Urlacher and Bears Agree to a Nine-Year Contract

All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher has agreed to a new nine-year deal that will keep him with the Chicago Bears through the 2011 season.

Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Urlacher, the ninth overall pick in the 2000 draft and the 2001 NFL defensive player of the year, has 527 career tackles. He has led the Bears in tackles in each of his first three seasons.

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Carolina Panther wide receiver Kevin Dyson tore his left Achilles’ tendon in practice and could be out for the season.

He will be put on the physically unable to perform list in the next couple of days, General Manager Marty Hurney said. That means Dyson will sit out at least the first six weeks of the season.

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Members of the Coliseum Commission heard an update Wednesday from Pat Lynch, the stadium’s general manager, on efforts to formulate an NFL proposal. Lynch distributed updated architectural plans for the venue -- a tweaked version of those submitted four years ago -- and announced he and others representing the stadium will meet this month in Washington, D.C., with national historic preservationists.

Coliseum officials have no time frame for submitting a stadium proposal to the NFL, which is considering concepts presented by groups in Pasadena and Carson.

“We don’t want to send out theoretical plans,” Lynch said. “We’re trying to really get all of our details taken care of and then we can present them in a factual context.”

Jurisprudence

Former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe was cleared of assault charges at Upper Marlboro, Md., after his wife and three other witnesses failed to appear in court.

Without the witnesses, Judge Beverly Woodard said there was little evidence to prove Bowe committed the crimes.

Former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson gambled on pro and college games last fall through an Internet betting site, a boyhood friend testified at Tallahassee.

Otis Livingston said McPherson bet on the Seminoles to beat Notre Dame -- they lost, 34-24 -- and lost another $1,000 bet on the Miami-West Virginia game.

McPherson is charged with a second-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. A guilty finding would end any hopes he has of playing in college again.

Washington Redskin defensive lineman Bruce Smith was acquitted of drunk driving at Virginia Beach, Va., when a judge ruled that the evidence was not enough to support a conviction.

College Football

Running back Julius Jones hopes to re-enroll at Notre Dame and play for the Fighting Irish next season, but first he must complete summer school, a school official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jones must pass his classes before he can return. Jones was academically ineligible last season.

Jeremy Bloom, a sophomore wide receiver and kick returner at Colorado, will continue playing football instead of pursuing a pro freestyle skiing career.

The 21-year-old Bloom sued the NCAA last year, unsuccessfully trying to get the governing body to waive its restrictions on student-athletes receiving endorsements.

E.J. “Doc” Kreis, the strength and conditioning coach at Colorado the last 11 seasons, will interview for the same position at UCLA. Kreis, 50, was fired May 1 amid reported philosophical differences with Buffaloes’ football Coach Gary Barnett.

Kim Sword was fired as UCLA strength and conditioning coach after one year. Kreis is one of two or three finalists for the opening.

College Basketball

Kerry Keating, a Tennessee assistant the last two seasons, has been hired by UCLA, completing Coach Ben Howland’s staff.

Keating, 31, also has been an assistant at Tulsa, Appalachian State, Seton Hall, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. He joins a UCLA staff that also includes assistants Donny Daniels and Ernie Zeigler.

Passings

Johnny Hopp, an outfielder who played in five World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees, died at 86 at Scottsbluff, Neb.

T.J. Simers is on vacation.