The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 25

FLORIDA http:tampatrib.com THE TAMPA TRIBUNE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 SPORTS 9 GEAR UP FOR Authentic $5.00 OFF ANY PURCHASE OVER $25 THE GAME AT PROFbOTBALL IT'S BUCCANEER HEAVEN! C0ME SHQp AT THE WORLD'S LARGEST BUCS MERCHANDISE STORE! s-p-mwo Injury Report 49ers Rice envisions finishing career elsewhere A Tribune wire report SANTA CLARA, Calif. Jerry Rice doesn't plan to retire after this season, and his desire to give San Francisco's young receivers freedom to develop means he is likely to play elsewhere next season. "I wanted to finish my career here, but the way it's going now, it looks like it isn't going to happen," Rice said Monday. Rice, who turns 38 next month, said he has spoken to his agent, Jim Steiner, about playing for another team next season. With 11 catches for Bears: WR Bobby Engram tore a ligament in his right knee and is lost for the season.

DE Phillip Daniels sustained two contusions in his left quadriceps and left the locker room Sunday on crutches. He'll be evaluated as the week goes along. The status on the following players is uncertain Olin Kreutz (sprained left knee), DB Jerry Azumah (left side contusion) and DT Jim Flanigan (strained left calf). Bills: Rookie LB Corey Moore suffered a sprained ankle. TE Jay Riemersma (jammed knee) was knocked out of Sunday's loss to the Jets.

Broncos: RB Terrell Davis sat out Sunday's victory against the Raiders after testing his sore ankle in pregame warm-ups. He'll likely return this week against the Chiefs. Chargers: QB Moses Moreno (right shoulder) likely is out of Sunday's game against the Seahawks. That means QB Ryan Leaf might be thrust upon the NFL once again. Dolphins: LT Richmond Webb sprained his ankles and his right knee.

He'll be evaluated throughout the week, but his status is uncertain for Sunday's game against the Patriots. Falcons: DT Shane Dronett (torn ACL) will miss the rest of the season. Giants: CB Ralph Brown (lacerated kidney) will be sidelined 6-8 weeks. Lions: LB Stephen Boyd left Sunday's game against the Bucs with a back injury. He's doubtful for Sunday's game against the Bears.

CB Terry Fair also is doubtful with a hyperex-tended right knee. RT Aaron Gibson (concussion) is expected to play. Panthers: DT Alvin McKinley is out at least 10 weeks with a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. the NFL's top-rated passer, has partially torn cartilage, in his throwing shoulder that makes him questionable for Sunday's game against Kansas City. The course of treatment is to rest the shoulder and allow me inflammation to subside.

Bengals: Vaughn Booker's collapse during Sunday's game at Jacksonville is a mystery. Booker, 32, a 300-pound defensive end, collapsed as he walked back to the huddle. He was carted off the field, regained consciousness shortly afterward and was taken to a hospital, where he remained overnight for tests, which were negative. Chargers: With Moses Moreno sidelined for at least two weeks after straining his throwing shoulder, Ryan Leaf will start at quarterback Sunday against Seattle. Jaguars: Kicker Mike Hollis had surgery to repair a fragmented disc in his back.

Running back Fred Taylor, who suffered torn knee ligaments in the second preseason game, is expected to return to practice on Wednesday. Rams: Quarterback Kurt Warner had precautionary X-rays on his back after Sunday's game against San Francisco. Warner has a history of occasional back spasms. Ravens: Backup quarterback Trent Dilfer underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair a torn medial meniscus and probably will miss at least one week. Redskins: Former Bucs kicker Michael Husted signed a one-year contract hours before the Redskins' played the Cowboys.

Steelers: Rookie receiver Plaxico Burress is questioning the team's play-calling. "I'm wondering what's going on," he said. "We're losing games we're not supposed to lose and we're not giving people the best opportunities to go out and make plays." Titans: Quarterback Steve McNair, who sustained a bruised sternum before Tennessee's off week, might throw a few light passes today to see how he is before practice Wednesday. His status for Sunday's game against Pittsburgh is uncertain. NFL Europe: Former Rutgers coach Doug Graber, formerly an assistant with the Bucs and a television analyst during Tampa Bay's exhibition season, was hired as coach of the Frankfurt Galaxy.

