NFL
NEW YORK -- Ben Roethlisberger is getting time off for good behavior.
He'll be back on the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers two games earlier than expected after convincing NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell he is turning his life around.
The star quarterback, accompanied by team president Art Rooney, met with Goodell early Friday and was told he could return on Oct. 17 against Cleveland after missing four games.
He was suspended in April for six games for violating the league's personal conduct policy, but Goodell said at the time he would review the player's behavior over the next few months. Goodell was satisfied that Roethlisberger has followed the league's guidelines and stayed out of trouble.
"You have told me and the Steelers that you are committed to making better decisions," Goodell said in a letter to the two-time Super Bowl winner. "Your actions over the past several months have been consistent with that promise and you must continue to honor that commitment."
Roethlisberger was accused of sexually assaulting a Georgia college student following a night of drinking in a Milledgeville, Ga., bar on March 5. He was not charged by Georgia authorities.
The league said the "reinstatement is contingent on Roethlisberger continuing to adhere to the program established by our advisors and avoiding any further violations of the personal conduct policy."
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NEW YORK -- The New York Giants acquired quarterback Sage Rosenfels and running back Darius Reynaud from the Minnesota Vikings on Friday for undisclosed draft picks.
The Vikings announced the deal on their website. They will receive a pick in next year's draft and a conditional selection in the 2012 draft.
The deal is contingent on both players passing physicals on Saturday.
Rosenfels will back up Eli Manning. The Giants lost backup Jim Sorgi with a shoulder injury and he was placed on injured reserve, leaving untested Rhett Bomar as the only other quarterback.
Rosenfels was third string behind Brett Favre and Tarvaris Jackson in Minnesota. He is entering his 10th NFL season as a backup quarterback.
The Vikings acquired Rosenfels from Houston in a trade before last season and signed him to a two-year deal worth $9 million to compete with Jackson for the starting job.
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DENVER -- Elvis Dumervil's season is officially sacked.
The Denver Broncos had been holding out hope the league's top sacker would make a quicker than anticipated recovery from a torn chest muscle and return to action in December.
Dumervil, however, posted a message on his Twitter account Friday night that confirmed an NFL.com report he'll be going on injured reserve, ending his season.
Dumervil led the league with 17 sacks last season and got hurt during the first week of training camp shortly after signing a big contract extension.
The Broncos were expected to file the transaction with the league office on Saturday. They placed tailback LenDale White on IR on Friday after medical tests confirmed he had ruptured his right Achilles' tendon in Denver's exhibition finale Thursday night in Minnesota.
The 26-year-old Dumervil led the league in sacks in 2009 after moving from defensive end to outside linebacker when coach Josh McDaniels arrived from New England and switched to a 3-4 defensive scheme.
Dumervil parlayed his breakout season into a five-year, $58.332 million extension in late July that included $43.168 million in guarantees against injury, a record for a player at his position.
The pass rusher was injured in the first week of training camp last month while doing a 1-on-1 blocking drill with offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Investigators from the North Carolina Secretary of State's office have subpoenaed Tar Heels defensive tackle Marvin Austin, a person familiar with the situation said Friday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Austin is one of 13 players who did not travel with the 18th-ranked Tar Heels to Atlanta for Saturday's opener against No. 21 LSU because of an NCAA probe.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall's office is reviewing whether North Carolina's sports agents laws have been broken in the wake of the NCAA investigation into the school's football program.
The NCAA probe initially focused on whether Austin and receiver Greg Little got improper benefits from agents and has now expanded to possible academic violations.
George Jeter, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's office, declined to comment on the subpoena.
Earlier Friday, the school said it had declared Austin, defensive ends Robert Quinn and Michael McAdoo, cornerbacks Kendric Burney and Charles Brown, and Little ineligible "for violating school and/or NCAA rules."
Another six players -- top tailbacks Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston; safeties Brian Gupton, Da'Norris Searcy and Jonathan Smith; and defensive end Linwan Euwell -- are being held out of the game during the investigation.
North Carolina also said three other players -- linebackers Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter and safety Deunta Williams -- didn't travel with the team as the school conferred with the NCAA on their status. Sturdivant and Carter were later cleared and were traveling to Atlanta on Friday night. However, Williams remains sidelined because the NCAA wanted more information before ruling on his status.
The news means the Tar Heels will be without at least six starters from a defense that ranked among the nations best last season, including their entire secondary.
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OXFORD, Miss. -- In another surprising twist to a month-long saga, Mississippi quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has been cleared to play football just one day before the start of the season.
Three days ago, the NCAA ruled that the former Oregon quarterback had to sit out a season after enrolling at Mississippi. But the university appealed that decision and announced Friday that the NCAA Division I Subcommittee for Legislative Relief had overturned the first ruling.
Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said he couldn't talk about specifics of Friday morning's appeals hearing, but was thrilled with the committee's decision.
"It's a big lift for us and the team's really excited," Nutt said. "We feel very fortunate. Jeremiah and his family were in tears they were so happy afterward.
"It's a great feeling."
Masoli is expected to be the Rebels' starting quarterback this season, though Nutt said sophomore Nathan Stanley will start against Jacksonville State on Saturday because of the short notice.
Masoli played for Oregon the past two seasons, leading the Ducks to the Rose Bowl in 2009. But he was kicked off Oregon's team earlier this summer after two run-ins with police. He pleaded guilty to a second-degree burglary charge and was also cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession.
Masoli had already received an undergraduate degree from Oregon, and decided to transfer to Ole Miss where he entered the Parks and Recreation graduate program. The NCAA will often waive a one-year residency requirement for athletes who enter a graduate program not offered at the previous school, but initially didn't clear Masoli because "the waiver exists to provide relief to student-athletes who transfer for academic reasons to pursue graduate studies, not to avoid disciplinary measures at the previous university."
NHL
NEWARK, N.J. -- The NHL has signed off on Ilya Kovalchuk's latest contract with the New Jersey Devils.
Five weeks after rejecting the Russian's landmark 17-year, $102 million contract with the Devils, the league approved a revised 15-year, $100 million deal on Friday after reaching an agreement with the NHL Players Association on an amendment covering long-term contracts.
Jay Grossman, Kovalchuk's agent, confirmed the agreement in an e-mail to The Associated Press. It was first reported by TSN.
The NHL had rejected the Devils' initial offer because it violated the league's salary cap. An arbiter upheld that decision after the union filed a grievance.
With 338 goals and 304 assists in 642 career games, Kovalchuk was the biggest prize on the NHL free agent market this season. The 27-year-old left wing had 41 goals and 44 assists in 2009-10, a season he split between Atlanta and the Devils, who acquired him in a multi-player deal in February.
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