Dolphins Let Underwood Go

Troubled rookie Dimitrius Underwood, who attempted suicide in September and fled from a mental health center last week, was released Friday by the Miami Dolphins.

Underwood, who said he wants to be with his family, has wavered on whether to play in the NFL since being drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings last spring. He played in one exhibition game for the Dolphins before attempting suicide, then spent two months in protective care.

“I’ve got a chance to go home and get some things sorted out,” Underwood said before leaving the Dolphins’ complex. “Right now I don’t think football is the place for me.”

“He wanted to be with his family in Philadelphia, so we thought it would be in his best interest to release him,” Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson said.

Last week, Underwood committed himself to a mental health center in Sunrise, Fla., then jumped a fence hours later and fled, police said. A psychiatric nurse at the center told police that Underwood had stopped taking medication for manic depression and was possibly suicidal.

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Dolphin running back Cecil Collins was arrested again, one day after his arrest on burglary charges. This time, Collins was charged with violating his probation. “He’s in jail [in Broward County] for the weekend, that’s for sure,” said Fred Haddad, Collins’ attorney.

Authorities in Baton Rouge, La., issued an arrest warrant for Collins on Friday, saying he violated the terms of his four-year probation in that state. They gave him a choice of turning himself in to Louisiana police or Broward County authorities.

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With former Carolina Panther wide receiver Rae Carruth behind bars again, authorities shifted their focus to arranging the accused murderer’s return to North Carolina. The victim’s family arranged for her funeral today.

Federal authorities said Friday that they were dropping an unlawful flight warrant naming Carruth, captured Wednesday in Wildersville, Tenn., meaning Charlotte-Mecklenburg police can pick him up on a state murder warrant.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Capt. Sean Mulhall said his department first must get clearance from a Tennessee state judge to transport Carruth.

Cherica Adams, 24, died Tuesday, 28 days after she was struck in the neck and chest by four bullets fired from a passing car as she drove through a south Charlotte neighborhood.

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Oakland Raider running back Tyrone Wheatley was expected to sign a three-year contract extension worth $10 million. . . . Alice Butler, wife of Buffalo Bill General Manager John Butler, was critically injured when a van ran a stop sign and broadsided her car in Orchard Park, N.Y. Alice Butler, 48, and James Bonnell, 73, her father-in-law, were in critical condition.