Falcons Redman to start against Saints

Flowery Branch, GA (Sports Network) - Chris Redman will get the start at quarterback for the Falcons when Atlanta hosts New Orleans on Monday night. Head coach Bobby Petrino confirmed the decision on Thursday afternoon.
"We're going to start with Chris Redman," Petrino said. "We liked the way he finished the game the other day. He gave us a lift. He's got a lot of confidence. So we're going to start with him."
Despite being out of football for the better part of three years, Redman threw two touchdowns passes and led a fourth-quarter comeback against the St. Louis Rams last week...Full Story

Kidd disputes report about purposely sitting out

New York, NY (Sports Network) - New Jersey Nets star point guard Jason Kidd disputed a newspaper report that said he intentionally skipped Wednesday's game against the New York Knicks in hopes of gaining a contract extension or a trade.
Kidd told WFAN-AM radio in New York that he had a migraine headache and was unable to play in New Jersey's 100-93 loss. The migraine was the official reason given by the Nets for Kidd's absence on Wednesday.
"I did have a migraine and I was sick," Kidd said Thursday afternoon on the Mike and the Mad Dog program. "I would never disrespect the game, first of all, by not playing because the game has been so good to me."
The New York Post, citing team sources, said Kidd simply decided to sit out the game.
"He's on strike," the Post quoted one team source as saying.
There were reports last week that the Nets turned down Kidd's request for a one-year contract extension. Kidd also said those reports were false...Full Story

Skelton to face Chagaev for WBA heavyweight title

London, England (Sports Network) - Ruslan Chagaev will defend his WBA heavyweight title on January 19 by facing Matt Skelton in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Skelton's promoter, Frank Warren, made the announcement Thursday.
The 40-year-old Skelton, a native of Bedford, Bedfordshire in the UK, is 21-1 with 18 knockouts and has won his last three fights. He beat Michael Sprott in July in a majority decision for the British heavyweight title.
Chagaev, who is 23-0-1 with 17 KOs, won the title with a 12-round majority decision over Nikolay Valuev on April 14.
Chagaev was ruled out of a fight with WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov for October 13 due to hepatitis. Evander Holyfield replaced Chagaev and lost a 12- round unanimous decision.