Jim Irsay

Quarterback Chris Chandler was back at square one Wednesday after the Indianapolis Colts announced the failure of a deal to trade him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Colt spokesman Craig Kelley said the trade fell through when Chandler refused to report to the Buccaneers. Earlier, the quarterback's agent said negotiations over Chandler's pay went nowhere.

Fewer than 24 hours after leading the Indianapolis Colts to their first opening-game victory in nine years Sunday, quarterback Mark Herrmann was released. "The Indianapolis Colts are appreciative of the leadership Mark Herrmann provided against Cleveland, and for his many years of work with the club," General Manager Jim Irsay said.

During a 20-day stint in 1951, Jack Kerouac hunkered down in front of a typewriter at a friend's New York apartment. Hopped up on coffee and benzedrine, he began retelling the tale of an aimless trek he had made across America. In a stream-of-consciousness burst, Kerouac typed away on long sheets of tracing paper, taping each finished page to the previous one to form one continuous, rolling text.

Indianapolis Colts Coach Chuck Pagano has been diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia, according to ESPN. The report, citing unnamed sources, said Pagano waited until the team's week off last week to get checked out after experiencing extreme fatigue and bruising since training camp. He has been in the intensive-care unit of an Indianapolis hospital since Wednesday, receiving treatment, the report said. Early Monday, Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted: "Colts n all NFL Fans..keep Coach Chuck n his family in your prayers..He is fighting with courageous energy n faith and WILL win this battle!"

Bruce Smith talks a good game. He plays a great game. Smith, the star defensive end of the Buffalo Bills, has been touting himself as the best defensive player in the NFL this season. A panel of 80 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league agreed today, voting Smith the Defensive Player of the Year. Smith easily won the balloting with 72 votes.

Whenever a player from the Dominican Republic is late for spring training, the patented excuse is that he had visa problems. Baltimore's Jay Bell, brother of Toronto's George Bell, has come up with a new one. Wrote the Philadelphia Inquirer when Bell finally reported a week ago Thursday: "He told the Orioles he couldn't leave before then because his wife had sent all of his clothes to the cleaners."

Quarterback Jeff Hostetler of the Oakland Raiders has a compression fracture in his neck and will miss Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts. Hostetler will be replaced by Vince Evans. The Raiders, who have a bye next week, thought Hostetler might be ready to return in two weeks. "The doctors are encouraged he'll be able to play after the bye," Coach Mike White said.

If Eric Dickerson is anything less than outstanding as a running back for the Indianapolis Colts, then "he's a bum," said Jim Finks, the New Orleans Saints general manager. The Rams traded Dickerson to the Colts on Saturday after Dickerson's constant complaints that he was unable to play well for the salary he was making with the Rams. Dickerson signed for four years for a figure that Colt General Manager Jim Irsay said makes him the highest-paid running back in league history.

Colts owner Robert Irsay said today that he is close to an agreement with Illinois quarterback Jeff George. "We're very close, but we're not there yet," Irsay said as he arrived at the Colts headquarters for the resumption of negotiations this morning. "We're close in dollars and the years of the contract, but we're not there yet."

Eric Dickerson, who has sought to renegotiate his contract with the Indianapolis Colts or be traded, told an interviewer for an Indiana television station that he intends to retire. "I'm through with football, and (the Colts) know it. So I'm telling you, I'm finished," Dickerson, 29, said in an interview broadcast Monday on WFYI-TV's "Indiana Tonight" show.