Johnson Likes Fit As Jets’ Top Pick

Things rarely come easy for the New York Jets.

Here they are holding the No. 1 pick in Saturday’s NFL draft, and the player they’re likely to take is a wide receiver, Keyshawn Johnson of Southern California.

Nothing against Johnson, who is compared to Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin, but NFL conventional wisdom holds that the No. 1 pick is supposed to be spent on a quarterback, an impact defensive player, or a running back who can carry a team to a Super Bowl.

The Jets’ problem is that there are no strong quarterbacks in this draft; the top running back, Nebraska’s Lawrence Phillips, carries personal baggage; and none of the top defensive players is a sure thing.

So when commissioner Paul Tagliabue calls the draft to order at 9 a.m., the Jets are almost sure to claim Johnson, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound all-American who had 12 receptions for 216 yards in the Rose Bowl. And his outgoing personality seems to fit perfectly in New York.

“I’d love to play here,” says Johnson, who spent most of the week before the draft in the city, picking up endorsements and generally showing off an ebullient personality. “I’m born for New York.”

“He talks too much, but if that’s his only flaw, we can live with it,” Dick Haley, the Jets’ personnel director, says of Johnson.

The problem is his position.

Rice, after all, was the 16th overall pick in 1985; Irvin went 11th overall in 1988 and the last wide receiver to go No. 1, Irving Fryar in 1984, has had a successful career, but not one worthy of so exalted a pick.

Former Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier takes daily runs, plays intramural basketball and still sits and wonders if he will be chosen in this weekend’s NFL draft.

Frazier isn’t talking. He remains on blood-thinning medication to dissolve a small portion of a blood clot in his right knee. The professional football career of the Heisman trophy runner-up was placed in jeopardy after an 11-day hospital stay earlier this year.

“He’s back to normal,” said Gregg Samms, Frazier’s agent.

However, the quarterback that led Nebraska to two consecutive national championships cannot take a hit on the football field. Frazier has not worked out for professional scouts since January - before his health became a possible roadblock in his draft status.

A workout scheduled for Thursday in Lincoln was canceled. Samms said there was no need to have Frazier work out for professional scouts. The scouts who are interested in Frazier performed medical tests on him last weekend at a combine in Indianapolis.

Falcons pick up Bates

Three years later than expected, Patrick Bates finally became an Atlanta Falcon on Thursday.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound safety, who sat out all of last season, was acquired from the Oakland Raiders for a second-round pick, the 48th overall, in Saturday’s draft.

The Falcons, who lost their first-round pick in the trade for quarterback Jeff George two years ago, are without a pick in the first and second rounds for the first time in franchise history. But they don’t seem to mind.

Bates thought he was going to be drafted by the Falcons with the 10th pick in the 1993 draft. Team officials even called the Texas A&M star as their pick approached to express interest, but chose Washington offensive lineman Lincoln Kennedy instead.

The Raiders selected Bates with the 12th pick after the Falcons passed. In two seasons, he started only nine games and finally sat out last season in a dispute over playing time.

Eagles land Wallace

Free-agent offensive lineman Steve Wallace signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Terms of the deal, signed Wednesday night, weren’t announced. But his agent, Leigh Steinberg, said the 31-year-old left tackle will receive $750,000 in base salary and a $300,000 signing bonus, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Wallace, San Francisco’s fourth-round draft pick in 1986, played 10 years with the 49ers, earning three Super Bowl rings and one Pro Bowl berth in 1992. The 6-foot-5, 280-pound lineman was released by the 49ers, who felt his scheduled salary for 1996 of $1.625 million was too high after his production declined last year.

Marshall retires

Defensive end Leonard Marshall, a starter on the Giants’ 1986 and 1990 Super Bowl teams, re-signed with New York so he could retire as a member of the team.

Marshall, a member of the Giants from 1983 to 1992, played for the Jets in 1993 and Washington in 1994 but was not on a team last year.

Brim fails physical

The Cincinnati Bengals terminated cornerback Mike Brim’s contract after he failed a physical. Brim, an eight-year NFL veteran, played one game last season because of back soreness caused by a bulging disc.

Morris pleads innocent

A July 15 trial date has been set for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Bam Morris, who pleaded innocent Thursday to two drug possession charges stemming from his arrest last month during a traffic stop.

Morris is one of two players from this year’s Super Bowl to be charged in a drug case. Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin was indicted April 1 on felony cocaine and misdemeanor marijuana possession charges.

New England Patriots running back Dave Meggett was acquitted of charges that he assaulted a former girlfriend.