Langham

Ravens cornerback Antonio Langham's sore hamstring looked quite normal yesterday, when he had seven solo tackles and broke up three passes.He also gave up several completions to Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Charles Johnson, despite excellent coverage. It was probably Langham's best performance of the season."You've got to have a one-play memory at this position, and that's the approach I took today," Langham said. "We kept coming back to make a play today."Pub Date: 12/02/96

There's taking one for the team, and then there's the punishment devised at a school in Alabama. Shawn Rider, a pitcher at Bevill State Community College, missed a practice and then lied to coach Ed Langham about where he had been. Once the truth came out, it didn't exactly set Rider free. Langham had Rider put on a catcher's mask and chest protector, then told him to kneel about 45 feet from a pitching machine, according to a report in The Birmingham News. While Rider stayed in place with his hands behind his back, the coach set the machine to fire 80 to 90 mph fastballs at the player, the report says.

STOCKTON, Calif. -- How can a team with the best defense in the NFL last season and a pass defense ranked No. 2 hope to get any better when it loses one of the best cornerbacks ever to play the position?The 49ers feel they improved now that Antonio Langham, one of the best young, veteran defensive backs in the NFL, has joined them to replace Rod Woodson, who clearly had lost a step off his legendary coverage skills last season.Woodson had a career-high 12 penalties -- twice as many as any other player on the team -- called on him last season.

ROCKVILLE -- Three recent collegiate standouts led the way, as U.S. Open sectional qualifying wrapped up a two-day stay at Woodmont Country Club. A heavy thunderstorm early Monday evening had forced a suspension of play. With two holes left, and needing to pick up one stroke to make a playoff, Lee Williams, a recent Auburn University graduate, avoided that by holing out a 111-yard shot on the 17th hole of the North Course for an eagle-2. The 2003 Walker Cup player parred the last hole for 67-67--134.

A day after their toughest loss of the season, a 24-21 defeat against the visiting Cincinnati Bengals, the Ravens were not swallowing reality with any ease.How could they blow a 21-3 halftime lead at home against a divisional rival headed nowhere near the Super Bowl? How could their offense get shut out and hold the ball for only eight minutes in the second half? How could they allow the Bengals to drop them into a three-way tie for last place in the AFC Central Division?"I feel like a punk for talking about a game I didn't play in," said center Steve Everitt, who has missed two games with a torn pectoral muscle and may not return for another two weeks.

Two days after losing veteran cornerback Antonio Langham, the Ravens set their sights on Langham's replacement by initiating trade talks with the Carolina Panthers regarding veteran cornerback Tyrone Poole.Poole, 5 feet 9, 188 pounds, has become expendable in Carolina, which recently signed former Green Bay standout Doug Evans to team up with Eric Davis.A first-round draft pick in 1995 out of Fort Valley State, Poole is heading into the final season of a four-year contract, and is scheduled to earn $704,000 in 1998.

Antonio Langham's season could be summed up by the misfortune he suffered during yesterday's 24-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.Langham, the Ravens' left cornerback, spent the first half of the season mired in a slump in which he surrendered a touchdown pass in all but one of the first eight games. Determined to turn his season around, Langham started anew yesterday, and early on, he showed that he meant business against Cincinnati's star receiver, Carl Pickens.On the Bengals' second possession, they had moved into Ravens territory at the 42, when Langham broke up a deep sideline pass to Pickens on first down.

One day after bolstering their secondary by signing free-agent cornerback Rod Woodson, the Ravens suffered a major loss in the same area by losing veteran cornerback Antonio Langham to the San Francisco 49ers.Last night, the 49ers and Langham reached agreement on a five-year, $17 million contract that includes a signing bonus of about $3.5 million and a voidable clause after the fourth season.The Ravens had been counting on pairing Lang- ham with Woodson at cornerback, and reportedly had offered Langham a long-term deal that included a $5 million signing bonus and a chance to make $7.5 million in the first two years.

Ravens unrestricted free-agent cornerback Antonio Langham is expected to visit the San Francisco 49ers today and could sign a multi-year contract with the team, according to his agent.One of the top cornerbacks in the free-agent market, Langham, 25, is the only one left from a group that included the Green Bay Packers' Doug Evans and Buffalo Bills' Jeff Burris.Evans, 27, joined the Carolina Panthers last Wednesday, signing a five-year deal worth $22.5 million with a $7.5 million signing bonus.

LOUISVILLE - Tiger Woods was not the only player who celebrated yesterday at Valhalla Golf Club in the 82nd PGA Championship. Notah Begay III, who played one year with Woods at Stanford and remains one of his closest friends, made birdies on the last two holes to finish with a 2-under-par 70 and a four-round total of 10-under 278. It helped Begay finish eighth and, more importantly, earned him an automatic spot on this year's Presidents Cup team....

