Finnerty's body found; autopsy inconclusive
The body of former Grand Valley State quarterback Cullen Finnerty was found Tuesday in a wooded area about a mile from where he had mysteriously disappeared Sunday northeast of Baldwin, Mich., according to police.
Robert Hilts of the Lake County Sheriff's Department confirmed Finnerty's death.
An autopsy Wednesday was inconclusive on what might have caused Finnerty's death, but Hilts said other tests might be available later this week. Foul play has been ruled out by investigators. There were no signs of a heart injury.
Finnerty, 30, was spending the holiday weekend with family at a cabin and had decided to go fishing on the Baldwin River.
Finnerty called his wife to say he was nervous about something and then disappeared, Hilts said. Authorities found his boat without fishing equipment. They had tracked his cell phone signal until it went dead.
Hilts said the family feared that Finnerty might have had a "mental episode" prompted by fear.
Finnerty, who had two small children, started on Grand Valley's Division II national championship teams in 2003, 2005 and 2006. The 2003 team was coached by Brian Kelly, now at Notre Dame.
---Representatives of former Penn State coach Joe Paterno's family will file a new lawsuit against the NCAA that will be announced Wednesday night on NBC Sports Network's "Costas Tonight"
Network spokesman Adam Friefeld told PennLive.com that Wick Sollers, the family's attorney; former Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh and Paterno family spokesman Dan McGinn will appear on the show hosted by sportscaster Bob Costas. Details of the new suit will be revealed during the broadcast.
The NCAA already is facing a federal antitrust lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and also a suit filed by a state senator to mandate that the NCAA keep $60 million in fines from the Penn State sanctions within the state.
---Alabama backup quarterback Phillip Ely is set to transfer to Toledo, according to multiple reports.
Ely would sit out the 2013 season and have two years of eligibility remaining. Neither school has confirmed the move, but Ely announced his intentions on Twitter.
Ely sat behind starter A.J. McCarron the past two seasons at Alabama. Last year, he saw minimal playing time, passing for 42 yards and a touchdown. McCarron returns this fall for his senior season.
---The 12 member schools of the Atlantic Coast Conference split more than $203 million in revenue -- an average of $16.9 million per university -- during the 2011-12 school year, according to the News & Record.
That represents an increase of nearly 38 percent from the average of $12.3 million per school the previous year.
The Big Ten paid its teams an average of $23.8 million, the SEC an average of $20.3 million, the Big 12 an average of $12.0 million and the Pac-12 an average of $11.1 million during the 2011-12 period, according to the paper.
