NFL & REDSKINS HIT CAPITOL HILL TO FIGHT BREAST CANCER

BRAD JOHNSON is new in town. But he has already joined teammates and U.S. senators and congressmen in a worthy cause. Johnson, the Washington Redskins’ new quarterback, teamed this week (4/20) with fellow Redskins, Senate Majority Leader TRENT LOTT, Senate Minority Leader TOM DASCHLE and House Minority Leader RICHARD GEPHARDT at the Great Hall of the Library of Congress to celebrate progress in the quest for a cure for breast cancer. The Redskins, representing the NFL’s recent sponsorship of the SUSAN G. KOMEN Breast Cancer Foundation National Race for the Cure, kicked off registration for the 10th annual race scheduled for June 5.

ITEM TWO:

NFL PUTS ITS STAMP ON THE DECADES

It was the Green Bay Packers of the 1960s. Then the Pittsburgh Steelers of the ’70s. Now, Americans who voted in the U.S. Postal Service’s "Celebrate the Century" stamp series have chosen the San Francisco 49ers as the sports team of the ’80s. The Packers, Steelers and 49ers are the only sports teams chosen by Americans to represent in stamps the significant people, places, events and trends of each decade of the 20th century. "We were the team of the decade," says TOM RATHMAN, a 49ers fullback in the ’80s and now the running backs coach for the team. The 49ers and Steelers are the only NFL teams to win four Super Bowls in a decade. The ’80s stamps will be issued in January 2000. Personal computers, compact discs and the space shuttle program are other developments that will be featured in the series.

ITEM THREE:

NO COUCH-ING IT: OLD IS IN, BUT SO IS THE NEW QB

Cleveland Browns fans now have their quarterback of the future – TIM COUCH, selected last Saturday as the No. 1 overall choice in the NFL Draft. But they definitely want to go back to the future when it comes to a new logo for the team. "New logo? No!" is the synopsis of a survey taken this month by the Akron Beacon Journal asking Browns fans if they wanted the expansion team to sport a logo on their traditional plain brown helmets when they return to the field this season. A resounding 84 percent of those responding voted "no" -- keep things as they were when the Browns played in the NFL from 1950-95. So Couch’s new helmet will really be the old one.