LATROBE, Pa. (AP)—Larry Foote is the mouth of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room. James Farrior is its conscience.

Foote loosens up his teammates with his nonstop chattering and incessant arguing on any subject. Farrior is the defense’s acknowledged leader, a reliable perfectionist and team captain who is almost always in the right position to make a tackle or shut down a play.

SIGNALING—Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Larry Foote gives a signal during the NFL football team’s training camp in Latrobe, Pa., Aug. 1.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor can’t wait for the preseason to start next month.

The junior from Jeanette, Pa., pronounced himself 100 percent healthy after surgery in February to repair some damage in his left knee.

COMING UP ROSES—Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor runs a play against Oregon during the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Jan 1.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Nolan Harrison was hired by the NFL Players Association on Monday as senior director of former player services. Harrison played 10 seasons in the NFL and was the player representative for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1998-2000. He also served on the NFLPA’s executive committee from 2000-02.

NOLAN HARRISON

“The lessons in leadership that I learned serving in those positions really served as a springboard for me in my professional career in the financial services industry after I left the game of football,” Harrison said. “The confidence those guys showed me really inspired me, but also served to ignite my passion to continue to serve and protect my brothers in any way possible.”

The mergers of the original ABA and NBA and the AFL and NFL combined four professional organizations into the two of the most powerful sports entities in the world according to many historians. They are also two perfect examples of “free market” capitalism at work.

One of the principal legal architects of the ABA-NBA merger was Richard P. Tinkham. Tinkham was co-founder of the American Basketball Association along with Joe Newman. A 1957 law school grad, Tinkham co-founded the original ABA and the Indiana Pacers franchise in 1967, and served for two years as president of the ABA board of trustees. In 1972-75, he was instrumental in the creation of Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.