Football Capsules: Nebraska's Hickman says no to chance at NFL

LINCOLN, Neb. — Jacob Hickman started 36 straight games in a Nebraska program famous for developing offensive lineman. He was poised to achieve the dream of the millions of boys on America’s sandlots.

Hickman had an invitation to be among more than 300 pro prospects showcasing themselves at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. He said no. The passion was gone.

"Playing in the NFL was never a dream for me, like the end-all, be-all," Hickman said. "I kind of thought if that happens, it’s something I would do. As it has progressed, I’ve kind of gone in a different direction."

Some scouting services ranked Hickman as high as the No. 10 center available in April’s NFL draft. But a few days after the Cornhuskers beat Arizona in the Holiday Bowl, Hickman came to the conclusion that he simply doesn’t feel like playing football anymore.

"I enjoyed everything I did here," Hickman said. "I had a great experience. I didn’t feel the need to continue playing. It just didn’t feel like it’s what I wanted to do with my life."

The list of players who hang around too long in their sport grows every year. Far shorter is the list of those who, with a legitimate professional opportunity in front of them, decide it’s time to do something else.

It would be easy to point to Hickman’s lengthy history of injuries as the reason. That was a consideration. But just as important — and Hickman can’t express exactly why — he didn’t have the stomach for pro football.

"There are so many guys who deserve and want to be at this level that a guy whose heart is only halfway into it isn’t going to be successful," he said.

NFL draft consultant Gil Brandt, who has worked in the league since the 1960s, said it happens about every other year that a player expected to be drafted calls it quits after college. He said Hickman probably would have been a sixth- or seventh-round pick.

People who haven’t played football at the major college or pro level can’t understand the toll it takes on the mind and body, Hickman said. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Hickman already has developed arthritis. He played through a painful hip pointer last season. He’s had surgeries on a knee, ankle, hand and elbow.

"I’ve got 14 screws, two plates and a washer in me," he said.

Hickman is 23. He knows his income potential would have been great in the NFL if he made a team and stuck. But having weighed the money he might have made against his lack of desire and the risk of a debilitating injury, he’s walking away while he can.

"I know a lot of guys who have similar injury issues like me tend to have a lot more surgeries once they get to the league," he said, "and it’s not something I was looking forward to."

Hickman, who is from Bakersfield, Calif., was recruited to Nebraska in 2006 by former coach Bill Callahan. He admitted to having thoughts about quitting from time to time the past four years.

He couldn’t bring himself to do it until after his senior season and he’s glad he stuck around as long as he did.

Bo Pelini took over Callahan’s moribund program and in two years built it into a 10-game winner that came within a point and last-second field goal of beating Texas in the Big 12 championship game.

Hickman talked to Pelini and a couple assistants, his wife and his father before deciding to hang it up. He was among the first wave of players to receive invitations to the scouting combine, which caused him to re-think his decision.

"Getting one as early as I did makes you think you have a pretty good shot," Hickman said. "I wanted to make sure that if I decided to quit that it wasn’t because subconsciously I was afraid I couldn’t make it. I know I had a chance to make it, and I still decided I didn’t want to pursue it."

Just because Hickman is done playing doesn’t mean he’s done with football. Though he’ll graduate in May with a degree in construction management, he’s considering going into coaching.

"I like the mental aspect of the game, and it’s something I could be good at," he said. "There is a vast difference between playing and coaching. I wasn’t burned out on the game itself."

And Hickman and his wife of two years, Savannah, hope to start a family someday.

"If I play for another 10 years, I might be walking with a limp when I’m 40," he said. "I would like to be able to play ball with my kids."

Pro Bowl to be played before Super Bowl

HONOLULU — The Pro Bowl will be played before the Super Bowl when it returns to Honolulu next year.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority and the NFL announced Tuesday that the game will be at Aloha Stadium on Jan. 30, the Sunday before the Super Bowl in Arlington, Texas.

The Pro Bowl had historically been played in Honolulu the week after the Super Bowl, but was changed when the all-star game moved to Miami this year.

Frank Supovitz, the NFL’s senior vice president of events, said playing the Pro Bowl before the big game generated more excitement and interest and was a good kick off to Super Bowl week.

Ratings were up for the AFC-NFC matchup that was televised on ESPN. It was watched by an average of 12.3 million viewers, the most since 2000. That’s up 40 percent from the 2009 Pro Bowl on NBC, which drew 8.8 million viewers when the event was held after the Super Bowl.

