NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was the subject of ESPN's
"Sunday Conversation." Tagliabue said the league is "turning the
corner" on franchise free agency. Noting Tamopa and Seattle: "I
think we stabilized most of the other situations." Asked what
could affect the league's popularity, Tagliabue said, "In today's
society, with some of the lines being blurred with gambling and
everything seems to be a lottery or a casino, I am still
concerned the ultimate goal has to be the integrity of the game.
We have to do everything we can ... to make sure that we never
have a game in the National Football League that is either
tainted by lack of effort or somebody seeking influences from the
outside" ("Sunday Conversation," ESPN, 4/22).
ST. LOUIS TAKES CHANCE ON PHILLIPS: The Rams selected
Nebraska RB Lawrence Phillips with the No. 6 pick. Phillips will
remain on probation until November for assaulting a woman while
in school. In St. Louis, Barbara Bennett, Exec Dir of the
Women's Self Help Center, called the pick "very, very
disappointing." Rams Owner Georgia Frontiere: "Most football
fans and most female football fans want whatever helps the team.
... If it helps our team, that's all I care about" (T.J. Simers,
L.A. TIMES, 4/21). In St. Louis, Bernie Miklasz called it "a
dangerous selection": "We live in a sick society, and the pro-
sports culture is a leading disease carrier" (ST. LOUIS POST
DISPATCH, 4/21).
