FOOTBALL : Three Cal Lutheran Players Ignored in Draft Sign Free-Agent Contracts With NFL Teams

Just days after being ignored in the National Football League draft, three former Cal Lutheran players signed free-agent contracts with NFL teams.

Defensive tackles Mike Miller (6-4, 260 pounds) and John Hynes (6-4, 245 pounds) signed with the Raiders and Darren Gottschalk, a 6-4, 235-pound tight end, signed with the New Orleans Saints. Gottschalk and Miller signed Friday and Hynes signed Wednesday. Each will attend a mini-camp later this month.

“After the draft, my agent contacted some teams and the Saints were interested,” said Gottschalk. “I talked with the Saints’ player personnel director on Friday. He said they have two veteran tight ends and they’ll keep three on the roster this year, so I think I have a decent chance.”

Gottschalk was an All-Western Football Conference selection after his junior season when he had 40 receptions. Last season, he caught 22 passes for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns before suffering a shoulder separation in the eighth game of the season.

Miller suffered a similar injury and played in only seven games last season.

Jim Buchheim, CLU sports information director, said the defensive lineman had offers to sign with Minnesota, Kansas City and Houston, but he decided on the Raiders because “it’s his favorite team” and “because they picked only one defensive player in the draft and no defensive linemen.”

The Raiders also signed Hynes, who was named to the All-WFC first team last season.

Even though CLU Coach Bob Shoup called the players “longshots” to make it in the NFL, he said they generated a lot of interest from scouts. “We had 63 separate visits from pro scouts this year. . . . With a little luck and if they can get through the camps to the exhibition season, then they could make it. They are reasonably good athletes. But it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time.”

Kicking the blues: Even if tailbacks Richard Brown and Lance Harper play as well as Cal State Northridge coaches expect, the Matadors will miss All-American Mike Kane, a back who not only gained a lot of yardage but rarely fumbled and was a good receiver.

But if Saturday night’s intrasquad scrimmage was any indication, Kane might not be missed as much as placekicker Mike Doan.

Northridge failed on its only two field goal tries. Gary Vartanian, Doan’s heir apparent, missed wide left on a 43-yard attempt and Trent Morgan missed a 19-yard try.

Doan, a Division II All-American, was almost automatic within 45 yards. He made 34 of 35 PATs and 14 of 16 field goals last season.

Cal Lutheran Coach Bob Shoup had this to say about one of his players after Saturday’s varsity-alumni game:

“He’s a senior captain and a four-year starter. We’ve allowed him to do some things we wouldn’t even allow some of our former pro players to do. He makes so few mistakes, we’ve basically given him carte blanche out there.”

No, he wasn’t talking about All-America quarterback Tom Bonds. He was commenting on the play of 6-3, 230-pound defensive end Rueben Solorio, who was considered too slow to play college football when Shoup discovered him at Schurr High in Montebello.

Brian Coushay, a former wide receiver for Newbury Park High, has signed a free-agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Coushay was twice an All-WFC selection at Portland State, where he caught 93 passes for 1,563 yards and 12 touchdowns in two seasons after transferring from Santa Barbara City College.

He will report to the Cardinals’ rookie mini-camp on May 19.