NFL Capsules: Cowboys RB Deon Anderson charged after Tuesday arrest

ADDISON — Dallas Cowboys fullback Deon Anderson has been charged with misdemeanor deadly conduct after his arrest in a suburban restaurant parking lot.

A warrant issued Wednesday charged the 27-year-old Anderson for an incident early Tuesday at a restaurant in the Dallas suburb of Addison. He could be sentenced to up to a year in jail and fined up to $4,000.

He was freed on bond a few hours after his arrest early Tuesday.

The arrest affidavit says a parking valet claimed Anderson threatened him with a gun after having car problems and blaming the valet. Police found the loaded gun in nearby shrubs with a round chambered.

Anderson’s 25-year-old brother, Devon, was also arrested for public intoxication.

A message left with the Cowboys on Wednesday hasn’t been returned.

League News

NFL players prepare defense

WASHINGTON — A year without a Super Bowl? It may be unthinkable to football fans, but that’s one worry behind a new lobbying push by NFL players.

The NFL Players Association is bracing for a showdown with team owners that could lead to a work stoppage when the current collective bargaining deal expires. Hoping to enlist powerful allies, the players’ group is ratcheting up its lobbying on Capitol Hill under new executive director DeMaurice Smith.

The players union spent $220,000 on lobbying in the second half of last year, more than double what it had spent in all of the previous year. Last May, soon after taking over at the union, Smith switched lobbyists, hiring Patton Boggs, the powerhouse Washington firm where he had been a partner.

Since then, he’s organized a couple of player lobby days, featuring dozens of current and former players who bring their star power to meetings with lawmakers and congressional staffers. Those making the rounds have included Washington Redskins wide receiver Antwaan Randle El and Kevin Mawae, a Pro-Bowl Tennessee Titans center and president of the players’ union.

The union has said it fears the owners will impose a lockout after next season’s Super Bowl, and it has been building relationships on Capitol Hill in hopes of getting Congress’ help in keeping the games going. The league counters that a new collective bargaining agreement will get done, but owners also contend the existing agreement, which calls for players to receive about 60 percent of revenues, is too favorable for players.

"I believe that our players have a role in making this game better for our fans, and being business partners with the NFL to grow the game," Smith said in an interview. "At the same time, we want to make sure that partnership doesn’t become one-sided. Every major union in the country has a presence on the Hill."

Smith said that the increased lobbying was in part a reaction to the NFL’s own expanded Washington presence. In 2008, the league hired an in-house lobbyist, former Capitol Hill staffer Jeff Miller, and established a political action committee to raise campaign money. Last year, the NFL’s "Gridiron PAC" made about $250,000 in political donations. The union doesn’t have a PAC.

Even with the union’s increased lobbying, the NFL continues to vastly outspend it. In the last six months of 2009, the NFL reported $610,000 in lobbying expenses, nearly triple the union’s total.

Smith said another factor in the union’s increased lobbying expenditures was the recent Supreme Court case in which the NFL argued it should be considered one business — not 32 separate teams — when it comes to selling NFL-branded items. The players are worried that a broad ruling from the court, which heard arguments in the antitrust case last month, could go well beyond merchandise.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, a union executive committee member who will start in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts, recently warned that a favorable decision for the NFL would enable owners to end or restrict free agency. The league insists the case is only about licensing of intellectual property and has nothing to do with labor.

Smith brings Washington connections to the job. In addition to being a partner at Patton Boggs, he served on the Obama transition team and previously worked for Eric Holder, now the nation’s attorney general.

"We recognize that Congress has a legitimate role in a myriad of issues that affect our players, their families, and our fans, beyond just the labor issues," Smith said. In particular, Smith said that he decided to take an aggressive position on head injuries and their lasting effects on players.

"That was an issue that I felt that not only had the NFL not done enough in the past, but we as a union had not done enough in the past," said Smith, who testified at two congressional hearings on the subject over the past few months.

