Football – Page 72 – North Platte Post Archive

Harris, Thomas Return to Limited Action

Posted on July 30, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Demaryius Thomas and Chris Harris Jr. are participating in limited drills as the Denver Broncos practice in a steady cool rain at Sports Authority Field.

Harris passed his physical Tuesday after getting medical clearance from Dr. James Andrews, who repaired his left ACL in February, a month after he was injured in the playoffs against San Diego.

He lined up for the team’s walk-through Wednesday as did Thomas, who missed the first week of camp following the death of his grandmother in Georgia. He returned Monday in time for the team’s evening walk-though.

Both are expected to participate in individual and non-contact drills but won’t do any 11-on-11s as they ease their way back into the mix.

Chiefs QB Smith Focusing on Football, Not Contract

Posted on July 30, 2014

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith says that the time is approaching where he will shelve all talk about a contract extension and focus solely on football for the remainder of the season.

The Chiefs have been discussing a new deal with Smiths’ representatives for months, though the sides remain far apart. Smith said after practice Wednesday that he’s yet to set a date to break off negotiations, but he acknowledged that “at some point mentally it’ll come to me.”

Smith is due $7.5 million this season, the final year of his contract, and many expect him to get an extension similar to what Colin Kaepernick received from the San Francisco 49ers.

Kaepernick signed a six-year, $126 million deal that includes $61 million guaranteed.

Chiefs S Commings Leaves Field with Ankle Injury

Posted on July 30, 2014

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Oft-injured Chiefs safety Sanders Commings was carted off the practice field Wednesday after getting juked to the ground by running back Jamaal Charles and hurting his right ankle.

Commings broke his collarbone in his first practice as a rookie and was finally getting up to speed. He was trying to tackle Charles in the open field when he whiffed, turning his ankle in such a way that he was unable to put any weight on it.

Commings was in a heated competition for a backup job, and the Chiefs hoped he would push veteran Husain Abdullah for the free safety spot that opened when Kendrick Lewis departed.

Meanwhile, right tackle Donald Stephenson returned to practice after missing Monday’s workout with a left ankle injury. The Chiefs had Tuesday off.

Big Ten Announces Football Preseason Players to Watch List

Posted on July 30, 2014July 30, 2014

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced today its fourth annual football Players to Watch list, with 10 players earning preseason recognition. The preseason Players to Watch list is selected by a media panel and consists of five student-athletes each from the East Division and West Division.

Representing the East Division are Maryland wide receiver Stefon Diggs, Michigan wide receiver Devin Funchess, Michigan State defensive end Shilique Calhoun, Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller and Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg. Miller was named to the Big Ten Football Players to Watch list for the third straight season.

Nebraska and Wisconsin lead the way with two players each on the West Division Players to Watch list. Husker running back Ameer Abdullah and defensive end Randy Gregory are joined on the list by Badger running back Melvin Gordon and right tackle Rob Havenstein. Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff rounds out the division’s honorees.

The Players to Watch list includes the reigning two-time Big Ten Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year and Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year in Miller. Other individual award winners from last season to claim preseason honors include the Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year in Hackenberg, the Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year in Funchess and the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year in Calhoun.

Abdullah, Calhoun and Scherff were each named All-Americans last season. All 10 players earned all-conference honors in 2013, including first-team accolades for Abdullah, Calhoun, Funchess, Gregory, Miller and Scherff.

The complete list of Big Ten football preseason Players to Watch appears below:

EAST DIVISION

Stefon Diggs, WR, Maryland

Devin Funchess, WR, Michigan

Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State

Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State

Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State

WEST DIVISION

Brandon Scherff, OL, Iowa

Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska

Randy Gregory, DE, Nebraska

Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin

Rob Havenstein, RT, Wisconsin

Former NFL Players Sue Union over Concussions

Posted on July 18, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Former NFL players Christian Ballard and Gregory Westbrooks are suing the union for not providing accurate information about the risk of head injuries.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, with both claiming the NFL Players Association “withheld information from the players about the risks of head injuries.”

