Seahawks Sign Watters; Means Returns to Chargers
Running back Ricky Watters, who spent the last three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, signed a four-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday.
Watters, 28, will get an estimated $13 million over the next four seasons, including a $5-million signing bonus. He ran for 1,110 yards with the Eagles last season and caught 48 passes.
Warren Moon, the team’s 41-year-old quarterback, apparently had a role in drawing Watters to Seattle. Both Moon and Watters are represented by agent Leigh Steinberg, and they dined with him Tuesday night along with team officials.
Although Watters has been productive, his stays in San Francisco and Philadelphia also have been turbulent--including arguments with assistant coaches and sometimes with teammates.
The signing probably means the end of Chris Warren’s career as a Seahawk. Warren’s top backup, Lamar Smith, signed Tuesday with New Orleans.
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A little more than two years to the day after they released him after a bitter contract dispute, the San Diego Chargers welcomed back running back Natrone Means with a six-year, $19.1-million contract.
Means, an unrestricted free agent from Jacksonville and one of the heroes of San Diego’s 1994 Super Bowl season, will receive a $2.85-million signing bonus.
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Free agent cornerback Antonio Langham signed with the San Francisco 49ers, despite a strong push by the Baltimore Ravens to re-sign him.
Tennis
Jimmy Connors, who dominated tennis for more than a decade and was ranked in the world’s top 10 for 16 consecutive years, was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.
Herman David, chairman of the All-England Lawn Tennis Club for 15 years, was posthumously elected for his contributions to the sport.
Boris Becker, suffering from an injured back, withdrew from next week’s Newsweek Champions Cup event at Grand Champions Resort in Indian Wells, according to tour officials.
Top-seeded Patrick Rafter of Australia reached the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO indoor tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, by beating Davide Scala of Italy, 6-3, 6-4.
Earlier, Johan van Herck of Belgium upset sixth-seeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, in a second-round match.
Andre Agassi broke Nicolas Lapentti’s serve three times in the second set for a 7-5, 6-1 victory in the Franklin Templeton Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz. With his 13th match victory of 1998, Agassi has one more than he recorded in 1997 when he was 12-12.
In other action, second-seeded Albert Costa defeated Sargis Sargsian, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Soccer
Defending titlist Borussia Dortmund was held to a 0-0 tie by Bayern Munich at London in the quarterfinal of the Champions Cup.
All four first-round games finished in a tie, with Juventus coming from behind to gain a 1-1 draw with Dynamo Kiev, Real Madrid coming back to tie, 1-1, at Bayer Leverkusen, and Monaco missing two easy chances in a scoreless tie with Manchester United.
Jurisprudence
Two international snowboarders arrested on marijuana charges were released from jail in Minden, Nev., and told to return next month to face charges. Michael Kildevaeld, 31, of Denmark and Frederic Brett Tippie, 29, of Canada were released on their own recognizance.
Ohio State All-American linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer pleaded no contest and was found guilty of drunken driving after he was stopped for speeding on campus Friday.
Winter Sports
Andreas Widholzl of Austria overcame a 10-point deficit from the first round to win a World Cup ski jumping event at Kuopio, Finland.
Responding to complaints about the judging at the Nagano Olympics, Ottavio Cinquanta, the head of the International Skating Union, said in Lausanne, Switzerland, that he would propose rule changes to improve the scoring in ice dancing.
Miscellany
Reacting to a fatal shooting outside a high school championship basketball game, Drexel University in Philadelphia withdrew an oral commitment to host all-star games for the city’s public high school league.
Randy Harvey is on vacation.