Jets’ Williams Has Mysterious Illness

Defensive back Kevin Williams of the New York Jets is hospitalized in an intensive care unit and on a respirator for an ailment originally diagnosed as strep throat.

Williams, 24, has an unspecified infection of the throat and lungs. He has been sedated for most of this week at a New York hospital and has undergone three surgical procedures to clear fluid from his throat and around his lungs.

Williams had been in and out of the hospital for two weeks. Jets team doctor Elliott Pellman has been updated daily by the hospital. Williams also has been examined by a heart specialist and an infectious disease physician.

The Jets will have a news conference concerning Williams today.

“I believe he’s listed in guarded condition, but I haven’t spoken to him in four days,� said Jerome Stanley, Williams’ agent. “He’s not able to talk or communicate. He’s not conscious more than 10 minutes at a time and has been on a heart monitor. Doctors are concerned about a virus penetrating the organs, the heart, then they wouldn’t know what to do. That was what caused the red alert.�

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The Cleveland Browns acquired running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar from the Miami Dolphins for a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft. Tuesday was the NFL trading deadline.

If the Browns (0-6) extend Abdul-Jabbar’s contract before the last day of the NFL’s 1999 fiscal year--a yet-to-be determined date in February--Miami would also get Cleveland’s fifth-round pick in the 2001 draft.

Abdul-Jabbar, 25, started three of Miami’s games this season, rushing for 95 yards and one touchdown in 28 carries. But with Coach Jimmy Johnson favoring rookies Cecil Collins and J.J. Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar was inactive for the Dolphins’ last two games.

Miami selected Abdul-Jabbar in the third round of the 1996 draft out of UCLA. He is ranked second to Larry Csonka (53) in Dolphin history with 33 touchdowns and is fifth with 3,063 rushing yards.

Cleveland’s ineffective running game has allowed defenses to play close to the line of scrimmage and put more pressure on rookie quarterback Tim Couch.

Terry Kirby, primarily a third-down back in his career, has been the Browns’ featured back, with George Jones and recently acquired Rashaan Salaam as backups. Kirby has rushed for 300 yards and a touchdown in 85 carries.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars traded an undisclosed draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for defensive end Regan Upshaw.

Upshaw, a first-round draft choice out of California in 1996, started 47 games in his first three seasons but has been a backup this season.