73.

Hall of Famer: Sonny Jurgensen
Team: Redskins
Final season: 1974
Replacement: Billy Kilmer
Victory differential: -2
Analysis: Kilmer took the Redskins to one playoff game over the following three seasons, eventually giving way to Joe Theismann in 1978.

Hall of Famer: Len Dawson
Team: Chiefs
Final season: 1975
Replacement: Keith Livingston
Victory differential: 0
Analysis: Livingston carried the torch for three seasons but never managed a winning record.

Hall of Famer: Joe Namath
Team: Jets
Final season: 1976
Replacement: Richard Todd
Victory differential: 0
Analysis: Namath played his final season with the Rams, while Todd's seven-year run included four playoff games.

Hall of Famer: Fran Tarkenton
Team: Vikings
Final season: 1978
Replacement: Tommy Kramer
Victory differential: -1
Analysis: Kramer had one of the better careers for Hall of Fame replacements, sticking around for parts of the next 11 seasons.

Hall of Famer: Roger Staubach
Team: Cowboys
Final season: 1979
Replacement: Danny White
Victory differential: +1
Analysis: White had a decent career as Staubach's replacement but couldn't get the Cowboys to the Super Bowl.

Hall of Famer: Bob Griese
Team: Dolphins
Final season: 1980
Replacement: David Woodley
Victory differential: +3
Analysis: Woodley took over in 1980 and got the Dolphins to the Super Bowl in 1982. Dan Marino replaced him the following season.

Hall of Famer: Terry Bradshaw
Team: Steelers
Final season: 1983
Replacement: Mark Malone
Victory differential: -1
Analysis: Bradshaw's last full season was '82. Cliff Stoudt was the primary quarterback in '83 before Malone took over in 1984.

Hall of Famer: Dan Fouts
Team: Chargers
Final season: 1987
Replacement: Mark Malone
Victory differential: -2
Analysis: Malone got used to the replacement gig, but the Chargers didn't return to the playoffs until Stan Humphries took over in 1992.

Hall of Famer: Joe Montana
Team: Chiefs
Final season: 1994
Replacement: Steve Bono
Victory differential: +4
Analysis: Montana's longtime understudy led the Chiefs to a 13-3 record at age 33.

Hall of Famer: Jim Kelly
Team: Bills
Final season: 1996
Replacement:Todd Collins
Victory differential: -4
Analysis: Collins lasted only one season before the Bills brought in Doug Flutie as their starter. Flutie had them in the playoffs in '98 and '99.

[+] Enlarge

JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images

The Broncos won the Super Bowl in John Elway's final season. A year later, they were 6-10.

Hall of Famer: John Elway
Team: Broncos
Final season: 1998
Replacement:Brian Griese
Victory differential: -8
Analysis: Griese was the surprise choice over Bubby Brister. The Broncos missed the playoffs for in '99 but returned in 2000.

Hall of Famer: Dan Marino
Team: Dolphins
Final season: 1999
Replacement: Jay Fielder
Victory differential: +1
Analysis: Marino considered an offer from Minnesota before retiring. Fiedler beat out Damon Huard and lasted until 2003 as the starter.

Hall of Famer: Steve Young
Team: 49ers
Year of Departure: 1999
Final season:Jeff Garcia
Record differential: +2
Analysis: Young departed in the midst of a rebuilding mode. Garcia had the 49ers in the playoffs by 2001.

Hall of Famer: Troy Aikman
Team: Cowboys
Final season: 2000
Replacement: Quincy Carter
Victory differential: 0
Analysis: The Cowboys were not prepared for Aikman's departure. Carter and Chad Hutchinson kept the seat warm until Bill Parcells brought in Vinny Testaverde and later Drew Bledsoe.

Hall of Famer:Warren Moon
Team: Seattle
Final season: 1998
Replacement:Jon Kitna
Record differential: +1
Analysis: Moon spent the '99 and 2000 seasons as a backup in Kansas City. Kitna held on for two years until coach Mike Holmgren changed direction with Matt Hasselbeck.

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Source: Favre in touch with Packers about return

With his family "tugging" on him to play, Brett Favre has an "itch" to come out of retirement and report to training camp with the Green Bay Packers later this month, according to sources close to the team and player.

