The high-definition shadow cast by the 14th-year Colts quarterback set the backdrop as all 32 teams began intensive predraft evaluation of the country’s top college prospects. There was an eerie confluence of past and present as general managers and coaches took the media room podium alongside a larger-than-life photograph of Manning posted on a Lucas Oil Stadium pillar, looming over everything combine-related.

Outside in the hallway, recently fired Colts vice chairman Bill Polian, who drafted Manning first overall in 1998, was working at his new gig as a SIRIUS XM NFL Radio analyst and said he was encouraged by Manning’s late December throwing session, which came three months after the spinal fusion surgery that scuttled the four-time MVP’s 2011 season.

“If it’s humanly possible, he’ll play,” Polian said. “He wants to play very badly. He’s a great competitor. He didn’t like the way last year went for him.”

New Colts GM Ryan Grigson and HC Chuck Pagano dodged repeated questions concerning Manning’s future. Team owner Jim Irsay is expected to render a decision soon with a March 8 deadline looming when Manning is due a $28 million option bonus.

Should the Colts choose not to pay that bonus or should Manning opt not to restructure his deal, he would become one of the biggest names to ever hit the unrestricted free agent market.

“Like Jim said previously, ‘He’s a great one,’ ” Grigson said of Manning. “We’d love to have Peyton or whomever in house. But there’s a lot of variables involved in the decision. … It doesn’t make sense for me to speculate here on hypotheticals.

“We have a date to work with. We continue to talk. … It’ll get worked out.”

Both Grigson and Pagano conceded they have yet to see Manning throw. Question is, whom will they see throw first, Manning or potential top overall pick Andrew Luck at his March 22 Stanford pro day?

“I’m not a doctor and don’t claim to be one,” Pagano said. “We just keep evaluating the situation. I know he’s doing everything within his power to get 100% healthy.

“He’s throwing, making progress. … Time will let the thing work itself out.”

Polian did witness Manning throw before Irsay dismissed him and his son, former GM Chris Polian, tfollowing the Colts’ 2-14 season.

“He threw the ball quite well,” Bill Polian said. “He didn’t get much beyond 25, 28 yards. But those throws he made were accurate, on the money, had good velocity.

“From what I understand, he continues to improve — at least from what people tell me. … How soon he’ll be back to 100%, I don’t know.”

When peppered about Manning, Grigson and Pagano repeated the phrase, “It’s an ongoing process.”

It is an ongoing saga sure to have a denouement soon.

Could Polian envision Manning in another uniform? The Jets, Dolphins, Redskins, Cardinals and Seahawks could be among the interested parties if the Colts move on and Manning returns to form.

“I want the best for him,” Polian said. “If he’s able to play, I want him to play. I’d like the best for the Colts and the best for Peyton.”

More News, Notes and Snaps

(PhatzRadio / SI) — INDIANAPOLIS — Musings, observations and the occasional insight from day one of the NFL’s underwear Olympics at Lucas Oil Stadium….

• Jim Harbaugh was replaced as the Colts starting quarterback in early 1998 when Indianapolis drafted Peyton Manning first overall. And now the always excitable 49ers head coach is back in Indy this week, talking about his former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, the guy everyone expects to be drafted first overall by the Colts in April, replacing Manning.

At the very least that tidy little coincidence makes Harbaugh uniquely positioned to discuss this particular intersection in Colts history. He’s kind of the Kevin Bacon, six degrees of separation character in this year’s quarterback drama in Indianapolis.

Suffice to say Harbaugh believes his former Cardinal quarterback is ready to take the next step in the Colts’ line of succession.

“Ever play Spades?” Harbaugh said, in response to a question about Luck’s strengths. “It’s a trump game. He’s holding a lot of aces in a lot of suits. He’s got all the qualities, and is mentally and physically as prepared as anyone you’re going to find. That’s my opinion. And he’s really good. How about that one?”

Harbaugh, in typical quirky form, sensed that reporters wanted more. Maybe because we kept asking essentially the same question in different forms.

“He’s one of the finest football players I’ve ever been around. Is that good enough?” Harbaugh said. “And an even better person. One of the top five guys I’ve ever been around. A joy to coach. Not going to like playing against him. Not looking forward to that.”

Harbaugh not only has extensive personal experience with Luck, the biggest headline name in this year’s draft, he can even knowledgably opine about the second-biggest name: Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, the Heisman winner who Harbaugh recruited but didn’t land on behalf of Stanford. Harbaugh isn’t quite as effusive about RG3, but it’s close.

“I know a lot about Robert,” Harbaugh said. “Robert was a 4.0 student, great parents, came from a great home, and he’s had great success at Baylor. Past performance usually indicates future success and he’s had nothing but a history of success. So you would predict great achievements in the future.

“I was really fond of Robert through the recruiting process and he made that decision. He makes good decisions, he makes cool decisions. He’s very conscientious in everything he does, and I respected his decision and wished him well.”

Harbaugh was then finally asked about his own quarterback, Alex Smith, who happens to be a potential free agent. Any restless nights knowing that Smith could conceivably bolt San Francisco after finally enjoying his breakthrough season in 2011?

“Alex is our guy,” Harbaugh said. “It’s well-documented. Had a tremendous season. Definitely as a coach you worry about a lot of things, and when a quarterback is not signed and is a free agent, that leads to some lost sleep.”

And lost sleep has a tendency to make a guy a bit edgy. Which is the word Harbaugh used to describe his mental state as he enters his second NFL season as a head coach. Fresh off the 49ers disappointing NFC title game loss at home to the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants in overtime, Harbaugh said year two is a huge one for his program in San Francisco.

“Being here today, approaching this offseason, approaching this Combine, I’m very much on edge,” said Harbaugh, whose receiver-needy team holds the 30th overall pick. “I’ve always felt like the most improvement you can make is from year one to year two, much like a college freshman. There’s a window there that will never come again that you have a chance to make your biggest strides. So yeah, (I’ll) be on edge about going through this Combine a second time, evaluating for the draft, and as it relates to free agency, to our young quarterbacks, as it relates to all the football players on our team.

“But we’ll chase it, like the NASCAR boys. We’ll chase getting a mile an hour faster. Chasing, getting point-zero-one percent better any way that you can.”

