Ball denies role in fight that preceded attack on him

Montee Ball made his first public appearance since the Wisconsin running back was assaulted Aug. 1 near campus, speaking Sunday at Camp Randall Stadium during the Badgers' media day.

Bell made it clear that he didn't have anything to do with a fight before he was assaulted.

"I had nothing to do with it at all but with the police investigation still going on there's not much I can say," Ball said. "But I can 100 percent tell you that I had nothing to do with that first fight, honestly."

Practices had been closed all week to the media.

Ball, who sustained a concussion when he was assaulted, didn't dodge any questions, including those concerning his Heisman Trophy candidacy and his physical condition going into the season.

Ball, 21, said he made a last-minute decision to go out with some friends before the start of training camp.

"We weren't getting rowdy or anything. I was just heading right back to my place a block away and I was attacked. That's all I remember," Ball said. "I'm very blessed because it obviously could have been a lot worse."

That followed "another unfortunate incident" according to Ball when he attended the Mifflin Street block party in early May and was fined for trespassing.

Ball admitted that he is aware of an attempt to draw conclusions about him from the incidents.

"It really shows me how much I do live my life in a fish bowl and how big a microscope that is on top of me. Everybody is watching to see what I do as soon as I step out of my apartment," he said.

"But people who know me know who I am and what type of kid I am."

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said Ball recently addressed the team to clear the air.

"You respect a person to get up and say what he was going to do from this day forward and apologize if he had been a distraction. He did vow to provide great leadership," Bielema said.

Ball first addressed the issue in a meeting with the team's running backs.

"I apologized for the situation and what they've had to deal with. I also told them, 'I'm all in to win with you guys.' "

Running back James White said Ball made an impression on his teammates.

"He let us know that he was a responsible kid and was ready to get back on the field and help us have a successful season," White said.

In a team meeting on Friday following the first practice in full pads, Ball also addressed the team during what Bielema likes to call an "open mic forum" where players may get up and address whatever issues are on their minds.

"It was big. Being the type of talented player that (Ball) is, he's an even better person," quarterback Curt Phillips said. "We know who he is and what he stands for. We expect him to put up great numbers like he did last year."

Ball will be limited to noncontact drills in practice for at least this week.

■ MICHIGAN - Running back Fitzgerald Toussaint has been working out on his own at Schembechler Hall, trying to stay in shape while suspended from the team. The Wolverines are about to find out if he's ready.

Michigan coach Brady Hoke said Toussaint and defensive end Frank Clark will begin practicing today - following a week without them on the field - after both had run-ins with the law.

Hoke suspended Toussaint after he was arrested in July on suspicion of drunken driving. Clark was kept away from the team while facing a charge that he took a laptop from a dorm room.

"Believe me, they have paid a heavy price and will continue to pay a price for actions unbecoming of a Michigan football player," Hoke said at media day.

Hoke, though, wouldn't say if part of their discipline would include missing the opener against defending champion Alabama on Sept. 1 at Cowboys Stadium.

Toussaint ran for 1,000-plus yards and nine touchdowns last year. Clark closed his freshman season with a season-high five interceptions and an interception in the Sugar Bowl win over Virginia Tech.

■ PENN STATE - University trustees took no formal vote, but the vast majority voiced support for the university president's acceptance of penalties imposed by the NCAA over the university's handling of its child sex-abuse scandal.

Board chairwoman Karen Peetz told fellow trustees during a conference call that the panel could not vote because 10 days' notice of the meeting was required, an objection two members raised at the outset of the call. But more than two dozen members of the 32-member board then voiced support for president Rodney Erickson's decision and a desire to move forward, although many criticized the NCAA sanctions themselves.

The NCAA last month barred the school from postseason play for four years, fined it $60 million, stripped it of future scholarships and invalidated 112 of the football team's wins over the handling of abuse complaints against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted in June of 45 child sexual abuse counts.