In the news
Pittsburgh’s Roethlisberger plans to return in 2017: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t quite ready to head off into retirement.
Roethlisberger announced on Twitter Friday that he’s told the Steelers he plans to be under center in 2017.
“Informed the team I am looking forward to my 14th season,” Roethlisberger posted. “Steeler Nation will get my absolute best.”
The two-time Super Bowl winner, who turned 35 last month, hinted after Pittsburgh’s loss to New England in the AFC championship game that he needed to take stock before committing to returning.
Though everyone from coach Mike Tomlin to general manager Kevin Colbert to team president Art Rooney II believed Roethlisberger would be back, Roethlisberger kept quiet publicly until Friday.
Roethlisberger passed for 3,819 yards and 29 touchdowns for Pittsburgh as the Steelers went 11-5 and won the AFC North for the second time in three years.
49ers CB Brock arrested in domestic violence case: San Francisco 49ers starting cornerback Tramaine Brock has been arrested after being accused of hitting a woman he was dating.
Police reported Friday that officers responding to a domestic violence call said they talked to a woman with visible injuries and arrested Brock at his Santa Clara home on Thursday night. Jail records showed him still in custody Friday afternoon.
The 49ers originally signed the 28-year-old as an undrafted free agent in 2010 out of tiny Belhaven University, an NAIA school. He cracked the starting lineup in 2013 and is in the last year of a fouryear, $14 million contract.
He started all 16 games last season, finishing with one interception and 48 tackles.
Brady’s stolen 2015 Super Bowl jersey to be displayed: One of Tom Brady’s two Super Bowl jerseys that were recovered by Mexican authorities and retrieved by the FBI last month is going on display at the New England Patriots’ Hall of Fame.
The team announced Friday that the grassstained jersey Brady wore in the New England’s 2015 Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks will be available for viewing at The Hall at Patriot Place at Gillette Stadium beginning Saturday.
That jersey, along with the one Brady was wearing in February’s comeback Super Bowl win over the Atlanta Falcons, were found after authorities obtained a warrant to search property of Martin Mauricio Ortega, a tabloid journalist who colleagues say went to the game with a media credential, but bragged he was there as a fan.
In addition to Brady’s 2015 Super Bowl jersey, nine other game-used artifacts from that game will also be displayed.
MLB says no violation in Molina stuck ball: Major League Baseball has looked into that bizarre ball that stuck to the chest protector of St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and determined there wasn’t any rules violation.
Molina said he had no idea what happened when a pitch bounced into his protector and clung to it Thursday against the Cubs. He later was asked if he put something sticky there and the Gold Glove star dismissed it as a “dumb question.”
Catchers sometimes dab pine tar on their shin guards to help give them a better grip on throws.
MLB Rule 3.01 prohibits players from intentionally discoloring or damaging balls with foreign substances, and the penalty is an ejection and 10game suspension.
But simply having sandpaper, an emery board or some sticky agent on a player’s uniform or in his possession is only a violation for the pitcher.
Flu bug bites Red Sox again: Ramirez, Betts out of lineup: Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts are out of the Boston lineup Friday because of a flu bug that has hit the Red Sox hard in this first week of the season.
Boston also put left-hander Robbie Ross on the 10-day disabled list Thursday because of the flu. That move was retroactive to Monday.
Betts, Ross and Brock Holt all sat out Wednesday’s win over Pittsburgh because of illness. Holt was in the starting lineup Friday at Detroit as the designated hitter.
NBA says Charlotte is eligible to host 2019 All-Star Game: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says Charlotte will be eligible to host the 2019 AllStar Game after a recent change to a North Carolina law that limited anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.
Silver says Friday the league’s Board of Governors discussed it during their meetings this week and made what was “not an easy decision.” He says it’s “not a done deal” that Charlotte will get the game, because the league would need assurances of anti-discriminatory policies for venues that would host its events and hotels they would use.
But Silver says it is his “expectation” that Charlotte would get the game if those assurances were met. He says those requirements would need to be met within about the next month.
Charlotte was scheduled to host the game this year, but the NBA pulled it over its objection to the so-called “bathroom bill.” The law has since been replaced with a compromise bill and the NCAA said this week it would again consider North Carolina to host championship events.