The NFL Network and Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN are in talks about forming a partnership, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

A deal could end a long standoff between the league and cable carriers, some of whom said the NFL was asking them to pay too much for its programming.

The NFL's discussions with Disney are being led by Steven Bornstein, the head of the NFL's cable network and a previous chairman of ESPN.

ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys declined to comment on the report but said the network has “a long-term and extensive relationship with the NFL and to that end we are always in discussions with them about mutual projects.”

The NFL Network is carried on the satellite broadcaster DirecTV, but the network clashed with major cable providers like Time Warner Cable Inc., who said the league was demanding exorbitant carriage fees.

The NFL had tried to enhance the appeal of its own cable channel by withholding a number of live games from traditional broadcasts and reserving them for its own network. Associated Press

Tommie Harris says talks that led to his four-year, $40 million contract with the Chicago Bears were businesslike and “classy.”

The defensive tackle said he and Bears management kept negotiations private in reaching a deal that will keep him with Chicago through 2012. That differs from what has happened between the team and linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. They've both gone public with complaints and threatened holdouts.

Harris started 56 of his 60 career NFL games and recorded 208 tackles during his four seasons with the Bears. Harris is a three-time Pro Bowler.

Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch, 22, is expected to plead guilty to an unspecified charge stemming from a hit-and-run accident involving his SUV, Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark said.

Clark said a tentative plea agreement assumes Lynch was driving his 2008 Porsche Cayenne when it hit a woman crossing a Buffalo intersection early May 31, leaving the victim with a bruised hip and in need of stitches.

BOXING

A former finalist in the national Golden Gloves championship was charged with manslaughter in a hit-and-run accident that left a man dead. Curtis Lee Meeks Jr., 24, turned himself in after police issued a warrant for his arrest, charging him with manslaughter in the death of Jose Fuentes-Reyes, 28. Meeks was released on $15,000 bond.

COLLEGES

John Pawlowski, 44, who led the College of Charleston baseball program to three NCAA regional berths, one super regional appearance and four straight Southern Conference titles in his nine-season tenure, has accepted the coaching job at Auburn. Pawlowski was 338-192-1 at College of Charleston.

RACING

Veteran NASCAR driver Sterling Marlin agreed to pay fines for allowing dirt to pollute a stream while clearing land on his property in Columbia, Tenn. A spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said Martin agreed to pay $8,655 for violating water quality laws two times.

An inspection on Marlin's development in 2007 found he had dumped fill dirt into Haley Branch. He was also fined for eroding sediment falling into a tributary of Bear Creek.

TRACK AND FIELD

A Florida federal judge says banned sprinter Justin Gatlin should be allowed to compete at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier's temporary restraining order is only in effect for 10 days, and the trials don't begin until June 27 in Eugene, Ore. Collier set a Monday hearing in Pensacola, Fla. to discuss the order. Gatlin's complaint alleged that penalizing him for a 2001 doping violation, which involved medication he was taking for attention deficit disorder, violates the Americans with Disability Act. Observer News Services