Seahawks RB Alexander has surgery
SEATTLE (TICKER) -- Former NFL Most Valuable Player Shaun Alexander was one of six Seattle Seahawks to undergo surgery on Thursday.
Alexander had surgery on his injured left wrist, which he broke in Week One. There was no announcement on how long the injury will prevent him from beginning offseason workouts.
Seattle (11-7) saw its season come to a streaking halt in a 42-20 loss to Green Bay in the NFC divisional playoff on Saturday. The Packers spotted the Seahawks a 14-0 lead before scoring 42 of the next 48 points.
Alexander finished off his second straight sub-par season following his mammoth 2005 season in which he set a then-league record with 27 rushing touchdowns.
The 30-year-old Alexander ran for 716 yards on 207 carries - an average of 3.5 yards - and just four touchdowns in 13 games. In 2006, Alexander followed up his 1,880-yard 28-TD performance of 2005 with 896 yards and seven touchdowns on 252 carries.
Other Seahawks who underwent surgery on Thursday were guard Floyd Womack (biceps), linebacker Will Herring (knee), defensive end Baraka Atkins (wrist), running back Josh Scobey (leg) and tackle Ray Willis (knee).
Among the other players scheduled for surgery are All-Pro defensive end Patrick Kerney (shoulder), All-Pro tackle Walter Jones (shoulder), former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch (knee) and center Chris Spencer (thumb).
Copyright 2008 PA SportsTicker. All Rights Reserved
Gridiron Greats looks to raise $500,000 for needy NFL retirees at Super Bowl
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- From poker to beer sales, the days leading up to the Super Bowl offer the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund many chances to raise money for needy retired NFL players.
The nonprofit group launched by former Green Bay Packers star Jerry Kramer hopes to raise $500,000 through its efforts, said Jennifer Smith, executive director of the Green Bay-based fund.
More than 70 former NFL players and coaches are expected to participate in at least one of the events to be held during Super Bowl week in Phoenix. Among the people scheduled to attend are ex-Bears coach Mike Ditka, former Dolphins coach Don Shula, former Bears linebacker Dick Butkus, ex-Packers running back Paul Hornung, ex-Lions running back Barry Sanders and former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly.
Miller Brewing Co. will donate a portion of sales of Miller Lite bottles and cases in Arizona from Jan. 1 to Feb. 3, spokesman Julian Green said. He said Miller also is hosting a monthlong fundraising campaign for the group that's expected to raise $100,000.
Events include a dinner, a party, and golf and poker tournaments. For a minimum $6,000 donation, four people can play golf with an NFL great. A "Texas Hold Em" poker tournament has a $1,000 buy-in, which includes being seated with a football star. The top prize: a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
An online auction that ends on Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 3 allows fans to bid on taking an African safari trip with Hall of Fame players, having dinner with Ditka in Chicago, and memorabilia signed by players. A sneak peek of the items will go up next week on the group's Web site, with bidding to begin the week of Jan. 21.
Starting Friday, fans can buy tickets to a dinner during Super Bowl week that will feature Ditka and dozens of other players. Tickets cost $250 or $500 and some include the chance to sit with an NFL great.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Dolphins place CB Andre Goodman on IR
DAVIE, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins cornerback Andre Goodman was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a knee injury, and the team signed guard Ikechuku Ndukwe off Baltimore's practice squad.
Goodman played in 13 games this season and started four. He had two interceptions and made 20 tackles.
Miami is Ndukewe's fourth team since he joined the NFL in 2005.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Feud between NFL Network and cable companies continues
NEW YORK (AP) -- The NFL responded to pressure from senators by offering Time Warner Cable temporary access to the NFL Network in exchange for using the arbitration process the league wants. But the cable company reaffirmed its preference for private negotiations.
A day earlier, a letter to the NFL from two powerful members of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. -- threatened to reconsider the league's antitrust exemption if it didn't make games on the network available to more viewers.
On Thursday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt a letter proposing that the cable company could immediately start airing the channel for free if it agreed to a binding arbitration process to determine the price and method for how the network would be distributed.
The league has long been in favor of using arbitration to settle the dispute and has asked government officials to force the two sides into arbitration. But this is the first time it has offered to allow a cable company to broadcast the network during the time it would take for the arbitration process to work. Time Warner would be charged retroactively after the arbitrator reached a ruling, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
Also on Thursday, a state Senate committee in Wisconsin heard testimony from the NFL and major cable companies on a bill that would require arbitration.
