Football
NFL SIGNINGS: The St. Louis Rams made their first big move into the 2001 free-agent market, signing safety Kim Herring to a five-year contract.
The Rams also released safety Keith Lyle, a prominent member of the 2000 Super Bowl championship team who has spent his entire seven-year NFL career with the team.
Herring helped the Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, Leon Lett, the free agent defensive tackle who was a dominant run-stopper for the Dallas Cowboys, signed with the Denver Broncos.
Baseball
SALMON AGREES WITH ANGELS: Anaheim Angels outfielder Tim Salmon, who has hit a team-record 230 career homers, agreed to a $40 million, four-year contract extension. He hit .290 with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs last year.
Golf
AZINGER LEADS PLAYERS: Paul Azinger finally found The Players Championship to his liking, thanks to a relatively soft Stadium Course, a one-stroke lead and his best score at Sawgrass in 49 rounds.
Azinger started with three consecutive birdies, had a similar stretch in the middle of his round, and kept it straight and simple down the stretch for a 6-under 66 and the lead over Vijay Singh, Scott Hoch and Jonathan Kaye.
NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIP: Former champions Pat Hurst and Juli Inkster shot 2-under 70s for a share of the first-round lead in the Nabisco Championship.
Liselotte Neumann, Penny Hammel and Carin Koch also shot 70s in the first women's major championship of the year.
Auto racing
EARNHARDT AUTOPSY: An associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University was chosen to review the autopsy photos of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.
Barry Myers was picked by special master John Upchurch, who last week worked out a settlement between Earnhardt's widow, who wanted the photos sealed, and the Orlando Sentinel, which wanted its own medical expert to review the pictures.
Earlier this week, Sentinel lawyer David Bralow expressed concern about the agreement after learning that a NASCAR physician had reviewed the photos before a circuit judge sealed them at Teresa Earnhardt's request.
ANDRETTI TO DRIVE AT INDY: Michael Andretti, the winningest driver in CART history, is expected to enter the Indianapolis 500 next week for the first time since 1995.