NFL SUSPENDS THREE: Titans CB Denard Walker, Bengals OL
Matt O'Dwyer and former Jets OL Jumbo Elliott "became the
first players suspended" under the NFL's "anti-crime
policy," which is "designed to discourage and punish violent
off-field behavior." Walker and O'Dwyer were suspended for
the first two games of the 2000 season, while Elliott, who
is retired, will have to serve the suspension should he
return to the league. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said,
"Now that the policy has been in effect for three seasons,
we are raising the disciplinary standard" (WASHINGTON POST,
3/15). In N.Y., Bill Pennington notes that the suspensions
mark the "first time that playing time has been revoked for
first-time offenders" under policy (N.Y. TIMES, 3/15).
AZZI IRKED AT SALARY: WNBA Shock G Jennifer Azzi "quit
the league" yesterday, "two weeks after being offered what
she described as 'a slight raise' from the $44,000" she
earned last year. Azzi: "I don't know what [WNBA execs] are
thinking, what they want to do with me, whether they value
me or not" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/15).
