Veteran QB Doug Flutie retires
FOXBORO, Mass., May 15 (UPI) -- NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, who played professional football for more than 20 years after a storied college career, Monday announced his retirement.
"I have officially retired," said Flutie, 43. "I'd like to look at it as moving on in my life and looking forward. Looking back it's been 21 years."
Flutie became a legend when he won the 1984 Heisman Trophy at Boston College and connected with Gerard Phelan in the famous "Hail Mary" last-second pass to beat Miami-Florida, considered one of the greatest plays in college football history. His 10,579 passing yards made him the NCAA's all-time passing yard leader when he left college.
Regarded as too small to start in the National Football League, Flutie had 62 NFL starts with 14,715 yards and 86 touchdowns.
Drafted in the 11th round in 1985 by the Los Angeles Rams, Flutie went on to start for the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League in the same backfield as Herschel Walker.
Flutie played four games for the Chicago Bears in 1986 and began three years with the Pats in 1987, starting 13 games. He played in the Canadian Football League for eight seasons, leading his teams to three Grey Cup championships.
"I had more fun playing football in Canada in my career, especially the last two years in Toronto," said Flutie, a six-time CFL Most Valuable Player.
Flutie was named to the NFL Pro Bowl in 1998 when he led the Buffalo Bills to the playoffs, and was selected Comeback Player of the Year. He signed with the San Diego Chargers in 2001, starting 16 games and backed up Drew Bress in 2003 and 2004 before rejoining New England in 2005.
Germany World Cup roster completed
BERLIN, May 15 (UPI) -- With less than a month remaining until the FIFA World Cup in Berlin, German coach Jurgen Klinsmann released the 23-man World Cup squad roster Monday.
The roster features the familiar names of Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Jens Lehmann.
Midfielder David Odonkor also was named to the German national team. The 22-year-old striker will make his first World Cup appearance in Berlin.
Germany faces Costa Rica on June 9 in the tournament's first match.
Former K-State football center dies
TOPEKA, Kan., May 15 (UPI) -- Harold Robinson, the first black athlete awarded a scholarship in the Big Seven Conference, died Tuesday at his home in Wharton, N.J., at 76.
Robinson became a civil rights pioneer in college sports as a football center during the 1949-50 football seasons at Kansas State University, the Topeka Capital-Journal said.
Robinson, who was born in Manhattan, Kan., in 1930 and played at Manhattan High, joined K-State's freshman team in 1948. He received a scholarship the following year and was a first-team All-Big Seven selection in 1950 despite playing for a squad that went 1-9-1.
Robinson was inducted into K-State's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
Wharton's passing came just six days after Earl Woods, the father of golf great Tiger Woods, died at the age of 74 in Cypress, Calif. Woods was a catcher for the Wildcats in 1952 and the first black to play baseball in the Big Seven.
Texas back jailed on marijuana charge
BELTON, Texas, May 15 (UPI) -- University of Texas running back Ramonce Taylor has been arrested after marijuana was found in his car, authorities said Monday.
The Bell County sheriff's office said in a news release that a live .40-caliber round of ammunition also was found in Taylor's vehicle, the Austin American-Statesman said.
Taylor, a 20-year-old junior, was a part-time starter for the national champion Longhorns. He was the team's third-leading rusher and scored 15 touchdowns, including one in the Rose Bowl.
