At 34, Reich Finally Gets a Chance to be a Starter

Frank Reich, a backup to Buffalo Bill quarterback Jim Kelly for more than a decade, finally got his chance to be a starter Monday by signing with the Carolina Panthers.

“A big factor in my coming here was the opportunity to play,” Reich, an unrestricted free agent, said after signing a one-year deal with the expansion team.

The Panthers also acquired quarterbacks Jack Trudeau and Doug Pederson through the veteran allocation draft.

*

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is in Los Angeles, and the Rams have given him until Wednesday to demonstrate progress in their talks, or the team will file an antitrust suit Thursday against the league for prohibiting the team to move to St. Louis, Ram President John Shaw said.

Running back Eric Bieniemy, who spent four seasons with the San Diego Chargers, has agreed to a two-year, $1-million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. . . . Pro Bowl cornerback Eric Allen officially joined the Saints when the Philadelphia Eagles informed New Orleans that they would not match its offer, reportedly worth more than $14 million. Allen’s offer sheet reportedly includes a $4.5-million signing bonus. . . . Guard Mark Schlereth, who has undergone nine knee operations, has signed a free-agent contract with the Denver Broncos. Schlereth, who has played for the Washington Redskins since they drafted him in 1989, will earn a reported $2.4 million over three years. That includes a $600,000 signing bonus. . . . Quarterback Bobby Hebert agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Atlanta Falcons and will return next fall as a backup to Jeff George. . . . The Washington Redskins re-signed running back and kick return specialist Brian Mitchell to a new three-year contract worth $4.2 million, which includes a $1.5-million signing bonus.

Track and Field

Middle-distance runners Lyubov Kremlyova of Russia and Violeta Beclea of Romania competed in the World Indoor Championships on March 12 at Barcelona, Spain, weeks after failing drug tests, the International Amateur Athletic Federation confirmed.

Kremlyova won the bronze medal and Beclea finished fourth in the women’s 1,500 meters.

Both runners tested positive for steroids at a meet in Germany in late February.

They were allowed to compete in Spain because “B” samples of their urine specimens had not yet been tested. If these samples also are positive this week, the athletes will be banned for four years.

Names in the News

Texas running back Priest Holmes, who scored a record four touchdowns in last year’s Sun Bowl, will have surgery to repair what apparently is a torn anterior cruciate ligament and might be sidelined for the start of the season.

Japanese sailor Minoru Saito, feared lost in the Southern Ocean, has been sighted off the Falkland Islands en route to Uruguay. He had not been heard from since March 4 when he talked to sailors aboard a ship looking for fellow BOC around-the-world competitor Harry Mitchell of Britain, who has been lost at sea since March 2.

Cuba’s best amateur wrestler of the 1980s, Raul Cascaret, was killed in a car accident. He won world titles in the 74-kilogram division in 1985 and ’86.

Miscellany

Four off-duty Indianapolis police officers who escorted Mike Tyson’s caravan after the former heavyweight champion was released from prison are being questioned amid reports that one of the two patrol cars the officers rode in traveled at speeds exceeding 110 m.p.h. during the motorcade.

Matt Grosjean of Steamboat Springs, Colo., won his third slalom title in the U.S. Alpine Championships at Park City, Utah. Kristina Koznick of Burnsville, Minn., won the women’s slalom.