Favre has communicated his potential desire to coach Mike McCarthy but talks have not advanced to a substantive stage, a Packers source said.

Favre was reached on Wednesday by Mississippi's Sun Herald newspaper and tried to calm the storm.

"It's all rumor," he said of reports that he wants to return.

As for the ensuing media storm surrounding the story, Favre said in a text message to the newspaper: "No reason for it."

However, Favre's brother, Scott, said Wednesday night that Brett has been working out and put a return by No. 4 at "50-50."

"There's no doubt he can play," Scott Favre told WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee. "He's in good shape, he's working out, we know he can still play, he's healthy, so, if he did, it wouldn't surprise me."

And at least one Packers player has said that Favre hasn't completely gotten the game out of his system.

On ESPN's "NFL Live," Packers defensive back Al Harris said on Wednesday: "I've talked to Brett and I know he has the itch to come back and play. If he will or not, I don't know. But I know he's feeling he wants to play."

When asked how Favre expressed his desire to return, Harris said the quarterback said, "I got the itch."

Rodgers' Plea To Fans

When it comes to trying to fill Brett Favre's shoes, Aaron Rodgers hasn't gotten off on the right foot -- with the cheeseheads, at least. It's been assumed for three years that Rodgers would ascend to the quarterback throne when Favre retired, which Favre did during the offseason. But Rodgers did not endear himself to Packers fans recently when, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, he said, "I don't feel I need to sell myself to the fans. They need to get on board now or keep their mouths shut." Later, Rodgers made amends when addressing his remarks in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I do care deeply about the fans and I think anybody who has been to training camp and sees I'm a lot of times the last one out signing autographs sees I care about the fans, I care about their opinions," Rodgers told the Journal-Sentinel. "Everybody wants the fans to care for them and to pull for them and I am no different. "The biggest disappointment in this whole thing is if anybody is offended by the stuff I say, because I think that my track record pretty much speaks for itself in the way I feel about the fans. I don't want the wrong message to come out of this."

-- ESPN.com news services

The source said the Packers would be reluctant to open the door for Favre because "Brett retired for the right reasons, even though I know his family is tugging on him [to play]."

Another source conceded Favre was "getting the itch" to play football in 2008.

Citing NFL sources, multiple media outlets in Wisconsin reported on Wednesday that Favre or his agent, James "Bus" Cook, contacted the Packers about returning a few weeks ago and the conversation ended with the quarterback asking for his release. The team reportedly refused his request.

ESPN's sources said that while Favre asking for his release is a possibility, the situation hasn't yet reached that stage.

Favre deciding to return does indeed put the Packers in an awkward situation. The entire offseason has been spent preparing Aaron Rodgers to play quarterback to the point where "the offensive scheme has evolved" and, psychologically, closing the door on Favre's legendary 17-year career.

Favre asking for his release would indicate that he still wants to play but that the Packers aren't a willing partner. A league official told ESPN that Favre could force a decision by asking the Packers, in writing, to reinstate him to active status. The team would have to comply or release him.

"That's speculation and I wouldn't go there," a team source said. "We value Brett's legacy, we think he values it, and we'd want to protect that. Brett's a high-quality person and he's not going to push it that far. He'll do the right thing [and stay retired]. This was almost predictable, the idea that Brett would get the itch to play as we get closer to the season."

NFL.com Video

Highlights of Favre's best 2007 moments.

Meanwhile, Favre's agent downplayed the likelihood that the quarterback could un-retire or that he was prepared to report to camp July 28.

"As far as I know, right now, Brett Favre is retired and until he tells me something different, that's what it is," Cook said.

A Packers spokesman said that McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson were on vacation.

"The Packers have no reaction," team spokesman Jeff Blumb told The Associated Press.

Favre's mother, interviewed by WITI-TV in Milwaukee on Wednesday, said her son felt a vibe coming from GM Thompson that indicated the Packers were eager to move on without the future Hall of Famer.

"He's felt like that for the last couple of years, that the Packers didn't really want him back," Bonita Favre told WITI. "But nothing's been said. You know it's just been bits and pieces throughout the last couple of years, things that would come up, and it just didn't seem like they went out of their way to keep him. It was kind of like, 'You're done.'"

