NFL News

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) _ Patriots coach Bill Belichick will comply with the NFL's latest request in its spying investigation and provide any notes or tapes made from video recordings similar to those that drew a stiff penalty against him and the team. ``Of course,'' he said, when asked about the request for materials. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fined Belichick US$500,000 and the team $250,000 on Thursday for violating a league rule that prohibits clubs from using a sideline ...

SEATTLE (AP) _ Defensive end Bryce Fisher, who had been benched by Seattle after starting for two seasons, has been traded to Tennessee. Fisher's agent, Peter Schaffer, confirmed the deal Tuesday. Fisher, a seven-year veteran, had been replaced as a starter with the faster Darryl Tapp, the Seahawks' second-round draft choice in 2006. He is the second former Seattle player the Titans have added since June under new general manager Mike Reinfeldt, who joined Tennessee after working as a ...

Chris Canales doesn't blame the game. Has every right to, but doesn't. ``I love football,'' he said. ``Getting to meet the pros and watch them play is great fun.'' Canales used to play himself. Was pretty good at it, too, making all conference as a defensive back and receiving three scholarship offers from colleges who wanted him to be a punter. One tackle wiped those dreams away. One tackle nearly took his life away. It came on Nov. 2, ...

SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ Terrell Owens didn't take part in the Dallas Cowboys' first practice session Wednesday, a day after getting a break to rest his sore hamstring. Owens wore shorts and spent part of practice working out with trainers, at one point doing high leg kicks alongside Flozell Adams, the six-foot-seven, 340-pound offensive tackle who got a break from practice while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery this summer. Owens stood with other offensive players during team ...

BEREA, Ohio (AP) _ One of Orpheus Roye's creaky, cranky knees needs more off-field maintenance. Cleveland's defensive end will have arthroscopic surgery Thursday on his right knee, an early training camp setback for the Browns, who may be without their best lineman to start the season. The 34-year-old Roye has been playing with pain on aching knees for several years. He missed the final five games last season with a knee injury that required surgery this winter. During the ...

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) _ Quarterback J.P. Losman was held out for the start of Buffalo Bills training camp Thursday after straining his lower back working out this week. Coach Dick Jauron listed Losman as day to day, but noted the quarterback will be placed on the physically unable to perform list. Losman can be activated off the list at any time. ``It won't have a lot of impact. Hopefully, it'll be very short-lived and he'll be right ...

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) _ The Buffalo Bills claimed free agent receiver Jonathan Smith on Monday. Smith was released by New England on Thursday after playing two games with the Patriots last season. He was originally taken by Buffalo in the seventh round in 2004 and played two seasons with the Bills before being released a week before the start of last year. Smith was primarily used as a punt returner with the Bills, averaging 13.2 yards. ...

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Outside linebacker Lawrence Timmons, the No. 15 pick in the NFL draft, agreed Sunday with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a five-year contract that could be worth as much as US$15 million and guarantees him $8,053,000 in bonus money. Timmons became only the third first-round pick in the April draft to reach terms and the first in the upper half of the draft. Previously, the only first-rounders under contract were 49ers offensive tackle Joe Starkey ...

DETROIT (AP) _ A stripper is claiming she was inappropriately touched by Detroit Lions defensive tackle Shaun Rogers. Police and prosecutors are reviewing the claims, Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the Wayne County prosecutor's office, said Monday. The complaint was made to authorities early Friday by the woman, who dances at a club on Detroit's west side. Police have submitted a criminal sexual conduct warrant request to the prosecutor's office, but Miller said charges were not expected to ...

MONTICELLO, Ga. (AP) _ Two Georgia men who accused suspended Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman of kicking and hitting them at a party have dropped their complaint. Chrissy Pitts, deputy clerk of Magistrate Court in Jasper County, Ga., said Friday that papers seeking to dismiss the case were being filed by the complainants. Pitts said she did not know what prompted their decision not to move forward with their accusations. ``It was settled,'' Pitts said. ``We aren't aware ...

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (CP) _ The Toronto Argonauts added veteran savvy to their defensive secondary by signing veteran NFL safety Tony Dorsett Jr. on Friday. The five-foot-11, 205-pound Dorsett is the son of former NFL star Tony Dorsett. The younger Dorsett spent eight seasons in the NFL before leaving football in 2004 to grow his commercial and residential development business. Tony Dorsett Jr., 33, played for both the Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders from 1996 to 2003, appearing in ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ If Titans coach Jeff Fisher had a vote, he'd favour trimming some time off the draft. Fisher, co-chair of the NFL's rules committee, won't be part of the NFL owners' talks Tuesday with commissioner Roger Goodell about shortening selection times in the first and second rounds of the league's draft. But he has been part of discussions with Goodell about picking up the pace on draft day. ``I think we could arrive at ...

MIAMI (AP) _ Safety Yeremiah Bell signed a US$1.3-million, one-year tender Monday to remain with the Miami Dolphins. Bell had been a restricted free agent. The former walk-on at Eastern Kentucky gave the Dolphins' defence a boost when he became a starter at mid-season, and he totalled 65 tackles with a team-high 12 passes defended. ``We were hoping to get a multi-year deal,'' said Bell's agent, Drew Rosenhaus. ``We're going to continue to negotiate with the Dolphins. But ...

