The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 40

40 THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY. AUGUST 8, 1986 vr PRO FOOTBALL ROUKBUP ir II TVT I ft ill aiKer aiming 5 for Cowboys 4 With the linebackers we have, it's not surprising I'm not playing. Who would play ahead of (Andre) Tippett and (Don) Blackmon? Brian Ingram (above) From Wire Services Herschel Walker, one of the US Football League stars released from his contract, wants to join the Dallas Cowboys In time to open the National Football League season. Speaking before the USFL announced last night that it will allow all players to seek employment elsewhere, Walker, who played three years for the New Jersey Generals, said team owner Donald Trump will free him from his contract that runs through 1989. The 1982 Hetsman Trophy-winning running back from Georgia will begin negotiations with the Cowboys, who acquired his NFL rights In the 1985 college draft.

"My decision to play in the NFL is based on my continuing desire to compete with the very best," Walker said at a news conference. "I'm a football player and I'm a competitor." Walker and his agent, Peter Johnson, expect to go to Dallas next week to talk to Cowboys officials. Walker said he is In the best shape of his life and, if negotiations are completed in time, he will be ready when Dallas hosts the New York Giants in a Sept. 8 Monday night game. Johnson said Trump would pay Walker part of his contract, which was worth $6 million over four years and runs through 1989, but would not elaborate on details.

The Chicago Bears canceled PATRIOTS iieison, remain morning practice yesterday because of a dispute players and general manager.Jer-ry Valnlsi over mandatory" drug testing. Valnlsi announced at a team meeting Wednesday night that the 77 players still on the roster would have to submit to a drug urinalysis yesterday or face suspension, said team spokesman Ken Valdis-erri. The players held a meeting yesterday morning to resolve the dispute and, as a result, practice was canceled. Afternoon practice Aas held after a compromise Was reached. The Indianapolis Colts' N.

1 draft choice, defensive end, Jon Hand of Alabama, has signed a four-year contract, general manager Jim Irsay said. No flnstfiflal details were released. The Cowboys signed their Np. 1 pick, wide receiver Mike Sherrard from UCLA. The contract reportedly is worth about $1.5 mJDJon over four years.

i The agent for Tim Green, top draft pick of the Atlanta Falcnns, says the the All-America defensive tackle from Syracuse will sitnout this season because of a contract dispute Veteran GreenJJay tight end Paul Coffman had bone chips removed from his left elbow during arthroscopic surgery, yesterday Pittsburgh SteeJers guard Craig Wolfley will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his -left knee today. NOTEBOOK BrocK on hoi TTD Ingram tic process. With such players ahead of him, there obviously are few opportunities to make a point about your ability if you are Brian Ingram. "It was very hard sitting out," Ingram said. "I was down in Atlanta with my family, but I kept thinking I should be up here playing fooball.

I had my family, but it's that time of year for playing football. "Some of the guys called me, and that made it more difficult because I really wanted to be here. I wanted to be here the first day camp opened. I intended to be here. But it didn't work out." It did not work out until this past weekend when Ingram sat in his Stone Mountain, home watching the Patriots play the St.

Louis Cardinals in the nationally televised Hall of Fame Game. The Patriots were on television. Brian Ingram was watching it. The contrast was obvious. So, too, was the problem of a reserve linebacker who holds out beyond the point of good sense.

ft sti outside "A point comes when you know you can't afford to fall farther behind. I knew it wastime to come back to work. "We were pretty close to an agreement anyway." Being close in a contract negotiation, however, Is like being close to making a tackle. It doesn't count, as Ingram found out when he arrived at training camp early this week thinking he had come to terms. In point of fact, he had, but not until he read the fine print of his contract.

And while he was doing that with his agent, he was not a New England Patriot. No practice. No meetings. No football until he signed. On Tuesday, Ingram did sign, and now he is fully armed in shoulder pads and helmet.

But the finality of that new deal, he knows, is not quite as significant as the finality of Tim Golden's fate. Ingram had been one of three veteran free agent holdouts, joining Pete Brock and Steve Nelson talking about," he said. "People still are asking about that game. Every day, I suppose. They'll probably be asking for a while." What is there to answer? That was one game on one day.

There are good days and bad days. That was a bad day for everyone who wore a red shirt. He was mad when he was lifted for Steve Gro-gan. but how long can you stay mad? He said it lasted for a minute. Then he was listening on the headphones, trying to help stop the floodwaters in whatever small way possible.

If you're going to wait for some kind of volcanic reaction from Tony Eason about anything, you're going to have to wait for a while. He's the type who can turn a page easily, no matter what he has seen. "I went home to California after the Super Bowl," he said. "I was there mostly until May when we had a little two-day camp, and then I went home again until it was time to come here." While Jim McMahon, quarterback of the Super Bowl winner, was spread over every magazine cover known to English-speaking man and posed on motor scooters flexing his muscles, Tony Eason mostly went where he wanted to go In California without anyone really noticing. To be recognized on a street or in a restaurant was a surprise.

