Jim Brown retired from the Cleveland Browns in 1966 while still at his peak after nine seasons and as the NFL alltime leading rusher. But Brown was not out of the limelight for very long. In 1967 he costarred in one of the greatest World War II films of alltime, The Dirty Dozen.The bigger question is what will CBS end up paying? Just last week, ESPN signed a new contract with the NFL at $1.9 billion a year. Repeat: $1.9 billion. That is about 73 percent more than ESPN previously paid the NFL.The background, of course, is that NFL team owners and players are at odds over salary caps and other issues, raising the possibility of a lockout and the cancellation of some or all of the 2011 football season.

The plan is part of the labor contract agreed upon in March 2006 by the league and union and is administered by Upshaw and Harold Henderson, an NFL senior vice president. The "88" is the number of Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey, one of the first former players who