After Taking a Year Off, Johnson Signs With 49ers

Johnny Johnson, a onetime Pro Bowl running back who didn’t play last season after being cut by the New York Jets in a salary cap move, is back in the NFL again because the San Francisco 49ers believe he is worth $3 million over two seasons.

The 49ers signed Johnson on Thursday, bringing him in to compete at running back with Derek Loville.

“We’re excited about having him as a 49er,” Coach George Seifert said of Johnson, who played at San Jose State. “He’s played some great football over the years for other clubs and in this area.”

Johnson, 27, last played in 1994, when he rushed for 931 yards and five touchdowns in his second season with the Jets.

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The San Diego Chargers hope to finalize by today a one-year deal with free-agent running back Leonard Russell, a first-round draft pick of New England in 1991.

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Boston College quarterback Mark Hartsell has decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and try to land a spot in the NFL.

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The condition of Demale Stanley, the Pittsburgh freshman receiver who broke his neck and suffered spinal cord damage when he ran into a wall while practicing at the school’s indoor facility, was upgraded from critical to serious at Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Jurisprudence

A grand jury has promised limited immunity to the woman arrested on drug charges while in a motel room with Dallas Cowboy star receiver Michael Irvin, a Fort Worth television station reported Thursday.

KXAS-TV, quoting unidentified sources close to the investigation, said the grand jury has offered “use immunity” to Angela Beck, 22, the only person charged in the case so far.

Such immunity prevents a witness from refusing to testify on the grounds of self-incrimination. However, other evidence still could be used against her in a trial.

Former North Carolina State basketball player Charles “Hawkeye” Whitney, 38, pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he kidnapped and robbed a White House lawyer at gunpoint. Trial was set for May 28.

Pittsburgh Steeler running back Byron “Bam” Morris’ posted a $25,000 bond in Rockwall, Texas, on a charge of cocaine possession.

Steve Staggs, a former University of Houston assistant football coach who went public with allegations of NCAA rules violations and other irregularities, will receive $650,000 and a letter of recommendation from the school under a settlement to his “whistle-blower” lawsuit.

The disclosures led to then-coach John Jenkins’ resignation and NCAA sanctions.

Hockey

Chad Remackel stuffed in the winning goal 9:31 into the second overtime to give Colorado College a 4-3 victory over Vermont in an NCAA Division I hockey semifinal at Cincinnati.

Colorado College (33-4-4) will play Michigan (32-7-2), which got two goals from Grez Crozier and defeated defending champion Boston University, 4-0.

The Colorado-Vermont game was the second-longest semifinal ever, lasting 89 minutes, 31 seconds. The victory gives the Tigers a shot at their first hockey title since 1957.

Boston was the highest-scoring team in the nation, but was shut out for the first time in 53 tournament games.

Miscellany

Tom Dolan, the Michigan junior who will represent the United States in three individual Olympic swimming events this summer, opened the NCAA meet at Austin, Texas, by cruising to victory in the 500-yard freestyle in a pool-record time of 4 minutes, 12.77 seconds.

“I’m not sure what my body has left,” said Dolan, who set U.S. records in winning the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley in last year’s NCAA meet. “I’m really looking more at just getting in there and racing whoever challenges me.”

Texas leads after the first of three days with 170 points. USC is eighth with 56.

Former USC star Lisa Leslie scored 21 points in the first half and finished with 31 as the U.S. national women’s basketball team defeated Ukraine, 93-69, at Fort Mill, S.C., to improve to 37-0 in pre-Olympic exhibition play.

World track officials who altered the Olympic schedule to allow Michael Johnson to try for a 200-400 sprint double in Atlanta, also plan to alter it so Maria Mutola can compete in both the women’s 800 and 1,500 meters. The new men’s schedule also gives Carl Lewis a chance to compete in three events: 100, 200 and long jump.

Boxing

Former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Mike Weaver won a unanimous decision in a 10-round nontitle fight against Deric Ryals on Wednesday night at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills.

Nigel Benn, the 32-year-old British fighter who grabbed the ring microphone to announce his retirement, then dropped to his knees to propose to his girlfriend after he lost his World Boxing Council super-middleweight title to South Africa’s Thulane “Sugar Boy” Malinga on March 2, has reconsidered retirement and said he will challenge Ireland’s Steve Collins for the World Boxing Organization title in June.

The wedding is still on.

Southland

Olympic medal-winning swimmers Janet Evans and Nancy Hogshead and medal-winning diver Aileen Riggin Soule will be part of an Olympic Ambassador clinic on Monday between 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Victoria Pool in Carson.

The California Taekwondo Championships will be held today and Saturday at Valencia High School in Santa Clarita.

Women’s volleyball coach Mark Massey of Cal State Los Angeles has resigned to become coach at Puget Sound.