Free Republic

Joe Greene has received a lot of honors during his professional career, but being honored by the Fritz Pollard Alliance was special to him because of who Fritz Pollard was. Frederick Douglas “Fritz” Pollard was the first African-American to play in the Rose Bowl (1916) and the second to be named All-America in college football. In 1920, Pollard signed with the Akron Pros and led the team to the American Professional Football Association championship. In 1921, he was named Akron’s coach, and so when the APFA was re-named the National Football League in 1922, Pollard became the NFL’s first African-American...

Officers Dispute League's Rule that Off-Duty Cops Can't Bring Conceal Weapons to StadiumAs the Minnesota Vikings get ready to leave the Metrodome for a yet-to-be-built stadium, local police are suing the National Football League over a policy that prevents off-duty cops from carrying their weapons into stadiums. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) and Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis (POFM) filed a suit challenging the NFL’s recently enacted policy against concealed weapons in league stadiums and facilities. Only security staffers specifically designated to provide security for league events are authorized to bear arms on NFL-affiliate property....

Richie Incognito, an NFL Miami Dolphin, is a clubhouse bully who was suspended for traumatizing teammate Jonathan Martin. A new NFL investigative report found that Richie, a white, soon-to-be free agent veteran, abused Martin, a black player then in his rookie season. The report accuses Incognito and two other players of using racially charged abusive language and engaging in abusive conduct directed toward the black rookie. Incognito, according the to investigation, was the ringleader. Richie Incognito, meet former Los Angeles City firefighter Tennie Pierce. Or more precisely, meet Pierce's firefighter "friends" -- who stand accused of bullying the black LAFD...

Former NFL star Darren Sharper is set to be arraigned Thursday in Los Angeles on rape and drug charges in an investigation into allegations that he drugged and sexually assaulted at least seven women in four states. Sharper, 38, was charged last week with seven rape and drug counts involving four women he allegedly met at a West Hollywood nightclub. Court documents filed Friday revealed additional allegations in Las Vegas, New Orleans and Tempe, Ariz., that are all still under investigation. The former New Orleans Saints safety appeared in court for the first time Friday but did not enter a...

Ravens running back Ray Rice and his fiancee Janay Palmer attacked one another in an Atlantic City casino on Feb. 15, according to police. The two were arrested and charged with assault at the Revel Casino. Video footage obtained by TMZ shows Rice allegedly dragging what looks to be an unconscious Palmer out of an elevator in the casino before the arrest. Rice is approached by a man who appears to be security, who speaks into a microphone as the running back is trying to pick Palmer off the floor. The couple was arrested later on and police said they...

There's been much discussion this month about presumed future NFL player Michael Sam and how an acknowledged gay player would fit into an NFL locker room. Most of the talk has been positive -- which, of course, is an encouraging sign for the league and for, well, humanity. But former Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes, ranked as one of the best safeties in the game in 2012 who couldn't find a job last season, says none of this applies to him. Though there have been rumors about his sexual orientation -- especially after a despicable website last year posted photos with...

Minnesota's largest police group and police union are suing the NFL and the Vikings, claiming the league's new ban on off-duty cops carrying their guns to games is illegal. The Minnesota law that allows businesses to bar weapons specifically exempts "active licensed" peace officers, and state law trumps NFL rules, the lawsuit says. But the National Football League disagrees, saying the law doesn't apply to it. Although an NFL spokesman declined to comment on the suit, when police officials complained about the policy last fall, the league's security chief said a ticket to a game is a license that teams...

When Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin left the team in November because he said he was being bullied by guard Richie Incognito, the NFL appointed big-name attorney Ted Wells to run an independent investigation into the team. On Friday, that report was released, and it concluded that Incognito, guard John Jerry and center Mike Pouncey "engaged in a pattern of harassment directed" at Martin and another young offensive lineman who wasn't named and an assistant trainer. Writes Wells' team: "We find that the Assistant Trainer repeatedly was targeted with racial slurs and other racially derogatory language. Player A frequently was subjected...

President Obama, who has publicly said that the name "Redskins" is offensive, found no problem publicly posting a picture of the so-called offensive image when it supports his name-sake health care law. Earlier this week, President Obama tweeted a new ad for the Affordable Care Act: Under normal circumstances, this would just be another ad that touts ObamaCare. However, late in 2013, President Obama waded into the controversy surrounding the name "Redskins" for Washington's NFL team, slamming the name as offensive "to a sizable group of people." He went further, saying, "I don't know whether our attachment to a particular...

