Keyshawn Johnson

Keyshawn Johnson is showing his lack of class and character. He is invited to the booth for "Monday Night Football" and he spends all his time disrespecting Marvin Harrison as a receiver. Then he gets kicked off the team by the coach, and lastly, as a guest on the USC-UCLA game, he says that USC receiver Mike Williams is too fat for an NFL receiver. It would not surprise me a bit if Mr. Johnson ended up playing for the Raiders. George Eazell Placentia

So Cade McNown is out four to six weeks with a separated shoulder? I hope he saved his handicapped-parking placard. EVAN PUZISS Santa Monica On a Thursday night football game, I saw Keyshawn Johnson take an awfully hard hit over the middle that required medical attention on the sideline, but I was confused. Was that a flashlight they were shining in his eyes, or was it Wayne Chrebet? And was Keyshawn seeing stars? DOUGLAS DOUGLAS Arcadia

Taking a firm stand behind Keyshawn Johnson, Coach John Robinson said Tuesday that the wide receiver will start for USC in Saturday's season opener, despite a continuing NCAA inquiry that could threaten Johnson's eligibility. The decision puts the Trojans at risk of having to forfeit games Johnson plays if he is sanctioned for taking money from a sports agent.

When Johnnie Morton caught 88 passes two seasons ago, it was 20 more than the previous one-season USC record. But Keyshawn Johnson is on track to at least approach Morton's mark. He has caught eight passes in each of the Trojans' first two games and that average the rest of the season would take him to 88. Johnson, with 82 catches, has jumped from 21st on USC's all-time list to 13th, where he is tied with Hal Bedsole.

Unbeaten USC, with Notre Dame and Washington lurking ahead, meets another conference unbeaten, Washington State, at the Coliseum today. The Trojans, 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Pacific 10, are hoping to take a 6-0 record to South Bend, Ind., next weekend to meet the Irish. Washington State (3-2, 2-0) has lost to Pittsburgh (17-13) and Nebraska (35-21) and has defeated UCLA and Oregon State. The Cougars' task today is formidable: --Washington State seldom wins this game.

IN "Keyshawn, the Aesthete" [Feb. 8], I enjoyed reading about Keyshawn Johnson's interest in interior design and architecture, although I really think he is being underserved by the interior design profession. As a retired architect, I felt that the article did not help by describing the look where Keyshawn was pictured sitting as "clean" and "uncluttered," which I do not think it is. And worse, the caption also refers to a room divider whose "translucent center panel allows Johnson to watch TV."

Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice waited until the game started to run right through the Washington Redskins. Rice had a career-high four sacks, Sapp had two while avoiding any pregame antics, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke loose in the second half to beat Washington, 35-13, Sunday. All eyes were on Sapp before the game, because Washington's LaVar Arrington objected to Sapp's routine of prancing through the opposing team's exercise formations.

It is the spring of 1990 on a littered field with puddles in the middle and roaring traffic in the end zone. The Dorsey High football team is running drills when an assistant coach notices a kid standing in the sideline weeds. The kid is laughing. The coach is curious. "Why are you laughing?" Darryl Holmes asks. "It's your receivers," the kid says. "What about my receivers?" Holmes says. "They're sorry," the kid says. "Oh, and you're better?" Holmes says. "Yep," the kid says.

In the aftermath, talking about the wreckage of Washington State's proud defense, the wrecker himself, Keyshawn Johnson, spoke. "Their defensive backs are kind of small, and I'm tall, and when I get my body in a position where I have the ball and they can't tackle me. . . . " Keyshawn Johnson didn't have to say much more. Pretty simple stuff. Big guy playing little guys.