“It wasn’t necessarily about the money. It was, at that point, about earning that respect and feeling like I was respected around here,” Flacco said Monday just minutes after signing the contract that includes $52 million in guaranteed money.

“The fact that they have made me that definitely makes me feel good about how I played and how they feel about me.”

Flacco led the Ravens to a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, earning MVP honors by throwing for 287 yards and three touchdowns.

The Ravens and Flacco’s agent had been in talks for more than a year, but the agreement was reached Friday, just three days before Baltimore was set to use the franchise tag to keep him from being an unrestricted free agent.

“Joe’s a Raven in his style of play, the way he works and prepares, and the way he lives his life. He’s a significant reason we’ve been to the playoffs five years in a row, played in three AFC championship games, and now, we are the Super Bowl champs with Joe as MVP,” general manager Ozzie Newsome said in the statement announcing the extension.

Flacco said he learned about the deal while at his uncle’s house for family pizza night. He doesn’t have any big plans for the money.

“I’m not going to do anything crazy,” Flacco said. “All the celebration I can take is going out and enjoying a nice little time with the people that are close to me and looking at each other saying, ‘Man, can you believe where we are?'”

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Spielman refused Friday to comment specifically on contracts. He said team officials, as always, will meet next week at the NFL scouting combine with the agents for every player. He declined to address the possibility of negotiating a new deal for Harvin.

Harvin will enter the final year of his contract in 2013.

After spraining his left ankle in November, Harvin was placed on injured reserve in December. He didn’t return to the team’s facility until his exit physical in January, but Spielman said Harvin has been cleared for full activity.

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The Argentina superstar put pen to paper on his new deal at the Nou Camp on Thursday afternoon and is now tied to the Catalan giants until June 30, 2018.

Messi began his career at Newell’s Old Boys, where he played for five years until 2000, when he made the journey to Spain to join Barcelona’s youth team at age 13. He played for the first time on the senior squad at 16, in a friendly against Porto.

His contract with Barcelona wasn’t due to expire until June 30, 2016.

Messi follows in the footsteps of fellow club stalwarts Xavi and Carles Puyol, both of whom signed their extensions last month. Puyol and Xavi will extend theirs to June 2016.

The Catalans announced in December that Messi, along with Xavi and Puyol, had agreed to extend their contracts.

Barcelona defender Jordi Alba says Messi’s renewal “is great news for Barcelona.”

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Flacco, the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII, is set to become an unrestricted free agent. His new deal is expected to rival those of Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, whose contracts are among the most lucrative in NFL history for quarterbacks.

Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta, said in an interview with CNBC that Flacco should be the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback.

“I think everybody is going to see what Joe [Flacco] ends up signing for,” Rodgers said Tuesday on his weekly radio show on 540 ESPN. “I’m sure they want to lock him up. He’s a great player — had an incredible run in the playoffs — and I’m sure they want to keep him around. A guy like that, with the postseason success he’s had, you want to keep a guy like that around for a while.”

Also a former Super Bowl MVP, Rodgers is under contract through 2014, having signed a six-year, $65 million contract in October 2008. Rodgers’ base salary next season is $9.25 million, while his 2014 deal is worth $10.5 million. Manning ($18 million base salary) and Brees ($20 million base) also are former Super Bowl MVPs.

Rodgers, who didn’t discuss whether he would give the Packers a hometown discount, understands that the market will dictate his next contract.

“It kind of is what it is, as far as that goes. The team, when they’re ready to talk contract, we’ll get there when we get there,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers also is confident that things will work out with the Packers, saying, “When that time comes, we’ll get a deal done. I’m not worried about that. I think the Packers want to keep me around for a little while longer, and I’d love to be a Packer for life.”

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The source said there is “still some work to do” on Kelly’s potential new deal with the Irish.

Kelly met with the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday, and there was mutual interest after the interview.

“This week, I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one of the premier organizations in sports about becoming their head coach,” Kelly said in a statement released through the school.

“Like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL. However, after much reflection and conversation with those closest to me, I have decided to remain at Notre Dame.

“This decision was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community, the young men I have the great fortune to coach, and my desire to continue to build the best football program in the country.

“We still have a lot of work to do and my staff and I are excited about the challenges ahead.”

Kelly coached the Fighting Irish to a 12-0 regular-season record and an appearance in the Discover BCS National Championship. Playing for its first national title since 1988, Notre Dame was routed by Alabama, 42-14, on Monday night.

A source told ESPN that the Eagles informed Notre Dame prior to the game of their desire to interview Kelly after it.

“There is no question we spent a considerable amount of time and effort looking at who we thought were the best collegiate candidates for our head coaching job,” the Eagles said in a statement Saturday. “We did so knowing that there was a remote chance that these coaches would leave their current posts. We understood that going into the process, but we wanted to leave no stone unturned while trying to find the best head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. We have no regrets about the effort we made in that direction and we will continue to proceed as planned in our search.”

CBSSports.com reported Wednesday the Chicago Bears also were interested in Kelly. But sources refuted that report to ESPNChicago.com.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement that he wasn’t surprised by Kelly’s decision.

