Pro Football

Brian Price, once a wrecking ball on UCLA's defensive line, has beaten long odds to return to the NFL after two off-season surgeries aimed at keeping his hamstrings attached to his pelvis, rather than breaking loose and coiling down the backs of his thighs. For Price, who will start at defensive tackle Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his excruciating recovery was a 10-step process. Meaning just two months ago, he could run only 10 steps. "You have these doubts in your head at times," said Price, a second-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2010 who, because of his congenitally malformed pelvis, spent the last half of his rookie season on injured reserve.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, which has supported the construction of a 72,000-seat football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, now has raised a series of criticisms about the project's potential impact on the environment. Many of its concerns are well founded; rather than fight them in court, the project's developer, Anschutz Entertainment Group, ought to take them into account and use them to improve the proposal. In a letter to the Los Angeles City Planning Department, the NRDC warned that although AEG's voluminous environmental impact report promises a number of measures to limit the negative effects of the stadium on the environment, it lacks details about how those measures will work and how they will be enforced.

While the Pittsburgh Steelers ascend their stairway to seven ? the relentless pursuit of their seventh Lombardi Trophy ? Green Bay's Donald Driver is hoping seven's the charm. That's how many years Driver has been in the playoffs, and now he's finally in his first Super Bowl. "This means everything," said Driver, 36, the Packers' all-time leading receiver. "You get to a point in your career when you want to get to the big dance. The good part is that I'm finally here and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. " The quintessential survivor, Driver grew up in Houston and spent part of his childhood homeless, at times using a U-Haul trailer for shelter.

The NFL Players Assn. has accused the NFL of putting a secret salary cap in place in the uncapped 2010 season — a violation of antitrust laws — and is seeking monetary damages that could climb into the billions. The union filed suit against the league Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, accusing the NFL of collusion for conspiring to set a $123-million cap for 2010, when owners would have required the consent of players to do so. The NFL flatly denied the claim.

On a cold, gray Tuesday morning, unemployed wide receiver Terrell Owens stepped onto a high school football field in an attempt to show the NFL that he has overcome a knee injury and is ready to play a 16th season. The only problem was that on this day the number of reporters (eight) outnumbered the NFL scouts (zero) watching Owens work out for about an hour at Calabasas High. Owens, 37, said he has fully recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in early April.

The NHL locked out players for a full season because cash-strapped teams were melting down. The NBA has enacted a lockout because clubs are hemorrhaging red ink. The NFL shut its doors because owners and players couldn't agree on how to divide their riches. The battle of the football haves and have lots — one that elicited little public sympathy — effectively came to a close Monday when the player representatives for all 32 teams unanimously agreed to accept the league's proposal for a 10-year collective-bargaining agreement.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - Junior Seau spent Monday morning surfing in San Clemente and that afternoon playing in a charity golf tournament in Dana Point. He joked with his playing partners, was the first to offer fist bumps after clutch putts, sought out course workers to pose for pictures with him and seemed like a retired NFL superstar without a care. Less than two days later, in a bedroom of his beachfront home in Oceanside, while his girlfriend was at the gym, Seau, among the greatest linebackers in football history, put a handgun to his chest and pulled the trigger.

Reporting from Indianapolis -- Two indisputable things can be said of Super Bowl XLVI: A pair of elite quarterbacks will be in it. And neither team will be out of it. Time and again, the New York Giants and New England Patriots proved this season that big deficits can be overcome, and dire situations can be conquered. The Patriots came back to win after trailing 21-0 against Buffalo, 17-0 against Miami, 10-0 against Philadelphia and 16-7 against Denver. Just as Eli Manning established himself as spectacular, especially in the fourth quarter, the Giants somehow pulled out of a tailspin of four consecutive losses.

Detroit Lions running back Jerome Harrison was scheduled for surgery for a brain tumor Friday, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. Harrison's agent, Mitch Frankel , did not immediately respond to text messages from the Detroit newspaper seeking comment, and Lions Coach Jim Schwartz announced only that Harrison was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list. The tumor was discovered during a physical that nullified Harrison's trade to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Among my many contributions to modern life — chocolate pajamas and Non-Virgin Atlantic Airlines — I now offer up the Pro Football Prenup, a legal document that spells out certain behaviors between couples during the upcoming season. Because from what I understand, quite a bit of conflict can occur. Me, I'm mostly a gentle soul. I did once throw a toaster — Pop-Tarts and all — through the television during a Bears-Falcons preseason game. It was, witnesses say, a perfect spiral.

