Falcons Sign Dunn for Six Years, $28.5 Million

Warrick Dunn thinks he’ll have no problem sharing the spotlight in a backfield that includes Michael Vick and Jamal Anderson.

After signing a six-year, $28.5-million contract with the Atlanta Falcons on Friday, Dunn talked about the relationships he envisions with his new teammates. Dunn will advise Vick, last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, to be patient as the starting quarterback.

“He has skills,” Dunn said. “It’s just a matter of time.

“When they develop, it’s going to be scary. Let’s just hope they develop.”

The Falcons, who have gone 16-32 over the last three years, are promising Dunn he’ll get the ball between 20 and 25 times a game.

Anderson led the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 1998 but is coming off his second reconstructive knee surgery in three years. Last month he agreed to a restructured contract that will pay him $2 million instead of $5 million and delay a bonus that helped the Falcons save $3.5 million under the salary cap.

Anderson’s cap charge for 2002 is $4.5 million, which further fuels speculation he could be cut. But Anderson indicated he wants to work with Dunn.

“[Atlanta Coach] Dan [Reeves] asked me what I thought of a new back coming in like Warrick,” Anderson said. “I like him. It’s like this--I’m the mail, and Warrick can be FedEx. I can do the heavy lifting. When you need a quick strike, Warrick is your guy.”

The Falcons also announced that Joe Gibbs is one of three new minority owners.

The Patriots signed kicker Adam Vinatieri, whose 48-yard field goal as time expired gave the franchise its first Super Bowl championship, to a multiyear contract.... The Indianapolis Colts re-signed tackle Tarik Glenn, their designated franchise player, to a six-year, $30-million contract, including a $10-million signing bonus.... Unrestricted free-agent running back James Allen, a 1,000-yard rusher for the Chicago Bears in 2000, signed with the Houston Texans.

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Auto Racing

Ricky Craven won the pole for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington, S.C. Jeff Gordon, off to a slow start in his bid to defend his Winston Cup title, qualified second.

Ted Musgrave passed Robert Pressley with 12 laps to go, then held him off to win the Craftsman Anniversary 200 truck race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.... Jeff Burton won the Busch series pole during qualifying for the Darlington 200 at Darlington, S.C.... Larry Dixon led top fuel qualifying for the Mac Tools Gatornationals with a quarter-mile run of 4.604 seconds at 321.96 mph at Gainesville, Fla.

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Winter Sports

Caroline Lalive, who flopped in her three races at the Salt Lake City Games, won the women’s super-giant slalom title in the U.S. Alpine Championships at Squaw Valley. The men’s super-G, run in a snowstorm, was won by Marco Sullivan.

Adam Malysz of Poland clinched the World Cup ski jumping title for the second consecutive season by finishing second to Matti Hautamki of Finland in a large-hill event at Trondheim, Norway.

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Jurisprudence

Two friends of Jayson Williams appeared in court at Flemington, N.J., on charges they tampered with evidence from a fatal shooting to make it look as if the victim, not the former NBA star, fired the gun.

Neither Kent Culuko of Mahwah nor John W. Gordnick of Rochelle Park entered a plea.

They are accused of helping Williams hide his role in the Feb. 14 shooting death of limousine driver Costas Christofi at the estate of the former New Jersey Nets’ star.

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Miscellany

James Brown, the host of “Fox NFL Sunday,” has been hired by the Sporting News radio network to host a daily show that will be broadcast in Los Angeles on KMPC (1540) from 7-9 a.m. beginning March 25.

Chris Brennan, president of the Sporting News network, said that negotiations with Brown had been ongoing, and when Jay Mariotti and Jim Litke left the network Thursday, it created an opening for Brown.

Since Mariotti and Litke were doing a four-hour show, the 9-11 a.m. time slot still needs to be filled, and Brennan said an announcement about that would be forthcoming.

Pepperdine men’s volleyball assistant coach Jeff Stork, a three-time U.S. Olympian, was hired as the women’s head coach at Cal State Northridge.

Stork beat out four other finalists for the job, which opened when Lian Lu retired in December after eight seasons.

Stork will remain with the Waves while working on a part-time basis at Northridge until the end of the current men’s season.

Stork was the setter on the gold medal-winning 1988 U.S. Olympic team. He also was a 1992 and 1996 Olympian.