XFL: Kippy Brown, former Bucs and Dolphins assistant, will coach the Xtreme Football League's Memphis Maniax. Legal: The widow of NFL running back Fred Lane was held without bail on bank larceny charges after court documents in Charlotte, N.C., suggested she might have killed her husband to stop him from reporting the theft The NFL will hold a hearing today in New York to consider possible sanctions against Colts defensive back Musta-fah Muhammad. He was convicted Aug. 29 for beating his pregnant wife, Nichole Muhammad. She died 10 days later as the result of injuries sustained in an auto accident Jason Peter of the Panthers withdrew an appeal of his drunken driving conviction in Charlotte, N.C., ending a case that began with his 1999 arrest He pleaded no contest in February.

Broncos linebacker Bill Romanow-ski stood silently in a Castle Rock, court as a judge scheduled a Nov. 6 hearing on charges he used a prescription drug prescribed for someone else. Russell Erxleben, former NFL kicker, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for bilking investors out of some $50 million. Rice 125 yards, Rice is San Francisco's third-leading receiver this season behind Terrell Owens and running back Charlie Garner. Niners defensive end Junior Bryant suffered a neck strain Sunday and not, as was feared, a more serious injury.

Around the NFL Broncos: Quarterback Brian Griese, Jones, Snyder have a lot in common EM IWCW Villi Officials goofed in game Tuesday Morning Quarterback the revenue-sharing agreement Guess what? The other owners stopped yelling about revenue-sharing and started building new stadiums and luxury suites. Even hallowed Lambeau Field will get a major facelift now that Wisconsin voters approved a sales-tax in- crease. Snyder dropped out of the University of Maryland to start a mar-' keting and communications com- pany. The high-tech maverick suggested the Redskins drop their traditional printed media guide and instead put one on the Internet Both are consumed by the day-to-day business of football. "I want to be involved from socks to jocks," Jones said when he took over the team.

And that's exactly what he's done. His differences with Jimmy Johnson, his first coach, primarily were over his unwavering involvement in football decisions. Snyder, by most accounts, hasn't taken to making on-field decisions. But as a lifelong Redskins fan, he sometimes seems like he's playing fantasy football, accumulating aging or troubled big names (Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Jeff George) to go with some very good young ones. He doesn't seem fazed that the young players offensive tackles Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels, linebacker LaVar Arrington and cornerback Champ Bailey come from deals and drafting by Charley Casserly, the general manager he fired.

Jones, meanwhile, almost has become coach of the Cowboys. Most pronouncements come from him and he's gone from such high-profiled coaches as Johnson and Barry Switzer to the low-profiled Chan Gailey and now Dave Campo, a career assistant who seems satisfied to work with Xs and Os. Thaf four head coaches in 11 years. Before that there was one in 29 Landry, the man Jones fired. Monday's NFL game between the Cowboys and Redskins was incomplete at press time.

For the latest information, see sports.tbo.com on the Internet. By DAVE GOLDBERG of The Associated Press LANDOVER, Md. In 1989, Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys and fired Tom Landry, the only coach the team ever had. A decade later, Daniel Snyder bought the Washington Redskins and fired just about everyone in the front office. OK, not everyone.

It just seemed like it The scope of the housecleaning aside, there are a lot of similarities between the owners, separated by a generation. "I like the young man," Jones said. "I think hell be an asset to the NFL" Snyder, 35, stayed with Jones for three days before the Redskins played the Cowboys last October. It proved to be a watershed visit The Cowboys ended up beating the Redskins and Snyder spent 40 minutes after the game in heated discussion with Coach Norv Turner. A year later, it's unclear who did more shouting.

However, Turner remains the coach, still on a short leash but clearly in command on the field. Snyder and Jones think their teams should be the best plain and simple. No easy thing in the salary cap era. Jones still is learning the hard way as the cap erodes his team after three Super Bowl victories in four seasons in the mid 1990s. Snyder, with $100 million invested in big-name free agents and huge expectations, has watched his team struggle to a 1-1 start Then there's the money.

