VIDEO - New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was questionedTuesday afternoon by police investigating a possible homicide in North Attleborough, SI.com reported Tuesday, citing sources close to the investigation.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - About 325 former Penn State players have signed a statement supporting the lawsuit filed by the family of former coach Joe Paterno and other former players seeking to overturn NCAA sanctions against the football program for the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
Former player Brian Masella released the letter Monday in support of the lawsuit, which was also filed last month by some coaches, trustees and faculty. Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny, and former NFL quarterbacks Kerry Collins and Todd Blackledge are among the notable names who signed on to the statement.
Masella said he and a few other former players organized the statement on their own after some of the plaintiffs explained their position in a letter to former players and sought their support. He stressed the statement had no connection to the official Football Letterman's Club.
The ex-players in the statement said they stood with the others in the case in demanding "fairness, due process, truth, and a just outcome. Everyone - Sandusky's victims, Penn Staters, and the public at large - deserves to know the complete truth."
As in the lawsuit, the former players in the statement took issue with the NCAA basing its strict sanctions on what they called the flawed report by former FBI director Louis Freeh on the scandal for the school.
Freeh concluded that Paterno and three former school officials concealed allegations against Sandusky, a retired defensive coordinator found guilty in June 2012 on dozens of criminal counts covering allegations on and off campus. Sandusky, 69, was sentenced to 30-to-60 years in prison.
Paterno died in January 2012. Freeh's report was released the following July, and the NCAA issued its sanctions less than two weeks later. The landmark penalties included a four-year bowl ban and steep scholarship cuts.
Paterno's family and the school officials have firmly denied there was a cover-up. The family earlier this year commissioned a critique which called Freeh's report a "rush to injustice."
The lawsuit filed several weeks ago argues the NCAA sidestepped its own rules with uncharacteristic speed in levying sanctions, and sought to raise fresh questions about Freeh's report.
"In speaking with a couple former players, we wanted to do something to support the (others) involved in the lawsuit," Masella, a 1975 graduate who played tight end and punter, said in a phone interview. "We had to start somewhere. It basically started to snowball."
When asked, Masella also said their actions don't take away from the full support that former players have for coach Bill O'Brien and the current team.
They backed O'Brien "100 percent," and that they wanted what was best for the current players in hoping to reverse the sanctions, he said.
The NCAA has not filed a response yet to the lawsuit. NCAA president Mark Emmert - named as a defendant in the lawsuit - declined comment on individual cases last month.
"I'm perfectly fine to have an opportunity for us to state our case and have it heard in a court of law, then we'll let a legal system do its work," Emmert said in Irving, Texas at a Big 12 meeting on May 30.
MIAMI (AP) - The San Antonio Spurs are heading to Miami with two shots at winning their fifth NBA title -- and fourth in the Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili (jih-NOH'-blee) era.
Parker and Ginobili combined for 50 points as the Spurs took a 3-2 series lead with a 114-104 win over the Miami Heat last night. The Spurs shot 60 percent from the field.
Parker played over 35 minutes, shot 10-for-14 from the field and delivered a team-high 26 points. Ginobili also had the hot hand while making a rare start, hitting eight of his 14 shots and finishing with 24 points and 10 assists.
The Spurs can wrap up their fifth championship Tuesday in Miami. If the Heat win that one, Game 7 will be Thursday night in Miami.
BRIDGEPORT, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey State Police are trying to determine the cause of a dirt track crash that killed NASCAR driver Jason Leffler.
Leffler died after the crash at southern New Jersey's Bridgeport Speedway on Wednesday.
A spectator, Chris Taitt, says he was at the race but looking the other way when the crash occurred. He says Leffler had been in second place, apart from other cars when his car slammed into a wall at a turn. He says the wing on the car was "flattened like a pancake," and the seat appeared to be displaced.
Many drivers, owners and sponsors in NASCAR are remembering Leffler as a loving father to his 5-year-old son, an open person and a versatile driver.
VIDEO - SWEDESBORO, N.J. (AP) - NASCAR driver Jason Leffler died after an accident Wednesday night in a heat race at a dirt car event at Bridgeport Speedway.
The 37-year-old Leffler, a two-time winner on the NASCAR Nationwide Series who had the nickname "LefTurn" above the driver's side window on his race cars, was pronounced dead shortly after 9 p.m., New Jersey State Police said.
