Hall of Famer Taylor Pleads No Contest to Drug Charges

Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor dropped his argument of entrapment and pleaded no contest to drug charges in Clearwater, Fla.

Circuit Judge Lauren Laughlin withheld a finding of guilt, but said she was prepared to sentence Taylor to 18 months’ probation, meaning he would have no criminal record in the case if he successfully completes probation.

She set sentencing for Feb. 1.

“I’m not answering nothing,” Taylor, 40, said when asked later why he changed his earlier plea of innocent and dropped allegations that police in St. Pete Beach, Fla., trapped him into buying crack cocaine in October 1998.

He also was charged with possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

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Wide receiver-returner Desmond Howard’s reunion with the Green Bay Packers ended when the team waived the most valuable player of its 1997 Super Bowl victory.

“We’re disappointed that he didn’t come in and do what I thought he could do,” Packer General Manager Ron Wolf said.

Howard, 29, was signed to a four-year, $5.71-million contract by the Packers in June after two seasons in Oakland.

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The Denver Broncos officially ended tight end Shannon Sharpe’s season and perhaps his career with the team by putting him on injured reserve and filling his roster slot with defensive tackle Cyron Brown.

Sharpe, who broke his left collarbone in the season’s fifth week, aggravated the injury while jogging recently. He is in the final year of a three-year contract and the Broncos face salary-cap problems next season.

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San Francisco 49er running back Garrison Hearst’s comeback will have to wait until next season, if at all.

Hearst, 28, hasn’t played since breaking his left ankle in an NFC divisional playoff at Atlanta Jan. 9. Circulatory complications have prevented proper healing.

In another move, the 49ers put cornerback and returner R.W. McQuarters on injured reserve because of a fractured right shoulder blade suffered in Monday’s loss to the Packers.

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If he doesn’t get a lower bond at a hearing today, attorney George Laughrum might challenge the legality of doubling the bail for Carolina Panther receiver Rae Carruth.

James Gronquist, an attorney not involved in the case, has said District Judge Jerome Leonard violated state law when he set Carruth’s bail at $1.5 million Friday, then called Carruth’s attorney and said he was doubling it to $3 million.

Carruth is charged with attempted murder and accused of firing a gun into the car of his pregnant girlfriend.

The other defendants, William Watkins, 44, and Michael Kennedy, 24, still have their bond set at $1.5 million.

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Former Arizona Cardinal lineman Luis Sharpe was stopped by Phoenix police for allegedly speeding and later was arrested on suspicion of drug and drug paraphernalia possession.

Sharpe, 39, was sentenced to a year in prison in 1996 for violating the probation he was serving for attempted aggravated assault on a police officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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The Atlanta Falcons put safety Marty Carter (sprained knee ligament) on injured reserve and signed cornerback Derrick Gardner, originally signed as a rookie free agent from California. . . . New York Giant fullback Charles Way will miss the rest of the season to recuperate from chronic arthritis. . . . Miami Dolphin rookie defensive end Dimitrius Underwood, recovering from a suicide attempt Sept. 26, was released from a rehabilitation center where he received counseling and therapy.