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Europe still on Despite war, league more likely to delay than scrap seasonPosted: Sunday March 23, 2003 10:38 PM
PHOENIX -- Whether the impact of the war in Iraq will reach all the way to the NFL will be decided Monday, when the league owners are scheduled to decide whether they'll proceed with this year's NFL Europe season. The NFL is not expected to scrap the six-team league this year in light of the war, but, according to a league spokesman, team owners will review the situation first thing Monday as part of the opening session of the league's annual meeting. A brief conference call between the league and the general managers of the six European teams was held Sunday evening, in which the NFL said there will be either a decision Monday to start the season as scheduled or to call a one-week delay in the departures of players and coaches from NFL Europe training camps in Florida. Players are scheduled to start leaving Florida on Tuesday, with the opening of the season set for the first week of April. The option of playing the NFL Europe season in Florida for this year only was not popular or particularly feasible, and owners have all but ruled that out. "We wanted to speak to all 32 clubs and discuss the right thing to do," NFL spokesman Joe Browne said. "It's a go as far as the players and coaches in Florida are concerned. They want to go over. The players held their last scrimmages in Florida [on Sunday], and now we have to review the situation with the owners."
Late last season, Tagliabue seemed to be throwing his weight behind the measure to give each team at least one OT possession, and while he has no vote in the matter, he has been willing in recent years to make his opinions known to potential swing owners and influence the process. League sources say Tagliabue has been quiet lately in terms of expressing any back-channel preference to the competition committee regarding overtime, but that could change this week as a vote of the league's full membership approaches. It's interesting to note that while the eight-man competition committee is split 4-4 on whether to alter the format, both co-chairmen -- Bucs general manager Rich McKay and Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher -- are known to be in favor of change. McKay acknowledged Friday that he doesn't expect the measure to get the necessary 24 votes for passage by team owners, and historically any measure that doesn't receive a competition committee recommendation has little chance to fly. But as Tagliabue has yet to weigh in on the matter, the smart money says that it would be unwise to count the votes too early. Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney, who is favor of the change, gave the measure little hope of being adopted this year. "It's not going to happen," Rooney said. "You need too many [yes] votes. I think the commissioner wants to see what the people think and say here at the meeting. It's something good to talk about, and we'll have some interesting discussion about it, but I don't see it passing."
And general manager Ozzie Newsome, whose opinion counts the most in the team's collaborative decision-making process, likes Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich and wants the organization to keep an open mind until it sees his workout April 7. Newsome is high on the fact that Leftwich's track record in college spans more than one standout season, unlike Boller's, whose game didn't really take off until Cal hired head coach and quarterback guru Jeff Tedford in 2002. Newsome shares some of the organization's excitement for Boller, but he wants to give Leftwich the same chance to create a positive buzz with his spring workout, which will be his first meaningful action since suffering a late-season shin injury last year. Leftwich didn't work out at the scouting combine in February because he was still rehabilitating his leg.
Under the diversity hiring guidelines adopted last fall, each team agreed to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach and GM openings. The Lions hired former 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci without doing so, but were rebuffed in their efforts to interview several black candidates. The league could punish the Lions either by taking away a draft pick or fining them.
"I've already decided I'm going to hold a helmet-throwing contest on the first day of training camp," Rams head coach Mike Martz quipped Saturday. The Rams say they feel comfortable that most of Turley's unhappiness in New Orleans this season was spurred by a festering contract situation. According to St. Louis officials, Turley said he was promised a contract extension in 2002 by Saints general manager Randy Mueller. But Mueller surprisingly was fired by New Orleans owner Tom Benson last summer, and Turley's contract situation got put on the back burner. Turley is entering the final year of his contract this season, but the Rams say they expect to complete a new agreement with him Monday, when agent Tom Condon is scheduled to arrive in Phoenix. The five-year deal is expected to include a signing bonus and other guaranteed payments of $12 million and average more than $5 million per season. Turley's contract would slightly top the deals given to this year's top two free-agent offensive tackles: the Giants' Luke Petitgout and the Cowboys' Flozell Adams.
A Patriots official said Sunday the team is somewhat puzzled by the Jones trade talk, since it is still waiting to hear from Saints general manager Mickey Loomis about any potential interest in Jones. The official also said that a third-round pick would not be enough to pry Jones loose.
Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com
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