Roger Goodell insists he'll hear Tom Brady's appeal

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday it's his responsibility to hear directly from New England quarterback Tom Brady in his appeal of his four-game suspension in the deflated footballs case.

Goodell said he has not had time to study a request from the players' union that he recuse himself from the appeal because he has been focused on the spring owners meetings that concluded Wednesday in San Francisco.

He said that unless there is a factor that he is unaware of he will likely hear the case.

"It's my job here to make sure we're doing everything to protect the integrity of the game, protect our policies, protect our procedures," Goodell said. "We have a process that has been negotiated with the union that has been in place for decades. It's my responsibility and it's something that we've had in place for a long time."

Goodell said no date has been set for the appeal.

The CBA reached in 2011 gave Goodell the right to hear the appeal; only the commissioner can punish players for conduct detrimental to the league. The NFL Players Association claims that he can't be an impartial judge of a ruling he made himself.

• New York Giants starting left tackle Will Beatty will be sidelined up to six months after tearing a pectoral muscle lifting weights.

The owner of Triple Crown hopeful American Pharoah sold the breeding rights to his Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to Coolmore Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

Owner Ahmed Zayat would not disclose the value of the deal, but his son has said the family had been inundated with offers, many for more than $20 million.

Zayat said if American Pharoah wins the Belmont Stakes on June 6 and becomes the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, he plans to keep racing the colt through the end of the year.

Coolmore is a worldwide breeding operation with farms in Kentucky, Australia and Ireland.

Kentucky's men's basketball team was nearly as perfect in the classroom in 2013-14 as it was on the basketball court last season.

The Wildcats and Duke, which won its fifth national championship in April, both made the list. The two other Final Four teams, Wisconsin and Michigan State, did not.

Also missing out were all four teams from the inaugural College Football Playoff — Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Oregon — and the entire Final Four field on the women's side: UConn, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Maryland.

Tennis: Top-seeded American Madison Keys rallied from one set and 5-0 down to beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (0) and reach the quarterfinals of the Strasbourg (France) International.

College football: Nebraska reserve defensive back Boaz Joseph was fined $300 for marijuana possession. Joseph had been ticketed last June for bike theft in Lincoln.

College basketball: Kentucky coach John Calipari signed a new contract that will pay him a total of $54 million through 2022. The deal replaces the $52.5 million, seven-year agreement he signed last June.