tuesday. february 24, 2004
sports
the university daily kansan
3B
Denver discusses Portist trade
The Associated Press
Broncos running back Clinton Portis got a first down in the second quarter as he hurdled over Bengals cornerback Tory James during a game at at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003. The Broncos defeated the Bengals 30-10.
DENVER — The Denver Broncos are discussing a trade that would send running back Clinton Portis to Washington for cornerback Champ Bailey, a swap of two Pro Bowlers upset with their contracts, a source said yesterday.
In giving up Portis for Bailey, Denver also would receive Washington's second-round selection in the April draft, the NFL source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Vinny Cerrato, Washington's player personnel director, said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis: "We are talking to a number of teams and Denver is one of the teams." He wouldn't name the players.
The negotiations were first reported in The Denver Post.
The Redskins have protected Bailey, who can become a free agent on March 3, by designating him their franchise player. That means the Redskins must make him a one-year, $6.8 million tender, the average of the
top five players at his position.
Portis has two years remaining on the contract he signed as a second-round draft pick in 2002.
Displeased with the $300,000 he made last season, he has hinted he might be a holdout
when training camp starts unless the Broncos rework his deal.
The deal would make sense because the Redskins went last season without an every-down running back, a must in the offensive system favored by new
coach Ioe Gibbs.
Portis ran for 1,591 yards last year despite missing three games with chest and ankle injuries.
Portis' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, declined comment and the Broncos did not return a call seeking comment.
K-State's QB will return to campus
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson, stripped of his scholarship following an incident prior to the Fiesta Bowl, is taking a class via the Internet and plans to be on campus in Manhattan for the final eight weeks of the semester.
Roberson, interviewed by The Kansas City Star at the NFL's scouting combine in Indianapolis, said he has no ill will toward Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and his disciplinary action.
A 22-year-old woman told police Roberson sexually assaulted her at the team's suburban Phoenix before he
"I don't fault him for it," Roberson told The Star. "It was the best way for it to be taken care of, and that's how he took care of it."
suburban Phoenix hotel the night before the bowl game.
Roberson acknowledged having sex with the woman but said it was consensual; he was not charged with any offense.
Roberson, who has completed his college athletic eligibility, was at the scouting combine only as a spectator following recent surgery for a torn right rotator cuff.
He said he was more concerned about how the surgery would affect his status for the NFL draft than the Fiesta Bowl
"What happened, happened,and I've moved on from it."
Ell Roberson
Former Kansas State quarterback
controversy.
"What happened, happened,
and I've moved on from it," he said.
"I'm not dwelling on the past."
Roberson said he had surgery about two weeks ago and faces at least a month of rehabilitation, so he does not know if he'll get a chance to work out for any pro teams.
"At least if I get a chance after it
gets healed up, I should be all right," he said. "I'm expecting to be a late-round pick or if not, free agency."
Roberson said he played in pain against Ohio State, and suspects the shoulder injury happened during late-season wins against Nebraska or Missouri.
"I didn't know it was as bad as it was," he said. "I had a little bit of a layoff after the season, so I didn't throw, but when I came back, I couldn't throw."
Roberson said he is taking a Kansas State geology class via the Internet, and plans to be on campus for the final eight weeks of the semester to finish his remaining six hours of class work.
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Professionally speaking, these are wonderful daws for Eddie Sutton.
They are a taxing, nightmarish time in the life of Melvin Watkins.
Watkins, in contrast, has gotten just about every bad break imaginable in a lost season at Texas A&M.
Sutton's Oklahoma State Cowboys are ranked in the Top 10 and flying high with 21-2 overall record and an 11-1 leagueleading Big 12 mark going into their pivotal game tonight at resurgent Missouri. People are wondering if the job he's done with this collection of veterans and transfers is the best of his 34-year coaching career.
His Aggies have sustained injuries and dropped so many close games they've probably lost count. With four games left, they are still winless in the conference.
"This is not the most talented team I've ever had," Sutton said of the squad that was picked fifth in the preseason poll. "But top to bottom, I'm not sure I've had a group of young men who were better at getting their priorities right. They're wonderful listeners. Very coachable. And they all understand their roles."
"I think this team has probably maximized their ability about as well as any team I've ever coached."
Sutton also gives credit to his coaching staff, which includes former Texas Tech coach James Dickey and Sutton's son, Sean.
"James is family, maybe like an uncle to Sean. He'll be a head coach again. He and Sean certainly do over half the coaching."
Watkins' staff must be wondering if they'll have jobs next year. Almost everyone agrees the Aggies seem to be making progress under Watkins' program.
But it hasn't translated to conference wins during a year when he's been hampered by injury and bad luck.
In the last couple of losses, to Texas and Texas Tech, the Aggies appeared to lose concentration
"The kids are feeling the weight of not winning, and we're just being more careless than we should be with the ball," said Watkins, who came into the season 95-111 in seven years as a head coach at North Carolina-Charlotte and Texas A&M. "It's something we're trying to reverse."
Watkins and most of his colleagues figured this could be a season full of positives.
"Obviously, coming into the year I had some high hopes, still knowing we weren't there yet but we could be somewhere near the middle of the pack," he said. "That hasn't happened. You lose close ones ... and it mushrooms. I think that's what this team has experienced. If we'd gotten those wins, it probably could have propelled us to get a few more."
Meanwhile, at Colorado, the Buffaloes' basketball team has done a good job of keeping a low profile while sex scandals engulf the school's football program, where coach Gary Barnett has been placed on administrative leave.
Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan, in the meantime, is not going to sit still following a bizarre officiating blunder in his game at Kansas.
The strange sequence began to unfold when Iowa State's Jared Homan went to the free throw line and missed his first shot. Kansas rebounded and ran down the court and J.R. Giddens sank a 3-pointer. But then officials decided Homan was owed another foul shot. He made it, but Giddens' 3-pointer still counted in a game the Jayhawks eventually won 90-89 in overtime.