Congress has leverage over the league in several areas, including an antitrust exemption for broadcasting contracts. That exemption, which allows the NFL to sign TV contracts on behalf of all teams, helped to transform the league into the economic powerhouse it is today.

"It’s a question of Congress exercising oversight authority that it has, and to ask the right questions given the gifts they give to the National Football League," Smith said. "Our players made the point of saying, the antitrust exemption that the league gets in Congress is a gift. We do think that Congress should be assured that that gift is being used in a way that benefits our fans, our players and the owners."

NFL vice president Joe Browne said in an e-mail that most lawmakers realize that the league has used the exemption to keep games on broadcast TV.

"That benefits NFL fans, players and the clubs," he said. "The players actually benefit the most monetarily since they receive 60 percent of the TV revenue through the labor agreement."

Smith said that he hired his old firm because "they’re the best. And one of the reasons I know they’re the best is I know that the NFL has looked at them as well."

Browne confirmed that the league interviewed Jonathan Yarowsky, a Patton Boggs partner, for outside lobbying work last year. Yarowsky is one of the Patton Boggs lobbyists now working for the union.

-- Frederic J. Frommer

Decade ago, lowly Rams were Super Bowl champs

ST. LOUIS — One decade ago, the St. Louis Rams were on top of the NFL. That might be hard to believe if you hadn’t been there.

Before this season’s finale, Isaac Bruce remembered in vivid detail his game-deciding touchdown catch that helped beat the Tennessee Titans in the Super Bowl following the 1999 season.

Adjusting to an underthrown pass from Kurt Warner, watching in seeming slow motion as teammates blocked for him and opponents fleetingly gave chase. He had the details down, including the fog from the long-over halftime show that still hung over the field and a stadium that seemed to be on mute.

"The funny thing was, I couldn’t hear anything," Bruce said. "I saw people in the end zone, I saw myself on the Jumbotron, I saw on the Jumbotron Orlando Pace with his big paw up in the air celebrating a touchdown before I even got there.

"It was interesting how everything just slowed down."

The whole year had an aura of magic, and the Rams seemed a team of destiny while going 13-3 and overwhelming opponents with 66 touchdowns and averaging 33 points.

"Some days it seems like it was just yesterday," said Warner, whose storybook rise fueled the franchise’s glory days. "And other days it seems like it’s been a long time since I was there and we were kind of doing our thing."

A pre-draft trade for Marshall Faulk, cut loose by the Colts for draft picks, set the stage for the title run and a second Super Bowl appearance later, after the 2001 season. The Rams won only four games in 1998 but came together in Year 3 for a crusty coaching staff headed by Dick Vermeil, with other over-60 hands in key spots.

The only real adversity came in August, when Trent Green was lost for the season with a knee injury sustained in a preseason game. The backup, Warner, threw only a handful of passes the previous season and began ‘99 as a major unknown.

"There was a point early in the year when I thought ‘Wow, maybe this will be interesting,"’ said former team president John Shaw, now a consultant to owner Chip Rosenbloom. "It was so exciting."

Mike Martz, the mastermind behind a high-flying offense that scored 500 points three straight seasons, said it was a "special place in time." The Rams were good enough for long enough that wide receiver Torry Holt and Pace, both seven-time Pro Bowlers, landed on the NFL’s all-decade team.

"‘The Greatest Show on Turf’ will probably be remembered as the greatest era in the storied history of the Rams," Rosenbloom said. "With the luxury of hindsight, it seems the achievements of those days were even greater than what we thought back then. It all happened so fast."

Funny now how time flies, how fleeting success can be.

St. Louis hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2004, is 6-42 the last three seasons under three head coaches and earned the first overall pick off last year’s sad sack 1-15 finish. The previous two years the franchise just missed the booby prize, picking second.

Last year, the Rams were last in the NFL in offense, scoring one or fewer touchdowns in 13 games, and 29th in total defense.

