Sports briefs 10/14/04

Football

• Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer agreed Wednesday to stop wearing a sticker on his helmet in memory of an ex-teammate killed in the war in Afghanistan, and the NFL agreed to find other ways to honor the slain soldier.

Plummer faced heavy NFL fines for wearing the small No. 40 sticker on his helmet last Sunday in memory of Pat Tillman, who played with Plummer at Arizona State and on the Arizona Cardinals.

Tillman quit football to join the Army Rangers. In April, he was killed in combat in Afghanistan.

The NFL agreed to play public-service spots in stadiums on Veterans Day that Plummer will record on behalf of the Pat Tillman Foundation. The Broncos agreed to put a No. 40 logo near the play clock in the north end zone at Invesco Field at Mile High and to run ads promoting the foundation on the scoreboard during games.

• All-Pro defensive tackle Kris Jenkins was lost for the season Wednesday to a shoulder injury, the fourth important player the team has lost this season..

It was the latest blow to the defending NFC champions, who are already without top receiver Steve Smith (broken leg) and No. 2 running back DeShaun Foster (broken collarbone.)

Hockey

• The NHL fined one of the owners of the Atlanta Thrashers $250,000 on Tuesday for saying the league would use replacement players next year if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached, The Associated Press has learned.

Steve Belkin, a member of Atlanta Spirit, LLC - the group that bought the Thrashers earlier this year - was given the hefty fine for comments he made over the weekend to the Boston Herald, said an official within the league speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Miscellaneous

• A U.S. softball player was suspended for two years Tuesday after testing positive for a prohibited drug.

Doug Middleton of Blue Springs, Mo., tested positive for androstenedione at the World Softball Championships in New Zealand in January, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said.

The 42-year-old Middleton received a two-year suspension retroactive to Oct 4.

-- From wire reports