The $100 million loan approved for the Bears by NFL owners when a stadium deal is signed with the city includes an interesting stipulation. If Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey should decide to sell the team before the final maturity date of the loan in 15 years, she would have to “repay the league from the sale proceeds at closing an amount equal to the outstanding principal balance.”
That means unless she could get a buyer to cover the loan, it wouldn’t make financial sense to sell after the deal is consummated. The team obviously would be worth more with projected additional revenue from a new stadium, but the loan consideration would have to be factored into any sale agreement. The team might net more in a sale now than it would in the near future after the loan takes effect.
Regardless there are no signs that McCaskey is considering giving up the legacy of her father, George Halas.
Also, the loan is a loan in structure only. It is paid back through visiting teams’ shares of club-seat premiums plus network television revenue, if needed.
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While this makes fellow owners look generous, it is really money out of the players’ pockets. The NFL Players Association must agree to exclude the entire amount of the “private contribution” from the designated gross revenue that players share as part of their salary pool.
The idea is that new and improved stadiums will eventually generate more revenue and result in higher salaries, so players are willing to give now to get later.
Bottom line is the fans end up paying the most, no surprise. But there is recourse. One thing the St. Louis Rams agreed to do when they moved from Los Angeles is include a performance clause in their stadium deal. With all NFL teams proclaiming they cannot field competitive teams without increased stadium revenue, the Rams put their money where their mouth was.
If the Rams had failed to make the playoffs for 10 years, the corporate guarantees to underwrite stadium luxury suites would have expired, leaving the team to fend for itself.
Clout: Jacksonville barely beat out Miami for the 2005 Super Bowl at owners meetings last week. It was a vote of confidence for respected Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, the women’s shoe salesman who grew Nine West from $9 million to $550 million in sales in 15 years.
When fellow owners questioned whether there were enough daily flights into Jacksonville to satisfy Super Bowl demand, Weaver put his foot down.
By the end of the meeting, Jacksonville had commitments from Continental, Delta and USAirways to boost the number of flights to whatever the NFL wanted.
Insult to injury: Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia is under attack again. That’s where Bears quarterback Cade McNown separated his left shoulder when he landed on the notoriously hard surface.
Players union Executive Director Gene Upshaw has threatened to sue the place. Eagles running back Duce Staley, already on crutches after having surgery on his foot, slipped in a puddle of water from a leaky pipe last week. The Eagles had requested stadium people fix the leak, which was seeping into the coaches’ offices.
“It’s to the point where guys are getting hurt,” Upshaw said. “The stadium is falling down. Maybe it’s time for litigation. Maybe it’s time to find some way to get them to do something. It’s just an awful place.
“You’ve got a team worth hundreds of millions of dollars. You’ve got a franchise quarterback. You’ve already lost guys. And you’ve got other teams that have to come in there and play on that [surface], and they’re getting hurt.
“No one wants to go there. No one wants to play there because it’s bad. I feel bad for the players stuck in Philadelphia. It’s awful.”
Greg Grillone, stadium director of the Vet, disagreed.
“Show me where it’s falling down,” he said. “Three years ago [actually four] we had an All-Star Game here. And nobody was calling it a dump then.”
A fine mess: Those fines against Chargers safety Rodney Harrison and Vikings receiver Randy Moss sure got the job done, didn’t they?
The league fined Harrison $40,000 for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Oakland Raiders tight end Jeremy Brigham last week. It was his seventh fine. “It’s kind of ridiculous. I’m laughing at it, to be honest with you,” Harrison said.
Harrison said Gene Washington, the NFL executive who levies fines, is trying to make an example of him, “but it’s not working. Gene Washington, he’s not controlling me or anything I do. He can take the money, but I’m still straight.”
Teammate Junior Seau said: “It was sad that he got hit for 40 grand, but that was a great hit. I kind of got fired up after that. Rodney’s a guy who loves to go and hunt down someone’s head and it’s entertaining to us. Just as long as they don’t use that hit to promote the game that’ll be fair. If that’s the rules they’re going to set, then everyone can look at that film and learn something.”
Moss was fined $25,000 for making contact with an official at Tampa Bay. Moss said he was trying to get field judge Lloyd McPeters’ attention when he touched the official’s arm. Moss was ejected with 1 minutes 54 seconds left. Moss also will have to pay $15,000 as part of an agreement he made after last season. He was fined $40,000 for squirting an official with a water bottle in the Vikings’ NFC divisional playoff game against St. Louis, but that penalty was reduced to $25,000 on the condition that Moss have no further problems with officials. Moss also was fined $10,000 last November for abusing an official in Chicago.