After losing his NASCAR ride, Leffler had been racing dirt car events most of this year, including the 410 Sprint Car race Wednesday that promised a $7,000 prize to the winner at the 0.625-mile, high-banked dirt oval. On Sunday, Leffler finished last at Pocono in his lone NASCAR Sprint Cup start of the year.
From Long Beach, Calif., Leffler made 423 starts in NASCAR's three national series, but won just the two Nationwide races and one Truck Series event in a career that began in 1999. He also made three IndyCar Series starts, finishing 17th in the 2000 Indianapolis 500.
NEW YORK (AP) - NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the Washington Redskins nickname is "unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect."
Goodell was responding to a letter from 10 members of Congress who want the name changed because it is offensive to many Native Americans.
Goodell cited the nickname's origins and polls that support its popularity. He wrote that he understands the feelings surrounding it are complex and could change, but he also point out fan pride in the team's heritage.
The name is the subject of a legal challenge from a group seeking to have the team lose its trademark protection.
Team owner Dan Snyder has vowed to never change the name. Teton High School in Driggs, Idaho, this week became the latest high school to drop the name.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't ready to give his impressions of Tim Tebow after one practice.
Belichick says he's not getting into a "minute-by-minute" evaluation of his new backup quarterback. Tebow practiced for the first time with the Patriots on Tuesday after signing with the team. The Patriots are holding their three-day minicamp that runs through Thursday.
Belichick said Wednesday he doesn't think it's a good idea to evaluate players on a couple of plays, especially at this time of year. The Patriots plan to start their training camp in late July. He says he'll wait until he and his staff have more information before evaluating players.
He also says any time a player is on the field for the first day it's a learning experience.
DENVER (AP) - Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has been given a cortisone injection in his swollen left knee, and he will wear a brace to ensure he rests the joint.
Harper was given the shot after he visited noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews on Monday in Pensacola, Fla. Trainer Lee Kuntz said Tuesday Harper will rest the knee for a week.
Kuntz said that Andrews confirmed the original diagnosis made by team doctors that Harper, who is on the 15-day disabled list, has patellar bursitis.
Harper was photographed with his knee wrapped and wearing a heavy brace, setting off Internet speculation that he had some sort of surgery. But Kuntz reiterated that was not the case.
Also, Nationals manager Davey Johnson said right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who is on the DL with a lat strain, threw a simulated game Tuesday and came out of it well.
VIDEO - Major League Baseball has begun interviewing players linked to a Miami anti-aging clinic that allegedly sold performance-enhancing drugs and became the focus of the sport's investigation.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Washington Nationals have placed Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained muscle in his back.
The Nationals made the move Wednesday after Strasburg skipped a scheduled bullpen session. The session was supposed to determine whether he could make a start on Saturday.
Strasburg was removed after two innings when he showed obvious discomfort during Friday's game against the Atlanta Braves.
The Nationals said the next day that Strasburg had a "slight strain" to the lat. The team was hoping he would not miss a start, although he was moved back two days in the rotation to give him time to heal.
Manager Davey Johnson said a pitcher will be promoted from Triple-A Syracuse to start on Saturday.
VIDEO - Ryan Braun did not want to talk Tuesday night about an ESPN report saying that MLB is seeking to suspend several players, including the Milwaukee slugger, who have been linked to a Florida anti-aging clinic and its director.
VIDEO - A person familiar with the case tells The Associated Press that the founder of a Miami anti-aging clinic has agreed to talk to Major League Baseball about players linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
NEW YORK (AP) - NFL Sunday afternoon games will be available to local fans on mobile phones through Verizon starting with the 2014 season.
The league said Tuesday it had extended its deal with Verizon. For the coming season, the NFL Mobile app will continue to allow subscribers to watch Thursday, Sunday and Monday night games, NFL Network and NFL RedZone.
The following season, the service will expand to include Sunday afternoon games on CBS and Fox within teams' home markets, along with all playoff games.
VIDEO - David "Deacon" Jones, a Hall of Fame defensive end credited with terming the word sack for how he knocked down quarterbacks, has died. He was 74
VIDEO - During one of three weather delays at a soaked Yankee Stadium Sunday night, a few players got jumpy in the New York and Boston dugouts when thunder boomed and lightning crackled.
