Banged-up Steelers lose Parker in win at Green Bay

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Troy Polamalu called himself an accidental hero.--football gambling--

His 77-yard touchdown return of Brett Favre's fumble set the stage for Pittsburgh's 20-10 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, when both teams turned to their stingy defenses to bail out their injury-ravaged offenses. --football gambling--

"I thought our defense played outstanding," said Favre, whose streak of 27 straight home games with a touchdown pass came to an end. "We have to help them out."
Green Bay held the Steelers without a single third-down conversion, allowed just two field goals and a 20-yard TD drive. --football gambling--

Not bad, but not as good as Pittsburgh.--football gambling--
The Steelers forced three turnovers that they turned into 17 points, including Polamalu's score on a play in which Favre was kicking himself for not just going to his hot read right away and settling for a field goal instead of trying to buy enough time for Walt Williams to get open for a touchdown.--football gambling--

Polamalu was kicking himself, too -- but only for a split second.--football gambling--
"I missed the sack, which is pretty disappointing," Polamalu said. "Bryant McFadden made a great play. And fortunately enough, he had the sack and the fumble. I just saw the ball lying there and picked it up ran."--football gambling--

The Steelers (6-2) became the first team since the 1989-90 San Francisco 49ers and the fourth team overall to win 11 straight road games. And they did it without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (knee) and running back Jerome Bettis (thigh), who were joined on the sideline in the second half by starting tailback Willie Parker, who turned his left ankle.--football gambling--
Duce Staley, who replaced Bettis and had his first carries since the AFC championship in January, ran for 76 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.--football gambling--
The Packers fell to 1-7 at the halfway point for the first time since 1986 under Forrest Gregg.
They've been in every game until the closing minutes and have actually outscored their opponents 168-159 -- a first for an NFL team that lost seven of its first eight.--football gambling--

"If we were getting stomped and crushed every time we played somebody, it probably would be hard to be optimistic," linebacker Nick Barnett said. "But we're right there. We're a play away, an inch away. And it is frustrating that we're not getting that inch or we're not getting that play."
Polamalu's TD return came in the first half, when Green Bay trailed 6-3 and was about to forge ahead thanks to his 33-yard pass interference penalty that put the Packers on the Pittsburgh 3.
Consecutive false starts backed up the Packers to the 12, when they went to an empty backfield on third-and-goal.--football gambling--

Big mistake.
McFadden came on a cornerback blitz and wrapped up Favre for an 11-yard sack, spinning him to the ground and forcing the ball to pop out. Polamalu scooped it up and rumbled 77 yards for the big swing.--football gambling--

"You can put that one on me, that was my call," Packers coach Mike Sherman said.
McFadden wasn't just satisfied with his first NFL sack on the play. He also provided the block on speedy tight end Donald Lee that allowed Polamalu to reach the end zone, something Pittsburgh's offense failed to do until it got the short field thanks to Tyrone Carter's interception in the fourth quarter.--football gambling--

Carter grabbed his fourth career interception when the ball bounced off Donald Driver and into his hands at the Packers' 20 with 8:11 left and Pittsburgh clinging to a 13-10 lead.--football gambling--

Four plays later, Staley slipped a backfield tackle by Barnett and trotted in from 3 yards out.
"I'm going to put it on my shoulders," Driver said. "If I make that catch we win the game."
Steelers backup quarterback Charlie Batch made his first start since Dec. 2, 2001, when he was with Detroit. He completed 9 of 16 passes for 65 yards and one interception.-football gambling-

Pittsburgh settled for short field goals by Jeff Reed to take a 6-0 lead, which Ryan Longwell cut in half with a 40-yarder that made him the first Green Bay player to score 1,000 points in his career.--football gambling--

Longwell, however, was wide right from 31 yards after a promising 18-play drive by Green Bay that ate up 9½ minutes but stalled at the 13.--football gambling--

The Packers finally punched it in when Samkon Gado scored his first career touchdown from a yard out with 7:26 left in the third quarter, cutting Pittsburgh's lead to 13-10. --football gambling--

"I know I can play at this level, but I'm not happy with the way I got my chance, said Gado, whose 62 yards on 26 carries were a season high for the Packers.--football gambling--
Game notesThe Packers were down to their fifth-string running back after Tony Fisher (fractured rib) was deactivated and ReShard Lee fumbled away on his second carry Sunday. ... WR Hines Ward caught just one pass, leaving him three shy of passing John Stallworth (536) for most in Steelers history.--football gambling--

