ON. THE SIDELINES for:a while is Lion's |

quarterback Jerry Tagge, seen here’

receiving an injection from nurse Sheila Smith at Lions Gate Hospital on Thursday.

Tagge | has a blood clot in the leg a! and is expected to be in n hospital a few n more days:

° “

oe Page B3, September 9, 1979 - Sunday News:

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~

before he is allowed homie*t: to rest. There is no firm date for ‘Tagge s return ‘to action.

(Terry Peters photo). .

Signs pro basketball contract

LOS ANGELES (UPI)
Ann Meyers sat on the sofa
in her. pink dress with her
blue eyes twinkling.

It was difficult - .almost
impossible - to imagine her
with a basketball, driving the
lane ‘on Darryl Dawkins,
Philadelphia's gigantic
center.

But if she and the Indiana

Pacers have their way, it

could happen this year.

Meyers, 24, the = first

‘woman to attend UCLA on a

full athletic scholarship,
became the first woman to
sign a contract with the
National Basketball
Association and will report
to the Indiana Pacers’ rookie
camp Monday.

‘The former Olympian and
star of the Bruin women’s
basketball team signed the
contract last Thursday. It
was announced officially
Wednesday at a _ news

conference. :

The pact with the Pacers is
a one-year, no-cut contract.
If she fails to earn a berth on
the roster during the four-

day rookie free-agent camp,

she will remain with the
team in a yet-unannounced
capacity.

“The problem with
making the team will be.
more mental than physical,”
the 5-foot-9, 140-pound
Meyers said. “If I can do it
mentally, I can do_ it

physcially. I think it’s a long
shot, but it might pay off.

“I’ve had dreams all my
life. Nothing is impossible.”

She is a sister of Dave
Meyers, a forward for the
Milwaukee Bucks and
former UCLA standout. Ann
said her brother “was a little
disturbed when he first
found out about this, but
told me as long as I knew
what I was doing he would
be behind me.”

She was flanked at the
news conference by team
owner Sam Nassi and Coach
General Manager Bobby
Leonard.

“T'll look at her strictly as
an athiete,” said Leonard.

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“If she’s good enough, she'll
make the team. There’s no
gimmick to this. I want to
wish her the best.” Nassi
echoed his coach.

“There’s no way she'll be
on the roster for the first
game unless she earns a
spot,” he said.

Meyers, who helped the
United States women’s
basketball team to a silver
medal in the 1976 Olympics,
said she’s played in pickup
games against several NBA
stars, including her brother,
Calvin Murphy and Wilt
Chamberlain.

“If I didn’t think I could
compete with men, I
she said. “I

wouldn't try it,”

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think my skills are equal to
those of some NBA players.”

Nassi said one of the keys
to signing Meyers was the
new three-point shooting
area to be initiated this
season, allowing Meyers to
utilize her accurate outside
shooting.

He also said it was time
women got involved in the
NBA, citing Janet Guthrie's
entrance into the ranks of
professional auto racers,

“I saw Guthrie at the last
Indianapolis 500 and noticed
all the attention and interest
she was drawing,” said Nassi.
“I said to myself, ‘Maybe
that could happen to the
Pacers and the NBA.”

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