DETROIT — Ndamukong Suh got his wish. Detroit’s star defensive tackle met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his staff Tuesday to clarify questions about the way he plays the game.
“I have gained a better understanding how I need to continue to play the game to help my team win,” Suh said in a statement.
Suh requested the bye-week session in New York at NFL headquarters to talk about the penalties and fines he has received. He was joined by Lions coach Jim Schwartz and team president Tom Lewand, Goodell said.
“Ndamukong plays the game with great skill and passion and is a major reason for the Lions’ success this year,” Goodell said. “In the course of our dialogue today, we reviewed video showing that Ndamukong has clearly made the adjustments to play consistently within the rules so that he can continue to help the team.”
Suh’s rough play has led to $42,500 in fines since Detroit drafted him No. 2 overall out of Ne- braska in 2010.
Raiders see T.J. as A-OK
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders signed wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, reuniting him with his former quarterback. Carson Palmer and Houshmandzadeh were teammates with the Cincinnati Bengals for six seasons.
Houshmandzadeh, 34, had been out of the NFL since playing with the Baltimore Ravens last season but had been working out in Southern California with Palmer.
No tax increase for stadium
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Mark Dayton ruled out a tax increase as a way to help pay for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium, blowing a $350 million hole in the team’s plan to build a $1.1 billion home in suburbs north of the Twin Cities.
Stadium supporters on the Ramsey County Board had proposed raising the county sales tax by half a cent to come up with the $350 million local share of the overall cost. But Dayton, after conferring with leading lawmakers from both parties, said there is not enough support in the Legislature to exempt any proposed tax increase from a public vote.
Without that exemption, a vote couldn’t be held until November 2012, long after the Vikings want construction to begin. And most observers believe voters would reject any tax increase to fund a replacement for Minneapolis’ Metrodome, where the Vikings are in the final year of their lease.
Footnotes.
The Indianapolis Colts waived offensive lineman Michael Toudouze from the active roster and released linebacker Cody Glenn from injured reserve.
• Wide receiver Brian Robiskie was waived by Cleveland to make room for free-agent running back Thomas Clayton, who played in two games for the Browns last season and has been brought back because of injuries to Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty.
The Browns drafted Robiskie with the No. 36 overall pick in 2009 out of Ohio State.
• The NFL has overturned the $5,000 fine that Ravens center Matt Birk received for removing a microphone he was wearing in a game against the New York Jets.
• The agent for New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman said his client will “vigorously” fight a charge that he groped a woman during a Halloween party at a Boston nightclub.
“The charges will be fought vigorously within the court system, instead of a rush to judgment elsewhere. We have no further comment beyond that,” agent Don Yee said in a statement.
Police were called to the club at about 1:30 a.m. and met a woman who said Edelman, 25, reached under her costume and grabbed her crotch.
• The son of former NFL quarterback Erik Kramer died at a friend’s home Sunday night, according to a statement issued by his high school, Thousand Oaks in Southern California.
Griffen Kramer, 18, a backup quarterback, failed to wake up at the friend’s home. A statement from the high school said “initial indications suggest his passing was due to alcohol poisoning.”
