VIKINGS: Minnesota starting safety Dwight Smith is expected to play Monday night against Chicago despite a misdemeanor citation this week for marijuana possession.
Coach Brad Childress said Saturday that he anticipates Smith playing. Childress deferred comment and announcement of discipline until the case is resolved.
The incident occurred Thursday night, and Smith practiced as usual Friday and Saturday. Childress said he addressed the matter with the team Friday.
According to the Minneapolis police report, Smith’s vehicle was stopped for impeding traffic at a downtown intersection. An officer “smelled the strong odor” of the drug as he approached the car, and Smith — according to the report — said he had “just got done smoking some marijuana.”
The charge is punishable by a $125 fine for a first offense.
“Ain’t nothing,” defensive tackle Pat Williams said. “It’s just people trying to get in our locker room. We ain’t worried about that. We’re just all focused on the Chicago Bears.”
FALCONS: Something kept Michael Vick’s former dogfighting headquarters in Surry, Va., from selling at auction Saturday, disappointing a real estate developer who has about $500,000 tied up in the place.
“I didn’t see the people in the crowd I thought we needed,” Wilbur Ray Todd Jr. said after rejecting the only serious bid — $747,000, the property’s assessed value for real estate tax purposes.
Todd said he thought the 15-acre country estate in rural southeastern Virginia was worth at least $1 million, even without “the celebrity factor.” He now plans to list the house for a more conventional sale.
Vick is serving a 23-month sentence for a dogfighting conspiracy. The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback and three co-defendants raised pit bulls and trained them for fighting in the area behind a 4,600-square-foot white brick house. Several dogs that did not perform well in test fights were executed.
Facing financial ruin, Vick sold the property to Todd for the bargain price of $450,000. The disgraced NFL star has lost millions in endorsement deals and will lose the final $71 million of his Falcons contract. He also might have to repay the team nearly $20 million, and he’s being sued by three banks for allegedly defaulting on nearly $6 million in loans.
DOLPHINS: Miami owner Wayne Huizenga said he’s “not actively looking to sell” the team despite frustration over a winless season, but he confirms talking with potential buyers since April. Huizenga issued a statement Saturday in response to reports he is discussing the sale of his franchise and Dolphin Stadium to two real estate developers.
BILLS: Buffalo signed receiver Roscoe Parrish to a contract extension. The length of the extension was not immediately disclosed. Parrish was about to enter the final year of a four-year deal he signed after the club drafted him in the second round of the 2005 draft. He has a league-leading 17.5-yard punt return average.
COLTS: Indianapolis will sit five starters today at Oakland, with injuries to defensive end Robert Mathis leaving the team without any of the first-string defensive linemen it had to start training camp. The Colts decided Saturday that Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea would not play against the Raiders, Indianapolis spokesman Craig Kelley said. The team had already listed receiver Marvin Harrison (bruised left knee), defensive tackle Raheem Brock (ribs) and right tackle Ryan Diem (knee) as out for today.
Associated Press
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