• Here’s the interesting thing about Jets head coach Rex Ryan showing up in the press room Thursday to call his Super Bowl guarantee at last year’s Combine a “huge mistake” he won’t make again: It essentially served the same purpose as last year’s well-chronicled guarantee, to take the pressure off his team and put it on his own shoulders. He’s just trying the same trick this year, in a new way.

“Looking back, obviously it was a huge mistake to make that guarantee,” Ryan said, even before taking any questions. “I really thought it would be a thing that would actually motivate our team, to really talk about the Super Bowl, to focus on the Super Bowl.

“But in hindsight, I think it put undue pressure on our team and we kind of lost focus, and really we lost focus on what we do best. Obviously we had a terrible season. And part of that guarantee contributed to that. I’ll take full responsibility for that. I think my comment hurt us. I don’t think there is any doubt. It put pressure on guys that, quite honestly, never needed to be.”

Which is all well and good, but Rex’s 2011 Super Bowl guarantee at the Combine was far from the biggest reason the Jets skidded to an 8-8, non-playoff season last year after two straight trips to the AFC title game. Ryan and his organization assembled a dysfunctional locker room, and it came apart at the seams when the pressure was on last year.

So, last year Ryan tried to motivate his team and put the pressure on his own shoulders by guaranteeing a Super Bowl, and this year Ryan tried to motivate his team and put the pressure on his own shoulders by taking the blame for last season’s disappointment. What’s the difference really?

“Looking forward, first off no promises,” Ryan said. “But I will say this: We will be a team. We will play as a team, and at the end of the season, we’ll know it was a great season.”

But as we learned last year in New York, Ryan saying it and his Jets doing it are two very different things.

• If you don’t get to know Stanford tight end Coby Fleener this spring, you likely will this fall. He’s one of the top two highest-rated prospects at his position, and at 6-6, 245 pounds, he’s going to obviously benefit in this draft from the remarkable early production turned in by young star tight ends like New England’s Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and New Orleans’ Jimmy Graham. Fleener is a pass-catching machine who happened to be Andrew Luck’s go-to target at Stanford. That got him scouted a bit in the past couple years, I’d imagine.

“It’s exciting to be at the tight end position with guys like Gronkowski, Graham and Hernandez,” Fleener said. “The list goes on and on of the impressive guys and how they’ve played in the past few years. So it’s exciting to be even considered part of that position. Putting the tight end outside and inside provides different matchups and offense can utilize.”

• USC offensive left tackle Matt Kalil seems to know his place in life. He has a father who was an NFL guard (Frank Kalil) and an older brother who’s the highest-paid center in league history (Carolina’s Ryan Kalil, a 2007 second-round pick). So, what else could he have possibly been in life besides an NFL offensive lineman?

“For my dad, ‘Let’s play football’ means let’s go do kick steps and let’s work O-line drills,” said Matt Kalil, who could go as high as No. 2 to the Rams. “My first time going to Servite (his Orange County, Calif., high school) I tried to play tight end as a freshman and my dad went on the field and said, ‘No, he’s playing left tackle.’ That pretty much ended that dream. I would have been a sweet tight end. Maybe like Anthony Munoz catching touchdowns.”

When Kalil, his brother and their dad went to the park to play some ball, it wasn’t for a game of catch. “My brother was coming out of high school and about to go the USC camp, and me and Chris Galippo were one-on-one dummies and getting tossed around. Bloody knees and all that. Basically getting beaten up on every drill.”

Did they even bring a football along for those sessions? “Yeah, for my brother to snap and then beat me up playing D-line,” Kalil said. “That’s about it.”

• NFL head coaches these days are always being asked to react to news of someone in their organization saying something about someone else in their organziation, so Denver coach John Fox didn’t get his undies in a bunch over Brady Quinn being critical of Tim Tebow in the most recent issue of GQ.

“We still like Brady Quinn,” said Fox, of his soon-to-be-free agent backup quarterback. “Knowing their relationship and knowing Brady and Tim very well myself, sometimes things get lost in translation. I know their relationship is very close. They have a lot of respect for each other and are very good teammates to each other. That’s kind of what I know. It’s hard for me to stay up on the comments, but I kind of know what I know.”

No harm, no foul, apparently. Still, I asked Fox if he was glad Quinn came out and apologized for his comments, which among other things questioned whether Tebow showed humility in talking about his religious faith? It might have helped Quinn build a bridge back to the organization, should the Broncos still care to re-sign him.

“Yeah,” Fox said. “That just kind of shows you who he is, and that he’s the guy I know. But sometimes that happens (meaning being quoted too accurately). Of course, it’s never happened to me before.”

After that punch line, Fox made it clear that he for one is not tired of Tebowmania in the least. Even if Quinn might be.

“I think it’s a great story,” Fox said. “He’s a kid that ought to be celebrated. In today’s society, in sport, I don’t care what facet of it, these type of guys don’t come around so often. So I think it’s kind of neat.”

• That wasn’t the extent of our Tebow fix for the day, however. Fox was of course asked about Tebow’s status as the team’s incumbent going into the 2012 season, and repeated his assertion that the Broncos will add a couple quarterbacks before training camp, with four QBs being the standard number every team takes to camp.

“At the end of the day, we’re very comfortable with Tim,” Fox said. “He did turn us from a 4-12 team to a playoff team. The reality of it is Tim’s a very good competitor, a very good player. He led us to the playoffs. But he’s a young player at a postiion that takes some time. If you look through history, there are a lot of great quarterbacks who took some time, and we’re in the middle of that process.”

And then oddly, Fox added this: “All we’re trying to do is find the best human talent we can.”

Which seems to rule out the robotic quarterback option in Denver for another year.

• I’ve already made it clear by my first two mock drafts that I think the No. 4 Browns intend to trade up with the No. 2 Rams in pursuit of RG3. And nothing I heard from Cleveland head coach Pat Shurmur on Thursday changed my mind on that front. The Browns, who own the No. 4 and No. 22 picks, don’t sound like they’ll get cold feet on that front.

