Rookie Cuts Out Rather Than Have Hair Sheared

Rookie defensive end Brent Burnstein left the Tennessee Oilers’ training camp Friday rather than let the veterans cut his shoulder-length hair.

“I’ve been in many camps over the years, and I’ve had players leave for a lot of different reasons,” Oilers coach Jeff Fisher said. “But I never had a player leave because he didn’t want to get his hair cut.”

Several rookies showed up at Friday morning’s practice with their hair clipped and shaved with various designs.

Safety Armon Williams had the number “29” cut into the hair on the back of his head, and right guard David Bailey said he plans to trim his now splotchy hair before today’s scrimmage.

Burnstein, from Arizona State, still had his hair at practice, but the free agent left before afternoon drills.

The 6-foot-7, 268-pound lineman was third on the depth chart at right tackle, and Fisher said he had worked hard in the first week of camp.

“I feel confident they weren’t going to mess with him,” Fisher said. “I think it just came to the point where he was a little nervous about it, and obviously his hair was more important to him than his football career.”

Bills job up for grabs

Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy plans to play all four contenders for the quarterback job in the team’s preseason opener with Denver.

Todd Collins and Billy Joe Hobert are considered the front-runners, with Collins having the edge. Alex Van Pelt is the darkhorse and Jim Ballard is the longshot.

None of the quarterbacks in camp bring much regular-season experience to the competition. Collins has started four games over two years. Hobert has five starts in three years. Van Pelt has never started a regular-season game and Ballard’s professional playing experience came with the London Monarchs of the World League.

Rams make new offer

The St. Louis Rams have offered No. 1 draft pick Orlando Pace a seven-year contract worth $23.1 million, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported today. On July 10, the Rams offered the offensive lineman a sixyear, $15.1 million deal that included a signing bonus of about $6 million.

Chiefs, Lockett reach agreement

Wide receiver Kevin Lockett, the Kansas City Chiefs’ second-round draft pick, has agreed to terms on a three-year contract and was expected to join the team today for practice.

Terms of the deal with Lockett, who holds several Kansas State records, were not announced.

Rice cleared for camp

Although Simeon Rice has made progress in his bout with a viral infection, compounded by altitude sickness, it wasn’t enough to allow him to take the field Friday with his Arizona Cardinals teammates.

Team physician Wayne Kuhl released Rice from Phoenix St. Joseph’s Medical Center early in the day, but coach Vince Tobin didn’t want Rice to practice in the afternoon or play in a controlled scrimmage today.

Swilling leaves camp

After 11 seasons as one of the most dominant pass rushers, five-time Pro Bowler Pat Swilling packed his bags and left the Oakland Raiders training camp - perhaps for good.

Swilling, who has 105 career sacks for New Orleans, Detroit and Oakland, left after spending most of Thursday afternoon’s practice session on the sidelines talking with Raiders owner Al Davis.

Swilling hugged teammate Tim Brown, then hopped in his truck and left camp.

“He said he was leaving, that’s what he said. He said he doesn’t want to play anymore,” Brown said. “He was one of the lucky ones who was able to walk away and not get carted out on a stretcher.”

He has not officially retired.