Combined Reports


IRVING, Texas -- The idea that Emmitt Smith is more mischievous than injured was rebutted Monday with an image that could soon symbolize the end of the Dallas Cowboys' championship reign.


"After Emmitt hurt the hamstring Sunday, he was crying on the bench," said a Cowboy player, asking not to be identified. "He was just weeping. None of us had ever seen him like that before. Just crying like a baby. We all crowded around him so the TV cameras couldn't get it."


The teammate added quietly, "We're afraid he's really bad this time. No kidding. It's bad."


That scene has led the two-time defending National Football League champions to suspect they will be without the full services of their star running back for Sunday's third consecutive NFC championship showdown with the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.


"More than likely he's not going to be ready," Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer said Monday. "You can play with a bad shoulder, like he did against the New York Giants last year, but this is an entirely different thing. You can't play without wheels."


When Smith aggravated a strained left hamstring late in the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers in the second-round playoff game Sunday -- then did not return because he was not needed -- many Cowboy observers figured he was playing a mind game with the 49ers.


It wouldn't be the first time somebody hobbled around for six days, then rushed for 150 yards on the seventh.


But as teammates and coaches have searched Smith's eyes and studied his voice for signs of his condition, those signs have not been good.


Smith uncharacteristically refused to speak with reporters, even while being followed to his car after the workout. "I'm afraid this is not a set-up" owner Jerry Jones said.


The Cowboys have lost the last six games in which Smith has carried the ball six times or fewer, dating to his 1990 rookie season. And in the last two National Football Conference championship games with the 49ers, Smith has gained 346 total yards rushing and receiving -- 173 yards in each -- and scored four touchdowns.


Blair Thomas, Smith's replacement, wasn't even with the team until Nov. 30, after having been released by the New England Patriots. He has carried the ball 48 times for Dallas.


Each getting on in years and walking with a limp, Miami Dolphins' coach Don Shula and quarterback Dan Marino say they'll be back for the next football season.


"I'm not going anywhere," Marino said Monday. "If I have to play on one leg, I'll play on one leg."


The Dolphins season ended Sunday with a 22-21 loss to San Diego in an American Football Conference divisional championship game.


Marino, 33, planned to consult team physicians and specialists this week about his right Achilles tendon to determine if he will need further surgery. It never properly healed after the first surgery in October 1993.


For his part, Shula, who turned 65 last week, quelled speculation he would take a front office job with the National Football League or the Dolphins next season. Last year, he signed a two-year contract extension, and owner H. Wayne Huizenga has said Shula could stay as long as he wants.


The Tampa Bay Buccaneers rejected an offer Monday from an investment group interested in keeping the National Football League team in town, and said they would choose "in the very near future" from among a handful of other offers -- including one from Peter Angelos. Angelos, majority partner of the Baltimore Orioles, heads a group of investors who have offered $205 million for the team if it can be moved to Baltimore. If the team cannot be moved, the group agreed to pay $170 million, according to a source familiar with the bid.


The $205 million offer, which would be a record price for a sports franchise, is among several the team said it received that were better than a bid submitted by a group headed by Tampa, Florida, developer Tommy Shannon.


Chuck Knox wanted to complete the final year of his contract, but management would not allow it, and so he was forced to step down as the Los Angeles Rams' coach.


"This is probably the end of my 41-year coaching career," Knox said Monday. "Certainly, I would have liked to continue, but, under the circumstances and after thorough discussion, it became apparent that was not going to be the case."


Knox, doomed by his 15-33 three-year record, was also hurt by the team's anticipated move to St. Louis.


"Obviously, there is a possibility the team will move," Ram President John Shaw said. "And if the team moves, it will be looking to get a fresh start." Shaw said he has given no thought to a replacement for Knox.