Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL

Goodell made $29.5 million

Roger Goodell’s pay more than doubled to about $29.5 million in 2011 after the NFL commissioner led the most popular U.S. sports league to decade-long contracts with players and broadcasters.Goodell, 53, made most of his compensation through a $22.3 million bonus, on top of a base salary of about $3.1 million, according to tax documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service. He was paid a total of about $11.6 million in 2010.“The NFL is the most successful and best-managed sports league in the world,” Atlanta Falcons owner and NFL Compensation Committee Chairman Arthur Blank said in a news release. “This is in no small part due to Roger’s leadership and the value he brings to the table in every facet of the sport and business of the league. His compensation reflects that.” The NFL has annual revenue of about $9 billion. Goodell’s compensation for 2011 was equal to about 24 percent of the NFL’s ceiling on each team’s payroll. Goodell signed a five-year contract extension in 2009. He joined the NFL in 1982 as an intern and rose to chief operating officer in 2001. He became commissioner when Paul Tagliabue retired in August 2006.

The Green Bay Packers released Charles Woodson, the former NFL defensive player of the year who earned four Pro Bowl selections during his seven seasons with the Packers. Woodson, 36, who signed with Green Bay in 2006 after eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders, started 100 games for the Packers. He was named the NFL’s best defender by The Associated Press in 2009, when he recorded a career-high 9 interceptions along with 4 forced fumbles and 2 sacks.

The Indianapolis Colts will not re-sign defensive tackle Dwight Freeney, the team’s career sacks leader. Freeney will become an unrestricted free agent. Freeney turns 33 next week and has seen his sacks totals decline each of the past three years. He counted more than $17million against the cap last season and never seemed comfortable after moving from a 4-3 defensive end, where he spent his first 10 NFL seasons, to a 3-4 outside linebacker.

Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway is planning to put the franchise tag on All-Pro left tackle Ryan Clady as early as Tuesday. A franchise tag would mean a salary of just less than $10 million for Clady in 2013, about three times what he earned last season, when he surrendered just one sack in more than 1,100 snaps.

Wide receiver Titus Young has been placed on waivers after only a few days in St. Louis. Coach Jeff Fisher said Friday the Rams picked up Young before they had much time to do any background checks. He concluded that Young was “not the best option” for the Rams. Young, a second-round draft pick in 2010 out of Boise State, had 48 receptions with six touchdowns as a rookie, but his production dropped last year to 33 catches and four touchdowns and was banished three times by the Lions because of his behavior, including once for punching teammate Louis Delmas.

The St. Louis Rams have hired Tim Walton as defensive coordinator, a position they did not filllast season after Gregg Williams was suspended for his role in the Saints’ bounty scandal. Coach Jeff Fisher said Walton, 41, the secondary coach the past four seasons with the Detroit Lions, was in the same system the Rams are using.

Backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who started his college career at the University of Arkansas, has re-signed with the Buffalo Bills. In announcing Jackson’s signing Friday, Coach Doug Marrone said Jackson will have an opportunity to compete with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job. Jackson never saw the field last season, spending all of it as the Bills’ third-stringer. He is a seven-year NFL veteran who was acquired by the Bills in a trade with Seattle in August.

FOOTBALL

3 Alabama players barred

The University of Alabama has barred three football players from campus after their arrest on robbery charges. Defensive back Eddie Williams, 20, and linebackers Tyler Hayes and D.J. Pettway, both 18, have been charged in separate robberies of two students on campus early Monday morning. Williams, Hayes and Pettway are charged with two counts of second-degree robbery. Williams also is charged with fraudulent use of a credit card and was arrested a day earlier and charged with carrying a pistol without a permit. The players are suspended from school pending a judicial review conducted by faculty, staff and members of the Student Judicial Board that is expected to be done by late next week, university spokesman Deborah Lane said Friday.

HORSE RACING Rachel shows progress Rachel Alexandra was showing “improved attitude” on Friday but remained in serious condition. Veterinarians at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., were pleased with the mare’s progress after surgery Wednesday to repair a section of her small colon. The 2009 Horse of the Year developed complications related to the birth of her 140-pound filly by Bernardini on Tuesday. Rachel Alexandra’s vital signs remain normal and she was brighter and more alert. Owner Barbara Banke said “she looks better today.” Rachel Alexandra’s foal continues to do well at Stonestreet Farm.

TENNIS Serena No. 1 again

Serena Williams has secured the No. 1 ranking after coming from a set down to beat former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the Qatar Open semifinals Friday in Doha, Qatar. Williams, 31, will become the oldest women’s player to be No. 1 in next week’s rankings.

Rafael Nadal beat Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday and advance to the Brazil Open semifinals in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Nadal defeated Berlocq, ranked 78th in the world, in 2 hours, 24 minutes, staying on track to win his first tournament after a long layoff to recover from a left knee injury. Nadal will face 111th-ranked Martin Alund, who beat 88th-ranked Filippo Volandri of Italy 7-5, 7-6 (5).

John Isner advanced to the SAP Open semifinals in San Jose, Calif., for the first time in his career Friday, overpowering Xavier Malisse 7-6 (8), 6-2 behind his booming serve. He will play today against fourth seeded Tommy Haas, who beat wild-card Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-2.

TRACK AND FIELD Prosecution: Pistorius’ actions premeditated

JOHANNESBURG - Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee revered in South Africa for overcoming his disability to compete in the London Games last year, wept in court Friday as he faced a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of his girlfriend.

During the proceedings in Pretoria, Gerrie Nel, one of the National Prosecuting Authority’s most senior advocates, said he would argue the killing of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp was premeditated murder, the most serious category of offense under South African law.

Pistorius, nicknamed “Blade Runner” because of the carbon fiber prosthetic legs he uses to compete, did not enter a formal plea and was remanded into custody at Brooklyn police station in Pretoria until Tuesday, when his bail application is to be heard.

Under South African law, a suspect charged with such a high level offense would have to prove exceptional circumstances to be granted bail.

Pistorius’ family and management company later issued a statement denying that the athlete had murdered his girlfriend, saying: “The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest possible terms.”

Some details of Pistorius’ argument and the state’s case are expected Tuesday.

The famed athlete’s court appearance came as South African media reported that he shot Steenkamp, his girlfriend of several months, four times through a bathroom door.

Under South African law, a person who fatally shoots an intruder has to prove he or she had a reasonable fear that the intruder posed a real threat to his or her life.