Fresh start for Green

Trent Green swallowed hard, then tried to list every Miami Dolphins starting quarterback since Dan Marino retired seven seasons ago.

It took him a minute, but he eventually got most of the 10 names right. "You're not going to find anyone to replace Dan Marino," Green said.

Fortunately for Green, the Dolphins aren't asking him to replace Marino. They're merely asking him to replace Daunte Culpepper.

Green's long-awaited trade to Miami finally got done yesterday, after he passed a physical and was acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in 2008.

The deal was finished hours after Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller and coach Cam Cameron told Culpepper they would try to trade him, essentially ending his one-year stint in south Florida.

Culpepper wasn't happy with that development, saying he is "not interested in being traded." But the 36-year-old Green was ecstatic that the move he'd waited weeks for finally became reality.

"I do feel for his situation," Green said. "It's no fun. I went through it, obviously, in Kansas City this past few months. . . . Hopefully things will get cleared up quickly for him, because I know it's no fun."

Green agreed to a new contract with the Dolphins weeks ago, once he became convinced that Kansas City wouldn't give him a fair chance to compete with Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard for the starting job in 2007. He threw for 21,459 yards and 118 touchdowns in Kansas City, but missed eight games last season because of a concussion.

Culpepper is due to make $5.5 million this season, played in only four games last year because of right knee problems, and is still trying to recover from surgery after tearing three ligaments in that joint during the 2005 season.

People have told investigators that Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was involved in a dog fighting operation at a house he owns in Surry County, Va., the sheriff said, and Vick will be charged if investigators can find evidence backing those claims. Sheriff Harold D. Brown said he hopes members of a task force that have been gathering evidence can meet by next week to see how credible the evidence is and how best to proceed . . . San Francisco 49ers defensive end Melvin Oliver tore a ligament in his right knee during a noncontact drill this week. His status is not known . . . Saints first-round draft choice Robert Meachem, a receiver from Tennessee, will spend the next 4-6 weeks rehabilitating his right knee following an arthroscopic procedure to clean out loose cartilage and repair his medial meniscus . . . Former NFL lineman Bob Buczkowski, who played for four teams before retiring in 1991, pleaded guilty to helping run a million-dollar prostitution ring with his girlfriend out of his parents' suburban Pittsburgh home.