Top Bears pick Long has school to wrap up

LAKE FOREST | The Bears' draft picks have plenty of obstacles to overcome in the next few months while trying to fit onto the roster.

NFC championship: 2 teams, different perspectives

ATLANTA | The Falcons are well aware of just how desperate this city is for its first Super Bowl championship.

NFL INSIDER: Saints need this win to reach postseason

New Orleans (5-6) at Atlanta (10-1)

Saints' star Pierre Thomas has hero's return at T.F. South camp

LANSING | At 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, the New Orleans Saints' Pierre Thomas has become one of the NFL's top running backs.

JOHN DOHERTY: Peyton's place may be in court

Back on Sept. 13, I wrote Peyton Manning's place -- given the nature of his neck injury and subsequent surgeries -- is on the sidelines.

Who dat? Saints need big win vs. Bears

NEW ORLEANS | If there's panic in New Orleans after the Saints' season-opening loss to the Packers, it sure doesn't show.

NFL star Thomas giving back to 'where it all started for him'

LANSING | Four days before last season's NFL playoffs, Saints' leading rusher Pierre Thomas was placed on injured reserve with an injured left ankle. Imagine the Kentucky Derby favorite being left at the starting line because the gate wouldn't go up while the rest of the field took off.

T.F. South grad Thomas ponders future out of Big Easy

METAIRIE, La. | Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas, the stars of the Saints' backfield when they were Super Bowl champs, are preparing for an offseason of uncertainty that could end with them wearing different uniforms whenever the next football season begins.

Tiger Woods saga voted AP sports story of year

NEW YORK | Tiger Woods' humbling return to the public eye, from his televised confession to a winless season on the golf course, was voted the sports story of the year by members of The Associated Press.