NFL opener set for Foxborough
Patriots to play host to Steelers to kick off ’ 15 season
Among the Patriots’ rewards for winning the Super Bowl is hosting the season opener.
The opposition this year is another team with championship pedigree: the Pittsburgh Steelers.
New England and Pittsburgh will begin the NFL season on Thursday night, Sept. 10 with a game matching quarterbacks with six Super Bowl rings and nine Super Bowl appearances: Tom Brady vs. Ben Roethlisberger.
Other prime- time matchups on opening weekend will have the New York Giants at Dallas on Sunday, Sept. 13; Philadelphia at Atlanta, followed by Minnesota at the 49ers in a Monday night doubleheader.
Both conference championship rematches will be Sunday night affairs: Seattle at Green Bay in Week 2, Patriots at Colts on Oct. 8.
Yet another Sunday game will be the latest Brady- Peyton Manning faceoff when the Patriots are at Denver on Nov. 29.
Three days earlier, the traditional Thanksgiving Day games will feature Detroit hosting the Eagles, followed by Carolina visiting the Cowboys.
The holiday evening contest is a renewal of the NFL’s longest- running rivalry, with Chicago at Green Bay. The Packers reportedly will honor Brett Favre that night, placing his jersey on the facade of Lambeau Field.
Patriots left tackle n Nate Solder had surgery for testicular cancer last spring then went on to start every game, including the Super Bowl victory. Teammate Matthew Slater said he was aware of it and the way Solder “handled that last year was really admirable with so much courage and a positive attitude, a sense of peace.”
Boxing
On a day Floyd Mayweather Jr. got his license to fight Manny Pacquiao and veteran referee Kenny Bayless, a Bay Area native, was picked by Nevada boxing commissioners to be the third man in the ring, there was still no announcement of ticket sales for a fight now less than two weeks away. The MGM Grand hotel has repeatedly promised a public sale of at least a token amount of seats for the May 2 fight.
Promoter Bob Arum charged that the tickets are being held up because the MGM and Mayweather’s camp are trying to get both more tickets and better seats from the allotment given to Pacquiao.
Golf
The PGA Tour says Tim Clark of South Africa has withdrawn from the Match Play Championship next week because he’s still recovering from an elbow injury. Clark will be replaced by Francesco Molinari of Italy in the 64man field. The Match Play Championship starts April 29 at Harding Park in San Francisco.
Motor sports
Fox NASCAR announcer Steve Byrnes has died. He was 56. The network said he died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Before joining Fox, he was a pit reporter for TNN, CBS and WTBS.
Miscellany
A day after his blistering attack on Olympic leaders, Marius Vizer faced isolation and a growing backlash as international sports bodies suspended or broke off ties with his umbrella organization and rallied behind IOC President Thomas Bach. Vizer remained defiant, sticking to his guns and declaring of the Olympic establishment: “We don’t need cardinals of sport. We don’t need popes.”
The IAAF has asked n sport’s highest court to double a two- year ban for doping imposed on Boston and Chicago Marathon winner Rita Jeptoo. Jeptoo has also filed an appeal seeking to overturn her ban by Kenya’s athletics federation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.