“I think you evaluate everything,” Shurmur said. “I wouldn’t say we’re hesitant to do anything. We’re excited about the fact that we’re going to make our team better with this draft. That’s the way we approach it. We’re not hesitant at all.”

Shurmur was asked if the team is willing to move around with two first-rounders?

“Yeah, we’re willing,” he said. “With two first-round picks, we have flexibility. We can just stand pat and take two really fine players, guys that we would hope to be starters for us. Having two first-round picks you have the flexibility if you want to do something.”

Seems to me like the Browns want to do something.

• Glad to see that Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert brought a little common sense to the issue of whether the Steelers can afford to keep receiver Mike Wallace. Reports of late have said Pittsburgh might have to let Wallace walk away in free agency, but the idea of that team losing one of its young star play-makers just doesn’t pass the sniff test for me. My money says the Steelers will find a way to retain Wallace, with or without the use of the franchise tag.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure Mike Wallace remains a Pittsburgh Steeler,” Colbert said. “And I think that’s Mike’s hope as well. Usually when you have two parties that share the same goal, it’s easier to achieve that goal. We want to make sure Mike can finish his career with the Steelers.”

I don’t think Wallace is going anywhere this offseason except maybe to the bank.

NFL Draft: Questions about Peyton Manning still loom large at combine is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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(PhatzRadio / SI) — Brewers leftfielder and reigning National League MVP Ryan Braun won his appeal to overturn a 50-game suspension for a positive drug test, becoming the first major-leaguer to win an appeal of a positive test.

“It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation,” Braun said in a statement. “We were able to get through this because I am innocent.”

Braun will hold a press conference at Brewers camp in Arizona upon reporting to spring training on Friday.

According to sources with knowledge of the two-day arbitration hearing in January, at least part of Braun’s defense hinged on his sample having been collected on a Saturday afternoon — Oct. 1, after the Brewers beat the Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NLDS — but not in time for the doping control officer to get it to FedEx that day. The sample was not delivered to FedEx for shipping to a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited lab in Montreal until the following Monday afternoon. The Joint Drug Agreement between the league and players’ association specifies, “Absent unusual circumstances, the specimens should be sent by FedEx to the Laboratory on the same day they are collected.”

It is not uncommon for doping control officers in a wide array of sports to hold onto a sample — often in a refrigerator — if shipping is not immediately available, and while details of the chain of custody of Braun’s sample were not immediately available, a source with knowledge of the sample said that the seals on the sample were unbroken when it arrived at the lab, and that standard lab tests on the sample showed that it had not degraded. In December, SI.com confirmed that Braun’s sample was found to have an elevated level of testosterone, and that it tested positive for synthetic testosterone.

A source familiar with the situation said the evidence in defense of Braun highlighted several unusual circumstances: that the sample was not taken to FedEx for shipping until two days after it was collected; that his testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio was three times higher than any result in the history of baseball’s program; that Braun showed no physical side effects of use; and that, in the time this news was public, no one came forward to offer evidence or raise any further speculation of Braun’s alleged use.

A separate source familiar with Braun’s sample said that his elevated testosterone ratio was not unusual when compared to athletes from other sports who have failed drug tests and served suspensions.

“Around the world, on Sundays or holidays, couriers don’t pick up and they don’t deliver,” said Travis Tygart, the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which drug tests American athletes in Olympic sports. “Some of the labs around the world are closed over the weekend, so they can’t even accept samples. And, importantly, they don’t need to because synthetic drugs don’t magically appear in urine because it took 48 hours versus 20 minutes to get to the laboratory.”

The independent arbitrator’s decision was announced Thursday afternoon by Major League Baseball and by the Player’s Association, which took the unusual step of announcing what is intended to be a confidential process because of a media leak that made public the result of the test before the appeal had been heard.

“We always felt he was innocent,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said in a telephone interview, “and I have to believe him and I have to trust him.”

Major League Baseball, however, offered a strong dissent to the ruling in a statement from executive vice president Rob Manfred, saying that the league “vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das.”

Major League Baseball voted to go forward with a suspension for Braun, while the Player’s Association voted against a suspension, with Das casting the deciding vote. Das has 30 days to complete a written decision.

“Major League Baseball considers the obligations of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program essential to the integrity of our game, our Clubs and all of the players who take the field,” Manfred said. “It has always been Major League Baseball’s position that no matter who tests positive, we will exhaust all avenues in pursuit of the appropriate discipline. We have been true to that position in every instance, because baseball fans deserve nothing less.”

Too much is at stake — millions of dollars in player salaries and the competitive integrity of games watched by millions of fans — for anything to be left to chance, which is why the JDA explains the collection process in extensive detail.

“If you don’t have the process, then there’s no validity to the test,” the source with knowledge of the hearing said.

Yahoo! reported that the collector found the FedEx office closed and so he “stored the sample, which had been sealed, bagged and boxed and carried Braun’s signature, in his Milwaukee-area home, per usual protocol.”

A third source familiar with the arbitration confirmed that the sample arrived two days after it was taken.

More will be known if Das’s forthcoming written decision is released or leaks publicly. Whether one agrees with the end result or not, Braun received his due process and the ruling was administered by an independent arbitrator who has been working on such cases since 2000.

“I support the drug program,” Melvin said. “The commissioner’s office has worked hard. They’ve taken a lot of hits in putting the drug program together with the union. I support the program, and I would say Ryan Braun supports the program. Most players support the program. That’s why it’s out there.”

MLB: Braun wins drug suspension appeal is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Matt Kenseth used a bold pass of teammate Greg Biffle to win the second Daytona 500 qualifying race.

Biffle was leading headed into the final lap Thursday but tried to block Kenseth, who dove to the inside and used a push from Jimmie Johnson to take the lead.

The victory gives Kenseth the fourth starting spot in Sunday’s season opener. Teammates Carl Edwards and Biffle will start on the front row. Kenseth will be lined up next to defending NASCAR champion Tony Stewart, who won the first 150-mile qualifying race.

Stewart, the three-time NASCAR champion, who locked up the title with a win in last year’s season finale, held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the first 150-mile qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. Stewart, who is winless in 13 Daytona 500 starts, earned a second row starting spot in Sunday’s season opener.

