NFL

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Dozens of New England Patriots fans filled a parking lot at Gillette Stadium to protest the four-game suspension handed to quarterback Tom Brady over the ''Deflategate'' scandal.The ''Free Tom Brady'' rally was organized on Facebook. Many of the fans who gathered on Sunday wore Brady...

BOSTON (AP) - A Massachusetts woman has used her own obituary to convey a final message on Tom Brady and the ''Deflategate'' scandal.Boston.com reports (http://bit.ly/1FHE96e ) that Patricia M. Shong, of Auburn, Massachusetts, died on Monday surrounded by family. Her obituary says the 72-year-old enjoyed scrapbooking, weekly card night...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Hospital officials say a Jacksonville teenager with liver cancer who went to her high school prom with an NFL player has died.Wolfson Children's Hospital spokeswoman Cindy Hamilton tells The Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/1Epssf9 ) that 18-year-old Khameyea Jennings died Thursday.Earlier this month, Jennings went to her...

NEW YORK (AP) - Roger Goodell will hear Tom Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension for his role in the deflated footballs scandal.Goodell will not withdraw from what the commissioner considers his responsibility of hearing the appeal, according to several people with knowledge of the decision. Those people spoke...

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) - An attorney for Aaron Hernandez says the former New England Patriots player is running out of money because he's had to pay so many lawyers.Attorney John Fitzpatrick made the comments Thursday during a hearing in New Bedford, Massachusetts.Hernandez was convicted last month of the...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Former NFL star Darren Sharper, who already has pleaded guilty or no-contest to sexual assault charges in three states, is set to enter a new plea in a federal case on May 29 in New Orleans.Sharper has entered a not-guilty plea to federal charges that...

MAYS LANDING, N.J. (AP) - A judge in New Jersey has dismissed domestic violence charges against Ray Rice, who was captured by a surveillance camera knocking his then-fiancee unconscious in a hotel elevator.Judge Michael Donio dismissed the charges Thursday after the Atlantic County prosecutor told him the former Baltimore...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The family of the late Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson has decided not to appeal the potential $1 billion settlement of NFL concussion lawsuits.Chicago lawyer Thomas Demetrio says the family doesn't want to hold up awards for retirees who need them sooner rather than later.Demetrio has...

SAN FRANCISCO -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's decision to accept the league's punishment will not affect quarterback Tom Brady's appeal of a four-game suspension, adding that he's open to any new information Brady may provide. "The decision that Robert made was his decision....

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Most people in the University of Minnesota's college of education and human development class of 2015 will be pondering their futures.Bobby Bell's lifelong goal will be reached by walking across the stage.The Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker will graduate Thursday from Minnesota, 52 years after...

BOSTON (AP) - Former New England Patriots player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez is facing another criminal charge: witness intimidation, prosecutors said Monday.Hernandez was convicted last month of killing Odin Lloyd, who was dating his fiancee's sister, in June 2013. He also faces two counts of murder in Boston,...

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - Ty Zimmerman believes this is exactly where he belongs, on an NFL field making plays and living his dream.He just needed another chance - and for his body to stop betraying him.The former Kansas State star safety was in rookie minicamp with the New...