L.A. departures provide a leaguewide wakeup call

Sporting News, The, July 10, 1995 by Bob Glauber

The NFL clearly has a huge and embarrassing hole in Los Angeles, where the flight of the Rams and Raiders has heaped further misery on a city besieged by earthquakes, fires, mudslides and Kato Kaelin.

No team in the country's second-largest television market? It's almost unfathomable.

But, unlike most pundits offering gloom-and-doom forecasts of NFL franchise movement, I'd like to suggest an entirely different slant on the events that have wrested two teams from one city in the past four months.

I suggest that history will view this as one of the most constructive events the league could have imagined.

Of course, that's little solace to the devoted Rams and Raiders fans still upset over Georgia Frontiere's selling out to the highest bidders in St. Louis and Al Davis' bolting back to his old digs in Oakland. But with the departures of these two teams, fans and politicians in cities facing similar situations will do what it takes to make sure it doesn't happen to them.

In fact, the Los Angeles travesty has already worked wonders in two other NFL locales. Late last week, the city councils in Cincinnati and Cleveland took steps to ensure the Bengals and Browns would stay right where they are. Yes, even Bengals fans suffering through the dismal spate of losing seasons would miss Sunday afternoons at the stadium.

In Cincinnati, council members approved funding for a new stadium, part of a $540-million complex that would be shared with the Reds, by 2000. The vote came minutes before a deadline imposed by team Owner Mike Brown, who said he would head to Baltimore if he didn't receive assurances of a new stadium.

How close was Brown to leaving?

"It was a real deadline," he says. "We had prepared a two-line statement saying, 'Thank you for what you did. Goodbye.' We were up against the wall."

You think the Los Angeles situation wasn't a factor? Hey, Brown is no Davis or Frontiere, but this guy clearly was ready to emulate his Los Angeles counterparts -- even though his roots are firmly embedded in Cincy.

On the same day, Cleveland took a major step in making sure the Dawg Pound remains an NFL end-zone fixture. The City Council approved a $154-million renovation for decrepit Cleveland Stadium, something team Owner Art Modell has been adamant about in deciding the team's long-term future.

You think the Los Angeles factor wasn't at work there? Get real.

So where does this leave the city setting the example of what others want to avoid? Well, I have no doubt the Los Angeles area will have two teams by the turn of the century, perhaps earlier. I'm also convinced the region will have learned from its mistakes and make certain its two new tenants are in for the long haul and will provide what neither previous occupant could: stability.

Still, there is no guarantee some other owner won't pull up stakes and start over somewhere else. Just ask the people of Baltimore, a deserving group of football fans that still has not recaptured a team after Bob Irsay slithered out of town in the dark 11 years ago.

In the meantime, let Los Angeles serve as an example to cities that are foolhardy enough to believe that an NFL team is a birthright, not a privilege. Oakland and St. Louis have been lucky enough to recover after ignoring that message in previous years.

Hey, Bucs fans. You get all that? And what about you, Cardinals and Seahawks followers? Do yourselves a favor and make sure your teams don't skip town. After all, it's hell trying to get them back.

Expansion blues

So you think it's tough starting an NFL expansion team from the ground up? Don't tell that to officials from the 28 established clubs, many of whom are still unhappy with how the Jaguars and Panthers are cornering the market on free agents and draft picks.

The Jaguars and Panthers not only had plenty of free-agent money to spend in the offseason, but they also had an extra pick per round in this year's draft and will get an extra seven picks next year.

"I think in some ways, (the expansion teams) have an unfair advantage, especially with the draft picks," one team executive says. "They can use those picks to trade in the draft, and it makes it tough for other teams."

Next year, Carolina and Jacksonville get an extra pick in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, and they get two extra selections in rounds six and seven.

Coming full circle

Four years ago, the Jets desperately tried to trade up with the Falcons in the second round to get a shot at selecting their quarterback of the future, Brett Favre. The Falcons said no, picked Favre and left the Jets to settle on their next choice, quarterback Browning Nagle.

A year later, the Falcons traded Favre to Green Bay, where he has blossomed into a star. Nagle, meanwhile, turned out to be a bust in his brief time with the Jets and was sent packing a year ago. P.S.: Last week, the Falcons signed Nagle as a free agent.

Quick hits

Cowboys offensive tackle Erik Williams overcame a major personal obstacle last week when a Dallas grand jury decided not to indict him on rape charges stemming from an incident involving a 17-year-old girl he met at a topless bar. But Williams continues to have physical problems in recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. Williams had hoped to be ready for the start of training camp, but he may not play until October ... How good was the offensive-line depth in this year's draft? "Maybe the best in history," says Panthers General Manager Bill Polian, who believes 25 to 30 linemen are capable of emerging as starters. ... Defensive end Kevin Carter, the Rams' first-round pick, has been impressive in offseason workouts, but there are those who continue to question whether he has the intensity level required for sustained success. "He may be a minicamp player," one executive says. "I'm still not sure about whether he's intense enough."