St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 17

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1994 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH SPORTS 5B FOOTBALL NFL ROUNDUP Orange, Fiesta, Sugar Win Bowl Sweepstakes Chiefs Terminate Casillas Team Asks League: Check For Tampering By The Associated Press Free agent Tony Casillas has refused to report to the Kansas City Chiefs training camp' and has returned his $1.2 million signing bonus, the team said Thursday. Peterson, the Chiefs' president and general manager, called for an investigation by the National Football League, the NFL Player's Association and a special master who looks into questions about the collective bargaining agreement. "The Kansas City Chiefs have made the decision to terminate the contract of Tony Casillas today," Peterson said in a statement. "Tony ey a 'V- MU's Frazier Alters Stance To Football By Tyler Green Post-Dispatch Special Correspondent COLUMBIA, Mo.

Lamont Frazier, the University of Missouri basketball player known for his physical style of play, will take his body-banging game to the football field this fall. Frazier, who was a member of the All-Big Eight Conference defensive team, used his four seasons of basketball eligibility in four years. Many student-ath Reuters Chiefs QB Joe Montana, in Tokyo to play the Vikings, said players have been mobbed whenever they get off their bus. "It's hard to get anywhere," he said. are involved.

Tagliabue said the Japan league would not be part of the World League of American Football, a joint venture between the NFL and the Fox broadcasting network that has teams in Europe. Tokyo has hosted the NFL in American Bowls each year since 1989. All have been sold out or very nearly so, with attendance generally between 49,000 and 50,000 with the highest price tickets at $200. A confident Trent Dilfer signed the richest contract in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history and promised to do whatever is necessary to help the team break a cycle of losing. Dilfer signed an eight-year, $16.5 million deal that could be worth much more if he meets certain performance incentives.

By The Associated Press The Bowl Alliance went with the Orange, Fiesta and Sugar for a possible national championship game, and may have killed the Cotton. The cities of Miami, New Orleans and Tem-pe, were the big winners Thursday when the bowl choices were made by a group of Division I-A conference commissioners. Beginning after the 1995 season, the Orange, Fiesta and Sugar bowls will alternate each year as the site of a matchup between the top two teams available to the alliance. Champions from the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Twelve (formerly Big Eight) and Southeastern conferences will be involved, along with two at-large teams. For the 1995 season only, the Southwest Conference winner will be one of the at-large teams.

"It's a major deal We felt going into this that we had to put our best foot forward," said Donald Kubit, president-elect of the Orange Bowl Committee. "It was do or die with respect to preserving the rich tradition of the Orange Bowl and having championship college football in our community." New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial said Gov. Edwin Edwards, the state legislature and the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Motel Association combined to boost the Sugar Bowl's bid. "We as a committee never discussed the possibility that we wouldn't be selected," Sugar Bowl President Chuck Zatarain said. "Mayor Morial told me we'd better be selected." The mood was somber at the Cotton Bowl.

'I've seen better days," said John Scovell, who headed the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association's bid. "Have you ever been in a winner's locker room and felt sorry for the guys in the loser's room? It's an unfortunate decision. The Cotton Bowl is not a good loser. But we can be good sports." Can it be a viable bowl without the alliance's Tier 1 designation and with no shot at a national championship matchup? "If you're here for a funeral march, then you can leave," Scovell said. "The sun is still shining on the Cotton Bowl.

We'll still be able to choose from 98 Division I-A. teams. The three bowls plus the Rose Bowl will eliminate only eight teams." But Dallas City Councilman Glenn Box said the Cotton Bowl was an "all or nothing deal." Several city and game officials also said last week they didn't think Dallas would support a Tier 2 game. The Rose Bowl, which matches the Big Ten and Pacific-10 champions, is not part of the alliance. If a team from the Big Ten or Pac-10 is ranked No.

