NFL: McDonald again arrested, released

The Chicago Bears released defensive end Ray McDonald following a domestic violence arrest in Northern California that police say stemmed from an assault on a woman who was holding a baby.

McDonald was taken into custody at 7 a.m. Monday on suspicion of domestic violence and child endangerment, Santa Clara police Lt. Kurt Clarke said.

Police say the assault happened at his home in Santa Clara. He was found about three hours later at a home in San Jose and arrested.

Police did not say if the woman or baby were hurt.

"We believe in second chances, but when we signed Ray we were very clear what our expectations were if he was to remain a Bear," general manager Ryan Pace said in a statement.

Bears guard Kyle Long quickly reacted to the move on Twitter by posting: "Good riddance."

McDonald's agent, Tom Condon, did not immediately return calls for comment Monday afternoon.

In December, the San Francisco 49ers released the 30-year-old, citing a "pattern of poor decision-making."

That was just a month after the Santa Clara County district attorney's office announced it had declined to file charges against McDonald in a separate domestic violence investigation stemming from an arrest Aug. 31 while celebrating his 30th birthday at his Northern California home.

But his trouble continued. In March, McDonald filed a defamation lawsuit against a woman who had accused him of rape.

McDonald says security camera footage will show a consensual sexual encounter occurred in his hot tub. Police say the woman doesn't recall any sexual encounters and reported blacking out after drinking alcohol and falling at McDonald's home.

Two people familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that Tom Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension for his role in the deflated footballs scandal won't be heard by Wednesday's 10-day deadline.

The collective bargaining agreement calls for it to be heard within 10 days. However, the league and the players' union can agree on delaying the hearing. No date has been set.

Former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss kept his promise by handing teenager Kassi Spier her high school diploma Friday night in Pelican Rapids, Minn.

Spier met Moss at Vikings training camp in his rookie year in 1998, when she was just a toddler and yelled out his name. He kept in contact with her in 2000 as she went through treatment for leukemia at the Mayo Clinic. He stood by her when she lost her father in a car accident in 2004, and again in 2013 when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Former Detroit Lions coach and Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will be working as an officiating consultant to offer a coaching viewpoint on decisions made by the league's officiating department.

Schwartz coached the Lions for five years before being fired in 2013.