The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 63

Thursday. March 9. 2000 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER CE9 JO On Foetal By Mike Bruton Johnson's situation with the Jets could shake up the draft feTt I 111 Tji. h'K Th 15:3, 13 7 27 3.9 33 54 10.7 2 1S37, HI 6 3 7 2.3 35 7.0 0 i rmi 6 19 32 17 67 5.7 1 Hiamt 14 47 158 3.4 43 312 7.3 5 fit 3 211 34 7.3 i.1 i Eagles, Pritchett year deal and 18th picks, are talking to the Ravens and the Redskins about the fifth and third overall picks, respectively. Presumably, New York would want that pick to take Burress to replace Johnson.

Of course, New-some, coach Brian Billick, and the rest of the Ravens' brass would be tickled to have Johnson and two other picks to bolster their playoff aspirations. But what about the Bengals? They are holding the fourth pick overall with president Mike Brown savoring a chance to get one up on Pickens. The Jets could take the fourth overall choice to get Burress or defensive end Courtney Brown, and the Bengals would have Johnson. Mike Brown then could let Pickens rot on the vine. Nothing would make him happier.

"Carl should plan to be back," Brown told the Cincinnati Enquirer yesterday. "His best avenue would be to get serious playing for the Bengals with an attitude that would match that." Pickens, who is not fond of Brown, signed a five-year, $28 million contract after a lengthy holdout prior to last season. Stephen Zucker, Pickens' agent, said the player would be willing to give up the $2.8 million of his signing bonus he would get for 2000 and the additional $3 million in salary rather than return to the Bengals' roster. In the meantime, Ravens coach Billick has already let it be known that he's interested in the Johnson trade and in reuniting with quarterback Randall Cunningham after the Minnesota Vikings cut him in June. Jets general manager Bill Par-cells is said to be angry at Johnson and his agent, Jerome Stanley, because he knows that the star wide receiver will not report to training camp if the team refuses to renegotiate his contract.

Johnson stands to be paid $1.7 million in 2000 and $1.9 million in 2001. agree to 4 The free-agent fullback will sign today. Next up for the team: a visit from Steelers linebacker Carlos Emmons. By Phil Sheridan INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Stanley Pritchett will formally join the Eagles today. The free-agent fullback from Miami agreed to a four-year contract with the team last night.

The deal will not be finalized and signed until this morning, so financial terms were not available. Pritchett is expected to receive between $3.5 and $4 million over the four years, with a signing bonus of about $800,000. The Eagles have now signed both of the first two free agents to visit them. They will entertain the third, Pittsburgh linebacker Carlos Emmons, today. Emmons arrived in Philadelphia late yesterday and will spend today at Veterans Stadium, meeting with Eagles coaches.

The signing of Pritchett reunites the 6-foot-1, 240-pound fullback with former South Carolina teammate Duce Staley. The two were the starting backf ield for the Gamecocks for one season and have remained friends. As a fullback that season, Pritchett amassed 997 total yards, scored 12 touchdowns, and caught 62 passes. The Eagles would love to get that kind of production out of a fullback. Their offense calls for a fullback who can both lead block and catch the ball out of the backfield.

Those are Pritchett's two best qualities. "I want to play somewhere that I can showcase all my talents," Pritchett said during his visit Monday. "I can do that in the West Coast offense." JOHN GREIUCH Associated Press Jets wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson wants to rework his contract in a big way. The team, opposed to renegotiating his deal, is shopping him around. i Keyshawn Johnson must be getting ready to write a new book.

