Nfl

Byron Hanspard, an All-America running back at Texas Tech and a Pentecostal minister, is forgoing his senior year because the NFL offers a bigger platform to spread his faith. Hanspard's 2,084 rushing yards this season was the fifth-best total in NCAA history. He won the Doak Walker Award presented annually to the nation's best running back. Hanspard, who often cites Bible passages when discussing football, said playing on Sundays in the NFL won't clash with his religion. "If the Lord felt that it would hurt me a lot, he wouldn't have told me to go to the NFL," he said.

  It has come to this on the Peyton Manning free agency tour - reporters were staking out the empty desert in Arizona on rumors the former MVP quarterback would be visiting the Cardinals. Manning spent nearly six hours in Denver on Friday, and speculation was high that the Cardinals would be next. But where Manning was on Saturday was a mystery, with the Cardinals staying silent.   'Skins get their man The reaction by guard Kory Lichtensteiger said it all for Washington's veterans.

Most fans who bet on NFL games - and many who don't - have suspected at some point that the fix was in. A few crazy officiating calls, a boneheaded coaching move, a last-minute dropped pass to keep things within the spread, and normally sane fans suddenly become conspiracy theorists. Baseball had its Black Sox scandal. College basketball had point-shaving episodes at Boston College and Tulane. But despite dozens of accusations over the years, no one has ever proved that a single NFL game was crooked.

Raghib Ismail is a sure-fire No. 1 draft pick, but a lot of NFL people think he's far from a sure thing. That's why they're glad they're not the ones who will have the first chance to pick "The Rocket" when the two-day draft opens next Sunday. Ismail is Notre Dame's game-breaking wide receiver and kick-return specialist. He's a marquee name, an electrifying player, a threat to score any time he touches the ball. And his endorsement opportunities might rival those of Bo Jackson.

Randall Cunningham was named the NFL player of the year yesterday at a news conference that featured lite beer and heavy philosophy. The longtime Eagle completed his astonishing comeback season by being chosen over five other finalists by a media panel. The award, sponsored by Miller Lite, features donations to the favored charities of all six finalists. Cunningham's choice was CAUSE Ministries, an organization of Christian athletes. Cunningham, who led the Minnesota Vikings to a 15-1 record, was emotional after receiving the award.

Former Saints linebacker Scott Fujita, a union leader with a record of criticizing the NFL's player-safety record, said he sees elements of a "smear campaign" in a bounty investigation that has sullied his reputation. Some agree, and question whether Fujita's three-game suspension has something to do with retribution. "I'm not saying the NFL is intentionally lying," Fujita said. "I've been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they may have just been working with the information they've been given, even though much of that information was inaccurate and lacked credibility.

The congressional committee that investigated steroid use in baseball will turn its attention to the same problem in football. The panel said yesterday it will ask NFL officials and union representatives to testify at a hearing next week. "A public review of the NFL's strategy for combatting steroid use marks the next step in our investigation," said Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. "Examining the effectiveness of the NFL's policy is a key part of understanding why 500,000 high school students today have tried steroids.

WITH PERHAPS billions of dollars at stake, a hearing Tuesday in Philadelphia over concussion litigation filed against the NFL promises to be a contest between legal lions. About 4,200 former players have sued the league. Some suffer from dementia, depression, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological problems. Others simply want their health monitored. The players' lawyers accuse the NFL of promoting violence in the game and concealing known cognitive risks from concussions and other blows to the head.

INDIANAPOLIS - Andrew Luck knows life in the NFL can't be this easy for a rookie. The No. 1 overall draft pick threw his first NFL pass for a long touchdown, just like Peyton Manning in 1998, then led Indianapolis to two more. Luck one-upped his predecessor by winning Sunday's preseason opener, 38-3, over St. Louis - Indy's first preseason-opening win since '94. Johnson released. The Miami Dolphins have released wide receiver Chad Johnson a day after the wide receiver was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor domestic battery, Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reported.

The NFL will reveal its schedule for the upcoming season on Tuesday at 7 p.m., the league announced. The NFL Network and ESPN both plan to broadcast specials around the schedule, starting at 7. The ESPN "SportsCenter Special" is from 7 to 10 p.m. At home, the Eagles will face Dallas, Washington, the Giants, Atlanta, Carolina, Detroit, Baltimore and Cincinnati. They will travel to Dallas, Washington, the Giants, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Arizona, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The league has already announced that the season opener will be Dallas at the Super Bowl champion New York Giants on Sept.