Seahawks’ Behring Rips Player, Then Tries to Take It All Back

Seattle Seahawk President David Behring on Monday apologized to defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy for calling him fat and undermotivated.

On Sunday, Behring--the son of team owner Ken Behring--told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the Seahawks’ five-time Pro Bowl star had a questionable work ethic.

“Cortez has a tendency to be overweight, particularly in the off-season,” Behring said. “He doesn’t have the work ethic that many of our other players have. He lacks, and fails to display, the leadership that a player of his caliber and at that stage of his career should have.”

But a day later, Behring changed his tune.

“My statements were an emotional response to a reporter’s question regarding Cortez’s non-injury grievance action and its effect on the team,” he said in a statement.

“Cortez has been an invaluable part of this organization since 1990, and will continue to have an important role in this team’s future success.”

Neither Kennedy nor his agent, Robert Fraley, was available for comment.

Behring made his critical comments only days after Kennedy had filed a grievance with the NFL Players Assn. over the team’s off-season conditioning program being held in Southern California rather than suburban Kirkland, Wash.

The Seahawks began workouts at Rams Park in Anaheim March 18 as part of the owner’s plan to move the team to Southern California. Kennedy was a no-show.

But Ken Behring announced late last week the team would return to Kirkland by April 1, after the NFL threatened to fine him $500,000 plus an additional $50,000 for each week the team remained in Anaheim.

David Behring said Kennedy’s complaint to the players’ union was not behind the team’s decision to return to Kirkland.

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Wide receiver Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys met with prosecutors in Dallas and was ordered to appear before a grand jury investigating a drug bust, a TV station reported.

Irvin’s attorney, Kevin Clancy, said the All-Pro wide receiver could appear as early as today. Irvin and former Cowboy teammate Alfredo Roberts have refused to discuss the March 4 motel room incident and a judge issued a gag order Monday.

Irving police arrested Angela Renee Beck, 22, who identified herself as a self-employed model. Police said cocaine and marijuana were found throughout the room, but they arrested only Beck because she acknowledged owning the drugs.

Olympics

Ivan Pedroso, the world long jump champion from Cuba, had surgery to repair a torn thigh muscle and his doctor said he might miss the Atlanta Olympics.

Dr. Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras said the operation was successful.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation lifted its four-year ban on British 800-meter runner Diane Modahl for suspected drug use.

The decision, announced by IAAF secretary general Istvan Gyulai, means Modahl, a Commonwealth 800-meter champion, can compete at the Atlanta Olympics if she qualifies for the British team.

Hockey

Bill Goldsworthy, former Minnesota North Star forward, is in guarded condition in a hospital in St. Paul, Minn., where he is being treated for complications from AIDS, his family said.

Goldsworthy, 51, was hospitalized last Thursday. He was found to have AIDS in November, 1994 and disclosed his disease publicly in February, 1995.

College Football

Rex Ryan, the son of former NFL coach Buddy Ryan, is among six newly hired assistant football coaches at the University of Cincinnati. Ryan will be Coach Rick Minter’s defensive coordinator.

Soccer

German soccer star Andreas Moeller has a torn ligament in his left leg and will be idled at least six weeks.

Janice Gettemeyer of St. Louis and Estandiar Baharmast of Denver have been chosen by the referee committee of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, to officiate in the Olympic soccer tournament.

Tennis

A public memorial service will be held today for longtime tennis official Julie Copeland, assistant tournament manager for the Newsweek Champions Cup. She died Saturday at 71 in Rancho Mirage after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The service will be at 4 p.m. at the grass courts at the Hyatt Grand Champions.

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Carlos Moya of Spain upset second-seeded Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic in the King Hassan II Casablanca Open tournament in Morocco, 7-5, 6-0.

Miscellany

Dartmouth freshman Jennifer Collins won the national giant slalom title in the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships at Carrabassett Valley, Maine. She had previously won the NCAA giant slalom title.

In the men’s slalom, Chip Knight of New Canaan, Conn., won both runs for his first national championship.

Mark Breland, a former welterweight champion, withdrew from his scheduled fight Friday at Uniondale, N.Y., because of a stomach virus. He was to have fought Floyd Williams of Mobile, Ala.

Skating the same short program she used in winning the world championship at Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday, Michelle Kwan got perfect 6.0s for artistic impression from all nine judges at the Hershey’s Kisses Figure Skating Challenge in Boston.

Former UCLA coach Walt Hazzard, who suffered a stroke last week, was in stable condition at the UCLA Medical Center. His wife asked that no other information be released.