Packers’ Brooks Has Back Surgery

Green Bay Packer receiver Robert Brooks will miss the rest of the exhibition season after undergoing back surgery but could play in the regular season opener Sept. 6, Coach Mike Holmgren said Tuesday.

Early in camp, Brooks sat out because his back was tightening. He returned and was practicing until breaking his little finger trying to catch a pass thrown by quarterback Brett Favre. Brooks had not played in the Packers’ two exhibition games.

“He played all last season with this [back] problem,” Holmgren said. “It affected his play. He’s such a great young man and doesn’t complain about anything, but he couldn’t sleep with it. Finally, we decided to fix it.”

Brooks caught 60 passes for 1,010 yards and seven touchdowns in 1997.

“The incision is about an inch, but it did wonders for him. There is real optimism there,” Holmgren said.

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Holdout Andre Wadsworth wants to sit out this season, finish his master’s degree and reenter the draft next year, but the Arizona Cardinals, who hold the rights to Wadsworth, aren’t buying it.

“All players should get their degree,” said Bob Ferguson, the team’s vice president of player personnel. “He said he enrolled. But you know, there are correspondence courses. If he’s going back to school, God bless him. I think it’s an honorable thing.”

The tongue-in-cheek response came a day after Wadsworth, the No. 3 pick in the April draft, said he had signed up for the fall semester at Florida State to complete his master’s degree in business administration. Wadsworth said there was a 50-50 chance he would sit out the season.

Wadsworth rejected a $13.37-million offer last week that included an $8.1 million signing bonus. The offer was less than the $14.5 million that Heisman Trophy-winning cornerback Charles Woodson, the No. 4 pick, received from Oakland, although the bonus was $100,000 more.

Wadsworth wants a bonus of at least $10 million and an average of $4 million to $6 million a year.

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Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle Leon Lett sprained his left knee and was helped off the field during a scrimmage against the New Orleans Saints. The injury was to be re-evaluated today by team doctors, the Cowboys said. The scrimmage also saw a return to action for Everett McIver, the Cowboys’ starting right guard who missed two weeks because of deep cut in his neck. . . . The St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent running back James Stewart and released defensive end Glenn Young Jr. Stewart was a fifth-round draft choice of Minnesota in 1995. He gained 144 yards in 31 carries in four games as a rookie, but hasn’t played in a regular-season game since. The Rams plan to look at him at fullback. . . . The Chicago Bears signed free agent wide receiver Randal Hill to a one-year contract. Hill led New Orleans in receptions (55) and receiving yards (761) last season.