NFL Capsules: Cowboys installing first field at new stadium

ARLINGTON - 

Cowboys Stadium officials aren't wasting time trying to prove the versatility of the new $1.15 billion facility.

After the spaceship-looking structure opened with two big-ticket concerts, crews are installing the artificial playing surface for the first sporting event: a CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer doubleheader July 19.

Up next are two football fields — one for the Cowboys, another for college and high school games. But not before real grass is trucked in for another soccer match.

Cowboys Stadium general manager Jack Hill said the natural playing surface was a contractual requirement for a Club America-Chelsea exhibition on July 26. He said crews will be ready.

"Keep in mind that we may have a rodeo, we may have a motocross dirt event, we may have monster truck," Hill said. "Always in the back of our mind, we knew there would be a lot more here than just football or soccer. We built it with the ultimate flexibility in mind."

But they don't plan to have a parade of grass fields. For instance, Hill said the 2011 Super Bowl will be played on the artificial surface, called RealGrass Matrix turf.

"Natural grass just brings in a whole lot of other issues," said Hill, adding that the stadium can accommodate a system for watering the grass. "Nothing against natural grass. It's beautiful. But, from a maintenance standpoint, there's quite a bit to it."

Hill said the initial installation of the three artificial turf fields will take about a week apiece. Once the fields are installed, though, they can be changed out in about a day, he said.

The Cowboys make their debut Aug. 21 in a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans — two days after Paul McCartney plans the venue's third concert. So their field will be built before the concert, Hill said.

After initial installation, machines can roll up the turf in segments about 5 yards wide, and those not in use will be stored under the stadium, said Bruce Layman, vice president of Sportfield LLC, the Austin-based company providing the turf.

The turf will be slightly thicker for football, Layman said, and will be separated from the stadium's concrete floor by a half-inch pad designed to allow water to drain through it.

Hill said the potentially high volume of college games drove the decision to have three turfs, offering more flexibility for issues such as sponsorships.

In the stadium's first year, there will be five college games, including the Big 12 championship and the Cotton Bowl. The bowl game moved from the Dallas stadium that bears its name.

The Cowboys' first regular season in their new home will also be interrupted by a U2 concert in October and a Texas-North Carolina basketball game in December. The stadium will host next year's NBA All-Star game and the 2014 Final Four.

NFL commish brought to tears by Rainier

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Judge blocks doping suspensions of 2 Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS - A judge on Thursday blocked the NFL's plan to suspend Minnesota Vikings linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams for violating the league's anti-doping policy, a move their attorney said should let them start the season with camp beginning in just three weeks.

Hennepin County District Judge Gary Larson granted the players' request for a temporary restraining order that keeps the NFL from suspending them until their case is decided. The order also prohibits the league from subjecting them to extra drug testing.

The Williamses "would suffer a significant loss of playing time" without the restraining order, the judge wrote, and they have shown "some likelihood" of winning their lawsuit.

Peter Ginsberg, an attorney for the two players, called the order a "major victory" and said that at a minimum it should allow them to play for the early part of the upcoming season. He said it also protects them from stepped-up drug testing that they consider to be retaliation for standing up to the NFL.

The NFL still wants to enforce the players' four-game suspensions at the start of the season. The first preseason game is Aug. 14 and the season-opener is Sept. 13 at Cleveland.

The judge also scheduled a July 22 hearing on whether he should put the state court proceedings on hold while a federal appeals court considers other issues in the case. The federal appeals process could take several months and could further delay any suspensions if Larson decides to wait.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the court order "effectively exempts" the Williamses from the league's collective bargaining agreement.

It also "illustrates the critical importance of a uniform policy for all teams in the league and why this matter should be governed exclusively by federal law," Aiello said. He said the NFL believes its federal appeal, which argues that the players' state claims are barred by the union contract, should be resolved before the start of the season.

Ginsberg said he and the Williamses are ready to go to trial. He said it wouldn't be fair to anyone to have a trial that conflicts with the season.

The defensive tackles, who are not related, tested positive last summer for a banned diuretic that can mask the presence of steroids, though they've never been accused of taking steroids. They took the weight-loss supplement StarCaps, which contained a diuretic, bumetanide, that wasn't listed on the label.

The NFL has acknowledged it knew StarCaps contained the banned drug, and the players say the NFL wrongly failed to share that information.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson last month dismissed most of the Williamses' original lawsuit and a related case filed by the NFL Players Association, but sent the Williamses' case back to state court to resolve two remaining claims under Minnesota law. Those claims involve whether the NFL violated the players' rights under a state law that regulates drug and alcohol testing in the workplace, and under another state law that governs disciplining employees for consuming legal products off their employer's premises during non-working hours.

