The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 17

sports THE LINCOLN STAR Tuesday, 4379 Page 17 Rams' owner Carroll Rosenbloom drowns in Florida upset, with the Colts favored by 17 points. A year later, Rosenbloom's anger was amplified when Coach Don Shula left Baltimore to join the Miami Dolphins. Rosenbloom charged tampering, and received a top draft choice as compensation. In 1971, the Colts captured the Super Bowl and Rosenbloom turned over presidency of the club to his son, Steve, then 26. A year later, Rosenbloom stunned the sports world when he swapped the Colts to Robert Irsay.

in exchange for the Los Angeles Rams. The deal was believed to be unprecedented in sports, in that the ownership of the entire rosters of both teams were transferred. In 1975. his remarks criticizing officials cost him $5,000. and a year later he accused the commissioner with deliberately scheduling a Ram game at the start of Voin Kijipur, the huliesl Jewish holiday.

He is survived by his widow. Georgia; sons Steve, Daniel and Carroll, and a daughter. Suzanne Irwin. The name of the first would-be rescuer was unavailable. Henrikson described him as a tourist.

The police chief said Rosenbloom and his wife, Georgia, were vacationing at a rented house in this exclusive Miami-area resort city. When informed of Rosenbloom's death, National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle issued the following statement: "For 26 years in Baltimore and then in Los Angeles, Carroll Rosenbloom played a major role in the growth and success of the National Football League, both through the performance of the teams he produced and through his active participation in the league's decision-making processes." Rosenbloom often tangled with Rozelle, who succeeded Bert Bell as NFL commissioner in 19W) It was Bell who was influential in getting Rosenbloom involved in pro football as owner of the Baltimore Colts. Rosenbloom liked to tell the story of how Bell "forced me in." Rams are scheduled to play in Anaheim in 1980. When Rosenbloom first appeared on the NFL scene in 1953 he wasn't sure what he was getting for his money. Baltimore was without a pro football team in 1951 but Bell wanted the city in the league.

The commissioner challenged the city to go on a season-ticket selling crusade and shortly after that, Rosenbloom and four others were awarded rights to the Baltimore franchise. Two weeks later, the Dallas Texans were transferred to Baltimore as the Colts under the majority ownership of Rosenbloom. From the beginning, he was one of the NFL's most visible owners and often clashed with the establishment. He was one of the first owners to recognize the inevitability of a players association. In 1963.

an investigation cleared him of charges of belting on pro football games but the episode strained his relationship with Commissioner Rozelle. Rosenbloom was embarassed when the Colts lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets in 1969. That was a stunning He said Bell had tried to talk him into taking over the troubled Baltimore Colts, even though Rosenbloom told him repeatedly he didn't have time for football "Bert Bell told the press the only way Baltimore could keep the franchise is if (I) came in as owner," Rosenbloom once said. "So Bert had me on the spot. If I didn't take the team, they'd hang me." Rosenbloom put up $13,000 for his share of the Colts in 1953.

When he traded the franchise, it was worth a reported $20 million. Rosenbloom always had a vital interest in athletics. He played both football and baseball at the University of Pennsylvania. He was involved in the motion picture industry, was the major stockholder in Warner Communications and had oil drilling interests, "but football is fun," he said. "That other stuff is no fun." Last year, Rosenbloom announced he was moving the Rams from their original home in the Los Angeles Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium, the home of the California Angels in Orange County.

The GOLDEN BEACH, Fla. (AP) Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosen-bloom drowned Monday while vacationing in this South Florida resort city, police said. He was 72. Police Chief William Henrikson said the football executive was dragged out to sea by a heavy undertow. He said police were called at about 2 p.m.

EST. "When we got to the beach; we saw two men in heavy surf about 150 yards from the beach," Henrikson said. "One man was trying to support the other. "We took our clothes off and went into the water, but by the time we got there, the other man was near exhaustion. There was no apparent sign of life (in Rosenbloom) when we got to him." Henrikson said he and another officer brought Rosenbloom back to the beach.

"In my opinion, he was dead before we got to him," said the police officer. "There was a very, very strong undertow," the chief said. "The waves were extremely rough. We were dragged almost 150 yards north along the beach during the rescue try." Carroll Rosenbloom a visible owner Jarvis is fast, but he gets off to a slow start CU, Patriots settle; Chuck heading west BOSTON (AP) Wayward New England Patriots Coach Chuck Fairbanks, who tried to quit prior to the National Football League playoffs, is free to head west to take the head coaching job at the University of Colorado, Patriots owner William H. Sullivan said Monday.

