Cowboys’ Brice and Bates Injured

The Dallas Cowboys keep winning games and losing players.

Coach Barry Switzer said Monday the Cowboys have lost second-year backup cornerback Alundis Brice for the season because of a knee injury suffered in Sunday’s 10-6 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Brice, who started at right cornerback because of Deion Sanders’ back spasms, was hit by Larry Centers after an interception.

“I’m feeling OK now and should be ready for Sunday,” Sanders said.

Dallas will also be without special team star Bill Bates against the Patriots on Sunday. Switzer said Bates will sit out a week while nursing a knee injury.

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Elvis Grbac finally got his revenge on San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

In a humorous public reconciliation, the backup 49ers quarterback and Brown dressed as gold prospectors in a skit that kicked off the team’s 50th anniversary gala celebration.

“You’re an embarrassment to humankind in that outfit,” Grbac said to a thunderous applause.

Brown was widely criticized last month when he called Grbac an “embarrassment to humankind” after the quarterback threw two costly interceptions in the team’s loss to Dallas.

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A month ago, the playoffs were little more than a rumor to the Minnesota Vikings. About that time a rumor was all anyone wanted to ask them about too.

Since then, Brad Johnson has led a group of back-ups and fill-ins to the verge of a wild-card berth, a remarkable surge that has all but eliminated any conversation of Lou Holtz replacing Dennis Green as Minnesota’s coach.

“It’s like a star that burned out,” Green said Monday.

In the week following a 42-23 loss to Seattle on Nov. 10, rumors started about Holtz’s impending resignation from Notre Dame and the possibility that he would replace Green in Minnesota next season. That speculation seemed to be fueled by the close relationship two Vikings’ owners have with Holtz, but Green said he believes the rumors started at Notre Dame.

“I know it was manipulation, and I said so right from the start,” Green said. “You know what the objective is, but you never know how it plays itself out. I think now it’s played itself out.”

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The hits are starting to take a toll on Atlanta quarterback Bobby Hebert, who conceded that he might retire at the end of the season rather than endure another year of punishment.

“Sometimes it just feels like I’ve been in a bad car wreck,” said Hebert, 36, who has played well since taking over from Jeff George. “I wake up on Monday and it’s like, man, I’ve got a whiplash injury or something. I just ache. I always ached, but it just seems to last longer now.”

Hebert has taken so much punishment in his career that there’s a section in the team’s media guide devoted to his medical history: four knee operations, eight broken ribs, eight concussions, elbow surgery and shoulder injuries.

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Green Bay receiver Don Beebe revealed that he has been playing for the last month despite a broken and dislocated right ring finger. By continuing to play, doctors “are concerned I will never have function again as far as flexibility.” But he said it was worth it for a shot at the Super Bowl. “It’s rare you get there or have a chance to get there. I don’t want to miss that chance.” Also, the Packers released defensive end Oscar Sturgis and moved safety Chris Hayes from the practice squad to the roster.