Ex-UW Star Seems To Be Catching On

The Dallas Cowboys, looking for wide receiver help, may have found some in Saturday night’s 27-14 loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Rookie Eric Bjornson caught five passes for 57 yards playing at both tight end and wide receiver.

Bjornson, who can run a 4.5 in the 40, said “the beauty of our offense is I can play tight end but still can be used like a wide-out. Catching the ball for me is second nature, no matter where I play.”

The 6-foot-4 Bjornson was a quarterback and wide receiver for Washington.

“I’m not used to lining up and blocking the big boys at tight end and that will take some adjustment,” said the 235-pound Bjornson, who also is being used on the special teams.

“It looks like I’m going to be busy,” said the fourth-round draft pick.

“Bjornson is a player,”’ Dallas coach Barry Switzer said. “We’ll be using him a lot this year. He fits into our offense nicely.”

Kevin Williams, who is expected to take over the wide receiver spot vacated by free agent Alvin Harper, caught four passes for 58 yards.

“I thought Kevin had one of his best games,” Switzer said. “He’s going to do the job for us.”

Cory Fleming, who will be used as a third receiver, caught three passes.

Harper OK

Alvin Harper and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers breathed a collective sigh of relief on Sunday.

The speedy receiver and the hard-luck franchise that signed him to a four-year, $10.66 million contract last winter feared the worst when Harper crumpled to ground, clutching his left knee, in the first quarter of Saturday night’s 9-3 exhibition loss to the New York Jets.

“I thought I was gone,” the fifth-year pro said after learning that team doctors expect him to be sidelined only 3-5 weeks. “When I was laying there, it was kind of bent back. I just saw it dangling. I said, ‘I’m finished.”’

X-rays taken in the locker room were negative, however, and an MRI performed Sunday confirmed the Bucs’ prized offseason acquisition only had a mild sprain of the medial collateral ligament in the knee.

What figures to keep Harper out longer is another injury - a mid-foot sprain - sustained on the play that could have ended his season before it even started. His left leg was heavily bandaged from the knee down and he figures to be on crutches for at least three or four days.

Salaam struggles

Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam struggled Sunday in his first practice with the Chicago Bears.

The running back from Colorado ended his two-week holdout Aug. 3 after signing a four-year contract worth $3.8 million.

“It was kind of rough on me,” Salaam said. “I felt about five steps slower than everybody else.”

Coach Dave Wannstedt said the sluggish start was to be expected.

“He looked like a guy who’s missed two weeks of camp,” Wannstedt said. “He was uncertain about things and I think the speed and tempo which we practice was a little bit different for him. For the first day, it was fine. But it’s obviously not near where it has to be.”

Giants 19, Browns 13

Brad Daluiso kicked four field goals before Keith Elias scored on a 12-yard run as New York dominated defensively through three quarters to beat Cleveland in the preseason opener for both teams at Cleveland.

Dave Brown efficiently led the Giants on two ball-control drives before leaving in the second quarter with an injured right elbow. Precautionary X-rays confirmed the injury was just a bruise.

Cleveland rookie Eric Zeier led two Cleveland touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, the second capped by a 32-yard touchdown pass to Rico Smith.

Brown completed 5-of-12 passes for 63 yards and ran for 28 more.

Oilers restless

The 1997 NFL season will be the last one the Houston Oilers play in the Astrodome, according to team owner Bud Adams.

Adams says he’s not threatening to take the Oilers out of town if he doesn’t get a new stadium when the current lease ends, but he’s not saying he’ll stay in Houston either.

Adams distributed a prepared statement late Saturday about the stadium controversy after his Oilers dropped their preseason opener 16-13 to the Arizona Cardinals at the Astrodome. The crowd was announced at 42,424, about two-thirds of capacity.

“We have repeatedly stated the Astrodome has reached the twilight of its useful life as a playing site for NFL football,” Adams said. “No amount of physical changes or lease concessions would be acceptable to the Oilers or any other NFL franchise.”

Lanier said the Astrodome was a Harris County-owned stadium and suggested Adams work with the county.

Adams has chafed under the arrangement where Astrodome USA, the Astros parent company, collects some $3 million in rent from the Oilers.

Sanders alert

The Denver Broncos, last in team defense in 1994, may offer Deion Sanders a contract within the next 30 days, owner Pat Bowlen said Saturday.

Sanders, the 1994 NFL defensive player of the year, is a free agent who will begin the football season after his baseball season with the San Francisco Giants ends in October.

“We’re not going to make a ridiculously low offer because that doesn’t make any sense for us or for Deion,” he said. “What we’ll try to do is we’ll try to negotiate with him and see where we come out. But the Broncos definitely will go after him.”

Sanders won a Super Bowl ring while playing cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers in 1994. He has said he wants a chance to get back to the Super Bowl, and Denver is one of a handful of teams on his list.