Colorado ill pay an undisclosed portion of the remaining four years on Fairbanks' Patriot contract -as part of the settlement of the dispute over the coach, said Sullivan. The settlement, called "amicable" by both sides, came after five weeks of secret mediation initiated by Carroll Rosenbloom. ow ner of the Los Rams, said Sullivan. By Mike Babcock Staff Sports Writer Jarvis Redwine was late for his first day of spring' football practice as a Nebraska Corn-husker. Redwine got his signals crossed and didn't hit the snow-dotted artificial turf at Memorial Stadium until 3:50 Monday afternoon.

Team meetings began at 2 p.m., and the Huskers were on the field an hour later. The agreement was disclosed shortly after Rosenbloom's accidental death by drowning in California. Sullivan, who had refused to let Fairbanks jump his pact, said the National Football League team will have a new-coach within two weeks. "This period has been one of uncertainty headaches and heartaches," Sullivan said, alluding to the 34 months of the Fairbanks controversy. relieved.

I don't want to say that we have won. Let's just say that our position was justified." Sullivan said. coln from Provo, Utah. They left Provo Sunday morning. Redwine is the fastest II usker- afoot over 40 yards (:04.4), and by his own admission "I usually drive pretty fast." But snowy roads in Utah and Nebraska accomplished what opposing defenders have found difficult.

They slowed down the 6-0, 195-pound running back, and he was late. Redwine spent last season as a red shirt on the Nebraska scout squad and earned a reputation as a hard-hitter. He enters spring drills as a third team I-back. Next fall he'll wear Tom Sor-ley's old number 12. Friends warned him that he would face stiff competition at Nebraska.

"But I figure if a person is a good football player, the coach will see it; he won't overlook you," Redwine said. His background indicates he is a good football player. As a senior at Inglewood High School in Los Angeles. Redwine rushed for 1,300 yards and earned the attention of schools like UCLA, Notre Dame, and Arizona State. Oklahoma Slate recruited him heavily, he says, as did New Mexico NU wingback Coach Gene Huey was a Lobo assistant at the time.

But Jarvis chose Oregon State. "I was looking to play a lot as a freshman," he said. Redwine saw action in seven varsity games, gaining 95 yards and scoring a touchdown against Tennessee in the seventh. "After that, I didn't see any more action. I got frustrated with the team losing, so I left," he said.

"I got playing time as a freshman all right, but if I had Staff photo by Humberto Ramirez Chuck Fairbanks 'amicable' parting It may have been the start of spring training for Nebraska Monday, but the snow in the foreground may have left a few doubters. Jarvis Redwine speedy but late "This is the first time I've been late for something like Ihis," Redwine said as he sat in front of his locker when the workout was over. "I'm usually on lime. When you're trying to make the team and do well, you don't want to mess up like this all eyes are on you. "I'm pretty disappointed today," he said.

The transfer from Oregon State had just returned from a spring-break visit to his home in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Frances, arrived in Lincoln Monday afternoon after driving straight through to Lin ball, and I figure pictures like these can motivate me to go out on the practice field." he said. And next time, Redwine vowed, he'll be on time. I.etterman middle guard Oudious Lee, who will experiment with linebacking this spring, missed practice entirely Monday after being delayed on his return from spring break. Otherwise, more than enough Cornhuskers were suited up and accounted for.

Approximately 180 hopefuls went through the first afternoon of drills. "Our biggest problem was, it was awfullv crowded out it to do over, I wouldn't do it that way. "When I was at Oregon State, I figure I got junior college experience; that's all." Now Redwine looks at football differently. Two years maturity have changed his attitude. "I look at it like this: I want to help as much as I can.

I can't be selfish because I've gone down the road a little I'm young, but I'm not young, you know? I've had some experience, and I'm coming into a different role where it's not all Jarvis," he said. "It's Isaiah Hipp, and (Tim) Wurth, and (Craig) Johnson, (Jim) Kotera, (Andra) Frank lin and (Randy) Landwehr. They've all paid their dues, and I can't say I'm going to start. "I just want to win; that's why I came here." Pictures of professional football players like Tony Dorsett. Karl Campbell and Walter Payton are pasted on the inside walls of Redwine's locker.

