The NFL team owners "declined to take any action"
against NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue yesterday in the
case regarding an executive compensation plan Raiders Owner
Al Davis "claims was corrupt," according to Mike Dodd of USA
TODAY. Bucs Owner Malcom Glazer, on the issue: "All the
members would like to get more information to know what's
going on. There were a lot of different opinions about how
to approach this. The people in charge are still in charge.
We just want some improvement." But Davis said that he was
not "backing down": "There's a strong admission there was
wrongdoing. The evidence is overwhelming. No one has
contradicted it. ... A lot of people in [the meeting] do not
want to emasculate the power of the commissioner." Davis
had claimed that top NFL execs were "receiving millions of
dollars" from a "nearly" $100M fund that "was not approved"
by the league's 31 owners (USA TODAY, 1/19). Davis: "I'm
not done yet. The lawsuit will progress" (WASHINGTON POST,
1/19). In Baltimore, Jon Morgan writes that during the
meetings, the owners "expressed staunch support for
Tagliabue." Patriots Owner Robert Kraft: "It was a very
healthy exchange, and I think we learned from it and will
grow from it. We are a [$15B] enterprise, and you can't run
it like a mom and pop operation" (Balt. SUN, 1/19).
