Jim Tressel won't join Colts until Game 7

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Jim Tressel won't begin his tenure as replay-game consultant with the Indianapolis Colts until the seventh game of the regular season.

Tressel

Colts vice chairman Bill Polian said the move came at the former Ohio State coach's suggestion after discussions over the weekend.

"In addition, we had a conversation with league officials to apprise them of the details of Coach Tressel's employment and the issues we were reviewing," Polian said Monday morning in a statement.

Polian said questions surfaced after the announcement of Tressel's hiring "with respect to the equity of his appointment as opposed to suspensions being served this season by present and former Ohio State players."

In an interview with ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on Tuesday, commissioner Roger Goodell said he would have suspended Tressel if the Colts didn't make him sit out.

Tressel was hired Friday by the Colts as a game-day consultant to help determine when the team should challenge plays.

"We have informed the league office of our decision and expect that they will be supportive of it," Polian said in the news release. " We are very happy Coach Tressel will be joining us."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello acknowledged the discussions with the Colts over the weekend.

"The team fully understood the issues and committed to addressing them," Aiello said in an email to The Associated Press. "We were informed last night of the decision reached by the team and Mr. Tressel. We believe it is appropriate."

Coach Jim Caldwell said Friday that Tressel's new role was a position he's wanted to fill for the past couple of years.

Tressel had been actively seeking employment after resigning from Ohio State on May 30 amid a damaging NCAA scandal. He had been seen at practices in Cleveland and Indianapolis recently and attended the Colts' preseason finale Thursday in Cincinnati.

But his job with the Colts, Caldwell said, will be limited exclusively to working game days from the coaches' booth.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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