POTOMAC - He still has his fans, lining the fairways in their "Shark" hats and shirts. He still has his aura, emanating from his steely-eyed stare. And yesterday, in the opening round of the $3.6 million Kemper Insurance Open at the Tournament Players Club at Avenel, Greg Norman showed he had something else. His game. Playing in only his seventh tournament of the year and his first in more than a month, Norman shot a 4-under-par 67. His climb into contention - he was at 5-under and briefly tied for the lead - certainly helped spice up an otherwise drab leader board.

LOUISVILLE - Tiger Woods was not the only player who celebrated yesterday at Valhalla Golf Club in the 82nd PGA Championship. Notah Begay III, who played one year with Woods at Stanford and remains one of his closest friends, made birdies on the last two holes to finish with a 2-under-par 70 and a four-round total of 10-under 278. It helped Begay finish eighth and, more importantly, earned him an automatic spot on this year's Presidents Cup team....

POTOMAC - Casey Martin weaved in and out of a gridlocked group of leaders yesterday at the Kemper Insurance Open, maneuvering through the third round with a 4-under-par 67. Martin, who uses a cart because of a painful leg condition, enters the fourth round at 6-under 206, four shots off the steady pace of Steve Lowery, who has led after all three rounds. There are 17 players within five shots of the lead, including Franklin Langham and Paul Stankowski at 203, Justin Leonard and Tom Scherrer at 204, and Tim Herron and Stewart Cink at 206. Martin began his third round just 16 hours after he finished his rain-delayed second one. The former teammate of Tiger Woods couldn't sleep off all of the disappointment of a back-nine 40 Friday night, though, and came out slowly, double-bogeying the par-4 fourth hole.

BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns offered Orlando Brown his old locker, a new contract and the chance to relive the past. The former Ravens right tackle didn't have to be asked twice."

Jim Pyne, Hurvin McCormack, Scott Rehberg, Damon Gibson and Steve Gordon are now the answer to a trivia question.They were the first five players selected by the new Cleveland Browns in the expansion draft at the Canton (Ohio) Civic Center yesterday.They set the tone for the type of players the Browns were looking for -- obscure ones who didn't use up too much cap room.With a $1.8 million salary cap number, Pyne was actually one of the more expensive players picked. Of the 37 they selected, only five had salary cap numbers above $500,000.

It is more glamorous to have a quick-strike passing game in the NFL, but the surest path to victory is traveled on the ground.That indisputable fact was apparent once again in Week 5.No fewer than 12 of the 22 teams that played on Sunday failed to rush for 100 net yards. Ten of the 12 lost.Of the 10 teams that went over the century mark, nine won. San Diego, which had the third-best rushing total of the day (152 yards) in a loss in Indianapolis, was the lone exception.That's why the New York Giants are struggling to regain their 1997 form -- they can no longer run the ball.

New Orleans Saints cornerback Eric Allen has become a late signing target of the San Francisco 49ers, which could have a significant impact on the Ravens' possibly reaching a multi-year agreement with cornerback Antonio Langham, an unrestricted free agent.Langham has met with the 49ers for a day and a half, and his agent, Pat Dye Jr., hinted two days ago that they might reach an agreement with the team while in San Jose, Calif. But Langham left the 49ers' training camp without a contract yesterday, and Dye said the player would make a decision within two to three days.

For the 15th consecutive year, the SCROOGE Society is hoping you will dramatically curtail your Christmas gift-giving -- or at least your holiday spending -- and give more thought to the meaning of the season. Stop wasting mega-sums on stuffnobody wants, says SCROOGE, and focus on the spirit of giving."Remember," says the society's 1994 newsletter, "that a merry Christmas isn't for sale in any store for any amount of money."The Society to Curtail Ridiculous, Outrageous and Ostentatious Gift Exchanges -- SCROOGE -- was founded in 1979 and is still run single-handedly by Chuck Langham, a retired writer of Army technical manuals.

STOCKTON, Calif. -- How can a team with the best defense in the NFL last season and a pass defense ranked No. 2 hope to get any better when it loses one of the best cornerbacks ever to play the position?The 49ers feel they improved now that Antonio Langham, one of the best young, veteran defensive backs in the NFL, has joined them to replace Rod Woodson, who clearly had lost a step off his legendary coverage skills last season.Woodson had a career-high 12 penalties -- twice as many as any other player on the team -- called on him last season.

If this weekend's NFL draft were a fairy tale, the Ravens would satisfy their hunger for a cornerback by moving up six slots in a trade with the Oakland Raiders to select Michigan All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson.The Raiders own the fourth overall selection, a place that has been kind to the Ravens by yielding offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Peter Boulware in the past two drafts.But the chance of such a scenario unfolding is extremely slim, partly because the Ravens would have to give up too much to climb that high on the draft board, partly because Woodson blew away the Raiders at a recent workout, partly because Oakland had the league's worst defense in 1997.