Vermeil’s to-the-point assessment: "Well, they’re not very good. They don’t have enough good players. You’d have to say they’re a long ways away. Only one way to go but up."

The new regime of general manager Billy Devaney and coach Steve Spagnuolo tore it all down before last season and paid what they believed to be a short-term price with an ugly, uncompetitive, largely unknown roster falling short every week except one when they beat the two-win Lions.

Spagnuolo favors an aggressive defense complementing a ball-control offense, and said the game plan is sound.

"There will be some tweaking, but there won’t be a major change," he said. "You don’t do that. You stick with what you believe in."

Rosenbloom is fully behind the leadership team while busying himself attempting to arrange a sale of the franchise to a buyer who’ll keep the team in St. Louis. Rosenbloom said Tuesday there’s "nothing new" on that front.

"I love the word ‘dynasty’ and truly believe we have started to lay the foundation to be one someday," Rosenbloom said.

Vermeil likes the staff, too. From experience, he knows there’s not a lot of patience for long-term rebuilding.

"Kansas City tried the same thing and Herman Edwards got fired after the second year," Vermeil said. "There are only seven rounds in the draft. You don’t get to stay around long if you make too many mistakes."

Consistent with their never-look-back approach during the season, the Rams have little interest revisiting the salad days.

The team dismissed the idea of an in-season gathering since Warner, Bruce, Holt and defensive end Leonard Little were still playing last season (only Little was with the Rams). Vermeil was added to the team’s "ring of honor" during the 2008 season, and some team members were introduced at games.

"We tried to recognize the anniversary in the most appropriate way we were able to," Rosenbloom said.

The team twice wore 1999 retro jerseys last season, but talk of a reunion failed to gain any traction.

"The word I got is the new regime doesn’t want to look back," Vermeil said. "They’ll never have another chance for a 10-year reunion."

-- R.B. Fallstrom

Bisciotti: Many NFL teams struggling financially

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said Wednesday that several NFL owners are facing a financial shortfall that could create "long-term problems for the league" and ultimately result in a lockout.

As the Ravens prepare for a 2010 season without a salary cap, Bisciotti hinted the NFL could shut down in March 2011 if concessions aren’t made by the players union in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Speaking at a news conference in which team officials looked back at last season and ahead to 2010, Bisciotti insisted many of the 32 NFL teams are struggling to finish in the black.

"I’ve got partners out there right now whose teams are making less money than their linebackers. I think we’ve got an acute problem here with the general profitability of the teams," Bisciotti said. "We always knew this was not a big cash-flow business, but when you’ve got guys like Jacksonville tarping up 10,000 seats to stop blackouts, when you’ve got teams that are voluntarily staying at the minimum of what they have to spend on the salary cap in order to not go upside down financially, then we already have a structural problem."

Three years ago, the owners and players union signed a CBA that Bisciotti labeled "a bad deal" for the owners.

"That puts us in the unenviable position of this thing ending in a lockout as opposed to a strike," he said. "There’s no cash flow. If we don’t get this thing back to the point that teams have enough cash flow ... then there’s long-term problem for the league. We’re going to have to address that."

Ravens president Dick Cass said the club is "doing well compared to other teams around the league. But just because we’re still doing well in revenues, that doesn’t mean we’re generating a lot of profit."

Although there’s a good chance there will not be a salary cap in place in 2010, that doesn’t mean a team will be allowed to spend at will. And even by spending the maximum, that won’t guarantee a spot in the playoffs.

Using baseball’s New York Yankees as an example, Bisciotti wondered aloud about the payoff on an unbridled spending spree.

"It certainly doesn’t show up in the standings," he said. "If I’m a Yankees fan, I’m upset we’re not winning 130 games with the roster that they have and the money that they pay out. I think it’s a disgrace they only beat the average team by 10 games in the standings with three times the money. I’d fire that GM. You don’t need a GM. All you have to do is buy the last Cy Young Award winner every year."

