BOSTON -- Two players violated league concussion protocol during last weekends wild-card games, according to a letter sent by the NFLs head, neck and spine committee chairmen to all team doctors and trainers. In a document obtained by The Associated Press, Drs. Hunt Batjer and Richard Ellenbogen said one player re-entered the game and another refused to leave the sideline. The doctors did not identify the players, but one was Green Bay tackle David Bakhtiari, who went into the game for an extra-point try despite being examined for a concussion and not cleared. The other player was Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis, who remained on the sideline but did not get back on the field. "On two occasions last weekend, and contrary to the advice of the team medical staffs, players who had been diagnosed with a concussion and therefore declared ineligible for play nonetheless refused to leave the sidelines as required by league concussion protocols," the letter said. "In one case, the player went back onto the field for one play before being removed from the game." The doctors found "no fault" in how the team medical staffs conducted themselves. "If a player refuses to follow your advice and leave the sidelines after being diagnosed with a concussion, we recommend that the head athletic trainer seek assistance from the players position coach (or another member of the coaching staff) or from another team official to remove the player from the sidelines as soon as possible," the letter said. The NFLs Madden Rule requires a player diagnosed with a concussion to be taken to the locker room or another quiet location. "We will continue working with the league to ensure that team doctors, coaches, trainers and other members of a teams medical staff enforce return-to-participation protocols," the NFL Players Association said in an email. "Players naturally want to play and ultimately, the game-day medical and coaching staffs have the responsibility and obligation for player protection and care." The Saints and Packers declined comment. No fines will be imposed for the violations. Bakhtiaris season is over because Green Bay lost to San Francisco. But Lewis Saints are playing Saturday at Seattle and he has been practicing. Batjer and Ellenbogen noted in the letter how players may resist being kept out of the game, particularly during the post-season. "But (the rule) is an important element of the leagues protocol and intended to safeguard the players well-being and enhance his ability to recover from his injury," they wrote. Hydro Flask 24 Oz Standard Mouth . -- A year ago, Flavia Pennetta was close to retiring from tennis. Cheap White Hydro Flask Straw Lid 32 oz Wide Mouth Water Bottle . 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Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks.NEW YORK, N.Y. - NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will run the first three miles of the New York City Marathon on Sunday as part of a 24-person relay of basketball luminaries.Dikembe Mutombo will cross the finish line for the group, which is trying to encourage kids to exercise.Silver said Monday that he will run over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn then pass a baton to Chris Mullin, the Brooklyn native who starred at St. Johns in Queens before a Hall of Fame NBA career.Mullin, now an executive with the Sacramento Kings, will be followed by a long list of big-name players to cover the 26.2 miles.Most also have local ties, including Bronx native and fellow Hall of Famer Nate Tiny Archibald; Knicks greats Charles Oakley, Bernard King and Allan Houston; the Nets Darryl Dawkins; Brooklyn native Sam Perkins; and New York City high school legends Felipe Lopez and Albert King.Also running is Jason Collins, who made history last season with the Nets as the first openly gay player in the four major North American pro sports leagues.WNBA stars Swin Cash, Teresa Edwards, Ruth Riley and Katie Smith are on the relay along with players-turned-NBA TV analysts Greg Anthony and Steve Smith.Rounding out the group are executives from the league, Knicks and Nets and broadcaster Mike Breen.Each celebrity will be joined on his or her one-mile leg with a local student who takes part in marathon organizer New York Road Runners youth programs. Silver will run alongside Lauren Pitarresi, a 14 year-old from Staten Island, who Im concerned is going to smoke me, he joked.Silver is an avid runner who has twice completed the NYC Marathon, finishing in just under ffour hours in both 2002 and 2010.dddddddddddd He competed in track and cross country — and not basketball — in high school in Rye, New York, where he was a quarter- and half-miler.The 52-year-old Silver hasnt been running as much since he became commissioner in February. He still gets in four or five workouts a week, often taking two laps around the reservoir in Central Park for just over three miles.Hes not in good enough shape to do the full race Sunday, though its a strange sensation as a marathoner to stop after only a few miles.I felt awkward running only a leg of the marathon and not the entire marathon, having remembered some famous New York stories of people who started and didnt necessarily finish, Silver said.Plans for the relay began in the early spring. New York is home to this seasons NBA All-Star weekend, with events at the Nets Brooklyn arena and the game at Madison Square Garden.The league is seeking to reach a half-million youngsters in the five boroughs through fitness programs in conjunction with hosting the festivities.Silver will start just after Wave 1 on Sunday. He needs to be ready to leave his home on Manhattans West Side at 6 a.m. to get to Staten Island, though he said hes negotiating a later pick-up.Other participants will gather at a hotel in Manhattan or another in Brooklyn to be ferried to their baton-passing points, which will take place at mile-markers.Twenty-seven vehicles will be required to get everybody to the proper places, with co-ordination from the New York Police Department to ensure they can be transported through the crowded streets.Marathon officials expect the relay to take more than five hours. ' ' '