NFL Capsules: NFL future: Spotlight off the field
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A memorable season capped by a super title game with a record TV audience has NFL executives and fans beaming.
The smiles might soon disappear.
Pro football is headed into the great unknown. Barring a quick — and totally unexpected — agreement with the players' union on a new contract, 2010 will have no salary cap. After that, perhaps a work stoppage, something NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith puts at "14" on a scale of 1 to 10.
Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't agree, believing negotiations will lead to a new deal before March 2011, when the collective bargaining agreement expires. But an accord before the New Orleans Saints — who dat? — begin defense of their Super Bowl championship in September is unlikely.
The 32 team owners clearly are prepared for a go at the first uncapped season since 1993. Enough restrictions are in place, including extending the minimum years of service for unrestricted free agency from four years to six, that baseball-like bidding wars are improbable.
With the owners claiming they are losing millions and the players arguing that teams are making money by the fistful, a common ground will be difficult to find.
"The labor agreement is a very important agreement," Goodell said during his annual Super Bowl week news conference. "It's something that is important to our players. It's certainly important to our clubs, and it's important to our fans.
"We have to sit at the table and we have to get an agreement that works for everybody. And that's what people expect. They want solutions, and that's what we should deliver."
Free agency begins March 5. The more critical date might be March 5 of next year, when, if no new deal has been struck, the most popular and prosperous sport in America could see the owners locking out the players.
That's the last thing fans want to hear after a special season featuring the Saints capping a football renaissance for their team and their city with their first Super Bowl title. The NFL's best teams, led by New Orleans, generally have become the most potent on offense: each division winner except Cincinnati regularly visited the end zone, and three of the four playoff semifinalists scored at least 416 points.
And as some stars begin to fade (LaDainian Tomlinson, Champ Bailey), others emerge (Chris Johnson, Darrelle Revis). A league driven by quarterbacks has a splendid blend of veterans in top form (four-time MVP Peyton Manning, Super Bowl most valuable player Drew Brees, even 40-year-old Brett Favre), passers only now in their primes (Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers), and youngsters with great promise (Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Chad Henne).
Even as such headliners as Kurt Warner and perhaps Favre leave the game, the colleges are providing NFL-ready performers to eventually take their place.
Not that defense has disappeared, particularly in New York with the Jets, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Dallas. All of them made the playoffs in '09 and the Jets came within 30 minutes of the Super Bowl.
Keeping those established and rising stars healthy will be a key issue after the league, the teams and the NFLPA ramped up prevention and treatment of concussions. Even Congress has gotten involved.
"I think concussions have been a major focus in the league for several years, and we need to make sure we continue to do what we can to make the game safer," Goodell said. "And that deals with how we modify the rules and take certain techniques out of the game; how we use the better equipment to make sure that our players are safer; and what we can do to make sure that our coaches and our players understand the serious nature of these injuries, and that they get medical help as soon as an injury occurs.
"And that goes for all injuries, but particularly concussion injuries. We have more work to do, but we think that we're making progress on the awareness and we're changing the culture, and that's what we really want to do. We want to make sure people understand that they are serious injuries, and make sure that we deal with them in a conservative and medical fashion."
Labor and health issues aside, such events as the NFL combine later this month, free-agent signings, and April's draft — a three-day affair this year — will keep fans stoked for football. Already, they're trying to figure out who the Saints will host to open defense of their title in September.
Commentary: Can NFL kill the golden goose?
The New Orleans Saints hadn't even begun to properly celebrate their storybook run to a Super Bowl championship when bookmakers installed the team they had just beaten as the favorites to win it all next year. No disrespect for the Saints, but the wise guys in Las Vegas probably figured they would still be suffering from the biggest party hangover ever.
They should be partying in NFL headquarters in New York, too. Not only did the Saints give the league a heartwarming story but the Super Bowl was watched by more people than any program in television history. Not just more than any football game but more than any television program ever, knocking the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" out of the top spot.
That capped a strong season which saw mostly full stadiums everywhere except Jacksonville, despite the lingering effects of a brutal recession. Baseball may be America's pastime, but football is America's sport and if anyone had any doubt about that, Jerry Jones has a $1.2 billion stadium in Texas he'd like you to see — for a small fee, of course.
Indeed, these are the NFL's glory days. The average franchise is worth a billion dollars or so, fans are so loyal they're willing to pay extortion fees masquerading as personal seat licenses just for the right to buy a season ticket, and what they don't see in person they're watching on TV in record numbers.
The players don't have it bad either. They make, on average, more than a million dollars a year and for the last few years have had a deal with owners that pays them nearly 60 cents of every dollar the league brings in.
On the surface it seems like a perfect marriage. Owners are richer than ever, players are sharing in the wealth, and the league is backed by billions in television contracts that guarantee the party could go on for years.
So why are the two sides seemingly engaged in a mad rush to get a divorce? Why, the minute after one of the most intriguing Super Bowls ends, does the talk have to turn to an uncapped year and the increasingly real possibility of a lockout that could cripple the sport in 2011?
Greed, of course. Times are good on both sides, but both sides would like times to be even better.
