Warner Released, Giants Interested
Kurt Warner’s storybook stay with the St. Louis Rams ended Tuesday, but he’s unlikely to be out of work for long.
The release of the two-time NFL most valuable player, who led the Rams to two Super Bowls, leaves Marc Bulger as the team’s No. 1 quarterback. Bulger took over as the starter for good after Warner fumbled six times in last season’s opener.
Coincidentally, that game was against the New York Giants, the team that probably would sign Warner to ease Eli Manning’s transition to the NFL. Warner has not started and won a regular-season game since 2001, posting a 0-6 record in 2002 and losing one game last season.
Bulger, who is 18-4 as the Rams’ regular-season starter, signed a four-year, $19.1-million contract in April as the first major sign that Warner would not be back. The team also signed backup Chris Chandler to a free-agent deal, and excused Warner from a three-day minicamp last month.
Mark Bartelstein, Warner’s agent, said that Jay Zygmunt, president of football operations for the Rams, told him that the team had filed the necessary papers with the NFL office.
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Vinny Testaverde’s six-year stay with the New York Jets is over.
The Jets released the 17-year quarterback in a salary-cap move that will save $1.5 million this season. In 2005, Testaverde will count for $4 million.
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Defensive tackle Marcus Bell was among five players released by the Arizona Cardinals. Bell, a fourth-round draft pick out of Memphis in 2001, started nine games last season.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars signed defensive end Tony Brackens to a one-year contract, bringing back the team’s leading career pass rusher and former second-round draft pick.
Miscellany
Mark Fox was hired as Nevada’s basketball coach after working four seasons as an assistant under Trent Johnson.
Johnson, who led Nevada to a 25-9 season and its first appearance in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16, resigned a week ago to coach Stanford.
Fox has been a Division I assistant for 11 seasons at Nevada, Kansas State and Washington. He also was endorsed by former Wolf Pack coaches Sonny Allen, Len Stevens and Pat Foster.
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San Diego State gained a game against Notre Dame in 2008 and two other televised games in return for changing its football schedule to accommodate TV.
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Injury-plagued Jason Gatson withdrew from the U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Nashville because of pain in his lower back. Gaston said he plans to compete at the Olympic trials later this month in hopes of getting one of six spots on the U.S. team.
Passings
Former champion boxer Magne Havnaa of Norway drowned in a boating accident near his home, police said. Havnaa, 40, won the World Boxing Organization cruiserweight championship with a fifth-round knockout of Richard Pultz of the United States in 1990.