Phillips, Rams Agree to No-Bonus Contract

Running back Lawrence Phillips, who slipped to sixth overall in the NFL draft because of his troubles with the law, agreed to a three-year deal with the St. Louis Rams.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the deal is worth $5.625 million over the three years and said Phillips will receive no signing bonus. By contrast, Eddie Kennison, the 18th overall selection, received a $2-million bonus from the Rams.

Phillips, currently serving a one-year probation for misdemeanor assault of a former girlfriend in Nebraska, will make about $1.5 million this year, $1.875 million next year and $2.25 million in 1998, according to the Post-Dispatch.

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Wide receiver Michael Irvin will not join the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp this week as Coach Barry Switzer had said was possible.

“There’s no urgency on our part for Michael to be in camp,” owner Jerry Jones said. “There’s nothing to make of the fact that we haven’t nailed down, one way or the other, as to when he’s going to be here.”

Irvin, who pleaded no contest to cocaine possession charges and subsequently was suspended by the NFL for the first five regular-season games, is allowed to practice with the team and can play in exhibition games. But during the suspension, which starts Aug. 26, he is not allowed to be in contact with the club.

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The New York Jets signed free-agent guard Harry Galbreath as backup for fifth-year reserve guard Siupeli Malamala. who has yet to return to practice since undergoing January left knee surgery, and inexperienced starting right guard Matt O’Dwyer.

The 6-foot-1, 295-pound Galbreath comes to the Jets having started 103 consecutive games, the last 48 for the Green Bay Packers and the previous 55 with the Miami Dolphins.

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Veteran running back Ricky Ervins, who played with the San Francisco 49ers last season, signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Raiders.

Last season with the 49ers, Ervins competed to replace Ricky Watters, but Derek Loville became the starter and Ervins carried the ball only 23 times for 88 yards.

Tennis

Top-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile, the defending champion, eased past Hungary’s Sandor Noszaly, 7-5, 6-2, in the first round of the $475,00 Grolsch Open in Amsterdam.

Third-seeded Felix Mantilla, one of 11 Spaniards in the tournament, routed Dutch wild-card entry John van Lottum, 6-3, 6-1. Another Spaniard, No. 8 Carlos Costa, defeated David Rikl of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-3.

Seventh-seeded Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic, defeated Dutch teenager Sjeng Schalken, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0.

Motor Sports

Indy driver Emerson Fittipaldi will be able to compete again, possibly as soon as this fall, after doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami spent five hours repairing a fractured cervical vertebra.

The 49-year-old Brazilian broke the bone at the base of his neck Sunday in a fiery crash after the first lap of the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway. On Monday, he was transferred to Florida by air ambulance.

Hockey

Patrick Roy, whose goaltending helped bring the Stanley Cup to Denver, signed a multiyear contract with the Colorado Avalanche, which also announced that free-agent defenseman Alexei Gusarov also signed a multiyear contract and right wing Claude Lemieux agreed to a contract extension that should keep him in Colorado for the remainder of his career.

Terms of the contracts were not announced, but Roy, who was 16-6 in 22 playoff games in leading Colorado to the Stanley Cup, reportedly was paid about $3 million.

The Hartford Whalers signed 19-year-old goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, their top draft pick in 1995, to a three-year contract worth more than $2 million.

Miscellany

Cal State Fullerton baseball Coach Augie Garrido leads a list of candidates to replace Cliff Gustafson at the University of Texas. Garrido, 58, has coached the Titans to three national championships.