Sports in brief: Williams sets unusual record

Football: Miami running back Ricky Williams reached 1,000 yards rushing for this season on his fifth carry Sunday against Tennessee, setting an NFL record for the longest span between 1,000-yard seasons at six years.

Williams’ last 1,000-yard season came in 2003.

He also became only the seventh running back in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season in which he was 32 or older.

The visiting Dolphins lost 27-24 in overtime.

Associated Press

Playoff field taking shape

Football: San Diego, Arizona and Minnesota clinched division titles Sunday, while Philadelphia surged into the playoffs as at least a wild card.

The Chargers (11-3) edged Cincinnati 27-24 and when Denver lost to Oakland, the AFC West belonged to San Diego.

Green Bay’s 37-36 defeat at Pittsburgh gave the Vikings the NFC North, although Minnesota later lost to Carolina 26-7.

The Cardinals (9-5) won the NFC West for the second straight year by beating Detroit 31-24, then seeing San Fran- cisco lose at Philadelphia 27-13. The Eagles (10-4) moved into the postseason with that win.

Associated Press

NFL partners with Boston U.

Football: The NFL is partnering with Boston University brain researchers who have been critical of the league’s stance on concussions, the Associated Press has learned.

The league now plans to encourage current and former NFL players to agree to donate their brains to the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which has said it found links between repeated head trauma and brain damage in boxers, football players and, most recently, a former NHL player.

“It’s huge that the NFL actively gets behind this research,” said Robert Cantu, a co-director of the BU center who has spoken negatively about the league in the past. “It forwards the research. It allows players to realize the NFL is concerned about the possibility that they could have this problem, and that the NFL is doing everything it can to find out about the risks and the preventive strategies that can be implemented.”

Associated Press