PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Sullivan Awarded $114 Million

Former New England Patriot owner William Sullivan was awarded $114 million Friday by a Boston jury that agreed with his claim that the NFL effectively forced him to sell the team.

Sullivan had asked for $116 million in damages, claiming the NFL’s refusal to allow him to sell public stock forced the sale of the team in October 1988 to Victor Kiam for what he considered to be a low price of $80 million.

A poster portraying Miami Dolphin players as gun-toting cowboys was withdrawn after an NAACP leader protested that it set a bad example in a community struggling to curb violence.

Amid minimal fanfare, Eric Dickerson, the second-leading rusher in NFL history, formally announced his retirement during a news conference in West Hollywood. . . . Former Seattle receiver Tommy Kane has filed a grievance against the Seahawks in a bid to force the club to pay his medical costs and about $400,000 in salary for 1993. Kane, 29, had surgery Thursday on his right Achilles’ tendon.