I have a title for him in case he's having trouble getting it started: Just Give Me the Damn Number to Xour Swiss Bank Account. 'f. The New York Jets' outspoken 'wide receiver's desire for a Joey Galloway deal (in the neighborhood of seven years, $42 million, with a $12.5 million signing bonus) has set off the annual pre-draft, blockbuster-trade trip wire. IkaA the trip wire was extremely taut after the humdinger that Wash-''ington and the San Francisco 49ers pulled off Feb. 26, giving the Redskins both the second and third picks overall in the NFL draft in But when a proven veteran, who also happens to be an author, is mentioned in such a deal, the foundation of the draft order begins to J.

crumble. 'Johnson was the first player picked in the 1996 draft and has since rung up some impressive numbers while angering a few selected teammates, particularly fellow wideout Wayne Chrebet, by writing, Just Give Me the Damn Ball. Brash or no, the man does raise some interesting scenarios, i The Ravens, who were said to be in talks with the Cincinnati Bengals about giving them a second-round choice for estranged wide receiver Carl Pickens, suddenly shifted their focus to the Jets. The fact that they are seeking veteran-receiver help makes one think that the Ravens have backed off a plan to use the fifth pick overall to take Michigan State's Plaxico Bur-ress. -Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens' vice president of player personnel, was looking to his alma mater, Alabama, hoping to get offensive tackle Chris Samuels, but the Redskins will probably take the big fellow with the third pick overall.

So the Jets, brandishing the 16th Auto Racing By Pete Schnatz After working out for the Cowboys on Monday, Mitchell, who had already had a productive visit with Cincinnati, asked the Bengals to fax him an offer he had verbally agreed to. Except for dealing with another estranged player, restricted free-agent running back Corey Dillon, the Bengals are probably done until the draft or a trade proposal. The Bengals are holding a little more leverage on Dillon than they had a few days ago. The New York Giants, a team starving for a running back, let it be known that they are looking to the draft, specifically at Alabama's Shaun Alexander and Wisconsin's Ron Dayne. "I talked to the Bengals, the Ravens, and Arizona picking seventh and the Giants picking 11th," Alexander said.

"I definitely see some teams I could play for." NASCAR permits Chevrolet modification Pritchett said his visit went well and that he would sign with the Eagles "if the numbers were right." The delay in finalizing a deal had more to do with the stadium bill approved yesterday by City Council than with other teams' interest in Pritchett. Joe Banner, the Eagles' chief operating officer, was tied up with the stadium situation and wasn't able to negotiate with Pritchett's agent, Hadley Engelhard, until late yesterday afternoon, Once they met, the deal got done relatively quickly. Pritchett was not in the Dolphins' plans. They have a second-year fullback, Rob Konrad, and a new offense under Chan Gailey that doesn't rely heavily on the position. The Eagles were the only team to bring Pritchett in for a visit.

They are, similarly, the first team to bring in Emmons. The Eagles' strategy for this off-season has become clear. They pounced on the player at the top of their list right tackle Jon Runyan, who signed a six-year, $30.5 million contract then waited for the market to settle down. Now, with the draft approaching and many teams up against the salary cap, players without contracts are likely to sign for less money than they would have in the opening week of free agency. With the cap a constant concern, the importance of getting good players at reasonable salaries can't be overestimated.

Emmons is a perfect example. The Steelers already had planned to replace Emmons with Joey Porter, last year's third-round pick. Although Emmons didn't get scooped up in the first rush of free agency, he is a solid player. Busch circuit, is a strong possibility to drive Evernham's second Dodge. Petty Enterprises and Bill Davis Racing have already announced that they will make the switch from Pontiac to Dodge next season.

JS60 Walk-Behind Mower 6 hp 21 -inch steel deck SAVE $50 now $2791 www.deere.com The Jets have a policy of not reworking contracts with more than a year left on them. Several other Jets players have expressed strong disdain for the front office for even thinking of trading Johnson. Parcells has a history of dispatching players once they cross him. He sent Hugh Douglas to the Eagles. He traded Glenn Foley to Seattle.

He cut Neil O'Donnell. Something is going to happen with this situation before the draft because Parcells doesn't want to face a situation where he's dealing with a disgruntled dressing room or one where he eventually gets no compensation for Johnson. Besides, Parcells has always disliked Stanley, Johnson's agent. The Bengals, in the meantime, are expected to sign quarterback Scott Mitchell as Akili Smith's backup. crew chief as well as an almost totally revamped pit crew.

