Ex-Bronco Safety Atwater Signs 3-Year Deal With Jets

Steve Atwater, an eight-time Pro Bowl player, already has something to prove with the New York Jets.

“The former team I played with, I think they felt like I couldn’t play anymore,” said Atwater, 32, who signed a three-year, $8.3-million contract with the Jets on Tuesday after he was cut by the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos two weeks ago.

“I’d like to show them and show the world that Steve Atwater can still play football.”

The hard-hitting Atwater, entering his 11th NFL season, will have plenty of chances as he moves right in at free safety.

Jet Coach Bill Parcells, who started three players at the position during last season’s run to the AFC title game--a 23-10 loss at Denver--is a believer. Atwater, who played under Jet defensive coordinator Bill Belichick and his staff at last month’s Pro Bowl, had five tackles in the conference title game, adding a crucial forced fumble and a tipped pass that resulted in an interception.

“Believe me, if I didn’t have full confidence that he was able to do what we’re asking him to do, he wouldn’t be here,” Parcells said.

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The Green Bay Packers said they will cancel a stadium-expansion plan because of a need for spending money on players’ contracts.

General Manager Ron Wolf has assurances that “we would give him everything he needed to build a competitive team,” President Bob Harlan said. “We owe that to him and [Coach] Ray Rhodes and our fans.”

The cancellation affects two phases of a $75-million construction program at Lambeau Field.

The first phase included remodeling the press box, widening a concourse area, opening an apparel shop and adding concession stands. The second involved building a dining hall, raising the south-end scoreboard and altering club seats.

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Atlanta Falcon safety Eugene Robinson, charged with prostitution solicitation the night before the Super Bowl, was offered a diversion program that, if completed, would clear the Pro Bowl player’s record.

Under the agreement, Robinson has to have an HIV test and complete a course on AIDS. He will be able to complete the program in his home state of Washington where he lives in Woodinville with his wife and two children.

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The condition of ailing Chicago Bear great Walter Payton has stabilized and he is sleeping better, an aide said.

Payton is suffering from a rare liver disease and needs a transplant.

Miscellany

Pete Sampras avenged his loss to Ramon Delgado of Paraguay in last year’s French Open and moved into the second round of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 victory at Scottsdale, Ariz. Andre Agassi took a step toward defense of his title with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Fernando Meligeni of Brazil.

Hale Irwin shot a seven-under-par 65 for a two-stroke lead over Gil Morgan after the opening round of the $600,000 Senior Slam exhibition at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Larry Nelson shot a 68 and Jay Sigel a 73.

Clemson’s leading rusher last season will sit out spring practice and the first game of the 1999 season, Coach Tommy Bowden said.

Bowden did not say why Travis Zachery was suspended, but the redshirt freshman was arrested for disorderly conduct in January.

Bryan Herta, who drives for Team Rahal in the CART series, will be sidelined at least a week while recovering from an emergency appendectomy.

Argentina’s soccer captain has fessed up: The play that turned an English star into a goat at last summer’s World Cup was really a great piece of acting.

Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone was quoted as saying he pulled a fast one on the referee during his nation’s second-round game against England, resulting in an ejection for David Beckham.

“Obviously I was clever by letting myself fall. . . . and the referee fell into the trap. . . . showing the red card,” the Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport quoted Simeone as saying. “You can say that my falling turned a yellow card into a red card.”

Beckham, who was face down, flicked his right foot back and connected with the Argentine captain, who tumbled to the ground in front of the referee. The official ejected Beckham, and England played a man short for the rest of the game, losing on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie.

Former major league pitcher John D’Acquisto faces decades in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in an investment scheme.

D’Acquisto, 46, who pitched for five major league teams from 1973-1982, will be sentenced May 19 in San Diego Superior Court on charges he defrauded investors of about $7 million in 1994.

Scott Humenik, 29, a defenseman for the Baton Rouge Kingfish of the East Coast Hockey League, was hospitalized in serious but stable condition after suffering a stroke during an off-day warmup.

Australian athletes will be deliberately injected with a banned performance-enhancing drug to help develop a reliable test for it before the Sydney Olympics.

Director of sports science Ross Smith said 22 volunteers aged 18 to 35 will be given the drug erythropoietin (EPO) during the next five weeks. Eleven others will be given a placebo.