PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : AFC : Foster Abruptly Leaves the Bengals

Two days after signing a $1-million contract, Barry Foster changed his mind and left the Cincinnati Bengals.

The three-time Pro Bowl running back with Pittsburgh surprised the Bengals and his agent by quitting and leaving town Thursday.

Foster, 26, out of football since the Carolina Panthers released him before the season, complained he felt like “a 60-year-old running back” after his first workout in pads with the Bengals on Wednesday.

He told Bengal Coach Dave Shula on Thursday morning that he had lost his desire to play. He returned his reported $300,000 signing bonus to the Bengals, checked out of his hotel room and left.

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The $4,000 fine levied against Denver Bronco linebacker Dave Wyman for hitting Oakland Raider quarterback Jeff Hostetler was increased to $12,000 as the battle between the teams continued to flare.

“We were able to get more angles on the play,” AFC information director Leslie Hammond said. NFL officials reviewed the tape after Hostetler, who missed a game and a half after getting hit in the throat, complained to the league office and Gene Washington, the league’s director of football development.

“After reviewing it again, Gene decided that increasing the fine was appropriate.”

Wyman was not suspended because he already sat out three quarters of the Oct. 16 game, Hammond said.

Bronco receivers Mike Pritchard and Anthony Miller and Raider cornerback James Trapp were fined $5,000 each for a separate brawl.

Meanwhile, Raider running back Harvey Williams accused the Broncos of greasing the football during Denver’s 27-0 win against Oakland.

“I’m not going to make any excuses. They came out and they beat us. But the field was watered down. The ball had Vaseline on it,” Williams said on ESPN’s interview show, “Up Close.”

Raider receiver Tim Brown seemed to echo those sentiments.

“I’ve never been in a game where holding onto the ball was so difficult,” said Brown, who had only three catches that night. “Even the balls I happened to catch, it was just a real concentrated effort to hold onto the ball. I don’t know if it was a case of humidity and altitude or whatever, but there was something going on with that ball.”

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The Pittsburgh Steelers made a dramatic move to improve their oft-beaten secondary, officially moving Pro Bowl strong safety Carnell Lake to cornerback and benching six-year veteran Alvoid Mays.

Lake, who has made 100 NFL starts at safety, moves into the injured Rod Woodson’s vacated spot at left cornerback, with Willie Williams shifting from the left side to right cornerback.

Myron Bell, who has played mostly in the Steelers’ dime package, replaces Lake at strong safety. Deon Figures, a starting cornerback last season who still is recovering from knee surgery, takes on more responsibilities in the nickel and dime defenses.

“We’ve got to get our best players on the field,” Steeler Coach Bill Cowher said.