Report Says Kaufman Gets New Contract

The Oakland Raiders and running back Napoleon Kaufman have agreed to a two-year, $6-million contract extension that includes a $2.5-million signing bonus, ESPN reported.

Kaufman, a five-year veteran from Lompoc and the University of Washington, would have been an unrestricted free agent after this season. The Raiders picked him in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft.

His best season was in 1997, when he carried 272 times for 1,294 yards.

This season, Kaufman, 26, ranks 12th in the AFC in rushing yardage, as he and teammate Tyrone Wheatley lead the NFL’s top running attack.

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Cleveland Brown offensive tackle Orlando Brown was released from a hospital Friday, five days after he pushed a referee who injured the player when he threw a BB-laden penalty flag into Brown’s eye, the Plain Dealer of Cleveland reported.

Brown had been in the Cleveland Clinic Hospital since the Dec. 19 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, bothered because of bleeding in his right eye. He was hurt when referee Jeff Triplette inadvertently threw a penalty flag into his eye.

The newspaper Saturday quoted a hospital official who said the 6-foot-7, 350-pound Brown was released late Friday afternoon. Brown has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL. He has apologized.