Pittsburgh’s Porter Is Out of Hospital

Pittsburgh Steeler All-Pro linebacker Joey Porter was released Monday from a Denver hospital, where he was treated after being shot early Sunday.

Porter, 26, flew to Pittsburgh to be examined by team doctors.

“It was a tragic incident,” All-Pro receiver Hines Ward said. “We’re handling it as it comes and hopefully get a better chance of understanding it when Joey gets back.”

Porter was standing outside a Denver sports bar after Saturday night’s game involving his alma mater, Colorado State, and Colorado at Invesco Field when he was struck by a bullet that entered his left buttocks and lodged in his right thigh. Police say he was an innocent bystander during what may have been a gang-related shooting.

The injury is not career-threatening but will sideline him for an indefinite period.

“He was very frightened,” said Sonny Lubick, Colorado State’s coach. “It could have been a lot worse. According to the doctors he was very, very fortunate.”

The Steelers aren’t ready to estimate how long Porter will be out. However, routine thigh injuries often take up to a month to heal, so it seems probable that Porter could sit out half the season.

Steeler Coach Bill Cowher gathered the players briefly before practice and, as he does before every season, stressed the importance of staying out of situations that could jeopardize their safety. The bar where Porter was shot is in a high-crime area of Denver.

“This is the last thing you would expect to be handling right now, but the season is going to go on,” linebacker Jason Gildon said. “We’re expecting big things out of our defense and our team, and we can’t let this be a step back for us.”

Porter will be replaced at right outside linebacker by Clark Haggans, his former teammate at Colorado State.

Haggans also attended the Colorado State-Colorado game, but would not say whether he was with Porter at the time of the shooting.

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Rookie cornerback Rod Babers, who left the New York Giants without notice on the weekend, returned to his home in Houston, Coach Jim Fassel said.

Fassel, who had not spoken to Babers, said the player’s grandfather died Thursday, but he did not know whether that was the reason Babers left.

The NFL granted the Giants a roster exemption for Babers.

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Seattle offensive lineman Chris Terry was suspended for the team’s first four games for violating the NFL substance abuse and personal conduct policies.

The NFL said Terry also was fined an additional five game checks.

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Washington rookie receiver Taylor Jacobs is expected to be released from a hospital today after suffering what the Redskins called “abdominal trauma” after being kicked in the stomach in an exhibition game against Jacksonville on Thursday....San Diego signed quarterback Cleo Lemon to the practice squad, a day after cutting him from the active roster.... Denver released quarterback Danny Kanell and signed cornerback Roosevelt Williams....Tight end Tony McGee, a 10-year veteran, signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay, which released offensive tackle Lance Nimmo to make room on the roster.

Miscellany

Olympic figure skating gold medalist Alexei Yagudin was charged Sunday at Avon, Conn., with drunk driving after being pulled over for speeding.

Yagudin, 23, who trains in nearby Simsbury, was stopped by an Avon police officer at about 12:40 a.m. He was arrested and released on $250 bond and is to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Sept. 10.

U.S. cyclist Tyler Hamilton is leaving his Danish team to join Switzerland’s Phonak team. Hamilton, a former support rider for five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, finished fourth in the Tour last month as the leader of Team CSC despite a broken collarbone.

Passings

Brian Ottney, a captain on last year’s Michigan State football team, had a seizure before dying early Monday in Long Beach, the L.A. County coroner’s office said. He was 23.

The former center collapsed in a Long Beach residence. Paramedics transported Ottney to Long Beach Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:59 a.m. An autopsy was scheduled for today or Wednesday.