PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : NFC : New Orleans Puts Dunbar on Waivers

Vaughn Dunbar, New Orleans’ No. 1 draft pick in 1992, was waived Tuesday by the Saints.

Dunbar did not carry the ball in the Saints’ season opener Sunday. Mario Bates was the team’s only ball carrier in the opener, gaining 26 yards in 13 carries in New Orleans’ 24-22 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Dunbar led the Saints in rushing his rookie season with 565 yards and three touchdowns, but blew out his knee in the 1993 exhibition season and only showed signs of returning to form during this preseason.

*

While Jerry Jones delighted in his Nike caper, the rest of the NFL fumed.

“He enjoys the maverick image,” said Carmen Policy, president of the 49ers and the Dallas owner’s favorite jousting partner. “But the man’s gone too far; he’s out of control.”

Jones pulled his latest raid on what the league and its union consider their private province Monday night by announcing his own deal with Nike in a news release headed “Cowboys’ Owner Bucks NFL Again.”

It not only upstaged his team’s 35-0 defeat of the Giants, but again alienated the league establishment by attacking the revenue-sharing concept that’s made them rich.

The Nike deal could even help Jones in his attempt to sign Deion Sanders, a major client of the sports apparel giant.

Jones and Policy are battling for Sanders, the baseball player-cornerback who helped San Francisco win the Super Bowl last season.

That became more urgent Monday night when Kevin Smith, the Cowboys’ best cornerback, suffered an Achilles’ tendon injury that’s expected to sideline him for the season. An MRI test showed Smith has an incomplete rupture and surgery will be required, perhaps this week, Cowboy spokesman Rich Dalrymple said.

But there was a general sense around the league that Jones is biting the hand that feeds him by trying to separate the Cowboys’ revenue from NFL Properties, the league’s licensing arm. During Monday night’s game, the Dallas coaches and staff members wore no logos on their plain white shirts, not even anything that said “Cowboys.”

Jones already has bucked the league by selling Pepsi rather than the league-sanctioned Coca-Cola at Texas Stadium.

NFL spokesman Joe Browne said Jones’ Nike contract is “an apparent violation of league policies.” Browne added that the league constitution requires Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to give the Cowboys a hearing “and he will promptly do so.”

Jones said, “I would welcome an inquiry from the commissioner. My response to the other owners is this is a very constructive thing. It will build the image of the NFL. Nike marketing all over the world will pull us to levels we haven’t known before. Nike can take us to areas beyond the critics.”

*

Ricky Watters, who angered Philadelphia fans Sunday by declining to go after a pass over the middle--then explained he didn’t want to get hit--reversed field and apologized for his lack of effort during the game and his comments afterward.

Watters’ debut with the Eagles was abysmal--37 yards in 17 carries, 34 yards on five catches and two fumbles--and his comments after the 21-6 loss to Tampa Bay didn’t help.

“Right here, I just want to say to my teammates, to the coaches, to the fans, everybody, that I am sorry. I am very sorry because I was out of line and out of character. That’s not me.”

*

Carolina Panther cornerback Michael Reed, the last player chosen in the 1995 college draft, was put on injured reserve because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Reed was injured Sunday in Carolina’s 23-20 overtime loss to Atlanta, but the ligament tear was not confirmed until an MRI exam was taken Monday night.

*

A 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with attacking Eagle third-string quarterback Jay Fiedler after an argument in the bathroom of a Philadelphia sports bar.

Fiedler was treated for cuts and bruises at Methodist Hospital, and released.

Anthony Gentile, 24, was charged with simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats and conspiracy. He was freed on bail.

“It was the first fight I’ve ever been in my life,” said Fiedler, 23, a graduate of Dartmouth.

Gentile said he didn’t know Fiedler was an Eagle. “If I would’ve have known it at the time, I might have shook his hand,” Gentile said. “I’m an Eagles fan.”