NFL Football Joins Olympics on Menu

NBC’s coverage of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta enters its second week today at 9 a.m. on Channel 4 with beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, tennis and track and field.

The action continues at 3:30 p.m. with the canoe/kayak whitewater finals, the cycling sprint finals, the women’s platform diving finals and more track and field. Rounding out the evening at 9:30 is women’s basketball, men’s volleyball, water polo and weightlifting.

The Games begin Sunday at 6 a.m. with track and field action, followed by canoeing, water polo (gold and bronze medal games); cycling finals; rowing finals; boxing; baseball (United States vs. Cuba); and beach volleyball finals. The 4-9 p.m. telecast will feature gymnastics, the men’s high jump finals, men’s basketball, diving and canoeing.

Elsewhere, the NFL’s exhibition football season kicks off today with the New Orleans Saints playing the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game at Canton, Ohio, at 11:30 a.m. on Channel 7. The Oakland Raiders take on the Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys at 6 p.m. on Channel 9, and the Steelers meet the San Diego Chargers in Tokyo at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Public Affairs: TODAY: “Today” is in Atlanta to visit with pole vaulter Lawrence Johnson and former gymnasts Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, among others, 5 a.m. (4); 6 a.m. (36). . . .

Richard Lamm, the Reform Party presidential candidate, fields questions on “Evans & Novak,” 2:30 p.m., repeats Sunday 7 a.m. CNN. . . .

Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) and counter-terrorism expert Larry Johnson are the guests on “John McLaughlin’s One on One,” 2:30 p.m. (28). . . .

Sen. William Cohen (R-Me.) guests on “Capital Gang Saturday,” 4 and 10:30 p.m. CNN. . . .

“Inside Politics Weekend” talks with Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican National Committee, 4:30 p.m. CNN. . . .

Jerry Lee Lewis chats on “Larry King Weekend,” 6 and 11 p.m. CNN.

SUNDAY: “Sunday Journal” arrives at 5 a.m. C-SPAN. . . .

The TWA crash, welfare reform and Bob Dole’s tax cut plans are the topics on “The McLaughlin Group,” 5:30 a.m. (4). . . .

Community and police relations will be discussed on “Pacesetters,” 6 a.m. (5). . . .

“CBS News Sunday Morning” looks at the Israeli religious right, interviews author Terry McMillan (“How Stella Got Her Groove Back”) and spotlights steel-drum band Flash in the Pans, 7:30 a.m. (2). . . .

“Fox News Sunday’s” guests are Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. (R-Fla.), Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), Dole campaign strategist Mike Murphy and Ann Lewis, deputy campaign manager of the Clinton-Gore Reelection Committee, 8 a.m. (11). . . .

“Late Edition” looks at the TWA aftermath, 9 a.m. CNN. . . .

Sens. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and Rep. Bill Archer (R-Texas) discuss welfare and taxes on “Face the Nation,” 9 a.m. (2). . . .

Women discuss computer technology on “Tony Brown’s Journal,” 9:30 a.m. (28). . . .

“This Week With David Brinkley” will air at 10 a.m. (7); 11 a.m. (3)(42). . . .

“Life & Times” reports on controversial environmental laws governing logging in California, 10:30 a.m. (28). . . .

Welfare reform is the topic of “Both Sides With Jesse Jackson,” 2:30 p.m. CNN. . . .

“Reliable Sources” reports on the GOP convention, journalists who lie and Olympic coverage, 3:30 p.m. CNN. . . .

“Capital Gang Sunday” airs at 4 p.m., CNN. . . .

“Crossfire Sunday” starts at 4:30 p.m. CNN. . . .

“CNN/Time Presents: TWA Flight 800,” featuring investigation updates and reports on such topics as airport security and terrorism, CNN. . . .

“60 Minutes” deals with controversy surrounding Vincent Foster’s death; Dr. Oliver Sacks, whose work is depicted in “Awakening”; and the controversial drug thalidomide, 7 p.m. (2).

Specials and Movies: James Cagney is Lon Chaney in the 1957 bio pic, “Man of a Thousand Faces,” tonight at 11:35 on Channel 28. . . . A&E; presents “Investigative Reports Special: Behind Bars,” Sunday at 5 and 9 p.m., a three-hour examination of the toughest maximum-security prisons in the world. . . . Traci Lords hosts the special “The Seven Deadly Sins of Melrose Place,” Sunday at 6 p.m. on E! Entertainment Television.

Sports: Pro Football: Exhibition--Colts vs. Saints, today, 11:30 a.m. (7)(3)(42); Raiders at Cowboys, today, 6 p.m. (9); Steelers vs. Chargers, today, 7 p.m. ESPN. . . . Baseball: Brewers at Angels, today, 1 p.m. (11).

For a complete list of sports events on television, see Section C.