Bisciotti, 49, has been the Ravens’ owner for 10 years, during which the team has regularly sold out its home games. Despite that he still has concern about the future of the league.

"We want to be at a point where teams are not selling off their star players in their fourth year because they can’t afford to sign them to that second contract," Bisciotti said.

As the Ravens enter an offseason with an uncertain financial environment and no salary cap, general manager Ozzie Newsome is eager to work within the system to enhance their wide receivers and fortify their pass rush.

"The restrictions put on the Baltimore Ravens are put on 31 other ballclubs, too," Newsome said. "We’ve got to be better than the other 31 clubs in order to make our football team under these circumstances. I look at it as a challenge. It puts the pressure on us to dig down deep to improve our football team."

The Ravens went 9-7 this season and reached the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated by Indianapolis. Bisciotti said the improvement of second-year quarterback Joe Flacco will be the key to success in 2011.

Flacco’s ability to excel could be helped by new quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn — and the addition of a few new targets.

"Do we want to improve at the wide receiver position? Yes, because that will further enhance our running game," Newsome said. "Having a playmaker on the outside will make Joe Flacco become a better quarterback."

-- David Ginsburg

Jets’ Rex Ryan won’t get additional fine from NFL

NEW YORK — New York Jets coach Rex Ryan will not be fined by the NFL for making an obscene gesture at a mixed martial arts event last weekend.

League spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed to The Associated Press in an e-mail Wednesday that Ryan would not face additional discipline by the NFL after the Jets fined him $50,000 on Tuesday.

The coach was caught on a cell phone camera flipping his middle finger at a fan during the MMA competition in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday night. The image of Ryan quickly spread across the Internet and made its way onto the back pages of New York tabloids.

Ryan apologized the next day in a statement, calling his actions "stupid and inappropriate." General manager Mike Tannenbaum had said the organization was disappointed that Ryan "showed extremely poor judgment" and would address the matter internally.

The league looked into the incident to determine if Ryan violated its personal conduct policy, but was satisfied with the discipline handed down by the Jets. Commissioner Roger Goodell fined Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams $250,000 for making an obscene gesture to fans in November, but that was during an NFL game.

Ryan led the Jets to the AFC championship game in Indianapolis in his first year as an NFL head coach, and made headlines throughout the season with his confident statements.

He had a playful feud with Miami linebacker Channing Crowder, saying he had walked over tougher guys than him while going to fights. That made Ryan a likely target of booing fans during a TV interview at the MMA event that featured former NFL running back Herschel Walker at the Bank Atlantic Center, the Florida Panthers’ home arena.

"I want to just tell everybody in Miami, ‘Hey, we’re coming to beat you twice next year,"’ Ryan said while fans booed during the ringside interview.

The Dolphins beat the Jets in both meetings this season.

-- Dennis Waszak Jr.

Eagles hire Jauron as assistant coach

PHILADELPHIA — Dick Jauron is back in the NFL.

The former Bills head coach was hired Wednesday by the Philadelphia Eagles as a senior assistant/defensive backs coach.

"Long before he became a defensive coordinator and head coach in this league, Dick Jauron was considered to be one of, if not the best defensive backs coaches in the game," Eagles head coach Andy Reid said. "We welcome his experience and knowledge of the game and look forward to adding him to our defensive coaching staff."

Jauron replaces Brian Stewart, who left after one season to become defensive coordinator at the University of Houston. Jauron was fired by the Bills in November after a 3-6 start. He was 24-33 in Buffalo in three-plus seasons.

Jauron was 35-46 as Chicago’s coach from 1999 to 2003, and 1-4 as Detroit’s interim coach in 2005. Jauron previously worked with Reid in Green Bay on Mike Holmgren’s staff in the early 1990s.

"I was flattered when Andy called and I just couldn’t resist taking it," Jauron said. "The job is a position I love, working in the secondary."

