WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2006
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
▼ NFL
Chiefs sign free-agent cornerback Lenny Walls
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs signed freeagent cornerback Lenny Walls on Tuesday, giving the club an experienced cornerback to play opposite Patrick Surtain.
Terms of the one-year deal were not announced.
The team was looking for help in the defensive backfield after releasing Eric Warfield last month, when it looked like the Chiefs were going to be several million dollars over the salary cap if the NFL and its players' union did not reach a labor deal.
Walls, 26, started for the Denver Broncos in 2003, but injuries limited his playing time the past two years. The 6-foot-4 cornerback started just three games in 2005 before a groin injury put him on the injured-reserve list. He was released later.
Walls is expected to compete with Julian Battle, Benny Sapp and Alphonso Hodge for a spot in the starting lineup. The Chiefs may also add another cornerback through free agency or the draft.
Warfield, an eight-year veteran, started 10 games at right cornerback last season, after sitting out the first four games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. He signed with the New England Patriots on Monday.
Dad's no distraction for Woods
BY DOUG FERGUSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PGA
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The first tee shot of a crisp Tuesday morning sailed against a sunlit sky and disappeared into a bunker.
Tiger Woods' next effort wasn't much better.
He hit a pull-hook that took one hop before smacking into the trunk of a Georgia pine and landing in the second cut of rough. It was more of the same on the second hole, one drive clattering into the trees on the left, another drive sailing into the woods on the right.
Augusta National is tougher than ever, and it has Woods' attention.
Leaving the golf course can
For all the changes this year at the Masters, perhaps the biggest facing Woods is that his father is not here for the first time.
be even more taxing.
Earl Woods is too weak to travel. The cancer that returned in 2004 and spread throughout his body has taken such a toll that Woods flew across the country to California the day before The Players Championship to check on his father. Woods returned to Sawgrass and tied for 22nd, although that was more a result of poor iron play and substandard putting.
One trait he inherited from his father is a strong mind.
"I've been dealing with it for years, so nothing has changed." Woods said of his father's health.
"It is what it is, and you just deal with it. Everyone who has had a family member who lived that long, you're going to deal with it sometime. Unfortunately, it's our time now. But as far as being a distraction, no. I had plenty of time to focus on each and every shot. I just hit poor shots and nutted terrible."
Earl Woods had heart bypass surgery during the '96 Tour Championship and nearly died before doctors revived him. There were complications from surgery, and he wasn't supposed to travel that next April to Augusta for his son's professional debut in a major.
Even so, the Masters has always been a family affair.
But the father was at the
Masters in 1997, and even gave Woods a putting lesson.
"I putted great," Woods said with a smile.
Woods didn't have a three-putt that week, shattered scoring records to win by 12 shots in a watershed moment in golf, then walked off the 18th green and into the arms of his father, melting in tears.
"This has been a very special week for us as a family," Woods said.
Last year, Earl Woods managed to travel to Augusta, but was in no shape to go to the golf course. He watched on television as his son chipped in for birdie on the 16th, went bogey-bogey to blow a two-shot lead, then regrouped with a victory.
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