The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 22

IShula on USFL Offer: It's 1 Vt and network TV can be mighty heady to Fifth Avenue tycoons. Coach Shula and I will meet again privately in the next day or two to discuss his contract free from outside interference." NFL rules prohibit Shula from negotiating with any other NFL team without Robbie's permission until his current contract expires, but allow him to talk to th rival league. Shula said last week that Trump had been calling him every Monday night to talk about the possibility of switching to the Generals. He did not completely rule out the chance that he might yet sign with a USFL team, but said it would be difficult to jump from one football season to the other without a break. USFL teams play in the spring and summer.

"You never know what the future holds," Shula said. "But it will be tough for me right now to think about the amount of time, effort and preparation that goes into the NFL season and then jump from there into the time, effort and pre- we prepare for ball games." The coach said questions after the Dolphins' 11-7 victory Sunday over the Baltimore Colts put too much emphasis on his contract and lighted his National Football League team. Shula said he saw a videotape of Generals' owner Donald Trump's appearance Sunday on CBS in which Trump claimed the only obstacle to signing Shula was whether he would throw in a valuable apartment in bis Fifth Avenue hlghrise. "I've never felt that I have in any way committed myself to that extent," said Shula, whose Dolphins last year went to the Super Bowl and now are tied for first place in the AFC East with Buffalo. "When I was approached, I showed interest in the offer and what they had to say.

In order for me to be able to make an intelligent decision the only way to do that was to get all of the which is all that I ever attempted to do," he said. "I was interested from the point of view of the ownership possibility and of course the amount of money had to get your attention. I did explore it to find out more about It as one of the options that I felt I had." Trump, a real estate magnate reached at his office in New York, said he bad just heard from Shula. "I could not have done the deal" he said. "I could not have given an apartment in Trump Tower." Apartments in the luxury high-rise cost 1500,000 to $12 million.

Trump said he had interviewed a number of people for the coaching Job, now held by Chuck Fairbanks and anticipates making an announcement in a few weeks. The owner has made it clear that Fairbanks, whose team was 8-12 in 10(3, would not be coach next season. Generals spokesman Kevin MacConneU said the Generals broke off talks with Shula, who now makes a reported $450,000 a year. "Arrangements to obtain a coach like Don Shula were just too complex and time-consuming at this point," Trump said in a statement read by MacConneU. "A prime example of this vu the possibility of an apartment In Trump Tower as part of a contractual agreement" Shula, wno took his first head coaching job SO years ago with the Baltimore Colts, has amsised a career record of 206-79-6.

One of his Baltimore teams and four from Miami including a 1973 squad that posted the only perfect record in NFL history went to the Super Bowl. Shula said he has had two negotiating sessions with Dolphins owner Joe Robbie, but they have not yet agreed on a new contract to replace the one that expires Feb. 26,1984. "This confirms my impression that Donald Trump has been engaged more in ballyhoo than in a serious effort to build his franchise competitively by sound professional management," Robbie said In a statement issued by the Dolphins. "Headlines in the sports pages By ANNE 8.

CROWLEY Th Asolotd Prau MIAMI Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula, saying he was tired of the distraction, Monday announced that he was no longer interested in an offer of $1 million a year to coach the United States Football League's New Jersey Generals. A spokesman for the Generals said the team npt Shula had broken off negotiations over Shula's insistence that a valuable New York apartmentjbe part of the deal. But Shula denied making such a demand. "I have decided I am no longer interested in the New Jersey Generals. This thing has developed into a huge distraction and I think it's, time to draw a line," Shula, already the best-paid coach in pro football, said at his weekly press conference.

"With important games like the Rams and the 49ers coming up, I don't think it's fair to the people that I'm responsible for. And I have found myself thinking about things that I shouldn't be thinking about as DON SHULA Deration it would take to start all over again in the spring. "I don't know if my 53-year-old body and mind could handle that" he added. 'Skins Happy With Position 7 At "A "I can't remember the last time I rooted for the Raiders," joked Gibbs. With the team not playing again until Monday night, the players were given a rare two-day break.

