Former NFL kicker Matt Stover will retire after a stellar career in which he scored more than 2,000 points. The Ravens say Stover will make the announcement on Thursday afternoon at Baltimore's training complex. Stover, 43, ranks fourth in NFL history with 2,004 points. He made 471 field goals, connecting on 83.7 percent of his attempts -- the seventh-best success rate in league history.

Jim Irsay is staying busy during the NFL lockout. Veteran offensive assistant Tom Moore has retired. Two other front office people are leaving, too, and the owner of the Indianapolis Colts has decided to keep training camp at Anderson University -- if there is a camp. Word of Moore's retirement came Wednesday, one day after Irsay said Peyton Manning had undergone a second surgery on his neck.

NFL receiver Chad Ochocinco backed up his promise to ride a 1,500-pound bull on the Professional Bull Riders circuit Saturday night, earning $10,000 for making it out of the chute atop Deja Blu. The ride lasted 1.5 seconds before Ochocinco was bucked off with no apparent injury. Ochocinco, who wore a helmet and a standard protective vest, fell 6.5 seconds short of the time needed to win a new Ford...

Cam Newton wore a navy blue suit with a bright orange tie -- his old Auburn colors -- as he formally received one more national award for his extraordinary 2010 college season. The NFL's top overall draft choice by Carolina could not have worn official Panthers gear to the Manning Award ceremonies on Friday even if he wanted to because of the league's ongoing lockout.

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs, who spent the past four years in a coma after losing oxygen during a 2007 operation, has died without ever regaining consciousness. He was 54. Former Cowboys teammate Everson Walls, who donated a kidney to Springs for a transplant, says the Springs family informed him that his friend died about 4:30 p.m.

NFL player Donovan McNabb's agent has released a statement that says former middleweight boxing champion Bernard Hopkins' insinuations about McNabb not being black enough "are dangerous and irresponsible." Hopkins says McNabb, the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, doesn't have heart or wasn't tough like other NFL players because he had a privileged upbringing.

Seeking more clout in their fight with the NFL, locked-out players asked a federal judge Thursday to make $4 billion in disputed broadcast revenue off limits to the league and to award them at least $707 million in damages, too. U.S. District Judge David Doty took the request under advisement after a two-hour hearing that included arguments from attorneys for the league and the players.

Police say San Diego Chargers linebacker Antwan Applewhite was arrested for investigation of DUI on Friday morning. Lt. Andra Brown says an officer working a DUI patrol pulled over Applewhite shortly before 2:30 a.m. in Pacific Beach. He was booked into county jail and later posted $2,500 bail. The teams calls his arrest "disappointing" and says it will let the legal process run its course.

Gov. Mark Dayton said Friday he met privately with Minnesota Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf to discuss state funding of a new football stadium, and that he hoped a site would be picked soon as the list of possibilities narrowed to two. Dayton met with the Wilfs late Thursday. The team owners also met with officials in Ramsey County, where several county board members have been pushing the idea of...

The Buffalo Bills have promoted Doug Whaley to director of player personnel as part of a front-office restructuring that began following last weekend's NFL draft. The Bills assistant general manager will now oversee both college and pro personnel departments, in a move announced by general manager Buddy Nix on Friday.

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Chris Cook has been found not guilty of pulling a gun on a neighbor. General District Court Judge Edwin Burnette issued the ruling Friday after a 2-hour bench trial. Cook was accused of a misdemeanor count of brandishing a firearm. Court records show the neighbor, Omar D. Goode, accused Cook of brandishing a .40-caliber, chrome-plated handgun on March 12 near the home of...

The Champion sports apparel company has ended its endorsement deal with Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall over Twitter remarks the player made criticizing people for celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Friday that Champion "strongly disagreed" with the tweets and ended a new four-year contract the player recently signed.

Brett Favre says he might become a coach or work as a television analyst in the future, though he has no plans to enter either field anytime soon. The 41-year-old Favre ended a 20-year playing career after an injury-plagued 2010 season with the Minnesota Vikings. The former Southern Mississippi star has famously wavered on retirement over the last few offseasons.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and "Dancing With the Stars" contestant Hines Ward was briefly detained at gunpoint Thursday in a mix-up over a reported stolen car, but he was released without being arrested, police said. Ward and a woman friend were stopped in her car at about 1:30 a.m. in North Hollywood because she had reported the car stolen on April 19, said Sgt.

Football is back. NFL players are on the field. Not at team facilities -- that's banned by the lockout. Instead, led by such veterans as Drew Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson and Tony Romo, players are holding workouts across the map. Some have been open to the public, others more clandestine. None has the intensity of a minicamp, which most teams would be holding right about now if not for the work...

Donte Whitner has no difficulty dealing with the love-hate relationship he's developed with Bills fans on Twitter for much of this offseason. And it hasn't hardened the soft spot the safety still has for Buffalo no matter what Bills general manager Buddy Nix has to say. For someone unsure of what the future holds, Whitner is working out in Miami anxiously waiting for the NFL labor dispute...