They give him inspiration. "Some are laying down on the field, hurt. Some are running, and some are scoring touchdowns," Jarvis said. "College athletes have a lot on their minds school pressures, girl friends and wives, children even. "There's more on their minds than just playing loot- there." NU Coach Tom Osborne said.

"Undoubtedly, we'll have to get rid of some after a week or so because there just wasn't enough room. He indicated the Huskers would have controlled blocking and tackling Wednesday with "some full-scale scrimmaging set for Saturday. "It was a good practice," he said of the first day. "You look to make sure everyone you were counting on showed up; you look for physical conditioning: and you see them throw it, catch it and run with it. "There's not much else you can tell, but we're off to a good start." Osborne said.

Beattie a victim Ex-Huskers put through paces of Yank largess He was muscled out of the Virgil Parker I Sports "We have stood up for the sanctity of a contract. If we hadn't, we would have set a pattern for players and coaches." Sullivan said he agreed not to disclose how much Colorado is paying to extricate Fairbanks from his Patriots contract, but when the call from the university came Monday. Sullivan said the Patriots accepted it immediately. Fairbanks was not immediately available for comment. Sullivan said he had no doubt that Fairbanks was lost to the Patriots the day after the Pro Bowl last January when the coach submitted a formal resignation.

"I hadn't accepted that resignaion until today." said Sullivan, who added that Fan-banks had not been paid by the Patriots since Jan. 29. The long-running tug-of-war eventually involveed 15 lawyers and thousands of dollars in legal fees. But Sullivan said it was worth it. The Patriots owner added he harbored no ill will toward Fairbanks.

"He did a great job for the Patriots." said Sullivan. "He gave his total self. That's why the shock was so great." In Boulder, Colorado, where spring football practice was five days away, acting head football coach Doug Dickey said: "We're certainly all happy that it's worked out that Chuck can come to this program and get to work. We know all the coaches and the players are delighted." The Athletic Department issued a brief official statement saying: "The New England Patriots football club and the University of Colorado announce that they have reached amicable resolution of their differences concerning the em-ployent of Charles Fairbanks As a result Fairbanks will be free to take the position of head footbaU coach at the university." Umpires stay on sidelines Associated Press Fifty major league umpires remained on the sidelines Monday in their continuing contract dispute as the countdown began for the start of the regular season this week. The 1979 season gets underway Wednesday with San Francisco at Cincinnati in the National League and California at Seattle in the American.

Each league had only one regular umpire under contract with rookie Ted Hendry agreeing Jo terms with the AL and veteran Paul Pryor signing a two-year contract with the NL. Hendry has been working spring training games in Arizona with the blessing of the Major League Umpires Association which advised him to fulfill terms of his contract since he signed before the current dispute began. Pryor went to work over the weekend, umpiring the New York Mets-Philadelphla Phillies game at Clearwater, on Sunday, and moved over to Lakeland, for Monday night's game between the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers. Both leagues have said when the regular season starts they will replace the absent umpires with minor league and amateur officials. Last August, when the umpires staged a one-day strike, amateurs filled in.

Baseball obtained an Injunction against that action, charging it was iii violation of the current collective bargaining agreement with the umps which still has two years to run. The umpires claim that their current dispute is Individual in nature and not related to their Association. That position was upheld In U.S. District Court In Philadelphia last week when a judge ruled he could not order the umpires back to work. Editor i JL1 Spring football practice, which opened at Nebraska Monday, is a proving ground.

It's the time for unsung, untested players from last year lo catch the coach's eye with sparkling, determined play and thus earn a spot for next fall. If that's true, last season's seniors have been going through a "spring practice" of their own the past few months. Those who hope to be drafted into the NFL certainly aren't unsung, hut they have been trying to catch the eye of those who will decide which players are to be drafted and hich will be passed over. After what Richard Berns, George Andrews, Kelvin Clark, Tom Sorley and others have been going through lately, they certainly aren't untested. Various NFL teams have been running them through a battery of drills.

Berns says you can't blame the teams. After all, no club wants lo buy a "pig in a poke." "I've been advised by some NFL players that we shouldn't have' to go through all this testing," Berns says. "They know what we can do on a football field. But they're looking for more than who can carry the ball or tackle somebody. They know that already.