“I think we showed the rest of the field we have a strong car with speed,” Stewart said. “I want those guys to see we have strength.”

The race ended under caution because of a vicious accident involving Danica Patrick on the final lap.

Patrick was hit by Aric Almirola as they raced along the backstretch. The contact sent her car sliding across the track and into an inside retaining wall. Her Chevrolet lifted off its wheels as it hit the SAFER barrier, which noticeably softened the blow.

She was not injured and will make her Daytona 500 debut on Sunday.

“It happened really quick,” she said. “We were just looking to finish, to be honest, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case. It felt pretty big. I don’t know what it looked like.”

Stewart, who owns Patrick’s car, said he tried to watch her race from his rearview mirror.

“The little bit I could see, I thought she did a good job,” he said, adding that he’d only seen a replay of her accident.

“She’s trying to make the right decisions to gain the other drivers’ confidence right now.”

Joe Nemechek and Dave Blaney each raced their way into the 500 in the second qualifying race. Robby Gordon and Michael McDowell earned the two spots up for grabs in the first race.

Two-time winner Michael Waltrip wrecked as he tried to return to the track after a late pit stop. The accident eliminated him from Sunday’s race, but Gordon said after earning his spot that he’d be willing to sell his ride to Waltrip.

For Stewart, meanwhile, it was his first victory with new crew chief Steve Addington, who was hired to replace Darian Grubb after Stewart’s championship run. But Stewart nearly won Saturday night’s exhibition Budweiser Shootout, too, losing on a last-second pass by Kyle Busch.

“We took care of business today,” Stewart said.

The first race was far calmer than Saturday night’s Shootout, which showed that the two-car tandem had been successfully broken up by NASCAR. But the return to pack racing led to three multi-car accidents, and drivers worried about wrecking their 500 cars during the Thursday qualifying races.

There was one early accident in the first race, a five-car wreck that began when McDowell nudged David Gilliland, who turned directly into Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul Menard.

“It’s a mess out there,” said Menard, who was also wrecked in the Shootout. “NASCAR is trying to dictate physics. Physics says two cars are going to push and they’re trying to make rule changes to keep us from doing it, so it’s kind of hybrid pack racing and tandem racing. It’s causing a pretty unsafe situation.”

NASCAR: Stewart and Kenseth hit Victory Lane in Daytona qualifying races is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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Heat 102, Knicks 88

(PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — MIAMI — Chris Bosh scored 25 points, Dwyane Wade added 22 and Miami’s defense clamped down on Jeremy Lin as the Heat stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 102-88 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

LeBron James finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Miami, which will go into the All-Star break with the NBA’s best record (27-7).

Lin shot only 1 for 11 from the field, finishing with eight points and three assists. He had been averaging 23.9 points and 9.2 assists in New York’s last 11 games.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points, with J.R. Smith scoring 14 for New York off the bench.

Thunder 100, Lakers 85

OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant scored 33 points, Russell Westbrook added 19 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-85 Thursday night to head into the All-Star break tied for the league’s best record.

The Thunder won their 12th straight home game and denied Los Angeles the chance to head into the midseason break with back-to-back statement wins on the road. The Lakers had won at defending NBA champion Dallas a night earlier and were trying to follow it by knocking off the other half of last year’s West finals.

Kobe Bryant scored 24 points but went 7 for 24 from the field for Los Angeles. Pau Gasol had 22 points and nine rebounds.

Oklahoma City and Miami both have NBA-leading 27-7 records at the break.

Spurs 114, Nuggets 99

DENVER — DeJuan Blair tied a career high with 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, helping the San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 114-99 on Thursday night to wrap up a nine-game road swing.

Buoyed by a 19-1 run midway through the first quarter, the Spurs jumped out to a big lead and then held on at the end. They’ve won 12 of their last 13 heading into the All-Star break and lead the Southwest Division by three games over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks.

All five starters for the Spurs scored in double figures. Tony Parker had 16 points and 12 assists, while Tim Duncan added 18 points. Richard Jefferson hit 5 of 7 3-point attempts and scored 17.

Corey Brewer scored 23 points for the Nuggets, who have lost 12 of their last 16.

Hawks 83, Magic 78

ATLANTA — Josh Smith scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to help the Atlanta Hawks snap a three-game skid with an 83-78 victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.

J.J. Redick finished with 13 points and Dwight Howard had 12 for the Magic, who had won two straight and six of seven.

Hawks leading scorer Joe Johnson missed his second straight game with left knee tendinitis, but Atlanta got 36 points from their reserves, including Jannero Pargo with 15 and Willie Green with 14.

The Magic recovered from a 10-point second quarter by scoring 25 in the third to pull within three heading into the final period.

Howard’s lay-in cut the lead to 69-68 with 4:42 left, but the Magic never got any closer.

NBA Roundup: Heat contain Lin for 8th straight win is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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(PhatzRadio / The Vancouver Sun) — NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The St. Louis Blues beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 Thursday night, winning the shootout on goals by T.J. Oshie and Andy McDonald.

Chris Stewart and Vladimir Sobotka scored for St. Louis in regulation, while Roman Josi and Colin Wilson had the goals for Nashville.

Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves for the Blues, then was perfect in the shootout, stopping Wilson and Martin Erat.

Pekka Rinne stopped 22 shots for the Predators.

Stewart got the only goal of the opening period, then Josi and Wilson gave Nashville a 2-1 lead. Just 34 seconds after Wilson’s goal, Sobotka tied it, and the third period was scoreless.

WINNIPEG – Andrew Ladd scored a goal and added two assists as the Winnipeg Jets jumped up in the Eastern Conference standings with a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

Tanner Glass, Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien all scored as the Jets (30-26-7) vaulted into first place in the Southeast Division and third in the East with 67 points. Their leap was helped by Toronto’s loss to San Jose and Minnesota’s shootout win over Florida earlier Thursday.

Steven Stamkos scored his 43rd goal and added a pair of assists for the Lightning (27-27-6). Teddy Purcell and Martin St. Louis also scored in the third period, and Purcell added two assists.

The Lightning scored three goals in the third period, but their three-game winning streak was snapped.