The owners resent all the guaranteed money flowing to players, and are determined to roll back the payouts they agreed to in the current contract. The players, meanwhile, resent having to work in a system where no one gets contracts guaranteed past one year and where player rights aren't near what they are in baseball.
The two sides spent Super Bowl week doing a lot of posturing, though no one paid much attention because there was a game to talk about. With an uncapped year looming, though, the once unthinkable possibility that there could be no NFL season in 2011 is suddenly something to start thinking about.
Union chief De Maurice Smith seems to believe it is not only possible, but inevitable.
"On a scale of 1 to 10," Smith said last week, "it's a 14."
If it does happen it will be because of owners like Baltimore's Steve Bisciotti, who warned last week that many NFL teams are struggling to stay in the black and that some are having cash flow problems.
"I've got partners out there right now whose teams are making less money than their linebackers," Bisciotti said. "I think we've got an acute problem here with the general profitability of the teams."
The Ravens apparently aren't one of those teams, with Forbes magazine estimating the team made $44 million in 2008. And, while Bisciotti may not like the cash flow of his business, Forbes estimates the Ravens are worth about $500 million more than what Bisciotti paid for the team just 10 years ago.
Unfortunately, both sides seem to be digging their heels in early and show no signs they're willing to compromise on the core issues. If next season is played out with no salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement expires, a lot of people in football think it's likely owners will stage a lockout of players and possibly create replacement teams like they did during the last labor stoppage in 1987.
So enjoy the feel-good story of the Saints. Be thankful that there's another season to be played with relative labor peace.
But be prepared for things to get ugly after that.
Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org.
Browns release WR Stallworth
CLEVELAND — Donte' Stallworth will get the chance to resurrect his NFL career, but it won't happen in Cleveland.
The Browns released the troubled wide receiver on Monday, wasting little time after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday that Stallworth would be reinstated following the Super Bowl.
Stallworth was suspended for the 2009 season by Goodell after he pleaded guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida. He spent 24 days in jail.
"I think he's in a better place than he was," Goodell said on Friday, adding that he met with Stallworth about a month ago. "I think he recognizes what he did and the horrific nature and the unfortunate outcome, and I think he's prepared himself to get back in and play."
Stallworth, 29, spent one season with the Browns, catching 17 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown in 2008 while battling injuries. A college star at Tennessee, he has also played with New England, Philadelphia and New Orleans since the Saints drafted him in the first round in 2002.
Browns coach Eric Mangini dodged questions about Stallworth's future with the team throughout the season. Since then, Mike Holmgren took over as president of the Browns. The team released a one sentence statement on Monday stating Stallworth's contract had been terminated.
Stallworth struck 59-year-old crane operator Mario Reyes the morning of March 14 in Miami. He pleaded guilty June 16 to DUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and was suspended by Goodell two days later.
"I will carry the burden of Mr. Reyes' death for the rest of my life," Stallworth said in a statement at the time. "I urge NFL fans not to judge NFL players or me based on my tragic lapse in judgment. I am a good person who did a bad thing. I will use the period of my suspension to reflect, fulfill my obligations, and use this experience to make a positive impact on the lives of those who look up to NFL players."
Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with Cleveland in 2008 and received a $4.5 million bonus the night before the crash.
Raiders hire Pendergast as assistant
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders have hired longtime NFL defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast as an assistant.
The team did not say what Pendergast's role would be when announcing his hiring Monday. Pendergast was let go last month as defensive coordinator in Kansas City.
Pendergast had spent the previous five years as defensive coordinator in Arizona, helping the Cardinals make it to the Super Bowl a year ago. He had previously worked as an assistant with the Houston Oilers, Dallas and Cleveland.
Pendergast is the third assistant hired by the Raiders since the end of the season, joining offensive coordinator Hue Jackson and defensive line coach Mike Waufle.
The team still has not announced whether Tom Cable will return as head coach.
Giants awarded OT Herb Taylor on waivers
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants have have been awarded offensive tackle Herb Taylor off waivers from Denver.
The Giants announced the move on Monday, a day after the Super Bowl.
Taylor was originally a sixth-round draft choice by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007. In two seasons with the Chiefs, Taylor played in 18 games with one start. Although he has primarily played left tackle in this career, has also filled in at the guard and tackle spots on the right side.
Taylor was waived by Kansas City on Sept. 4 and signed by Denver on Dec. 9. He was on the active roster for one game but did not play. He was waived by the Broncos on Dec. 19 before being re-signed on Dec. 29 and waived again on Jan. 2.
Santa Clara to discuss wording of stadium measure
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara city leaders are set to discuss the final wording of the ballot measure for a proposed stadium for the San Francisco 49ers.
On Tuesday night, the Santa Clara City Council is scheduled to discuss language that city staffers describe as a multilayered question asking voters if city leaders should approve the stadium deal.
But backers of the proposed $947 million stadium have expressed concerns the language regarding funding is confusing. They hope to get the wording altered before the ballot is made available to city residents.
City officials have said the stadium would generate hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue, but critics worry about cost overruns and traffic problems.