NEW YORK (AP) _ New York Jets kick returner Justin Miller was arrested early Sunday and charged with third-degree assault after a fight at a New York City nightclub. ``I want to apologize to everyone for this situation, including my family, my teammates, the Jets organization, our fans and the entire NFL,'' the cornerback said in a statement released by the team Sunday night. ``I understand that serving in the NFL is an honour and that I have ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair was charged with driving under the influence Thursday even though police said his brother-in-law was behind the wheel of the pickup registered to the former Tennessee Titan. Although McNair was just a passenger, he was charged with a misdemeanour under a Tennessee law that prohibits a vehicle owner from letting it be driven by someone who is inebriated. Police said officer ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Running back Frank Gore has agreed to a four-year contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers, a reward for his team-record 1,695 yards rushing last season. Gore, who led the NFC in rushing in his second pro campaign, was due to earn US$435,000 in the upcoming season. With the extension, the Pro Bowl running back will be under contract to the 49ers through 2011 with a ...

PHOENIX (AP) _ NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will meet next Tuesday with two players who have had recent legal problems and hopes to hand down disciplinary measures within 10 days of those meetings. While Goodell's new, stronger player conduct policy has not been formulated, he received input from the teams at the league meetings that concluded Wednesday. Next week, he'll hold hearings for Tennessee cornerback Adam (Pacman) Jones and Cincinnati ...

PHOENIX (AP) _ One day after yet another NFL player was arrested, commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday a stronger player conduct policy will not be completed at these league meetings. By next month, however, Goodell expects to have in place the stricter plan and hopes to make some disciplinary decisions before the April 28-29 draft. ``It's a complicated issue and there are no simple answers,'' Goodell said. He added he ...

With two black coaches in the Super Bowl for the first time, the historic accomplishment presents a welcome dilemma for many black fans: For whom to root? Many are not picking sides in Sunday's game _ they see Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy and Chicago Bears Coach Lovie Smith's presence in the NFL's biggest game as a win-win situation. ``We can't lose,'' said New York University history professor Jeffrey Sammons, ...

Posing for photos Friday alongside the Lombardi Trophy, Tony Dungy wore a blue suit and slight smile. His friend and Super Bowl foe Lovie Smith wore a grey suit and his game face. Kickoff was only 57 hours away. A new wrinkle in the Super Bowl week routine, added months ago, briefly brought the coaches together during their morning news conferences. It's believed to be the first time coaches have ...

Art Schlichter's career stats are memorable for all the wrong reasons. Ten years behind bars. Twenty some convictions. Forty-four different prisons. One life wasted. ``I served my time,'' Schlichter said. ``I got an enormous amount of time for what I did.'' He was once the quarterback of the future for the Indianapolis Colts, the Peyton Manning of his time. He was always the ultimate con man, a smooth talker who ...

Archie Manning stood nervously in the tunnel leading to the field in Indianapolis during the final minutes of a comeback that would put his middle son in the Super Bowl for the first time. He didn't want the television cameras to see him, didn't want to intrude on the spotlight. He could barely bring himself to watch. The head of football's most famous quarterback family had endured countless losing seasons ...

As they expected when they opened training camp, the Carolina Panthers won't be playing this week. Of course, they assumed they would be enjoying a first-round bye and preparing for a home playoff game _ the natural scenario for a Super Bowl favourite. Instead, the Panthers have already packed up and scattered after a disappointing 8-8 season that left one thing for certain: Many of the players who were a ...

The Tennessee Titans are so close to making NFL history. No team has ever started 0-5 and earned a playoff berth. Sure, the Titans must beat the New England Patriots on Sunday in the regular season finale, combined with losses by Cincinnati, Jacksonville and Denver. Too much to overcome? In this season, maybe not. A playoff berth after starting 2-7 doesn't seem ridiculous when compared to some of the amazing ...

The NFL is accusing the operators of two South Beach hotels of reneging on a deal to supply more than 50 rooms during the first week of February for the Super Bowl in Miami, according to court documents. The operators of the South Beach Hotel and the Crest Hotel, however, deny that they signed a contract to reserve 54 rooms between the two hotels for four nights during the week ...

Michael Vick doesn't know a whole lot about the guy he's chasing. Then again, Vick has his eyes on a bigger prize. One thousand yards. With three games left, the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback is poised to become the first player at his position to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He heads into Saturday night's crucial game against the Dallas Cowboys needing 66 yards to reach the historic figure ...

Terrell Owens really likes being part of the Dallas Cowboys except for one thing: ``The Snitch.'' Owens remains upset that someone within the organization has been airing his dirty laundry. It started with a preseason report about him being late to work and continued with the story about a problem that causes him to fall asleep in meetings. Those things happened earlier this season, but the bitterness lingers. Owens told ...

Bill Cowher will wait until the end of the season to decide whether he'll return to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers. ``There will be something at the end of the year,'' Cowher said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters in Charlotte, N.C. ``I'll sit back and put a lot of thought into it and make a decision accordingly. ``Right now, my focus is purely on trying to find a way ...

Detroit Lions running back Kevin Jones underwent surgery on his injured left foot this week and is facing a long rehabilitation period. The Lions' leading rusher was injured late in Sunday's 30-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Lions trainer Al Bellamy confirmed that Jones sustained a Lisfranc injury, a tearing of the tissues that connect the bones in the middle of the foot. He had the surgery Wednesday. Detroit linebacker ...

First it was Shaun Alexander, then Matt Hasselbeck sidelined with injuries. Now, it's leading receiver Darrell Jackson. Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said Monday that Jackson will not be able to play Thursday night against San Francisco, another blow for Seattle's injury-riddled offence. Jackson has turf toe, suffered on his last reception in Sunday's 27-21 loss at Arizona. Jackson caught a 23-yard pass from Hasselbeck with 3:15 left, but didn't return ...