BRIEFLY : SELDON'S MANAGER SAYS FIGHTER INNOCENT OF CHARGES.

Former WBA heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon's manager said the boxer is innocent of charges he sexually assaulted a minor in New Jersey.

``He denies having sexual contact with her, and he denies knowing her age,'' said Rocco DePersia, the boxer's manager and lawyer.

On Wednesday, police said a 15-year-old girl arrived at headquarters that afternoon, claiming that nine days ago Seldon picked her up while she was walking in Atlantic City. She said he took her to his house in Gloucester Township and that he raped her three times.

That never happened, DePersia said, noting the 30-year-old boxer ``lives with his father, who was home.''

``When the facts come out, we think he'll be cleared,'' the manager said, adding that Seldon thought the girl was 18.

Gloucester Police Lt. John Schuck said Wednesday the girl claimed Seldon smoked marijuana and offered her some during the 40-mile drive from Atlantic City to the home.

Police executed a search warrant on Seldon's home Wednesday night. They said they found evidence of the sexual assault as well as a small amount of marijuana, a BB gun and a starter's pistol.

Seldon was freed on $50,000 bail after being charged with three counts of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a minor, and drug and weapons offenses.

NFL: Officials violated the state's open-meeting law by conducting private meetings on the troubled Oakland Raiders deal, the San Jose Mercury News alleges in a lawsuit.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court, also charges that the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority illegally withheld documents discussed in the meetings.

The Mercury News wants the court to release the documents and require the authority to tape future closed meetings.

One of those documents shows that taxpayers could end up paying millions of dollars more than previously thought to support the controversial deal that returned the Raiders to Oakland from Los Angeles, the newspaper reported.

Chicago Bears defensive end Alonzo Spellman confirms the NFL suspended him for failing to take a steroids test but said it's a misunderstanding that should be cleared up soon.

``I have never in my life taken any drugs. I have never in my life taken any steroids,'' Spellman said during an interview with WFLD-TV.

He said he expects to be back at practice with the Bears on Monday and to be available to play when the Bears play the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 7.

Spellman, 26, said he missed the test because he was suspended by the Bears - for refusing to have surgery on his sore shoulder - and expects the suspension to be lifted soon.

Mark Collins, a 12-year veteran defensive back, has signed with the Green Bay Packers.

The Packers waived backup defensive end Gerald Williams to make room for Collins, who had a career-high six interceptions and a team-best 119 tackles in Kansas City last year before being waived by the Chiefs on May 9.

New York Jets guard William Roberts will miss the rest of the season because of a severely sprained ligament in his right knee.

BASEBALL: Buck Leonard, a Hall of Fame first baseman who batted .340 and averaged 34 home runs during his 17-year career in the Negro Leagues, died at age 90 in Rocky Mount, N.C.

Walter Fenner ``Buck'' Leonard, a native of Rocky Mount, had turned down numerous requests for public appearances over the past 12 months because of the debilitating effects of a stroke he suffered a decade ago, said his wife, Lugenia Leonard.

The North Carolina Senate recently adopted a resolution honoring Leonard, who is recognized as one of the greatest baseball players ever but never played in the major leagues, because of his skin color.