Ballard and Westbrooks named former union presidents Trace Armstrong, Troy Vincent and Kevin Mawae in the suit.

An NFLPA statement says: “This lawsuit has no merit and we will defend our union and our past presidents.”

Ballard, a defensive end in 2011 and 2012, left the Vikings last September. Coincidentally, he is being represented by the union in a grievance concerning about $240,000 in 2013 salary.

Westbrooks, now 61, played parts of seven seasons from 1975-81 as a linebacker and special teamer with four clubs.

Abdullah, Gregory Named to Walter Camp of Year Watch List

Posted on July 18, 2014

Ameer-Abdullah-Nebraska-Huskers-Football — Ameer Abdullah

Husker senior I-back Ameer Abdullah and junior defensive end Randy Gregory continued an impressive collection of preseason accolades on Friday, as both were named to watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year.

The Walter Camp Player of the Year is the fourth-oldest individual college football award. A total of 50 players were named to the Walter Camp list with Nebraska being one of nine schools with two or more players on the list. Abdullah was one of seven running backs on the list, while Gregory was one of only 17 defenders to make the watch list, including just five defensive linemen.

The 5-9, 195-pound Abdullah has previously been named to watch lists for the Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award and Paul Hornung Award. He has also been recognized as a preseason All-American by several media outlets and is considered a leading contender for the Heisman Trophy.

Abdullah earned first-team All-Big Ten honors when he rushed for 1,690 yards in 2013, the most of any player returning for 2014. Abdullah owns 2,977 career rushing yards to rank third among active returning players in career rushing yards, and he leads all active players with 4,914 career all-purpose yards.

Gregory has now been named to five watch lists in the past two weeks. In addition to being named to the Walter Camp list, he was also on the watch lists for the Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Lott Trophy.

As a sophomore, Gregory became one of the Big Ten’s top defenders last season and has earned preseason All-America accolades in 2014. In his first year with the Huskers, Gregory led the Big Ten with 10.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. Nine of Gregory’s sacks came in Big Ten Conference play, including a season-high three sacks at Michigan.

Abdullah and Gregory are two of eight Big Ten players on the Walter Camp list. Ten semifinalists for the award will be announced in mid-November, with the winner announced on Thursday, Dec. 11.

Three Huskers have won the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, most recently Eric Crouch in 2001.

Abdullah and teammates Kenny Bell and Corey Cooper will represent Nebraska at Big Ten Media Days later this month in Chicago. Abdullah will also be a featured speaker at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon, speaking on behalf of the 42 student-athletes in attendance.

Goodell: 2015 NFL Draft to be in LA or Chicago

Posted on July 18, 2014

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The NFL draft is leaving New York after 49 years.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday that the league has narrowed down the location of the 2015 draft to Los Angeles or Chicago. The event has been held in New York every year since 1965 and has been at Radio City Music Hall since 2006.

Goodell said after a panel at the summer TV critics’ meeting that 12 cities were interested in hosting the draft, according to the Los Angeles Times. But the league narrowed the finalists to Los Angeles and Chicago after Radio City officials told the NFL that the venue wouldn’t be available in April or May.

Goodell said a final decision on the location could be made by late summer.

He said the league is discussing different concepts for next year’s draft because there is high interest and the NFL wants to be responsive to its fans.

All 14 Big Ten Football Coaches to appear at ESPN July 30-31

Posted on July 17, 2014

bo pelini — Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini

ROSEMONT, Ill. – All 14 Big Ten football coaches will visit ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters July 30-31 to take part in ESPN’s annual mid-summer college football coaches’ “car wash” – in which guests appear across multiple programs and platforms over one day.

The schedules for the Big Ten coaches will include a mixture of interviews with more than 25 different shows and writers across ESPN’s television, radio and digital media platforms. Outlets may include College Football Live, SportsCenter, First Take, SportsNation, Highly Questionable, Numbers Never Lie and E:60 on television and ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning, SVP & Russillo, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Sedano & Stink, The Freddie Coleman Show, The Dan LeBartard Show and College GameDay Radio.

