Rams Sign Free Agent Defensive End O’Neal
First, the Rams. Then, Wayne Gretzky. Now, Leslie O’Neal.
The athletic migration from Southern California to St. Louis continues.
On Friday, the St. Louis Rams signed O’Neal, a free agent defensive end who had spent his entire 10-year career with the San Diego Chargers, to a contract. Terms were not disclosed.
O’Neal, 31, one of the NFL’s top pass rushers,, has appeared in six Pro Bowls and ranks ninth on the league’s career sack list with 105 1/2.
San Diego did not offer him a contract for 1996.
Earlier this week, Gretzky was traded from the Kings to the St. Louis Blues.
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Ty Detmer, the former Heisman Trophy winner who has appeared in only five games in four seasons with the Green Bay Packers, has signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and is expected to battle for the starting job against Rodney Peete.
Sources said Detmer will receive a $500,000 signing bonus and a 1996 base salary of $500,000. In 1997, Detmer will be paid $700,000, half of which is guaranteed.
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Will Wolford, a former Pro Bowl tackle who was once the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman, agreed to a four-year, $9.9-million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers signed Wolford less than 12 hours after quarterback Neil O’Donnell left the team and took the New York Jets’ $25-million offer.
The Indianapolis Colts had the right to match any offer to Wolford, but withdrew his transition-player designation Thursday after signing former Chicago Bear tackle Troy Auzenne to a four-year, $4.5-million contract.
The Jets terminated the contract of defensive tackle Tony Casillas, a salary-cap casualty after the signing of O’Donnell. Casillas was the second veteran cut in two days by the Jets; backup quarterback Bubby Brister was cut Thursday.
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The Atlanta Falcons and former Buffalo Bill linebacker Cornelius Bennett reached agreement on a four-year contract to be signed Monday. . . . The Jacksonville Jaguars signed Houston Oiler linebacker Eddie Robinson to a four-year contract worth $10.4 million.
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Ted Marchibroda, head coach of the NFL’s new Baltimore franchise, finished putting together his staff by hiring two defensive coaches. Maxie Baughan, who worked under Marchibroda as a defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Colts in the late 1970s, was chosen to be the linebacker coach. Alvin Reynolds, who has been a defensive assistant and assistant defensive backfield coach for the Denver Broncos, was named Baltimore’s defensive back coach.
Don Shula, who resigned as coach of the Miami Dolphins in January after amassing the most wins in NFL history, has quit as co-chairman of the league’s rule-making competition committee. . . . Former Los Angeles Ram defensive tackle Merlin Olsen has been named the 1996 recipient of the Ernie Davis Award from the Leukemia Society of America.
Tennis
Qualifier Chris Woodruff continued the best run of his professional career, upsetting fourth-seeded Marcelo Rios to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Indoor Tennis Championships at Philadelphia. Woodruff, the world’s 112th-ranked player, rallied to beat Rios, a Chilean left-hander, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
In other quarterfinal matches, Mark Woodforde defeated fellow Australian Jason Stoltenberg, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-2.
Defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat unseeded Czech Daniel Vacek, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to move into the semifinals of the Italian Indoors tournament at Milan. The third-seeded Russian takes on eighth-seeded Marc Rosset. The other quarterfinal winners were fourth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic and French veteran Guy Forget.
Track and Field
Gwen Torrence regained the American indoor record in the women’s 200-meter dash, coming in at 22.70 seconds during a trial heat at the USA Mobil Championships at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.
The time broke the record of 22.73 set by Carlette Guidry-White at last year’s championships.
College Basketball
Rutgers officials ended speculation about the future of men’s basketball Coach Bob Wenzel by extending his contract. Terms were not disclosed.
Winter Sports
Japan’s Manabu Horii, after finishing a disappointing second in his specialty, 500 meters, returned to set a world record of 1 minute 11.67 seconds in 1,000-meter speedskating in World Cup competition at Calgary.
Canadian Marc Gagnon broke his world record in the 1,500 meters at the World Short Track Speedskating Championships at The Hague, Netherlands, winning the event in 2:18.16.
South Korean Chun Lee-Kyung retained her women’s 1,500 title in 2:35.50.
Swimming
The attorney for swimmer Jessica Foschi asked a sports arbitration panel in Garden City, N.Y., to clear the record of the Olympic hopeful. Attorney Mark Levinstein said the 15-year-old Long Island freestyl swimmer, who tested positive for steroids last August, should have a two-year probation against her removed because she did not knowingly ingest the muscle-enhancing drug.
Auto Racing
Terry Labonte won the pole for Sunday’s $1.2-million Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, Va. Labonte turned a fast lap of 123.728 mph on the three-quarter-mile oval of Richmond International Raceway.
Jurisprudence
A San Bernardino Superior Court jury deadlocked in the attempted double-murder retrial of former Cal State Northridge football player Jonathan Beauregard. After four days of deliberating, the jury voted, 11-1, in favor of acquittal. In Beauregard’s first trial last October, another jury also deadlocked, voting 9-3 in favor of conviction.
Miscellany
The NCAA has sent Texas Tech a letter of preliminary inquiry on possible men’s basketball and football violations beginning in 1991.
With the deadline for bids passed, the United States is the only candidate to host the 1999 Women’s World Championship soccer tournament. The U.S. team won the event in China in 1991 and was third in Sweden last year. Australia and Chile had expressed interest in staging the tournament but dropped out.
A dozen Division I rugby teams will compete in May in Santa Barbara in the first-ever tournament to crown a world champion of club rugby.
Names in the News
Irv Cross, a former NFL defensive back and CBS sportscaster, was named athletic director at Idaho State.