Football Players

Houston Oiler Jeff Alm made a frantic 911 call to summon help after a car crash, yelling to the operator, "I have a buddy dying!" Seconds later, the operator heard four gunshots as Alm committed suicide. Fire department officials Wednesday released a recording of the call Alm made on his cellular phone shortly after his car crashed into a highway guardrail Dec. 14. His best friend, Sean Lynch, died after being thrown from the car and down an embankment.

When a plane crashed into a neighborhood in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday, it took the lives of two men, one of whom was former  University of Oklahoma star quarterback Steve Davis, officials said Monday morning. Davis, 60, and Wesley Caves, 58, were both on a Hawker Beechcraft jet headed out of Tulsa, Okla., when the plane apparently suffered electrical problems. The plane, which had four passengers, briefly touched down in South Bend, took off again and then crashed into a neighborhood just southeast of South Bend Regional Airport, ultimately landing in a home, local media reported.

Gene Jelks, a former Alabama football player, says he was paid thousands of dollars by coaches and school boosters during his career with the Crimson Tide. In a copyright story in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jelks, a cornerback and captain on Alabama's 1989 Southeastern Conference championship team, charged that: "I was bought and sold to the university." He said money was funneled to him and his mother while he was still in high school to obligate him to play for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama has barred three of its college football players from campus after their arrest on robbery charges earlier this week. The players are suspended from school pending a review conducted by faculty members of the Student Judicial Board, university spokeswoman Deborah Lane said Friday. Defensive back Eddie Williams, 20, and linebackers Tyler Hayes and D.J. Pettway, both 18, were prohibited from entering the Tuscaloosa campus. They were charged Monday in robberies of two students on campus.

The way Roman Gabriel tells it, the same characteristics that made him a great football player -- bullheadedness, combativeness, stick-to-itiveness -- served him less favorably in his personal life. Three times divorced, the greatest quarterback in Los Angeles Rams history is estranged from his daughter and four sons and says he has not seen two of his three grandchildren in years. The other, he has never met.

"I don't know if you can see the scar," Ryan Nece says. Barely. "It goes from here to here." He stretches his right hand over to his left ear, extending the thumb inside the closely cropped dark hair as a pointer, then drags it over the bend of the skull to the other side. "I had an operation," he says. "They cut me open from ear to ear." For the reconstruction. "They pull down your skin, they cut underneath my eyes. I have titanium plates all through here."

On his knees, his head aching, his body shaking, his stomach churning, Golden Richards, in a cold sweat, would hover in his bathroom over the toilet in desperate search. He had to do something. There were no more painkillers--no more Percodan pills--in the medicine cabinet or under the bed or in whatever hole he had chosen as the latest hiding place for his drugs. His demons demanded immediate satisfaction. He had consumed the last of his stash.

David Klingler threw an NCAA-record 11 touchdown passes and tied the NCAA season record of 47 scoring throws in a season, leading No. 12 Houston to an 84-21 victory over Eastern Washington on Saturday. A week ago, the Texas Longhorns beat Houston, 45-24, knocking the Cougars (9-1) out of a chance to win the national championship and ending their 12-game winning streak. Klingler wanted to put that behind them in a hurry.

The NCAA put the Oregon football program on probation for two years Wednesday for violations involving the recruitment of College of the Canyons running back J.J. Arrington in January 2003. Oregon reported the violations and agreed with the sanctions. The Ducks do not lose any scholarships and remain eligible for bowl games, the NCAA said. "We're trying to win the right way, and we're not going to cheat," Coach Mike Bellotti said. "I feel very bad about this because it happened under my watch."

Doctors have discovered a way for professional football players to see how much damage their brains have suffered through a bruising career before it's too late, according to a new study. UCLA researchers led a team of scientists that used a chemical marker called FDDNP to measure the degree of brain damage in five retired football players. That marker latches onto the tau proteins that build up in the brain when someone suffers from Alzheimer's or other cognitive impairments like chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Four members of Alabama's national championship football team were arrested on campus Monday on suspicion of robbing two students on campus. Defensive back Eddie Williams and linebacker Tyler Hayes are accused of attacking a student, punching him in the face and knocking him unconscious. They then stole the victim's backpack and laptop computer, campus police said. Later, Williams and running back Brent Calloway robbed a second person, punching him in the face and stealing the victim's wallet, while defensive lineman D.J. Pettway watched, campus police said.

