Cowboys Roll the Dice on Tank Johnson

Jets, Bears among teams facing personnel issues; pressure on Raiders' Kiffin to win

(NEWSER) - The NFL is in the midst of a turbulent off-season, even if you ignore the Brett Favre and Chad Johnson sagas. ESPN’s John Clayton breaks down the other top distractions as training camp nears:

• With NFL Europe gone but the 80-man roster still in place, teams will have trouble finding enough healthy bodies for training camp.
• The New York Jets must decide whether or not to move an unhappy Chris Baker.
• Jacksonville may need to keep receiver Matt Jones despite his off-field issues.

Sports analysts agog after Denver Broncos' latest victory

(NEWSER) - After a stunning performance in yesterday's last-minute 13-10 victory against the Chicago Bears, sports commentators are wondering if Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow really is capable of miracles.

• Declaring Tebow his "personal quarterback and savior," Jeff Neuman at RealClearSports catalogs five miracles made in last night's game. "Zero points on his team's first 11 possessions—and then three scores on their last three, aided by a coach's weird strategy, thin air, a fumble, and a total brain cramp by a veteran running back. Truly, Tim Tebow works in mysterious ways."
• Writing for the Montreal Gazette , Ed Willes also drops the M-word, wondering if "we've ever seen a run like this in the last 50 years of sports: an athlete who's at once both divisive and irresistibly charismatic; an athlete who's in the miracle business every week; an athlete who transcends everything around him."

Challenger disaster prevented initial celebration

(NEWSER) - Two and a half decades later, the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears team is finally getting its White House ceremony. The original one was canceled because of the Challenger disaster; now, President Obama is inviting the team back on Oct 7. Though two of the team’s central players, Walter Payton and Dave Duerson, have since died, most of the team is likely to show up, Bleacher Report notes—with the possible exception of those now coaching. More»

Tampa, Chicago will play league's fifth regular-season game at Wembley

(AP) - With the lockout over, the NFL will return to London for a fifth straight year. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the Chicago Bears at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 23 in the fifth regular-season game in the British capital. The game had been under threat because of negotiations over a new labor agreement between the league and its locked-out players. The two sides announced a 10-year labor deal yesterday to end the dispute. More»

Joined 'Monday Night Football 's' first broadcast team

(AP) - Don Meredith, one of the most recognizable figures of the early Dallas Cowboys and an original member of ABC's Monday Night Football broadcast team, died yesterday in Santa Fe after suffering a brain hemorrhage and lapsing into a coma. He was 72. Meredith played for the Cowboys from 1960-1968, becoming the starting quarterback in 1965. More»