The 59-year-old Jauron gives Philadelphia a veteran coaching presence on the defensive side. Longtime coordinator Jim Johnson passed away last July and Sean McDermott took his spot.

McDermott had success with a patchwork unit that was ravaged by injuries. But the Eagles struggled defensively in consecutive losses to Dallas to end the season, including a wild-card playoff game.

"Dick Jauron is a person with tremendous integrity and his football background speaks for itself," McDermott said. "I’m excited about his addition to the team and look forward to utilizing his experiences in the way of adding value to our defensive staff."

Jauron said he met with Reid and McDermott for six to eight hours to discuss football issues.

"I love the defensive scheme," he said. "It’s been so successful. I’m excited to work in it and learn more about it."

Jauron becomes the fourth person to coach the team’s defensive backs in less than a year. After McDermott was promoted, Otis Smith temporarily replaced him until Stewart was hired.

-- Rob Maaddi

Bears hire DeBord as TE coach

CHICAGO — Mike DeBord has been hired as the Chicago Bears’ tight ends coach after spending the past two years as an assistant with the Seattle Seahawks.

The Bears are still looking for a quarterbacks coach and defensive coordinator after they went 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. The addition of DeBord on Tuesday came one day after Mike Martz replaced the fired Ron Turner as offensive coordinator and just over two weeks after Mike Tice was hired as offensive line coach.

DeBord coached the Seahawks’ tight ends last season after serving as their assistant offensive line coach in 2008. Before that, he spent 26 years coaching at colleges.

Bears interview Day for QB coach

CHICAGO — Shane Day, who spent the past three seasons on the San Francisco 49ers’ staff, has interviewed with the Chicago Bears for their quarterbacks coaching job.

Day met with the Bears at their headquarters in suburban Lake Forest, Ill., on Wednesday.

He has spent the past three seasons as a quality control coach working closely with the offensive staff in San Francisco.

Day got to know new Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz when he held the same job with the 49ers in 2008. Day has also worked with tight ends coach Mike DeBord, who similar to Martz was hired this week, when they were on the staff at Michigan.

The Bears are also looking for a defensive coordinator.

High School

Advocacy group calls for concussion laws

MIAMI — With the issue of brain injuries in the NFL gaining attention, an advocacy group said it would push for legislation in all 50 states aimed at reducing sports-related concussions in young athletes.

The Zackery Lystedt Brain Project also will promote greater public awareness of head injuries, and will work to advance research efforts that focus on concussions.

"I think passing the legislation is going to be easy part," said Patrick Donohue, of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, an organization concerned about brain injuries among children, which launched the project. "The other pieces of this, public awareness and furthering the research, is probably going to be the most difficult component."

Donohue’s foundation started the sport-specific project in Miami on Wednesday, days before the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints meet for the Super Bowl in South Florida.

Named for a teenager who suffered a brain injury after he returned to a middle school football game in 2006 following a concussion, the Zackery Lystedt Brain Project is pushing for measures modeled after a Washington state law, which requires athletes under the age of 18 who are suspected of having a concussion to get written consent from a licensed medical provider before returning to play.

"As an organization, we decided that this is the type of law that needs to be passed in all 50 states," Donohue said.

The Washington state statute also carries Lystedt’s name.

"It’s a problem in every sport, and at every level. Zach Lystedt was in middle school and by then kids are big and they’re hitting hard," said Dan Henkel, of the American College of Sports Medicine, which is partnering with the foundation for the project. "Sports can be dangerous."

Henkel called Washington’s law an "elegant, beautiful, simple piece of legislation."

Another law on sports concussions has passed in Oregon, according to the foundation, and several other states, including Pennsylvania and California, have pending or upcoming concussion legislation. The issue is also getting attention on the federal level.

"This project is pro-sport," Donohue said. "We’re in favor of sports. ... This is not a negative, this is a positive."

-- Sarah Larimer