Vikings Set to Cut Ties to Missing Rookie

Dimitrius Underwood, the Minnesota Viking defensive lineman who left training camp after one practice and has not returned, acted differently in the weeks before camp, people close to him said.

Underwood’s high school football coach, Larry McDonald, said the first-round draft pick seemed anxious and less excited about becoming a Viking, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune report. Underwood’s mother, Eileen Underwood, also thought he was acting differently but didn’t know why, the coach told the newspaper.

The newspaper also reported Sunday that religion might have played a role in Underwood’s changing behavior and his decision to leave the team.

The rookie, 22, repeatedly called his family’s minister in North Carolina to talk about a deep religious experience he’d had, the newspaper said. While attending Michigan State, he joined a nondenominational church.

Underwood left training camp last Monday, and his whereabouts remained unknown Sunday.

Meanwhile, Viking officials said they will cut their ties with the rookie, according to a report in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.

Viking attorneys informed Underwood’s agent, Craig Domann, that the team doesn’t want him back, the newspaper reported.

Underwood signed a $5.3-million, six-year contract shortly before joining the Vikings at training camp in Mankato, Minn.

About a month ago, he began calling the Rev. Moses Townsend in Fayetteville, N.C.

“It seemed like he had become religious. He didn’t want to talk about football,” Townsend said. “He was just excited about his Christian experience and religious experience.”

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The Cincinnati Bengals and holdout quarterback Akili Smith, despite being unable to agree on money, have agreed on the structure of a contract that would get the No. 3 overall pick into training camp at Georgetown, Ky.

The Bengals agreed to void the last year of a seven-year deal if Smith played in 55% of the team’s plays in three of the first six years.

The Bengals then thought that Smith’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, would agree to a financial package similar to the seven-year, $54-million deal that No. 2 pick Donovan McNabb agreed to with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

But the Bengals claim Steinberg countered with a proposal that would pay Smith more than McNabb in those six years and nearly as much as No. 1 pick Tim Couch for his seven-year, $59-million deal with the Cleveland Browns.

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New England Patriot linebacker Ted Johnson will miss at least four months after tests confirmed that he suffered a ruptured left biceps tendon in Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage.

Johnson was sidelined the entire 1998 season for a similar injury to his right arm.

Patriot Coach Pete Carroll plans to groom first-round draft pick Andy Katzenmoyer of Ohio State for Johnson’s job.

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Rookie Jon Kitna completed 17 of 23 passes for 236 yards and four touchdowns during a Seattle Seahawk scrimmage that drew an overflow crowd of 8,400 in Cheney, Wash. He had no interceptions.