PRESS BOX: Report links Manziel to more signings
Florida-based autograph dealer Kevin Freistat organized two additional autograph signings in which Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel signed memorabilia, including one after the BCS National Championship in January and another later that month in Houston.
ESPN's "Outside the Lines" reported the two new signings. Sources told the program Manziel has signed at a total of six sessions with brokers.
Jim Darnell, the attorney hired by Manziel, said he remains confident the redshirt sophomore will be on the field. He wouldn't disclose in a radio interview with ESPN whether Manziel has met with the NCAA or investigators.
An NCAA review might grow in scope after ESPN reported that the Heisman Trophy winner appeared at even more signing events than had been first reported. Manziel is estimated to have signed his name more than 4,400 times in less than a month at a total of six signing sessions.
---Linebacker Trey DePriest, Alabama's second-leading tackler last season, is serving what could be a brief suspension after an undisclosed violation of team rules, coach Nick Saban said Tuesday.
Saban also told the media after practice that leading receiver Amari Cooper has a strained foot that will sideline him for a few days. Cooper will be listed as day to day.
DePriest, who had 59 tackles last season, did not practice Tuesday for the preseason No. 1 ranked team and defending BCS champion. Saban indicated that DePriest could be back at practice in a week if he meets reinstatement obligations.
AUTO
NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya is out at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing after the 2013 Sprint Cup season ends, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The team received the news at its racing shop in Concord, N.C., according to USA Today sources. No replacement has yet to be announced for next season.
The 37-year-old Montoya joined owner Chip Ganassi's team in 2007 after leaving Formula One, but he finished no higher than 17th in the Sprint Cup points standings the past three seasons and has only two career wins -- the last in 2010 at Watkins Glen -- in the Sprint Cup series, This year, Montoya sits 22nd in driver points.
NHL
---Pittsburgh Penguins CEO David Moorehouse defended Sidney Crosby from critics angered by a report that he received preferential treatment at a Pittsburgh Department of Motor Vehicles location.
DMV agent Pat Brisson told reporters that Crosby, 26, came to renew his license and had made an appointment. In most cases, appointments aren't available at state DMV locations, which serve patrons on a first-come, first-served basis. One woman said she waited for 90 minutes and was assisted after Crosby, who was given immediate service.
"Anybody who has seen Sid in a public place knows his presence causes all kinds of commotion, and that he likes least to cause a big scene," Moorehouse said.
---The Dallas Stars denied Tuesday a claim by the father of Evgeni Malkin that the team made the Pittsburgh standout an offer while he was under contract with the Penguins.
"We have seen the reports that have surfaced out of Russia claiming that we have tampered and they are completely untrue," Stars general manager Jim Nill told The Dallas Morning News. "The Dallas Stars' organization respects and adheres to all rules and regulations set forth by the National Hockey League and any report that claims otherwise is false."
Vladimir Malkin's comments that were published by SovSport in Russia. He said the Stars offered his son a larger deal than the eight-year, $76 million extension that he signed with the Penguins in June.