A big surprise. He was low-key, low-profile. He did not brood about the Super Bowl game. He did not worry. He said he did some welghtlifting, hoping to strengthen his shoul- Air Tours GtHNCV 7703400 14b By Ron Borges Globe Staff MITHF1ELD, R.I.

Tim Golden has been on Brian Ingram's mind the past (three weeks. Golden's been there because he hasn't been on the New England Patriots for more than a year now. Ingram is a reserve outside linebacker on a team whose strongest position happens to be outside linebacker. It is neither good nor healthy to be a reserve at such a position, and about the only thing worse is to be a holdout reserve at that position, which Is what Ingram chose to be until Monday. 1 Ingram has been on the Patriots' roster since 1982, when he was a fourth-round draft choice out of Tennessee, but he has seldom been on the field, least of all as an outside linebacker.

And it is for that reason that Golden, former reserve outside linebacker, kept coming to mind. i "I thought about Tim a lot," Ingram said. "I knew he held out last year and ended up getting cut. Now he's out of football. "I know that I'm In the same situation.

With the linebackers we have, it's not surprising I'm not playing. Who would play ahead of (Andre) TIppett and (Don) Black-rjion? "They probably could just get rid of me and nobody would notice, but 1 believe if that did happen. I can still get a job with another team. "I haven't played here, but that doesn't mean 1 can't play. I think 1 can play somewhere." For the time being, Ingram will try to do his playing in Foxbor-ough, behind Tippett, last season's defensive player of the year, and Blackmon, who probably would have been an All-Pro had politics not entered into the voting After the BMONTVILLE Continued from Page 39 "It's getting to me," running back Craig James said.

"It's that time when your legs just hurt. All the time. Just hurt. You just want to get out of here." "But, see, it's different for you," Tony Eason said. "That's physical.

I don't have to contend with that as much in camp." The days for the 26-year-old quarterback are the same as they have been for the past four years. Football and more football. Fol- USED COPIER SALE 800 SERIES COPIERS MODEL 880 DELIVERS 30 COPIES PER MINUTE, FEATURING A DOCUMENT FEEDER, DUAL PAPER TRAYS, 1-99 COUNTER MICROPROCESSOR CONTROL. PRICED NEW 7375 "USED" PRICED 30 DAY WARRANTY LOW-COST MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS AVAILABLE 53Iflfl 1480 SOLDIERS FIELD BRIGHTON, MASS. CALL 783-1 180 ASK FOR DICK LAWS Phone Orders Weifymed.

(Wrecks and Major Credit Accepted. $625 fall, Eason keeps Globe photoUlll Powers on the AWOL list until he pulled up In front of Bryant College in a taxi. But although he was on the same list as Brock and Nelson, his position was never the same. Nelson has been to the Pro Bowl at Inside linebacker the past two seasons, while Brock has held the starting position at center since 1979, although he did not have it completely anchored down until 1981. For them, a holdout is a difficult matter, but it is at least one they are coming at from an arguable point of strength despite the years and the scars both carry.

At 35 and 32, respectively, Nelson and Brock know this new contract is an important one because the next will be more difficult, if not imDossible, to secure. Thus, for them, a holdout now is merely a search for some semblance of security. But for Ingram and players like him, there is no security in professional football. They play on the fringes of the game, making a handsome living while doing it but living daily with the fact that a lot of Tim Goldens have come down the pike since the National Football League was born and most of them ended up back on the Pike in a bus when their time was over. That apparently all came home to Ingram last Saturday as he sat in front of his television.

"My wife (Callie) and I were watching, and I told her I'd never watched the New England Patriots on television before," Ingram said. To avoid that happening again, Brian Ingram came back to work. He came alone, without fanfare, an agent or a press release. All that was with him were his bags and his body and the memory of Tim Golden. calm ders.

He did some running, hoping to help his speed. He worked a bit with his playbook, reading plays and keys and notes he had made to himself after every game during the season. He did not know if the yank from the Super Bowl game was a permanent yank if he would be replaced by Grogan or if there would be a competition for the job but he did not care. "I cared, of course I cared personally if I started or not, but I couldn't do anything about it, so I didn't worry about it," Tony Eason said. "I simply prepared myself as if I would be taking every snap from center for the whole season and went from there." He was given the Job at the meeting in May, coach Raymond Berry making the announcement.

He has continued from there, through the early weeks of training camp to here. He will draw most of the work against the Red-skins. He presumably will draw most of the work against everyone. "This camp, running the offense, has been so much easier," Tony Eason said. "This is the second year we've had this offense.

