Grbac to Sign With Ravens

Free-agent quarterback Elvis Grbac, 31, agreed to a five-year, $30-million contract with the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday. He will get an $11-million signing bonus.

Grbac’s signing means the Ravens will not keep Trent Dilfer, who won his final 11 starts with the Ravens, the last a 34-7 Super Bowl victory over the New York Giants.

“I think [Grbac] will give us that punch we need offensively to get back to the Super Bowl,” Raven Coach Brian Billick said.

*

The Minnesota Vikings signed center Matt Birk to a one-year contract. . . The Atlanta Falcons traded an undisclosed draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for quarterback Eric Zeier. . . . The Cincinnati Bengals signed free-agent defensive tackle Tony Williams to a four-year contract. . . . The New England Patriots signed free-agent linebacker Larry Izzo to a four-year, $2.3-million contract.

A cancerous tumor was found in the right shoulder of Michigan State offensive lineman Shaun Mason. He will begin radiation treatment, and his promising football career probably is over. He was projected as a middle-round pick in next month’s NFL draft. . . . Tennessee Titan wide receiver Eric Locke was dismissed from the team for rules violations.

Miscellany

Hours after top-seeded Pete Sampras fell to Andrew Ilie of Australia, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, Francisco Clavet of Spain stunned No. 2 Andre Agassi, 6-1, 6-7 (2), 7-5, in the first round of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz. It was the first time since 1989 in Key Biscayne, Fla., that Sampras and Agassi lost in the first round of the same tournament.

Bob Hayes was in fair condition after undergoing surgery for prostate removal at a Jacksonville, Fla., hospital. The 58-year-old former Olympic champion sprinter and Dallas Cowboys receiver is the only man to have won an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. . . . After a review of the scoring from the championships contested Feb. 22-24, UCLA was awarded the Pacific 10 Conference women’s swimming and diving title. Arizona was second, followed by USC. The original tabulation gave Arizona the title, but that result didn’t include all of the points in the diving competition.

Motor Sports

The Orlando Sentinel’s request for the photos from Dale Earnhardt’s autopsy has brought 3,000 protest calls and almost 7,000 e-mails from angry race fans, and prompted an effort by lawmakers to prevent the release of such pictures in future cases. The newspaper wants access to the photos so a head-trauma expert can make an independent determination of the precise cause of Earnhardt’s death in the Daytona 500 last month.

In the wake of the death of a volunteer marshal last weekend in the Australian Grand Prix, the Formula One season opener, organizers want higher safety fences at courses and are considering reducing speeds by adding more grooves to the cars’ tires.

Jurisprudence

A hearing for Julie Romanowski, wife of Denver Bronco linebacker Bill Romanowski, has been postponed until April 11 because of a full docket. The couple is accused of illegally obtaining a prescription diet drug, phentermine. . . . Former major league pitcher George “Doc” Medich, 53, was sentenced to nine years’ probation at Beaver, Pa., for falsifying prescriptions. . . . World Boxing Assn. featherweight champion Derrick “Smoke” Gainer pleaded no contest in Pensacola, Fla., to domestic battery. . . . Ohio State and the Franklin County prosecutor’s office are investigating possible misspending on the travel expense reports of former Buckeye football coach John Cooper.