Minneapolis Gets 2018 Super Bowl – NFL Roundup

ATLANTA (AP) — Minneapolis will host the 2018 Super Bowl after a vote by owners rewarded the city for its new stadium deal.

The owners chose Minneapolis and the $1 billion stadium planned for the site of the old Metrodome to host the championship over New Orleans and Indianapolis.

The new Minneapolis stadium, set to open in 2016, will hold up to 72,000 for the Super Bowl.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of retired NFL players has filed a lawsuit that charges the league with supplying them with illegal and risky narcotics and other painkillers to mask injuries. The suit charges the drugs numbed the injuries and led to medical complications down the road.

Some players say they were never told about broken legs and ankles and were fed a dose of pills to cover up the pain.

One says that instead of surgery, he was given anti-inflammatories to allow him to play in games, while another says that after years of free pills from the NFL, players retired from the league addicted to painkillers.

The complaint names eight players, including three members of the Super Bowl champion 1985 Chicago Bears: Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Dent, offensive lineman Keith Van Horne, and quarterback Jim McMahon. Lawyers seek class-action status, and they say in the filing that more than 500 other former players have signed on to the lawsuit.

Van Horne says he played an entire season on a broken leg and wasn't told about the injury for five years.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (guh-DEHlL') told reporters that the league has not seen the lawsuit and the attorneys have not been able to review it.

MAYS LANDING, N.J. (AP) — Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has received initial approval to enter a court program that could result in dismissal of an assault charge against him in New Jersey.

The decision relates to an aggravated assault charge Rice faces following a Feb. 15 incident with his then-girlfriend in an Atlantic City casino elevator. The couple married a day after Rice was indicted.

Atlantic County acting prosecutor Jim McClain said the decision was made after his office "considered all relevant information."

The pretrial intervention program allows for charges to be dismissed against first-time offenders who participate in it and meet certain conditions.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have signed first round draft pick Teddy Bridgewater to a four-year contract worth just under $7 million. The Vikings traded up to get the quarterback with the last pick of the first round.