Bowl Notes : Deion Sanders Says That Arrest Changed, Harmed Him

Deion Sanders, the All-American cornerback from Florida State, said in New Orleans Wednesday that he has been changed and harmed by his Christmas Eve arrest-detainment by Ft. Myers, Fla., police after an incident there in a department store.

Declining to comment on the specifics of the case--on legal advice--Sanders said, “For most of my life, I’ve been hearing that a lot of people love you to death and a lot of people hate you. Finally, I have experienced that. I’m terribly sorry it happened, but it happened. I’ve learned that you’ve got to look out.”

The flamboyant Sanders added: “It had nothing to do with my personality. The (Ft. Myers) police didn’t know who I was.”

Bill McGrotha, who has been the sports editor of the Tallahassee, Fla., Democrat for 35 years, said his paper had been investigating the incident since it happened.

“(We’ve found that) there was wrong on both sides,” McGrotha said. “But the police are not supposed to be wrong.”

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, accepting Sanders’ version of an incident in which some witnesses said the player used physical force against either store clerks or auxiliary police, said he will employ the veteran cornerback as usual in the Sugar Bowl Monday against Auburn.

“I know Deion better than any of you all,” Bowden said. “It’s a pleasure to be his coach.”

A total of 24 starters on the USC football team, including 2 kickers, and 12 players selected at random, tested negatively for drug usage, it was learned Wednesday. An NCAA drug testing team administered the test the first week of December. If a player tested positive, he would be banned from a post-season game, such as the Rose Bowl.

There is a possibilty of a team being tested twice before a bowl game by the NCAA.

The Auburn players who were in New Orleans for last year’s Sugar Bowl, where Auburn Coach Pat Dye played for a 16-16 tie with a field goal against Syracuse on the last play, seem to have mixed feelings about the call.

“Every quarterback always wants to go for it,” said Auburn quarterback Reggie Slack, who was a backup last year. “But I think (Dye) made the right decision at the time. Our seniors didn’t want to go out with a loss.”

Said Auburn’s Lombardi-Outland Trophy winner, defensive tackle Tracy Rocker, “I’d rather take a tie than a loss in your last game, but to me, the objective is always to win. I would always do whatever it takes to win.”

Coach Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys watched UCLA practice Wednesday and was introduced to the Bruin players.

The player he was most interested in, of course, was Troy Aikman, whose introduction to Landry turned into a media event.

“It’s too early to evaluate him,” Landry said afterward. “When you get the first pick in the draft, which we haven’t had too many times, thank heavens, you have to make the right choice.”

Kicker Kendall Trainor of Arkansas said he was surprised when several of his teammates on the Kodak All-American team asked him at a gathering in Miami this month if he was being paid to play for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas, Rice and Baylor are the only football programs in the 9-team Southwest Conference that have not been penalized for recruiting violations by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.

“It caught me by surprise,” said Trainor, who declined to name the players. “They expected that since Arkansas was in the top 10 and going to the Cotton Bowl that I was getting paid.”

Trainor told them that he received no illegal inducements from Arkansas, but he told reporter that he picked up several gifts in Miami.

Rodney Peete gave him a USC T-shirt, he said, and Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State gave him a pair of shoes.

“Since I had Barry Sanders’ shoes, I was thinking I could be a running back,” Trainor said. “I’ve been bugging the coaches to give me a shot.”

Illinois and Florida give tonight’s All-American Bowl the distinction of combining the worst records of any teams in a bowl matchup this season.

Still, each team boasts a player to watch. One of the nation’s top passers, Jeff George, will lead first-year Coach John Mackovic’s Illinois team against a Florida squad paced by sophomore runner Emmitt Smith.

Illinois is 6-4-1, Florida 6-5.