Steelers President Art Rooney II said he is "optimistic" about VP & GM Kevin Colbert being "back next year." Colbert's contract expires after April's NFL Draft, and Rooney said that he is "trying to extend" his stay for "at least another year." Rooney: "I don't really like to put time frames on things like that. They're hard to predict. The sooner the better, that's all I'll say" (TRIBLIVE.com, 1/15).
TOUGH SELL: In Jacksonville, John Reid writes when the Jaguars launch their season-ticket campaign next month, they "may have difficulty meeting their sales objectives." A "high percentage of Jaguars fans have lost their enthusiasm" for the team after "repeated losing seasons -- 10 in the past 12 years -- to the franchise's unwillingness to make significant changes to improve." Some fans have said that they are "not going to renew their season tickets" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/16).
HOMETOWN HEROES: In Tampa, Thomas Bassinger wrote the XFL Tampa Bay Vipers have a "touch of hometown bias," as 30 of the 70 players attending the team's training camp in Houston have a "connection to Florida." Coach Marc Trestman said, "If it was equal we were going to take the local player because we want our community to identify with local players, so we did that as a team, as an organization" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/13).
