NFL roundup \ News and notes

Steelers: The Pittsburgh Steelers received their Super Bowl rings, four months after beating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 for the franchise’s record sixth championship. The rings were presented at a private ceremony Tuesday night at Heinz Field. The ring’s design is being kept confidential until then.Typically, each player gets a ring with his name and number on it. President Dan Rooney, retired running back Jerome Bettis and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger designed the team’s last Super Bowl ring. On Monday, coach Mike Tomlin said he was excited about getting his ring, but that it will mark the end of the 2008 season. Now, he says, it’s time to focus on 2009.

Vick bankruptcy: A judge who rejected Michael Vick’s first bankruptcy plan warned the suspended NFL star’s lawyers Tuesday that they have just one more chance to file a workable proposal for repaying the millions he owes to creditors. As Vick sat silently in the front of the courtroom, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro set a July 2 deadline for submission of a revised Chapter 11 plan. A hearing to confirm or reject the plan was set for Aug. 27. Santoro said that if the new plan fails to address the shortcomings that prompted him to reject the first one in April, he will appoint an independent trustee to take over management of Vick’s finances. “The feasibility of it the last go-round, as I ruled, left something to be desired,” Santoro said. Santoro said he had major concerns about the first plan — how Vick will make enough money to pay his obligations, and how he will come up with the more than $3 million to pay his lawyers within three years.

Jets: Rex Ryan realizes anything he says might end up on another’s team’s bulletin board. Even in June, with the season still months away. And, quite frankly, the Jets coach couldn’t care less. “It is fun to ruffle some feathers and all that kind of stuff,” Ryan said Tuesday in between minicamp practices. “I’ve got no problem doing that.” That’s for sure. In just a few months on the job, Ryan has made it clear that he’s confident in his abilities and his team, and has strong opinions about them. And, he doesn’t mind if people think he’s being brash, arrogant or cocky. “I make no apologies for any of those types of things, those types of statements that I make,” he said. “I know one thing: Our football team is going to be prepared and we’re going to play our tails off and we’re going to give everything we’ve got. That’s one thing I can promise our fans and anybody else listening. If people have trouble with it, live with it because it’s going to happen.”

Vikings: Minnesota Vikings players Kevin Williams and Pat Williams are being improperly singled out by the NFL for extra steroids testing, their lawyer said Tuesday. Attorney Peter Ginsberg said he filed papers Monday in Hennepin County District Court asking Judge Gary Larson to say the NFL can’t treat the Williamses differently from other players while the long court battle over their suspensions continues. The Williamses, who are not related, tested positive last summer for a banned drug that can mask the use of steroids. They took the weight-loss supplement StarCaps, which did not list the diuretic bumetanide on the label. The NFL has acknowledged it knew StarCaps contained the banned drug, and the players say the NFL wrongly failed to share that information. The players were never accused of taking steroids, but the league’s policy is that players are responsible for knowing what they’re taking. The NFL says it intends to enforce the Williamses’ four-game suspensions at the start of the upcoming season.

Colts: Owner Jim Irsay expects recently retired assistants Tom Moore and Howard Mudd to be back on the field when the team reports to training camp in August. Irsay said Tuesday that the team has worked out the details to bring the two back as consultants. New coach Jim Caldwell will decide how to use them. Irsay would not disclose the financial terms but said the two coaches would make similar salaries to what they were paid before. Moore and Mudd retired last month after NFL owners changed the league’s pension plan. They believed if they didn’t retire then, they would lose money.

Cowboys: Maybe the Cowboys won’t need Adam “Pacman” Jones back in the secondary after all. The biggest playmakers at organized team activities Tuesday were a pair of low-profile, third-year defensive backs: cornerback Alan Ball and safety Courtney Brown. Ball had an interception and each player had a couple of deflections, earning praise from teammates and coach Wade Phillips. The performances came one day after the team backtracked on owner Jerry Jones’ comment that he was considering a reunion with Jones, the cornerback released following a troubled 2008 that included a fight with a team bodyguard and a six-game suspension. The team has been practicing at a high school stadium since the collapse of its practice facility last month.

Saints: Sean Payton said he was caught a little by surprise when veteran linebacker Dan Morgan retired for a second time since signing with the Saints in 2008, but added the team has no immediate plans to seek an additional linebacker. “Barring something unforeseen arising, I don’t think so,” Payton said. Payton said Tuesday after a voluntary offseason practice that he has yet to speak with Morgan. “I’ve just played some phone tag with him and that has been about it,” the coach said. Morgan, a first-round draft choice by Carolina in 2001, spent seven seasons with the Panthers, during which he was sidelined off and on by multiple concussions. Shortly after signing with the Saints as a free agent, he retired and missed all of last season. He decided to come back this winter, but went out with a calf strain during minicamp last weekend. Payton said Morgan appeared committed to his comeback throughout the winter and spring.

Associated Press