Britt responded with a letter to Goodell declining the offer.
"As I'm sure you are aware, over the years we've been able to successfully reach agreements with hundreds of programming networks without the use of arbitration," he wrote. "We continue to believe that the best way to achieve results is to privately seek a resolution and not attempt to negotiate through the press or elected officials."
The proposal does not apply to Comcast, another large cable provider with which the league is feuding, McCarthy said. Comcast already has the ability to provide the network to all its customers. The company broadcasts the channel on a premium tier that carries an additional fee. The NFL sued over that setup; a judge ruled in favor of Comcast, and the league has appealed.
Eight games air this season on the NFL Network, which is available in fewer than 40 percent of the nation's homes with televisions. Games are simulcast on free TV locally for each team, but that doesn't include regional markets where many fans of the club live. NFL officials have repeatedly said they will not agree to any distribution arrangement that only involves games and not year-round broadcast of the channel.
The Patriots' regular-season finale on Dec. 29 against the New York Giants, in which they could be going for a historic undefeated record, is scheduled to air on the NFL Network.
A vice president of the Green Bay Packers told the state Senate committee in Wisconsin that the channel's exclusion from some major cable networks could spell the beginning of the end of the sport's popularity.
"Sports die off when they are not broadly accessible to the fans," Jason Wied said. "This is the start of that problem."
Wied, along with the president of the NFL Network, spoke in support of a bipartisan bill that could require an arbitrator to resolve disputes between the network and cable companies. The head of the Big Ten Network and the commissioner of the Big Ten Conference testified, but did not take a position on the proposal.
Steve Bornstein, head of the NFL Network and former president of ESPN, said the cable companies are not negotiating in good faith.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said he thinks his network's conflict with cable providers can be resolved without arbitration. It has already negotiated 181 deals and is in more than 30 million homes, he said.
Still, Delany said negotiations with the country's largest cable providers have been "going no place."
The director of the Wisconsin Cable Communications Association, which represents Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, MediaCom and 25 other smaller providers, said the state should not interfere with negotiations in a free market and doing so may be unconstitutional.
Wisconsin is one of a handful of states considering arbitration as a way to resolve the problem. Other states looking into it include Illinois, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Indiana.
The Federal Communications Commission is also being lobbied by members of Congress to institute an arbitration process at the federal level to address the problem.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
After flawless month, Jackson takes a step back as Vikings QB
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -- When Tarvaris Jackson carelessly threw a pass deep down the middle of the field on Monday night against Chicago, Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress winced.
There was less than 1 minute remaining in the first half, and Nathan Vasher intercepted the poorly thrown pass and returned it 34 yards to the Minnesota 12, setting up a touchdown that almost proved costly.
The Vikings may have pulled out a 20-13 victory for their fifth win in a row, but it was a reminder that Jackson still is just 12 starts into his NFL career.
"Unfortunately those are hard lessons to learn and (against) somebody that is a little bit more explosive offensively, those things are going to come back and bite you," Childress said. "But it cost us 10 points on turnovers."
After showing steady improvement in four straight victories that vaulted the Vikings back into playoff contention, Minnesota won in spite of its quarterback on Monday night.
Jackson threw three interceptions -- one that bounced off receiver Robert Ferguson's hands -- and also botched a handoff with Adrian Peterson that created another turnover in the Vikings victory over the offensively challenged Bears.
It was the kind of performance that can be expected of a 24-year-old in his first full season playing one of the most demanding positions in sports.
It is also the kind of performance the Vikings can ill afford to have in the final two games of the regular season as they chase their first playoff appearance in three years.
Since handing the reins to Jackson in training camp, Childress has preached decision-making above all else. He loathes turnovers of any kind, especially those that could have been avoided, like that pass against the Bears.
"Number one, we offensively need to take care of the ball better," Childress said Wednesday. "Just in terms of numbers, there have been 180 games played this season with a team minus-one or worse (in turnover margin), and those teams that were minus-one or worse are 28-152."
Jackson has heard that speech already and knows what is on the line this week. Washington (7-7) trails Minnesota (8-6) by one game in the race for the last playoff spot in the NFC.