For Cortez, trip to NFL worth the risks

By DANA PENNETT O'NEIL

oneild@phillynews.com

THE IDEA, Jose Cortez explained simply, was to wait out the night when the police figured you'd make a go for it and instead slip by just before dawn. Yes, it was a calculated risk and no, it wouldn't be overdramatic to say it was a matter of life and death. -NFL Football-

But without the risk, what? No chance at an education, no escape from poverty. Really, what were you risking? -NFL Football-

So Cortez and his mother and younger sister took the risk. They ditched the extra clothes and luggage they had and, with only the clothes on their backs to take them into their future, slipped across the Tijuana border, across the highway, into California and on to their new lives. -NFL Football-

That was 15 years ago and Cortez remembers it all vividly. You don't soon forget a trip that changes everything. -NFL Football-

"There's so much here that we never would have had there," says Cortez, the Eagles' newest kicker. "If I had stayed there, I never would have gone to college, owned a house or probably owned a car." -NFL Football-

"There" is El Salvador, a country that was 10 years into a civil war when Cortez fled to join his father, Fermin, and two older sisters. The Cortez family was fortunate to live in San Vicente, far enough removed from the horrific fighting between government military and guerilla rebels that would claim the lives of 75,000 people before a peace agreement was signed in 1992. -NFL Football-

But still life wasn't good. Education was only available to the few who could afford the price tag. If there was a future in El Salvador it wasn't one anyone wanted to see. -NFL Football-

"There wasn't anything there for us," Cortez says. "My parents wanted us to have a better life than we could have there." -NFL Football-

Cortez spoke candidly last week about his circuitous and frankly unintended path to the NFL, and about his one-time status in this country as an illegal alien. -NFL Football-

He is not ashamed of how he got here, but rather proud of the life he has carved since arriving. -NFL Football-

"Out of my family, I'm the only one who finished high school and who graduated from college," Cortez says. "It took me 3 years to really get a chance in the NFL, but I made that, too." -NFL Football-

Cortez knows his tenure here might be short-lived. David Akers, a three-time Pro Bowler, is on the mend and one man's return could mean another's exodus. -NFL Football-

But coming off a game where no one wearing an Eagles uniform could hold his head high, Cortez did his job. -NFL Football-

"Jose is a proven kickoff guy," special-teams coordinator John Harbaugh said the week before the Denver game, an opinion that was re-enforced with a strong performance against the Broncos. "He pounds kickoffs." -NFL Football-

Outsiders might have imagined Cortez as ashamed when the Eagles plucked him off the waiver wire fresh off his abrupt dismissal by Dallas coach Bill Parcells. -NFL Football-

For Cortez it was just another trip on the merry-go-round. His career reads like a wayward map, from Los Angeles Valley College to Oregon State to Cleveland (he signed there as a free agent in 1999) to the New York Giants to San Francisco to Washington to Minnesota to Dallas and now to Philadelphia. -NFL Football-

And none of that was the hardest leg of the trip. -NFL Football-

The hardest leg was the one that went from El Salvador through Guatemala into Mexico and then into the U.S. -NFL Football-

Cortez says his family was lucky. They didn't have the trials that others, who are forced to walk and sleep on the streets, do. He stayed in hotels and he had transportation most of the time, hopping from buses to cabs and sometimes cars with the guide that took him and his family on their 15-day journey into the United States. -NFL Football-

Still, lucky is an operative word. Cortez got to bring three changes of clothes and one pair of shoes. He shut the door on his house one day and never went back. He had no trinkets, no memories in his bag, only the bare necessities. -NFL Football-

"It was strange. You just say goodbye to everybody and that's it," Cortez says. "But we were excited to leave. You hear so many stories about the U.S. A lot of times they're not all true. People say you can make good money; there are a lot of jobs over there. So one day, you just leave, leave everything behind you." -NFL Football-

Cortez remembers the early-dawn crossing at the border, of being terrified that the border patrol would catch them or later, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Getting caught as an illegal meant a one-way ticket to El Salvador. -NFL Football-

