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Filed under: NFL Police Blotter

Files seized from the office of Toronto physician Anthony Galea included folders labeled “NFL” and “CFL,” according to documents obtained by ESPN.

Authorities also confiscated a large amount of homeopathic drugs, nearly 800 ampoules that had Russian labels affixed, along with a small amount of human growth hormone. The October raid in was in connection to a Canadian investigation into Galea.

“I would imagine you could find that in any doctor’s office,” Mark Mahoney, Galea’s Buffalo-based attorney, told ESPN.

Galea, 50, was indicted by U.S. Department of Justice in May on three counts linked to smuggling pharmaceuticals into the country and lying to investigators. In an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, authorities alleged Galea unlawfully treated at least one NFL player with HGH.

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Filed under: Buccaneers, NFL Training Camp

TAMPA, Fla. — Demar Dotson was the last player off the field on the first day of Tampa Bay Buccaneers mandatory minicamp.

He needed to be.

“You’ve got a job to do,” Dotson said. “And as long as you’ve got a job, you have to come out here and give it your best every day.”

In the Bucs’ perfect pewter world, Dotson (pictured right) would have a different job; a less critical one. For now, though, the 6-foot-9, 315-pounder, who played more basketball than football at Southern Miss, is the best option to protect the blindside of second-year franchise quarterback Josh Freeman.

Tampa Bay opened minicamp Monday minus Donald Penn, the disgruntled — and disrespected — restricted free agent who declined to sign his $3.168 tender offer last week and has officially moved his contract stalemate to DEFCON 2. Penn, who is not required to be at minicamp because he is not under contract, wants a long-term extension and likely will hold out of training camp without one.

Penn, 27, chose to attend the club’s FanFest at Raymond James Stadium Saturday night, where he greeted teammates, signed autographs for fans and spoke to reporters.

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Filed under: NFL Police Blotter

Former Cincinnati Bengals running back Corey Dillon was charged with two misdemeanors as a result of his April arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced Monday.

Dillon, who won the 2005 Super Bowl as a member of the New England Patriots, was arrested near his suburban Los Angeles home of Calabasas April 21 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He was charged with one count of operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level above .08 and the other count alleges Dillon drove with under the influence of alcohol and an unspecified drug.

The Los Angeles Times was the first to report the charges.

Dillon, a native of Seattle, spent 10 seasons in the NFL, the first seven with Bengals. He then played for three seasons in New England and retired following the 2006 season.

Dillon was also arrested last month after an altercation with his wife at their home, but prosecutors didn’t file charges due to lack of evidence. The sheriff’s office at the time said the argument stemmed from their pending divorce and child custody issues.

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Filed under: Jets, Vikings, NFL Rumors, NFL Training Camp, NFL Notebook

Here’s what’s happening around the National Football League on Monday, June 21, 2010:

o. The Vikings‘ starting quarterback job in 2010 belongs to either Brett Favre or Tarvaris Jackson, no question asked at this point — it’s Favre’s if he opts to play one more year; it’s Jackson’s if he doesn’t.

But what about beyond that? Despite his constant veil of mystery, Favre’s very unlikely to suit up in 2011. Jackson, meanwhile, is only signed through 2010, and Sage Rosenfels, Minnesota’s third-stringer last year, appears on his way out. All those factors are part of what makes Vikings rookie Joe Webb so intriguing.

Minnesota drafted the athletic Webb in the sixth round with the intention of playing him at wide receiver. But Webb, who was a four-year quarterback at UAB, has shifted back under center during offseason workouts, and Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman says he’s been so impressive that he “could be the quarterback of the future” in Minnesota.

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Filed under: Chargers, AFC West, NFL Free Agency, NFL Training Camp

The San Diego Chargers made it clear during April’s draft that the team wasn’t sold on second-year strong safety Kevin Ellison when it drafted Darrell Stuckey in the fourth round. On Monday, the Chargers made it official with Ellison by releasing him.

Ellison, a sixth-round pick in 2009, started nine games as a rookie. But the Chargers wanted more speed at the position to strengthen the secondary. Ellison’s role already was in jeopardy in May when he was arrested in Redondo Beach, Calif., following a traffic stop when officers found 100 Vicodin pills in his vehicle without a prescription.

Ellison, who has a July 7 court date on the Vicodin charge, told the San Diego Union-Tribune he hopes to find another team and that he wasn’t surprised by the Chargers’ decision to cut him loose.

“The Chargers felt they needed to move in a different direction, and now I have to move in a different direction,” Ellison said. “I’ll just let things take their course.”

Ellison’s release likely elevates Steve Gregory to the starting position, although he’s expected to be challenged by Stuckey.

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Filed under: Panthers, NFL Injuries, NFL Training Camp

Steve Smith, despite Panthers‘ reliance on DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, is a critical component to Carolina’s success. Him getting hurt, and thus not getting on the same page with quarterbacks Matt Moore and/or Jimmy Clausen early in the season, would be seriously detrimental thing.

A thing that, according to Chris Mortensen, happened Sunday.

Mort tweeted that Smith broke his left arm playing flag football with kids and underwent surgery to insert a small plate and screws. It’s the same arm that Smith broke last year.

The potential good news (if there is any) is that Smith was reportedly playing with the kids at his football camp — on Father’s Day no less — and not, you know, riding a motorcycle at high speeds around Charlotte. Or something equally dumb that professional athletes occasionally find themselves doing.

However, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio’s hearing that Smith wasn’t playing in a youth camp scrimmage and that, instead, he was playing the championship game of an adult flag football league.

Derrick Fox, Smith’s agent, told Florio, “I don’t know,” when asked which it was, but, quite obviously, if Smith was playing in a rec league game, this situation is a lot more unnerving for the Panthers and their fans.

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Filed under: Eagles, NFL Coaching

PHILADELPHIA — A boy fidgets in his mother’s hold, as she repeatedly kisses his face. He recoils from her affection because he’s eleven and they’re outside in public and he’d rather keep playing catch with the football. But the day is fading fast, the way it does in autumn, the sun falling before supper.

She has a good arm, he thought. For a girl.

The boy scanned the horizon for other people. They were alone by the row of benches in the middle of the neighborhood park that is named after a French-born banker who single-handedly saved the U.S. government from financial catastrophe during the War of 1812, just down the street from where a mobster called Chicken Man was blown up by a nail bomb placed under his front porch.

“Ma!” the boy whined.

She smiled down at him, knowing how boys are.

“Someday, you’ll know.”

Unbeknownst to the boy, her words would become as distinct and cherished as any family heirloom passed down to the next generation.

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Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith broke his arm while playing defensive back during a flag football game this weekend.

While executing a search warrant at the Toronto office of Dr. Anthony Galea, Canadian authorities found homeopathic medicines and a small amount of HGH, as well as evidence of his treating pro football players.

The brother of former NFL star William Perry says the “Fridge” has some hearing loss but is improving from a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks nerves.