Hinz Signs Contract With Pats

Former Harvard running back Tony Hinz, currently competing in training camp with the New England Patriots, agreed to contract terms last week with the National Football League club. Details of the pact were not disclosed.

The terms of the contract are subject to Hinz not being released by the squad before the NFL's final cut in the end of August, when teams have to reduce their rosters to 47 players. There are currently 71 players in the Patriots camp, as well as eight unsigned veterans and six unsigned rookies.

Hinz also received a signing bonus, which will increase as long as he stays in training camp.

"I feel I got a pretty good deal, especially considering the circumstances," Hinz said Wednesday in an telephone interview from the squad's Bryant College training camp in Smithfield, R.I. "I know there's been a lot of trouble signing rookies around the league, and the market isn't that great right now. There are still a lot of players out of camp here."

According to M.J. Duberstein, director of research of the NFL Players' Association, the number of rookie signings this year is equal to the average pace, but most contracts have been signed very recently. More than one-third of those players drafted by the NFL have already signed contracts, Duberstein said.

"As average salaries in the league keep rising, management will try to devise any methods to thwart rising costs," Duberstein said, "but I would say Hinz got a Harvard-sized deal. If he sticks with the team, he certainly will have the best contract of all 11th-round draft choices--he got a contract equivalent to that of a high eighth-round choice."

The Patriots have touted Hinz as a sound blocking back who can also effectively catch the ball out of the backfield.

The retirement of Craig James increases the chances that the 6-ft., 2-in., 215-lb. Hinz will make the New England roster. The former Harvard star is competing with several other rookies and free agents to win the roster spot now held by 12th-year, 34-year-old fullback Mosi Tatupu

Hinz, originally from Great Falls, Mont., rushed for 686 yards and caught 36 passes out of the backfield for the 3-7 Crimson last year. He finished his Harvard career with 1625 yards (5.0 yds./carry), 55 receptions for another 801 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The highlight of Hinz' Harvard career was the Crimson's Ivy League championship-clinching 14-10 victory over Yale in The Game on November 21, 1987. In sub-zero temperatures, Hinz rushed for 162 yards on 26 carries and scored the Crimson's two touchdowns on a 56-yard run and a 19-yard reception.