"All that money would have been wasted," Cortez says. -NFL Football-

Once Cortez arrived in Southern California, his father, who had been traveling between the U.S. and El Salvador since the 1980s on a work permit, met up with his family in a San Diego safe house. Together they all settled in Van Nuys, where Fermin worked as a cook at a center for troubled kids. For the next 10 years, Cortez and his family renewed their work permits to stay here, a tedious process that requires 3 months of pre-planning and payment of a fee that escalated annually. -NFL Football-

Cortez enrolled in Van Nuys High, the worst kind of new kid in town. -NFL Football-

"New country, new kid, can't speak English, it was hard," Cortez says. "The good thing about where we came to, the Los Angeles area, there are a lot of Hispanics. The high school I went to, I took ESL [English as a second language] classes and the teachers all spoke Spanish. I did fine until my senior year when I had to take literature, health. -NFL Football-

"But," Cortez adds with obvious pride, "I got through it." -NFL Football-

Like most kids in Central America, Cortez grew up playing soccer. He dreamed of forging a pro career in that version of futbol but during his first season on the Van Nuys High soccer team, the football coach spied Cortez playing goalie, booting kicks across midfield, and suggested he give football a try. -NFL Football-

Cortez liked the challenge and was pretty good at it. After 2 years at a junior college he earned a scholarship to Oregon State. -NFL Football-

The idea that this kicking thing might become a career in the daddy of all professional sports never once crossed Cortez's mind. -NFL Football-

"I kept playing football just to get an education," he says. "I wasn't really interested in football, never watched NFL games too much. I was just hoping I could get a scholarship to go to a 4-year school. Even when I got to Oregon State, I was just going to play and go to school." -NFL Football-

Instead, Cortez did both. He got a degree in sociology and a journeyman's career in the NFL. -NFL Football-

His longest tenure came in San Francisco where he played 26 games over two seasons (2001-02), going 18-for-25 and 18-for-24 respectively in field goals, before being released and signed by Washington for the remainder of the '02 season. -NFL Football-

But, added to a 12-of-16 performance in Dallas this season - including a 45-yarder to beat the Giants in overtime - he is one of those kickers who has a solid enough resume that he'll always get a look. -NFL Football-

Honestly, Cortez doesn't stay up nights worrying. He would love to have the sort of security of an Akers, but already has an eye on his future. He wants to work with at-risk kids, to encourage them that there isn't any obstacle they can't overcome. -NFL Football-

He should know.

Five years ago Cortez received his most prized possession - a green card. That means Cortez now is free to go back to El Salvador and visit. He hasn't yet, but plans to soon. -NFL Football-

In the meantime he will continue on the path he began to pave when he first walked out of his home in El Salvador. He has no idea where it will lead but isn't at all afraid of the next step. -NFL Football-

"I came here illegally, didn't speak English, didn't know anything about football and here I am, I'm living the dream of so many people that wish they were in my shoes, to have the opportunity to play in the NFL," Cortez says. -NFL Football-

And then the enormity of what he just said hits him. -NFL Football-

"Wow," he adds. "It's been a crazy ride. I am blessed." -NFL Football-

Pats LB Bruschi eligible to play against Buffalo

NFL.com wire reports

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (Oct. 29, 2005) -- The New England Patriots removed linebacker Tedy Bruschi from the physically unable to perform list, making him eligible to play in Sunday night's game against the Buffalo Bills. -NFL Football-

Bruschi, who had a mild stroke in February and has not yet played this season, had to be activated by 4 p.m. on Oct. 28 to be eligible to play against Buffalo. -NFL Football-

The Patriots' Pro Bowler had the stroke 10 days after helping the team win its third Super Bowl in four years. Although he said this summer that he planned to sit out the entire year, his recovery went well enough for him to come back early. -NFL Football-

Bruschi, who continued to attend meetings during his rehab, was cleared by doctors and returned to practice Oct. 19. -NFL Football-

"It's out of my control now," Bruschi said before practice on Wednesday. "I'm back. I'm a player. I'm a member of the team. So I've trusted my coaches ever since I was in high school." -NFL Football-

Coach Bill Belichick said earlier this week that Bruschi hasn't suffered any setbacks in practice, but he was behind his teammates because he missed so many. -NFL Football-

"His instincts are still there and that's what separates him from other linebackers," linebacker Chad Brown said. "He's just got a great feel for what everyone on the defense is doing, how the offense is trying to attack him. And couple that with his great instincts and that's why he makes plays." -NFL Football-

The Patriots are 3-3, more losses than they had in each of the past two Super Bowl-winning seasons. -NFL Football-

New England had 21 days from Bruschi's first practice, until Nov. 9, to activate him or place him on injured reserve and end his season. He has said he has no doubt he'll play in a game this season. -NFL Football-

"I just look at it as a process," he said. "Emotions are emotions and I felt them all, but really, it's just about what I'm going to do today, how well did I do yesterday ... and just focus on playing football."

