Huff. facing N.J. gun charge, approved for pretrial program
CAMDEN, N.J. >> A pro football player facing a weapons charge in New Jersey has been allowed to enter a pretrial program.
Prosecutors say Josh Huff won’t face jail if he successfully completes the program. His attorney says the program lasts six months.
The wide receiver was playing for the Eagles when he was stopped for speeding on the New Jersey side of the Walt Whitman bridge last November.
He was charged with possession of a 9 mm handgun without a permit and having a small amount of marijuana.
Huff bought the gun legally in Texas and was licensed there to carry it. New Jersey’s strict gun laws don’t recognize permits issued in other states.
Huff was released by the Eagles two days after the arrest. He later signed with Tampa Bay.
Bucs gearing up for “Hard Knocks” life
TAMPA, FLA. >> Coming off their first winning season in nearly a decade, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” sports reality series during training camp — an opportunity coaches and players are embracing but hardly sought.
The team was selected from among eight clubs meeting NFL criteria for consideration for the popular five-episode series that takes viewers behind the scenes of a club’s preparation for the regular season.
Coach Dirk Koetter and general manager Jason Licht said Wednesday they don’t think the constant presence of a 30-person film crew — on or off the field — will become a distraction for one of the youngest teams in the league.
Tampa Bay, which hasn’t made the playoffs since 2007, finished 9-7 a year ago in its first season under Koetter.
“I like watching the show. I wish I wasn’t on it. But that’s me, personally,” said Koetter, offensive coordinator in Atlanta when the Falcons appeared on Knocks” three years ago.
Nevertheless, the coach also said he’ll encourage players to be themselves around cameras that’ll have unlimited access to practice fields, training rooms, meeting rooms and even the homes of some of them.
Simms headed to CBS studio spot
“Hard NEW YORK >> Phil Simms is headed to the studio.
A fixture as a game analyst at CBS for two decades, Simms will join the network’s “NFL Today” cast for the upcoming season.
Simms recently was replaced as the top game analyst at CBS by Tony Romo after the Cowboys quarterback retired. He and CBS Sports President Sean McManus had been discussing Simms eventually moving to “NFL Today” for several years. Simms has experience in a similar setting from his work on Showtime’s “Inside The NFL.”
“When Sean told me he wanted me in the studio, I thought about it a bit,” Simms said Wednesday. “I told him I would like to do (games) a bit longer. I love doing the games, meeting during the week with coaches and players, getting the inside info. It is the best.
“But I also thought that I will work in New York and watch all the games instead of prepping for two teams, and will have all week to study the league, and that really intrigued me.”
Ex-player Anderson dies
KNOXVILLE, TENN. >> Bill Anderson, who played on two NFL championship teams with the Green Bay Packers as part of an eight-year NFL career, has died. He was 80.
Anderson played for the Washington Redskins from 1958-63 and Green Bay from 1965-66. He caught 178 passes for 3,048 yards and 15 touchdowns.
The 1965 Green Bay team won an NFL title and the 1966 squad won the first Super Bowl.
Anderson was selected to Pro Bowl in 1959 and 1960. the