In Brief

PRO FOOTBALL

Place-kicker Janikowski signs $16 million deal with Raiders

Sebastian Janikowski and the Oakland Raiders agreed on a $16 million, four-year deal Tuesday that is the richest contract for a kicker in NFL history, the team said.

Janikowski will be guaranteed $9 million in the deal, a person familiar with the contract said on the condition of anonymity, because the team did not announce terms. ESPN first reported the contract Tuesday.

Janikowski was eligible to be an unrestricted free agent if the Raiders did not sign him to a contract or place the transition or franchise tag on him by Feb. 25. But the team was able to lock him up by giving him the same contract All-Pro punter Shane Lechler got a year ago to stay out of free agency.

Janikowski is coming off the best season of his 10-year career. He made 26 of 29 field goals, with his only misses coning from 45, 57 and 66 yards. He made six kicks of at least 50 yards, including a 61-yarder that was the fourth longest in NFL history.

Also: The NFL Players Association accused the league of not sharing as much supplemental revenue with its lower-income teams as it is supposed to.

Jeffrey Kessler, the outside counsel for the NFLPA, said that a filing by the union is a result of the NFLPA concluding that the league violated the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and the supplemental revenue sharing plan.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said the NFL has abided by the system, which was put into place with the 2006 CBA, and hasn't hurt any low-revenue teams. Teams have to qualify - in essence, show they need the money - to receive the supplemental funds.

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is scheduled to have surgery today to repair the patella ligament in his left knee. Sanchez, who led New York to the AFC title game as a rookie, should be completely healthy by the start of training camp in July. The procedure is expected to help prevent future tweaks to the kneecap area.

Attorneys said San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and reality TV star Tila Tequila have settled dueling lawsuits, though the settlement was not disclosed.

Merriman was arrested by sheriff's deputies Sept. 6 after Tequila accused him of battery and false imprisonment at his suburban San Diego home.

Prosecutors declined to charge Merriman, but Tequila, whose real name is Tila Nguyen, filed a lawsuit that alleged the linebacker choked her. Merriman sued for international interference with a contract, claiming the controversy delayed a T-shirt business he was negotiating with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Former Memphis coach Kirk dies of heart attack at age 74

Dana Kirk, who coached the Memphis State Tigers to a 1985 Final Four appearance that was vacated because of NCAA violations, has died. He was 74.

Kirk died Monday in Memphis, Tenn., according to Warren Canale of Canale Funeral Directors. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that he died after suffering a heart attack.

Kirk was fired after the 1986 season, just before he was indicted on income tax evasion. He served four months in a federal minimum-security prison in Montgomery, Ala.

Kirk was 158-58 in seven years at the school now called the University of Memphis. The team was 31-4 when it went to the Final Four.

Also: The attorney for former Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton entered a not guilty plea in Stillwater, Okla., to four felony drug-related charges and said his client is in a treatment center.

The attorney, Trace Morgan, explained the reason for Sutton's absence at the arraignment to Payne County Special Judge Michael Stano, who set an April 5 hearing date.

MISCELLANEOUS

Ex-Indy 500 winner de Ferran merges startup team with Luczo

Former Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time series champion Gil de Ferran is merging his startup IndyCar series team with Luczo Dragon Racing.

The combined team plans to field one car for Raphael Matos, the IndyCar series rookie of the year for Luczo Dragon last season.

The merger pairs one of racing mogul Roger Penske's most successful former drivers, de Ferran, with Penske's son, Jay, who co-owns the Luczo Dragon team with technology industry executive Steve Luczo.

Also: Sylvia Pressler, a trailblazing judge whose 1973 ruling opened Little League baseball to girls, has died. She was 75.

Pressler died Monday morning at the family's home in Sparta, N.J., according to her husband, David Pressler. She had been battling lymphoma and was scheduled to begin chemotherapy treatments Tuesday, he said.

Robert Guerrero vacated his IBF 130-pound title to be with his wife, Casey, during the latest steps in her lengthy struggle with leukemia.