Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon has pleaded innocent to drunken driving in the suburbs east of Seattle. Moon entered the plea Tuesday in Kirkland Municipal Court. His next hearing is March 31.
The 51-year-old was arrested about 2 a.m. on Dec. 28 after refusing a field sobriety and breath test in Medina. He was also cited for driving with expired registration tabs. His lawyer says Moon has paid the fine for that violation.
Moon played for Washington in college and for Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Kansas City in the NFL. He is now part of the Seahawks’ radio broadcast team.
Redskins: Steve Spagnuolo’s interview with the Washington Redskins turned into a marathon. The architect of the defense that won the Super Bowl spent about 10 hours Wednesday meeting with owner Dan Snyder about the Redskins coaching vacancy, starting in the morning and continuing well into the evening.
That’s on top of the 90 minutes the two spent on the phone Monday evening and the first face-to-face portion of the interview at Snyder’s house Tuesday night.
Spagnuolo, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks and former Giants coach Jim Fassel are the three leading contenders to replace Joe Gibbs, who resigned Jan. 8. Snyder has met several times with both Meeks and Fassel.
The owner planned to consider his options and possibly make a decision Wednesday night. He has said he would like to have a coach in place by the end of the week.
Jaguars: Gregg Williams was hired as Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Wednesday. He takes over for Mike Smith, who left to become the head coach of the Falcons.
Williams spent the past four seasons as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator in Washington. During that span, the Redskins ranked sixth in the league in defense.
Before his tenure with the Redskins, Williams spent three seasons as head coach of the Bills. Buffalo’s defense improved each season, going from 21st in 2001 to 15th in 2002 and second in 2003.
NFL: Commissioner Roger Goodell is willing to pursue any believable information in the Spygate case. Goodell said Wednesday the league has been in touch with representatives of former New England Patriots assistant coach Matt Walsh, now a golf pro in Maui. Walsh, who did video work for the Patriots when they won their first Super Bowl after the 2001 season, was not interviewed as part of the NFL’s investigation into New England illegally taping opposing coaches in the last two years.
Sen. Arlen Specter, with whom Goodell said he expects to meet in the next week or so, questioned the thoroughness of the NFL’s investigation that led to a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Belichick, a $250,000 fine for the Patriots organization, and the loss of this year’s first-round draft pick.
Raiders: Hall of Famer James Lofton officially joined the Oakland coaching staff on Wednesday, taking over as the team’s new receivers coach. Lofton interviewed last week with coach Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator Greg Knapp before negotiating a contract with owner Al Davis.
Lofton, who played two seasons for the Raiders during his career, had interviewed the past two seasons to be the team’s coach, but lost out to Art Shell in 2006 and Kiffin a year ago.
Lofton had spent the past six seasons as wide receivers coach for the Chargers before being fired last month after San Diego’s loss to New England in the AFC championship game.
Falcons: Alvin Reynolds, a 15-year NFL assistant coach who previously worked with new Falcons coach Mike Smith in Jacksonville, joined Smith’s Atlanta staff as defensive backs coach Wednesday.
Reynolds will work with assistant head coach and secondary coach Emmitt Thomas.
Reynolds worked with Smith in Jacksonville for five years as defensive backs coach. The 2007 defense tied a team record with 20 interceptions.
Former player found shot: Former Houston Oilers linebacker John Grimsley was found fatally shot in his suburban Houston home Wednesday, the apparent victim of a gun cleaning accident, an official said.
Fort Bend County Justice of the Peace Joel Clouser said that when Grimsley’s wife, who was out of town, was not able to reach her husband Wednesday, she had a neighbor check on him. The neighbor found Grimsley’s body on the floor in the dining area.
“It appears it may have been an accident,” Clouser said. “He was in the process of cleaning his gun. It appears that he had his dinette table covered with newspapers and he had the tools out to clean the gun with.”
Grimsley was 45.
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