Jones, a former guard at Arkansas who made his money in oil, set the tone for big-money era of the '90s. He added luxury suites and signed independent deals with Nike and American Express among others that had other owners yelling that he was violating CARTER GADDIS BEREA, Ohio The NFL says the Steelers should have been given five more seconds to try a game-tying field goal against Cleveland. A Tribune wire report Pittsburgh quarterback Kent Graham wasn't the only one who goofed during the closing seconds in the Steelers 23-20 loss to Cleveland on Sunday. The officials didn't help the Steelers, either. Graham, who had used Pittsburgh's final timeout was sackedon the final play by Courtney Brown and the clock expired as the Steelers tried to line up for a tying field goal.

But the Steelers were informed by the NFL on Monday that they should have been given at least five more seconds to get off the short kick. 'They confirmed there was a mistake made," said Ron Wahl, the Steelers director of media relations. They called to clarify what happened. The rule is clear that they should have stopped the clock after the sack." According to the rule book, a referee should stop the clock "any time the player who originally takes the snap is tackled behind the line of scrimmage." And in the final two minutes, it stipulates "the game clock shall be restarted as soon as the ball has been spotted for the succeeding down, at which time the referee is to give the ready signal. In all cases, a minimum of five seconds must have elapsed before the ball is made ready for play." Trailing by 3, Pittsburgh had first-and-goal at the Cleveland 8 with 35 seconds left when the Steelers called their final timeout On first down, the Steelers ran for 2 yards and Graham rushed to the line to spike the ball, wasting a down but stopping the clock with 14 seconds remaining.

On the next play, Graham dropped back to pass, but when he couldn't find an open receiver in the end zone, he stepped up in the pocket instead of throwing the ball away and was tackled by Brown. What followed looked like a poorly planned fire drill as the Steelers scrambled in desperation to get in their field-goal unit As the Browns celebrated their first home victory in two seasons, Steelers coach Bill Cowher walked dejectedly to the locker room not realizing his team should have been given more time. "In the heat of the moment no one gave it too much thought" Wahl said. Graham, who was criticized for failing to throw the ball away, took the blame afterward. On Monday, he learned he wasn't the only one whc had a bad day.

carries. Only the Giants' Tiki Barber has more yards with 326. Anderson, forced into action when Gary was lost for the season with a knee injury, is the ninth rookie in NFL history to rush for more than 100 yards in each of his first two starts. How does this keep happening? Where do the Broncos get their RB magic? It's the OL. None of the five starters weighs 300 pounds, but OL coach Alex Gibbs likes it like that.

He coaches them to use speed and quickness to open huge holes. Which is why a truly talented RB such as Davis can run for 2,000 yards, and why RBs of slightly lesser ability, such as Gary and Anderson, are capable of compiling big numbers. Davis is expected to return for Sunday's home game against Kansas City. Which means it's back to the bench for Anderson. For now, anyway.

Break up the Browns? Before you Brownies start dying your hair orange and going to work wearing dog masks and gnawing on rawhide bones, consider this: The teams Cleveland has defeated, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, are a combined 04 and each have been shut out. But go ahead and celebrate Cleveland's 2-1 record after the first home victory since being reinstated last year. The franchise hasn't been better than .500 since Oct. 22, 1995, but a difficult five-game stretch looms, starting with Sunday's game at Oakland, where the Raiders are spittin' mad after losing the Denver. After that, it's home against the Ravens, followed by a three-game road swing against Arizona, Denver and humiliated Pittsburgh.

There are other reasons to celebrate. QB Tim Couch is coming into his own, sitting at No. 2 in the league with a 107.7 passer rating. DEs Keith McKenzle and rookie Courtney Brown are ranked second and fourth, respectively, in AFC sacks. And Pittsburgh is 1-2 against the Browns since Cleveland got its team back.

