Manning Fans Are Angry

Peyton Manning’s legions of fans--including the Tennessee governor--are carrying a Heisman-sized chip on their shoulders.

“I think it stinks,” Gov. Don Sundquist said. “I think the Heisman award has been diminished.”

Charles Woodson’s selection Saturday night as the nation’s top player prompted irate calls to radio talk shows across Tennessee, angry newspaper columns and crude campus graffiti. An editorial cartoon in The Chattanooga Times on Monday depicted sports writers as “The Heistmen.”

The Downtown Athletic Club in New York, which presents the trophy, was flooded with faxes and phone calls, many of them abusive.

Meanwhile, Manning was hospitalized Monday because of an infection in his right knee. He was expected to receive bed rest and antibiotics for two to three days along with physical therapy.

Woodson was named the winner of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Monday, given to college football’s best defensive player.

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Seven North Carolina football players, including defensive starters Greg Williams, Robert Williams and Kivuusama Mays, have been charged with misdemeanor assault in connection with a late-night fight Dec. 5 outside a nightclub near the Chapel Hill, N.C. school that left another student, David A. Beyer, with a fractured cheekbone, bruised ribs and other injuries. The players are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 9.

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Oregon State will replace the artificial turf at Parker Stadium with grass for the start of the 1999 season, the school said. The replacement will cost about $2.5 million. Schoool boosters already have pledged about half that amount.

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New Texas Christian coach Dennis Franchione believes he can shape the struggling Horned Frogs into a competitive team again.

“I’m not sure what the missing ingredients have been,” he said at a news conference formally announcing his appointment, “but I’m sure they can be put back in place.”