Officials expect Superdome to be ready for some 2006 Saints game
October 20, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)

--- nfl ---

-- Superdome officials say the stadium should be largely cleaned up from Hurricane Katrina and ready for the New Orleans Saints to play at least some of their games there in 2006.
--- nfl ---The announcement Thursday came as San Antonio officials said they were working with Saints owner Tom Benson to keep the team in Texas. The state must also respond to the team's assertions that its state-owned practice facility has been rendered unusable by damages caused by federal agencies in the weeks following the Aug. 29 storm.--- nfl ---

--- nfl ---
The Superdome, severely damaged by high winds, should have a temporary roof in place within 10 days, said Doug Thornton, regional vice president for SMG, which manages the stadium. An environmental assessment of its interior -- damaged by rainfall through holes in the roof and its use as a shelter for evacuees -- should be finished by Dec. 1, he said. --- nfl ---

--- nfl ---

``We're working to make the Dome ready for the next season,'' Thornton said at a meeting of the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District Commission, the state board that oversees the Superdome.
--- nfl ---The Saints have drawn criticism recently with shake ups in upper-level staff, as Benson apparently leans toward moving the team from New Orleans to San Antonio.--- nfl ---

--- nfl ---
On Monday, Benson fired Arnold Fielkow, the team's top business executive since 2000 and an advocate for keeping the Saints in Louisiana. Fielkow has said that stance led to his dismissal. On Tuesday, Conrad Kowal, senior director of marketing and business development, resigned. --- nfl ---

The team also sent a letter to the Louisiana National Guard and the stadium commission, saying their Jefferson Parish practice facility, leased from the state for $1 per year, has been damaged so badly by federal actions after the storm that the team cannot return ``for some time (if ever).'' --- nfl ---

--- nfl ---
``These actions have effectively terminated the Saints' lease for the facility and have caused great and continuing damage to the team,'' said the letter, signed by lawyers for the team. --- nfl ---

--- nfl ---
Tim Coulon, head of the stadium commission and the state's negotiator with the team, said Thursday that state officials planned to inspect damage at the practice facility next week. --- nfl ---

--- nfl ---``If there's some damage to those buildings, we're going to rectify that,'' Coulon said. --- nfl ---
Asked it he thought the letter was Benson's first step toward leaving New Orleans, Coulon said he hoped not. --- nfl ---
``I don't want to speculate, because I haven't heard from him,'' Coulon said. ``But it's not too late (for Benson) to step up to the plate and be the good citizen.'' --- nfl ---

--- nfl ---
Under the terms of the state's contract with the team, the Saints could argue that the storm has made the stadium unusable, move to another state and avoid paying an $81 million penalty, Coulon said.
--- nfl ---Coulon said the state would fight such a move, probably in court or in arbitration. --- nfl ---

--- nfl ---
Gov. Kathleen Blanco said she talked for some time with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on Wednesday. She said he is committed to working with Louisiana, but also suggested that the game at LSU's Tiger Stadium on Oct. 30 ``is not just a game but a very symbolic event and we should encourage as many people as possible to go.'' --- nfl ---

--- nfl ------ nfl ---
She said she had not spoken to Benson.
``I'm planning to speak with him shortly,'' she said. ``I needed to speak with the commissioner first.'' --- nfl ---
Asked about New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's suggestion that if the team does leave, the city should keep the name, she said, ``I think it's brilliant.''
But Blanco said she didn't talk to Tagliabue about that. --- nfl ---

--- nfl ---
``Let's just support the Saints. That's what I say.''

--- nfl ------ nfl ---

Batch likely to be Steelers' backup QB

PITTSBURGH (Oct. 8, 2005) -- Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Tommy Maddox strained his right calf in practice and is doubtful for the game Oct. 10 at San Diego.

