Sports briefs 9/21/04

Colleges

• Darren Sproles of Kansas State, Texas A&M's Erik Mayes and Darrent Williams of Oklahoma State were named Big 12 players of the week on Monday.

Sproles ran for a school-record 292 yards and one touchdown in Kansas State's 40-20 win against Louisiana-Lafayette. The performance was his second 200-yard rushing game of the season. The senior also had 53 return yards and six receiving yards to finish with 351 all-purpose yards.

Mayes had 10 tackles, including one for a loss, a key fourth-quarter interception and a pass deflection in Texas A&M's 27-6 win over then-No. 25 Clemson. The freshman also had two punt returns for 58 yards.

Williams picked up his second consecutive player of the week honors for his work in Oklahoma State's 59-7 win over SMU. His 162 punt return yards were a career high. He averaged 32.4 yards on five returns and had a long return of 47 yards. He also had three tackles, a 53-yard fumble return and a pass breakup.

• A University of Illinois tennis coach Brad Dancer, 34, was removed from the intensive care unit Sunday, two days after he and two players were injured in a near head-on collision.

The newly hired associate head coach was driving two members of the university's men's tennis team to a tournament early Friday morning when a pickup driven by a teenager on his way to school drifted into his lane, the California Highway Patrol said.

The pickup sheered off the left side of Dancer's minivan as the coach swerved to avoid a direct head-on collision.

The two players, Pramod Dabir and Andrew Eklov, as well as the 17-year-old pickup driver received minor injuries.

Football

• Kellen Winslow Jr., the sixth overall pick in this year's draft, broke his right leg during the Cleveland Browns' loss against Dallas and is expected to miss a major portion of his rookie season.

The Browns said Monday that the tight end has a broken fibula. Typically, the injury will sideline a player for six to eight weeks.

Cleveland defensive end Courtney Brown is done, too. Afoot injury has ended the former No. 1 overall draft pick's 2004 season. Cleveland said Brown will undergo surgery on Tuesday and will need six months to recover.

• Minnesota Vikings kicker Morten Andersen tied George Blanda for first place on the NFL's career games played list, appearing in No. 340 on Monday night against Philadelphia.

Andersen, the second-leading scorer in NFL history, kicked a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter to match the record. The Vikings signed the 44-year-old after he was released by Kansas City during training camp.

• Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Eric Warfield was arrested early Monday morning on suspicion of drunken driving, Overland Park police said. Warfield, 28, of Leawood, also was cited with failure to maintain a single lane, Capt. Dave Moore said. He said the police report was incomplete and declined to give further details.

It's at least the second time in three years Warfield has been arrested in Johnson County for allegedly driving under the influence.

Warfield's arrest Monday came several hours after the Chiefs lost to the Carolina Panthers 28-17 in Kansas City. In that game, Warfield had two interceptions, including one he ran back 43 yards for a touchdown.