Players

Chuck Pagano has preached the value of relationships since taking over as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts back in January. The team showed Tuesday that their coach's words have gotten through. More than 30 players, coaches and staff members had their heads shaved in a show of support for Pagano, who was diagnosed with leukemia on Sept. 26. Quarterback Andrew Luck, receiver Reggie Wayne, defensive end Cory Redding, safety Antoine Bethea and kicker Adam Vinatieri were among the players who took part.

As a head-bashing NFL fullback, Kevin Turner was once knocked into such a daze that he wasn't sure whether he was playing a football game or had just crawled out of bed. "In the Green Bay game, I had been out there and had played a couple series," said Turner, 42, recalling when he played for the Philadelphia Eagles. "Come back and I'm talking to [quarterback] Bobby Hoying on the sidelines. Felt like I had just woke up, and I'm asking him, 'Are we in Green Bay or are we in Philly?

UCLA's basketball team lost two players this week: Tyler Lamb and Joshua Smith . But dating back to 2008, the Bruins have had at least 11 players leave their program. Those departures include Chace Stanback (2008), Drew Gordon (2009), Mike Moser (2010), J'mison Morgan (2010), Matt Carlino (2010), Reeves Nelson (2011), Brendan Lane (2012), De'End Parker (2012), Anthony Stover (2012), Lamb and Smith. UCLA Coach Ben Howland was asked about the exodus of players after the Bruins' 82-56 win against Cal State Northridge on Wednesday, and he basically gave a non-answer, saying he'd answered it before.

Another shoe drop, another shock wave. The NFL dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints again Wednesday, punishing four players for their role in the bounty scandal, including a full-season suspension of linebacker and defensive captain Jonathan Vilma. Defensive linemen Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith got eight- and four-game suspensions, respectively, and linebacker Scott Fujita was suspended for three games. Hargrove now plays for Green Bay and Fujita for Cleveland.

The NFL has suspended four players for their participation in the New Orleans Saints pay-for-performance bounty scandal -- among them linebacker Jonathan Vilma, for the entire 2012 season. Vilma received the harshest of sanctions, with defensive linemen Anthony Hargrove suspended for eight games without pay, defensive end Will Smith four games, and linebacker Scott Fujita three. Hargrove now plays for Green Bay, and Fujita for Cleveland. It was Vilma who offered $10,000 to any Saints teammate who knocked Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre out of the 2009 NFC championship game.

The NFL handed out modified suspensions Tuesday to four players involved in the New Orleans Saints' alleged bounty program. Linebacker Scott Fujita, who now plays for Cleveland, saw his suspension reduced from three games to one. The suspension of defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, now a free agent, was reduced from eight games to seven. There is no change to the suspension of Saints defensive lineman Will Smith, who is still banned for four games. And linebacker Jonathan Vilma is still out for the season, although the league says he can keep the pay he earned for his six weeks on the physically unable to perform list.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday he plans to announce punishments soon for the New Orleans Saints players involved in the improper pay-for-performance bounty program, and rejected the notion those players were simply doing what their coaches told them. "I don't buy that, because the evidence is quite clear that the players embraced this," Goodell said in an interview with NFL Network's Rich Eisen. "They enthusiastically embraced it. They put the vast majority of the money into the program and they actually are the ones playing the game.

You have to give Chivas USA this much: at least the Major League Soccer team is consistent. On Thursday morning, Chivas sent hard-working defender James Riley to D.C. United for a second-round pick in the league's 2015 -- that's right, 2015 -- supplemental draft. That made Riley the eighth player from last season's team with which Chivas has cut ties since November. But apparently the team was just getting started because a few hours later the theme of out with the old and in with the new continued in a flurry of moves.

UCLA Coach Jim Mora said Tuesday that a "few" Penn State players have contacted the school, though he would not specify which ones. In the wake of NCAA sanctions, Penn State players are eligible to play for another school without sitting out a year. "I think we have to proceed with haste and caution at the same time," Mora said. "We don't have a lot of familiarity with a lot of their players. We went through their roster, and so many of them are from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

So, if a pass is dropped in the forest and nobody sees it … UCLA has tightened security, closing its "Pro Day" to the public and media. Unlike in previous years, only NFL scouts will be allowed to see Bruins players work out. This could explain the Bruins' woeful 4-8 season in 2011 -- too many fans and media at games. As to when this event takes place, that is being handled as need-to-know information. UCLA has had nine players picked in the last three NFL drafts. USC had nine players drafted in 2011 alone.