The Williamses, the players union and the NFL are all appealing various parts of that order. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has tentatively scheduled oral arguments for Aug. 18 in St. Paul.

-- Steve Karnowski

Cards sign third-round pick Johnson to 3-year deal

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona Cardinals have signed third-round draft pick Rashad Johnson to a three-year contract.

The 5-foot-11, 203-pound safety from Alabama was the 95th selection overall.

Johnson, a walk-on out of high school, was a leader of the powerful Crimson Tide defense and is expected to fight for the backup role behind Adrian Wilson and Antrel Rolle and for a spot in the Cardinals' "nickel" defense.

Johnson was an Alabama captain as a junior and senior. He was second on the team in tackles with 89, 60 solos, along with five interceptions, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

He was a unanimous all-SEC selection and was a second-team Associated Press all-American.

The signing announced Thursday leaves only first-round pick running back Beanie Wells and second-round pick linebacker Cody Brown without contract agreements among Cardinal draft picks.

In another move, Arizona released wide receiver Shane Morales, who had signed as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Oregon State on April 27.

The defending NFC champions report for training camp in Flagstaff on July 29.

Ex-NFL MVP Alexander taking "tour for Jesus"

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Shaun Alexander fills his days with a mix of the spiritual and physical.

Haynesworth pleads no contest to reckless driving

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth has pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge in Tennessee and will be on probation for three months.

Court record show that Haynesworth entered his plea Thursday morning in Franklin and is required to perform 25 hours of community service, make a $5,000 contribution to an organization that offers counseling to emergency responders and attend driving school.

The charge against the former Tennessee Titans player stem from a Dec. 13 incident in which prosecutors say Haynesworth tried to pass another driver, who crashed into a concrete median and was badly injured.

The Tennessean reported that Circuit Court Judge Jeff Bivins told Haynesworth that he hopes this will be a wake-up call to the NFL player that no one is infallible.

Ex-NFL star Bruce Smith convicted of DUI in Va.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Former NFL star Bruce Smith was convicted of drunken driving Thursday by a judge who rejected his claim that old football injuries, not alcohol, were responsible for his poor performance on field sobriety tests.

Smith declined to answer reporters' questions after his trial in Virginia Beach General District Court. He promptly appealed the verdict to Virginia Beach Circuit Court, which set a hearing in the case for Aug. 27.

"We just hope for a better result in appealing," Smith's lawyer, Larry Cardon, told reporters.

Smith also was convicted of speeding and refusing to take an alcohol breath test. Judge Teresa McCrimmon gave Smith a 90-day suspended jail term and fined him $350 for DUI. She also suspended his driver's license for a year for refusing the breath test and fined him $90 for speeding.

The appeal is scheduled less than three weeks after Smith's Aug. 7 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Smith, 46, ended a 19-year career with the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins as the NFL's all-time sacks leader. The defensive lineman played in 11 Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro selection nine times before retiring after the 2003 season.

Cardon said during the trial that 11 knee surgeries during Smith's career made it difficult to complete sobriety tests that included walking a straight line heel-to-toe and standing for 30 seconds on one leg. Smith was stopped on Interstate 264 in Virginia Beach in May.

Smith, 46, could be heard telling Officer Bryan Womble about the operations in a videotape of the arrest, recorded by a camera mounted in the unmarked patrol car. "I'm a former athlete," Smith told Womble.

"I understand about your knees and everything," the officer said, adding that Smith didn't have to submit to the tests if he didn't want to.

The former Virginia Tech standout took the tests anyway, but continued to tell Womble about his bad knees.

"I know who you are. I know what you did in your career," Womble told Smith.

Smith also had trouble following Womble's hand movements with both eyes, but Cardon said that could have been caused by his client's multiple concussions or the glare of lights from traffic in the opposite lanes of the interstate.

Cardon also noted that while Womble reported a strong smell of alcohol, the officer testified that Smith's speech was not slurred and that he was cooperative. Cardon said there was insufficient evidence to convict.

But prosecutor Kristin L. Paulding said Smith's problems with the sobriety tests were not just physical - he also had trouble following instructions. For example, Smith was told to walk nine steps and turn around, but he walked 14 and had to be told to stop.

She also noted that Smith was driving on a shoulder that was clearly marked as closed to traffic and was clocked at 73 mph in a 55 mph zone before he was pulled over. Smith told Womble he and two others had consumed a bottle and a half of wine at dinner.

The judge said there was enough evidence that Smith was impaired.

"Mr. Smith was obviously very cooperative, but he couldn't follow instructions," McCrimmon said.

Smith has had two previous DUI arrests. A 1997 conviction was later dismissed, and he was acquitted in another case in 2003. Smith's injuries were also raised as a defense in the 1997 case.

-- Larry O'Dell