where Willie Mays roamed center field and Joe Montana connected with

NASHVILLE -- Titans safety Michael Griffin is appealing his one-game suspension without pay after being labeled by the NFL as a repeat offender of the leagues rules prohibiting hits to the head and neck area of defenceless players. The league announced the penalty Monday for Griffins hit on Oakland tight end Mychal Rivera. The punishment came from Merton Hanks, the NFLs vice-president of football operations. Griffin wrote in a text to The Associated Press that he was just trying to do his job but hurt his team. The suspension would cost Griffin $205,882.35 out of his $3.5 million base pay this season and keep him out of Sundays game at Indianapolis. Griffin cannot take part in any football activities until Dec. 2, and the Titans hold the AFCs sixth and final playoff berth at this point. "All I can say is I apologize to the Titans fans, my teammates, and the organization," Griffin wrote. "I also hope Rivera is doing well and I apologize to him and his family." The safety was flagged for unnecessary roughness in the second quarter of Sundays 23-19 win over Oakland for a hit on Rivera. It was Griffins second violation this season and fourth since 2011. Griffin went in low but hit Rivera as the tight end went to the ground after attempting a catch. Griffin said after the game that he apologized and even asked an official what more he could do on the play only to be told to aim low. "Im asking where do you aim low when somebodys going over the middle and hes catching the ball and hes falling at the same time? What do you do? My position and my job as a defensive player is to keep him from catching the ball and I dont know what youre supposed to do," Griffin said after the game. Rivera, a rookie out of the University of Tennessee, had his helmet knocked off in the collision and did not return to the game. "It was pretty brutal," Rivera said. "The really brutal thing about it was my helmet falling off and my head hitting the ground. It wasnt really the hit. The hit was pretty hard to my head, but it was more my helmet falling off and hitting the ground." Rivera said he had no symptoms when he woke up Monday and has been cleared by doctors to play this week. He also said Griffin texted an apology after the game and said the hit was not malicious. "I really respected that from him," Rivera said. "I hit him back and told him I respected he was just doing his job and I said wed see each other again in the future." Oakland coach Dennis Allen said the suspension was the leagues decision. "Thats not for me to say whether its just or not just," Allen said. "Its unfortunate that our guy got hit and was knocked out of the game. Ill say that." Titans coach Mike Munchak said the hit looked a lot worse because Rivera was going low and his helmet came off. Munchak said the intent to harm wasnt there because Griffin went in with his shoulder. "I think the helmet came off from him actually hitting the ground of his own doing," Munchak said. "I think (Griffin) hit him with his shoulder, for sure." Griffin was fined $21,000 for hitting Jets receiver Stephen Hill high while blocking after an interception Sept. 29. The NFL also fined Griffin $21,000 last season for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Minnesota receiver Michael Jenkins last season, and the safety was fined $7,500 for a late hit in the head area with his helmet in a game at Carolina in November 2011. Patriots Jerseys 2019 . The 20-year-old Inoue landed a series of combinations and the bout was stopped 2 minutes, 54 seconds into the sixth round. Inoue, the first Japanese boxer to claim a world title in just his sixth professional fight, improved to 6-0 with five knockouts. Cheap Patriots Jerseys .Boston beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night and celebrated consecutive wins for the first time in more than a month. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/ . Burkes Flames are one of several teams involved in heavy trade speculation going into next Wednesdays 3pm et deadline, with the most prominent name in play being forward Michael Cammalleri. Fake Patriots Jerseys . Then again, he really was at his home away from home. "It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night," Shields said after pitching Kansas City past the San Diego Padres 8-0 Wednesday. New England Patriots Shirts . - Novak Djokovic beat John Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open, where hell resume his longtime rivalry with Roger Federer.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss the NBAs fine on the Toronto Raptors, the ice bucket challenge, Candlestick Park and Jimmy Grahams reaction to the NFLs goal-post no dunking" rule. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star My thumb is up to the $25,000 tampering fine that the NBA levied against the Toronto Raptors this week. The fine came after the rapper Drake, the teams unpaid but omnipresent global ambassador, spotted league MVP Kevin Durant in the crowd during a Toronto concert and all but openly recruited him with the aid of a chanting crowd. So, the team received the fine, and its about time. Drake is popular in NBA circles, and you can bet hes talked to guys like Durant off-stage, too. In the NBA, the best players choose their destinations, and even if the NBA insists they never asked for Drakes removal as ambassador, that makes him sound like a threat, right? Which, he may yet be. And finally, with this fine, the Raptors have at least paid something for his services. Steve Simmons, Sun Media My thumb is up to the ice bucket challenge, the charitable campaign inspired and enhanced by social media that has worked so well to raise money for the dreadful disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease. Suddenly, in recent days weve seen the likes of Sidney Crosby, Gary Bettman, Henrik Lundqvist, P.K. Subban from the hockey world and other athletes and celebrities dumping a bucket of ice over their head inspiring donations worldwide, the likes of which we have never seen before. A year ago this timeframe, ALS had raised $32,000 in a two-week period. Since the ice bucket challenge began, the brainchild of former college baseball player and ALS sufferer Peter Frates, more than $5.5 milllion has been pledged.dddddddddddd Sometimes a simple idea, for all the right reasons, with the aid of social media, can go an awfully long way. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is up to memories of San Franciscos Candlestick Park, the 54-year-old stadium whose swan song was sung this week at a concert by Paul McCartney. It was fitting Sir Paul closed the place considering the Beatles gave their last live performance there, in 1966. Candlestick chilled the body. Giants fans wore parkas in June. But it often warmed the sporting soul. This was hallowed ground where Willie Mays roamed center field and Joe Montana connected with Dwight Clark on "the catch." The Stick held up well, especially during the 89 World Series as I sat worriedly in the auxiliary press box during the Loma Prieta earthquake. For that, and for everything, thanks. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is down to Jimmy Graham, the New Orleans Saints standout tight end, who is probably the best at his position in the NFL, even better than the grown-ups. Graham is responsible for the so-called "goal-post no dunking" rule because he went too far and managed to bend a goal post. Well, he hates the rule, has vowed to protest it by ignoring it, which he did twice after touchdowns on Friday night. Now, you can call it the "no fun league," you can say that pre-season games arent to be taken too seriously and that unsportsmanlike penalties after touchdowns are no big deal, but if you play for Saints coach Sean Payton, who was suspended for a year by the NFL, you do not show up the league because you know your coach - any coach, I guess - will tear into you. Thats what Payton did and Graham yelled back and a sideline shouting match ensued, during kindergarten. ' ' '