Johnson Supports Phillips, Says Incident Is History

Lawrence Phillips, who was accused of punching a woman at a nightclub in Plantation, Fla., met with Miami Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson and is off the hook.

“After gathering all the information I could and after talking with Lawrence, I believe the information that he presented to me and that he didn’t do anything wrong,” Johnson said in a statement.

Unless new information is forthcoming, Johnson said “the incident is history.”

Phillips joined the Dolphins on Dec. 2 after his release by the St. Louis Rams.

On June 27, Phillips allegedly punched a woman in the face after she refused to dance with him, but Phillips denied hitting the woman and said he was allowed to leave the nightclub.

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Steve DeBerg is back in the NFL after a five-year absence, having signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons.

The 44-year-old quarterback, who last played during the 1993 season, spent two seasons as quarterback coach for the New York Giants under current Falcon Coach Dan Reeves.

DeBerg is 13th on the NFL’s passing yardage list with 33,872 yards.

DeBerg, a 17-year NFL veteran, was signed a day before a mandatory mini-camp opens amid concerns that Mark Rypien may give up football because of family health matters.

Rypien’s 2-year-old son, Andrew Rypien, has undergone two operations for brain cancer. His wife, Annette Rypien also has experienced health problems. The family lives in Post Falls, Idaho.

Rypien, expected to back up starter Chris Chandler, agreed to a two-year, $1.8-million contract in April. He has been granted extra time to report but has not told the Falcons he is quitting football, the team said.

However, Rypien told the Coeur d’Alene Press in Idaho that he has not ruled out playing at least part of the season if his son and wife improve.

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The Oakland Raiders signed free agent quarterback Wade Wilson, a veteran of 17 NFL seasons who spent the last three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. . . . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed cornerback Donnie Abraham to a five-year extension that runs through 2002.

Jurisprudence

A former East German sports doctor admitted he had dispensed steroids during a trial of sports figures charged with damaging swimmers with performance-enhancing drugs.

Dieter Binus insisted in a Berlin courtroom, however, that the doses were too small to cause physical harm and that none of his female athletes showed harmful side effects.

Binus, another doctor and four former East German coaches are charged with causing bodily harm to 19 swimmers, teenagers at the time, by giving them anabolic steroids without informing them or their parents.

According to the charges, the women suffered from such problems as unnatural body hair, excessive muscle growth, voice changes and severe acne.

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Former welterweight boxing champion Charles Murray was arrested at Rochester, N.Y., Sunday and accused of punching two police officers after a street brawl involving more than 150 people.

Murray, 29, was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, a felony.

It was his fourth arrest in four years.

Hockey

Uwe Krupp, who scored the overtime goal that gave the Colorado Avalanche the 1996 Stanley Cup, signed a four-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings, Stanley Cup champions the last two seasons. Krupp, an unrestricted free-agent defenseman, chose Detroit over the Nashville Predators, who had chosen him in June’s expansion draft.

Meanwhile, the Predators signed free agent forward Tom Fitzgerald and named him the expansion franchise’s first captain. Fitzgerald, 29, spent most of last season with the Florida Panthers before he was traded to the Avalanche.

Miscellany

The NCAA’s board of directors will be forced to review its decision that requires schools to play or forfeit when faced with Sunday games.

Ninety-seven schools have joined Mormon-owned Brigham Young and Campbell (N.C.), a school with strong Baptist ties, in calling for a review of the board’s April decision to eliminate the so-called BYU Rule, which allowed the NCAA to adjust schedules and accommodate schools who have policies against Sunday competition.

But the group of objecting schools fell one member short of the 100 needed to automatically suspend the policy change until the NCAA’s convention in San Antonio in January. Only 30 requests were needed to force a review, which will take place an Aug. 11 meeting in Chicago.

USA Basketball said it would announce today the players who will replace NBA professionals on the team the United States will send to the world championships this summer in Greece. The 24 candidates for 12 spots include American professionals from leagues outside the United States and from the minor-league Continental Basketball Assn.

Carolyn Peck, who coached Purdue’s women’s basketball team to the NCAA final eight in her first season with the team, said she will stay for one more season before taking over as coach and general manager of Orlando’s WNBA expansion franchise, which starts play in 1999..