Favre has two years remaining on his contract at an average of about $12.5 million per season. His salary is not currently counting toward the salary cap because the Packers placed him on the reserve-retired list.

While Favre's return would upset the team on some level, many teammates would be fine with it happening.

"As a veteran and as a leader of the team," Harris said on "NFL Live," "I would welcome Brett with open arms."

He added: "We embrace Aaron. We support Aaron. Aaron is our quarterback. Brett is retired, but if he wants to come back, there will be some guys that wouldn't mind it."

In an interview done with ESPN around the time Favre retired in early March, McCarthy predicted Favre "will have an itch to come back. I saw Joe Montana go through it, even though I was a younger coach in Kansas City at the time."

McCarthy said it was Favre who convinced the coach that retirement was the "right thing to do."

"I tried to talk him out of retirement," McCarthy said back in March. "Tom Clements [Green Bay's quarterbacks coach] and I were trying to sell him on the concept that he could still play at a high level with 80 to 85 percent of the commitment he had last year. Brett thought that maybe he could do it but he reasoned that when you cut back the commitment, you open yourself up to injury, to not being on top of your game -- which was very important to Brett -- and letting the team down in the process.

"Really, what Brett did was very honorable because the stress and pressure he feels is a direct result of the standard he sets for himself."

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Bears sign running back Forte to four-year deal

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears agreed to a four-year deal with second-round draft pick Matt Forte, the former Tulane running back expected to replace Cedric Benson in the lineup.

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Rookie Matt Forte discusses his offseason at Bears camp and his role in the offense.

Chicago sent a loud message to Benson when it took Forte with the 44th overall pick and thrust them into a competition that never materialized. The Bears waived Benson in June after three ineffective, injury-plagued years following his second alcohol-related arrest in a month.

Unless the Bears sign a veteran, Forte figures to get most of the carries.

He finished second on Tulane's career list with 4,265 yards rushing and 5,261 all-purpose yards while setting school records in rushing touchdowns (39), total touchdowns (44) and yards rushing per game (99.2).

First-round pick Chris Williams remains unsigned.

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Browns WR Jurevicius has second knee surgery

CLEVELAND -- Browns wide receiver Joe Jurevicius had his second knee surgery since January on Monday, a procedure that could prevent him from reporting to training camp on time.

NFL.com Video

2007 Highlight: Joe Jurevicius catches a deflected ball for 25 yards.

Jurevicius had swelling and discomfort in his knee related to his first operation, and the club said in a statement released Tuesday that he had a further "clean out" on Monday to help him recover. The team said no determination has been made on Jurevicius' status for training camp, which opens July 23.

The 33-year-old had 50 catches for 614 yards and three touchdowns last season.

Following his first surgery, Jurevicius contracted a staph infection, the sixth Browns player in four years to get such an infection.

Jurevicius has two years remaining on a four-year contract he signed in 2006. The 10-year veteran, who has also played for the New York Giants, Tampa Bay and Seattle, returned to Cleveland to play for the team he grew up idolizing. He attended Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Ohio.

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Ex-Charger Foley settles with officer who shot him

SAN DIEGO -- Former San Diego Chargers linebacker Steve Foley has agreed to settle his lawsuit against a police officer who shot him off-duty two years ago and ended his pro football career.

Foley attorney Harvey Levine says the settlement was reached with Officer Aaron Mansker and his employer, the city of Coronado, on Wednesday before testimony resumed in the week-old civil trial.

Levine says financial terms are confidential.

Foley's suit sought millions of dollars in damages as compensation for lost past and future earnings.

The player was shot in his leg, hip and hand in September 2006 after Mansker followed his car home on suspicion the driver was drunk. Foley pleaded guilty in 2007 to misdemeanor drunken driving.

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Sando: 'Dirty' reputation precedes Harrison

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Eleven coaches identified Rodney Harrison (14 personal fouls since 2001) as the NFL's dirtiest player.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The large medicine ball Rodney Harrison tossed around during a recent New England Patriots practice was no match for the veteran strong safety.

Harrison sat on a sideline, knees bent, extending his arms to the left as far as they could reach. He snatched the weighted ball and tossed it back across his body to a teammate in one core-shredding motion.