This year’s game was in a later time slot, when more people watch TV, and competed against the Grammys on CBS, which attracted 25.8 million viewers, the most since 2004.

However, one drawback of playing the Pro Bowl first is not having any Super Bowl players.

About 40 percent of those originally selected didn’t play in Miami. That included seven Indianapolis Colts and seven New Orleans Saints because they were preparing for the title game.

Besides ratings, the Miami experiment also produced more ticket sales because of the larger venue and media coverage. But several players have said they preferred playing in the islands.

And cash-strapped Hawaii, which heavily depends on tourism as its economic engine, is eager to say "aloha" again.

Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said the Pro Bowl has been a part of Hawaii for more than 30 years and the state welcomes the game back.

"We know how much the Pro Bowl means to our residents, the players and to the thousands of fans from the mainland who enjoy visiting our state for the game," he said in a statement. "The Pro Bowl is a great investment for our state with both economic and community benefits."

Hawaii is paying $4 million per game to host the Pro Bowl in 2011 and ‘12. The site for 2013 and beyond hasn’t been determined.

The tourism agency estimated the 2009 game at Aloha Stadium accounted for $28.6 million in visitor spending, generated $2.9 million in state taxes and attracted 18,000 visitors.

-- Jaymes Song

Reebok sued over ‘Finish Strong’ Saints T-shirts

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl-winning season has led to a trademark dispute involving the team’s unofficial 2009 motto and two manufacturers of athletic wear.

In a suit filed in Chicago federal court, Finish Strong LLC claims trademark infringement by Reebok International LLC, which manufactured and marketed a T-shirt using the "Finish Strong" mantra that Saints quarterback Drew Brees adopted during the 2009 NFL season.

Finish Strong claims it has had a registered trademark on the phrase since 1998 and uses it in a branded line of apparel including T-shirts, pants, skirts and shirts.

The Reebok T-shirt carries the slogan: "We Finish Strong! We Are Saints."

The suit, filed on Feb. 25, asks for Reebok to turn over all profits from the shirt to Naperville, Ill.-based Finish Strong, plus unspecified damages.

In a statement, Canton, Mass.-based Reebok said it did not believe it was infringing on Finish Strong’s rights. The company said it was not aware of Finish Strong until December, when it received an attorney’s letter, and the words "Finish Strong" had been adopted to describe the Saints’ style of play "and widely adopted and reported in the media at that time.

"We clearly used the words in a purely descriptive manner, which is obvious from the T-shirt presentation, and not in any way likely to be taken as an indication of origin, which could be confused with Finish Strong LLC," said Reebok, which is owned by Frankfurt, Germany-based Adidas AG.

The suit said Brees adopted the "Finish Strong" mantra after reading a book by the same title by company founder and owner Dan Green. Neither the Saints nor Brees were named as defendants.

On the Finish Strong Web site, Green’s book was being advertised, along with a YouTube video of the Saints’ Super Bowl win.

In the days leading to the Saints’ first-ever Super Bowl appearance, a separate trademark dispute erupted between the National Football League and New Orleans T-shirt makers who were selling shirts with the phrase "Who Dat."

After some T-shirt makers were hit by cease-and-desist letters by the league, Louisiana’s attorney general conferred with NFL counsel and said the league was only targeting shirts that were marketed or presented as official Saints gear. The dispute, a big topic before the big game on radio talk shows, died down after that and no suits were filed.

The chant — "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints" — is often shortened to "Who Dat" on shirts and signs and has been a mainstay at the Superdome since the 1980s.

-- Alan Sayre

Smithsonian refuses O.J. Simpson suit

LOS ANGELES — What O.J. Simpson wore when he was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife and her friend was the suit seen around the world during one of the most watched televised moments in history.

But the Smithsonian Institution, America’s repository of historical artifacts, rejected it Tuesday as inappropriate for their collection.

Announcement of the museum’s snub came the morning after a California judge approved the donation as the solution to a 13-year court battle over the carefully tailored tan suit, white shirt and yellow and tan tie. The ensemble has been held by Simpson’s former sports agent, Mike Gilbert.

Fred Goldman, the father of the man Simpson was accused of killing in 1994, had been fighting Gilbert for the suit, which Simpson has said was stolen from him.

The suit was indirectly responsible for Simpson’s current predicament: The former NFL star is imprisoned in Nevada for a bungled effort to reclaim items of his memorabilia from a Las Vegas hotel room.

