FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Hines Ward Womens Jersey . - Isaac Sopoaga celebrated his 32nd birthday nearly two months ago. The massive defensive tackle feels like he received a belated gift this week when the New England Patriots acquired him from Philadelphia at the trade deadline. "Today is my daughters fourth birthday, but I feel like yesterday and today is my birthday," he said Wednesday, a day after the deal. "The Patriots, you know, its like a dream come true, to be honest. Respect these guys the last 10 years. They won (the Super Bowl) three times. Its just an awesome feeling." The proven run stopper, who started seven of the Eagles first eight games this season, was brought on to bolster the Patriots depleted defence thats struggled recently against the run. Sopoaga spent the first eight years of his career with the San Francisco 49ers and played in the Super Bowl earlier this year before being signed by Philadelphia as an unrestricted free agent in March. The 6-foot-2, 330-pounder recorded 10 tackles for the Eagles. He has started in 87 of 133 career games with 465 tackles, 7 1/2 sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. "Hes basically played defensive tackle and nose tackle throughout his career," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "Strong guy, physical guy." Sopoaga sure has some big shoes to fill — as well as some developing gaps. New England (6-2) has been without starting defensive tackles Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly for the past three weeks. Wilfork, the heart of the defence the last 10 years, was placed on season-ending injured reserve Oct. 3 with a torn right Achilles tendon, and Kelly has been sidelined for the last three games with a knee injury. Middle linebacker and leading tackler Jerod Mayo also was lost for the season, place on injured reserve two weeks ago with a torn pectoral muscle. The Patriots are now preparing for the Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5) with a vastly different defensive cast than they started with in training camp. "Its great to have all your players and be at full strength. The reality of it is thats usually not the case. Every team in the league goes through the same thing somewhere along the line," Belichick said. "All the players that are on the team have a role and they have to be ready when theyre called on to perform that role. "We have to be able to adjust during the game when those situations occur or during the week or during the year if its a long-term thing." The Patriots have acclimated to life without their stalwart linemen by leaning heavily on rookies Chris Jones and Joe Vellano. They also signed 34-year-old defensive end Andre Carter last week in the hope the 12-year veteran can rekindle some of the success he experienced in his lone season with the team in 2011, when he registered 10 sacks. In addition to their veteran leadership, Carter and Sopoaga both will be counted on to shore up a rushing defence that ranks 31st in the league at 130.8 yards per game, ahead of only winless Jacksonville. Prior to the losses of Wilfork and Kelly, the Patriots were allowing 105 yards rushing per game and had permitted just one touchdown rushing through the first four games. Over their last four, including both losses, they are yielding 156.5 yards rushing — much of it up the middle — and three touchdowns. The second half of the season appears to be getting brighter, though. Kelly returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since getting hurt Oct. 6 against Cincinnati, and Sopoaga is eager to get started with the team he was shocked to be traded to. "When I found out yesterday, I was with the Eagles and then after I had to drive to South Jersey so I could pack my stuff and then get ready," Sopoaga said. "On the highway, even though it was like a 50 (miles per hour) speed limit, us Samoan people, we go double the speed limit. "I was surprised, and something Ive got to live with, Ive got to do, Ive got to face, and you know, got to win." Heath Miller Jersey . Mata had already been dropped from Spains squad once this season and with the country blessed with so many playmakers, he was in real danger of being overlooked for the trip to Brazil to defend their title. Ben Roethlisberger Jersey . Speaking to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Friday, Brodeur said "Ive come to the conclusion that Im definitely going to be available July 1. NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguezs lawyers updated his lawsuit against Major League Baseball and Bud Selig, adding new criticism of the commissioner for not testifying in the unions grievance to overturn the 211-game suspension given to the New York Yankees star last summer. The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. The sides rested last Thursday after 12 days of sessions, and a decision on whether to uphold or alter the discipline is expected in January. "Mr. Selig chose to hide in his office in Milwaukee rather than come testify at the grievance hearing in New York. In Mr. Seligs world, apparently the buck does not stop with Bud," the new complaint said. "Mr. Selig lacked the courage of his convictions to explain under oath the reasons for the suspension and the conduct of his investigators. His silence on these issues speaks volumes and leads to only one logical conclusion -- his actions, and those of the MLB personnel he controls, were aimed at destroying the reputation, career and business prospects of Alex Rodriguez." Rodriguez was suspended Aug. 5 for alleged violations of the sports drug agreement and labour contract, and he played pending a determination of the grievance. As he did in the original complaint, Rodriguez accused Selig of conducting a "witch hunt" against him. The three-time AL MVP criticized the methods MLB employed in its investigation of the Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic, accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs. A-Rods lawyers included a photograph of Selig posing with a fan wearing a red shirt that had "A-ROID" written across the front. While the lawsuit attributes the photo to NESN.com, the NESNs website says the photo was from the 2009 All-Star FanFest and was taken from NBCSportsRadios Twitter feed. "Sadly, this cowaardly stance by Mr. Markus Wheaton Jersey. Selig is consistent with his past and highly inappropriate conduct in posing, smilingly, with a young fan wearing a T-shirt with a derogatory message directed at Mr. Rodriguez," the amended lawsuit said. "One cannot imagine the Commissioner of any other professional sport -- or indeed the CEO of any business -- doing something similar with respect to one of his or her players or employees." MLB had the suit removed to federal court, and Rodriguezs lawyers are trying to persuade U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield to remand the case back to New York state court. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23. Rodriguez claimed Selig interfered with his existing contracts and prospective business relationships. MLB says the case should be heard in federal court because of provisions of the Labor Management Relations Act, known as Taft-Hartley, and intends to ask for the suit to be dismissed. Later Tuesday, Rodriguezs lawyers released a stack of documents, including a presentation dated Oct. 21. They called a news conference for that evening with the intent to release papers, only to be blocked by an order from Horowitz. The presentation criticizes the conduct of several MLB investigators and New York City Police. The lawyers also released statements of several people who were on Rodriguezs witness list but never testified at the grievance hearing. Marcelo Albir and Lazaro Collazo accused MLBs investigators of harassment, which the league denies. Gary L. Jones, who says he was a friend of Porter Fischer, said he was paid $125,000 in $100 bills by MLB Senior Vice-President Dan Mullin at the Cosmos Diner in Pompano Beach, Fla., last March and $25,000 by Mullin in $50s and $100s for additional documents the following month. He also states Jones told Mullin that the documents had been stolen. MLB says the first payment was $100,000 and denies the comments Jones attributed to Mullin. Robert Davis Miller alleged Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch told him he was being paid $5 million by MLB in monthly installments, which the league also denies. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '