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NFL • Broncos safety T.J. Ward has been charged with misdemeanor assault and disturbing the peace for allegedly throwing a glass mug at a female bartender at a Denver strip club earlier this month. Ward, 27, appeared in court Friday to face the charges stemming from the incident at 2:40 a.m. on May 10 at PT's All Nude club. According to court documents, Ward threw the mug at the bartender after being told he couldn't bring a drink into the club. A court date was set for June 23.
Ward signed a four-year, $22.5 million deal with Denver this spring. He is coming off a Pro Bowl season in Cleveland.
• A Broncos executive accused of crashing into two cars while driving drunk last year has been sentenced to seven months in jail after he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and careless driving resulting in injury. Director of player personnel Matt Russell won't have to miss any work, however, because Judge Edward Casias on Friday approved Russell for work release.
NCAA faces trial
college athletics • A federal judge on Friday denied motions by the NCAA that would delay trial on an antitrust suit by former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon and others, ordering the trial to go forward next month in California. Judge Claudia Wilken ordered a June 9 trial in Oakland on the antitrust lawsuit. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction that would allow Division I players the right to band together to sell their services in an open market.
The lawsuit could upend the NCAA's current model built upon the concept that college athletes are amateurs and shouldn't be compensated beyond tuition and room and board.
From wire reports