AFC news

Browns: When Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell fired legendary coach Paul Brown in 1963, little Condoleezza Rice, growing up in the segregated South, threw a fit. “I went in my room and tore all the posters of my walls,” the former Secretary of State said. “I was really, really angry. But I’m glad to be back with the Browns.” Rice, who once aspired to be NFL commissioner, stopped in to visit her favorite pro football team on Thursday. She spoke to the players, visited with president Mike Holmgren and enjoyed a tour of the team’s training headquarters with coach Eric Mangini. Rice explained her love for the Browns dated to her childhood, when there were few other options. “Because of integration, Dixie had no professional teams,” she said. “Black players couldn’t stay in a hotel or eat in a restaurant, so the league did not put teams south of the Mason-Dixon line. So the only team my father and I got every Sunday was the Cleveland Browns. We were big fans of Jim Brown. I was a huge fan of Paul Brown personally, so that’s how we became Browns fans. Back then, they were quite something.”

Chargers: Wide receiver Vincent Jackson will report to the San Diego Chargers next week and sign his contract tender, his agent said Thursday. By reporting Oct. 29, Jackson will be able to serve a three-game, team-imposed suspension on the roster exempt list, then play in the final six games to accrue his sixth season toward unrestricted free agency. Jackson, a 6-foot-5 Pro Bowl player who had two straight 1,000-yard seasons, won’t be paid when he misses games against Tennessee, Houston and Denver while on the roster exempt list. He was placed on the list on Aug. 20 in a hardball tactic by general manager A.J. Smith. Jackson will be eligible to return to the struggling Chargers for a game at Indianapolis on Nov. 28.

Associated Press