The disgraced Ohio State head coach was hired Friday by the Indianapolis Colts as a game-day consultant to help determine when the team should challenge plays. Coach Jim Caldwell said it was a position he’s wanted to fill for the past couple of years.
“He’s a guy I have known for quite some time and have a good relationship with,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell did not provide details on the friendship, but it’s likely the two crossed paths on the recruiting trail during the 1980s and early 1990s when both were coaching quarterbacks at big-time schools.
The Colts also are familiar with Tressel because of their pre-draft scouting work. Indy vice chairman Bill Polian normally consults with a player’s college coach before drafting a player, and Indianapolis has had a handful of former Buckeyes go through the team’s complex over the past 10 years.
Tressel had been actively seeking employment after resigning from Ohio State on May 30 amid a damaging NCAA scandal.
VIKES DT WILLIAMS DRAWS SUSPENSION
The NFL finally sacked five-time All-Pro Kevin Williams.
Three years after drawing a four-game suspension for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances, the Vikings defensive tackle will serve a two-game suspension and surrender an additional two game checks, the league announced.
In 2008, Williams and then-teammate Pat Williams tested positive for the banned substance bumetanide. The Williamses and two other NFL players were suspended but appealed the decision, prompting a years-long legal battle.
SELMON HOSPITALIZED
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Lee Roy Selmon has been hospitalized after reportedly suffering a stroke.
The University of South Florida, where the 56-year-old Selmon once served as athletic director, confirmed the Hall of Famer’s hospitalization. There was no early word on his condition.
Selmon was drafted by the Buccaneers in 1976. He went to six straight Pro Bowls and was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1979.
NFL DELAYS HGH TESTS
The NFL notified its teams that no HGH testing will be conducted before the season begins next Thursday.
In a document sent to the league’s management council and all 32 teams, NFL lead counsel Jeff Pash says a disagreement with the union over testing procedures will prevent the program from starting before Week 1.
When the league and players’ association struck a new collective bargaining agreement in July, blood testing for human growth hormone was part of the NFL’s labor deal for the first time — but only if the union agreed to the methods.
EXTRA POINTS
Unhappy with his contract, Chicago Bears Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs said he is seeking permission to look for a trade. A six-time Pro Bowl pick, Briggs has three years left on a six-year, $36 million deal and is scheduled to make $3.9 million this season. … Capital High grad Alex Linnenkohl, a rookie center, was among 14 players waived by the Bears. … San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh announced that Alex Smith will be the 49ers’ starting quarterback. … An MRI confirmed that Eagles backup quarterback Vince Young has a hamstring strain, the team said. His status is listed as day to day.