Winnipeg’s Ondrej Pavelec stopped 22 shots.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Matt Cullen and Erik Christensen scored in the shootout to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

Cullen and Kyle Brodziak scored in regulation, Dany Heatley had two assists, and Niklas Backstrom stopped 41 shots for the Wild.

Christensen scored the first goal in the shootout, followed by Cullen. Backstrom stopped Kris Versteeg and Sean Bergenheim to seal the win. Cullen is 7-for-13 in shootout attempts this season.

The Wild won for just the second time in nine games.

Bergenheim and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Panthers, who got 26 saves from Jose Theodore made 26 saves. Florida has lost four straight.

CHICAGO – Michael Ryder scored on a deflection with 5:02 left in regulation as the Dallas Stars rallied with three goals late in the game to defeat Chicago 3-1 on Thursday night, ending the Blackhawks’ four-game winning streak.

Tied at 1, Ryder got behind Chicago’s defense and redirected Mike Ribeiro’s shot between Corey Crawford’s left pad and the near goal post.

Dallas’ Loui Eriksson was credited with a goal 74 seconds later that made it 3-1. He scored after Ryder’s shot deflected off Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook’s skate.

Dallas’s Steve Ott scored on a deflection midway through the third to tie it at 1.

Stars backup Richard Bachman made 26 stops in his first start since Feb. 2, a stretch of 11 games.

Marian Hossa scored Chicago’s lone goal and Corey Crawford finished with 22 saves.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Saku Koivu scored the only goal in the shootout and the Anaheim Ducks earned a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

Corey Perry, who scored his 30th goal for his third career 30-goal season, and Luca Sbisa scored in regulation for Anaheim.

Jerome Samson and Jamie McBain scored for Carolina.

Thursday’s matchup was the finale of the Ducks’ eight-game, 15-day road trip on which they went 5-1-2.

Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller had 30 saves.

Carolina goalie Justin Peters (35 saves) started his second straight game and played in his fourth straight as Cam Ward remained out with a lower-body injury.

The win was Anaheim’s second of the season (2-22-2) when trailing after two periods.

The Hurricanes’ Jiri Tlusty assisted on Samson’s goal to extend his scoring streak to nine games, two short of the longest streak since the club moved to North Carolina from Hartford, Conn., in 1997.

EDMONTON – Devan Dubnyk made 35 saves for his first shutout of the season and the Edmonton Oilers won their second game in a row, topping the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 on Thursday.

Jordan Eberle had a goal and an assist and Taylor Hall also scored for the Oilers (24-30-6), who have the second-worst record in the NHL.

Edmonton broke the deadlock on a power play at 3:26 of the second. Hall was able to find an inch to squeeze the puck between the post and Ilya Bryzgalov’s skate for his 22nd of the season and a 1-0 Oilers lead.

Edmonton went up 2-0 at 8:04 of the second as Eberle picked up a loose puck and sent a shot from the slot that bounced off Bryzgalov’s inside pad before trickling across the goal line.

CALGARY – Ray Whitney scored the lone goal of the shootout Thursday to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames.

Whitney also had a goal and an assist in regulation for the Coyotes, who won their fourth straight and improved to 9-0-1 in their past 10. Shane Doan and former Flames forward Daymond Langkow also scored in regulation for Phoenix.

Alex Tanguay had a goal and an assist in the first period for the Flames, who lost their second straight game at home. Matt Stajan and Olli Jokinen also scored.

Mike Smith made 21 saves in the Phoenix net before turning aside both Tanguay and Jarome Iginla to secure the shootout victory. Smith extended his career-high winning streak to nine games and his personal record against the Flames to 3-0.

Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots.

NHL Roundup: Blues beat Predators 3-2 is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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MARANA, Ariz. (AP) – Tiger Woods had a 5-foot birdie putt to extend the match, and Nick Watney already was thinking about how to play the next hole. He had his yardage book out, trying to decide whether 3-wood was the right club to hit off the first tee.

“The old adage is to expect your opponent to make it,” Watney said. “And when it’s Tiger Woods, you really expect him to make it.”

Just not this Tiger Woods.

In what is becoming a troubling trend for Woods, he missed the birdie putt so badly that it never even touched the hole, giving Watney a 1-up victory Thursday in the Match Play Championship.

It was the third straight time that Woods, a three-time champion in this event, failed to get out of the second round.

“I didn’t miss a single shot coming in, which is good. And that was fun, to hit the ball that well,” Woods said. “Unfortunately, I just didn’t make a putt when I needed it.”

Woods missed three putts inside 10 feet over the last six holes, none more important than the last one.

Two weeks ago, Woods couldn’t buy a putt at Pebble Beach and closed with a 75, 11 shots worse than playing partner Phil Mickelson. He also struggled to make putts in Abu Dhabi, when he failed to win despite being tied for the 54-hole lead with Robert Rock.

“I’m very happy to move on. I feel a bit fortunate, as well,” Watney said. “We don’t see him miss putts like that very often. And there were a few of them.”

Watney next plays Lee Westwood, the former world No. 1 whom Watney has beaten at Dove Mountain each of the last two years. Westwood had no trouble against Robert Karlsson of Sweden, advancing to the third round for the first time in 12 tries at this fickle event.

“Need more clothes. Didn’t pack for long enough!” Westwood jokingly tweeted.

England has won this World Golf Championship the last two years – Luke Donald and Ian Poulter – and Westwood is its last hope to make it three in a row.

The surprise was that Scotland had two players remaining – former British Open champion Paul Lawrie took down Ryo Ishikawa, and Martin Laird defeated Matteo Manassero. Lawrie and Laird face each other in the third round.

In other matches Thursday:

- U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, the No. 2 seed, made only three birdies but won two straight holes with par to put away Anders Hansen and advance to the third round. He plays Miguel Angel Jimenez, the 48-year-old Spaniard who beat PGA champion Keegan Bradley.

- Dustin Johnson, headed for defeat in the opening round until outlasting Jim Furyk in 20 holes, blasted Francesco Molinari early and rolled to a 7-and-5 win. “I was definitely in a better mood,” Johnson said of the short day.

Johnson has played two medium-length players in Furyk and Molinari. Next up is another pea shooter, Mark Wilson, who breezed to a win over Robert Rock of England.

