Brown Suspended for Shoving Referee

The NFL pushed back at Orlando Brown on Wednesday, suspending the Cleveland Brown tackle indefinitely for shoving a referee who accidentally hit him in the eye with a weighted penalty flag Sunday.

The suspension was announced hours after Brown learned he must stay in an Ohio hospital because of new bleeding in his right eye. He was to have been released Wednesday before this setback.

Brown also faces a possible fine and could be suspended for part of the 2000 season.

This weekend counts toward the suspension and Brown will not get a paycheck, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. Brown signed a six-year, $27-million contract with the Browns in February. Based on his 1999 salary, Brown will lose $49,411. If the suspension continues into next season, Brown would lose $131,250 a game, based on his $2.1-million salary in 2000.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will meet with the 6-foot-7, 350-pound tackle in New York after the Pro Bowl in February. Additional penalties will be discussed at that hearing.

“We continue to hope Orlando Brown makes a full recovery from his injury,” Tagliabue said. “However, as everyone has acknowledged, the injury to the player was completely inadvertent and did not justify his action against the referee.”

Brown was hit by a flag weighted with BBs--thrown by referee Jeff Triplette--during Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Brown knocked down Triplette with a two-handed shove to the chest.

Also, the Browns will be without rookie quarterback Tim Couch in their season finale Sunday against Indianapolis because of a sprained ankle suffered last Sunday. The Browns have an open date the final weekend.

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The infant boy whose mother, Cherica Adams, died in a shooting police say was arranged by former Carolina Panter receiver Rae Carruth was placed in the temporary custody of the child’s maternal grandmother by a family court judge at Charlotte, N.C. Carruth, being held without bond on first-degree murder and related charges for his alleged role in the death of Adams, was in the court for the hearing before Judge Yvonne Evans.

Neither Carruth nor his mother, Theodry Carruth, sought custody of the child, Chancellor Lee Adams. Kenneth Spaulding, Carruth’s attorney, said that Carruth will plead not guilty to the charges.

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Miami Dolphin running back Cecil Collins was ordered by a Florida judge to be sent to Louisiana for a probation violation. Collins was arrested Dec. 16 on two burglary counts after allegedly climbing into a couple’s bedroom window at his complex in Davie, Fla., home of the Dolphins’ training camp. . . . San Francisco 49er quarterback Steve Young, sidelined for the season after a head blow Sept. 27 left him with his fourth concussion in three years, will be a studio analyst during ABC’s coverage of the wild-card playoffs and the Super Bowl pregame show, the network said.

Drug charges were dismissed against Minnesota Viking running back Leroy Hoard in Miami, but he still faces a disorderly conduct charge stemming from a problem outside a Miami Beach nightclub Nov. 20. Charges were dropped when authorities could not prove within 30 days that pills found on Hoard at the time were illegal. . . . George Jones, a running back recently released by the Browns, was indicted in San Diego on charges of smuggling anabolic steroids and the depressant clonazepam, known as a “date-rape” drug. Jones, 25 and a former standout at San Diego State, was indicted in federal court along with body builder and personal trainer Jess Patrick Aguon, 32, of La Mesa. Both face four charges, carrying a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Denver Bronco linebacker Bill Romanowski was fined $15,000 for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Jaguar running back Fred Taylor during a Dec. 13 game. It is the fourth time the NFL has fined Romanowski this season. . . . Chicago Bear receiver Curtis Conway was placed on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury. . . . The Atlanta Falcons signed free-agent quarterback Wally Richardson to fill the roster spot of injured Danny Kanell. Richardson has played in one game since being drafted in the seventh round in 1997.

The Jaguars, owners of the NFL’s best record at 13-1, had a league-high seven selections, and the St. Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers led the NFC with six when the participants for the Feb. 6 Pro Bowl in Honolulu were announced. Ram quarterback Kurt Warner will start for the NFC in his first trip. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts will start for the AFC.