DeBartolo May Regain Control of 49ers, With Policy on Outs

The tangled San Francisco 49ers’ ownership picture appears to be clearing and it looks familiar--Eddie DeBartolo could soon regain control of the club and possibly install Bill Walsh and Joe Montana in the front office.

The odd man out may be President Carmen Policy.

“There definitely is a move afoot for Eddie to get the team back,” one club source said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The moves could bring order back to a team wracked by organizational disarray for months. In December, DeBartolo, facing the threat of a gambling fraud indictment, resigned as 49er chairman and CEO and turned over operational control of the team to his sister and Policy.

The plans to transfer ownership hinge on whether the NFL approves a deal by which DeBartolo would gain full ownership of the franchise in return for giving up his share in the Edward DeBartolo Corp., Sports Illustrated reported. It added that the deal could be finalized this week,

Walsh, who coached the 49ers to three Super Bowl wins and has served as a consultant the past two years, might replace Policy. Montana, who won four Super Bowls as the team’s starting quarterback, would be brought in as a minority owner and hold unspecified front-office responsibilities.

Team officials declined to comment. But DeBartolo and his sister, in a statement released thorough the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., said they were still in the process of determining the team’s future.

“No decision, tentative or final, has been made regarding when, how, or even if, a future ownership or management change could occur,” the statement said.

The two specifically denied any deal or transfer of ownership had been worked out, and they did not address speculation that Walsh and Montana were on their way in and Policy was on the way out.

*

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who usually create off-season news by letting players go, made it this time by signing Levon Kirkland to a $25-million, four-year extension--the biggest contract ever for an NFL linebacker. . . . Marcus Allen, 38, who holds the NFL record with 123 rushing touchdowns, has told the Kansas City Chiefs that he will return for the final year of his contract. Allen had talked with CBS Sports about becoming an analyst, but the network apparently backed off when Allen was indecisive about playing another year. . . . The Green Bay Packers, who lost Gabe Wilkins to free agency and could lose Reggie White to retirement, signed free-agent defensive end Eric Curry, who spent five seasons in Tampa Bay after the Buccaneers made him the sixth pick in the 1993 draft.

Skiing

Picabo Street, emotionally devastated by the severe leg and knee injuries suffered in a crash in the World Cup finals, said she tentatively plans to come back to ski in the 2002 Olympics.

“But there’s no telling what’s going to happen,” she said. “I still waver back and forth. Sometimes I feel like I never want to do it again, and other times I can’t wait to do it again.”

Street, who turns 27 on Friday, said she will return to Vail, Colo., to undergo surgery next Wednesday to repair the damaged ligaments in her right knee.

College Basketball

The case of Makhtar Ndiaye, the North Carolina player who falsely accused Utah’s Britton Johnsen of making a racial slur, will be investigated further, and Athletic Director Dick Baddour said, “As upset as he was after the loss to Utah, he is even more disconsolate about the controversy that has been a result of his postgame comments.”

Kansas star Paul Pierce has decided to return to school for his senior year rather than jump to the NBA. Pierce will announce his decision today at Inglewood High, his alma mater. . . . Jeff Fogelson, athletic director at Xavier of Ohio, has accepted a similar position at Seton Hall, the Associated Press learned. . . . The AP also has learned that Tim Welsh, who coached Iona to a berth in the NCAA tournament after a 13-year absence, will be hired as coach at Providence. Welsh’s successor is expected to be former Iona standout and NBA player Jeff Ruland. . . . Cal State Fullerton has renewed the contract of Coach Bob Hawking.

Horse Racing

The California Horse Racing Board has suspended Dario Solares, a harness-horse owner, after the deaths of two pacers at Los Alamitos. Solares has been suspended for the rest of the year, according to a stewards’ ruling that cited him for “gross negligence in the treatment and care” of Shadows Obsession and Broadway Flair, who died Jan. 25.

The racing board also has filed a complaint against Raleigh and Steven Wiseman, the trainer and assistant trainer, respectively, of Broadway Flair. The Wisemans, who are father and son, are scheduled to have a hearing in Sacramento this month.

David Shell, an attorney for the Wisemans, said that Solares treated both horses for stomach trouble the day they died. According to Shell, Broadway Flair died of an overdose of several medications and Shadows Obsession was euthanized after she suffered a bad reaction from treatment. Solares could not be reached for comment.

Los Alamitos jockey Henry Garcia, broke his left leg in two places when the horse he was riding ran into the rail during training. Garcia is expected to be out four to six weeks. . . . Another Los Alamitos jockey, Jim Lewis, is out of a coma but remains hospitalized. He was thrown off a mount March 25 during training.

Names in the News

Floyd Patterson, 63, has resigned as New York’s athletic commissioner amid reports he was suffering from memory loss. . . . Marcelo Rios, the newly anointed No. 1 tennis player in the world, returned to his native Chile to a flag-waving, chanting crowd and a presidential tribute in Santiago. . . . Former champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of lost to German qualifier Andrea Glass, 6-7 (7-5), 7-5, 6-2, during second-round play at the Family Circle Cup at Hilton Head Island, S.C. Third-seeded Monica Seles waited out two rain delays late Wednesday and won when Barbara Paulus withdrew because of a right elbow injury. . . . Three-time world cross-country champion Lynn Jennings, 37, expected to be the top American woman in the Boston Marathon, withdrew from the April 20 race. She said her training was not going as planned.