News briefs: Steelers sign former Boise State QB Zabransky
CBSSports.com wire reports
PITTSBURGH -- Jared Zabransky, the quarterback who led Boise State's memorable Fiesta Bowl upset over Oklahoma a year ago, signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday.
The Steelers also added Matt Trannon, a 6-foot-6 receiver who starred at Michigan State but was not drafted last year. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals but did not make the season-opening roster. He later spent time with the Cardinals, Chiefs and Raiders as a practice squad player.
Zabransky also was an undrafted rookie a season ago and spent part of the season on the Houston Texans' practice squad. He had 23 touchdown passes and seven interceptions as a senior at Boise State in 2006 before directing their 43-42 bowl upset of Oklahoma.
In that game, Zabransky completed a long touchdown pass on a hook-and-ladder play in the final minute of the fourth quarter to force the overtime, then handed off to Ian Johnson on a trick play for the winning two-point conversion in overtime.
Goodell unsure if more Spygate info exists
HONOLULU -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is willing to pursue any believable information in the Spygate case. He simply doesn't know if any exists.
Goodell said Wednesday that the league has been in touch with representatives of former Patriots assistant coach Matt Walsh, now a golf pro in Maui. Walsh did video work for the Patriots when they won their first Super Bowl after the 2001 season, and was not interviewed as part of the NFL's investigation into New England illegally taping opposing coaches in the last two years.
Sen. Arlen Specter, with whom Goodell said he expects to meet in the next week or so, questioned the thoroughness of the NFL's investigation that led to a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Belichick, a $250,000 fine for the Patriots organization, and the loss of this year's first-round draft pick. Specter also wondered why Goodell had the six tapes turned over by the Patriots destroyed, along with notes the team gave Goodell.
"If there is new information that is credible, new material that could be credible that would help us," Goodell said, "yes, we'll look at it. We've had people come to us over the last six months with material that we pursued and it didn't lead to anything."
HBO waives 'Inside the NFL'
NEW YORK -- Inside the NFL is ending its 31-year run on HBO. Wednesday's season finale will be the studio show's last on the network, HBO announced earlier in the day.
"It has been a terrific franchise," HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said in a release. "But the television landscape has changed quite a bit over the last 30 years and we have to recognize the realities of the business. I'm not sure we had more than one competitor when the show launched in 1977."
The decision does not mean the end for the program itself. It's owned by NFL Films, which is looking to continue the show in conjunction with another network in the fall.
The HBO finale will be re-aired through the rest of the week.
Browns CB Bodden cleared
CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Browns cornerback Leigh Bodden was acquitted on charges stemming from a confrontation with police at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
A jury cleared Bodden of counts of disorderly conduct and failure to display a driver's license. On Tuesday, the judge at his municipal court trial had dismissed a resisting-arrest charge.
Bodden was picking up his girlfriend and their two children at the airport on Sept. 5 when police say he drove in reverse down a one-way street, became verbally abusive and began to resist officers trying to place handcuffs on him.
Bodden has apologized to his coaches and teammates.
Maas gets probation
PEKIN, Ill. -- Former NFL lineman Bill Maas and his girlfriend will serve two years of probation for gun and drug charges under a plea agreement.
Maas, 45, and Sarah J. Murphy, 27, both of Lee's Summit, Mo., agreed to fines, plus community service and drug treatment programs in their home state, instead of jail time in Illinois, the (Peoria) Journal Star reported.
The agreement was worked out Monday, Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz told the paper.
Maas, also a former Fox Sports analyst, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful use of a weapon, while prosecutors dropped two counts of possession of a controlled substance. Murphy pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance and a second count was dropped.
