Rozelle Postpones Supplemental Draft

Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League, announced a one-week postponement Thursday of the supplemental draft for wide receiver Cris Carter of Ohio State and running back Charles Gladman of Pittsburgh so that the players may try to work out an arrangement with the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. to regain their eligibility.

The draft was scheduled for today, but Rozelle decided to put it off after the NCAA reinstated Pitt defensive back Terryl Austin late Wednesday. Rozelle conferred with members of the National Assn. of College Directors of Athletics. Like Carter, Austin accepted payments from agents Norby Walters and Lloyd Bloom.

The reinstatement is contingent upon Austin’s repaying $2,500 in loans he received from the agents and severing any agreement with them. The same stipulation applies to Carter, an All-American wide receiver from Ohio State.

Carter said at a news conference in Indianapolis that playing for Ohio State would be his first choice.

“I’d love to go back, but it’s just not as easy as that,” he said.

Ohio State Athletic Director Rick Bay, who was present at the meeting with Rozelle, said he would be inclined to reverse his previous position and make an appeal to the NCAA for Carter’s reinstatement.

Later Thursday, in a telephone interview with WTVN-TV of Columbus, Ohio, Bay appeared to back off from his earlier statement. Asked if he expected Carter to play for Ohio State again, Bay said he would “leave a crack in the door” but added: “I don’t see that as a probability at all.”

Gladman, a running back from Pitt, has never acknowledged any dealings with agents. He was ruled ineligible for refusing to cooperate in an investigation concerning Walters and Bloom.

If agreements are not worked out for Carter and Gladman, their draft will be held Sept. 4.

There will be a supplemental draft today for four other players not involved with agents--Dan McFadden of the University of Miami, Paul Miller of Illinois Valley Community College, Marquis Pleasant of SMU and Chester Savoie of Nicholls State in Louisiana.