Browns Sign Testaverde for $24 Million

Unwanted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he showed in six seasons that he wasn’t their salvation, Vinny Testaverde signed a $24-million, six-year contract Friday and said he wants to finish his career with the Cleveland Browns.

The deal moved Testaverde to 10th place on the earnings list of NFL quarterbacks.

“When I came here a year ago, I had no expectations of what’s happening today,” said Testaverde, who signed with the Browns last March 31 and ran Cleveland starter Bernie Kosar out of town to the Dallas Cowboys.

Testaverde, 30, had the best season of his career in 1993, completing 130 of 230 passes for 1,797 yards and 14 touchdowns with nine interceptions.

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Arizona football players Lamar Harris, a junior tight end from Tucson, and Cary Taylor, a sophomore wide receiver from San Diego, were hospitalized in fair condition after being wounded in the arm during a drive-by shooting as they mingled with friends outside a bar in Tucson.

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About 70,000 cheered the world champion Cowboys during a victory parade in Dallas. Police reported 39 arrests for minor offenses. . . . Brian Noble, Green Bay Packer linebacker who suffered a serious knee injury last season, has retired. . . . New York Giant wide receiver Chris Calloway underwent surgery on a herniated disk in his back. . . . Alonzo (Jake) Gaither, 90, whose Florida A&M; football teams were 203-36-4 between 1945 and 1969, died in Tallahassee. . . . The Canadian Football League added a fourth U.S. team, to play in Shreveport, La., beginning this season.

Basketball

Larry Brown, 53, was cleared to coach after being examined for chest pains that occurred Thursday before his Indiana Pacers played the Mavericks in Dallas.

Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards said there is a 75% chance the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves will play in New Orleans next season. Edwards said a group from Texas is trying to buy the Timberwolves and move them.

The trade of Olden Polynice and David Wood to the Sacramento Kings was delayed because the Pistons were unable to complete a physical examination of Duane Causwell.

Former Louisville basketball player Troy Smith was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend in a domestic dispute in Cincinnati.

Police said that Kelly Dwyer, 20, suffered a head injury when she was “body-slamed” to the floor by the 6-foot-8, 240-pound Smith.

Tennis

Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic, Stefan Edberg and Sergi Bruguera won quarterfinal matches in the Eurocard Open at Stuttgart, Germany.

Becker defeated top-seeded fellow German Michael Stich, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), and will play Ivanisevic in the semifinals. Ivanisevic beat Henri Leconte, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

Edberg defeated Magnus Gustafsson, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, and Bruguera beat Arnaud Boetsch, 6-3, 6-2.

Jim Courier scored a 6-3, 6-7 (12-10), 6-2 victory over Andrei Chesnokov of Russia in the U.S. Indoor tournament at Philadelphia.

Courier advanced to a semifinal against Michael Chang, who defeated Jonathan Stark, 6-2, 6-3.

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova defeated Sabine Appelmans, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to advance to a semifinal match in the Paris Women’s Open against Leila Meshki, who defeated Caroline Vis, 6-0, 6-1.

The other semifinal will pit Julie Halard, a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 winner over Wiltrud Probst, against Katerina Maleeva, who beat Laurence Courtois of Belgium 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Names in the News

For the second time in four years, Fred Lebow, the 61-year-old founder and director of the New York City Marathon, has brain cancer.

Second baseman Jim Gantner retired after a 15-season career with the Milwaukee Brewers.