SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University offensive tackle Mike Butterworth signed a two-year free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons on Monday.

"The Falcons have been in touch with me and my agent throughout the pre-draft period and have shown a lot of interest in me, and felt it would be a better fit for me," said Butterworth in a release from the university.

Butterworth, 6-foot-7, 310 pounds, earned second-team all-American honors from Daktronics Inc., as well as honorable mention status from Don Hansen's Football Gazette and D2Football.com.

He also earned first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic all-American honors for the second consecutive year and was first-team All-PSAC West for three consecutive seasons.

Butterworth was a national finalist for the Gene Upshaw Division IILineman of the Year.

NEW YORK — The Pittsburgh Pirates' game at the New York Mets on Monday night was postponed by rain and rescheduled for Aug. 11.Scheduled starters Johan Santana of the Mets and Ian Snell of the Pirates were pushed back to 7:10 p.m. tonight, with Oliver Perez to match up against Tom Gorzelanny in the series finale Wednesday.The game will not be on Fox Sports Pittsburgh, which will televise Game 3 of the Penguins-New York Rangers NHL playoff series at 7 p.m. instead.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Well-traveled Larry Brown has reached an agreement to return to the NBA as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press Monday.The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made, said Brown was expected to sign a contract today. The Bobcats have called an afternoon news conference for what they termed a "major basketball announcement."The 67-year-old Hall of Famer will be taking over his ninth NBA team, and it will be his first coaching job since a messy exit from the New York Knicks in 2006. Brown will replace Sam Vincent, fired on Saturday after going 32-50 in his one season.

MIAMI — This time, Pat Riley insists he won't come back.The Hall of Fame coach stepped down from the Miami Heat sideline Monday, although he'll remain team president. His first act as Miami's former coach was to choose its new one, and he hired Erik Spoelstra, a 37-year-old who started in the Heat video room in 1995 and now becomes the NBA's youngest coach.Riley retired once before, only to come back when Stan Van Gundy stepped down 21 games into the 2005-06 season, Miami's championship campaign. Although he knows the perception exists that says otherwise, Riley insists he never wanted to return then — and won't be talked into it one more time.