“I was always confident that Brian would continue to lead our football program. I am very happy to have that confirmed and share Brian’s excitement about what lies ahead for our program,” he said.

Swarbrick said he appreciated the Eagles and Kelly keeping him informed of what was going on throughout the process.

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The source said there is “still some work to do” on Kelly’s potential new deal with the Irish.

Kelly met with the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday, and there was mutual interest after the interview, according to league sources.

“This week, I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one of the premier organizations in sports about becoming their head coach,” Kelly said in a statement released through the school.

“Like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL. However, after much reflection and conversation with those closest to me, I have decided to remain at Notre Dame.

“This decision was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community, the young men I have the great fortune to coach, and my desire to continue to build the best football program in the country.

“We still have a lot of work to do and my staff and I are excited about the challenges ahead.”

Kelly coached the Fighting Irish to a 12-0 regular-season record and an appearance in the Discover BCS National Championship. Playing for its first national title since 1988, Notre Dame was routed by Alabama, 42-14, on Monday night.

“There is no question we spent a considerable amount of time and effort looking at who we thought were the best collegiate candidates for our head coaching job,” the Eagles said in a statement Saturday. “We did so knowing that there was a remote chance that these coaches would leave their current posts. We understood that going into the process, but we wanted to leave no stone unturned while trying to find the best head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. We have no regrets about the effort we made in that direction and we will continue to proceed as planned in our search.”

CBSSports.com reported Wednesday the Chicago Bears also were interested in Kelly.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement that he wasn’t surprised by Kelly’s decision.

“I was always confident that Brian would continue to lead our football program. I am very happy to have that confirmed and share Brian’s excitement about what lies ahead for our program,” he said.

Swarbrick said he appreciated the Eagles and Kelly keeping him informed of what was going on throughout the process.

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The players’ association announced that electronic voting will begin at 8 p.m. Thursday ET and will last until 8 a.m. Saturday. The union said it will announce the result after voting is finished.

If a majority of the more than 700 players choose to accept the deal that NHL owners unanimously ratified on Wednesday, training camps will open Sunday, and a 48-game regular season will begin Jan. 19.

A tentative agreement was reached early Sunday, the 113th day of the lockout, after a 16-hour negotiating session in New York.

The new deal is for 10 years, but either side can opt out after eight. The previous collective bargaining agreement was in effect for seven seasons.

The lockout began on Sept. 16, and forced the cancellation of 510 games, beginning with opening day on Oct. 11. The outdoor Winter Classic and the All-Star Game were also wiped out this season.

The NHL says it will release a new schedule once the ratification process is completed.

A memorandum of understanding that has been in the drafting process by the two sides this week must be signed before training camps open.

The players’ association wanted as much of the document as possible to be completed before voting began.

Leading up to Thursday’s start time for voting, the union has been busy calling players and agents to educate them about the changes and additions to the tentative agreement.

Assuming the deal is approved by the players, as expected, there will be only six days between the opening of camps and the start of the season. No preseason games will be played.

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The league and union met separately with federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh during a series of meetings that spanned the whole day Friday and late into the evening. They will continue that process Saturday morning.

It isn’t yet known if the league and union will meet face-to-face Saturday, the 112th day of the lockout. The sides have less than a week to reach a new collective bargaining agreement to save what would likely be a 48-game hockey season.

Few details emerged about the scope or subject matter of those meetings and whether progress was forged, although a source told ESPN that both sides expressed signs of flexibility to the mediator.

With exactly one week left until the league’s self-imposed deadline of Jan. 11 to reach a deal, the NHL and NHLPA have resorted to “shuttle mediation” since the fallout from the last time they met in person Wednesday night.

That negotiating session was marked by the NHLPA’s decision not to file a disclaimer of interest by the midnight deadline, although the hope that a new deal could be close abated Thursday morning after reports of tension between the sides.

The NHLPA was angered by the league’s attempt to change language in one area of the CBA, that which pertains to the penalization of teams that are found guilty of hiding hockey-related revenue.

That issue has since been resolved, a source informed ESPNNewYork.com, although the lack of trust between the sides seemed to resurface.

The NHLPA initiated a vote Thursday evening to provide again the union’s executive board with the authority to file a disclaimer of interest. The 48-hour voting window expires Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

With no formal negotiations between the sides since midweek, nerves continue to fray with the season hanging in the balance.

All regular-season games already have been canceled through Jan. 14, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has set Jan. 11 as the deadline to reach a new CBA and avoid the entire season being scrapped.

The sides have traded four proposals in the past week — two by each side — but none has gained enough traction. Getting an agreement on a pension plan likely would go a long way toward an agreement that would put hockey back on the ice.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr believed a plan for players-funded pension was established before talks blew up in early December. That apparently wasn’t the case, or the NHL has changed its offer regarding the pension in exchange for agreeing to other things the union wanted.

The salary-cap number for the second year of the deal — the 2013-14 season — hasn’t been agreed to, and it is another major point of contention. The league is pushing for a $60 million cap, while the union wants it to be $65 million with a floor of $44 million.

In return for the higher cap number players would be willing to forgo a cap on escrow.

