Bradshaw Reaches Deal With Giants

The Giants signed running back Ahmad Bradshaw on Monday afternoon, solving one of their major problems on offense. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 25-year old Bradshaw led the Giants with 1,235 rushing yards last season and also caught 47 passes. With Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs both signed to new contracts (Jacobs restructured his deal last week), the Giants will now return both of their leading rushers from last season.

Bradshaw was an unrestricted free agent who reportedly drew some interest on the open market. Over the last few days, however, potential suitors for Bradshaw found running back options elsewhere. The Redskins traded for Cardinals running back Tim Hightower, while the Bengals re-signed running back Cedric Benson.

The Giants were meeting with former Falcons running back Jason Snelling when the Bradshaw signing was announced. With Bradshaw in the fold, the Giants are unlikely to pursue Snelling.

L.A. Marathon: Registration opens for 2012 race

Registration opened Monday for the 2012 Los Angeles Marathon. The race, set for March 18, features a course that starts at Dodger Stadium and finishes at the Santa Monica Pier, with runners passing such landmarks as Disney Hall, Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Rodeo Drive.

Markos Geneti of Ethiopia set a course record when he won this year's race in 2:06.35 -- in a driving rainstorm, no less.

Registration information is available at lamarathon.com. The site also includes information about the LA Roadrunners, a group that offers marathon training programs starting next month. First-time runners are welcome; the group promises to "get runners from the couch to the finish line."

-- Bill Shaikin

Photo: Amy Hastings, left, who ultimately finished second, Buzunesh Deba, center, who ultimately finished first, and Mare Dibaba, right, who ultimately finished third, run together during the 2011 LA Marathon. Credit: Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times.

Brandon Marshall diagnosed with personality disorder [Video]

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, a mental condition marked by difficulties with relationships, poor self-image and problems controlling moods and emotions.

Borderline personality disorder is rarely diagnosed but studies say it is more common than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Marshall has said that even though he had a $50-million football contract and a beautiful wife, he was not happy.

After a domestic dispute with his wife in April landed him in the hospital with a stab wound and her in jail, he knew he needed intense treatment.

Marshall went to McLean Hospital in Boston, where he met with clinicians and other borderline personality disorder patients for four hours a day. He spent three months there receiving treatment.

"It wasn't till I got here that I understood why I was so unhappy, why I was so miserable," Marshall told the Sun-Sentinel. "But understanding is merely the beginning of the journey."

Marshall has decided to go public with his mental illness in hopes of bringing attention to the disorder and helping others who suffer from it. He has been filming a documentary called "Borderline Beast" that shows his struggles.

"I'll be the face of BPD," Marshall said. "I'll make myself vulnerable if it saves someone's life because I know what I went through this summer helped save mine."

MORE:

Less time for signings means more excitement

Peyton Manning signs long-term contract with Colts

--Melissa Rohlin

Leading Off: Two Sides of New York Football

It doesn’t take much deep thinking to divine the differences between New York’s two N.F.L. teams. One is a league stalwart, steered by a legendary football family, so buttoned down and traditional it refuses to employ cheerleaders. The other is the team of Broadway Joe, the all-you-can-eat bluster buffet that is Rex Ryan, a virtual halfway house of players with overflowing N.F.L rap sheets.

So was anyone really surprised when Mr. Lock-n-Load, Plaxico Burress, landed with the Jets instead of returning to the Giants?

O.K., so the weekend’s developments didn’t exactly fit into the knee-jerk analysis that the Giants were too goody-goody to sign their ex-con wide receiver. They did make him an offer. Mr. Law and Order, Coach Tom Coughlin, did try to get past the lingering bitterness of the havoc Burress wreaked on his 2009 team.

But it is absolutely in the Jets’ DNA to go bold. So when cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha kicked them right in the headlines by signing with the Eagles, you think they were going to out and sign who? Brandon Stokley? No, with Burress they had an opportunity to complete a matched set of loose cannons at receiver with Santonio Holmes, writes Rich Cimini on ESPN.com. Forget for a minute that Burress is 34 and just spent 20 months in prison instead of working on his post patterns, which as Steve Politi writes in The Star-Ledger of Newark means he is as big a question mark on the field as off it, the prime tabloid fodder for New York’s tabloid team.

And New York’s “Tabloids Make Us Squeamish” team spent its time extending Coughlin’s contract and talking its star defensive end, Osi Umenyiora, out of his off-season snit. It is, as Mike Vaccaro wrote in The Post, just the way the Giants go about things.

The team that really kicked its DNA into high gear was the Eagles. Signing Asomugha and other attention-grabbing free agents like Vince Young and Jason Babin as well as trading for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the Eagles have started drawing comparisons to the Miami Heat, Ashley Fox writes on ESPN.com, even though they have so far mercifully spared us a prediction of seven Super Bowls. Asomugha is clearly no LeBron James, and as John Smallwood writes in The Philadelphia Daily News, might be as big an asset in the community as he is on a football field.

Also kicking around in the background was the news that the Colts had re-signed Peyton Manning,  and the fact that it was treated largely with shrugs says a lot about the Colts’ low-key DNA, writes Dan Wetzel on Yahoo.com. Mike Lopresti marvels in USA Today that Manning insisted on taking less money so the Colts could field a better team, while in Indianapolis what they really want to know is when he’s going to be able to play after off-season neck surgery.