The coaches will also be interviewed by ESPN.com writers Travis Haney, Ivan Maisel and Brett McMurphy; appear on a variety of podcasts; participate in chats; and more.

The complete Big Ten schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, July 30	Thursday, July 31
Gary Andersen (Wisconsin)	Randy Edsall (Maryland)
Tim Beckman (Illinois)	Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
Mark Dantonio (Michigan State)	Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern)
Kyle Flood (Rutgers)	Brady Hoke (Michigan)
James Franklin (Penn State)	Urban Meyer (Ohio State)
Darrell Hazell (Purdue)	Bo Pelini (Nebraska)
Jerry Kill (Minnesota)	Kevin Wilson (Indiana)

Abdullah Headlines Doak Walker Watch List

Posted on July 17, 2014

Nebraska senior I-back Ameer Abdullah has been named as one of the preseason candidates for the 2014 Doak Walker Award Thursday morning. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top college running back.

The 5-9, 195-pound Abdullah rushed for 1,690 yards in 2013, the most of any player returning for 2014. Abdullah owns 2,977 career rushing yards to rank third among active returning players in career rushing yards, and he leads all active players with 4,914 career all-purpose yards.

In addition to earning first-team All-Big Ten honors last season, Abdullah was one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award. He is one of three 2013 Doak Walker semifinalists who are among the 2014 preseason candidates, joining South Carolina’s Mike Davis and Melvin Gordon of Wisconsin. Abdullah is one of eight Big Ten running backs on the watch list.

The semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award will be named on Nov. 18, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will narrow the list to three finalists by Nov. 24. The recipient of the 2014 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on Thursday, Dec. 11, on the ESPN College Football Awards show.

The announcement of preseason watch lists wraps up on Friday when the preseason list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year is announced.

Kickoff Times Announced for First Two Games, Season Tickets Sold Out

Posted on July 16, 2014

The Big Ten Conference and its television partners announced kickoff times for games in the opening weeks of the 2014 season, including the Huskers’ first two home games, Wednesday afternoon.

The 125^th season of Nebraska football will kick off on Saturday, Aug. 30, when the Huskers play host to Florida Atlantic at Memorial Stadium. Game time has been set for 2:30 p.m. CDT with television coverage provided by BTN.

The Huskers stay at home in week two and will take on McNeese State in a game scheduled for an 11 a.m. CDT kickoff. The contest will be televised on ESPNU.

With Wednesday’s announcement, Nebraska has kickoff times set for each of its first seven games of the 2014 campaign. Following the games against Florida Atlantic and McNeese State, Nebraska will play five consecutive prime-time contests.

Nebraska travels to Fresno State on Sept. 13 (9:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network), before returning home for matchups against Miami (Sept. 20, 7 p.m., ABC/ESPN/ESPN2) and Illinois (Sept. 27, 8 p.m., BTN). The prime-time run concludes with pair of road games at Michigan State (Oct. 4, 7 p.m., ABC/ESPN/ESPN2) and Northwestern (Oct. 18, 6:30 p.m., BTN).

Game times and television information for Nebraska’s remaining games will be announced six to 12 days in advance of kickoff.

Nebraska will begin preseason camp in early August, beginning with Nebraska Football Fan Day presented by U.S. Cellular on Friday, Aug. 1.

The Nebraska Athletic Department also announced on Wednesday that all public season tickets for the 2014 football season have been sold.

Husker fans will now have the opportunity to purchase single-game tickets, beginning on Tuesday, July 22, including a special two-game package for the Florida Atlantic and McNeese State games. The limited number of tickets come from the visiting team allotment, and are not being used by the schools visiting Memorial Stadium this fall.

The Cornhusker Kickoff Combo will let Nebraska fans buy tickets to each of the Huskers’ first two games for $100. Any available single-game tickets for other Nebraska home games throughout the 2014 season are $75 each.

Fans can purchase the tickets beginning next Tuesday at 8 a.m. Tickets may be purchased on-line at Huskers.com, in person at the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office (Stadium Drive Parking Garage) or by calling 1-800-8-BIG RED.