The exhausting exercise isn't the only feat of endurance familiar to Harrison. He has spent the bulk of his 14-year NFL career lugging around the baggage that comes with being thought of as the league's dirtiest player.

The label, reinforced through an ESPN.com poll of NFL head coaches, is not without basis. Fines and suspensions long ago became part of the cost of doing business for this two-time Pro Bowl choice. But Harrison's reputation, fueled by a penchant for playing up to the whistle and perhaps a tick beyond, might overshadow evidence that other players deserve as much or more scrutiny for questionable on-field tactics.

NFL Coaches Survey

ESPN.com surveyed NFL head coaches for their take on a range of issues, including the league's smartest offensive player (non-QB), smartest defensive player, dirtiest player and which owner carries the best reputation among head coaches. Thirty-one of the 32 coaches participated on some level. Thirty cast votes for smartest defensive player and the owner with the best reputation. Twenty-nine cast votes for the smartest offensive player (non-QB). Eighteen cast votes for the dirtiest player. Each head coach received anonymity for his candor. Next week: Coaches weigh in on officiating. • Ward brainy on offense • Thomas earns nod on defense • Harrison's rep validated • Rooney tops crowded list • Watch:NFL Live on 'dirtiest'A review of data since 2001 shows Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson with a league-high 17 personal fouls. Harrison and New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith are tied for second with 14, followed by Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour (13), Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor (12), late Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor (12) and Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Shaun Rogers (11).

The numbers suggest Harrison's name belongs in the first paragraph of any discussion about the NFL's dirtiest players -- but perhaps not at the exclusion of others.

Harrison drew two personal-foul penalties last season. Seventeen players drew more, but none of them earned even one vote from head coaches as the league's dirtiest player. Coaches, encouraged not to vote for their own players, were granted anonymity for their candor.

"Sometimes reputation precedes people, and unfairly at times," Harrison said.

Eleven of the 18 head coaches who responded singled out Harrison.

"I think if you understand me and you've seen me play, if you watch the film, you'll see that I play hard, that I'm very fair with people," Harrison said. "I think I've been getting a bad rap and that's just part of it."

Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams, notorious for horse-collar tackling, finished second in the coaches' poll with two votes. Four players drew one vote apiece: New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward, Tennessee Titans center Kevin Mawae and Chicago Bears center Olin Kreutz. One head coach said he couldn't think of a truly dirty player, a sentiment shared by those who think hefty fines have curtailed the most flagrant violations.

"When I came in the league [in 1999], I saw a lot more dirty players," Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "Guys were poking you on the bottom of the pile and chop blocking and all that stuff. But I think it has been cut down."

As for Harrison? "I think he'd be a good teammate because he brings an attitude and sets the tone," Bailey said, "but he can be dirty."

Not so, Harrison's defenders say.

Former Patriots receiver Deion Branch drew a line between Harrison's hard-nosed play and the approach Houston Texans defensive lineman Travis Johnson took after knocking out then-Miami Dolphins quarterback Trent Green with a legal hit last season. Johnson stood over the fallen Green and taunted him.

"[Harrison] is not that type of dude, I promise you," Branch said. "He's not going to go into a game and try to hurt someone. I can speak like this because I played with him. And I know for the people who didn't play with him, you could understand why they would say it, but he is not that type of guy. That is not his game."

Personal-foul penalties aren't the only way to measure a player's dirtiness. Just as a skilled criminal avoids detection, a player with sinister intentions might develop ways to inflict damage when officials aren't looking.

Harrison, 3 5, has been dishing out punishment in the NFL since 1994. The league has fined and suspended him repeatedly, including in 2002 when he leveled all-time receiving leader Jerry Rice with a helmet-to-helmet shot.

Most head coac hes polled by ESPN.com identified Harrison quickly and without equivocation.

"That's not a surprise," Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley said. "I would have bet my life savings on that one."

Stokley also singled out Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan as a player with bad intentions. Finnegan, a former small-school prospect and seventh-round draft choice, has become popular in Tennessee for playing with an edge. But his name hasn't shown up among those with the most personal fouls.

"It really doesn't bother me," Stokley said. "It's a part of it and it's a violent, aggressive game. As long as guys don't take it too far. I really don't think it's a big problem in the league."