A few mysteries in Miami might have been solved this weekend, but not because of a trade or a signing, but by an article by Omar Kelly of The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel about Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall revealing his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. It does help explain much of the disorder that has marked Marshall’s life and career.

The disorder plaguing the N.B.A. right now, however, is strictly self-inflicted. And it has the unintended side effect of a strange fixation on where Kobe Bryant might play if the league goes dark. Marc Spears reports on Yahoo.com that China may be an option trumping his current offer in Turkey.

Baseball has settled down, now that its trade deadline (of sorts) has passed and the flurry of activity had ended. Jeff Passan of Yahoo.com takes a look at how the Rangers ended up the big winner and the parade of losers is being led by the Yankees. More notable, perhaps, Ubaldo Jimenez is thrilled to be moving from Denver to Cleveland, writes Scott Miller on CBSSports.com, partly because he loves the weather. Really.

You might be reasonably certain the weather had nothing to do with Burress’s decision to sign with the Jets over the Giants, except that his new team’s forecast always includes a lot of wind and an 80 percent chance of chaos.

Follow Leading Off on Twitter: twitter.com/zinsernyt

Angels OF Mike Trout headed back to minor leagues

It appears that Mike Trout, the 19-year-old outfielder who is considered one of baseball's top prospects, is headed back to double-A Arkansas.

On his Twitter account Monday morning, Trout, who started 12 games for the Angels after being called up on July 8, wrote, "Back to Little Rock! Had awesome experience up here in Anaheim. Thanks for everything!"

Trout replaced the injured Peter Bourjos in center field and hit .163 with one home run and six runs batted in, but with Bourjos returning on July 23 and showing he is sound enough to play every day, the Angels did not want Trout to stagnate on the bench.

A roster move to replace Trout has not been made, but the Angels are expected to recall utility player Alexi Amarista, a middle infielder who began playing outfield this season. Amarista started the last two games at center field for triple-A Salt Lake and made a superb diving catch of a fly ball on the warning track in right-center after a long run in Sunday night's game against Tucson.

-- Mike DiGiovanna

Why the Jets Picked Plaxico Burress Over Braylon Edwards

So the deed is done. The Jets made a big splash by signing wide receiver Plaxico Burress to play opposite Santonio Holmes. Edwards, a key player for the Jets in the last two seasons, will not be back. And the speculation? It’s that the Jets wanted Burress over Edwards primarily to grab attention in the New York market and get one-up on the Giants, their co-tenants at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The reasoning hints that Edwards wasn’t flashy enough for the “Hard Knocks” Jets. They even gave Burress the No. 17 worn by Edwards.

It kind of makes sense that it’s all about the P.S.L.’s, right?

Except that it doesn’t. The simple reason in this salary cap era is that signing Burress was primarily about money. This was not about the Jets showing Edwards any disrespect. Was Edwards going to sign with the Jets for the reported $3 million it took to sign Burress? Nope. While the temptation is to compare Edwards to Burress, the more realistic comparison for Edwards is with Santonio Holmes, who signed a 5-year, $50 million contract. Even with Edwards’s recent legal issues, he should still be able to exceed $3 million in guaranteed money in the free-agent market. The Jets just can’t match that right now, especially since they needed to sign Antonio Cromartie (which they reportedly have) on a budget getting smaller by the day.

For the Jets, there is little financial risk with the Burress signing. The only one will be whether the offense will lose any of its potency without Edwards. It is a legitimate question. Burress, a dynamic player throughout his career, is nevertheless almost 34 and has not played in the N.F.L. in almost three years. The upside is that once he gets into game shape, Burress should pose many of the same matchup problems for opposing cornerbacks as Edwards did.

If the temptation is to say Edwards’s recent legal issues affected the Jets’ decision, that doesn’t ring true. By all accounts, Edwards turned the corner last year after his D.U.I. arrest. He was at his best late in the season and in the playoffs. Edwards’s problems with drops seemed to have largely disappeared. At age 28, Edwards is a complete player who is in his prime.

The Jets’ signing of Burress doesn’t change that. Whether or not Edwards can secure the free-agent contract he wants in the coming days remains to be seen. He didn’t help himself after a court hearing in Ohio last week resulted in an extension of his probation and could have resulted in jail time. Even if Edwards can get a long-term deal, it is possible he won’t be able to command quite the same dollars.

Maybe Edwards should settle for a one-year contract. He could always test the market again next year, possibly with more leverage. And one year is a long time in the N.F.L. Just ask Holmes, who was in high demand in this free-agent market only 15 months after almost being released by the Steelers right before the Jets acquired him for a fifth-round draft pick.

Jets Keep Antonio Cromartie

The Jets retained another of their important unrestricted free agents early Monday morning, agreeing to a four-year deal with cornerback Antonio Cromartie. The Jets intensified their pursuit of Cromartie after the team’s top free-agent target, Nnamdi Asomugha, signed with Philadelphia on Friday.

Cromartie, who also attracted interest from Oakland and San Francisco, will again pair up with Darrelle Revis. Cornerback depth was a pressing need for the Jets, who lost Drew Coleman to Jacksonville. Cromartie, acquired from San Diego in March 2010, had 3 interceptions, a fumble recovery and 41 tackles last season for the Jets.