Wednesday, March 28, 2001
Football
Section B · Page 5
Cowboys close to signing quarterback
The Associated Press
IRVING, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys have apparently found Troy Alkman's successor.
The Cowboys were close yesterday to finalizing a one-year deal with free agent quarterback Tony
Banks. No contract had been signed, but both parties indicated the deal was close to being done.
Cowboys vice
president Stephen Jones and Banks' agent, Marvin Demoff, have met several times between sessions of the NFL owners meeting in Palm Desert, Calif.
"He's the guy we've targeted, and he's the guy we want," Jones told The Dallas Morning News. 'We're going to get this done.'
A year ago, Banks had been considered Baltimore's quarterback of the future. But he was cut by the Ravens on March 1 because of salary cap concerns. He was due $2.8 million on the four-year, $18.6 million contract he signed in February 2000.
Demoff said Banks was appreciative of the opportunity and didn't have to have the salary cap explained to him.
Banks, who began last season as the starter in Baltimore but was Trent Dilfer's backup when the Ravens got the Super Bowl, will likely get a one-year deal filled with incentives. The base salary will be around $500,000, which fits into the Cowboys' need to acquire a starting quarterback at a cheap price.
The Cowboys have $23 million counting against their salary cap this year for players no longer on the roster, including $10 million for
The Cowboy cuts Aikman, a 12-year veteran who won three Super Bowls, this month for salary cap reasons and health concerns.
Aikman.
Aikman, 34, was due a $7 million bonus and an extension through 2007 if he was still on the Dallas roster March 8. He played in only eight games last year because of two concussions and a chronic back problem and suffered four concusions in his last 20 starts.
Banks was the only free agent quarterback who has visited Valley Ranch since Alkman left.
The Cowbys also had considered Steve Beuerlein, who was recently waived by Carolina and is coming off reconstructive surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. Beuerlein played for Dallas in 1991 and 1992.
Ryan Leaf was another possibility, but the Cowboys didn't have salary cap room to claim him off
When Alkman was released, the Cowboys were left with Anthony Wright and Clint Stoerner at quarterback. Wright started and lost the last two games last season, and Stoerner was three-for-five passing in his only game last season.
Banks, 27, has played in 68 regular-season games and started 61 during his NFL career. Last season, he completed 150 of 274 passes (55 percent) for 1,578 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Dallas also had veteran Randall Cunningham last season, but he met various performance incentives in his contract that made him a free agent.
Banks played at Michigan State and was taken by the Rams in the second round of the 1996 draft. Banks played his first three seasons with St. Louis, then was traded to Baltimore in 1999.
waivers.
Former Dolphins back sentenced to 15 years
The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Former Miami Dolphins running back Cecil Collins was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison, less than two hours after a jury convicted him of sneaking through a neighbor's window to watch her elon
The sentence,
for felony burglary,
was the
max i m u m
under Florida
law. Circuit
Judge Joyce Julin told Collins he had received the maximum because of his earlier conviction in Louisiana for a similar offense.
Collins closed his eyes as the sentence was read, then stared at his
lap until courtroom deputies came over, handcuffed him and took him to a side table for fingerprinting.
Defense attorney Sebastian "Benny" Cotrone tried to convince the jury in closing arguments yesterday that Collins and Nolte had been lovers and that Nolte had laid about it to save her marriage.
Collins was arrested in December 1999 on charges that he broke into an apartment where Tina Nolte and her husband, Ron, were sleeping. They awoke to see him and recognized him as their neighbor.
The couple spoke to the judge before sentencing.
"In the community where I live, and where I work and where my
When arrested later, Collins told police he had only wanted to watch Tina as she slept.
family lives, I had to see myself smeared on the radio and in the media and by the lawyers...portrayed as a woman who would cheat on her husband," Tina Nolte said.
Earlier, after the six-member jury delivered its verdict, Tina Nolte said she felt "vindicated. You can't believe the pain and suffering this has caused my family."
Ron Nolte told the judge that on the night of crime, he had risen to defend his wife from an intruder.
In his closing argument, prosecutor Gregg Rossman pointed to Collins and told jurors Collins had snuck through the Nolte's window with bad intentions.
"He wasn't there to steal a VCR or money, he was there to steal Tina
The prosecutor played a taped police statement in which Collins admitted he had entered the apartment through a side window, then fled when Ron Nolte confronted him in the couple's bedroom.
Nolte's dignity and humanity," Rossman said.
Collins, 24, has served the past 15 months in jail, because the arrest violated his Louisiana probation on a similar conviction. The Dolphins released him two months after the arrest.
"I just wanted to go look at her," Collins said on the tape.
The jury could have convicted Collins for a lesser charge of misdemeanor trespassing or it could have cleared him of the Florida charge.
He now faces returning to Louisiana for his probation violation.
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No more waiting full competition has come to Kansas
In January, the Federal Communications Commission gave its stamp of approval to Southwestern Bell-Kansas' application to offer long-distance service, beginning March 7th.
The wait is over. Greater choices and lower prices for your long-distance telephone service have arrived.
Debbie Vignatelli
Finally, Kansas has full, open competition for telecommunications and our customers will benefit through lower prices, greater choices, better service and one-stop shopping. At Southwestern Bell, we're extremely grateful to all those who have supported increased long-distance competition.
Now it's up to consumers to take advantage of this new expanded marketplace. No one will be switched to another long distance carrier automatically; customers must actively make a call to change their long distance service provider. That's as it should be; it protects you.
The entry of Southwestern Bell's long-distance affiliate into the market is a great benefit for Kansans one more reason why our state will continue to be a telecommunications leader into the 21st century. Southwestern Bell Long Distance's offering has been a long time coming, but we believe that once Kansans begin to reap the rewards, you'll agree the wait was worth it.
To find out more about Southwestern Bell Long Distance offerings, just call 1-877-PICK-SWB.
Debbie Vignatelli Executive Director External Affairs
Southwestern Bell
SBC
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network
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