European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 01, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                14 saturday october 1, 1994 sports the stars and stripes Page 37 endorsement Money Heads off nil s Cap College Hotes by Dave Goldbe Gap football writer the nil has a gaping Hole in its salary Cap and there s Noth ing anyone can do about it. The Hole endorsements which May to Why Deion Sanders is playing in san Francisco and not Atlanta or new Orleans. It works this Way. Sanders gets about $1 million from the miners for playing the final 13 games of the season plus the playoffs. He gets another $2 Mil lion from Nike for the exposure he la give the company an in vestment that will repay Nike immensely if the liners and Sanders reach the super bowl. It s a precedent the nil can do nothing about. I have written representation from the 49ers that go beyond the Normal representations of a player s contract commissioner Paul Tagliabue said when asked if he had explored a connection Between the endorsement Deal and Sanders contract with the 49efs, which contains an option Deal in which tie club can pay Sanders $5 million next february to keep him. There is an absence of any linkage with any such Organiza Tion he said in a reference to Nike. But. There s also nothing to pre vent a player or his agent from striking a Deal with a shoe manufacturer a soft drink company a fast food franchise whatever that pays the player More if he signs with a marquee team or one in a major Market. Sanders for example turned Down a $17 million four year offer from new Orleans to go to san fran nil report Cisco. To be fair about it there Are probably no More than two dozen of the 1,500 or so nil players who could use that leverage. Many Are quarterbacks and the rest Are Impact players wide receivers running backs pass rushers or Flash and dash Guys like Sanders. It s not some thing your average left guard even an All pro left guard could pull off. But think of a certain Charis Matic wide receiver on a two time super bowl Winner who be comes a free agent next year. Green Bay comes in with an offer averaging $4 million a year Seattle jumps in at $4.2 Tampa Bay goes to $4.4. The wide receiver considers an offer from his own team for $2.5 million then finally signs with the raiders for $2.75. Why did he turn Down All that Money i like the West coast and i be always wanted to Wear those raiders colors he says. Not coincidentally there he is on television the Day after the contract is signed modelling a raiders jacket made by a Well known sportswear manufacturer. An hour later he shows up in a soft drink commercial and then one for footwear. It turns ouf that he has $10 million in endorsement con tracts. Now he May have had them had he signed in Green Bay Seattle or Tampa. Then again he May not. In Sanders Case Carmen pol icy the 49ers president scr Upu f he photo Deion Sanders. Shoes step up profits loudly stayed away from any involvement in Sanders Side deals. He says he knows nothing and he does t want to know. The same would apply to any other owner who signs a prime free agent who May be subsidized by a corporation. He d see nothing hear nothing know nothing. What can the nil do Tagliabue says it can Check the contract but adds Many of. Our players have endorsement  what that Means is that legally Yie nil can do nothing. America Means free Enterprise and free Enterprise Means that any company can make a Deal with any athlete for any endorsement. Yes you can go to court. But courts Don t read Between the lines. No. 1 is. No. 2? won t happen from wire reports who s better top ranked Florida or no. 2 Nebraska the dispute won t be settled on the Field even if  go undefeated and Fin ish i-2 in the polls. Blame it on conference connections which would Send the gators and Corn huskers to different bowls if they won their league Charit Pion ships. As the Southeastern con Ference Champ Florida would go to the sugar bowl. Nebraska representing the big eight would play in the Orange bowl. That could result in a re peat of 1991, when Miami and Washington went undefeated played in different bowls and split the National title. Miami beat Nebraska in the Orange bowl while Washington Defeated Michi Gan in the Rose bowl. V of course Florida and Nebraska still have roadblocks along the Way. The gators have games remaining against and 9 Auburn _ and no. 3 Florida state. The Cor huskers must face no.23 Kansas state no. 5-Colo Rado and no. -21 Oklahoma. It s too bad though that the new bowl Alliance scheduled to Start next season in t in effect this year if it was you could see a Florida Jne Braska showdown in the fiesta bowl. Under the new system the top two teams in the Alliance which will include champions of the Sec big 12 expanded big eight big East. And Atlantic coast Confer ence will meet in the fiesta Orange or sugar bowls. Record returners Aaron fix of Canisius and Nick Butler of Culver Stock ton College set National re cords for punt and Kickoff re turns last saturday. Fix set an Mcaa division i record with three punt re turn touchdowns in the i Ruth Jaloff a 28-7 win Over Siena the ads covered 60, 30 and 65 Yards. Altogether fix re turned five punts for 200  a a Butler also scored three times on returns twice on kickoffs and once on a punt in a 42-35 loss to Benedic Tine. The freshman set an naia Mark for Kickoff re turn Yards with 241, including ads of 89 and 93, his other score came on a 90 Yard punt return. Working woman Duke freshman Heather sue Mercer has been granted a tryout next week As a j lace kicker for the Blue devils and is Likely the first woman Ever to try out for an acc football team. _ a or . I can talk about it 1 Mercer said thursday night i Haven t proven myself  Fred Chatham Duke s assistant coach for kickers told the news & observer of Raleigh that Mercer came into the football offices a couple of weeks ago asking for a tryout. She seemed serious to. We checked her out Chat Ham said. We found out that she was a pretty Good place kicker in High school and even made some new York All Star  Baltimore still in picture. Ram exec says by Mike Digiovanna the los Angeles times Anaheim Calif. St. Louis continues to gain momentum in its bid for the los Angeles rams and an improved Orange county offer is still being consid ered but team president John Shaw Dis counted reports thursday that Baltimore has fallen out of running. Asked if the rams had narrowed their choices to St. Louis and Anaheim Shaw said absolutely not. I Don t know where those perceptions came from. We really Haven t had any conversations with St. Louis for a few weeks. They re trying to come in next week but i m not sure that will  s vote among nil owners to approve the Washington redskins proposed move to Laurel md.,. About 20 Miles South of Baltimore seemed to steer the rams toward St. Louis. The main reason St. Louis offers the path of least resistance. With the redskins hoping to Corner the Washington and Baltimore markets with a new 78,600-seat stadium in Laurel Many believe Washington owner Jack Kent Cooke will rally enough support to Block Baltimore s attempts to land a franchise.  Maryland gov. William Donald Schaefer said that a recent meeting with ram officials left him less optimistic that the team will move to Baltimore. Nil commissioner Paul Tagliabue fake grass Remans Green As by Tim Whitmire Providence  a the syn thetic Rug that made carpet Burns a sports injury allowed baseball and foot Ball to be played indoors and banished natural grass from Many an american stadium is 30 years old. Artificial turf has been cursed and praised by athletes groundskeeper and tans for All three of those decades. Purists decry the replacement of pasto ral Fields with a surface More Akin to a Pool table while baseball and football payers blame artificial turf for injuries ranging from turf toe to blown out Knees. A spokesman for Dalton a. Based astroturf industries the country s largest maker of artificial playing surfaces said blaming injuries on the playing surface is a cop out that s making the surface a scape Goat Charles Fleishman said. That s a reaction to Why i m not playing As Well or can t play a Long. It s a Way to blame something Lse. A Welt maintained grass and a Well maintained turf surface neutralizes the Issue of injuries As far As surface goes. It s the violence of the game then that you re dealing  according to Fleishman Mcaa re ports show injury rates to be lower on artificial surfaces than grass surfaces in three of the last five years studied. The first artificial turf was developed by Monsanto co., a St. Louis chemicals manufacturer using Grants from a Ford foundation research organization called educational facilities laboratories. Studies showing Urban children to be in poor physical condition compared to Rural children moved Elf president or. Harold Gores to ask Monsanto to develop a soft cheap playing surface that could transform Urban rooftops and Asphalt lots into playing Fields. The company responded with Che grass and Elf said the Laurel Resolution does not bar Baltimore from getting a team. Meanwhile the Orange county task Force working to keep the rams in Southern California recently made an enhanced offer that includes a $60-70-Mil lion renovation of Anaheim stadium a $12-million practice facility and ticket and luxury Box sales guarantees. We re still reviewing it said Shaw. We re hoping to get together with them next week  t if turns 30 underwrote a $200,000 installation of the turf in 1964 at Moses Brown an All boys boarding school in Providence. Although a number of professional Sites Are going Back to grass Fleishman said artificial turfs versatility is convincing others to install it it s probably going Back toward its original purpose he said. We re Start ing to see recreational facilities put it in so they can run a variety of sports especially in the Northern climates. We re seeing people say we want nine soccer teams playing on our Fie Devery other Day so. They la put in some form of synthetic