Packers QB Brett Favre has "won his appeal" and will
now be allowed to drink alcohol. Favre's agent, James "Bus"
Cook, said the league had eased the sanctions on Favre after
his entrance in the league's substance-abuse program in May
(Bob McGinn, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/22).
DON'T BET ON IT: An NFL source said that Super Bowl
coaches Mike Holmgren and Bill Parcells were told last week
to "warn" their players about gambling in New Orleans.
Security personnel were in the casinos to ensure that
players stay away (Mult., 1/22).
MADDEN-ING TALK: Fox's John Madden, on the fans at the
Super Bowl: "There's something very un-fan like about the
Super Bowl. They haven't been here all year. It's like you
go to church on Christmas and Easter and you ask, 'Where the
hell did those people come from?' It's just that it's more
corporate" (NEWSDAY, 1/22). NFL Dir of Special Events Jim
Steeg said the league is estimating that 35-40% of the crowd
will be for Green Bay (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/21).
WALT'S WIN: A Federal Court judge ordered the NFL
pension plan to pay former Pro Bowl lineman Walt Sweeney
$1.8M after agreeing with Sweeney's allegation that "drugs
given to him by team employees left him physically and
psychologically disabled." The pension plan trustees can
appeal the decision. Sweeney said he had received no support
from NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw as Sweeney and Upshaw "were
rivals" while playing (Tony Perry, L.A. TIMES, 1/22).
Sweeney, ABC sports contributor Tim Green and Legal Editor
Arthur Miller, were guests on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Sweeney: "It is a victory for me, but hopefully its going to
be a victory for hundred of other guys that are out there
that have the same problems as I do." But Green countered
by adding, "I can't see how we're going to hold the NFL
Players Pension Fund accountable for what's happened to his
[Sweeney's] life after the decisions that he's made that led
him to his addictions" ("Good Morning America," ABC, 1/22).