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Sunday, September 10, 2000

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

No one was more delighted about Charlie Batch's new $31 million contract in Detroit than a woman in Homestead.

Lynn Settles, his mother, cried tears of joy.

"All she could do was cry," Batch said. "You talk about that much money and she writes it down on a piece of paper, and you count that many zeros ... I'd never seen a check like that and my mother had definitely never seen a check like that."

Batch, a Steel Valley High School graduate, grew tired of stalled negotiations and called his agent at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He told Tom Condon to complete the deal by noon.

Each side made a few concessions and by lunch Batch had a four-year, $31 million contract extension that included a $10 million signing bonus. He will still receive the third-year minimum salary of $358,000 this season.

"I don't want to have it lingering on for days and days," Batch said.

"When they got to $7.75 million average per year, I was running out of arguments," Condon said.

Cheap talk

Not since Pitt's punter has a Panther leveled so many cheap-shot allegations against linebacker LaVar Arrington.

Carolina Panthers fullback William Floyd went on a tirade against the Redskins' rookie. Floyd was penalized 15 yards after fighting with Arrington during their game last Sunday.

Floyd said Arrington reacted to a good block by slamming him to the ground. The two shoved each other and were separated, but Floyd went back after Arrington and was penalized.

"He just caught me at a time when I was too emotional for the situation," said Floyd.

Floyd has been upset over the recent deaths of his father and former teammate Fred Lane.

49ers go 3-4

The 3-4 defense, nearly extinct in the NFL, got a small boost last weekend in Atlanta when San Francisco used that formation on occasion.

The 49ers want to team former defensive end Jeff Posey and top draft pick Julian Peterson at outside linebacker and aren't strong at defensive end in the traditional 4-3 sense.

Last season, Buffalo's 3-4 defense ranked No. 1 in the league. The Steelers are the only other team that uses that defense as its base.

San Francisco may use more of it.

"I believe that having guys who can run and are versatile allows you to leave the same guys on the field, but yet go to different looks," said 49ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora.

But then, the 49ers gave up 36 points to the Falcons.

Personality conflict

The theatrics by Arizona defensive end Simeon Rice must make Joe Greene's blood boil as much as it did when he played the old Browns.

Rice ended his holdout last week, came in to sign a new contract, then stormed back out when someone said something he didn't like. Later he returned to practice.

Greene, the Cardinals' defensive line coach, acknowledged that he coaches different personalities than the ones he played with on the Steelers' Steel Curtain defense.

He has seen defensive tackle Mark Smith hold out twice in two years. Defensive tackle Eric Swann received his requested release to seek a fresh start.

"With the money and the jealousies," Greene said, "I don't know if they're ruining the game, but they have created some unpleasantness at times. It's difficult for organizations and coaches to keep the best on the field. It affects the game and the fans, who don't get to see the best. It has become 'Me, me, me, I, I, I.'

"I don't like it but it's the business. This is the ultimate team sport. I played on teams that were pretty good. It was hard, real hard. We needed everybody all the time."

Quick slants

Philadelphia Coach Andy Reid on why he ordered an onside kick to open the game in Dallas last Sunday: "Sometimes those things can send a little bit of a message, not only to the other team but your own team. We came to play. That was the message we were trying to send." The Eagles recovered and went on to score. ... Kent Graham, 31, is among the minority. Of the NFL's 32 starting quarterbacks, only eight are over 30. Five years ago, 15 were over 30. "Usually," Buccaneers Coach Tony Dungy said, "you like to let a guy learn for a few seasons, but it seems like more and more we're going with the younger guys." ... Before the Cowboys, hurting at quarterback, signed Steelers castoff Anthony Wright to their practice squad, owner Jerry Jones called former Steelers personnel boss Tom Donahoe to ask his advice on him.