COME IN HERE DEAR BOY, HAVE A CIGAR, YOU'RE GONNA GO FAR!

          FL-based Players Cigar Co. recently "won the
     endorsement" of the NFLPA for a cigar from the La Gloria
     Cubana line, according to Ted Jackovics of the TAMPA
     TRIBUNE.  NFLPA's Players Inc was looking at "licensing an
     upscale" line of cigars, which sell for $5 to about $8.50
     and are a "multicountry blend from Cuban seed tobacco." 
     Players Cigar "hopes" to sell 500,000 "Players Autograph"
     cigars in '99, with a sales goal of up to two million in
     three years.  Those figures represent "sales expectations"
     of $1.5M in '99 to more than $5M in 2001.  Players Inc
     President Doug Allen said that they agreed to license the
     line, but will follow guidelines in not using active players
     to endorse the tobacco product (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 3/16).