Enjoy this week, Browns fans. It is likely to be the high point of your season. Offensive MVP QB Elvis Grbac, Kansas City. Often booed, often injured, never all that good to begin with, rbac had a No defending Rams' sorry defense The Rams are 3-0, and that's not bad. QB Kurt Warner is on pace to pass for 6,512 yards.

RB Marshall Faulk is on pace for 2,826 total yards. The team is on pace to score 635 points, which would shatter Minnesota's 1998 record of 556. The problem is, St. Louis also is on pace to not win the Super Bowl. Recent history suggests the Rams have no chance, unless they do something about their rotten defense.

And soon. None of the past 10 Super Bowl champions, including last year's Rams, allowed more than 309 points in the regu-. lar season. The 1998 Broncos were the only Super Bowl champion in the past decade to allow more than 300 points. After Denver, Seattle and San Francisco piled up 94 points in three games, St.

Louis is on pace to allow 448 points. Last season, the Rams allowed 242 and ranked No. 6 overall in defense. Through three games, they're ranked No. 30 in defense.

They've allowed an average of 387.7 yards, almost 100 more than last year's 293.6. Most troubling to Rams coaches is the 120.7 yards opponents have averaged on the ground, after St. Louis led the league in run defense at 74.3 yards per game. Something has to happen in St. Louis, and fast.

Or the Rams are bound to waste what could be the greatest offensive season in the NFL's 80-year his- tory. Running back factory The second-leading rusher in the NFL didn't even play in Week One. The second-leading rusher in the NFL played drums, not football, in high school. The second-leading rusher in the NFL spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps and turns 27 on Wednesday.

His name is Mike Anderson, a rookie from Utah. He's the latest diamond-in-the-rough running back trotted out by the Broncos when somebody gets hurt. As Terrell Davis continued to nurse a sprained ankle, as Olandis Gary sat home on injured reserve, Anderson ran the ball 32 times for 187 yards in Sunday's victory against the Raiders. Like Davis, Anderson was a sixth-round draft pick. Davis was the 196th overall pick in the 1995 draft.

Anderson was chosen 189th overall this year. Through two games, Anderson has rushed for 31 yards and two TDs on 63 wjth five TD passes in a 42-10 must-have victory against the Chargers. Grbac shredded what was supposed to be a pretty good defense, finding rookie WR Sylvester Morris with three TD passes. Defensive MVP DT Warren Sapp, Tampa Bay. This is the third consecutive week a Bucs defensive player has taken this award.

This time, it's Big Daddy himself, whose three sacks of Detroit's Charlie Batch were only a small part of the story. His presence helped ruin the Lions' running game (17 yards on 10 carries) and he drew enough attention to allow linemates to combine on four more sacks. He's back where he belongs, at the top of the league in sacks with 5V4. Special teams MVP PK Joe Nedney, Denver. He was angry the Raiders waited until late in the preseason to release him because it ruined his chance to sign with another team.

He spoke out about it when he was signed by the Broncos after Jason Elam was lost with a back injury last week. Nedney immediately exacted revenge on Oakland by making all four of his field goal attempts and scoring all of Denver's nine points in the second half of a 33-24 notice the spread victory against the Raiders. Quote of the week "We respect the Steelers, and we respect Dan Rooney. But the heck with Dan Rooney. We needed this win." Browns President Carmen Policy, after Cleveland's 23-20 victory against the Steelers What they're saying about the Bucs "What'd you expect?" Detroit Free Press headline on the front of the sports section Monday, an indication that their readers should have known that either the Lions were that bad or the Bucs were that good.

Fantasy tip of the week As productive and durable a runner Jets RB Curtis Martin has been throughout his career, he's not a good play this week. If you can bench him, do so, because the Bucs just don't allow rushing touchdowns. Tampa Bay hasn't allowed a rushing TD since giving up four in that 45-0 joss to the Raiders on Dec. 19. I0A it K'" I fj a i AP photo Injured Cowboys quarterback Troy Alkman, right, watches warm-ups as his replacement, Randall Cunningham, practices before Monday night's game against the Redskins.

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