Brown Lineman Has Suspension Lifted

Orlando Brown won’t have to sit out any more games for shoving a referee.

The Cleveland Browns said Tuesday that the NFL had decided that their right tackle had been punished enough for forcefully pushing Jeff Triplette to the ground during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 19. Thus, Brown’s suspension is being lifted, effective today.

That means Brown served a two-game suspension, costing him more than $49,000 in salary.

Brown was suspended Dec. 22 for knocking Triplette down after the official threw a penalty flag that accidentally struck Brown in the right eye.

Brown, who says he still has blurred vision, was hospitalized for six days with bleeding behind the eye.

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Tennessee Titan defensive tackle Josh Evans was suspended for the 2000 season by the NFL for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, the Nashville Tennessean reported.

Evans was suspended for the first four games of the 1999 season, making his next positive test a suspension for a full year. The newspaper said NFL sources confirmed that Evans has appealed the suspension.

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Defensive end Marco Coleman, 31, whose 6 1/2 sacks and locker room leadership helped Washington return to the playoffs last season, signed a six-year, $30-million contract with the Redskins. . . . Tackle Jason Odom re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three years after sitting out the final 13 games of last season because of back surgery. . . . The Oakland Raiders signed free-agent defensive back Tory James from the Denver Broncos and re-signed defensive back and punt returner Darrien Gordon, whom they had released Feb. 10. . . . The Miami Dolphins signed free-agent guard Heath Irwin to a four-year contract and linebacker Scott Galyon to a three-year deal.

Jurisprudence

One of Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis’ co-defendants is requesting a separate trial in the killing of two men outside an Atlanta nightclub.

The lawyer for Reginald Oakley, 31, also requested that his client be allowed separate trials for the murder and assault charges he faces in the Jan. 31 deaths.

The parents of Samuel Sturns and Jerome Jackson, two of the four Prairie View A&M; track and field athletes killed in a van crash Feb. 10, sued the van’s manufacturer, Ford Motor Co., claiming design and marketing defects in its 15-passenger van, as well as breach of warranty for selling an allegedly defective vehicle. . . . A warrant was issued for the arrest of Seattle Seahawk receiver Sean Dawkins in Issaquah, Wash., after he failed to show up for a court appearance on a drunken-driving charge.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe was sentenced to 30 days in a federal prison for the Feb. 25, 1998, kidnappings of his wife and five children. He also was ordered to get treatment for his boxing brain injuries.

Judge Graham Mullen said in Charlotte, N.C., that the damage from the blows to the head persuaded him to be lenient. Bowe, 32, who apologized to the court and his family, could have been sentence to 1 1/2-two years.

Miscellany

Hank Steinbrecher, secretary general of U.S. Soccer during the federation’s most successful decade, resigned unexpectedly. Steinbrecher, 52, said he was stepping down “to devote my time and attention to my family.”

Regina Jacobs failed in her attempt to become the first woman to break four minutes for the indoor 1,500 meters, with a time of 4 minutes 7.06 seconds in New York. The record is 4:00.27, set by Romania’s Doina Melinte in 1990.

In his first singles match in six months, Patrick Rafter of Australia played through a twinge of shoulder pain and beat Hernan Gumy of Argentina, 6-2, 7-6 (5), in the second round of the Citrix Tennis Championships at Delray Beach, Fla. . . . Hometown favorite Marcelo Rios lost to Czech Bohdan Ulihrach, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Chevrolet Cup at Santiago, Chile. . . . Anna Kournikova needed only 45 minutes to dispatch Alina Jidkova, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round of the State Farm Women’s Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Spanish cyclist Saul Morales, 25, died after being hit by a truck during a stage of the Tour of Argentina competition in Cacuete. The driver of the truck was held by the police for questioning and tournament officials suspended the competition. . . . Instead of taking their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for four black athletes whose racial discrimination lawsuit against the NCAA was overturned by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals filed a new complaint in Philadelphia regarding the use of test scores to determine freshman eligibility.

The Pro Bowlers Assn. suspended Pete Weber, banning the tour’s second-leading all-time money winner for the rest of the year for “conduct unbecoming a professional.” Weber, 37, was verbally abusive to people in an alcohol-related incident during the pro-am portion of the Bay City Classic last fall in Bay City, Mich.