Awalt Ends Holdout, Agrees to Terms With Cardinals

Rob Awalt, the All-Western Athletic Conference tight end from San Diego State, agreed to terms Thursday with the St. Louis Cardinals after a two-week holdout.

Awalt, the Cardinals’ first selection in the third round of the National Football League draft, was to leave San Diego Thursday night after agreeing to terms earlier in the day.

“I was getting anxious,” Awalt said. “I told my agent (Bruce Allen of Phoenix) that it was time to get to camp. I’m a football player. Now that the business is over, it’s time to get down to work.”

Awalt said he agreed to a three-year contract worth approximately $525,000. The contract calls for payments of $110,000 this year, $135,000 in 1988 and $155,000 in 1989, Awalt said. A $125,000 signing bonus and a $10,000 roster bonus in the third year are also included, he said. Awalt said he was particularly pleased that the contract did not contain an option year. “I feel we reached a pretty good compromise,” Awalt said.

Awalt, who is 6-feet 5-inches tall and weighs 245 pounds, was second on the Aztecs in receptions last season with 45 catches for 541 yards.

He was to have reported July 17 to the Cardinals’ camp at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill.