PRO FOOTBALL NOTES : Casillas Ends Holdout, Re-Signs With Falcons

Atlanta Falcons nose tackle Tony Casillas signed a two-year contract today, ending a holdout that kept him away from the team for the entire exhibition season.

Casillas underwent a physical examination at Piedmont Hospital, signed his contract and was practicing with the team this afternoon at their camp in Suwanee, Ga., Falcons spokesman Frank Kleha said.

Terms of Casillas’ contract were not disclosed.

Casillas, the Falcons’ No. 1 pick in the 1986 NFL draft, said that he looked forward to playing under new coach Jerry Glanville and that he believed he would fit into Glanville’s playing system.

“I’ve said all along it would work, and I want to get in and be a part of it,” he said.

Casillas’ agent, John Maloney, and Falcons President Taylor Smith negotiated the contract by telephone Wednesday.

Maloney had been seeking a four-year, $6-million contract.

“I just want to play football. Money’s not the key thing right now,” Casillas said before reporting to camp. “Even if I were to win that Florida lottery, I’d still want to keep playing football.”

Highly touted quarterback Major Harris suits up for his first Canadian Football League game tonight with the slumping British Columbia Lions.

The former West Virginia star will back up starter Doug Flutie at home in Vancouver when the Lions play the Edmonton Eskimos.

“The wait hasn’t been that difficult, because I’ve had to handle some injuries,” Harris said. “I’m a young guy, and I’m still learning a lot about the game every day.”

Harris, 22, played briefly in two exhibitions two months ago. He spent four games on the injured list with a leg problem and six on the disabled list after he fell in his bathtub.

This will be the first game for the club’s new management. Coach Lary Kuharich and General Manager Joe Kapp were fired after last week’s loss to the Toronto Argonauts.