- Steve Stricker celebrated his 45th birthday in style. Two down on the back nine, he rallied to catch Louis Oosthuizen, then won the match with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that had so much break even Stricker wasn’t sure he could make it.

He will play Hunter Mahan, who never trailed in beating Y.E. Yang.

- Ernie Els, one day after becoming only the third No. 64 seed to win, had another short day that precedes a long flight home. He lost, 5 and 4, to Peter Hanson of Sweden.

Seven Americans, seven Europeans, an Asian and an Australian (John Senden) represent the 16 players left.

Watney fully expected to be among them.

He was among the few players who admitted peeking at the brackets, and he knew he had a chance to play Woods in the second round. Even as Woods was struggling to get through the opening round, Watney said he wanted to play him because of his stature as the dominant player of this era with 14 major championships.

“I really like Gonzo,” he said of Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, whom Woods beat in 18 holes in the first round. “But I wanted to play Tiger. This is why we play. I could beat him in the second round at Riviera, but then we have two more rounds. To go head-to-head and wind up on top, this is something I’ll remember.”

Woods took his only lead when Watney three-putted for bogey on the fourth hole, and Watney squared the match at No. 7 when Woods missed a 5-foot par putt, a sign of things to come.

The back nine again gave Woods fits. He hit into a bunker and into the desert, having to play a left-handed shot for the second straight day, conceding the 10th hole with a double bogey. Watney went 2 up with an 18-foot birdie on the 12th.

Then, it was a matter of hanging on.

“I just felt like Tiger Woods is not going to lay down,” Watney said. “Tiger Woods is not going to give you this match, so you’ve got to do something to take it. And that was big. Obviously, that ended up being the cushion of the match.”

Woods missed a birdie putt just inside 10 feet on the 13th, and a 6-foot birdie putt on the next hole that didn’t touch the cup. Watney lost the 16th when his tee shot went over the corporate tent, and he went to the 18th hole all square.

Woods drilled his approach to 5 feet as the gallery erupted in a cheer that resonated across Dove Mountain. The silence that followed was all anyone needed to know what happened.

“I was fighting the blocks all day with my putter,” Woods said.

Golf: Tiger Woods eliminated by Nick Watney in second round at Accenture Match Play is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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(PhatzRadio / AP) — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Reserve Andre Dawkins scored 22 points and freshman Austin Rivers added 20 to lead No. 5 Duke to a 74-66 victory at No. 15 Florida State on Thursday night.

The win kept the Blue Devils (24-4, 11-2) tied with No. 7 North Carolina for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference while Florida State (19-8, 10-3) dropped a game behind.

Dawkins scored 18 points over the last 11:23 of the first half, going 5 of 7 from 3-point range as Duke took a 39-32 lead.

Ryan Kelly added 13 points for Duke, which shot 42.3 percent from the field, including 13 of 28 from 3-point range.

Michael Snaer had 18 points for the Seminoles, while Bernard James added 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Snaer’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer ended Duke’s 45-game home winning streak 33 days ago.

NO. 14 MURRAY ST. 80, TENNESSEE ST. 62: At Nashville, Tenn., Isaiah Canaan scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half and Murray State avenged its only loss this season. The Racers (27-1, 14-1 Ohio Valley Conference) blew a 13-point lead in losing 72-68 on Feb. 9. They used a 14-0 run over the final 2:31 of the first half Thursday with four Racers each hitting a 3-pointer to blow open a tight game.

IOWA 67, NO. 16 WISCONSIN 66: At Iowa City, Iowa, senior Matt Gatens scored a career-high 33 points and Iowa got its second straight win over a ranked opponent. It was the second straight career-high for Gatens, who had 30 points in Iowa’s win over then-No. 18 Indiana on Sunday.

CINCINNATI 60, NO. 17 LOUISVILLE 56: At Cincinnati, point guard Cashmere Wright scored 22 points and matched his career-high with six 3-pointers for Cincinnati.

Top 25 Women College Basketball Roundup

(PhatzRadio / AP) — Lyndsay Harris scored 20 points and hit a pair of free throws with 6 seconds left to help Arkansas beat No. 10 Tennessee 72-71 in overtime on Thursday night, handing the Lady Volunteers a program-record third home loss this season.

The Lady Razorbacks (21-6, 10-5 Southeastern Conference) snapped an 18-game losing skid to Tennessee (20-8, 11-4) and became the second Southeastern Conference team this season to win in Knoxville, a place where the Lady Vols previously had not lost a conference game for nearly four years. South Carolina got its first win in Knoxville on Feb. 2.

(8) OHIO ST. 81, MINNESOTA 56: Samantha Prahalis scored a school-record 42 points in her final home game and the host Buckeyes (24-4, 11-4 Big Ten) routed the Golden Gopers (14-15, 6-9).

(9) DELAWARE 71, GEORGE MASON 53: Elena Delle Donne had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and the host Blue Hens (25-1, 16-0 Colonial Athletic Association) coasted past the Patriots (13-14, 7-9) to stretch their winning streak to 15.

(12) GREEN BAY 72, VALPARAISO 36: Lydia Bauer scored 17 points and Julie Wojta scored 16 to lead the host Phoenix, enabling the team (24-1, 14-1) to clinch a share of their 14th consecutive Horizon League championship with a win over the Crusaders (8-18, 4-11).

(13) KENTUCKY 53, SOUTH CAROLINA 50: A’dia Mathies scored 21 points and the host Wildcats (23-5, 12-3 Southeastern Conference) defeated the Gamecocks (20-8, 9-6).

(18) GEORGIA 87, MISSISSIPPI 52: Meredith Mitchell scored 20 points, and the host Lady Bulldogs (21-7, 10-5) pulled away in the second half from the Rebels (12-16, 2-13).

(22) PURDUE 60, MICHIGAN 49: Brittany Rayburn scored 15 points to help the visiting Boilermakers (20-8, 10-5 Big Ten) break a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Wolverines (19-9, 8-7).

MICHIGAN ST. 73, (23) NEBRASKA 53: Klarissa Bell scored 19 points to the host Spartans (18-10, 10-5 Big Ten) to their third straight victory with a win the Cornhuskers (20-7, 9-6).

College Basketball Roundup: Duke tops Florida State 74-66 is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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(PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — The Calgary Stampeders signed defensive back Brandon Smith to a contract extension Thursday.

Smith had a team-high 65 tackles last season and also registered an interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. The fourth-year player was Calgary’s nominee for the CFL’s outstanding defensive player award.

“Brandon showed tremendous poise with our young defense in 2011 and has grown into one of the leaders of that unit,” head coach/GM John Hufnagel said in a statement. “It was important to re-sign Brandon and we are looking for great things from him in 2012.”

Heenan tops players invited to CFL evaluation camp

(PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — Offensive lineman Ben Heenan, the No. 1 prospect in this year’s CFL Canadian college draft, tops the list of players invited to participate in the league’s annual evaluation camp.

This year’s event will run March 2-4 at the University of Toronto’s indoor facility.

A total of 59 players who are eligible for this year’s draft will undergo testing before CFL GMs and coaches while also meeting with league officials during the camp. The draft will be held May 3.

Heenan, a six-foot-four, 310-pound lineman from the University of Saskatchewan is the top-ranked draft prospect, according to the CFL’s scouting bureau.

Quarterbacks Billy Greene (UBC), Kyle Graves (Acadia) and Kyle Quinlan (McMaster) will also take part. Greene captured the Hec Crighton Trophy last season as Canadian university football’s outstanding player.

Last year, both quarterbacks that took part in the evaluation camp went on to attend CFL training camps.

Quarterback Jarious Jackson was released by the B.C. Lions on Feb. 1, then signed by the Toronto Argonauts on Wednesday. Jackson spent seven seasons with the Lions. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Argonauts sign veteran QB Jackson

(PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — It took eight years, but Jarious Jackson has finally become a Toronto Argonaut.

The veteran quarterback signed with Toronto on Wednesday after seven seasons and two Grey Cup championships with the B.C. Lions.

“It’ll be different, but it’ll be fine,” said Jackson. “At the end of the day, it’s still football. It’s new coaches and new faces and getting to know people — but I’ve never been afraid of change before.”

The Lions released the 34-year-old Jackson on Feb. 1 because they wanted to give third-stringer Mike Reilly a chance to be a backup and get more practice reps for Corey Leonard while moving him up a notch from No. 4.

The Argos originally held Jackson’s CFL rights after placing him on their secretive negotiation list. But when Jackson looked to play in the CFL in 2004 after being released by the NFL’s Denver Broncos, he discovered that former Toronto general manager Bob O’Billovich had taken him off the Argos list and subsequently put him on the B.C. list after joining the Lions.

So Jackson wound up signing with the Lions. In the intervening years when he was a free agent, Jackson negotiated with the Argos but remained a Lion.

“During negotiations, in the past two or three times that I’ve been a free agent, Toronto has pretty much always been in the mix as a team that kept coming up and possibly wanted to sign me. That’s why I say maybe the third time’s the charm.”

Jackson captured Grey Cups with B.C., in 2006 and 2011, and had 22 starts in 108 regular-season appearances with the Lions. He has also played in eight post-season games with B.C.

Argos general manager Jim Barker is looking to Jackson, one of the most popular players in the B.C. dressing room, to continue his former Lions role of providing leadership and valuable experience as backup Ricky Ray, acquired in a December trade from Edmonton.

“We felt with Ricky we needed to have a (back-up) with big-game experience,” said Barker. “This is obviously an important year for us.”

Toronto will hold the 100th edition of the Grey Cup, and the Argos hope to be the Eastern Conference team using their dressing room in late November. During his career, Jackson has passed for more than 7,000 yards and 51 touchdowns and rushed for more than 1,000 yards and eight more majors.

With B.C., he mentored a young quarterback in Travis Lulay, 28, helping him capture the CFL’s most outstanding player award in his first full season as a starter. Even though Ray, 32, has more experience than Lulay, including three Grey Cup appearances and two titles, Barker still expects Jackson to be a mentor to the veteran.

“When we signed Jackson, we signed the whole package,” said Barker.

He said both Ray and Jackson are pocket passers who can run, but Jackson can do more on the ground. Hopefully, said the GM, Ray will stay healthy and Jackson will not have to play much.

But Jackson is still expected to play an important short-yardage role and may hold on field goals for Noel Prefontaine. Last season, Jackson helped Lions kicker Paul McCallum kick a record 30 consecutive three-pointers while making 50 of 53 total attempts. He also helped McCallum post a perfect 48-for-48 mark on converts.

“It might be a little different,” said Jackson of holding for Prefontaine. “I might be a little shaky holding for a left-footed kicker. Going the other way, it may be a learning curve for myself.”

Jackson did not start any games in 2011 and threw for one touchdown while completing 18 of 39 pass attempts for a 55.8 per cent completion rate. He has started only one game in the past two seasons.

But Barker feels he will be ready to start several games, if necessary, after using 2011 to recuperate from shoulder surgery that limited his activity in 2010.

“In 2010, I was coming off a shoulder surgery from 2009 that happened in September or so when we played Montreal,” said Jackson. “Going into 2010, I was still healing from my shoulder surgery and I wasn’t fully healed yet, and it took pretty much all of 2010, or until halfway or three-quarters of the season was over, before my arm started feeling a little better again.

“My arm was totally fine all of last year. But Lulay played the whole season. He was pretty healthy. … I think more the shoulder injury had to do with me not playing in 2010 more than anything. I’m 100 per cent now.”

Jackson signed for a year plus an option after bypassing a chance last winter to become the Argos’ starter because he did not feel completely comfortable signing with Toronto. Barker said the club evaluated Jackson’s health a year ago, so it did not check the shoulder again.

The GM said he expects Ray to play another five or six seasons. But he will have to see Jackson in training camp before he can estimate how long the Tupelo, Miss., native can keep playing.

Jackson said he just wants to contribute in any way possible. He is not ready to call it a career yet.

“I’m going to ride this thing until the wheels fall off,” said Jackson.