They are looking for the little extra that sets one player apart from the others." To save moniy, several NFL teams go together and hold such sessions at the same time. Berns went to Philadelpia on one occasion, to Green Bay another time and is also scheduled to go to New York before the draft, which is May 2-3. Just a physical The NFL teams claim the day-long sessions are just to conduct a physical, so they can make sure the players they draft are sound not ailing from some past Injury. But much more is involved. The Dallas Cowboys sent Mel Renfro, a longtime defensive back, to the Nebraska campus recently.

"He had the most sophisticated electronic gear you ever saw," Sorley says. "He could time everything down to one-hundredth of a second. Most of the tests were designed to measure, agility, quickness and reaction time." One lest involved a bank of colored lights. There was also a set of big keys like those the contestants on 'Name That Tune' or 'Family Fued' slap when they know the right answer. "When Renfro turned on the blue light the clock started," Sorley explained, "It didn't stop until you hit tha blue key.

The lights pitching corps this spring by the Yankees' signing of veteran free agents Tommy John and Luis Tiant and the acquisition of Paul Mirabella from Texas. Yankees President Al Rosen said it was better for Beattie to be pitching every fifth day with Columbus rather than sitting with the Yankees. The Yanks also sent rookie pitcher Ron Davis and outfielder Tommy Cruz to Columbus, trimming the roster to 25. Brett, a major leaguer for 11 years, was beaten out by rookie Mark Clear. Brett, who has a year left on his contract with the Angels, was 3-5 last season with a 4.95 earned-run average.

Capra, a 31-year-old righthander, was cut as he tried to regain his job after surgery that sidelined him for most of last season. The Braves also sent left-hander Jamie Easterly and outfielder Eddie Miller to Richmond of the In-' tematlonal League, bringing the roster to 26. Boston optioned pitchers Allen Ripley and John Tudor and outfielder Gary Hancock to Pawtucket of the IL, reducing the Red Sox roster to 26. Associated Press Jim Beattie, who pitched the New York Yankees to victories in an American League playoff contest and a World Series game last year, was one of several players cut from major league rosters as teams struggled to get down to the opening-day limit of 25. The American and National leagues both play their openers Wednesday.

Beattie was optioned to the Yankees' Columbus farm team in the International League. Other veterans who learned they wouldn't be around for the openers Included reliever Ken Brett, waived by the California Angels, and pitcher Buzz Capra, who was trying for a comeback with the Atlanta Braves. "I'm a little shocked. I didn't expect It," said Beattie, who was told by the Yankees that he might be recalled soon. "I don't know what their definition of 'fairly soon' Is.

I dont know what determines when I come back." Beattie was 6-9 In the 1978 regular season but beat Kansas City in a playoff game and won the fifth game of the Yankees scries against Los Angeles, pitching his first complete major league game, I kept flashing. It was frustrating and confusing lo say the least Sorley laughed when he recalled one other test. "They wanted to clock our 'hang We stood on a mat. When we jumped up, the clock started. When we came back down, it stopped." Beat the machine Sorley says he and Andrews quickly figured out how to 'Beat the "When we jumped up." he said, "we tucked our feet up under us.

That meant the clock didn't stop until our torso came down. George did it, then asked, 'How was Renfro just shook his head. 'That's the best I've ever recorded," he answered, "but I don't think I can allow what you're doing." Sorley was amazed nobody had ever thought of such a system before. What Is In store for last year's seniors? "From what they (the pro scouts) tell me," Berns answers, "this might be the best year in a long time for Nebraska in terms of players being drafted and making it in the pros. I sure hope so." Kveryone is expecting Andrews, who will be an outside linebacker instead of a defensive end in the pros, to go in the first round.

Offensive tackle Kelvin Clark falls in the same category. Berns and offensive guard Barney Cotton, who several think will be the surprise of the draft, should also go high. Steve Llndqulst (offensive guard), Sorley, Frank Lockett (split receiver) and Lee Kunz (linebacker) could also easily make the list. Nebraska's current players are looking forward to the annual Red-White game which ends spring practice on May 5. That's when they'll know where they stand with the Huskers coaches.

The seniors who have completed their college eligibility will know where they stand a couple of days earlier. 'A f..