(ap/fox) Gene Upshaw, the Hall of Fame guard who as union head helped get NFL players free agency and the riches that came with it, has died. He was 63. Upshaw's death was announced by the NFL Players Association, which he headed for a quarter century. His outstanding 15-season playing career was entirely with the Oakland Raiders and included two Super Bowl wins and seven Pro Bowl appearances. In 1983, he became executive director of the players' association and guided it through the 1987 strike that led to replacement football.  More...

(herald) The NFL is stepping up its monitoring of on-field player activities to ensure that no one is flashing the hand signals of street gangs. The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the league had hired experts to look at game tapes and identify players or team officials who might be using suspected gang signals. Violators would be warned and disciplined if the episodes recurred. League officials said Tuesday that avoiding gang-related activities has long been stressed. They said the scrutiny was intensified after the shooting death of Denver cornerback Darrent Williams in 2007 after Williams was involved in a dispute with known gang members.  More...

(bloomberg) -- The New York Giants ended the New England Patriots' run at an undefeated season with a 17-14 win in the National Football League's Super Bowl. Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes for the Giants, including a 13-yard toss to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds remaining in the NFL championship game. It was the third-biggest upset in the Super Bowl's 42-year history, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. The Giants drove 83 yards for the winning touchdown after the Patriots, who won three of the previous six Super Bowl titles, took a 14-10 lead on Tom Brady's 6-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss with 2:45 remaining at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It's the third Super Bowl title for the Giants, who also won in 1987 and 1991.  More...

(wapo) Redskins coach Joe Gibbs is resigning, team sources confirmed this morning, ending an emotionally trying year with a decision that took players and coaching staff by surprise. Gibbs will stay with the Redskins organization in some capacity, perhaps as a consultant to team owner Dan Snyder, team officials said. No decision has been made on a replacement for Gibbs, who spent a total of 16 years with the organization in two stints. A process will be put in place, team sources said, to choose one. Gibbs' retirement -- his second from a team he built into a national powerhouse in the 1980s -- surprised his staff when he informed them at a meeting this morning.  More...

(afp) Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who suffered a life-threatening spinal injury on the opening day of the National Football League season, returned to Buffalo on Sunday. Everett suffered a cervical spine fracture dislocation between his third and fourth vertebrae when he tackeld Denver's Domenik Hixon on the opening play of the season on December 9. Initial reports were grim, with doctor Andrew Cappuccino saying it was unlikely Everett would ever walk again. However, within 48 hours doctors had revised their prognosis and called Everett's recovery a "miracle". His rehabilitation, which has seen Everett regain his ability to walk, was recently detailed in a Sports Illustrated magazine article.  More...

(AP/usat) Ricky Williams is getting another chance to play in the NFL, which presumably means he hasn't been lighting up lately. Pacman Jones hopes for another chance, which means any community service he's planning in Las Vegas won't be done in an outreach program at one of the local topless clubs. Williams got in trouble because he liked to hit the bong instead of the line. Jones' playing privileges were suspended partly because he liked to cover strippers with dollar bills as much as he enjoyed covering wide receivers. You can't lump them together as NFL bad boys because their offenses were strikingly different.  More...

(ap/nfl) NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones in April to sit out the 2007 season. On Tuesday, the commissioner informed Jones he still hasn't changed his mind. Jones had met with the commissioner last week in New York, pleading for some leniency and an early return. But the cornerback whose biggest community service was buying wrestling tickets for Atlanta students to watch him at a pay-per-view event last month didn't convince Goodell. The commissioner told Jones his suspension will last through this season, which would include the playoffs if the Titans (6-2) qualify.  More...

(J. Whitlock/Fox) African-American football players caught up in the rebellion and buffoonery of hip hop culture have given NFL owners and coaches a justifiable reason to whiten their rosters. That will be the legacy left by Chad, Larry and Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones, Terrell Owens, Michael Vick and all the other football bojanglers. In terms of opportunity for American-born black athletes, they're going to leave the game in far worse shape than they found it. It's already starting to happen.  More...

(ust) Ronnie Lott, one of the most accomplished defensive backs in NFL history, is also one of the most successful athletes at making the transition to business. He manages $1. 8 billion in private-equity investments and owns Toyota and Mercedes-Benz car dealerships. He advises athletes approaching their 40s who have done little but play sports since they were children. Those athletes face an abyss not unlike the one faced by successful professionals and executives who choose, or are forced into, new midlife careers.  More...

(nyt) Two days after he was paralyzed during a game, and one day after doctors described his condition as potentially life-threatening, Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett was moving his arms and legs Tuesday. The doctor who performed surgery on Everett, Andrew Cappuccino, said Everett’s condition had “improved. ” Another doctor, who has consulted with Cappuccino, said Tuesday that Everett could eventually walk out of the hospital. On Monday, team doctors said Everett, a 25-year-old backup tight end, was paralyzed from the shoulders down and in life-threatening condition after a collision Sunday during a 15-14 loss to the Denver Broncos. .  More...