Moss’ agent, Dante DiTrapano, said: “Randy is disappointed the league levied such an excessive fine considering his conduct in this instance. Touching the field judge’s elbow did not fall into the same category as his prior violation, for which he has accepted responsibility and paid large fines. To impose a $40,000 fine on these facts is unconscionable.”
Sherman’s revenge: In two Monday night games against Green Bay, Moss has caught 10 passes for 321 yards and four TDs. Sherman Lewis, offensive coordinator of the Packers from 1992-99, had to watch from the other sideline. This Monday night Lewis will get to call Moss’ number as offensive coordinator of the Vikings. Lewis was fired by the Packers along with head coach Ray Rhodes last year.
“What I try to do when I reminisce about Green Bay is think about the good times I had and try to push [away] last year like it never happened,” Lewis told Green Bay and Minnesota reporters. “It was just a bad taste because of the way things ended. You hate it to end like it ended. I was shocked, I have to admit. I was shocked when we got fired. I wasn’t expecting that.
“It hurts. It still hurts a little bit, but I’ve gotten over it. You move on.”
Lewis disputed reports that a lack of discipline under Rhodes took its toll.
“What happens when you lose, things get blown up,” he said. “All of a sudden things that aren’t considered discipline problems become discipline problems. Some of the same things were happening when we were winning, but it never surfaced because we were winning.”
Little rematch: When the Baltimore Ravens played the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 24, the Bengals got only four net yards rushing, lost 37-0 and accused Ravens coach Brian Billick of running up the score.
Since then the Bengals have become the No. 1 rushing team in the league and the Ravens have not scored a touchdown in five games. Bengals running back Corey Dillon, who ran for nine yards in 12 carries in the first game under since-departed coach Bruce Coslet, has gained 415 yards in the last two under new coach Dick LeBeau.
On the charges of running up the score, Billick said: “Let me get this straight. I’m a coach who hasn’t scored a touchdown in four [actually five] games. If that’s their sole motivation for this game, that’s fine by me.”
Billick challenged a call with just over two minutes to play in the first game and had rookie QB Chris Redman throwing late in the game.
Face it: If you don’t think artificial turf causes strange injuries, take a look at Indianapolis linebacker Dwight Hollier’s face Sunday. Hollier’s helmet flew off last week in the RCA Dome while he was trying to recover an onside kick and he suffered serious turf burns to his face and head.
“I’ve never had my face slide on the [turf] like that before,” Hollier said. “I’ve had [turf burns] on my elbows and knees, but never on my face. I was never a big proponent of [turf] anyway. I’m really against it now.”
Tell it, Jim: Quarterback Jim Harbaugh, on whether his 0-8 Chargers are encouraged by the Seahawks’ five-game losing skid: “We’re not taking anybody lightly.”
DON PIERSON’S NFL RANKINGS
1. Rams–Faulk might need some rest.
2. Titans–Looking like AFC home-field lock.
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3. Vikings–Green Bay on Monday no place to bounce.
4. Colts–Face tough schedule after Bears.
5. Raiders–Winning close games this year.
6. Jets–They will need more than magic.
7. Dolphins–Wannstedt revisits NFC Central.
8. Redskins–Nobody fired after Tennessee loss.
9. Giants–Solid win over Eagles impressive.
10. Chiefs–Last chance to catch Raiders in Oakland.
11. Buccaneers–They think they’re back in the hunt.
12. Bills–Flutie must win one in New England.
13. Lions–Haven’t shown much consistency yet.
14. Steelers–Making comeback of the year after 0-3 start.
15. Ravens–Now what? A must-score game vs. Cincy.
16. Eagles–Looking like middle-of-pack team again.
17. Saints–Schedule continues to favor Ricky’s roll.
18. Broncos–Still can’t confirm whether they’re good or bad.
19. Packers–A Monday loss to Vikings could end hope.
20. Jaguars–Overtime win over Dallas a relief, too late.
21. Patriots–They need to start lobbying for new division.
22. Falcons–Nothing but a spoiler role left.
23. Cowboys–They need to start playing horseshoes.
24. Seahawks–Maybe Holmgren will take Ryan Leaf.
25. Panthers–Like Falcons, just a below-average team.
26. 49ers–Will win poll for most exciting bad team.
27. Cardinals–Playing hard but still hardly playing.
28. Bengals–Give Dillon the ball and play defense.
29. Browns–Little bright spots are all that’s left.
30. BEARS–Manning and friends will depress them.
31. Chargers–They will win at least once, but when?