Carrying a nation's hopes and trying to win a major championship on the same weekend turned out to be more than the fifth-year player could handle.

He basically lost out to Chicago's Donnell Woolford, a fifth-year player.

He may return next season as a fifth-year player after being redshirted this fall for medical reasons.

Of the seven fifth-year players on the 1989 team, only one has yet to earn an undergraduate degree.

He said he might appeal to be considered a fifth-year player.

But Lewis, a fifth-year player from Duke, was more mobile and productive in training camp than Greisen.

"Last year, we had a guy like Jules Camara coming off the bench; he was a fifth-year player."

Management's proposal last weekend would have required a third-round draft pick for a fifth-year player earning the league's average salary of about $226,000.

Burton, a fifth-year player, was the Jets' only unrestricted free-agent signee during the off-season.

Blackledge, a fifth-year player who also began last season as the starter, was replaced midway through the season by Bill Kenney.