Sports in brief: Seahawks’ Kerney hangs up his cleats

Football: Citing a desire to play but a battered body that won’t let him, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Patrick Kerney, 33, announced his retirement Tuesday.

The two-time Pro Bowl selection and 2007 All-Pro said last year he had become increasingly aware of the effects that playing 11 NFL seasons for Atlanta and Seattle have had on his body – and potentially on his quality of life after football.

He had surgeries on his left shoulder following the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He played an NFC playoff game at Green Bay in January 2008 essentially with one arm. This past January, he had surgery on his elbow.

“Despite the desire to continue my career, I am retiring from professional football,” Kerney said in a statement released by the Seahawks. “The toll that has been taken on my body will no longer allow me to train, and hence, perform, at a level that is acceptable to me.”

Associated Press

Roethlisberger under scrutiny for behavior

Football: The NFL is weighing possible disciplinary action against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who met with league commissioner Roger Goodell one day after learning he won’t be charged in the alleged sexual assault of a Georgia college student.

Roethlisberger described the Tuesday afternoon meeting in Manhattan as “very productive,” but gave no hint whether he expects to be suspended or fined for several off-field incidents that damaged his reputation and angered the franchise he’s led to two Super Bowl championships.

“It’s a very serious matter, one we take serious,” Roethlisberger told ESPN as he left the meeting with Goodell.

Associated Press