Harrison, who has expressed an interest in becoming an NFL official after retirement, has led the league in personal fouls once since 2001. That was in 2004, when he had five. He had zero in 2002 and 2006. His 14 personal fouls since 2001 include four for unnecessary roughness, three for roughing the passer, two for face masks and five that fell into a "generic" category featuring unspecified infractions, according to ESPN research.

Wilson leads the league with eight unnecessary roughness penalties since 2001. Cardinals linebacker Chike Okeafor leads with eight for roughing the passer. Atlanta Falcons linebacker Keith Brooking, Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Wilson and former Tampa Bay Bucs offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker each had a league-high five personal-foul face mask penalties.

Put them in a lineup with Harrison, however, and the prime suspect is No. 37.

"It's something that I can't change," Harrison said. "If someone thinks that of me, that is what they think. But if you talk to the guys that have played with me, the guys that before I come to a team and played with, they say, 'You are a dirty son of a gun, but I would love to have you on my team.' But I'm not dirty. I just play hard."

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Pats part ways with Andrews one day after arrest

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots released defensive back Willie Andrews on Tuesday, one day after he was arrested for allegedly pointing a handgun at his girlfriend's head.

Andrews

The 24-year-old Andrews, primarily a special teams player, was being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing Thursday following his second arrest this year.

The team had issued a statement Monday, saying, "The New England Patriots take the conduct of our players very seriously. We are aware of the very disturbing and alarming reports regarding Willie Andrews. We will not offer any additional comment, as is our policy regarding pending legal matters."

The other arrest on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and driving an unregistered motor vehicle occurred in February. Andrews admitted in court in May that there was enough evidence to convict him at trial but did not plead guilty.

On Monday, Andrews was charged with illegal possession of a large capacity firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon, according to Gregg Miliote, director of communications for the Bristol County district attorney's office.

Andrews was arrested after allegedly returning home and having an argument with his girlfriend at about 1 a.m. Monday, Miliote said.

In two seasons since the Patriots drafted him in the seventh round out of Baylor, Andrews returned four kickoffs for 149 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown last season, and had 24 tackles, all but one on special teams.

Also, the Patriots signed linebacker Bo Ruud, a sixth-round draft pick from Nebraska. His brother Barrett plays for Tampa Bay.

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Bears sign Harrison, agree to deals with 2 others

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears signed defensive tackle Marcus Harrison to a four-year contract Tuesday and agreed to four-year deals with wide receiver Earl Bennett and cornerback Zack Bowman.

NFL.com Video

Highlights of Marcus Harrison's workout at the 2008 Combine.

Chicago has now signed or agreed to terms with a league-high 10 of its 12 picks, first-round pick Chris Williams and second-round selection Matt Forte being the exceptions.

Harrison, taken in the third round with the 90th overall pick, finished with 186 tackles -- 110 solo -- and four sacks while breaking up 12 passes in four years at Arkansas.

Third-round pick Bennett, taken 70th, caught an SEC-record 236 passes for 2,852 yards in three seasons at Vanderbilt.

Bowman, a fifth-rounder, had 56 tackles and three interceptions in 22 games with Nebraska after starting his collegiate career at New Mexico Military Institute.

Chicago had already signed or agreed to terms with fourth-round choice Craig Steltz, fifth-round selection Kellen Davis, and seventh-round picks Ervin Baldwin, Chester Adams, Joey LaRocque, Kirk Barton and Marcus Monk.

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Bucs' Graham agrees to 3-year, $10.5M extension

Graham

Earnest Graham had to miss some of the offseason program to get the attention of Tampa Bay management. On Sunday, he found out what the Bucs think of him.

Graham agreed to a three-year, $10.5 million extension that will keep him in Tampa through the 2011 season. The 28-year-old Graham was considered too valuable in the long-term plans of the team.

Cadillac Williams may have to start the season on the physically unable to perform list because of his knee injury. If that happens, Graham and Warrick Dunn will have to handle the running attack.

Graham rushed for 898 yards on 222 carries last season. It was his career best. He also caught 49 passes for 324 yards. Now he doesn't have to worry about his job security. He's found his home.

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