UNDATED (AP) - Pro Bowl running backs Ray Rice of Baltimore and Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears have agreed to long-term contracts. Rice has accepted a five-year, $40 million deal after leading the NFL with 2,068 yards from scrimmage last season. Forte took what the Chicago Sun-Times says is a four-year, $32 million deal with $18 million guaranteed.
CINCINNATI (AP) - The Cincinnati Reds will spend the next three to four weeks without first baseman Joey Votto, who needs surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. The 2010 National League MVP hurt the knee while sliding into third base June 29 in San Francisco, but continued to play until Sunday. General manager Walt Jocketty said Votto didn't have an MRI before yesterday because the first baseman didn't think he needed one.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Clippers forward Blake Griffin has undergone surgery to repair the medial meniscus tear of his left knee that he suffered during practice with the U.S. national team in Las Vegas. Griffin returned to Los Angeles last Thursday after experiencing discomfort in the same knee that bothered him during the playoffs. He will miss the London Olympics, but the Clippers say he should be ready for the start of the NBA season.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Syracuse has the green light to move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Big East has reached an agreement with the school, allowing the Orange to leave the league a year early for the ACC. The move will cost Syracuse a fee of $7.5 million.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Joe Paterno's family strongly denies the findings of a special investigator who described the late coach as one of four high-ranking university officials who covered up child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky. In a statement, the family says they "vehemently disagree" with the conclusions reached by a team of investigators led by former FBI director Louis Freeh (LOO'-ee free). Freeh's scathing report last week said Paterno and other university officials covered up for Sandusky to avoid bad publicity.
