PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Tim Brown's 'Holdout' Ends

August 14, 1992|STEVE SPRINGER

Wide receiver Tim Brown ended his monthlong holdout, arriving at the team's Oxnard training camp and signing a two-year deal. The terms were not disclosed.

Brown said there were never any serious problems with the negotiations. As a matter of fact, he could have come in a lot earlier, but he said the Raiders told him to stay out.

"They informed me before camp started that they had 12 or 13 guys coming in that they wanted to take a look at," Brown said.

So, did they directly tell him to stay home?

"It was more indirect," Brown said. "But I caught the hint. I knew what could happen and prepared myself."

That scenario didn't sit too well with Coach Art Shell.

"Whoever told him that was wrong to tell him," Shell said. "I didn't tell him."

Pause.

"But it was a good chance to get a look at the young guys," Shell added with a smile. "But I still would have liked to have had (Brown) here from day one."

Brown, entering his fifth season, said his deal with the Raiders is structured to take advantage of any changes brought about by the NFL free-agent trial in Minneapolis.

"If the league changes (its rules), my contract will be changed," Brown said. "I'll be a free agent with the right of first refusal to the Raiders."

To make room for Brown, the Raiders waived linebacker Basil Proctor, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound free agent from West Virginia.

Running back Marcus Allen, who reported Wednesday, missed Thursday's workout because of a non-football related injury. He suffered a sore foot, not believed to be serious, while working out on his own.

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