Jeff Graham appears headed on a deep fly pattern to another team.
The Bears’ record-setting free-agent wide receiver has trips set up to visit the Houston Oilers, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets this week.
“And there are another four or five teams who have expressed interest in him,” says Graham’s agent, Mitchell Frankel.
The Bears do not appear to be one of them.
“It is a little confusing to me why they would not have signed him by now,” said Frankel.
Bears negotiator Ted Phillips, who has been preoccupied with stadium issues and the Bryan Cox and Alonzo Spellman signings, was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
With this year’s team salary cap raised by more than $2 million to about $40.8 million, it would appear the Bears still could maneuver to keep Graham, who caught 82 passes for a club-record 1,301 yards.
“Once a player starts to go through the free-agent process, it makes it more complicated (to re-sign with the Bears),” said Frankel, who said he and Graham wanted a two-year deal with the Bears before the end of last season but couldn’t finalize details.
Perhaps the most attractive young free agent receiver available, Graham might command $2.5 million a year or more.
The Bears already have two receivers making more than $1 million in Curtis Conway and Michael Timpson. Although he caught only 24 passes for 289 yards last season, Timpson is entering the second year of a three-year, $4.5 million deal that included a $1.5 million signing bonus.
Conway (62 catches, 1,037 yards) is a restricted free agent, meaning the Bears have the right of first refusal.
On the rebound: The Bulls’ Dennis Rodman is on the cover of the March 4 issue of Sports Illustrated with the cover billing: “The Best Rebounder Ever?”
Although his career rebounding average is lower than that of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, Rodman dominates this era when fewer shots per game are taken and shooting percentages are higher. Rodman is on the verge of winning his fifth consecutive rebounding title.
“When you factor size into the equation, I don’t know how you could say there ever has been a better rebounder,” said Chuck Daly, who coached Rodman when they were with the Detroit Pistons.
Coaching scuttlebutt: Word is, Indiana football coach Bill Mallory has one year to resurrect the Hoosiers’ sagging program. . . . Northwestern’s Gary Barnett amplified on his reasons for turning down a lucrative offer to coach at UCLA during a SportsChannel interview last Friday. “You have so few opportunities in life to make a difference. I don’t think I would have made a difference (at UCLA),” Barnett said. “To me, (Northwestern) is one of those chances.”
We go live: For the ninth straight year, Chet Coppock, host of “NewsSport Talk” in New York, will be the host for the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame banquet March 9. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda will join Coppock at the O’Hare Hyatt and add his commentary if Coppock will relinquish the microphone for a few seconds. . . . At haltime of Tuesday night’s Bulls-Timberwolves game, two Illinois Special Olympics basketball teams played a game-type scrimmage. Andy Heck and Mark Carrier of the Bears were honorary coaches. The Bulls, sponsor of the state basketball program, awarded a check for $70,000 to Illinois Special Olympics. . . . Sportsman’s Park’s new “Win-Win Friday” promotion paid out $12,048 in 10 percent bonus payoffs on opening day. . . . The fifth annual Metropolitan Family Services Golf Invitational will be May 13 at Lake Barrington Shores Golf Club. Call 312-986-4174 for further info. . . . The Blackhawks will honor center Brent Sutter for becoming the 110th player in NHL history to play in 1,000 games before Thursday’s game against Colorado at the United Center. . . . Resurrection Health Care’s Monarch Ball will be Saturday at the Chicago Hilton and Towers and feature legendary broadcaster Jack Brickhouse, DePaul’s Ray and Joey Meyer, Bears Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, former Blackhawks coach Billy Reay and former Browns and Bears star of the 1950s Ken Gorgel. . . . During last Sunday’s NBC telecast of the Bulls-Magic game, Ahmad Rashad did a live cut-in from Fandemonium, the United Center’s merchandise store. The store got in its first supply of “Rodman Tattoo T-shorts,” a long-sleeved white shirt with replicas of all Rodman’s tattoos. The shirt sold out before the end of the game. General manager Brad Riggert says the store has gotten hundreds of calls coast to coast requesting the shirt. . . . Wendy Hilliard will be the recipient of the first “Trailblazer” award at the Rainbow Commission for Fairness in Athletics banquet Thursday (7:30 p.m.) at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Bob Costas will deliver the keynote address. Other award winners include Willye White (Lifetime Achievement), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Female Athlete) and Juwan Howard (Male Athlete). . . . Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith and eight Hall of Famers are scheduled to appear at a Rosemont sports memorabilia show (admission $6) March 8-10. Also signing autographs will be pro football Hall of Famers Tony Dorsett, Sayers, Otto Graham and Bob Griese; baseball Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Richie Ashburn; and hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull.
