Play Ball

The NFL announced today that they have suspended former Bengal wide receiver Chris Henry for the first four games of the season.

The league did say that he is open to play the final 12 games of the season with whatever team wishes to sign him.

Cincinnati released the troubled wide receiver in April following his fifth arrest. The charges from that arrest have been dropped but league commissioner Roger Goodell is standing by his suspension of Henry.

Henry is allowed to partake in training camp and preseason games if he is signed but cannot play in the first four games of the regular season.

During the 2007 season Henry was suspended for the first eight games under the league’s personal conduct policy. He caught only 21 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns when he was reinstated following the suspension.

For the second night in a row an NBA player has signed a lucrative deal to stay with his current team.

Today’s signee: Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls.

The deal is for six years worth a guaranteed $71 million.

The Bulls finished last season a dismal 33-49 with Deng playing in only 63 games. He averaged 17 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game.

In 2006-07 Deng had a stellar season averaging 18.8 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game and 51.7 percent shooting from the floor. That year the Bulls were 49-33 and knocked the defending world champion Heat out of the playoffs in the first roud via a sweep.

Deng will now shift his focus to the 2009 European Championships and his national team, Great Britain.

The Charlotte Bobcats have announced that they signed their star, Emeka Okafor, to a contract extension.

Okafor and the Bobcats have agreed to a six-year contract in principle, worth at least $72 million.

Okafor was the Bobcats’ first-ever draft pick when they chose him as the number 2 overall player in the 2004 NBA draft.

His numbers from last season were 13.7 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.7 blocks per game and 33.2 minutes per game.

Okafor will be playing for new head coach Larry Brown, whom he played for on the U.S. Olympic team, and has gotten plenty of praise from the future Hall of Fame coach.

Okafor has also averaged a double-double in each of his first four seasons in the league.

This signing for the Bobcats shows their fans, players and rest of the franchise that they are committed to building a winning team.

The Chicago Bears and kick returner/wide receiver Devin Hester have agreed to a contract extension that could be worth a reported $40 million over four seasons.

It is a significant raise for the electrifying kick returner who will work with the first-team offense as a wide receiver while also returning kicks.

$15 million of the contract is guaranteed money with $10 million going towards a roster bonus in his final year if he reaches stellar receiver status. Without the bonus, the contract is worth $30 million.

Hester is only two returns for touchdowns short of Brian Mitchell’s record that took 14 years to set. Mitchell returned 13 kickoffs/punts for touchdowns and Hester has 11 after only two seasons in the league.

Quite possibly the biggest return of his brief career came in Super Bowl XLI against the Indianapolis Colts. Hester took the opening kick 92 yards to the endzone in an eventual losing effort to the Colts. He became the first player in league history to take the opening kickoff back for a touchdown.

Hester has reported to Bears camp with no complaints and a new smile on his face. Head Coach Lovie Smith is happy as well to see that a new deal has been reached and that his returner will be in a Bears uniform for at least another four seasons barring a trade or injury.