1 or No. 2, a true championship game will not emerge from the alliance, which replaces the current bowl coalition. The arrangement is for six years, with an escape clause after three years for the conferences. After either the Orange, Sugar or Fiesta selects the top two teams, the other two bowls will be filled by alternating selections. "This virtually guarantees that the Fiesta Bowl will have the national championship game once in the years 1996, 1997 or 1998," Fiesta Bowl executive director John Junker said.

"The other years our matchup will consist of two conference champions or two teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation." The Orange, Sugar and Fiesta will be considered Tier 1 bowls, with one each on Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. The Fiesta reportedly bid $118 million, the Orange $104 million and the Sugar $98 million to get Tier 1 designations.

The money comes from sponsorships and television contracts. to solicit a last-minute offer from the Cowboys before signing with Kansas City. Barry Switzer, who coached Casillas at Oklahoma and now coaches the Cowboys, said, "As far as I know it hasn't been a situation where we've been talking with Tony." Switzer said the last time he spoke to Casillas was in a social setting before the start of training camp. The NFL is considering setting up a pro football league in Japan, commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Thursday. Tagliabue, in Japan for Sunday's American Bowl exhibition game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings, said the NFL and Japanese companies are discussing plans to establish the league.

He did not say which Japanese companies bunch of them. Naturally, you'd like to have back any first-round busts that you have." First-round busts. There were a few of those under his watch quarterback Steve Pisarkiewicz in 1977 place-kicker Steve Little in 1978 wide receiver Clyde Duncan in 1984 quarterback Kelly Stouffer in 1987. "We received a lot of blame through the years on some selections, but they don't know what happened behind the scenes," Boone said. "They don't know that maybe the head coach wants to get rid of the quarterback, so now you try to get another quarterback." Read: Boone drafted Stouffer in '87 when then coach Gene Stallings was disenchanted with Neil Lomax.

"Some of those guys you couldn't take from a medical standpoint," Boone said. "You worried that they'd had some injuries in college and you weren't willing to take that risk." Read: Boone bypassed the late Jerome Brown to take Stouffer. in that same 1987 draft, much to the delight of Philadelphia coach Buddy Ryan. Boone was concerned about a foot injury with Brown, and also thought the defensive tackle "took nine out of every 10 plays off." In fairness to Boone, many of his first-round picks hit running back Ottis Anderson in '79 linebacker E.J. Junior in '81 offensive tackle Luis Sharpe in '82 cornerback Leonard Smith in '83 linebacker Ken Harvey in '88 defensive lineman Eric Swann in '91.

Boone concedes he deserved much of the heat he took in St. Louis and Arizona. But he felt he has been unfairly branded as a bungler, thanks in large part to Coryell's infamous eruption at the end of the 1977 season. Much of Coryell's ire was over the fact that he lacked sufficient input in the draft. But as Boone recalled, there was more.

Much more. "He said he had no social life," Boone said. "He didn't like the weather. He didn't like the fans. Didn't have but two defensive guys who could play for New York.

"The truth of the matter is his wife was very unhappy being there. I have the feeling that maybe she was going to go whether he went or not. So he shot at everybody he could. He opened the door, threw a bomb in the room and blew up St. Louis and the whole thing so he could get out of his contract." Coryell left St.

Louis after that '77 season, spending the next nine years as coach of the San Diego Chargers. Meanwhile, Boone kept on drafting for the Big Red until Bidwill handed him a pink slip. "Somebody told me, 'Look at it this way, George. You had them fooled for 24 Boone said. letes take redshirt seasons that is, sit out a season to develop academically or athletically or to recover from an injury and spread their four seasons over five years.

Because he used his four seasons in Frazier four years, Frazier is eligible under NCAA rules to play another sport for one season. It was not immediately known whether he will be on scholarship for this football season. Frazier was an all-state tight end-defensive end at Charleston (Mo.) High and was recruited by several schools, including Arkansas and Auburn. New Mizzou coach Larry Smith talked in the spring about being interested in Frazier as a football prospect. At first, Frazier was determined not to play football.

