Aikman Cleared to Play After MRI Shows No Concussion

Dallas Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman was cleared to play Wednesday after an MRI showed he suffered no damage from a blow to the head.

Cowboy officials said the results of Tuesday’s precautionary MRI show Aikman did not have a concussion and that he will be able to play in Dallas’ Monday night game at Minnesota.

Indianapolis cornerback Jeff Burris rammed his helmet into Aikman’s on a sack early in the fourth quarter of the Colts’ 32-24 victory Sunday. Aikman sat out one series, sniffed some smelling salts, then returned.

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Only two weeks ago, Walter Payton told author Don Yaeger that he would beat the long odds against recovering from cancer and liver disease.

“They’re going to write about me in the medical journals,” the former Chicago Bear star told Yaeger, who was working with him on his autobiography.

Yaeger, who documented Payton’s last days for a Sports Illustrated story, told the Chicago Tribune that despite his refusal to give up, the NFL’s career rushing leader was at peace.

Payton, who died Monday, disclosed in February that he had the rare liver disease primary sclerosing cholangitis and needed a liver transplant.

Yaeger said Payton learned during an examination at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in May that he had cancer of the bile duct, a vessel that carries digestive fluids from the liver to the small intestine, the Tribune reported Wednesday.

Ginny Quirk, Payton’s business manager, said Payton kept the news of his cancer quiet because he did not want people to feel sorry for him.

The Bears announced they will wear a football-shaped patch in Payton’s memory the rest of the season, and the team is discussing a way to permanently honor him.

The patch, with Payton’s No. 34, will be worn on the upper left side of their uniforms, Bear President Ted Phillips said.

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Baltimore Raven Coach Brian Billick now says he’s sorry about saying the NFL and game officials have given the Cleveland Browns preferential treatment.

“It was not meant to come out that way,” said Billick, whose comments are being reviewed by the league. “There was a linkage of terms that I apologize for. That was not my intent. I misspoke. I apologize. If anybody takes offense to it, I apologize.”

During a news conference Monday in Baltimore, Billick inflamed the emotional fires of Sunday’s Raven-Brown game by, among other things, claiming the league was hoping Cleveland would win.

“I know darn well we’re not going to get a [referee’s] call in Cleveland, no way, no shape, no form, no how,” he said. “The league would really like to see Cleveland beat us.”

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San Francisco 49er tight end Greg Clark’s collapsed lung apparently was caused when a team doctor inadvertently punctured it while administering a pain-killing injection. The 49ers declined to release the name of the physician, though the San Francisco Chronicle reported it was Dr. Robert Gamburd. Gamburd continues to be employed by the team, according to Coach Steve Mariucci, who added he still has full confidence in the club’s medical staff. . . . Brian Griese missed practice Wednesday because of a sore throwing shoulder, leaving Chris Miller as the Denver Broncos’ lone healthy quarterback and possible starter Sunday at San Diego. . . . Arizona Cardinal defensive tackle Mark Smith will not play again this season and defensive end Andre Wadsworth will be out several weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery.