Teammate: McNabb Was Sick in Super Bowl

Donovan McNabb was so ill in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl that a Philadelphia Eagle teammate called one play in the huddle, center Hank Fraley told a Philadelphia television station.

“He fought to the end. He gave it his all,” Fraley said on Comcast SportsNet in a show aired Monday night. “He could hardly call the plays -- that’s how exhausted he was trying to give it his all.... He exhausted everything he had.”

Eagle spokesman Derek Boyko said Tuesday that McNabb wasn’t injured during Philadelphia’s 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots. However, McNabb could have been feeling sick -- he fought a cold earlier in the week.

McNabb was shaky at times in Sunday’s game. He passed for 357 yards and three touchdowns, but he also had three passes intercepted.

He struggled in particular in the fourth quarter, getting intercepted twice and looking slow in getting the team moving late.

“He didn’t get a play call in one time,” Fraley said. “He mumbled and Freddie Mitchell yelled out the play we were trying to bring in. He was puking at the same time, trying to hold it in.”

McNabb left Tuesday for Hawaii, where he will start for the NFC in Sunday’s Pro Bowl. His agent did not immediately return a phone call.

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New York Jet quarterback Chad Pennington had surgery to repair a tear in his right rotator cuff, and his doctors are optimistic he will be ready for the start of training camp in July.

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As expected, Romeo Crennel signed a five-year contract to coach the Cleveland Browns, leaving the Super Bowl champion Patriots to rebuild a team that’s far from winning a title.

Crennel received a five-year, $11-million contract from the Browns, who are coming off a 4-12 season.

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Former Oakland Raider center Barret Robbins had a written not guilty plea entered for him on three counts of attempted felony murder, almost four weeks after he was shot in a struggle with three police officers investigating a burglary call at Miami.

The former Pro Bowl player was set for arraignment today. Robbins is still in the hospital jail ward.

Tennis

Vincent Spadea avoided an upset, recovering from a first-set loss to beat Anthony Dupuis, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round of the SAP Open at San Jose. Spadea meets James Blake in the second round. Blake advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Wesley Moodie.

Andre Agassi won his first-round match, defeating Bobby Reynolds, 6-4, 6-4.

Eighth-seeded Magdalena Maleeva outlasted qualifier Claudine Schaul, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (9), in the first round of the Open Gaz de France at Paris.

Maleeva set up a second-round match with Jelena Jankovic, who eliminated Emilie Loit, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Past major champions Juan Carlos Ferrero and Thomas Johansson lost in the first round of the Open 13 tournament at Marseille, France.

Ferrero, a former No. 1 who won the 2003 French Open, lost to Joachim Johansson, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Thomas Johansson, the 2002 Australian Open champion, was upset by qualifier Gilles Simon, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Baseball

Commissioner Bud Selig will be in San Francisco today to announce that the Giants will play host to the 2007 All-Star game.

Detroit Tiger catcher Ivan Rodriguez denied accusations by Jose Canseco that he used steroids while playing for the Texas Rangers. Canseco says in his upcoming book he introduced Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez to steroids after being traded to Texas in 1992.

“I’m in shock,” Rodriguez told El Nuevo Dia newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “He is saying things that aren’t true, and it hurts me a lot that he would say things like that because I’ve always had a lot of respect for him, and I’ve even helped him many times when things weren’t going well for him.”

Gonzalez and Palmeiro also have denied using steroids.

The Arizona Diamondbacks hired former New York Met scout Bill Singer, who was fired by the Mets 15 months ago for racially insensitive conduct.

Singer reportedly made fun of the Chinese language after asking Dodger assistant general manager Kim Ng questions about her background during a general managers meeting in November 2003.

Right-hander Carlos Silva and the Minnesota Twins avoided arbitration by agreeing to a two-year contract that guarantees him $5.05 million.

Miscellany

Sweden’s Anja Paerson successfully defended her giant slalom title for her second gold medal at the Alpine World Championships at Santa Caterina Valfurva, Italy.

Julia Mancuso of the U.S. rallied to finish third and picked up her second bronze medal.

A high school football coach who accepted $150,000 from an Alabama booster to steer his standout football player to the Crimson Tide was sentenced to two years’ supervised probation and 500 hours of community service at Memphis, Tenn.

Lynn Lang was also fined $2,500 after pleading guilty to conspiring to get defensive lineman Albert Means to sign with the Crimson Tide in 2000. He could have faced 30 to 37 months in federal prison and fines up to $60,000.

Two-time world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. has pleaded no contest to kicking a bouncer at a bar at Grand Rapids, Mich. The 27-year-old boxer is charged with misdemeanor assault and battery. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for March 11.

T.J. Simers has the day off.