Former San Diego Chargers linebacker Steve Foley pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of driving with a blood-alcohol level above the state's legal limit the night he was followed and shot by an off-duty police officer.
Foley was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to submit to alcohol testing if requested by authorities. He also was ordered to pay a $1,756 fine and appear at a public event for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Foley, 31, was shot early on Sept. 3 near his Poway home by officer Aaron Mansker, who had tailed the player's 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for nearly 30 miles on a freeway on suspicion the driver was drunk.
Mansker was in civilian clothes and driving his own car. He ended up cornered in a cul-de-sac in front of Foley's home. The player got out of his car and began walking toward Mansker, who fired shots into Foley's knee, hand and thigh, effectively ending the linebacker's career.
Foley, who walks with a limp, missed the season and in March was released two years early from his contract with the team.
The son of famed NFL announcer John Facenda can seek damages for the use of his father's voice on a program about a John Madden video game.
Facenda, in a written agreement signed before his 1984 death, gave the NFL full use of his announcing work except when it came to any product endorsement, according to the order of a federal judge.
The ruling allows John Facenda Jr. to seek damages from a jury on the question of liability, although a claim of invasion-of-privacy claim was thrown out. The NFL plans to appeal.
Cedric Kushner, president of Gotham Boxing Inc., filed a $5-million lawsuit against International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko over last year's canceled fight with Shannon Briggs at Madison Square Garden.
NASCAR driver Scott Wimmer has filed a lawsuit against former employer Bill Davis Racing, asking for $1.2 million in unpaid salary for the 2006 season. Wimmer is now driving a part-time NASCAR Busch Series schedule for Richard Childress Racing.
TENNIS
Vakulenko upsets
Clijsters in Poland
Qualifier Julia Vakulenko beat second-seeded Kim Clijsters, 7-6 (3), 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals of the clay court J&S Cup in Warsaw.
Venus Williams beat seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
