Keyshawn officially headed South
By Fred Goodall
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay
Buccaneers are counting on
Keyshawn Johnson to be a man of
his word.
The two-time Pro Bowl receiver
promised one thing Wednesday —
to be himself — after signing an
eight-year, $56 million contract
with a $13 million signing bonus
that makes him the highest-paid
player at his position in the NFL.
For the Bucs, who failed to go to
the Super Bowl because they
couldn’t score enough points, that
would be enough.
The team traded two first-round
draft picks to the New York Jets and
committed nearly $7 million per
season to him to finish the deal be
cause of his track record as a pro
ductive and charismatic player
whose top priority is winning.
“I’m not a savior ... I can’t say
I’m a hired gun and come in here
like Dennis Rodman did with the
Bulls when they were missing a
rebounder to win a championship.
All I can say is I’m going to do my
part,” Johnson said.
“It’s refreshing to know the Bucs
wanted to give up two first-round
draft picks to acquire me,” he
added later, turning on a podium
to look toward Tampa Bay owner
Malcolm Glazer. “And, I guess, dig
into their checkbook to pay a
small fee.”
To make room under the salary
cap for Johnson, the Bucs released
receiver Bert Emanuel, who was
scheduled to earn $4.2 million
next season. One of the reasons
the team was in the market to ac
quire an impact player was
Emanuel had been a disappoint
ment after signing as a free agent
two years ago.
“I think we’re getting one of the
best receivers in the game, and his
play week-in and week-out ex
hibits that,” said tackle Warren
Sapp, NFL defensive player of the
year. “He’s been performing in this
league for four years and we expect
him to do the same thing here.”
Tampa Bay failed to score an of
fensive touchdown in five games,
including the NFC title game, and
ranked 30th among 31 teams in
passing and 28th overall while av
eraging just over 13 points.
Nevertheless, the Bucs had their
best season in franchise history be
cause of a defense that was so domi
nant that the team won two of those
five games, even when the offense
couldn’t get into the end zone.
“Everybody knows the Tampa
Bay Bucs have an extraordinary
defense that put them in the NFC
championship game last year,”
Johnson said. “I hear all the time,
all they need is 17. Well, we’re def
initely going to try to give them
that 17.”
New York gets the 13 th and
27th overall picks, making it the
first team ever with four first
rounders. The others are No. 16
and No. 18.
That gives them the wherewith
al to deal during the draft if they
have to move up to get a player
they want.
“The acquisition of two more
first-round picks creates many op
portunities for us in the draft, in
cluding more maneuvering,” Jets
coach Al Groh said.
In four NFL seasons, Johnson
has caught 305 passes for 4,108
yards and 31 touchdowns, despite
playing only one year — 1998
with Vinny Testaverde — with a
high-quality quarterback throwing
to him.
The 27-year-old receiver goes
from a well-balanced, imaginative
attack to one of the most conserva
tive, run-oriented offenses in foot
ball. He won’t have a veteran at
quarterback, either, with second
year pro Shaun King.
Johnson said he’s ready to do
whatever is necessary to help King
develop, even if it means catching
fewer passes.
“As long as I can contribute in
the blocking scheme or some
thing,” he said. “Just don’t pay me
as a $7 million receiver and stand
me on the sideline.”
That shouldn’t be a problem.
Johnson is the third Pro Bowl
player to be added to the Bucs’ of
fense since the team failed to score
a touchdown in an 11-6 loss to the
St. Louis Rams in the NFC title
game, joining center Jeff Christy
and guard Randall McDaniel.
Mike Shula was fired as offen
sive coordinator and replaced by
Les Steckel, who is installing the
offense the Tennessee Titans used
to make it to the Super Bowl last
season.
Johnson, who had been sched
uled to earn $2.4 million with the
Jets next season, is the highest
profile offensive star in Bucs his
tory and adds the deep passing
threat Tampa Bay has lacked for
years. Johnson’s receiving yardage
for last season alone surpassed the
career numbers for all but two of
Tampa Bay’s other receivers.
Johnson had 89 catches for
1,170 yards and eight TDs in 1999.
The receivers who started much
of the 1999 season for the Bucs
didn’t begin to approach that kind
of production. Jacquez Green had
56 receptions for 791 yards and
three TDs, while Reidel Anthony
had 30 catches for 296 yards and
one TD and Emanuel finished
with 22 receptions for 238 yards
and one TD.
Unpopular Olympic sports to lose funding
By Steve Wilstein
The Associated Press
BOSTON — Declaring the bot
tom line is the medal count, new
U.S. Olympic Committee boss
Norm Blake plans to push
through a radical change this
weekend that would slash the
budgets of some 20 sports while
enriching traditional powerhous
es like swimming.
Other big winners in Blake’s
plan are expected to be gymnas
tics, figure skating, ice hockey,
track and field, and boxing. The
losers would be sports like team
handball, biathlon, field hockey,
weight lifting and table tennis.
“We feel we are accountable to
making America proud, and that
comes down to the medal count,”
Blake said before presenting his
plan to the 19-member USOC ex
ecutive committee on Friday. “So
we are consciously allocating re
sources to that end, which means
we are taking from some to give
moreTo others.”
By eliminating or sharply cut
ting what Blake called, in the
business jargon he frequently em
ploys, “low value-added pro
grams,” the USOC hopes to speed
the development of athletes, im
prove coaching and boost the
overall haul of medals.
Of the 45 national governing
bodies of the sports the USOC
funds, including 39 Olympic na
tional bodies, about half are going
to feel cuts, Blake said.
“I’ve employed sort of a portfo
lio management discipline where
we’ve attempted to evaluate the
medal potential that each sport
has and then to critically assess
the capability of that sport to
achieve the winning of those
medals,” Blake said.
j Oregon daily emerald
WORLDWIDE
www.dailyemerald.com
The USOC, which budgeted
$160 million for grants to the na
tional governing bodies from
1997 through 2000, should not
waste money on sports with a
small following in the United
States and little hope of medals,
Blake said.
“There are certain sports that
are not indigenous to the United
States, so the available feedstock
of potential athletes is limited, the
amount of support available in
the U.S. from a fund-raising
standpoint is limited, and we are
therefore disadvantaged,” he said.
“We have to very seriously look at
( ( These are the sports
that, for all practical pur
poses, are not really a
concern to the American
public...
Norm Blake
Olympic committee
what level of support we give
those particular sports.
“These are sports that, for all
practical purposes, are not really
a concern to the American public,
and the level of athletic involve
ment at the grassroots level is rel
atively nominal. Do we want to
throw money at a sport that,
frankly, would not have the
means to ever medal or to make
America proud. And how much
money is that?”
Each national governing body
will be evaluated on its own mer
its, Blake said, and some will suf
fer deeper cuts than others over
the next few years.
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RECYCLE
JOB RECRUITERS REVEAL ALL ABOUT RESUME AND INTERVIEW STRATEGIES!!
Just in time for the Career Fair!
Both presentations to be held on
Tuesday, April 18
EMU Alsea-Coquille Room
Resume Clinic with
Frank W. Mossett III
American Express Financial Advisors Inc.
4:00-5:00 p.m.
^ Interview Clinic with
April Razey
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
5:00-6:00 p.m.
Refreshments will be served.
Attend the Career Fair on Wednesday, April 19
in the EMU Ballroom—11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Part-time jobs, summer jobs, internship positions
and careers.