Lott Must Find Another Team; Jeffcoat a Bill

Safety Ronnie Lott, an unrestricted free agent, was informed Wednesday by the New York Jets that he no longer fits in the team’s plans. Lott, who turns 36 in May, knew it was coming.

“They told me they want to go in a different direction, with younger players,” Lott said.

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Seeking a pass rusher to complement Bruce Smith, the Buffalo Bills signed former Cowboy Jim Jeffcoat, 33, Dallas’ all-time sack leader with 94.5, to a three-year deal worth a little less than $1 million a season. . . . The Cowboys made free agent Tony Tolbert the team’s highest-paid defensive player when they signed the end to a five-year, $15-million contract with a $4 million signing bonus. . . . The Bills lost former UCLA linebacker Marvcus Patton, who signed with the Washington Redskins. . . . The Carolina Panthers signed free agent offensive tackle Derrick Graham, a starter with the Kansas City Chiefs, to a four-year, $6-million contract with a $2 million signing bonus.

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Ram Coach Rich Brooks named Dan Radakovich offensive line coach, a position he held with the Rams’ 1979 Super Bowl team, and hired Nick Aliotti to coach the secondary and Steve Greatwood to coach the offensive line and tight ends.

Joe Vitt, an assistant under Chuck Knox, was named linebacker coach by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tennis

Top-ranked Pete Sampras complained of a slow court after squeaking out a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 first-round victory over Marcelo Fillipini at the U.S. Indoor at Philadelphia. But No. 2 Andre Agassi had no problems with the surface in a 6-3, 6-4 victory against fellow American Jeff Tarango. . . . Goran Ivanisevic was forced to abandon his first-round match against Magnus Larsson while trailing in the first set, 4-0, at the Eurocard Open in Stuttgart, Germany, and said he will undergo surgery today for torn cartilage in his right knee.

Jurisprudence

Jockey Leon Jenkins Jr., who suffered brain damage in a racing accident last summer, claims the outer rail at the track at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds was faulty and is seeking $10 million in a claim filed with the county’s Board of Supervisors. He was hurt Aug. 3 when his mount, Hey Ardis, veered into the outside rail and collapsed. The claim did not specify why Jenkins believes the rail was dangerous. Fair officials maintained that the track’s steel outside rail meets all state codes and standards.

Former Cleveland Brown linebacker Eddie Johnson has been indicted in Cleveland on an additional charge for allegedly helping his fugitive half-brother, C.J. Henderson, the government said.

University of Colorado defensive tackle Shannon Clavelle, a first-team All-Big Eight selection, was arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and son during an argument.

Miscellany

Former American League umpire Steve Palermo, paralyzed in a shooting at a Texas restaurant in 1991, has been hired to do periodic features on New York Yankee cable broadcasts. . . . Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has agreed to perform 100 hours of community service in each of four years of his probation after his scheduled release from prison March 25. . . . American Donna Weinbrecht won the moguls competition in a World Cup freestyle skiing meet at Kirchberg, Austria, beating world champion Candice Gilg, who finished second. World Cup leader Sergei Shuplezov of Russia won the men’s event.

Mike Burns, a midfielder for the U.S. World Cup soccer team and the captain of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, signed a multiyear contract with Major League Soccer. . . . The U.S. soccer team will play Uruguay at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on March 25 in its first international match of the 1995 season.

Stars & Stripes defeated Young America by 1 minute 33 seconds in the America’s Cup trials off San Diego. The challengers completed their third round-robin, with the most important race being France 3’s victory by 2:17 over Nippon. . . . USC will play fifth-ranked Stanford at the Sports Arena in a women’s basketball game tonight.