Brown Has Trouble Reading Apology

Orlando Brown, his right eye covered with a metal patch, looked down at his handwritten apology and said he couldn’t even read it.

The Cleveland Browns’ offensive tackle walked out of his hospital room Tuesday to speak publicly for the first time since pushing a referee to the ground after a penalty flag hit him in his eye.

Accompanied by his wife, Myra, Brown prepared to read a statement on notebook paper at an impromptu news conference at the Cleveland Clinic.

When he glanced at the lined sheet, he said softly, “I can’t see. My wife will read it.”

In the statement, which he and his wife wrote, Brown said he was sorry and deeply regretted pushing referee Jeff Triplette.

“I want the fans to understand that I attempted to return to the play, not to confront the official,” Brown said in the statement. “I hope to regain all of my eyesight so I can continue to play for the Browns, the Cleveland fans and to continue to care for my family.”

While Brown remained hospitalized, the NFL was deciding whether to punish the 6-foot-7, 350-pound player, known to his teammates as “Zeus.”

While it did not announce its decision Tuesday, the league did say it will review the way referees throw flags.

Brown was injured in Cleveland’s game Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars when Triplette’s flag--weighted with BBs--hit him in the eye.

In obvious pain, Brown staggered to the sideline before walking back onto the field and flattening Triplette with a two-handed shove to the chest.

*

A judge in Charlotte, N.C., ordered Rae Carruth held without bond and the former Carolina Panther receiver settled in for what could be a long, lonely wait behind bars for his trial on charges of conspiring to kill his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams.

Carruth was led into the courtroom in an orange jail jumpsuit, handcuffs and leg irons, sporting the beginnings of a goatee.

While Carruth awaits trial--and it might be more than a year before that happens--he will be held in a 52-square-foot cell outfitted with a small bed, toilet, sink, desk and stool.

*

A judge told Indianapolis Colt defensive back Steve Muhammad that there is probable cause to proceed with charges against him of battery against his wife, Nichole, who died of labor complications days after alleging that her husband beat her.

Judge Amy Barnes set a pretrial hearing for Dec. 28 and issued a no-contact order barring Muhammad from communicating with his wife’s 6-year-old son, Eric.

*

Washington Redskin Coach Norv Turner denied reports that he is considering quitting even if his team makes the playoffs. “I’m not going to resign,” Turner told the Associated Press. Both the Fairfax Journal and the Washington Times reported Monday that Turner was growing weary of new owner Dan Snyder’s hands-on approach to running the team.

*

Minnesota Viking free safety Orlando Thomas is out for the season because of a broken right shoulder blade. Thomas was injured in the third quarter of the Vikings’ 24-20 victory over Green Bay on Monday night.