NFL NOTES: FORMER CHIEF SENTENCED

Former Chiefs running back Bam Morris was sentenced Thursday to two
years and six months in federal prison for his role in conspiracies
to sell marijuana and launder drug money.

The 29-year-old Morris, who also played for the Baltimore Ravens and
the Pittsburgh Steelers, must spend five years under supervised
release after serving his sentence. With credit for time already
served, the U.S. attorney's office said, Morris is likely to be
released in about 15 months.

Morris, a former Texas Tech star who led the Steelers to the Super
Bowl in 1996 and was that game's leading rusher, pleaded guilty last
Aug. 4 to two of four counts of a federal indictment.

He admitted attempting to distribute more than 220 pounds of
marijuana in the Kansas City area between Jan. 1, 1998, and May 10,
2000.

Court records show that money for the deal came from Morris'
teammate, former Chiefs wide receiver Tamarick Vanover. Vanover has
since served two months in jail and two months of home detention in a
federal stolen car case.

Morris, who was already on probation for a 1996 marijuana conviction
in Texas, retired from the Chiefs shortly before his indictment on
the federal charges was made public.

After being cut by the Steelers following the Super Bowl, Morris
signed with the Ravens, for whom he rushed for more than 700 yards
the next two seasons. But each year he was suspended by the NFL for
violating the league's substance abuse policy, and the Ravens
released him in January 1998.

Morris' probation was revoked, and he was sentenced in 1998 to 10
years in prison, but he served only 89 days after his attorney
arranged a plea bargain. He was signed and cut by the Chicago Bears,
for whom he never played, and Kansas City picked him up in October
1998.

His two co-defendants, DeWayne Calvin Bryant, 29, of Dallas, and
Robert Corey Myers, 23, of Warrensburg, Mo., have each pleaded guilty
to one count of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of
marijuana and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Myers was sentenced in April to one year and eight months in federal
prison; Bryant is awaiting sentencing.