The coaching staff will spend the week wrestling with lineup changes dictated by a series of injuries. Gibbs said safety Ken Coffey, who suffered a knee injury Sunday, may be out for as long as three weeks. Doctors will examine the knee this week to determine the extent of the damage. With Coffey sidelined, the coaches may be forced to play Vernon Dean at strong safety. Wide receiver Charlie Brown and kick return specialist Mike Nelms, who both missed Sunday's Lions' game, will also undergo testing this week for injuries.

On a brighter note, Gibbs said John Riggins, who missed Sunday's game with a bad back, may be ready for the Chargers. The Redskins will have to decide by Thursday whether to activate tight end Michael Williams, who has been sidelined since the season opener with a bad knee. Team sources say Williams will be activated with tight end John Sawyer the likely candidate for the waiver list. By IRA ROSENFELD Th Associated Press WASHINGTON Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs is priming his team for a second-half run at the playoffs and another trip to the Super Bowl. The defending Super Bowl champions trounced the Detroit Lions 38-17 Sunday to finish the first half of the season at 6-2.

The victory, coupled with Dallas' loss to the Raiders Sunday night, puts the Redskins just one game back of Dallas in the National Conference at the season's halfway mark. With six of their eight opponents in the second half playing at no better than .500, the playoffs again are in sight "The players know where we stand. Having the carrot in front of them, knowing that they can still get it all at the halfway mark is a great motivator," Gibbs said. "We are in a nice position. The rest of the schedule would seem to favor us," added Redskin safety Mark Murphy.

After meeting San Diego next Monday night the Redskins will have two games remaining against the Giants, road games against the Rams and Dallas, and home games against StLouis, Atlanta and Philadelphia. Only the Rams and Dallas currently sport winning records. The Redskins are on an offensive roll, having scored at least 37 points in each of their last four games. For the season, the league's top scoring machine has put 267 points on the scoreboard, an average of 33.4 points a game. Gibbs said he spent an enjoyable evening at home Sunday night watching the Raiders knock off the Cowboys.

Th Associated Prast Victory Dance Mick Luckhurst of the Atlanta Falcons dances after kicking His kick capped a 27-point second-half rally by Atlanta, the winning field goal against the New York Jets Sunday. which won by 27-21. Wilson Fired Up L.A. Offense BOAT STORAGE New Sprinklered Building LOWEST RATES in the area BOATS, RV CARS 655-0768 Th Associated Press EL SEGUNDO, Calif. Tom Flores' pleasure at the Los Angeles Raiders' 40-38 win over Dallas was tempered by the problems the Raiders had to overcome.

"We did more good than we did bad," said the Raider coach, "but we still had four turnovers that led to 24 points for them. "If we could just eliminate those turnovers, I don't know how good we could be." In three games, the Raiders have turned the ball over 17 times, an alarming number for an also-ran but strikingly so for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. "You're going to have some turnovers," said Flores after viewing game films of Sunday night's nationally-televised game. "But we've got to work on cutting down on those problems." The Raiders emerged from the Dallas game with a 6-2 record and a one-game lead over Denver in the AFC West. They ended Dallas' unbeaten streak at seven games.

It was Marc Wilson's first start at quarterback in more than two years and pro football's latest millionaire quarterback responded by leading the offense to 519 yards. It was the Raiders' best offensive effort in six years. Two days before the game, Wilson spurned an offer from the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League and signed a five-year, $4 million deal with the Raiders, retroactive to the beginning of the 1983 season. Raiders officials would say only that Wilson had agreed to a multi-year contract with the team. But after Sunday night's game, Wilson said the contract was for five years, and sources said it was for $4 million.

