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Roundup Bucs safety Smith pleads guilty to gun chargePosted: Thursday August 07, 2003 8:44 PMUpdated: Friday August 08, 2003 1:01 AM CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dwight Smith pleaded guilty Thursday to brandishing a gun at another motorist. Smith was sentenced to one year's probation and fined $225 for the misdemeanor charge of improperly displaying a firearm at another motorist. He also was ordered to get anger management counseling and complete 25 hours of community service in a plea agreement with prosecutors in Pinellas County. The third-year safety, who returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the Bucs' Super Bowl victory over Oakland, was charged April 16 with brandishing a 9-mm semiautomatic handgun. Smith was arrested after police said they got a cell phone call from a motorist who complained that a man pointed a gun at him at a traffic light. Smith told officers he "displayed" the handgun because the other driver was being aggressive. Smith denied he pointed it at the motorist.
Falcons' Price has tight hamstring, says he'll play SaturdayGREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- Peerless Price had his right thigh wrapped in ice after feeling his hamstring tighten at the end of the Atlanta Falcons' practice Thursday afternoon. Though he refused to elaborate as he left the dining hall at Furman University 45 minutes later, Price did admit he tweaked his hamstring as he ran a route down the right sideline. Atlanta was working on the two-minute offense when Price was hurt. Trainer Ron Medlin later said the fifth-year receiver also suffered a swollen ankle when another player stepped on his right foot. Price returned for one play, but quarterback Doug Johnson didn't throw him the ball. At that point, head coach Dan Reeves ended practice as the rain started falling harder. Price promised he would play in the preseason opener Saturday against Green Bay. Kickoff at the Georgia Dome is at 8 p.m. The Falcons traded their first-round pick to Buffalo on March 7 to acquire Price, who was a restricted free agent. Atlanta gave him a $10 million signing bonus that day as part of a six-year, $35 million contract. Price, who played in all 64 games after the Bills made him a second-round out of Tennessee in 1999, is coming off a career year in which he caught 94 passes for 1,252 yards and seven touchdowns.
Study: 15 football players died during 2002 seasonCHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Fifteen football players died in the United States last year -- down from 23 in 2001 -- and none of the deaths were from heatstroke, according to an annual study. Five died in 2002 after on-field head injuries, according to the study released Friday by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Three of those five were in high school, one was in youth football and one in a semipro league. The other 10 died from natural causes not directly tied to the game but provoked by vigorous exercise, such as asthma or heart problems, according to the study. The study reported that about 1.5 million junior high school and high school students play football in the United States. Colleges and universities field about 75,000 players. Researchers were surprised at the lack of heatstroke deaths last year. The number of heatstroke deaths among football players had climbed in recent years, from 13 in the entire decade of the 1980s, to 15 in the 1990s, and seven in 2000 and 2001 combined. "We have been concerned because heat-related deaths are either entirely or almost entirely avoidable," said Dr. Frederick Mueller, a professor and chair of physical education, exercise and sport science at UNC-Chapel Hill. "Fatalities like these often meant someone forgot to emphasize or practice what we and others have been reminding coaches and trainers about for years -- that players should get all the water they want in practice and have frequent cooling-off breaks to prevent these tragedies." Mueller, chairman of the American Football Coaches' Committee of Football Injuries, direct the UNC-based National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injuries. The center produces annual reports on deaths and severe injuries from amateur and professional sports.
Vikes' Kleinsasser to miss two weeks with foot injuryMANKATO, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota Vikings tight end Jim Kleinsasser will miss the next two weeks of training camp with soreness in his right foot caused by plantar fasciitis. The injury -- inflammation of the tissue that connects the heel bone to the base of the toes -- is not considered serious. Head coach Mike Tice said Kleinsasser would be able to play if it were the regular season. One of the Vikings' best blockers, Kleinsasser saw a foot specialist Thursday and was advised that rest was the best option for treatment. Also, a cast will be kept on running back Michael Bennett's injured left foot two weeks longer than originally planned -- until the end of the month. Bennett said he's still on a rehabilitation timetable for returning to action in mid-October, but the team wants to be cautious since there's a chance he could miss the entire season. Bennett underwent a surgical procedure on July 18 to fix a stress fracture. If it appears healed when the cast comes off, Bennett should be able to play after another six weeks of rehab. If it's not healed, he won't play in 2003.
Boston returns to Chargers practiceCARSON, Calif. (AP) -- San Diego Chargers wideout David Boston returned to practice Thursday after being sidelined nearly a week with a strained side muscle. Boston, who left the Cardinals as a free agent, didn't go full speed Thursday, instead using the workout to gauge his recovery. "I was just being smart," Boston said. "It wasn't like I was going out here to prove anything. I just wanted to see where I was at with my injury, and take it one step at a time." Boston isn't expected to play more than a few downs in the Chargers' exhibition opener at Seattle on Saturday. Before the side muscle problem, Boston had a hip injury.
Those not working Thursday were tight end Stephen Alexander
(groin); offensive lineman Toniu Fonoti (triceps); wide receivers
Eric Parker (shoulder), Dondre Gilliam (knee) and Kassim Osgood
(thumb); defensive tackle Leonardo Carson (calf); safety Terrence
Kiel (leg), and running back Antoineo Harris (knee).
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