"Turnovers," Jackson said with a slight shake of his head. "I turned the football over three times with the three interceptions. ... Other than that it wasn't as bad as I thought. I watched the film, and besides the interceptions and stuff I thought we played pretty well."
But "pretty well" won't get it done against a Washington defense that is playing for the memory of its leader. The Redskins are 2-1 since Sean Taylor was killed at his home in Florida, with the only loss a 17-16 setback against Buffalo.
As he prepares to start his 11th game this season, Jackson's teammates are confident he will bounce back.
"He's been calm in a lot of situations," tight end Jim Kleinsasser said. "He feels more comfortable back there and I think the whole team is feeling a lot more comfortable with each other. That's the big thing."
Robert Ferguson, a former Green Bay Packer, said he has spoken often with Jackson about the resiliency Brett Favre has shown throughout his brilliant career.
"I tell him I saw a lot of subpar performances from a quarterback that I was with, and it never rattled him," Ferguson said. "I see that in Tarvaris. He's still walking around, he's not hanging his head."
Jackson appears to be getting the message.
"I turned the football three or four times on Monday, but at the same time I didn't let it get to me," he said. "I kind of just blocked that stuff out. I had a short memory and we kept fighting and we won the football game."
That's the bottom line, of course, and Jackson improved to 8-2 as a starter this season.
"That's all that matters. Stats are for fantasy football," Ferguson said. "Just control the offense, continue to make big plays. That's what I've seen from him."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Brady highlights Players of the Week
NEW YORK (TICKER) -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady continues to put his personal stamp on the Player of the Week Award.
For the fourth time this season, Brady highlighted the NFL weekly awards on Wednesday by being tabbed as the AFC's offensive representative after helping his club continue to remain unbeaten.
Washington Redskins quarterback Todd Collins earned the corresponding honor in the NFC.
Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant were the Defensive Players of the Week.
The special teams honors were captured by Houston Texans kick returner Andre Davis and Green Bay Packers punt returner Will Blackmon.
Brady completed 32-of-46 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns in New England's 34-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The eight-year veteran is four touchdowns shy of tying Peyton Manning's single-season record of 49 in 2004.
Brady's fourth award this season gives him two more than any other player in the NFL, including teammate Randy Moss.
Collins came off the bench to complete 15-of-20 passes for 224 yards and two TDs in Washington's 24-16 win over the Chicago Bears.
Entering a scoreless game, Collins tossed a 21-yard touchdown to tight end Todd Yoder in the first half and a 16-yard scoring strike to running back Ladell Betts in the fourth quarter to help Washington improve its record to 6-7.
Dumervil tied a career high with three sacks in Denver's 41-7 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Trufant hauled in a career-high three interceptions to lead the Seahawks to a crucial 42-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. The win clinched the NFC West Division title for Seattle.
Copyright 2007 PA SportsTicker. All Rights Reserved
Rolle says ref made racial slur
BALTIMORE (TICKER) -- Following Monday's 27-24 loss to the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle accused head linesman Phil McKinnely of making an insensitive comment.
Rolle told the Baltimore Sun that McKinnely repeatedly called him "boy."
"The refs called me a boy," Rolle said after Monday's game. "No. 110 (McKinnely) called me a boy. I will be calling my agent in the morning and sending my complaint."
McKinnely, 53, is an African-American, who was an offensive tackle for three NFL teams in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been an official since 2002.
McKinnely was unavailable following the game, which included a controversial fourth-down holding penalty that kept alive the Patriots' winning drive.
"I have a wife and three kids," Rolle added. "Don't call me a boy. Don't call me a boy on the field because I said, 'You've never played the game before.'''
According to the newspaper, the Ravens will speak to Rolle before it takes any action.
Rolle said he exchanged words with McKinnely after linebacker Bart Scott was charged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following Tom Brady's game-winning touchdown pass to Jabbar Gaffney with 44 seconds remaining.
Scott was called for a second personal foul when he threw an official's flag into the stands.
The Ravens were furious that the officials called a holding penalty against cornerback Jamaine Winborne on Brady's fourth-down pass that was incomplete.
The critical call gave the Patriots a 1st-and-goal at the 8-yard line, and Brady threw the TD pass to Gaffney on the next play.
Copyright 2007 PA SportsTicker. All Rights Reserved
|
