Carter Starts NFL Career Ahead $7.125 Million With Record Bonus

Running back Ki-Jana Carter, the No. 1 choice in the NFL draft, will receive a $7.125-million signing bonus, biggest ever for a rookie, after agreeing Wednesday to a seven-year, $19.2-million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals.

The contract includes three “voidable years” that could reduce it to a four-year deal, leaving Carter, who went to Penn State, a potential free agent in 1999.

Carter’s contract is somewhat smaller than that given quarterback Kerry Collins by the Carolina Panthers--$23.2 million over seven years--but has a higher signing bonus that Collins’ $7 million.

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The New Orleans Saints terminated the contract of veteran kicker Morten Andersen, but the team will try to re-sign him. . . . Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones has offered to let free agent Deion Sanders play wide receiver as well as cornerback in his bid to sign the two-sport star.

Sophomore tailback Travis Cozart has been kicked off the Tennessee team for failure to maintain grades, involvement in a telephone fraud scandal and for a brush with the law. . . . The NCAA restored the eligibility of West Virginia defensive lineman John Browning, who had signed with an agent last spring to try the NFL draft. . . . Maryland quarterback Scott Milanovich will stay for his senior year rather than try the NFL supplemental draft, despite a four-game NCAA suspension for gambling on college games.

Felicia Moon, wife of Minnesota Viking quarterback Warren Moon, said she will not press charges, though she fled her Missouri City, Tex., home Tuesday and told authorities her husband struck and choked her. The quarterback blamed the incident on a “strain in our marriage.”

Basketball

Sacramento King first-round draft pick Corliss Williamson underwent surgery in Little Rock, Ark., to remove a herniated disk and is expected to be ready for basketball in about three months.

The New York Knicks have raised the price of the approximately 60 courtside tickets at Madison Square Garden from $500 to $1,000 a game.

Drake University drew one year of probation and a reprimand from the NCAA for rules violations in recruiting prospective transfer Stevie Johnson, from California.

The United States shot 36%, 32% in the second half, and lost to Croatia, 82-65, in the quarterfinals of the Junior World Basketball Championship in Athens. The Americans made four of 18 (22%) three-point tries.

Miscellany

The concrete-slab foundation of the Olympic dormitories in Atlanta was a poor choice because it was laid over weak soil, and that is to blame for one building sinking nine inches, another six inches, Georgia’s engineering consultant, Jim Niehoff, said.

The Los Angeles Blades lost to San Jose Rhinos, 11-6, despite five power-play goals in a Roller Hockey International game at San Jose.

Tennis

Top-seeded Andre Agassi avoided the rash of upsets in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington, cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 second-round victory over France’s Rodolphe Gilbert. Five seeded players lost Wednesday, including Richey Reneberg and Aaron Krickstein.

Names in the News

The New York Rangers signed free-agent center Ray Ferraro to a three-year contract. . . . Five Mighty Duck players filed for salary arbitration: goaltender Guy Hebert, defenseman Bobby Dollas, forwards Bob Corkum and Todd Krygier and backup goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov. . . . Former Detroit Tiger catcher Bill Freehan resigned as Michigan’s baseball coach after six years.