The Sports Xchange

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy has been suspended 10 games without pay for “conduct detrimental to the league.”

The NFL Players Association plans to appeal the league’s ruling. Hardy has three days to appeal.

In a letter from commissioner Roger Goodell, Hardy was informed that a two-month NFL investigation following the dismissal of his case in North Carolina state court determined that there was “sufficient credible evidence that Hardy engaged in conduct that violated NFL policies in multiple respects and with aggravating circumstances.”

The NFL was allowed to view photographs from Hardy’s first domestic violence case to help determine the injuries to Hardy’s ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder. League investigators also had access to photos of guns in Hardy’s Charlotte, N.C., apartment and other evidence in a July 15 trial of the former Carolina Panthers defensive end.

“The net effect of these acts was that Ms. Holder was severely traumatized and sustained a range of injuries, including bruises and scratches on her neck, shoulders, upper chest, back, arms and feet,” Goodell wrote in the letter to Hardy. “The use of physical force under the circumstances present here, against a woman substantially smaller than you and in the presence of powerful, military-style assault weapons, constitutes a significant act of violence in violation of the Personal Conduct Policy.”

—A federal judge approved a settlement between the NFL and retired players that will require the league to pay an unlimited amount for concussion-related medical conditions over the next 65 years.

The settlement approved by U.S. District Judge Anita Brody would pay about $190,000 per person on average, with some eligible for as much as $5 million, depending on age and severity of condition.

The settlement applies to all players who retired by July 7, 2014.

The decision concludes a case that included hundreds of lawsuits by more than 5,000 former players who had sought compensation for head trauma suffered while playing.

About 200 former players or their families rejected the settlement and plan to sue the league individually. Among them is the family of Junior Seau, the former All-Pro linebacker who killed himself in 2012. Seau suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

—The Miami Dolphins, who gutted their receiving corps earlier this offseason, reportedly signed veteran wide receiver Greg Jennings.

The deal is worth $8 million over two years, according to Pro Football Talk.

The Dolphins also signed guards Jeff Linkenbach and Jacques McClendon to one-year deals.

In effect, the Dolphins traded Mike Wallace for Jennings, who was released by the Minnesota Vikings in March after the Dolphins dealt Wallace to Minnesota.

Jennings, 31, had signed a five-year, $45 million contract with the Vikings in 2013. In two seasons with Minnesota, he caught 127 passes for 1,546 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Jennings played his first seven seasons in Green Bay and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2010 and 2011.

—The Cincinnati Bengals signed coach Marvin Lewis to a one-year contract extension, running through the 2016 season.

Lewis now won’t be a lame-duck coach this season after the Bengals extended his contract through the 2015 season last year.

Lewis, with a 100-96-2 record, is entering his 13th season, already the longest tenure by five years of any Bengals coach. The Bengals are among only four NFL teams to have reached the playoffs each of the last four seasons and one of only five teams to have qualified in at least five of the last six seasons.

None of Lewis’ 100 wins as the Bengals coach have come in the postseason, where his teams have gone 0-6.

“We have worked together with Marvin for many years, things are going well for the team, and Marvin deserves credit for that,” Bengals owner Mike Brown said. “The extension reflects our confidence in him and how things look to us as we move forward. We are happy to have reached this agreement.”

—San Diego Chargers general manager Tom Telesco said “it’s our plan and intent” for Philip Rivers to remain the team’s quarterback.

“It’s the same thing I’ve said for the last four months: Philip’s our quarterback and it’s our plan and intent that he’s our quarterback well into the future,” Telesco said Wednesday.

Rivers’ future with the Chargers is in question after reports that he has declined a contract extension because he is wary of the team’s possible move to Los Angeles.

—Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who has discussed his ambition to one day become a two-sport star, made it clear that he has no plans to leave football for baseball.

Wilson, in an interview with HBO’s “Real Sports” that first aired Tuesday night, said the Texas Rangers want him to give baseball an attempt beyond his one-day visits he has made to the past two spring trainings.

“I didn’t say I was going to leave the NFL,” Wilson said Wednesday on ESPN’s “The Herd” radio show. “I love playing the game of football, to be one of 32 men (starting NFL quarterbacks) in the world who get to do what I do. It’s a special thing and I’ve been able to play in two Super Bowls and I’m only 26 years old. That’s been a blessing.

“But baseball was my first love since I was 3 years old. It’s something that’s meant a lot to me. It was my dad’s dream for me to play two sports, so I’ve never killed the dream and probably never will. It’s something that I think about all the time.”

—Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, projected to be the first overall selection in the draft, has possibly cleared up what happened when he received a shoplifting citation last year for taking crab legs from a Tallahassee, Fla., grocery store.

During an appearance on ESPN’s “Draft Academy,” Winston said he never stole the crab legs from a Publix grocery store on April 29, 2014, and that they instead were given to him by an employee.

Winston was issued a civil citation for shoplifting after he walked out of the supermarket without paying for $32.72 worth of crab legs and crawfish.

Winston said it wasn’t the first time he had gotten free food from an individual working at that store.

When Winston was arrested, he told deputies he had forgotten to pay. Winston eventually paid the $32.72 and did 20 hours of community service.

—Like Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine, Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden has seen a positive change in quarterback Johnny Manziel.

Some teammates may have lost faith in Manziel last year, but Haden never wavered.

“(Monday) was the first day, and he stayed about three hours after we had to leave when the time was done,” Haden told reporters Tuesday. “Actions speak a lot louder than words. He has a lot to show the people, but he’s trying his best. I think he’s got his mind right, and he’s just ready to get it going.”

Manziel recently concluded 10 weeks at the Caron treatment center outside of Reading, Pa. The Browns and others had become increasingly concerned about his partying and apparent denial.

—A wrongful-death lawsuit filed in 2013 against Aaron Hernandez will proceed now that the former New England Patriots tight end’s criminal case has been resolved, and Hernandez is expected to be called to testify.

Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison last week for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013, and Ursula Ward, Lloyd’s mother, and her attorney talked about the civil lawsuit Wednesday.

Attorney Douglas Sheff said Ward is entitled “to recover for the unthinkable loss of her son.” Sheff wants Hernandez’s assets unfrozen now that the criminal trial is finished.

Sheff said he is prepared to call Hernandez to the stand. Hernandez did not testify in his murder trial, but Sheff said he “will no longer be able to hide behind” the Fifth Amendment.

—New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo, a team captain whose last two seasons have been ended early by injuries, reportedly has restructured his contract to reduce his $6.25 million salary.

Mayo will be guaranteed $4.5 million, with a chance to earn $6 million if he plays in 85 percent of the plays next season, according to reports by FOX Sports and NFL Network. The Patriots also inserted a $4 million option next year to engage the final two years of the contract.

Mayo, 29, has played in just 12 games over the past two years, six in 2014 because of a torn patellar tendon and six in 2013 because of a torn pectoral muscle.

—The Tennessee Titans agreed to contract terms with tackle Byron Bell.

Bell, 26, had been with the Carolina Panthers since 2011, when he was an undrafted free agent.

A right tackle in his first three years, he started 15 games at left tackle last season as he replaced the retired Jordan Gross. After Bell struggled, allowing 11 sacks, the team chose not to re-sign him.