Everyone knows it. We can start where we left off. Football is the sport more than any other where you have to have confidence in everyone around you, where everyone knows his Job. That's been there from the beginning this year." In the dining room, a nervous face from Pittsburgh named Tony Brown stood on a chair. He announced that he was a tackle and that his song was originally sung by Three Dog Night.

"Watch this guy," Tony Eason said. "He's going to be good." Right again. Everyone howled. Leigh Montvllle is a Globe columnist. BAUER CUSTOM 1000 SR.

JR. 1 key players, coach Raymond Berry said. "That's cause for concern. I don't like to see them absents, "I don't know what the problem is. I don't care.

I don't get into what the issues are. I've got other problems. I think it's just a matter of them arriving at whateve's a fair arrangement. "I think as an overall policy, the Patriots' players don't r.eally have that much to complain about. They're treated very fairly.

"I don't think it's really possible for players to understand.Qr be concerned about the economic health of the team and how their own contract may affect that. I think for sure If the organization gets sick, then everyone gets sick." Perhaps, but right now it is only Pete Brock and Steve Nelson who are sick, and both deSefve better than that. Apparently, Reggie Dupard.will not terrorize the Washingtoned-skins Sunday night. "I don't think Reggie, will (play)," Berry said of his signed No. 1 draft choice.

'Jt's very difficult to get a running back in there until he knows what to do. "He'd get himself somebody else hurt. "He may play in a spot thing, but it's very doubtful he'll a sustained basis." Berry said he hopes to worR his veterans as hard as possible Sunday, but that effort must be balanced with the need to see his younger players perform under game conditions. "ZZ "I want all our veteran players to play enough to get tired," Berry said. "It's important for their conditioning.

That might take back seat to looking at some younger players." Irving Fryar returned to practice after missing 10 days with a sprained ankle The tendinitis problem in Steve Moore's right knee has cleared up enough fallow him to practice after a one-day layoff Ken Sims continues to be bothered with lower back and hip problems that have keplhjm out of practice all week. "It's not going too well," Sims said. "It's going pretty slow." It Is unclear whether Sims will be fit against Washington. iin (i -RON BORGES. SMITHF1ELD.

R.I. It would seem that giving a knee, a shoulder and more than a decade of your life to one football team should net you more than a six-month contract fight. But that is apparently the case for Pete Brock and Steve Nelson, two Eagle Scouts who have been camped out at home the past 19 days while their agent negotiates with the Patriots without apparent success. Both are veteran free agents in search of what might well be their final contracts, because Nelson is entering his 13th NFL season and Brock his 11th. Obviously, the sands of time not to mention their various body parts are beginning to run down.

But with Nelson coming off two straight Pro Bowl seasons and Brock's value to the offense having been clearly established when he was absent because of injuries part of the past two years, it would seem each has ample bargaining power to get this matter resolved amiably. Yet it is not. "I'm not doing the negotiating with them," said player personnel director Dick Steinberg. "Pat (Sullivan) is talking to their agent daily. But they're still far apart.

There's no significant change." Ken Fishkin, who represents both, could at least agree with the Patriots on that. "It's Impossible to predict when this might be resolved," Fishkin said. "Until it's resolved, it's not resolved. "There's no timetable and no change. Both players are holding up well.

I would hope we could have it resolved in the near future, but it's Impossible to predict. We're not there yet." They are also not here yet, and the longer they stay out, the more one thinks of the impasse reached last year in Chicago that kept Todd Bell and Al Harris sidelined for the entire season. Or worse, the acrimonious situation that developed between the Patriots and another Eagle Scout. All-Pro cornerback Michael Haynes, when their contract squabble deteriorated. "I would hope that wouldn't ever happen," Fishkin said.

It is unlikely it will, but one still wonders why two players like Brock and Nelson players who come to play and leave it at that -are in this predicament. "The two we have out are very lowed by even more football. The grand puzzle Is out there again, waiting to be solved. He is trying to do the Job. "I'm looking forward to Sunday night," he said softly, talking about his first exhibition start of the year against the Washington Redskins at Sullivan Stadium.

"I am. I want to get back to it. It's going to be fun." Fun? "The competition, that's the fun," he said. "That's the fun of any game, whether it's golf or football or playing basketball in your driveway. That's what you look forward to." Tony Eason's last football start you might remember was in a slightly bigger game.

He was the pitcher of record in that 46-10 Super Bowl loss to the Chicago Bears. This will be his first game since that coast-to-coast nightmare, when he was removed in the first half after completing zero passes in six attempts. This will be his competitive return. "How much have you talked about that game?" he was asked. "How many people have asked questions about it?" "It depends what people you're HuuDlOM81! Chapman) HOQD LOCK AND IGNITION KILL 129 I INSTALLED PRICE 1 HOUR SERVICE mi" BY APPOINTMENT New 20 Comprehensive Insurance Discount BOSTON AUTO SECURITY Framingham 872-5524 18 Cachitu A Rd..