"I was happy to be out of one sport," Frazier told the Columbia Tribune. "I did something for so long, and I could stop being under stress or strain. Why not just absorb it while I could? Why couldn't I live like a normal student? Why not enjoy it?" But after a meeting with Smith, Frazier said, he changed his mind. It is not known what position Frazier will play, but speculation centers around tight end. The Tigers were weakened at tight end when starter A J.

Ofodile left school early to enter the National Football League draft. At 237 pounds, Frazier is.heavier than any of the other tight end candidates Bill Lingerfelt, Vic Faust, Mark Alnutt and Darren Sallee. Frazier is about five pounds heavier than junior college transfer Miguel Gonzalez, who will arrive at MU in the fall. Smith first became interested in Frazier by accident. "I just watched him play basketball and talked to Norm Stewart, the basketball coach, and defensive backs coach Jon Hoke saw Frazier play in high school," Smith said in March.

"He was a great high school football player." 4:00 On A Jumbo Bucket Of Range Balls 160-175 Balls EXPIRES AUG. 31, 1994 MUST PRESENT COUPON 513 LINCOLN HWY. FAIRVIEW HGTS.JL. 818- 3820 W. CLAY ST.

CHARLES 847-0097 11 8245241 1 1 mm I III 11 III Vli Casillas has returned his entire signing bonus as he was contractually obligated to do in the event he did not report to training camp." 1 Peterson suggested another team may have contacted Casillas. "The obvious is that I want to be sure this guy hasn't been tampered with," he said. When asked if he suspected tampering, Peterson said, "I don't know, but there is a possibility of something that could be embarrassing to the league." Later Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys denied that they have tampered with their former defensive tackle. "He's not talking about us," Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said. Casillas played the past three seasons in Dallas, still resides in Dallas, and attempted Boone From page one kind of like being in prison," he joked.

"I don't know of anyone that's a sane human being that likes the feeling of being rejected." It got to the point where Boone was ready to pursue a job outside of football. "Flipping hamburgers," he said. (George Boone at the drive-up window?) Actually, he had looked into the restaurant business. Then the phone rang in January. Bill Tobin, new director of football operations for the Indianapolis Colts, was on the line.

Would Boone be interested in joining the Colts' player personnel department? Are you kidding? Boone was heading out the door almost before he hung up off to Mobile, to scout the Senior Bowl. Brace yourselves, draftniks. After 18 months of unemployment, encompassing the 1992 and '93 seasons, Boone is back. He's the Colts director of college player personnel, a job similar but not as all-encompassing as the one he held his last 19 seasons with the Cardinals. To many Big Red backers in St.

Louis and Phoenix, this is akin to flying a kite in an electrical storm, smoking a cigar in a warehouse full of dynamite, jumping from a plane without a parachute. In short, a recipe for disaster. Boone was a lightning rod for criticism with the Cardinals, maligned for his draft-day failures in two time zones over two decades. I But with Tobin, it's not a case of why hire George Boone? It's more like, why not? I "George is good peopb. He's a good person and a good worker," said Tobin, who joined the Colts in January after a long stint in player personnel with the Chicago Bears.

Much has changed since Boone last drew an NFL paycheck. There was no free agency two years ago. No overall salary cap. No rookie cap. "It's a whole new ballgame out there with the way you acquire players and retain them," Boone said.

"I'd been out of it since July of '92, so I really had missed two falls. It kind of puts you behind, missing a couple college classes." Sitting in his dorm room before the Colts' morning practice, newspapers strewn on his bed and a cup of coffee in hand, Boone said he didn't want to talk about the past. But with some prodding, he couldn't resist taking some shots at Don Coryell, chiding the St. Louis media for being too negative, and noting that he wasn't acting alone on some of his draft-day debacles. But he accepted his share of the blame, saying he often "reached" for players in the first round, either because he thought they would develop or a coach said he needed help at a particular position.

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