Falcons’ Heyward Signs Two-Year Deal

The Atlanta Falcons signed running back Craig Heyward, having the best year of his career, to a two-year contract Friday.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Heyward has 1,041 combined yards this season, the highest total of his seven-year career. He also has career highs with 746 rushing yards, eight touchdowns and 30 receptions for 295 yards.

A former No. 1 draft pick from Pittsburgh, Heyward signed a one-year deal with the Falcons before this season after spending last year in Chicago and five years in New Orleans.

His rushing average of 4.5 yards per carry is third in the NFL and his eight touchdowns are the most by a Falcon running back since Gerald Riggs in 1986.

Hockey

An attempt to schedule talks on Monday between NHL and union representatives fizzled when Bob Goodenow, executive director of the players’ association, said he had no reason to meet if the league remains intent on imposing a payroll tax or exacting more concessions from players on salary arbitration.

A league source said negotiators expected to meet Monday but canceled the session after Goodenow told union attorney Bob Riley the union had nothing to discuss if the tax was still alive. They did not set another date. The lockout is in its 85th day and has wiped out more than 40% of the NHL season.

A union source said Riley talked briefly with Jeff Pash, the NHL’s general counsel, and added that no talks will take place before Tuesday.

The last full-scale negotiations were held Dec. 6, although delegations from each side have met three times since then.

Marcel Aubut, president and part owner of the Quebec Nordiques, is quitting three corporate board positions to see his NHL team through the labor crisis, he said.

Aubut resigned from the board of Hydro-Quebec and the Quebec 2002 Winter Olympic bid committee. He also announced he would step down as chairman of the board of a technology park once a new management team is in place.

The three positions took about 25 hours a week of Aubut’s time, said a spokesman for the Nordiques, who contend they will lose between $10 million and $14 million if no season takes place.

Soccer

Yugoslavia, playing its first international match since the lifting of United Nations sanctions, was beaten, 2-0, by Brazil at the Olympic Stadium in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The Brazilians, in their first game since winning the World Cup in July and their first game under new Coach Mario Zagalo, got a goal in each half.

Viola put them ahead in the 25th minute, scoring on a header inside the right-hand post off a cross from Branco. In the 66th minute, Branco made it 2-0 when he scored on a direct free kick.

Former Argentine star Diego Maradona, serving a 15-month playing suspension after failing a drug test during the World Cup, signed a one-year contract to help coach Racing Club in the Argentine first division.

Maradona, 34, signed the $500,000 contract at a Buenos Aires television studio. Because Maradona does not have a coaching license, he will serve as an assistant to Coach Carlos Fren. Racing has not won a championship in 28 years.

College Football

Penn State offensive line coach Craig Cirbus was named head coach at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

While at Penn State, Cirbus has coached in seven bowl games and two national championship games. Cirbus said he will remain with the Nittany Lions through the Jan. 2 Rose Bowl game against Oregon.

Cirbus joined Penn State in 1984 as the team’s assistant defensive line coach. He has been the offensive line coach there for the past two seasons, helping shape the nation’s No. 1 offense. It averaged 47.8 points per game this season.

A native of the Buffalo suburb of Kenmore, Cirbus played for the University at Buffalo as an offensive lineman from 1977-79.

The new conference that includes Memphis, Cincinnati, Houston and Louisville doesn’t have a name, but does have a television deal for football starting in 1996. The contract signed in Memphis, Tenn., with Liberty Sports Inc. guarantees the league’s football-playing schools $20 million in a five-year deal. Each of the football schools will receive nearly $167,000 a year starting in 1996, with more money based on the number of live TV appearances. The deal calls for 12 to 14 games a year.