Simpson had been told the suit was in the room and was being offered for sale, along with other artifacts of his life. It turned out the suit wasn’t there.

The Smithsonian announced its decision with a terse announcement on its Web site.

"The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will not be collecting O.J. Simpson’s suit," it said. "The decision was made by the museum’s curators together with the director."

Gilbert, who has the suit in storage, said he was disappointed with the decision.

"Whether we like it or not, it’s part of American history," he said. "I’m disappointed that they didn’t wait to hear from me and consider my vision of how it should be displayed."

Attorney Ronald P. Slates, who represents Simpson, said he’s keeping his client informed about the donation effort. Superior Court Judge Joseph S. Biderman consulted Simpson by phone Monday, then approved Gilbert’s plan after Simpson said he would agree as long as no one made any money.

"I’m saddened by the fact that the foremost museum in America has refused this very important item in the history of American jurisprudence," Slates said. "Regardless of one’s feelings about Mr. Simpson, his acquittal by a jury of his peers on Oct. 3, 1995 was of great significance and is widely talked about to this day."

Even then-President Bill Clinton watched on television when the jury announced the acquittal in the killing of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman after a yearlong trial.

The museum’s spokeswoman, Linda St. Thomas, said curators consider several criteria for accepting donations, including whether an item has historical significance, whether it is needed to complete a collection or is needed for research.

"In this case, they knew it was not appropriate for the collection," she said.

Attorney David Cook, who represents Fred Goldman, said he was sure other institutions would want the suit.

"We’re going to hang this suit in America’s closet and there will be no lack of people who want it," Cook said. "It’s a matter of finding the right fit."

He said he already has some ideas including two Washington, D.C., museums: the Newseum, which has a collection on historical news events, and the Museum of Crime and Punishment.

Slates said he may suggest that it go to the University of Southern California, where Simpson made his mark as a star football player.

Gilbert, who was placed in charge of facilitating the donation, said he would consider all suggestions. He was given 30 days to report back to the judge, and could receive another 30 days if an agreement hasn’t been reached by then. He said the suit has a blood mark on the collar from when Simpson cut himself shaving, and some lipstick from when his sister hugged him.

-- Linda Deutsch

NFL, union trade latest barbs in labor dispute

NEW YORK — In their latest round of bickering, the NFL and its players’ association have exchanged prickly statements disputing whether players will have to take pay cuts as part of a new collective bargaining agreement.

After the NFL wrote on its labor Web site last week that no player would take a cut as a result of its proposal, the NFLPA responded Tuesday by saying — tongue in cheek — that it was ready to sign a deal guaranteeing that the salary cap won’t be lowered and there will be no reduction in retired players’ or other benefits under the CBA.

The NFLPA says on its site that, based on the league’s statement, it renewed its proposal to freeze the salary cap at the 2009 level and asked the league to meet with its representatives immediately to extend the current labor agreement.

The NFL released a statement in response, saying the NFLPA intentionally misstated the league’s proposal and is simply trying to "preserve an unacceptable economic system."

The current CBA expires in March 2011 and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith has characterized the possibility of a work stoppage as a "14" on a scale of 1 to 10.

Without a new deal in place by Friday, 2010 will be the league’s first uncapped season since 1993.

Jaguars re-sign WR Williamson

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars have re-signed wide receiver Troy Williamson, hoping he can fill the void left by Torry Holt’s departure.

Williamson, a former first-round draft pick by Minnesota, would have become a restricted free agent Friday. Contract terms were not released Tuesday.

Traded to the Jaguars in February 2008, Williamson earned a starting role last year before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 2. He has 87 receptions for 1,131 yards and four touchdowns in his five-year career.

Williamson will be given a chance to earn a starting spot opposite Mike Walker this season. Holt held the spot last season, but was released last month.

Bills sign free agent DT Marlon Favorite

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills have signed free agent defensive tackle Marlon Favorite.

A member of the 2007 national champion LSU Tigers, Favorite spent his first NFL season last year splitting time on the practice squads of St. Louis, Kansas City, Seattle and New Orleans. He has yet to appear in an NFL game, and first signed with Carolina in May as an undrafted free agent.

At LSU, Favorite had 17 starts in 40 career games. He’s listed at 6-foot-1 and 317 pounds.

