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MINNEAPOLIS -- Out of the doghouse and into the end zone, Cordarrelle Pattersons career renaissance kicked into overdrive on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.Patterson returned a kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown to put the Vikings in control of the game, and also had four catches for 53 yards in Minnesotas 30-24 victory that snapped a four-game losing streak.Once thought of as the dynamic playmaker who would take over as a focal point of the Vikings offense once Adrian Peterson was ready to retire, the 2013 first-round draft choice entered the season hanging on to a roster spot for dear life. He had two catches for 10 yards all of last season, then watched the Vikings spend a first-round draft choice on another receiver before declining to pick up the fifth-year option on Pattersons contract later in the summer.Over the span of 10 games in a contract year, Patterson has gone from an afterthought in the offense to a featured element. In addition to his return and receiving duties on Sunday, Patterson took a read-option handoff from Jerick McKinnon to get the defense focused on him, then flipped the ball to quarterback Sam Bradford in a play that drew a penalty downfield and set up a Vikings touchdown.When youre involved, you cant even sleep at night, Patterson said. Last night I couldnt even sleep because I was just so excited about today. I knew it was going to be a good game for me, man. Ive got a couple friends in town and I told them its going to be a good game for me.He also converted a third-and-1 with a 30-yard reception that set up another touchdown, and opened the second half with his fifth career kickoff return TD, which ties him with Percy Harvin for the most in Vikings history.When you look what he does on special teams, when the balls in his hands, you just feel like hes one of those guys if we can get him five, six, however many touches it is a game, you know that hes going to create something positive, Bradford said. Anytime the balls in his hands, hes got a chance to take it all the way.When the Vikings drafted Laquon Treadwell in April and declined Pattersons contract option, the writing appeared to be on the wall for a player whose physical tools were never questioned, but whose carefree personality led to doubts about him as a consistent threat on offense. Pattersons good friend Adam Thielen, an undrafted player out of Division II Minnesota State, Mankato, had surpassed him on the receiver depth chart. His future was uncertain.Nicknamed Flash both for his blazing speed and his colorful personality, Patterson first showed coaches that he was playing with a different attitude when he started covering punts as a gunner. Its one of the most thankless tasks on the field. He forced a key fumble against the Giants and gradually started earning more playing time on offense as well.The approach endeared him to no-nonsense coach Mike Zimmer, and Patterson has seen his role grow each week.Its been cool to see him have success because Ive seen what he does in the offseason, said Thielen, who had five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Ive seen how positive he is. Its easy for guys in his situation to not have that mindset and not work hard. But its good to see when guys deserve it and they go out and make it happen.The Vikings never needed Patterson more than Sunday, when they carried a four-game losing streak into a crucial home game. Patterson broke out some socks with his own likeness on them -- Last night I was packing my bag and said hey, I need to pack these, he said -- and broke the game open with a kick return that gave the Vikings a 27-17 lead.Tonight Im going to sleep like a baby, he said with a wide smile. Im going to sleep too good.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Yellow Gold Swell Bottle . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Swell Bottle Wholesale . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. http://www.swellbottlesales.com/ . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Swell Bottle Sales . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. Swell Water Bottle Marble .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. NBA FREE AGENCYOKLAHOMA CITY -- Free agent Kevin Durant met with the Golden State Warriors in the Hamptons.Durant, the top prize in this years free-agent class, met with the Warriors on Friday in the Hamptons. A person close to the situation said Warriors owner Joe Lacob, general manager Bob Myers, coach Steve Kerr and All-Stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were among those present. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.Durant, the four-time scoring champion and 2014 MVP with the Oklahoma City Thunder, is scheduled to meet with the Miami Heat on Sunday. Media reports say he met with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday evening and will meet with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.It makes sense for the Warriors to try to add Durant -- he averaged 30 points per game against them in this years Western Conference finals and torched them for a career-high 54 points in 2014.UNDATED -- Mike Conley and All-Stars Andre Drummond and DeMar DeRozan are staying put. So are Hassan Whiteside and Nicolas Batum.Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah and many more players are on the move -- and some are getting paid like they never could have imagined.Howard and Noah both returned to their hometowns, with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks hoping the former Defensive Players of the Year have plenty left to offer.Howard agreed to a three-year deal worth $70.5 million with the Hawks, with the Knicks gave Noah $72 million over four years.Kent Bazemore also re-signed with the Hawks for $70 million over four years, joining players such as Chandler Parsons, Evan Turner and Timofey Mozgov in cashing in during the first day of free agency -- and really, of a new era -- in the NBA.With revenues rising and the salary cap soaring right along with it, good players were being paid like All-Stars, while All-Stars were getting contracts that used to go only to superstars.PRO BASKETBALLNEW YORK -- O.J. Mayo was dismissed and disqualified from the NBA for violating the terms of the leagues anti-drug program, the first player to receive that punishment in a decade.The league said the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 draft out of USC is eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years.Mayo, 28, spent the past three seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged 7.8 points in 41 games last season, including 24 starts.According to rules of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program, information regarding the testing or treatment of a player cant be disclosed by the league, his team or the union. However, there are only a few violations that would lead to Mayos punishment.A player can be dismissed or disqualified from the NBA for testing positive for a drug of abuse, or if he is convicted of or pleads guilty to the use, possession or distribution of a drug of abuse.OLYMPICSKINGSTON, Jamaica -- Usain Bolts Olympic quest is in doubt after the sprint superstar left his countrys national championships with a hamstring injury shortly before he was going to run the 100-meter final.The national meet serves as the Olympic trials. Bolt had qualified for the 100-meter final on Friday night, and was scheduled to coompete in the 200-meter events Saturday and Sunday.ddddddddddddes not out of the Rio Games, but his status hinges now on how he does at a meet in London in three weeks. Bolt said he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring tear -- the most mild sort -- and that the discomfort began presenting itself in his quarterfinal race on Thursday night.Bolt won Olympic gold in the 100 in both Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. No one has ever won the 100-meter race at the Olympics three times.PRO FOOTBALLSAN FRANCISCO -- More than 1,500 former players claiming that NFL teams and their training staffs dispensed powerful drugs while misleading them about the health risks will get their day in court.Federal judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California denied a motion to dismiss the players lawsuit, allowing the discovery phase of the trial to begin.Alsup had dismissed a similar lawsuit in December 2014, in which former Chicago Bears great Richard Dent was the lead plaintiff among the dozen named. Alsup wrote that the collective bargaining agreement was the proper forum to resolve the players claims. That case is currently on appeal.The new lawsuit was filed in May 2015 in federal court in Baltimore and eventually transferred back to Alsup because it was closely related. The new class action, however, names each of the NFLs 32 teams individually and a new group of named plaintiffs -- 13 in all -- among them Cowboys Hall of Fame defensive back Mel Renfro and Etopia Evans, the widow of former Vikings and Ravens fullback Chuck Evans, who died of heart failure at age 41.BASEBALLNEW YORK -- The Boston Red Sox were banned from signing international amateur free agents for one year, a penalty assessed after Major League Baseball concluded the team broke rules on signing bonuses last summer.MLB concluded the Red Sox and buscones -- local trainer/representatives of the players -- worked together to evade a $300,000 cap on signing bonuses to five Venezuelan prospects who were 16 at the time: right-hander Cesar Gonzalez, infielders Antonio Pinero and Eduardo Torrealba, and outfielders Albert Guaimaro and Simon Muzziotti.A person familiar with the investigation said the signing bonuses of those five were pooled with the bonuses of about 10 other players, and more than $300,000 was given to each of the five.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public comments were authorized.PRO HOCKEYNASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators filed a motion seeking to have the civil dispute between part-owner David Freeman and chairman Thomas Cigarran resolved by the league office rather than settled in court.The motion from Predators Holdings LLC and Cigarran says the proper forum for plaintiffs dispute is the arbitration proceeding before the NHL Commissioner.Freeman and Commodore Trust sued the team and Cigarran last week, saying the defendants breached their fiduciary obligations and contractual commitments to Freeman after he helped keep the franchise in Nashville. The plaintiffs are seeking $250 million. ' ' '