NFL - News and notes

Ravens: John Harbaugh was hired as head coach of the Ravens, who hope their second choice proves to be a first-rate success. Harbaugh spent this season as Philadelphia’s secondary coach after making a name for himself working with special teams. He has never been a head coach, but has coaching in his genes — his father, Jack, is former head coach at Western Kentucky and his brother, Jim, is head coach at Stanford and a former quarterback with the Ravens. The 45-year-old Harbaugh received a four-year contract.
Rams: Georgia Frontiere, the St. Louis native who became a hometown hero when she brought the NFL’s Rams from Los Angeles in 1995, died. She was 80. Frontiere had been hospitalized for breast cancer for several months, the Rams said in a statement posted on their Web site. The team owner didn’t attend any games this season.
Jets: Bill Callahan, fired as coach at Nebraska after last season, was hired as assistant head coach/offense by the Jets. Callahan, who coached the Oakland Raiders to the 2002 AFC championship before they lost to Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl, has 31 years coaching experience, including nine in the NFL. “Bill brings valuable experience as an assistant coach and head coach on both the college and NFL levels,” Jets coach Eric Mangini said. “His expertise with the running game and with protections will be a big asset. I look forward to adding him to our staff.” The 51-year-old Callahan had a 27-22 record during a contentious four seasons with Nebraska, where he often was viewed as an outsider by Cornhuskers fans. He was fired after a 5-7 season by former Cornhuskers coach Tom Osborne, who returned to the school as interim athletic director.
Officials: Mike Carey will become the first black referee in Super Bowl history. Carey, in his 18th year as an official, was notified by the NFL office this week he had the assignment for the Feb. 3 game in Glendale, Ariz. The NFL will not officially announce the assignments until the week of the Super Bowl. Super Bowl officials are chosen on merit, with the highest ranked at each position getting the assignment. Carey, who runs a skiing accessories company, has been among the NFL’s top crew chiefs for a decade and has been a Super Bowl alternate, but has never been the referee. Black officials have been increasing in number over the years. This season there were 26 on the 17 crews, a single-season high. They also have been well-represented in the Super Bowl at other officiating spots. Among them was Burl Toler, a former player who worked several early games.
Redskins: Washington lost a contender for their coaching vacancy when Seattle Seahawks assistant Jim Mora withdrew from consideration. Mora, the former Atlanta Falcons head coach, is one of five coaches to interview with Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Mora met with Snyder on Wednesday and Thursday, spending Wednesday night at a guesthouse on the owner’s property. “The process reconfirmed that the quality of life for my family in Seattle is my first priority,” Mora said in a statement released by the Seahawks.

Packers: A Green Bay television station decided to have some fun this week after employees discovered that Giants quarterback Eli Manning’s favorite show is “Seinfeld.” Station officials decided to pull the episode scheduled for Saturday afternoon and replace it with a different program chosen by viewers. Manning and his New York teammates will be in town to play the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game Sunday afternoon. News of WLUK-TV’s decision apparently reached Jerry Seinfeld himself. “I’m going to send Eli a complete collection of ‘Seinfeld’ DVDs and a partial collection of ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ for inspiration,” the comedian told the New York Post on Thursday. “You think I’m going to take that sitting down?” Jay Zollar, the Fox station’s general manager, laughed when he heard of Seinfeld’s response. Zollar joked that the offer actually plays into the station’s master plan of preventing Manning from being master of the domain on Sunday. “Now he [Manning] will be up all night watching ‘Seinfeld’ — there will be no sleep for you,” he said, parodying the Soup Nazi episode in which a server admonishes noncompliant customers with, “No soup for you!” Manning said Friday the whole affair was amusing. “Yeah, it’s pretty funny,” he said. “You’ve got to enjoy it.”

Associated Pressa