Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1993 TAG: 9312020443
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ROSEMONT, ILL. LENGTH: Long
The NFL took on a distinct Southeast tilt Tuesday, selecting long-shot Jacksonville, Fla., to join Charlotte, N.C., as its 1995 expansion teams.
"The Southeast is a terrific area for football, a real hotbed," said Paul Tagliabue, the NFL's commissioner.
So it will be the Jacksonville Jaguars, the longest shot on the board when the process began, playing in aqua shirts trimmed with yellow sleeves and black spots and an open-mouthed jaguar on the helmet.
They joined the Carolina Panthers - giving the expanded NFL 30 teams - by beating out the old-line cities of St. Louis and Baltimore, as well as Memphis, Tenn. St. Louis and Baltimore each has lost a team in the past decade; Memphis was one of the favorites when the NFL first began discussing expansion six years ago.
"Listen, in the NFL I'm not surprised about anything," said Ralph Wilson, owner of the Buffalo Bills. "You never go into any meeting with a predetermined view."
Charlotte was chosen five weeks ago at a meeting in which the owners couldn't decide on a second team. This time they did - quickly and largely because Tagliabue made up his mind Monday to support Jacksonville.
The expansion and finance committees, voting in tandem, went 10-2 for Jacksonville, with Robert Tisch of the New York Giants and Norman Braman of the Philadelphia Eagles supporting Baltimore. The final expansion vote was 26-2, with Braman and James Busch Orthwein of New England, an original member of the St. Louis group, voting against Jacksonville. Tisch's co-owner, Wellington Mara, switched the Giants to the majority.
The vote may lead to more flux in the league.
The Los Angeles Rams, Cincinnati Bengals and the Patriots all have indicated a willingness to move. Baltimore is interested in the Rams and St. Louis in the Patriots, largely because of Orthwein, who took over New England as a favor to the league.
Tagliabue downplayed that possibility.
"We will follow our normal process for moving teams," he said, citing rules requiring owners to show they can do better in a new territory than their own. He declined to comment when asked if any current teams met those criteria, but said he's committed to keeping the Patriots in New England.
The Jacksonville group is headed by Wayne Weaver, a Connecticut shoe manufacturer, and includes Jeb Bush, the son of former President George Bush. It will play in the Gator Bowl, renovated for $121 million and cut from 82,000 to 73,000 seats, with 10,000 club seats and 68 luxury boxes.
The ownership group also includes Deron Cherry, a former All-Pro safety with the Kansas City Chiefs and one of four African-American former NFL stars included among the groups seeking franchises - only Carolina lacked one. Cherry, who retired two years ago, might have to get into condition to start at free safety when the Jaguars begin play in 1995; the expansion talent pool is likely to be shallow.
The best-known of the former players is Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, who always has aspired to running a team and was part of the St. Louis effort from the start.
"How much does this hurt?" Payton asked, repeating a question. "There's no words to describe it. I think Jacksonville was the safest choice they could make. I wouldn't want to get into a situation where I'm going to be in court for the next 15 years."
That, rather than tilting the league to the Southeast, might have been a major factor in the decision. Some owners seemed to believe picking St. Louis and Baltimore would lead to court fights.
St. Louis lost the Cardinals to Phoenix in 1989, five years after Baltimore lost the Colts to Indianapolis.
Said another would-be owner, Baltimore's Malcolm Glazer:
"I'm just practically ready to start crying."
The Southeast tilt makes realignment of the league more difficult. The 30-team NFL means the four-team divisions - the AFC Central and NFC West - each will gain one team. But some sort of shuffling of present teams seems more likely than placing the expansion teams in those divisions.
\ JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS\ NFL'S NEWEST MEMBER\ \ STADIUM: 82,000-seat Gator Bowl will undergo $121 million renovation. Renovated stadium will have a seating capacity of 73,000, including 10,000 club seats and 68 luxury boxes.\ \ OWNERSHIP GROUP: Touchdown Jacksonville! Ltd., headed by Connecticut shoe executive J. Wayne Weaver. Group also includes his brother, Ronald; Jeb Bush, son of former President George Bush; Jacksonville businessman Thomas J. Petway III; and Deron Cherry, a former All-Pro safety for the Kansas City Chiefs.\ \ TV MARKET: No. 54, smallest among bidders. OTHER PRO SPORTS: No professional franchises, although area is headquarters for the PGA and ATP tours.\ \ PRO FOOTBALL HISTORY: Jacksonville had franchises in the WFL in the 1970s and USFL in the 1980s. The Bulls led the USFL in attendance.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB