One-Time Buccaneer Logan Dies

David Logan, a nose tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who later was a color analyst for the team’s flagship radio station, died Tuesday night from a blood clot in the lungs, the team said. He was 42.

Logan joined the Buccaneers in 1979 after being drafted from Pittsburgh. He finished his Buccaneer career in 1986 with a streak of 103 consecutive starts--a team record until center Tony Mayberry broke it in 1997--before playing in 1987 for the Green Bay Packers.

An all-pro and All-NFC pick in 1984, he was second in Buccaneer history with 39 sacks.

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New San Diego Charger Coach Mike Riley has hired two of his assistants from Oregon State, Paul Chryst and Mark Banker, and received permission to interview Al Borges, UCLA’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

The responsibilities of Chryst and Banker have yet to be determined.

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Defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur was among seven assistants moving from the Green Bay Packers to the Seattle Seahawks with Coach Mike Holmgren. Among the others agreeing to join the Seahawk staff was Packer assistant Mike Sherman, who will be the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator.

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Tom Coughlin, who has proved himself a solid franchise builder and coach in four years with the Jacksonville Jaguars, was given a four-year contract extension that will take him through the 2003 season.

The Jaguars did not release the terms, but sources familiar with the deal told the Associated Press that it was worth about $2.4 million per year, which would put Coughlin in the same range as Mike Shanahan of the Denver Broncos and George Seifert of the Carolina Panthers but would fall short of Holmgren’s new $4-million-per-year contract with the Seahawks.

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Herman Ball, coach of the Washington Redskins from 1949 through part of the 1951 season, died Tuesday from heart-ailment complications at a hospital in Paoli, Pa. He was 88.

Ball, who lived in King of Prussia, Pa., spent eight years on the Redskins’ staff, winning promotion from line coach to head coach midway through the 1949 season. The Redskins finished that year with a 4-7-1 record and won three of 12 games the following year. Ball was replaced as coach after a winless streak in the 1951 season.

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Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell, saying he was sick of people using the city as a punching bag, threw a few jabs of his own, calling Packer General Manager Ron Wolf a “jerk.”

Rendell was upset about Wolf’s comments during a Monday news conference to introduce former Eagle coach Ray Rhodes as the new coach of the Packers.

“You can’t have any worse situation than be in Philadelphia, Pa., and be either a manager or a coach,” Wolf said, dismissing the Eagles’ 3-13 season as an aberration on Rhodes’ coaching record.

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After being admonished by his coach and 77-year-old grandmother, Shannon Sharpe of the Denver Broncos acknowledged he misspoke.

The veteran tight end offered a public apology to Miami Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino, whom he had labeled “a loser” after the Broncos’ 38-3 victory over the Dolphins in last week’s AFC playoff game.

“Dan, if I offended you, your family, your wife, your kids, your mother, your father, your brothers and sisters, I stand before you and I sincerely, sincerely apologize,” Sharpe said.

“The way you feel about me as a player, I can understand. Whether you like or dislike me, I can live with that. But I would never want you to dislike me or disrespect me as a person.”

The animosity between Sharpe and Marino began last summer when Sharpe was asked to compare Marino to Bronco quarterback and 1983 NFL draft classmate John Elway.

Sharpe suggested Marino’s best days were behind him by saying Elway “doesn’t want to be like another quarterback I won’t name, but he’s a guy who plays in the southern part of the United States who is no longer the player that he was.”

Marino shot back in September, referring to Sharpe as “Stanley,” and said Elway is the main reason Sharpe has been selected to seven Pro Bowls.

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The new Cleveland Browns Stadium, 70% complete, will get $5 million in modifications to limit the exposure of fans to the cold wind off Lake Erie.

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Super Bowl XXXIII

NFL Playoffs

A

First Round

Jacksonville: 25

New England: 10

Miami: 24

Buffalo: 17

Divisional

N.Y. Jets: 34

Jacksonville: 24

Denver: 38

Miami: 3

AFC Championship

Sunday 1 p.m.

(Ch. 2)

N.Y. Jets at Denver

Super Bowl

Jan. 31 at Miami

3:15 p.m. (Ch. 11)

N

NFL Playoffs

First Round

San Francisco: 30

Green Bay: 27

Arizona: 20

Dallas: 7

Divisional

Atlanta: 20

San Francisco: 18

Minnesota: 41

Arizona: 21

NFC Championship

Sunday 9:30 a.m.

(Ch. 11)

Atlanta at Minnesota

Super Bowl

Jan. 31 at Miami

3:15 p.m. (Ch. 11)