NFL

Cowboys' Nguyen considers retiring

By wire services
Published November 29, 2005

IRVING, Texas - Cowboys LB Dat Nguyen is considering retirement after being placed on the season-ending injured reserve list with neck and knee injuries.

"He doesn't feel like he can play up to his standard now," coach Bill Parcells said Monday.

Nguyen strained his neck Sept.25 at Oakland, played the next week, then missed three games to end his 43-game starting streak. He played sparingly the past four games without starting, mainly in passing situations.

The 30-year-old is in his seventh season out of Texas A&M. He is signed through 2007. He has 665 tackles and led the Cowboys in tackles the past two seasons, the first player to do that since Ken Norton Jr . in 1992-93.

Besides the neck injury, Nguyen has been bothered by knee problems.

"He just physically couldn't withstand some of the things. That's really what the problems were," said Parcells, who spoke to Nguyen on Sunday, a conversation that was similar to one they had a few weeks earlier in which the linebacker also mentioned the possibility of retiring.

Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American to play in the NFL, wasn't available for comment.

The team signed 12-year veteran Mike Barrow , a former University of Miami and Giants standout, to take the roster spot.

FAN SAYS HE WAS SPREADING MOM'S ASHES: A man arrested for running onto the field during the Eagles' home game against the Packers on Sunday told police he was spreading his late mother's ashes.

Christopher Noteboom , 33, of Tempe, Ariz., ran onto the field holding a plastic bag, leaving a cloud of fine powder behind.

As he reached the 30-yard line, he dropped to his knees, made the sign of the cross and laid down on his stomach. Security personnel reached him moments later, and he offered no resistance as he was escorted from the field.

The native of Doylestown, Pa., said his mother died of emphysema in January 2005, shortly before the Eagles' Super Bowl appearance.

"She never cared for any other team except the Eagles," Noteboom told a TV station after he was released from custody. "I know that the last handful of ashes I had are laying on the field, and will never be taken away. She'll always be part of Lincoln Financial Field and of the Eagles."

Noteboom, a bar owner in Arizona, was charged with defiant trespass.

EAGLES: Sean Landeta is back and now rewrites a trivia question: Who are the only USFL players remaining in the NFL? The punter, 43, is in his 21st season in the league and his second stint with the Eagles. Answer: He and Doug Flutie , the Patriots' backup quarterback, are the last two from the defunct league still playing.

SEAHAWKS: The team received rare word from the NFL that referee Larry Nemmers erred Sunday on the Giants' two touchdowns in Seattle's 24-21 overtime victory. The league said touchdown catches made by Jeremy Shockey and Amani Toomer shouldn't have been ruled completions. Coach Mike Holmgren said he was told by game officials there was not enough indisputable visual evidence to overturn either TD.

VIKINGS: All-Pro DT Kevin Williams could miss two games because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. CB Fred Smoot , who has missed the past three with a broken collarbone, could return Sunday, coach Mike Tice said.

[Last modified November 29, 2005, 02:15:28]