At a time when most draft prospects are trading up their cars, NFL hopeful Rashid Williams recently traded in his luxury sedan for a minivan. He's heard the jokes and the zingers from the other players training at TEST Parisi Football Academy in Martinsville, N.J., including that he drives a “soccer mom mobile.” But his minivan is more than a set of wheels to take him to his combine training every day. He also lives in it. Williams is homeless by choice. For most NFL draft prospects, sacrifices are to be expected as they ready for the combine and their...

LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors charged former NFL safety Darren Sharper on Friday with raping and drugging two women in California and disclosed he is under investigation in connection with five more drug-related rapes in three other states. Sharper briefly appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court, where his arraignment was postponed until Feb. 20 at the request of his lawyers. They issued a statement saying he would be exonerated. Prosecutors then filed a motion to increase Sharper's bail to $10 million and outlined details of investigations involving him in Las Vegas, Tempe, Ariz., and New Orleans. Sharper has not been charged...

At least seven women in four different states have accused former NFL football player Darren Sharper of drugging and sexually assaulting them, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles on Friday. At least three other women and one man reported being drugged, according to records. Three of the alleged sexual assaults occurred on two consecutive nights in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Los Angeles County prosecutors charged Sharper on Friday with two counts of rape and five other drug charges in connection with two incidents in October and January. He has not been charged in cases in Las Vegas,...

The NFL paid Commissioner Roger Goodell $44.2M in the 12-month period that ended March 31, 2013, the league told SportsBusiness Journal earlier Friday. That figures include $9.1M of deferred pension and bonus earned the previous year. The league expects to file its tax return, which will include the pay figures, with the IRS on Tuesday. That return will show Goodell earned a $3.5M salary and a $40.36M bonus, though $5M of the bonus was earned the prior year. Disclosure of Goodell’s nearly $30M compensation at this time last year reverberated through the industry. Sean Gilbert, a contender for the top...

The report by independent investigator Ted Wells on the state of the Miami Dolphins organization was released on Friday morning after months of research, and the results are clear — offensive guard Richie Incognito did lead a systemic campaign of bullying and ridicule of not only offensive tackle Jonathan Martin, but also at least one of Incognito’s and Martin’s teammates, and at least one team employee. Wells, a partner in the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, was hired by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in early November to exhaustively investigate the Dolphins franchise from top to...

The White House is applauding a University of Missouri football player’s decision to announce that he is gay, with President Barack Obama’s spokesman, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden all portraying him as a courageous and inspirational athlete. […] The tweet was signed “-mo,” which is how the White House marks messages personally sent by the first lady. …

Fancred Michael Sam’s decision to come out has drawn support and praise from fans, owners and players around the NFL. The way he’ll be treated once inside an NFL locker room, though, is a different story. New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma expressed some doubts about gay players in NFL locker rooms during an NFL Network interview earlier this month. “I think that he would not be accepted as much as we think he would be accepted,” Vilma said. “I don’t want people to just naturally assume, like, ‘Oh, we’re all homophobic.’ That’s really not the case. Imagine if he’s...

Footage of NFL hopeful Michael Sam dancing topless in a Missouri gay bar showing off his best moves has emerged in the week he dramatically came out to the nation ahead of the draft. Sam, 23, was videoed at the SoCo nightclub in Columbia in October - just a few months after he had told all his Mizzou team mates he was gay and received their overwhelming support. In the footage, Sam dances along to Michael Jackson's Rock With You alongside a group of excited looking women, who all seem to be enjoying themselves.

<p>The Washington Redskins issued a scathing response to two lawmakers Monday after they called for the team to change its controversial name.</p> <p>Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a letter that the league is on the “wrong side of history” in allowing the Redskins to keep their name, which some see as a slur.</p>

While Michael Sam has mostly received an outpouring of support since announcing that he is gay, his father is struggling with the news, according to a published report. Sam revealed to his Missouri teammates he is gay last August, but he didn’t disclose his sexual orientation to his parents until last week. He said Sunday in interviews with ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” and The New York Times that he is gay. […] Sam Sr., who described himself as “old-school,” told the newspaper the idea of a gay player in the NFL bothers him, even when that person could be his...

ASHBURN, Virginia - The latest back-and-forth over the Washington Redskins name includes a stern letter from two lawmakers and a new "community voices" campaign from the team. A letter sent Monday from Congressman Tom Cole [R-Oklahoma] and Senator Maria Cantwell [D-Washington], tells NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that the league is on "the wrong side of history" and mentions the league's tax-exempt status. Cantwell chairs the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Cole is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. The lawmakers specifically objected to Goodell's Super Bowl week news conference, when he said the Redskins name has been "presented in a...