College

Tide football team set to visit White House

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The national champion Alabama football team’s visit to the White House is set.

The Crimson Tide will leave Monday morning for Washington, D.C. The team will spend time with area youth as part of a service project during the visit and then meet President Obama.

The Tide is also scheduled to make stops at the U.S. Capitol, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and National Mall during its day in the nation’s capitol.

Obama called Nick Saban on the morning after the Tide’s win over Texas. A spokesman for the coach says he invited the president to play in the staff’s lunchtime basketball games in the spring.

Saban famously turned down an invitation to dine with President Bush in 2006 when he was with the Miami Dolphins.

High School

Iowa jury convicts man in football coach killing

ALLISON, Iowa — Mark Becker stood passively Tuesday as a jury found him guilty of murder in the shooting of a nationally known Iowa high school football coach.

He seemed far removed from the man whose mind was filled with images of angels and horned demons who lurked in the shadows of every room, telling him that the community was plotting against him and that Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas — known for his winning record and town leadership — was Satan.

Becker, 24, had explained to psychiatrists that after months of torment, he shot Thomas at least six times in the high school weight room, then kicked his body before walking away.

Jurors deliberated more than 24 hours over four days before convicting Becker of first-degree murder, rejecting his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The guilty verdict carries a mandatory life-in-prison sentence.

Minutes after the verdict was read, Becker’s mother, Joan, comforted a crying relative sitting behind her.

"It’s OK," Joan Becker said. "Just pray he gets the right medication."

Details of Becker’s mental state emerged during the 14-day trial held in tiny Allison, about 150 miles northeast of Des Moines.

Jurors heard from defense attorneys that Becker’s delusions were so severe that he didn’t know right from wrong when he shot Thomas. Psychiatrists testified Becker believed invisible forces were pushing down on his eyes. Police interrogation videos showed him sitting alone, speaking to no one, swatting at the air.

Prosecutors acknowledged that Becker suffered from a mental illness, but said that he also coldly calculated the killing, taking practice shots with the .22-caliber pistol he used to kill Thomas and lying to people in his search for the coach.

After the verdict, the Thomas and Becker families — who attend the same Parkersburg church — said they would pray for each other. But they took away different lessons from a system that couldn’t help Becker but ultimately succeeded in convicting Thomas’ killer.

Joan Becker said the mental health support system in Parkersburg and Butler County failed her son. A psychiatrist in a Waterloo hospital agreed to his release just days after he was hospitalized following a violent incident and arrest. Police weren’t notified when he was let out of the psychiatric unit.

"Ed Thomas was a victim of a victim," she said. "Although Mark and we as his parents attempted to go through all the proper channels to get Mark the mental health treatment he desperately needed, the system failed miserably."

Thomas’ son, Aaron, said both families have only begun to grieve, and the conviction wouldn’t change that. But he said the justice system did what was necessary.

"We do want to recognize that there truly are no winners in this case, but the system worked," he said.

The question of why Becker’s delusions focused on Thomas remains unanswered. Thomas last coached Becker some six years before the shooting and Becker had spent significant time away from Parkersburg.

Thomas amassed a 292-84 record and two state titles in 37 seasons as a head coach — 34 of them at Aplington-Parkersburg High School — and coached four players who have played in the NFL. He also was a leader in rebuilding Parkersburg after nearly one-third of the 1,800-person town was wiped out in May 2008 by a tornado that killed six people.

Defense psychiatrist Phillip Resnick, of Cleveland, said Becker believed Satan had possessed Thomas and that he was doing the community a favor — and freeing Parkersburg’s children — by killing the coach.

Resnick and others who interviewed Becker about his mental status said Becker suffered from such intense delusions that he incorrectly believed Thomas and the members of Becker’s old football team were sexually assaulting him, and that Thomas was trying to make Becker into a "sex slave."

Maryland-based psychiatrist Michael Spodak, testifying for the prosecution, agreed Becker suffered from severe mental problems, including paranoid schizophrenia, but said he still understood right and wrong. Spodak said Becker took rational measures to avoid detection on the morning of the shooting: He hid his gun while he was driving, told passersby that he was searching for Thomas in order to volunteer for the city’s tornado relief efforts and made it a point to avoid shooting the teenagers in the weight room.

While supporting the jury’s verdict, Aaron Thomas said both families still are reeling more than eight months after the killing.

"Our family is not over anything," he said. "The Becker family is not over anything."

-- Nigel Duara