CFL: News, Notes and Trades / Stampeders ink leading tackler Smith to extension is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — When Michael Matz put Barbaro on the road to the Kentucky Derby in 2006, he felt pressure every step of the way.

The youngster was limited to a pair of starts as a 2-year-old as he continued to grow and mature. Even though he took both races, the heat was on for him to win a major prep race to ensure he’d have enough graded-stakes earnings to qualify for the Kentucky Derby in what is typically a 20-horse field.

Matz has no such worries as he sends early Derby favorite Union Rags into the Fountain of Youth Stakes on Sunday at Florida’s Gulfstream Park.

MORE: Leparoux lands ride, bride (to be)

With three wins in three starts before a runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November, the son of Dixie Union has amassed more than enough graded earnings ($830,000) to solidify his place in the Run for the Roses on May 5 at Churchill Downs.

“I don’t have to win the Fountain of Youth,” Matz said. “I am looking for a good race to make him take a step forward so that when we get to the Kentucky Derby he can be in peak form.

“It’s a very big luxury.”

Barbaro dominated the Kentucky Derby and was viewed as a serious Triple Crown threat before he suffered a catastrophic injury to his right hind leg right after he broke from the starting gate for the Preakness Stakes. He was euthanized months later after he lost his struggle with laminitis, a painful hoof disease.

Many observers thought Barbaro had a chance to earn a place among the great Thoroughbreds. Matz said at the time he might never oversee another horse of that caliber.

But now he has Union Rags, who appears to have some assets that Barbaro did not possess. The ability to handle more racing early is a major element. The trainer also says, “Union Rags has a little bit better demeanor. He’s so accommodating in everything he does. He still has to prove what Barbaro did prove.”

Union Rags also has the March 31 Florida Derby on his calendar. He will be ridden for the first time by Julien Leparoux in the Fountain of Youth after Javier Castellano decided to take the mount on Algorithms for high-powered trainer Todd Pletcher.

Algorithms has swept his three starts. He stamped himself as a serious Derby contender when he handed Juvenile champion Hansen his first defeat, whipping him by 5 lengths in the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream on Jan. 29.

Pletcher also will test Discreet Dancer in the 11/16-mile Fountain of Youth. The colt made a sensational debut Dec. 3, setting a Gulfstream track record by covering 5½ furlongs in a blistering 1 minute, 21/5 seconds to win by 9¾ lengths. He controlled a 1-mile allowance race Jan. 7 by 5½ lengths and will be guided by John Velazquez.

Risen Star Stakes: Trainer Larry Jones will send two top contenders, Mr. Bowling and Mark Valeski, into the $300,000 Risen Star Stakes on Saturday at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

Mr. Bowling, who will have Robby Albarado in the irons, comes off a valiant win in the Lecomte Stakes there, making him 2-for-2 when extended beyond a sprint.

“He has answered our question there,” Jones said of Mr. Bowling’s ability to handle distance. “He is training very forwardly. You can just see a lot of improvement, a lot of maturing. He is really coming to hand well.”

Mark Valeski will be handled by Rosie Napravnik as part of a field of 11. He is attempting 11/16 miles for the first time.

“He is a very fast horse. He has a good turn of foot to him,” Jones said. “Now, the question is whether he can carry his speed over the longer ground.”

Horse Racing: Union Rags set to prove worthiness in Fountain of Youth is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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CHICAGO (AP) – The family of former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson filed a wrongful death suit against the NFL on Thursday, claiming the league didn’t do enough to prevent or treat the concussions that severely damaged his brain before he killed himself last year.

The suit was filed in Chicago on behalf of Duerson’s son, Tregg, and three other children. Duerson died on Feb. 17, 2011, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest at his home in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.

Duerson’s family wants to know more about the NFL’s handling of concussions during his career, according to his son.

“If they knowingly failed to inform and implement proper safety concussion procedures, then their indifference was the epitome of injustice,” Tregg Duerson said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. “The inactions of the past inevitably led to the demise and death of my father.”

The lawsuit accuses the NFL of negligently causing the brain damage that led Duerson to take his own life at the age of 50 by not warning him of the negative effects of concussions. Attorney Thomas Demetrio, who is representing Duerson’s family, said the NFL should have been a leader in educating current and former players about head injuries.

“They not only dropped the ball, they maintained until current times that there was no connection between playing football, receiving concussions and brain damage,” Demetrio said. “That’s wrong.”

The NFL said in a statement that it had not yet seen the lawsuit.

“Dave Duerson was an outstanding football player and citizen who made so many positive contributions but unfortunately encountered serious personal challenges later in his life,” the NFL said. “We sympathize with the Duerson family and continue to be saddened by this tragedy.”

The suit also names helmet maker Riddell Inc., alleging that the helmets didn’t adequately protect players from concussions. The company declined comment.

A native of Muncie, Ind., Duerson was a third-round draft pick by the Bears in 1983 out of Notre Dame and played 11 seasons in the NFL before retiring in 1993. He won Super Bowls with the 1985 Bears and 1990 Giants, and he played in four Pro Bowls.

The lawsuit was filed less than a week after nearly a dozen former NFL players living in Louisiana sued the NFL over their concussions.

Several former New Orleans Saints players are among the 11 ex-players named as plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in New Orleans. The lawsuit says each has developed mental or physical problems from concussions or concussion-like symptoms. Several suits blaming the NFL for concussion-related dementia and brain disease already have been consolidated in Philadelphia.

Duerson had at least 10 concussions in his NFL career, according to his family, and lost consciousness during some. He left notes for his family asking that his brain be donated to science, and researchers at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University’s School of Medicine concluded he had “moderately advanced” brain damage and CTE related to blows to the head. The damage started to manifest itself about 10 years before his death, his son said, though the changes were gradual.

“It was slow deterioration, day after day,” Tregg Duerson said. “You can see his mannerisms change toward the end of his life.”

The lawsuit says brain damage affected his judgment, inhibition and impulse control.

“My dad donating his brain as his last plea; we feel as though we’re taking that to the next level,” Tregg Duerson said. “We believe that he would’ve wanted us to pursue this, and because of that belief we feel obligated to do so.”

Dave Duerson’s family sues NFL over his suicide is a post from: PhatzRadio.com

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