Carolina Panthers

ESPN, citing a source familiar with the discussions, reported Sunday that high-powered California political officials have been courting Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson about moving the franchise to Los Angeles. The Panthers are one of four teams that own their own stadium, so they could move without breaking a lease. And the politicians reportedly spoke to Richardson at the recent Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., where L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was chairman of the convention.

The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Carolina Panthers in an NFL game as scheduled at 10 a.m. PST on Sunday, barely 24 hours after starting linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend at their home and minutes later took his life at Arrowhead Stadium. “After discussions between the league office, Head Coach Romeo Crennel and Chiefs team captains, the Chiefs advised the NFL that it will play tomorrow's game vs. the Carolina Panthers at its originally scheduled time,” read a statement on the Panthers' official website.

Marty Hurney is no longer the general manager of the Carolina Panthers, a team that started the season with plenty of promise but fell to 1-5 with a 19-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Owner Jerry Richardson announced the firing of Hurney on Monday. "This was an extremely difficult decision," Richardson said in a team statement. "Marty made every effort to bring success to the Panthers and took the team to a Super Bowl.... Unfortunately, we have not enjoyed the success we hoped for in recent years.

Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs shot and killed his girlfriend, then drove to the team's practice facility and killed himself in front of team officials, police said Saturday. Police confirmed to the Kansas City Star the player was Belcher , 25, one of the team's starting linebackers and a four-year veteran of the NFL. PHOTOS: Jovan Belcher's NFL career In a briefing outside of Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City Police Department spokesman Darin Snapp said the player shot his girlfriend “several times” at about 7:50 a.m. local time Saturday.

Scanning the long-range forecast for Spartanburg, S.C., Ryan Kalil sits in the comfort of Manhattan Beach and can't help but cringe -- the wilting heat, the steam-room humidity, the relentless thunderstorms. Carolina Panthers training camp is the last place he wants to be this summer. And the only place. Kalil isn't just the team's starting center, but he's also the anchor of its offensive line, the club's franchise player coming off his second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.

Arizona defensive end Antonio Smith, wearing a smile from here to Phoenix, engaged in some lighthearted trash talk with Carolina Panthers fans and flexed his muscles as he exited Bank of America Stadium. "We shocked the world," he said.

Well, I suppose now that one of them has made it into the Super Bowl, I'll have to try to learn the difference between the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Patrick William Bobillo Manhattan Beach

'It was very disappointing, but the sun did come out today and it was a bright day, so we just look forward to next season.' Nathan Vasher, Chicago Bear cornerback, whose team was eliminated Sunday by the Carolina Panthers in the NFC divisional round

The Carolina Panthers released outside linebacker Darion Conner, a starter last season, and swapped punters by waiving Kevin Feighery and signing Rohn Stark, who had been cut by Pittsburgh. . . . Tyji Armstrong, a four-year veteran tight end cut by Tampa Bay, has agreed to terms with the Dallas Cowboys to fill the final spot on their roster. The Cowboys have only one healthy tight end, Derek Ware.

Bill Polian, a two-time NFL executive of the year who built the Buffalo Bills from losers into a three-time Super Bowl team, will become general manager of the Carolina Panthers, according to newspaper and television reports in Charlotte. . . . Pittsburgh Steeler special teams coach John Guy and defensive line coach Steve Furness were fired Tuesday after a succession of special teams breakdowns that cost them at least two games. . . . .

ESPN, citing a source familiar with the discussions, reported Sunday that high-powered California political officials have been courting Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson about moving the franchise to Los Angeles. The Panthers are one of four teams that own their own stadium, so they could move without breaking a lease. And the politicians reportedly spoke to Richardson at the recent Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., where L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was chairman of the convention.

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee needs surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right big toe and will miss the rest of the season. Lee was put on season-ending injured reserve Wednesday morning, according to Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com. The third-year player hurt his toe during the second half of Sunday's 19-14 win over the Carolina Panthers. He initially stayed in the game but eventually left and said later that he was "hurting the team by being out there. " Reports about the extent of Lee's injury started surfacing Tuesday, but it was the Cowboys' day off, so there were no news conferences or open locker room period.

Marty Hurney is no longer the general manager of the Carolina Panthers, a team that started the season with plenty of promise but fell to 1-5 with a 19-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Owner Jerry Richardson announced the firing of Hurney on Monday. "This was an extremely difficult decision," Richardson said in a team statement. "Marty made every effort to bring success to the Panthers and took the team to a Super Bowl.... Unfortunately, we have not enjoyed the success we hoped for in recent years.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Had he chased the dreams that his late father had for him, Haruki Nakamura might be in London about now, slamming Olympic judo opponents to the mat. Nakamura is at Carolina Panthers training camp instead, securing his role as a special-teams standout and, just maybe, the starting safety. Although he grew up near Cleveland and has never visited Japan, Nakamura embraces his Japanese-American heritage and the teachings of a martial art once thought to be his destiny.

No. 9 Carolina Panthers: ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College - - Kuechly (pronounced  KEEK-lee) led the nation in tackles in each of the past two seasons, with a career-high 191 last year alone. He finished his Boston College career as the leading tackler in both school and Atlantic Coast Conference history (532 tackles). Comment: The Panthers lost Jon Beason and Thomas Davis for the season in Week 1 last season. Kuechly is phenomenal in pass coverage and never has to come off the field.

To Cam Newton, NFL history is a little like ancient history -- not terribly relevant to what he's doing in the league right now. Before setting the single-season mark for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback last Sunday with a total of 13, Newton was asked about Steve Grogan, the guy whose record he would break. "Who's that?" Newton asked. Apprised that Grogan was a New England quarterback in the 1970s and that he rushed for 12 touchdowns in 1976, Newton confessed to drawing a blank.

No. 9 Carolina Panthers: ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College - - Kuechly (pronounced  KEEK-lee) led the nation in tackles in each of the past two seasons, with a career-high 191 last year alone. He finished his Boston College career as the leading tackler in both school and Atlantic Coast Conference history (532 tackles). Comment: The Panthers lost Jon Beason and Thomas Davis for the season in Week 1 last season. Kuechly is phenomenal in pass coverage and never has to come off the field.

The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Carolina Panthers in an NFL game as scheduled at 10 a.m. PST on Sunday, barely 24 hours after starting linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend at their home and minutes later took his life at Arrowhead Stadium. “After discussions between the league office, Head Coach Romeo Crennel and Chiefs team captains, the Chiefs advised the NFL that it will play tomorrow's game vs. the Carolina Panthers at its originally scheduled time,” read a statement on the Panthers' official website.

By the time the NFL's Carolina Panthers took the field for the 2009 season, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum had been out of the pro football business for more than a decade. But that didn't stop a member of the Coliseum's governing commission, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, from using his position at the agency to score $560 worth of Panthers tickets ? on the public's dime. Neither Ridley-Thomas nor the commission reported the gift of the tickets in financial disclosures required by state law, and their value exceeded the legal limit on gratuities for government officials.

USC's Matt Kalil is regarded as one of the elite left tackles in college football, a top prospect at one of the NFL's premium positions. But the 6-foot-7, 295-pound junior is trying to put 2012 draft forecasts out of his mind. "It's pretty cool having those [projections] about you, I'm not going to lie," he said this week. "But I care about the ones after the season. "It's all about my team right now. That's what I'm focused on. " Kalil returned Friday after sitting out a few days of practices because of knee soreness.