PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : Report: Browns Ask Players to Take Cuts

The Cleveland Browns’ payroll is so close to the NFL’s salary cap that team officials are asking players to accept pay cuts, the Elyria (Ohio) Chronicle-Telegram reported Saturday.

The newspaper, quoting a player it did not identify, said player personnel director Mike Lombardi has called some players’ agents and told them the players might not play the rest of the season unless they accept a cut, so the team does not have to pay incentive bonuses.

“All the guys are mad about it,” the newspaper quoted the player as saying.

The player also said backup quarterback Jim McMahon asked for his release because he was upset about not getting bonuses he had coming for remaining on the roster for a certain number of weeks, the newspaper said. The team released McMahon on Monday.

“Jim went up to ask Lombardi for his money and Lombardi said, ‘Sorry, we don’t have it,’ ” the Chronicle-Telegram quoted the player as saying.

A security guard at team offices in Berea said no one was available to comment on the story.

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Raider fans have gotten so out of control that the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Complex has decided to cut off beer sales during the third quarter of NFL games and beef up security.

The Oakland Football Marketing Assn. announced the new rules Friday after complaints about rude and combative behavior from drunken fans.

Even the Dallas Cowboy players said they were shocked during the Nov. 19 matchup. That was the day obscenity-shouting fans threw garbage at the visiting team as the players got off their bus. Two Raider fans walked around with a sign saying, “Kill Troy,” referring to Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman.

Four fans were arrested that day and 10 were ejected. As a result, beer sales will stop when the game clock hits 10 minutes before the end of the third quarter.