Johnson's last route: from NFL to ESPN

Football
Keyshawn Johnson gave up football for a microphone yesterday, retiring from the NFL and taking his opinionated voice to ESPN. Johnson, one of the league's top wide receivers during an 11-year career, agreed to a multiyear contract and will appear on several ESPN telecasts, including pregame shows on Sundays and Monday nights. "I've done everything I wanted to do in my career," Johnson said from Los Angeles. "I've lived my dream. Now, I'm going to live another dream." Johnson turned down several offers to keep playing, including one from the Tennessee Titans that could have been worth $8 million. Johnson, who turns 35 in July, said at least a half-dozen teams offered him a job, even referring to Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "They all wanted me to play football for them," Johnson said. "At the end of the day, it just didn't fit into what I wanted to do now."

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, who is already suspended for the first eight games of the season, has passed his drug screenings, according to a Kentucky prosecutor and an attorney for the player. Henry undergoes drug screenings as part of his probation agreements in Florida and Kentucky. Reports had circulated Monday that Henry had failed a drug test, which could have led to a longer suspension or jail time . . . The prosecutor investigating whether property owned by Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick was part of a dog fighting operation said he still doesn't have solid evidence linking the Falcons star. Gerald Poindexter said there are no eyewitnesses to potential dog fighting at Vick's property in Virginia, although a confidential informant has told authorities he could place Vick at the dog fights . . . The Pittsburgh Steelers released veteran punter Chris Gardocki, less than a month after selecting Baylor punter Daniel Sepulveda in the NFL draft . . . The family of slain Miami Hurricanes player Bryan Pata will get $2 million from the insurance companies of the apartment complex where he was murdered.

Baseball

Tampa Bay Devil Rays rookie Elijah Dukes was held out of the lineup last night against Seattle following a published report that his estranged wife sought a restraining order after being threatened by the outfielder. The St. Petersburg Times reported yesterday NiShea Gilbert filed for court protection after receiving a threatening message on her cellphone May 2, as well as a text message that included a picture of a handgun. The Devil Rays said they were aware Dukes's marriage was ending, but that the allegations detailed in the story caught the team by surprise. Dukes and his wife have been married since February 2006 and have two children, whose safety also was threatened in the phone message Gilbert played for the newspaper. Gilbert also gave an account of an April 30 incident at the middle school where she teaches, saying Dukes showed up at her classroom while her students were at lunch and threatened her.

Former All-Star closer Troy Percival, who last pitched in the big leagues in 2005, has asked the Los Angeles Angels to release him from his minor league coaching contract so he can attempt a comeback. The 37-year-old Percival had 324 saves from 1995-2005, but suffered what appeared to be a career-ending forearm injury with the Tigers in his final season . . . Arizona lefthander Randy Johnson will miss his start tomorrow with tendinitis in his forearm, but Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said there is no plan for the 43-year-old to go on the disabled list . . . Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard hit the winning home run and went 2 for 3 with four RBIs for Class A Lakewood (N.J.) in his first game since May 9, the day before he was put on the DL with a strained left quadriceps. Lakewood beat Hagerstown, 7-4 . . . The Athletics placed outfielder Milton Bradley on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring in a move retroactive to May 15 . . . With reliever Chin-hui Tsao (shoulder) on the DL, the Dodgers recalled righthander Yhency Brazoban from Triple A Las Vegas.

Miscellany

Former University of Maine basketball star Cindy Blodgett, who led the women's team to its first of four appearances in the NCAA Tournament, was named the Black Bears' coach. Blodgett, a native of Clinton, Maine, and 1998 UMaine graduate who twice led the nation in scoring, spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Brown . . . Washington State women's basketball coach June Daugherty was upgraded from critical to serious condition, a day after going into cardiac arrest while at a medical clinic in Seattle for a checkup . . . Wentworth women's basketball coach Carrie Crawford resigned to pursue other career opportunities . . . In WNBA action, Becky Hammon scored 17 points and the San Antonio Silver Stars held off Connecticut Sun, 74-71, after blowing most of a 25-point lead at home . . . Host Seattle got 31 points from Lauren Jackson and the Storm set a franchise record for points in a 100-87 win over the Phoenix Mercury . . . Emirates Team New Zealand defeated Spanish opponent Desafío Español to win the best-of-nine Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals, 5-2, off the coast of Valencia, Spain. The Kiwis start racing against Italy's Luna Rossa in the final June 1 . . . Venus Williams stumbled in her tuneup for the French Open, failing to reach the quarterfinals of the Istanbul Cup as she was ousted by 62d-ranked Aravane Rezai, 6-4, 6-4 . . . Alessandro Petacchi won his third stage of the Giro d'Italia, but the sprint finish in Pinerolo ended with a pileup of about 20 riders, including overall leader Andrea Noe.