Eleven-time Grand Slam event singles champion Rafael Nadal, who missed seven months of competition because of a knee injury, says the ATP does not do enough to protect players' health, saying the increase in hard-court events will lead to long-term injuries that will affect players after they retire. “The ATP worries too little about the players,” Nadal told the Associated Press. “It should care more for them.” Nadal, 26, considered the greatest clay court player of recent times, said hard courts were “too tough” on players' bodies and made it difficult to avoid injuries.

College football coaches often emphasize the importance of recruiting family members as well as the players who are the objects of their affection. Latest case in point: Alex Collins. The highly touted running back from South Plantation High in Florida signed a letter of intent with Arkansas on Thursday, another flash point in a family drama that played out over two days and looks as if it will continue. "Alex is a great addition to this class," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A list of the Southland's top high school senior football players and where they are headed: Darren Andrews; La Puente Bishop Amat HS; WR; 5-10; 175; UCLA Brandon Arnold; Encino Crespi HS; DB, 6-1; 190; Oregon State Jack Austin; Chino Hills HS; WR; 6-3; 205; California Reginald Bell; Los Angeles Dorsey HS; QB; 6-2; 180; Tulane Marcus Baugh; Riverside North HS; TE; 6-4; 255; Ohio State Nick Begg; Santa Margarita HS; DE;...

What fun, this national signing day, colleges' version of the NFL draft. Story I'm following most closely is of the Florida mom who reportedly ran off with her kid's signing papers so he wouldn't leave home. As Dave Barry used to say, I'm not making this stuff up. So much to mock on this overblown, overripe event, with 12 hours of breathless election-caliber coverage of the day when high school players officially sign with their colleges. Or in the case of the missing Florida mom, do not. GRAPHIC: UCLA recruits Also, so much to love.

Doctors have discovered a way for professional football players to see how much damage their brains have suffered through a bruising career before it's too late, according to a new study. UCLA researchers led a team of scientists that used a chemical marker called FDDNP to measure the degree of brain damage in five retired football players. That marker latches onto the tau proteins that build up in the brain when someone suffers from Alzheimer's or other cognitive impairments like chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Chris Joseph's career is wandering down a road less traveled by other football players. Several of his former UCLA teammates are wringing their hands this weekend, hoping their names are called during the NFL draft. If not, their quest to land a free-agent contract will begin. But Joseph, a starting offensive lineman for three-plus seasons, is training to make the final cut for an even more exclusive goal -- a Rhodes scholarship.

Rams cornerback Darryl Henley, charged with operating a cross-country drug ring from his Brea home, is the victim of an elaborate frame-up by a former Rams cheerleader and her parents, his attorney said Friday as the trial began. Attorney Roger Cossack told jurors in his opening statements that the prosecution's key witness, cheerleader Tracy Ann Donaho, will falsely accuse the star defensive player of masterminding a cocaine-trafficking scheme.

Well, that didn't take long. After news broke Wednesday that Manti Te'o's supposed girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, never existed, an Internet meme making fun of Te'o -- called #Teoing -- popped up. People are posting various photos to the Tumblr account to joke about the false relationship. There's a photo of a man with his arm wrapped around the air with the caption: "Me and my hottie girlfriend. " Another photo shows a dog talking on the phone with the caption: "Hello Yes, this is Lennay Kekua.

WASHINGTON -- Pau Gasol apparently knows the NFL injury-report guidelines pretty well. Using the standard created for pro football players, the Lakers forward declared himself doubtful for Sunday's game against Philadelphia, questionable for next Tuesday against Charlotte and probable Dec. 22 against Golden State. In other words, it looks like at least another week before he returns from tendinitis in his knees. "There's no definites right now," he said Friday. Gasol has not played since Dec. 2, the Lakers going 1-5 in his absence heading into Friday's game against Washington.