NFL notebook: Jags hire Bob Babich
BY Associated Press
Thursday, January 24, 2013
1/24/13 at 3:03 AM
Former longtime Chicago Bears assistant Bob Babich has been hired as defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Babich, a former player and assistant at the University of Tulsa, has 29 years of coaching experience, including 10 in the NFL and six as a college head coach.
Babich spent the past nine seasons (2004-12) in Chicago, six years as linebackers coach and three as defensive coordinator. He also served as linebackers coach for St. Louis in 2003.
Police say Cowboys player didn't seem drunk at first: Police said Wednesday that Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Jay Ratliff didn't seem drunk after they pulled him over this week before arresting him for driving while intoxicated.
Ratliff didn't immediately give off the smell of alcohol or look drunk after a late-night accident Tuesday in Grapevine, about 20 miles northwest of Dallas, according to search warrant paperwork released Wednesday. He was arrested after failing a field sobriety test.
The 31-year-old Ratliff "seemed to be moving around quite well given the wreck," but police officer Eric Barch wrote in a search warrant affidavit that he wanted to investigate further because the accident happened shortly after midnight, when wrecks can often involve an intoxicated driver. People in good physical shape like Ratliff can also hide how intoxicated they are, Barch said.
Super Bowl or super brrr?: With frigid temperatures in New York and New Jersey this week, just think. It could be worse. The area could be getting ready for the Super Bowl.
In fact, next year at this time, New York will be hosting leadup events for the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2, 2014.
The soon-to-be printed Farmers' Almanac says to expect "an intense storm, heavy rain, snow and strong winds" for that weekend.
But, as WABC-TV forecaster Amy Freeze says, football fans "like a little winter weather."
The record low for a Super Bowl kickoff is 39 degrees when Dallas beat Miami in January 1972 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. It will be a lot warmer back in the Big Easy when the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers tangle in less than two weeks. They'll be inside the Superdome.
Seau's family sues NFL over brain injuries: The family of Junior Seau has sued the NFL, claiming the former linebacker's suicide was the result of brain disease caused by violent hits he sustained while playing football.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Wednesday in California Superior Court in San Diego, blames the NFL for its "acts or omissions" that hid the dangers of repetitive blows to the head. It says Seau developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from those hits, and accuses the NFL of deliberately ignoring and concealing evidence of the risks associated with traumatic brain injuries.
Seau died at age 43 of a self-inflicted gunshot in May. He was diagnosed with CTE in tests after his death.
