NFL notebook

Jaguars’ Osgood attacked

Receiver escapes gun-wielding man

Associated Press / September 30, 2010

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Jacksonville receiver Kassim Osgood leapt out a second-floor window to escape a gun-wielding man who attacked him and a 19-year-old Jaguars cheerleader, according to police.

The armed intruder exchanged gunfire with his ex-girlfriend, Mackenzie Rae Putnal, after putting a gun to her head Monday night, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

According to the sheriff’s report, Osgood, 30, sustained some minor bruises during the attack and while fleeing.

“He’s fine,’’ Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said yesterday. “I really can’t comment on that whole deal.’’

Julian Armond Bartletto, 20, of Jacksonville, was arrested on charges of aggravated battery, false imprisonment, armed robbery, burglary, and violation of an injunction. He was being held without bond.

Putnal and Osgood were watching television around 11 p.m. in an upstairs room when a man walked in with his face covered with a plastic bag and pointed a gun at them. Saying, “I can’t believe you’re with that guy,’’ the man pulled Putnal around by her hair and hit her with the gun and his fists before hitting Osgood in the head with the gun, according to the report.

The gunman took Putnal’s cellphone and tackled her as she tried to flee. When he ordered the couple to sit on the floor, she escaped downstairs in her parents’ home and grabbed a gun, police said. They shot at each other and both missed.

Osgood, meanwhile, jammed a chair under the door, jumped out a window to the lawn below, and ran to a neighbor’s house to call police.

The Jaguars declined comment on Putnal’s status as one of the team’s 32 cheerleaders. The team has a rule forbidding cheerleaders to date players.

Proposal presented

The current labor deal between the NFL and its players’ union contains a provision that allows the league to increase the regular season to 18 games.

“An 18-game regular season is not uncharted territory,’’ NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail to the AP, referring to the 2006 collective bargaining agreement and noting that the CFL and USFL have played schedules of that length.

“The key,’’ Aiello continued, “is to approach it the right way and work closely with our players and clubs to come up with a year-round football calendar that will be better for everyone.’’

The NFL presented the union with its first detailed proposal covering that issue at a bargaining session Tuesday.

Hungry men

Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant knew there’d be payback for having refused to do the rookie rite of carrying teammates’ shoulder pads during training camp. The check came due this week at the traditional rookie-picks-up-the-tab dinner. The damage: $54,896. The meal was supposed to be only for offensive players, but more than 20 guys showed up at a steakhouse — and brought their appetites. Then again, Bryant is making $2.8 million this season, so he can afford it . . . Bills linebacker Chris Kelsay signed a four-year contract extension worth about $24 million. Buffalo’s 2003 second-round draft pick, Kelsay, who was entering the final year of the original contract, is a six-year starter at defensive end. However, he moved to outside linebacker as Buffalo made the switch to a 3-4 defense this offseason . . . Cardinals receiver Steve Breaston will miss at least one game after having arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee . . . The Ravens waived defensive end Trevor Pryce, though coach John Harbaugh said it’s likely the team will soon re-sign the veteran. The move makes room for safety Ken Hamlin, who was released last week.