Pats' Brady expects to play Thursday
FOXBOROUGH, Mass., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- New England quarterback Tom Brady said Tuesday he expects to play in the Patriots' Thursday night preseason game against Philadelphia.
"There's no reason why I wouldn't," he said. "I've been out doing everything. It will be nice to get out there and play some football."
Brady, 32, missed last season with torn knee ligaments.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft sounded convinced Brady was ready to get back into a game, the Boston Herald reported.
"I'll bet you a thousand lottery tickets that (Brady) starts the first (preseason) game," Kraft said.
Still Coach Bill Belichick isn't divulging his plans for his starting quarterback, saying it will depend on "what's best for this football team."
Agent: Vick may play again soon
NEW YORK, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Quarterback Michael Vick, a free man after serving federal time for a dogfighting conviction, may be playing in the NFL again soon, his agent said Tuesday.
Joel Segal told ESPN Radio "there are a lot of teams interested" in signing his client and it's "not a matter of if, but when."
Former NFL coach Tony Dungy, appointed by the league as a mentor to the 29-year-old former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, also is in Vick's corner, saying he has recommended him to teams.
Dungy told ESPN coaches have called him and he thinks "something's gonna happen this week."
Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome also told the network he believed Vick would sign soon with a team.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last month Vick could play again under certain conditions.
Roethlisberger: Accuser had breakdown
RENO, Nev., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Lawyers for Ben Roethlisberger allege the woman suing the Steelers quarterback over an alleged sexual assault had a nervous breakdown.
A motion filed by Roethlisberger's attorneys in Reno, Nev., contends the woman he allegedly attacked had earlier bragged about having sex with him and had also suffered psychological problems after an affair with another married man.
"More than a year later, (the plaintiff) -- having filed no police report … and by her own admission, suffering from significant psychological problems -- filed her baseless complaint in this matter," the brief said.
The lawsuit contends Roethlisberger assaulted the woman at a Lake Tahoe casino where she worked in July 2008. The plaintiff was an employee of the casino and is also suing eight of her former co-workers.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Tuesday that Roethlisberger's lawyers declined comment on the motion.
Merlyn Mantle, widow of Mickey, dies
PLANO, Texas, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Merlyn Mantle, the widow of baseball great Mickey Mantle, has died in Plano, Texas, at age 77 from Alzheimer's disease, a family spokesman said.
Mantle died Monday at a hospice facility, spokesman Marty Appel said.
Mantle, born Merlyn Louise Johnson in Cardin, Okla., married her husband Dec. 23, 1951, after his rookie season, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The two, who were married for 43 years, met in 1949 when he was a high school baseball star in northeast Oklahoma and she was a cheerleader at a rival school. Mickey Mantle, a Hall of Fame Yankees outfielder, died in 1995.
Merlyn Mantle is survived by two of their sons, David, 53, and Danny, 49; four grandchildren and a sister, Pat LaFalier of Miami.
She is to be buried in Dallas next to her husband and sons Mickey Jr. and Billy at Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Park, the Times reported.