"I thought very seriously about going (to the Generals). In fact, it came down to the wire," Wilson said after passing for three touchdowns. "The situation was that either the Raiders were committed to me or I was going to go to the USFL. It just worked out that the Raiders decided they wanted to have me around for a while." Generals owner Donald Trump had said earlier that he was not interested in Wilson because Wilson was a second-string quarterback to Jim Plunkett before Sunday's game. But Wilson said, "I was talking to the New Jersey people," adding, "They might deny it." He said he had not personally spoken to Trump and that the negotiations were conducted by his agent, Howard Slusher.

The Raiders' injury report Includes only one questionable player, wide receiver Cliff Branch, who aggravated a hamstring pull. Wilson suffered a slightly sprained ankle and linebacker Matt Millen has a bruised foot, as does offensive tackle Henry Lawrence. Jets, Chargers: What Happened? Bruce Lowitt flip and drove to Houston's 22-yard line. Then Lowery, who had missed a 52-yard field goal attempt with 4:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, came through. Florian Kempf of the Oilers missed a 41-yarder with four seconds remaining in regulation play, that would have won it for them.

"I wanted to make it it was too perfect," Kempf said. "I was too conscientious. It was a good snap, place and kick. I know I'm a good kicker. I'll tune it out but it's sure to be rehashed.

This is the worst experience in my life." Chuck Studley absorbed his second loss and the first at home since being named the Oilers' interim head coach. "Its a terrible thing to lose a game like this when you have an opportunity to win," he said. A little preventive maintenance NOW may be all mat's needed to keep your car In top shape this winter. For example, did you know that the two things that most people overlook on their cars are the belts and hoses. They don't last forever.

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face the task of playing National Conference contenders next weekend. The Jets visit San Francisco, 6-2 and first in the West, on Sunday and the Chargers host Washington, also 6-2 and a game behind Dallas in the East, on Monday night The Bucs and Oilers each lost by the margin of a field goal Tampa Bay 24-21 to New Orleans on Bobby Johnson's 70-yard touchdown run with a third-quarter interception and Houston 13-10 to Kansas City on Nick Lowery's 41-yard field goal 7:19 into overtime. "That team's not a loser," New Orleans Coach Bum Phillips said of the Bucs. "They're not the luckiest bunch I've ever seen, but they're not losers. They deserved better than they got today." "I think the defense played weU enough to win," said Tampa Bay Coach John McKay.

"They took the ball away enough, but offensively we did nothing and we got our eighth straight defeat which we deserve. The defense did not deserve to get beat but that's life." Kansas City beat the Oilers when they won the overtime coin Some of the teams that were supposed to be winners this season are still losing and some of the teams that were supposed to lose are still losing, too. Halfway into the National Football League season, the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers, teams picked by many to be division champions and prime contenders for Super Bowl XVIII, are wallowing at the bottom of their divisions with 3-5 records that all but assures them of exclusion from the play- offs. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Houston Oilers, picked by many to stagger through the season from start to finish, are doing just that, winless after eight games. "I'm disgusted," fumed furious -tackle Marvin Powell after the Jets -blew a 21-0 lead to Atlanta and lost 27-21 to the Falcons.

"My football team is better than 3-5 but we look like a Pony League team out there. When you get a team down 21-0 you never let 'em breathe. You put your foot on their throat and crush it. "It seems like with a 21-point lead we would have just gone out there and decimated people. But we seemed to sit back and cringe and go into a shell." It was Joe Walton, in his first year as the Jets' head coach, who was cringing.

"I think too many guys relaxed," he said. "We've got to get it going or else we won't have a chance for the playoffs." Jets quarterback Richard Todd also wasn't writing off his team's postseason chances. "We're 3-5 but we're only two games out of first. It's a crazy division," he said of the American Conference East "I never thought we could still be in the hunt." The Chargers, partly because of the loss of quarterback Dan Fouts, sidelined with a shoulder injury, and partly because of a defense that has allowed 225 points, the most in the conference, are three games behind the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC West following Sunday's 14-6 loss in Denver. "We're backed into a corner," said San Diego Coach Don Coryell.

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