Seahawks 26Th On NFL Pay Scale; Emtman No. 1

NEW YORK - The Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys were only the 19th-highest-paid team in the 28-team NFL last season, while the Indianapolis Colts were No. 1 and the Seattle Seahawks 26th, according to an NFL Players Association survey obtained by The Associated Press.

Dallas, which routed Buffalo in the Super Bowl on Jan. 31, averaged $466,980 per player, according to the survey. Buffalo was sixth at $564,355. The Seahawks averaged $411,615, and their highest-paid player was offensive lineman Ray Roberts at $2.075 million.

Indianapolis, which missed the playoffs, had an average salary of $674,405 per player, led by Steve Emtman, the NFL's top-paid player last season at $5.165 million.

The salary of Emtman, former University of Washington defensive tackle who was the No. 1 choice in the 1992 NFL draft, included a signing bonus of $4.165 million. His four-year contract is worth $9.165 million.

Colts linebacker Quentin Coryatt, the No. 2 draft choice, was second at $4.98 million - including a $4.055 million signing bonus - and Miami quarterback Dan Marino was third at $4.2 million.

Individual salaries include base, plus signing, reporting and roster bonuses attributed to 1992.

The average salary increased 19.6 percent last season to $496,345, the survey said. In comparison, the average salary in major-league baseball was $1,028,667 last season, and the average NBA salary is about $1.2 million this season.

Byrd milestone

-- Supported by crutches and trailed by his physical therapist and wife, Dennis Byrd walked into a news conference at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York yesterday.

Byrd, who was told he might never walk again after he was left paralyzed by a broken neck suffered in a Nov. 29 New York Jets game, stepped slowly - about 20 feet - toward a chair and sat down. On the day before he was to leave the hospital and return home to Tulsa, Okla., the former defensive lineman shook hands with his doctor and then stood on his own behind a podium to celebrate a miraculous recovery from his spinal-cord injury.

"I am astounded," said Dr. Kristjan Ragnarsson, chairman of the department of rehabilitation medicine at Mount Sinai. "He's beaten the odds many times over."

Aikman to appeal -- IRVING, Texas - Troy Aikman's agent said he would appeal a $10,000 fine handed down to his client for leaving the Pro Bowl before the game was over.

The NFL announced the fine yesterday, a day after Aikman met with Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to discuss why the Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Super Bowl MVP, left Aloha Stadium early in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Aikman said he left before the game was over because he had an early flight to catch so he could make a Monday morning meeting with a charity.

Note

-- Airbags can save lives, and Dr. Sonny Rush wants to prove they also can prevent most football-related spinal injuries. Rush, who has developed a working prototype of a helmet fitted with a protective airbag, was to make a presentation of the device today to NFL strength and training coaches meeting in Indianapolis.

Compiled from Associated Press, Newsday and Gannett News Service.