NFL notebook: Bruschi to miss season
BOSTON (AP) – New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi will sit out this season because of a stroke he suffered 10 days after helping the Patriots win their third Super Bowl in four years. “Tedy … has declared his intentions to forgo the 2005 campaign,” Patriots spokesman Stacey James said in a statement. “The Bruschi family wanted to express their heartfelt appreciation for the tremendous outpouring of support they have received from fans throughout New England and others around the country.”
Bruschi, 32, suffered a mild stroke on Feb. 16, three days after playing in the Pro Bowl and 10 days after helping New England beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 in the Super Bowl. James said Bruschi has made daily progress in his rehabilitation.
He has attended team meetings, helped new players learn the defense and worked out in the Patriots’ weight room. But didn’t practice during the team’s June minicamp.
Training camp begins July 28.
“All offseason, we have seen and felt Tedy’s strong and upbeat presence,” coach Bill Belichick said. “As usual, we will keep the focus on the short term and address the future in due course. We are pleased Tedy continues to be part of the team and he has our complete support.”
Bruschi had said it was possible that he could sit out the 2005 season and return in 2006.
“Football to me, it’s something I love and it’s something I’ll always want to do,” the Patriots linebacker said last month at a party to pass out the latest Super Bowl rings. “But I’ve got to think about my wife and my sons and just make sure things are right.”
Bruschi not only was a star player for the Patriots, but he was an inspirational leader on the team, an overachiever who was an example to the players around him. A 250-pound defensive lineman at Arizona who was converted to linebacker as a rookie in 1996, he was usually around the ball, making game-turning plays on a unit known for them.
Since the stroke, he been largely silent about his status and had not indicated whether he would return. But with training camp approaching, he was forced to make a decision.
“The organization has been so supportive for me,” Bruschi said at the ring ceremony. “I’m not pressured with any timetable. My family and I are worried about my health and we’re just making sure I’m getting better and that’s the only thing we’re focusing on right now.”
Bruschi was scheduled to earn $850,000 this season, $1.35 million in 2006 and $1.7 million in the final year of his contract. That deal would be voided if he retires, but he could earn his full salary if the team puts him on the physically-unable-to-perform list.
Packers
Javon Walker will be a no-show at training camp next week unless the Green Bay Packers agree to give the Pro Bowl receiver a big pay raise or trade him, his agent said Wednesday.
“The Packers say they aren’t going to change their position, so we are leaning that way. We’re hoping for a change of heart or a trade,” Drew Rosenhaus told The Associated Press.
Packers general manager Ted Thompson did not immediately return a call to the AP for comment.
Rosenhaus said the Packers have refused to negotiate with him ever since he first approached the team this spring to tear up Walker’s current contract, which has two years remaining and calls for him to make $515,000 this season.
“I haven’t had very many holdouts in my career, but I’ve been unable to get the Packers to commit to any discussion of a new deal,” Rosenhaus said. “The Packers have refused to negotiate with us. They expect him to play the year out.”
Rosenhaus said that won’t happen.
“I can’t let this player go out on the field and jeopardize his career for that kind of money. I just can’t fathom it,” he said in an interview with HBO taped last Friday and scheduled to air next week.
Walker hired Rosenhaus earlier this year after a breakout season in which he caught 89 passes for 1,328 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Walker’s holdout threat has drawn the ire of quarterback Brett Favre, who also criticized Rosenhaus for his tactics.
Rosenhaus responded by saying Favre should call him to get all the facts.
“I don’t think he’ll answer my calls,” Favre said this week while playing in a charity pro-am at the US Bank Championship golf tournament in Milwaukee. “Set me straight on what? I’ve played 14 straight years. I have not held out one time. He has nothing to say to me.”
Rosenhaus said Wednesday he has plenty to say to the three-time MVP.
“I reached out to Brett. If you take issue with our position, call me,” Rosenhaus said. “I’m not allowed to call him. But if he calls me, I’ll tell him what our status is. I don’t think he knows all the facts. I’d love to fill him in.”
Favre said he’s earned the right to speak his mind and besides, Walker is under contract, “and to me that means he should be here.”
Rosenhaus said he would take Favre’s call any time.
Eagles
PHILADELPHIA – Terrell Owens hasn’t decided whether he will report to training camp on time because of a contract dispute with the Eagles, his agent said Wednesday.
“The odds are 50-50,” Drew Rosenhaus told The Associated Press. “We probably won’t make any determination until the start of camp.”
Owens, who helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl in his first season in Philadelphia after eight years with San Francisco, fired longtime agent David Joseph in April, hired Rosenhaus and started asking for a new contract just one year into a seven-year deal worth almost $49 million.
The Eagles have said they won’t redo the contract.
“Where we stand is there’s no change in their position,” Rosenhaus said. “In my discussions with them, they’ve maintained their stance. We’re weighing our options.”
Rosenhaus also told the AP on Wednesday that Green Bay receiver Javon Walker, another one of his clients, will be a no-show at training camp next week unless the Packers agree to give the Pro Bowl receiver a big pay raise or trade him.
Rosenhaus said it was unfair to compare the two star receivers’ money disputes.
“Every situation is different and you can never correlate the two scenarios,” he said.
Veteran players are scheduled to report to Eagles camp on Aug. 1, and will participate in their first practice in full pads on Aug. 3 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
Owens set team records with 14 touchdown receptions and seven 100-yard games, and finished with 77 catches for 1,200 yards. He broke his leg and severely sprained his right ankle in Week 15 against Dallas, an injury that sidelined him until the Super Bowl.
Owens defied his doctor’s advice by returning to the starting lineup against New England just 6 1/2 weeks after ankle surgery, and was Philadelphia’s best player on offense. He caught nine passes for 122 yards in the Eagles’ 24-21 loss to the Patriots.
Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Vikings scrapped plans Wednesday to charge fans admission to attend training camp practices in Mankato.
Greater Mankato Training Camp, LLC, the company that manages the camp, announced an agreement with the team to eliminate the planned $5 to $10 admission charge to watch practices.
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf will pick up the tab for the cost of tickets to regular practices, but will still charge for special events – including two planned passing scrimmages.
“We greatly appreciate this action taken by the Wilf family and the Vikings organization,” said Paul Wilke, president of the Greater Mankato Training Camp, LLC. “We have an outstanding working relationship with the Vikings and we are thrilled that our shared goal of keeping training camp accessible to all fans will be met.”
Selling tickets for select events in training camp is commonplace throughout the NFL, but the Vikings would have been the only team in the league to charge admission to all 30 practices. Training camp opens July 29 on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Steve LaCroix, vice president of sales and marketing, said fans didn’t hesitate to make their feelings known in the days following the initial announcement.
“Like all publicly discussed issues, our fans are very passionate about things,” LaCroix said. “We heard some feedback which helped us get a feel for what the situation was.”
The move also could have hurt them on the field. Charging for the practices would have opened the doors for scouts from around the league to come to training camp and get a head start on game-planning for the season.
The NFL bans scouts from the free practices in training camp, allowing them to attend only events for which the team sells tickets.
“I’m not going to deny that wasn’t part of the discussion,” Lacroix said. “But it was really a decision made from a fan perspective. They are the ones who take time out of busy schedules to come and support us in Mankato for those three weeks.”