Bender, Barely A Bill, Hears Final Bye-Bye

A pink slip or a reprieve. That is what dozens of players faced as the deadline for trimming NFL rosters approached.

You would think a player who didn’t get another week to show his worth would be bitter, disappointed, even distraught.

Not Carey Bender, who was cut by the Buffalo Bills. Bender, whose NFL career consisted of one play, was released Monday after spending most of the past two seasons on the practice squad.

The 5-foot-7, 185-pound running back from Coe College in Iowa was just thrilled to get the opportunity.

“I came into this league happy just to have a chance to meet Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas,” Bender said. “I was living a dream. People pay for those fantasy camps, and I lived them. But the more I hung around, the more I realized they weren’t much different from me.”

He spent nearly two seasons on the practice squad making $1,500 a week - about $9,000 less a week than the league minimum - for going to meetings and essentially being a tackling dummy.

Chances are Bender will not get picked up by another team because there’s little room for small running backs on a 53-man roster. If he is not claimed, he will return to Iowa and probably take a sales job in his brother’s company.

Wuerffel supplants Nussmeier

Danny Wuerffel, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who many scouts felt could not make it in the NFL, has moved up to the backup role with the New Orleans Saints.

Wuerffel, a fourth-round draft pick from Florida, moved ahead of former Idaho standout Doug Nussmeier after Saturday’s 18-16 exhibition loss to the Oakland Raiders. He completed 8 of 13 passes for 64 yards and led the Saints to two touchdowns.

Wuerffel took over from starter Heath Shuler in the third quarter and moved the Saints 67 yards on seven plays for their first TD. In the fourth quarter, he directed an 18-play drive for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Nussmeier, a fourth-round draft pick in 1994 from Idaho, played only the final 5 minutes of the game, going 1 of 6 for 24 yards.

Stewart should return

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart’s knee injury was confirmed as a sprained medial collateral ligament that should not keep him out of the Aug. 31 opener against Dallas.

Stewart, injured in the second quarter of a 28-20 exhibition victory Sunday over Detroit, underwent an MRI test that supported the initial on-field diagnosis of a sprained MCL, meaning a slight tear of the ligament.

Surgery for Hampton

Rodney Hampton, the leading career rusher for the New York Giants and a fixture in their backfield the past seven years, underwent surgery on his right knee and will be sidelined 2-3 weeks.

The best scenario for new coach Jim Fassel is that Hampton will miss the regular-season opener against Philadelphia on Aug. 31 and would be able to play in the second game at Jacksonville on Sept. 7.

Rookie Tiki Barber or the oft-injured Tyrone Wheatley, who has failed to live up to the expectations the Giants had in taking him in the first round of the 1995 draft, will replace Hampton in the starting lineup.

Pink slips

Quarterback Tommy Maddox, a first-round pick in 1992 by Denver, was released by Atlanta, along with receiver Tyrone Brown, offensive guard Jeff Pahukoa and running back Richard Huntley, all of whom played with the 3-13 Falcons in 1996.

Former Idaho Vandals safety Montrell Williams was one of six players cut by the Dallas Cowboys.