Associated Press
KEYSER, W.Va. — BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add a talented pass catcher to their roster: three-time Pro Bowl standout Anquan Boldin.
Baltimore obtained Boldin from the Arizona Cardinals on Friday for a third- and fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft. Baltimore also got a fifth-round pick from Arizona.
The 29-year-old Boldin has amassed at least 1,000 yards receiving in five of his seven seasons, including 1,024 yards on 84 catches last season.
Boldin received a new four-year, $28 million deal with Baltimore in which $10 million is guaranteed. He was to set to earn $3 million next season, the last of the four-year, $22.5 million deal he signed with Arizona after the 2005 season.
“The Ravens just got better,” coach John Harbaugh said. “Anquan is a significant addition for us. He fits the personality of our team with the hard-nosed, physical way he plays. We love the way he competes. Our fans will enjoy watching him compete and his teammates will be excited to have him with us.”
Baltimore’s priority this offseason was to bolster a receiving corps that last season featured Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Kelley Washington and Demetrius Williams. Mason was the lone receiver with 1,000 yards, and running back Ray Rice led the team with 78 catches.
Mason and Washington are unrestricted free agents, but with the addition of Boldin and free agent Donte’ Stallworth, who was signed last month, Baltimore appears to have improved its wideout situation regardless of whether Mason and Washington return.
Boldin was delighted with the news of the trade.
“I’m definitely excited. For me, I’ve been hoping for this for a year since I first heard that the Ravens might be interested in me,” he said. “The Ravens play a certain way. They play as hard and as physical as any team in the league, and I want to add to that. I think I play the way they play.”
Boldin hold the Cardinals franchise record for receptions at 586. His 7,520 yards receiving rank third and his 44 touchdowns rank fifth in team history.
Few details released in new
Roethlisberger charges
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — For the second time in a year, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is being accused of sexual misconduct, with police investigating him Saturday for an alleged assault at a nightclub in a Georgia town.
Police in Milledgeville were examining the claim of a 20-year-old student, who told an officer that Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her early Friday. The police department had no plans to comment further until Monday at the earliest.
The case comes as Roethlisberger faces a lawsuit filed last July by a woman who says he raped her in 2008 at a Lake Tahoe hotel and casino, an allegation he strongly denies. Roethlisberger, who was not in custody, has not been criminally charged in either case and has claimed counter-damages in the lawsuit.
The latest accusation came early Friday in downtown Milledgeville, about 85 miles southeast of Atlanta and about 30 miles south of the lake home the player owns. Roethlisberger, who turned 28 on Tuesday, and two or three friends went to Buffington’s bar earlier Thursday night to watch the University of Pittsburgh men’s college basketball game, said Paul Kurcikevicus, a 24-year-old college student.
The group later went to The Brick restaurant nearby, owner Frank Pendergrast said.
“He was very polite with everybody,” Pendergrast said. “He was down here from about 11:30 until about 1:30 having a good time, talking to a lot of people. Looked like he was signing autographs and letting people take pictures. Other than that, it was really uneventful.”
Roethlisberger was later seen at Capital City, a popular nightclub for students at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.
One patron at the bar on Friday night, 21-year-old college student Brandon Harris, said he saw Roethlisberger come in the night before with two or three big men who were keeping other club goers away. Harris said the group went into a curtained VIP area in the back of the club, and some women were let inside.
Amber Hanley, a 21-year-old college student, said she and a few friends were also in the VIP area with Roethlisberger. She said she asked the quarterback to take a photo with her friend, who was a fan, but he seemed disappointed that’s all she wanted. Hanley said she rolled her eyes, and Roethlisberger called her an expletive and walked away.
Deputy Police Chief Richard Malone said Friday that Roethlisberger had been with three other people who were mingling with another group that included the alleged victim. Malone said the woman and her party contacted a police officer following the alleged assault.
And while Roethlisberger has a reputation for patiently signing autographs and posing for pictures while out, he also is known for inelegant behavior in Pittsburgh. Early in his career, he was photographed wearing a T-shirt reading “Drink Like a Champion.” Restaurant owners in Pittsburgh have complained he has tried to skip out on bills, arguing he brought business to the establishment.
The public largely supported him when he was accused of sexual assault in Nevada. But radio shows in Pittsburgh have been flooded with calls since Friday — few of them sympathetic, with many wondering if the new case indicates a troubling pattern of behavior.
