Browns Hand Reins to Dilfer

Trent Dilfer plans to be more than a one-year fix at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.

Dilfer, acquired in a weekend trade from the Seattle Seahawks, signed a four-year contract Tuesday, taking over a position the Browns haven’t gotten right since coming back to the NFL in 1999.

Dilfer, who turns 33 Sunday, brings a Super Bowl ring and considerable experience to Cleveland. He joined the Browns with one year left on his contract at $1.2 million. Terms of his extension were not disclosed.

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Linebacker Kendrell Bell, the defensive rookie of the year four years ago with Pittsburgh, signed a seven-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Bell, 24, played only three games last season because of injuries.

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Pittsburgh signed wide receiver Cedrick Wilson to a four-year, $8-million contract, a move that appears to signal Plaxico Burress’ departure from Pittsburgh. Wilson, 26, played four years in San Francisco.

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Wide receiver Joey Galloway, 33, re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Former New York Giant cornerback Terry Cousin, 29, signed with Jacksonville.

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Cornerback Fred Smoot agreed to a contract with the Minnesota Vikings. Smoot, 25, had 16 interceptions over five seasons with Washington.

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If the NFL cannot decide within the next two months whether to put a stadium in Anaheim, then the city might decide the proposed site is no longer available to the league, City Manager Dave Morgan said.

“We have options other than the NFL,” Morgan said. “If the NFL is not ready by May, we may make our own decision. We’ve got too many opportunities to let this drag on endlessly.”

Jurisprudence

Retired Raider linebacker Bill Romanowski nearly came to tears on the witness stand during his civil trial in Oakland as he explained the duality of his existence: a “family man” and somebody who plays a “violent, violent game.”

Romanowski, 38, is facing accusations that in 2003 he punched tight end Marcus Williams during practice, ending the 27-year-old’s short-lived NFL career and causing brain damage when Williams’ eye socket was crushed. Williams is seeking millions of dollars in damages.

Romanowski told jurors that he did punch Williams in the face but did not remember much more about the fight.

“There was a fight that broke out,” he said, adding that his “reaction was a reaction from being pushed in the back.”

After he regained his composure, Romanowski said Williams’ helmet came off “as I connected with a punch.”

South Carolina defensive lineman Moe Thompson surrendered to police in Columbia, S.C., on two counts of burglary and three counts of petty larceny, nearly a week after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Thompson was suspended from the team, and Coach Steve Spurrier has said he wouldn’t return if the charges proved true.

ESPN has asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to declare that boxing promoter Don King has no legal grounds for a $2.5-million defamation suit he filed against the cable sports network in January, according to documents filed in the case.

Olympics

Two top executives of Turin’s Olympic organizing committee were fired less than a year before the 2006 Winter Games.

Chief Executive Paolo Rota and his deputy, Marcello Pochettino, were dismissed in a move to “resolve the organizational difficulties that have characterized the past months of work,” the committee said on its website.

Cesare Vaciago will take over as chief executive, with Luciano Barra his deputy.

Soccer

The Galaxy scored a goal in each half and defeated CA Osasuna’s B side in Pamplona, Spain, 2-1.

Guillermo Ramirez opened his Galaxy career with a goal before Osasuna’s Borja Rubiata tied the score. Carlos Ruiz provided the winning goal midway through the second half.

The MLS All-Stars will play English Premier League club Fulham on July 30 in Columbus Ohio, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said.

Miscellany

Jake Steinfeld, who turned “Body by Jake” into a household term, is trying to bring a similar familiarity to lacrosse.

Steinfeld founded Major League Lacrosse four years ago and has plans to expand the league to Southern California, where he founded his multimillion-dollar fitness empire nearly 30 years ago.

MLL plans call for an expansion team based at the Home Depot Center to begin play in the summer of 2006.

The new team won’t be the first professional lacrosse franchise to call the Southland home. The Anaheim Storm, a member of the National Lacrosse League, plays in the Arrowhead Pond.

Australia’s Mick Fanning, who missed most of last season because of a leg injury, out-pointed San Clemente’s Chris Ward to win the season-opening Quiksilver Pro surfing event at Snapper Rocks on Australia’s Gold Coast. Fanning caught six waves to Ward’s 14 in the final, but his top two waves gave him the higher score and the victory.