Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts have announced on Wednesday that quarterback Peyton Manning underwent surgery to relieve pain in his neck caused by a pinched nerve.

The team says that the procedure was done Tuesday in Chicago by Dr. Richard Flessler.

According to ESPN.com, Nebraska’s defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will not skip the combine workouts even though he is expected to be the first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. Suh according to his agents will participate in all the workouts in Indianapolis when the combine begins next week.

Though Suh has been regarded as the No. 1 pick by all analysts across the nation, most expect him to have skipped the combine. But he will be in Indianapolis to show his skill.

Former Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Ed Johnson has signed with the Carolina Panthers as he adds depth to the team’s defensive line with his potential and size.

Johnson, who started all 16 NFL regular season games in the 2007 season [his rookie year] was an undrafted player coming out of Penn State. He also played under current Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks so the coach is aware of the potential and energy Johnson brings to the team for next season.

According to ESPN.com, Sebastian Janikowski and the Oakland Raiders have agreed to a four-year, $16 million deal on Tuesday which will be the richest contract for a kicker in NFL history.

Janikowski was eligible to be an unrestricted free agent if the Raiders did not place a franchise tag on him by February 25 or sign him to a contract. Oakland decided to lock Janikowski up with the same contract their All Pro punter Shane Lechler received last year so he can stay out of free agency.

The Houston Texans with a 9-7 record this season almost made the NFL postseason and in a way to reward their head coach Gary Kubiak, owner Bob McNair and the organization have given the coach a contract extension.

The Texans announced Wednesday that the coach has signed a contract extension that runs through the 2012 season. With Kubiak leading the Texans to their first winning season and record in franchise history, there really is no need for the organization to let go of a successful and a possibility of building on what they had this year.

Venus Williams and her younger sister Serena won the 2010 Australian Open doubles title beating Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 6-4, 6-3 in the final at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday.

That seems to be routine these days when both sisters get to the finals in the doubles. What was humorous was Venus forgetting the scores to the match.

While Serena celebrated and her excitement was quite obvious, Venus could not wrap her head around why her younger sibling was celebrating when she [Venus] thought it was game point instead of the winner.

NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira is speaking out against a hit that came in the third-quarter of the NFC Championship game against Brett Favre that should have been called a penalty and reversed a costly interception.

"It's the type of hit that we don't want," NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira said, "... because clearly we're trying to protect the knees and we need to focus on this to make sure we don't miss [them]."

Though Brett Favre has mentioned that it is very unlikely that he returns to the NFL next season, it’s never say never with Brett and that’s why Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress says he won’t give the quarterback a deadline.

Just like Favre waited during the offseason, skipped training camp and led the Vikings to the NFC Championship game, Childress will wait for Favre to either play or not for the 2010 NFL season.

Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell needs help so the organization has solicited the help of Hue Jackson as they have hired him as their new offensive coordinator. The hope is Jackson can turn Russell’s career around like he developed Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.

With the addition of Jackson, head coach Tom Cable will relinquish the play-calling duties to the new hire now that the team has a legitimate offensive coordinator.