The injury means Charlie Batch, who has played only a handful of downs the past three years, is expected to be Ben Roethlisberger's backup for the first of the Steelers' three Monday night games. - NFL Football -

Jerome Bettis, the No. 5 rusher in NFL history, could play for the first time since injuring a calf during the third of the Steelers' four preseason games. He has moved ahead of Duce Staley on the depth chart, partly because Staley hasn't carried the ball since the playoffs in January.

Staley missed all but one day of training camp for knee surgery and did not get any carries during the Steelers' 23-20 loss to New England on Sept. 25, the only game he has played this season. - NFL Football -

The Steelers considered going into the season with only two quarterbacks, Roethlisberger and Maddox, but Batch kept his spot on the roster by throwing two touchdown passes against Carolina in the team's final preseason game. - NFL Football -

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

College football: NFL can’t take away Badgers’ fine line

By Benjamin Wideman
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

MADISON — What was perceived to be the University of Wisconsin football team’s weakest link is quickly turning into one of its biggest assets.

Six months after the NFL draft claimed the Badgers’ entire starting defensive line, the young replacements have stood their ground through the first four games this season.

Even Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez, who trumpeted the potential of his revamped defensive line all offseason, seems pleasantly surprised by what has transpired. It’s especially eye-catching considering that, of the 10 defensive linemen listed on the depth chart for today’s game against Indiana, junior end Joe Monty is the only one who isn’t a freshman or sophomore.

“I’ve been very impressed with how the guys that are still healthy in the defensive line have stepped up and played, regardless of age or regardless of how much experience they’ve had,” Alvarez said.

Gone are Erasmus James and Co., replaced by Monty, sophomore tackle Nick Hayden, redshirt freshman tackle Jason Chapman and true freshman end Matthew Shaughnessy. Sophomores Justin Ostrowski and Jamal Cooper, who would be starting if they were healthy, suffered significant knee injuries and could miss the rest of the season.

Indiana coach Terry Hoeppner said that although the names along the Badgers’ defensive line have changed since last year, the performances are strikingly similar. All four starting defensive linemen have at least one sack, led by Hayden’s three.

Thanks in part to the defensive line, Wisconsin has allowed only 16 second-half points all season, including none in the third quarter. The Badgers rank second in the Big Ten in run defense (65.5 yards per game) and sacks (14).

“They really play hard, and they pursue the ball,” Hoeppner said of the Badgers’ defensive line. “They are a really great tackling team. That is a great compliment to their defensive staff.

“They did lose that defensive line to the NFL, and they haven’t really missed much of a beat. They are still able to play physical up front. It will be a challenge for our offensive line.”

Broadcaster NASN buys rights to show NFL in Europe

By Jeffrey Goldfarb

LONDON (Reuters) - European broadcaster North American Sports Network has acquired exclusive rights to show NFL games for four years in 17 European countries and shared rights in four others, it said on Wednesday.

The deal, which does not include rights for Britain or Ireland, gives three-year-old NASN a boost as it seeks to expand into new countries and grab young male viewers in an increasingly cluttered European digital television landscape.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It runs from the 2005-06 season through the 2008-09 season.

NASN shows baseball, basketball, Nascar and other U.S. sports and is already available in Britain, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Iceland.

"The NFL represents one of the main pillars of American sports," NASN Chief Executive Amory Schwartz said.

"It is an integral part of our continuing expansion, representing must-have content in most of the markets in which we operate," he added.

EUROPEAN FANS

The deal is also an opportunity for the NFL to expand its audience outside the U.S. The NBA has had success finding fans and players overseas, where soccer is the dominant sport.

"The NFL's popularity in Europe continues to grow, and we believe that NASN's approach complements our strategy to maximize coverage and build our European fan base," said Katie Boes, senior director of international media for the league.

For most markets, NASN has rights to show a minimum of six regular season games a week -- four live. NASN will broadcast 10 playoff games, the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl and the World Bowl, the championship game for the NFL's European league.

NASN also said it planned to show at least one hour a day from the league's NFL Network, including its flagship highlight and news program 'Total Access'.

The deal includes rights for Austria, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen was an original investor in NASN but sold his 70 percent stake in June. Investment firm Benchmark Capital acquired 50 percent and Irish broadcaster Setanta Sports raised its stake to 50 percent.

© Copyright 2005 Reuters.