The 49ers took J.J. Stokes off the free-agent market Friday, signing the star wide receiver to a seven-year deal and keeping him in San Francisco.
Details of the contract were not released, but it was believed to be worth $3.3 million a year with the last two years voidable.
Paired with Terrell Owens while Jerry Rice was out with knee injuries in 1997, Stokes caught 58 passes last year for 733 yards and four touchdowns. Last season with Stokes, Owens and Rice posing one of the league’s most formidable triple threats, Stokes had 63 catches for 770 yards and eight TDs.
– Danny Kanell, cut by the New York Giants last month, agreed to a contract with the Atlanta Falcons and will back up quarterback Chris Chandler.
– Seattle Seahawks running back Ahman Green pleaded innocent to fourth-degree assault in a domestic violence case in Kirkland, Wash.
– Idaho State defensive back Jacori Rufus, 19, was killed and two teammates were injured when the car he was driving slammed into a tractor-trailer near Page, Ariz.
Tennis: Andre Agassi continued his mastery of France’s best player, humbling Cedric Pioline 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Boxing: Indiana didn’t want Mike Tyson back, so it negotiated a deal to let the former heavyweight champion stay longer in a Maryland jail. The agreement reached with Marion County (Ind.) prosecutor Scott Newman means Tyson will serve an extra 60 days in Maryland for violating terms of his Indiana probation for a 1992 rape conviction.
Figure skating: The two U.S. entries, Michael Weiss and the pairs team of Kyoko Ina-John Zimmerman, finished next to last in the short programs of the Grand Prix Final in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was otherwise a day of upsets, with Tatiana Malinina of Uzbekistan leading the women’s event over two-time European champion Maria Butyrskaya of Russia and Chinese pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo finishing first ahead of Russian world champions Elena Bereznaia-Anton Sikharulidze.
Auto racing: Bobby Labonte turned a track-record lap of 170.643 m.p.h. at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, taking the pole position for Sunday’s Las Vegas 400.
Hockey: Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kevin Hatcher will miss three to four weeks with a broken foot.