But he also fretted about his Chevy's front-to-rear balance in talking to the press at NASCAR's awards banquet in December. Ford owner Jack Roush, who fields five cars on the Winston Cup circuit, doesn't feel Ford's domination warrants such a radical modification by NASCAR. "It's disappointing," Roush said, adding that NASCAR was giving Chevrolet a concession rather than letting them suffer the consequences of a poor design. Robin Pemberton, crew chief on Rusty Wallace's Ford Taurus, asked, "How can they fine-tune something for two years and then all of a sudden, in 45 days, get a rule break?" Pemberton went on to say that the Monte Carlo with which Gordon won the 1999 Daytona 500 "is head and shoulders better than the car Cut a path to your John X.m Hampton, Ga. 0 Kx Tomorrow, first-round qualifying, 3:30 p.m.

(ESPN2, 5 p.m., tape); Saturday, second-round qualifying, 11:30 am. (ESPN2, 6 p.m., tape); Sunday, race (ADC, 1 p.m.) The track Atlanta Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1 .54 miles, 24 degrees banking In turns). OTke race: 500.5 miles, 325 laps. bst year: Jeff Carta won, beating fcjtiy by 2.5 seconds. It was Gordon's second straight win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a Last week: kf! tatoa won the rain-shortened CarsDirect.com 400 in Las Vegas.

NASCAR stopped the race after 148 of the scheduled 267 laps. rest fecit: Caiar3 Is the track leader with eight victories. Dais Jarrctt and Kark KarKa are the only drivers to record top-10 finishes In all three races this season. In 25 spring races at Atlanta, there have been 16 different winners. Labonte leads the points standings by four over Jarrett.

It's the first time Jarrett hasnl led since May Ford got Its 500th Winston Cup' win last week In Las Vegas. tors railed that the car was aerodynamically unstable. The change will take effect starting with Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As expected, the decision was met with mixed reaction. Three-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon said the rule change will "hopefully take us a step closer" to the Fords and Pontiacs that have dominated so far.

To date, Ford has two wins and 14 top-ten finishes, Pontiac has one win and nine top tens, and Chevy is winless, with seven top tens. Currently 23d in the drivers' points standings, Gordon has failed to win at least one of the first three races of the season for the first time since 1994 and is on a streak of eight consecutive starts without a top-five finish the longest such drought of his career. Part of his slow start can be attributed to working with a new width transmission they're racing now, so something is messed up." In the season-opening Daytona 500, Hendrick teammate Terry La-bonte had the lone Chevrolet to finish among the top 12. The following week in Rockingham, N.C., saw Chevy place just three finishers among the top 14. Last week in Las Vegas, the first seven spots went to Fords and Pontiacs, with Monte Carlos claiming eighth, ninth and tenth.

But those were the only Chevys among the first 17 cars across the line. However, the downforce gremlin hasn't seemed to slow Dale Earnhardt or the two cars he owns. Earnhardt has placed second and eighth in his last two outings. No mystery. Ray Evernham, who is heading up Dodge's return to Winston Cup racing next year, will be in Atlanta tomorrow to announce which driver will take the wheel of Deere dealer's store today.

Drivers had complained tjiat the Monte Carlo was aerodynamically unstable, ftivals are upset. Just three races into the 2000 Winston Cup season, NASCAR officials have seen enough. -'Inundated with complaints from Chevrolet owners, drivers and crew chiefs about a perceived competitive disadvantage, and perhaps looking to add a little spice to what can only be described as dreadful racing thus far, the sport's ruling body will allow the Chevy teams to extend their cars' air dam the area below the front bumper two inches forward. The modification is intended to provide more front downforce on the Monte Carlo, which in its redesigned 2000 form had created so much rear downforce that competi LT133Lawn1hictor 13 hp 38-inch cutting 5-speed shift-on-thego JUST 1,999 Offer ends July 5, 2000, ond Is 'J 4 A Whether you're looking to trim it up, cut it down, or just green up your lawn, you can walk in with empty pockets and walk out with a John Deere now through July 5, 2000. Get your lawn in shape for the season.

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