Olivea admits addiction
Recently signed New York Giants offensive tackle Shane Olivea said Monday that he was addicted to painkillers while playing for the San Diego Chargers last season.
The 26-year Olivea lost his starting job at right tackle in midseason and was eventually released by the Chargers in February, a move he said he asked the team to make.
“It’s a second chance in my life and football and I’m just happy to have that opportunity,” said Olivea, who was signed by the Super Bowl champions on July 10. “A lot of guys aren’t given that opportunity, so I feel very blessed and very fortunate to have that opportunity.”
•Plaxico Burress says it’s his ankle, not his contract that is keeping him from practicing with the Giants.
“If it was only about my contract, I would be home in South Florida relaxing,” Burress said.
Upbeat about Bills’ future
Whether it was posing for pictures taken by fans lined along a fence at Buffalo Bills training camp or discussing the franchise’s long-term future, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was all smiles in Pittsford, N.Y.
Goodell met with franchise owner Ralph Wilson and Sen. Charles Schumer, and learned of the tremendous rise in season-ticket sales and the increased interest and revenue the team’s generating as it prepares to play games annually in Toronto.
“The nature of the conversation was to find out how the Bills were doing. Fortunately, that’s the good news,” Goodell said. “The Bills, particularly in their effort here to regionalize the team further to southern Ontario and Toronto has been a very big success. And I think that’s something that we’re all proud of, the fact that we can now make the team stronger here.”
The Bills have sold 54,200 season tickets this year, the most since 1992 when they sold a record 57,132.
Johnson sits out due to ankle
Pro Bowl receiver Chad Johnson didn’t participate in the Cincinnati Bengals’ first practice of training camp because his right ankle hasn’t fully recovered from surgery.
Johnson spent time rehabilitating the ankle, which was surgically cleaned out last month. The ankle is still sore and he runs with a pronounced limp. He warmed up with the team on the field, and then went into the trainer’s room.
Rodgers takes reins for now
With the Brett Favre standoff still simmering, Aaron Rodgers took his place as the Packers’ new starting quarterback.
Rodgers is trying to ignore what has become a daily soap opera involving the three-time MVP. Favre is considering filing for reinstatement with the NFL and reporting to camp this week, a move likely intended to pressure Green Bay to grant him his release – something the Packers insist they will not do – or trade him.
The NFL had not received reinstatement paperwork from Favre as of Monday evening.
“I feel like this is really between Brett and the organization, and I’m just trying to stay focused on the things I can control,” Rodgers said after the team’s first practice at camp.