Bengals Challenged Over Loyalty Clause

An arbitrator will decide whether the Cincinnati Bengals can force players to accept a “loyalty clause” in their contracts.

The NFL Players Assn. filed a grievance Monday over the clause, which threatens players with loss of their signing bonus if they criticize the team or the front office.

Several rookies reluctantly agreed to the clause, which the club devised after receiver Carl Pickens publicly criticized the decision to retain Coach Bruce Coslet last season.

Rather than waiting to see whether the club tried to invoke the clause, the players’ association chose to challenge it.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were interrupted at their training camp by an uninvited visitor--the president of the United States. President Clinton, who was in Tampa during a largely fund-raising and recreational visit to Florida, had his motorcade pull over outside the training facility at the University of Tampa. Clinton posed for pictures and autographs, got a Buccaneer T-shirt from Coach Tony Dungy and left minutes before a heavy rain hit.

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The New Orleans Saints made a trade with the Green Bay Packers, getting quarterback Aaron Brooks and tight end Lamont Hall for free-agent linebacker K.D. Williams and a third-round draft pick in 2001. The Saints lost two players for the season in a preseason game Saturday--tight end Cam Cleeland (Archilles’ tendon) and cornerback Steve Israel (broken leg). . . . Pittsburgh Steeler rookie running back Destry Wright will likely miss the season after breaking his right leg and dislocating his ankle in Sunday night’s preseason game at Dallas. Wright was pressing second-year player Amos Zereoue for a roster spot. Wright was an undrafted free agent from Jackson State. . . . The Indianapolis Colts released linebacker Jeff Brady, an 11-year veteran who was slotted to start through the exhibition season. He became expendable with the arrival of first-round draft pick Rob Morris. . . . Denver Bronco special teams players Anthony Lynn, signed as a free agent out of Texas Tech eight years ago, has retired rather than face the prospect of surgery to repair a bulging disk near his neck. Coach Mike Shanahan said Lynn might be hired as an assistant coach. . . . Reggie White practiced with his new team, the Carolina Panthers, for the first time and immediately showed flashes of his old self. On his first play, White tossed aside rookie offensive lineman Allen Mogridge and converged on the ball carrier.