By the 2013 season, all NFL players will be required to wear knee and thigh pads. Or will they? NFL owners voted Tuesday to make those pads mandatory, but the NFL Players Assn. quickly responded that changes such as those need to be collectively negotiated, opening another of several battlefronts between the league and the union. "While the NFL is focused on one element and health and safety today, the NFLPA believes that health and safety requires a comprehensive approach and commitment," the union said in a written statement.

FOOTBALL URBAN LEGEND : A professional football team once leased a quarterback to another team. Strange trades have long been a part of professional sports history. Heck, just recently in Sports Legends Revealed I've featured a quarterback that the New York Giants acquired an entire franchise just to add to their team and a trade by the San Diego Padres where they dealt a player for a pair of treadmills . However, I don't believe I have ever encountered a trade like the one the Houston Oilers and the Denver Broncos made in 1964 where the Broncos traded a player to lease a quarterback from the Oilers!

Riki Ellison was a middle linebacker at USC in 1978, '79, '80 and '82, and played with the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Raiders from 1983 to 1992 . The following is a letter he wrote with his feelings on the suicide of Junior Seau: Here I stand on the sands of Waikiki with the sounds of rolling, soft waves gliding gently upon the wet sands of retreat. The stoic Diamond Head stands in raw contrast to the Pacific waters, its unmistakable beauty a commanding presence.

The Kaprielians from south Orange County are such loyal fans of USC that when pitcher James Kaprielian of Irvine Beckman was on the mound against the rival University Trojans, who have blue uniforms, his grandmother grumbled, "It's weird seeing Trojans in blue. It isn't right. " Enter UCLA baseball Coach John Savage, who came away with the recruiting coup from the class of 2012 by getting Kaprielian to sign with the evil Bruins. "We made sure he didn't see my room," Kaprielian said.

Many college coaches are control freaks who operate on military time and like to assign stadium steps for anyone arriving five minutes late to a 10 o'clock meeting. Their game plans are meticulously penned in multiple colors and tiny letters on laminated sheets. Coaches have the omnipotent power to block player transfers and close practice to the media. So it was kind of funny hearing Pac-12 Conference coaches sounding so helpless Tuesday on the subject of a playoff. Pac-12 coaches huddled last week at their annual conference meetings in Phoenix to discuss how different the post-season is going to look when the BCS goes RIP in two years.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - Junior Seau spent Monday morning surfing in San Clemente and that afternoon playing in a charity golf tournament in Dana Point. He joked with his playing partners, was the first to offer fist bumps after clutch putts, sought out course workers to pose for pictures with him and seemed like a retired NFL superstar without a care. Less than two days later, in a bedroom of his beachfront home in Oceanside, while his girlfriend was at the gym, Seau, among the greatest linebackers in football history, put a handgun to his chest and pulled the trigger.

JERRY RICE Wide receiver, 6-2, 200. 1985-2000, San Francisco 49ers; 2001-04, Oakland Raiders; 2004 Seattle Seahawks • Career: Selected by 49ers in first round (16th player overall) of 1985 draft … In 1986, caught 86 passes for a league-leading 1,570 yards and led the NFL in touchdown catches with 15. Marked first of 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Recorded double-digit receiving touchdowns in nine of next 10 seasons … In 1987 set the NFL record for touchdown receptions in season with 22 … Four seasons with 100-plus catches … Led NFL in receiving yards six times, including NFL-record 1,848 yards in 1995 … Led NFL in touchdown receptions six times … Owns virtually every significant receiving mark including receptions (1,549)

Frank Minnifield and Niko Noga told jurors in the NFL antitrust trial that the league's free agency system has unfairly restricted them from choosing where they want to work. Minnifield, Noga and the six other players who are suing the NFL say the league's Plan B free agency system has cost them money and the opportunity to test their worth on an open market. "I believe pro football players should have rights like everyone else in this room," said Minnifield, a Cleveland Brown defensive back.

The death of NFL star Junior Seau was officially ruled a suicide by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday. Officials are awaiting the family's decision regarding the study of Seau's brain for evidence of repetitive injuries. Seau was discovered dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest in his beachside home in Oceanside on Wednesday morning about 9:35 a.m., according to the report. Officials have not determined an exact time of death. Dr. Craig Nelson, deputy medical examiner, conducted a forensic autopsy Thursday, including a full examination of Seau's body and organs and a collection of appropriate specimens for laboratory studies, including toxicology and microscopic examination of organs and tissues.

The NFL Players Assn. is continuing its fight on behalf of two current and two former New Orleans Saints players suspended by the league, challenging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's authority to sanction them. The suspensions are for the players' involvement in the Saints' bounty scandal. Linebacker and team captain Jonathan Vilma has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove for eight games, defensive end Will Smith for four, and linebacker Scott Fujita three.