Cleveland Mayor Michael White left open the possibility of
court action should the NFL allow the move of the Browns. White:
"If I were the commissioner of the NFL I would be concerned about
potential legal action of the city of Cleveland against the NFL"
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/15).
PRESSURE COOKER: Gordon Forbes writes, "The heat is on NFL
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to keep the league from plunging into
disarray, if it hasn't already. ... This is clearly Tagliabue's
most pressing hour" (USA TODAY, 11/15). In Minneapolis, Curt
Brown writes, as "NFL stability goes the way of instant replay
and leather helmets," it is time for Tagliabue "to act. ...
Whenever you're ready, Paul" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/15).
Tagliabue is the man on the spot" (AP/ATLANTA CONSTITUTION,
11/15).
DAILY JERRY JONES UPDATE: Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said he
will have a "counterproposal" within the next two days on how to
count Deion Sanders' contract towards the salary cap. But NFLPA
General Counsel Richard Berthelsen believes Jones will "lose" if
he fights the league to have Sanders' contract restructured. The
NFL charged the Cowboys an extra $1.644M toward the cap over the
next four years, but Cowboys VP Stephen Jones claims there should
be no extra charges because they signed him "under the rules that
were in place" (Kevin Lyons, FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 11/15).
SUPER BOWL BIDDING RE-OPENS: The NFL will reopen Super Bowl
XXXIV to the bidding process previously used, with Atlanta, Miami
and Tampa the likely southeastern candidates. Since the decision
was made at last week's owners meeting, the sites are yet to be
officially notified of the change. Tagliabue had attempted to
use the 2000 game and its $200M in local economic impact as
inducement for localities to build new facilities. However, his
"attempts have been unsuccessful to this point" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 11/15).
ST. LOUIS PAYS UP: The St. Louis Convention and Visitors
Commission will pay the NFL $20M today as part of a league-
imposed relocation fee for the Rams. The money was raised from
the sale of PSLs. The team is scheduled to pay $9M in relocation
fees over a number of years. In addition, the league will
receive an additional $17M as its cut from PSL revenue (Lorraine
Kee, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 11/15).
