Agent Denies Report That Jackson Will Be Advised Not to Play Football

Bo Jackson’s agent is once again denying reports that the two-sport star will not play football this season because of the hip injury Jackson suffered last January with the Raiders.

CBS Sports reported Tuesday night that medical authorities in Los Angeles will recommend to the Raiders that Jackson not play football again. CBS reported that cartilage in Jackson’s injured left hip “has not regenerated, and in fact, has gotten worse.”

Richard Woods, Jackson’s agent, called CBS’s report a “A total lie.”

“Nothing has been decided,” Woods told the Associated Press. “He’s due to report next week.”

Under the terms of Jackson’s Raider contract, Jackson is required to report to the Raiders within 10 days after the conclusion of his baseball season.

Jackson is in the last year of a five-year, $7.4-million football contract.

Raider executive Al LoCasale could add little to the CBS report.

“I don’t know a thing about it,” LoCasale said. “I don’t know who those sources would be. To the best of my knowledge, there was not any physical yesterday (Monday) that I’m aware of.”

The Raiders’ orthopedic surgeon, Robert Rosenfeld, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But a physician who has seen periodic updated medical reports on Jackson since March has maintained all along that Jackson would never play football again.

The source told The Times recently that Jackson would not pass the team’s physical.

Jackson is expected to report to the Raiders next week to meet some very lucrative contractual obligations. If Jackson fails his physical, he reportedly will earn an estimated $4 million on a disability insurance policy.

Jackson was injured in the Raiders’ Jan. 13 playoff win over the Cincinnati Bengals when tackled after a 34-yard run. The injury was first reported as a hip pointer, but it later developed into avascular necrosis, a condition in which the blood supply is cut off to the area of injury, causing cartilage to deteriorate and die.

The Kansas City Royals released Jackson in March, claiming he could not play baseball in 1990 because of the injury.

The Chicago White Sox took a gamble and signed Jackson, and he returned to the lineup in September as the team’s designated hitter. It was clear, however, that this was not the same Bo Jackson.

He batted .225 in 71 plate appearances, with three home runs and 14 runs batted in. Jackson was caught stealing in his only attempt. Once one of the game’s swiftest runners, his time from home plate to first base had slowed to an ordinary 4.4 seconds.

Because of the injury, Jackson’s left leg is now half an inch shorter than his right.

In an attempt to increase Jackson’s speed, the White Sox recently enlisted the services of Santa Monica-based water therapist Lynda Huey, who has helped rehabilitate such track stars as Carl Lewis, Florence Griffith Joyner and long jumper Mike Powell.