Both sides seem content on the deal lasting for 10 years, but they have different opinions on whether an opt-out should be allowed to be exercised after seven years or eight.

The NHL proposed last Thursday that pension contributions come out of the players’ share of revenues, and $50 million of the league’s make-whole payment of $300 million will be allocated and set aside to fund potential underfunded liabilities of the plan at the end of the collective bargaining agreement.

Last month, the NHL agreed to raise its make-whole offer of deferred payments from $211 million to $300 million as part of a proposed package that required the union to agree on three nonnegotiable points. Instead, the union accepted the raise in funds, but then made counterproposals on the issues the league stated had no wiggle room.

“As you might expect, the differences between us relate to the core economic issues which don’t involve the share,” Fehr said of hockey-related revenue, which likely will be split 50-50.

The NHL is the only North American professional sports league to cancel a season because of a labor dispute, losing the 2004-05 campaign to a lockout. A 48-game season was played in 1995 after a lockout stretched into January.

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Ollie has demonstrated to UConn that he can coach, lead, coordinate, relate and organize a program.

He also has had to ensure his players performed well academically, especially after a poor Academic Progress Rate spanning a four-year period at the school was the reason the Huskies were the highest-profile program banned from the 2013 postseason.

According to UConn athletic director Warde Manuel, the first-semester grades posted were satisfactory and the results “weren’t an issue.”

Therefore, Ollie was approached this week with a chance to become the permanent successor to Hall-of-Fame coach Jim Calhoun, instead of a seven-month interim stint. Ollie, who turned 40 on Thursday, had been working under a one-year, $625,000 contract since September, when he was hired to replace the retired Calhoun.

“I’m not replacing coach Calhoun,” Ollie said. “He’s here, and I’ll lean on him for a lot of advice. I’m not following in his footsteps. He has his own shoes. I’ve got to create my own path and I can’t waiver from my convictions.

“I’m used to winning around here. That’s why I came here. That’s not going to stop. We will do it well and we will do it right.”

Ollie’s new deal was completed Saturday morning. The Huskies beat Washington 61-53 at Hartford’s XL Center on Saturday night.

Ollie will receive a total of $1.2 million in Year 1, with increases to $1.25 million in 2014-15; $1.3 million in 2015-16; $1.325 million in 2016-17 and $1.34 million in 2017-18.

“It’s a five-year contract, but I’m looking at it like I can be the coach here for 20-25 years,” said Ollie, who consistently has called coaching his alma mater his dream job.

The contract also contains strong language about the Huskies’ APR. Ollie will receive a payment of $10,000 if the APR score is 930 or above in a single year, while a four-year APR average of 930 or above would earn him a one-time payment of $50,000.

If UConn’s APR score falls below 930, Ollie will not only be coaching a team not going to the postseason again, but he also will lose two weeks of base salary. Two consecutive years of a sub-930 APR would result in possible termination or, at the very least, a suspension.

UConn also included strong buyout language, with Ollie owing the school $3 million if he leaves in 2013, $2 million in ’14, $1 million in 2015 and $800,000 in 2016. Conversely, UConn would owe Ollie the same amount each year if he were terminated for anything other than just cause.

Ollie said he had no problem agreeing to the tough APR details, claiming he’s committed to the full student-athlete experience. He also said he knows that he was being judged by how his players were responding in the classroom in the fall semester.

Ollie, who played point guard for Calhoun at UConn from 1991-95, was his former coach’s hand-picked successor. Ollie became an assistant at UConn in 2010 after 13 years as an NBA journeyman. He never previously had been a head coach on any level.

Ollie relished the opportunity to take over for his mentor, who plucked him from Los Angeles only to see him outwork higher-ranked recruits to get a starting job in his last three seasons for the Huskies.

Ollie was so well-respected in the NBA that he was lauded as much for his on-court play in places such as Philadelphia, Cleveland and Oklahoma City, as much as he was for his locker-room leadership and counsel to younger players. He was on a track to work in the Thunder’s front office for general manager Sam Presti had he not taken an assistant coaching job with the Huskies.

The Huskies, who finished a disappointing 20-14 last season a year after winning the program’s third national title, were picked to finish ninth in the Big East this season. The postseason ban pushed three players to transfer, including starting center Alex Oriakhi to Missouri. Two others left early for the NBA draft.

Motivating a team that couldn’t play in the Big East tournament, let alone the NIT or NCAA, wouldn’t have been easy for any coach, including Calhoun, Manuel said.

But UConn has started strong under Ollie, upsetting then-No. 14 Michigan State in the season opener en route to a 10-2 record.

The lack of stability in conference alignment also has been a tenuous subject, as the Huskies were passed over for a spot in the ACC by Big East rival Louisville.

“He has led this team,” said Manuel, adding that Ollie has done it in more ways than just wins and losses. “He came into a very tough situation in his first time as a head coach.”

Calhoun was on vacation and wasn’t at Saturday’s impromptu news conference. But Calhoun has been pushing behind the scenes for Ollie to get the full-time job for months. Ollie also has the support of former Huskies now in the NBA, which will prove critical in continued funding for a practice facility and recruiting.

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