Gandy Is Only Fined for Shoving Referee

Pittsburgh Steeler tackle Wayne Gandy was fined $20,000 by the NFL but will not be suspended for shoving referee Tom White during a Jan. 2 game against Tennessee.

Gandy said he pushed White by accident after a run-in with Titan defensive end Mike Jones, thinking the person approaching him from behind was a teammate.

“He was wrong, flat wrong,” Steeler Coach Bill Cowher said of Gandy.

Gandy was fined $20,000 because the NFL determined he came in contact with White twice. League spokesman Greg Aiello said Gandy was fined for “impermissible physical contact with a game official on two occasions.”

“I’m sure he [Gandy] feels good he wasn’t suspended,” Steeler director of football operations Tom Donahoe said. “But you can’t do what he did, whether it was an accident or not.”

Gandy is the sixth player in NFL history to be fined for making contact with an official and second this season.

Cleveland Brown lineman Orlando Brown was suspended indefinitely for shoving official Jeff Triplette to the ground during a Dec. 12 game against Cincinnati.

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The euphoria of the Washington Redskins’ first playoff victory in seven years was tempered the day after with the news that three offensive starters could be sidelined for next Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game at Tampa Bay.

Stephen Davis, the NFC’s leading rusher, and center Cory Raymer are both considered doubtful, and left tackle Andy Heck is already ruled out because of a torn hamstring suffered in Saturday’s 27-13 first-round victory over Detroit. Davis has a sprained knee and Raymer a rib-cage injury.

A fourth starter, Pro Bowl guard Tre’ Johnson, could also get a suspension for striking an official in the head during a second-half fight that led to his ejection from the game. A fine is considered more probable, however, when the NFL announces Johnson’s punishment as soon as today.

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Tennessee tight end Frank Wycheck, who set up Kevin Dyson’s 75-yard touchdown return with a cross-field lateral in the Titans’ 22-16 AFC wild-card victory over the Buffalo Bills, sprained a ligament in his left knee and will be questionable for next Sunday’s game at Indianapolis.

Wycheck injured his left knee in the first quarter, and it’s the same ligament he sprained Oct. 31 in Tennessee’s victory over St. Louis.

Titan punter Craig Hentrich also strained his neck when he made a tackle on the final play of Saturday’s game, a kickoff to the Bills after Dyson’s return.

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Former Dallas Cowboy coach Tom Landry will remain at Baylor University Medical Center for several more weeks after “very encouraging” chemotherapy treatment, according to an informational hotline his family established.

Landry, 75, returned to the hospital Jan. 3 for further treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia, also known as AML, a cancer that impairs the production of blood cells.

According to the hotline at the Lisa Landry Childress Foundation, Landry completed chemotherapy Saturday and will remain in the hospital until his immune system recovers.

Tests in August showed the disease had reached temporary remission, but more treatments were necessary. He left the hospital Nov. 22 and continued receiving care as an outpatient, only to return this month.