Pro Football

Is this a bad omen for the two groups bidding to bring an NFL franchise to Los Angeles? K.W. Jeter's novel "Noir," set in the 21st century, has a chilling scene in which an investigator stumbles into the End Zone Hotel in L.A. "The place had a pro football motif," Jeter writes, "yellowing posters of numbers and helmeted players on the walls, from a time when there'd been those kinds of teams. . . .

Herschel Walker, the 225-pound sprinter who has been turned into a jogger by the Minnesota Vikings, continues to be the most misunderstood football player of our time. The charge that Walker lacks courage was brought into the open on national television Sunday by NBC announcer O.J. Simpson. It is a preposterous charge. The truth is that Walker has all the courage that Simpson ever showed in his NFL career. And to allege otherwise is to slander a veteran athlete irresponsibly.

What backup quarterback is playing the NFL's best football in this year of the backup? There are three lively candidates. Steve Beuerlein, Steve Bono and Jeff Kemp have been winning game after game as replacements for, respectively, Troy Aikman at Dallas, Joe Montana and Steve Young at San Francisco, and Randall Cunningham and Jim McMahon at Philadelphia. And they aren't alone.

This is the winter of the backup quarterback. From coast to coast, as the NFL's 71st regular season wound down over the weekend, more than the usual number of No. 1 quarterbacks were on the bench, and more backups were making winning plays. And no one was more surprised than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

GAME OF THE DAY Cleveland (7-3) at San Francisco (8-2), 5 p.m. TV: ESPN. In a season searching for superpowers comes this week's possible Super Bowl preview. By destroying the Oilers last week, the Browns asserted some command of the AFC Central, although Coach Marty Schottenheimer insists: "We are not elite. We haven't accomplished anything yet." Tell it to the statisticians.

It isn't Shannon Sharpe striking an Incredible Hulk pose after scoring a touchdown. Not Marshall Faulk picking up an exhausted teammate and dragging him to the line of scrimmage to keep a two-minute drill going. Not Deion Sanders high-stepping into the end zone, or Richard Dent crushing another quarterback. The true human highlight film in this Pro Football Hall of Fame class is 94-year-old Ed Sabol, the onetime overcoat salesman who shaped the NFL as we know it. Sabol, who founded NFL Films and forever changed the way the world watches football, will complete his decades-overdue journey to Canton on Saturday, when he'll be inducted with a class that includes Sharpe, Faulk, Sanders, Dent, Chris Hanburger and the late Les Richter.

Dotted lines are being signed on contracts as pro football training camps get into full swing. Green Bay Packers linebacker Tim Harris signed a two-year contract worth $1.185 million and ended his 11-day holdout today. Harris, the Packers' leader in sacks the last three seasons, called a press conference today to announce his signing. The Packers do not announce the signing of veteran players. He was to participate in his first practice this afternoon.

For soccer, rugby and other European games, with crowds of 60,000 and up packing London's Wembley Stadium, most fans wedge into the standing-room-only areas. They stand from beginning to end. That is the nature of spectator sports over there. But it isn't an American tradition, and so standing won't be allowed--except when the action brings the fans out of their seats--when the National Football League's new international league cranks up next spring. Tex Schramm so indicated this week.

Even though it seems way too hot to even think about pigskins, the pro football season is upon us once again. ESPN2 offers coverage of the "Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction" from Canton, Ohio, on Saturday at 9 a.m. Safety Paul Krause, wide receiver Tommy McDonald, tackle Anthony Munoz, linebacker Mike Singletary and center Dwight Stephenson will be entering the hallowed hall. Following at 4 p.m.