NFL: Brady named AP Offensive Player of Year

Tom Brady, for the second time in four seasons, won the the Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year award. The record-setting Patriots quarterback, who had a string of 355 passes without being intercepted, received 21 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league.

* The Titans are staying in-house so far in their search for a new head coach, with offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger the second coach to interview for the job.. . . . Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen was accused of assaulting a police officer and faced an NFL investigation after he was arrested during a traffic stop in South Los Angeles. Officers used a stun gun to subdue the 6-foot-3, 275-pound Griffen during a struggle after he tried to flee.

Mae Smith, the mother of Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith, died in an East Texas hospital. She was 77.

MLS: Red Bulls to host All-Star Game

Major League Soccer announced it will hold this year’s All-Star Game at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. on July 27. They will play an international team to be announced within a month, with Barcelona and Arsenal as possibilities. The league left money on the table by opting to put the event in the a 25,000-seat stadium instead of the nearby New Meadowlands, which holds 82,000. Last year’s game vs.Manchester United drew 70,000 in Houston. — Brian Lewis

ETC.: Empire State Run-Up to Dold

Thomas Dold of Germany won the Empire State Building Run-Up for a record sixth straight year, hustling up 86 flights of stairs in 10 minutes, 10 seconds. Alice McNamara of Australia, a rower competing in the race up the Manhattan landmark for the first time, was the women’s winner in 13 minutes, 3 seconds. The 26-year-old Dold scaled the 1,576 steps from the lobby to the outdoor observation deck of New York’s tallest building and beat last year’s winning time by six seconds.

Ian Thorpe, Australia’s five-time Olympic gold medalist, said he is coming out of retirement at age 28, hoping to swim in next year’s London Games.