It Takes Only Three Little Words to Make a Defensive End Happy

What does it take to bring a retired football player back to the game? Sometimes a friendly word from someone with the team will help.

All-pro defensive end Charles Haley of the Dallas Cowboys, who now says he will play again next season, says he was influenced by a conversation with Rich Dalrymple, the team’s public relations director.

“Rich said he thought I should come back and he told me, ‘Hey, guy, I love you,’ and nobody ever told me that before,” Haley said. “I guess I had to come back after that.”

Trivia time: If favored Best Pal wins the Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday, he will become the first horse to finish first twice in the 58-year-old race, yet will join John Henry as a two-time winner. How come?

The man: As long as Joe Montana is pondering his future, it’s risky for the Kansas City Chiefs to call a news conference.

Shortly after putting out word that reporters should be at Arrowhead Stadium at 10 a.m. Thursday, the Chiefs were deluged with calls and faxes demanding to know what Montana planned to announce.

“It has absolutely, positively nothing to do with Joe Montana,” spokesman Bob Moore said. “As hard as that is for some people out there to believe.”

The news conference concerned free-agent signings.

Nice foursome: Mike Schmidt, the former Philadelphia Phillie third baseman who was recently elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame, was pleased when the veterans’ committee awarded former Phillie Richie Ashburn the same honor.

“Richie is very deserving,” Schmidt said. “He played in an era when there were some great center fielders who went on to become Hall of Famers. Now, he’s one of them--Willie, Mickey, Duke and Richie.”

Lesson in love: Former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield asked a large crowd at Christ Baptist Church in Paterson, N.J., to forgive a white police officer for the shooting of an unarmed black youth during a drug bust.

“I know the teaching of the good book and that’s always forgiveness,” Holyfield said in a 30-minute speech. “When you love God, you can love yourself. When you love yourself, you can love others.”

Thinking ahead: Letter writer Chip Ainsworth in the Boston Globe on the baseball situation: “I’ll be happy to watch the replacement games. I only hope there’ll be replacement parking fees.”

Trivia answer: After John Henry won the Big ‘Cap in 1981, he finished second in 1982 but was awarded the victory after Perrault, the apparent winner by a nose, was disqualified for interference in the stretch.

Quotebook: Samantha Tomlinson, Australian basketball star at Auburn Montgomery, on life in the United States: “Here, it’s about who ends up with the most money.”