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Time was when an endearing quality of the NFL was the perception that franchises were operated like the neighborhood mom-and-pop grocery store down on the corner.
And then, alas, two things occurred: The league went from being sport to being big business, with the personal element of the game evaporating into a mind-numbing collage of television contracts and free agency and licensing fees. Second, some of the patriarchal owners died off, leaving their families to deal with the suffocating realities of estate taxes, and franchises were sold so that heirs could escape the yoke of impending financial doom.
Confronted by a ponderous financial burden, the sons and daughters of Joe Robbie were forced to sell the Miami Dolphins when their father died. Late owners like Leon Hess of the New York Jets and Hugh Culverhouse of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers planned for their franchises to move into trusts, and be sold by the trustees, rather than have the clubs inherited by their heirs. It is believed that the will of Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. stipulates that the Bills likewise be sold by trustees after his death. Although the late Atlanta Falcons owner Rankin Smith enacted an orderly and well-planned transfer, his heirs last year dealt away the franchise, in part to deal with tax realities.
In the wake of the death of Cleveland owner Al Lerner, though, there will be no need to post a "For Sale" sign on the front door of the Browns complex in Berea, Ohio. Beset by a brain tumor roughly 18 months ago, Lerner began grooming son Randy to succeed him as owner and CEO, and quickly got his house in order. When Al Lerner died Wednesday evening in the Cleveland Clinic, leadership passed on to 40-year-old Randy Lerner and, almost as significant, a continuum was in place.
|  | | Al Lerner would routinely watch the Browns practice.
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The upshot: There certainly will be no sale of the franchise. The Lerner family will not be strapped by excessive estate taxes. The Cleveland Browns will maintain the status quo, and be under Lerner family stewardship, clearly for the long term.
"Al Lerner's estate is so big and so liquid and so well-structured," said club president Carmen Policy, "that, speaking from an untutored standpoint, the inheritance taxes won't be a problem at all. From a financial standpoint, I would dare say there isn't a team in the league better situated financially in terms of debt or lack thereof, and in terms of the planning he's implemented, not only for the immediate future but also the team's long-term future. The franchise will be able to compete well into the next decade because of the way he set up the entire structure and financial underpinning."
Lerner's vigilance in planning for the future will greatly benefit the Browns. The era of free agency, after all, has extended beyond just the players over the past several years.
Over the past decade, 10 franchises have been sold, the venerable Art Modell is contractually bound to deal the rest of the Baltimore Ravens to Steve Bisciotti in two more years and Red McCombs is trying to peddle the Minnesota Vikings. No matter the financial pedigree of the new owners, that is not the kind of stability upon which the NFL was constructed, nor on which it wants to continue into the millennium.
But when he spent $530 million in 1998 for the rights to a new incarnation of one of the NFL's most legendary franchises, Al Lerner didn't view the move as just another investment. The chief executive of credit card holdings company MBNA Corp., the elder Lerner was as familiar with a playbook as a profit and loss ledger.
It would be naïve to suggest there are current NFL owners who aren't in the business for the bucks or the profile. Lerner was not a perfect man, and some Cleveland residents never forgave him for aiding Modell in relocating the Browns franchise to Baltimore, but he was a good man. And he was a fan, a man who wanted a Super Bowl title, a guy who loved the game.
And so Al Lerner structured the team to go into a family trust when he died. His heirs, wife Norma, son Randy and daughter Nancy Beck, essentially control 90 percent of the stock. Policy owns the remaining 10 percent, but likely does not have the wherewithal to extend his reach, and has hinted that he could leave the club, perhaps in two seasons.
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Side Lines
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On-Line
It's difficult to ignore the first of the twice-annual bloodlettings between New York Giants left end Michael Strahan and Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Jon Runyan, two guys who simply don't like each other, and are good for at least one tussle every time they square off. But an arguably more key skirmish is the one that will take place in Foxboro, Mass., where the New England Patriots are coming off a bye week, determined to once again run the football, but facing the Denver Broncos and the league's top-rated run defense. Denver has surrendered just 75.0 yards per game and permitted only one rush of 20 yards or more. Although coach Bill Belichick has not announced changes in the offensive line, expect guard Joe Andruzzi and tackle Greg Robinson-Randall to be the new starters on the right side. The Pats' interior trio, which has been shuffled nearly every game, must find a way to block Broncos tackles Chester McGlockton and Lional Dalton. |
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The List
Even as he stumbles toward the all-time rushing record, Dallas Cowboys tailback Emmitt Smith remains on pace (albeit barely) for another 1,000-yard season, no small feat for a man now 33 years old. Of the other backs who rank among the top 20 rushers of all-time only one, Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers, managed a 1,000-yard season at the age of 33. Five of the other 19 players in the elite "top 20" rushing group retired before turning 33 and four others have not yet reached that age. Here's a look at the rushing output of the other "top 20" runners at age 33: |
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Player
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Year
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Yards
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Franco Harris
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1983
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1,007
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Ottis Anderson
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1990
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784
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Marcus Allen
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1993
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764
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Terry Allen
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2001
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658
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John Riggins
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1982
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553(a)
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Walter Payton
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1987
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533
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Tony Dorsett
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1987
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456
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Thurman Thomas
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1999
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152
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Joe Perry
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1960
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95
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Eric Dickerson
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1993
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91
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Note: (a) Strike year. Riggins rushed for 1,347 yards in 1983, at age 34
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Stat of the Week
By his lofty standards, Indianapolis tailback Edgerrin James has enjoyed just modest success so far this season, but that could change Sunday in a prime time game against the Washington Redskins defense. The game marks the Colts' first matchup with an NFC opponent this season. In seven previous outings against NFC defenses, James has averaged a combined 170 yards from scrimmage and has five 100-yard rushing games. |
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Stat of the Weak
Of the league-worst 230 points surrendered by the Kansas City Chiefs in seven games, 99 have come in the fourth quarter. At that pace, the Chiefs will allow 226 fourth-quarter points. By comparison, two teams are on pace to allow fewer points than that for the entire season. Tampa Bay is on pace to allow just 178 points and Atlanta 224 points. |
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The Last Word
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| Frerotte |
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Gus Frerotte, who began the season as the starter, is now No. 3 on the depth chart, and is working on just a one-year contract with the club: "I'm like one of those leaves that just fell off the tree and is wondering where it will land."
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"They intend," said Policy of the Lerner family, "to own this team for a long time. I would say indefinitely. I would say the chances are good you will see Lerner grandchildren working for this team down the road."
Rarely is there such a seamless transition in business, even in sports, where the fraternity is an elite one. But the early word on Randy Lerner is that he is much like his father, who was one of the quietest, but also most influential of owners. Policy termed Randy Lerner "a fan … who grew up wearing Cleveland Browns pajamas . . . whose room was a shrine to the Browns."
Browns linebacker Jamir Miller recalled Thursday that, when he blew out his Achilles in a preseason game this summer, the first person to the locker room was Randy Lerner. The younger Lerner helped a distraught Miller out of his pads and into the shower. "The apple," said Miller, "did not fall far from the tree."
That's good news, not only for Cleveland Browns fans, but for the entire league as well.
Around the league
In this season of quarterback flux, when coaches already have made nine non-injury related switches at the position (compared to six in all of 2001), it's hard to believe the unemployed Jeff George can't find a job. No matter the perception, there are a lot of players currently in the league toting more baggage than George ever hoisted during his NFL career. Yet when there is an injury at the quarterback spot, the phone doesn't ring at George's home in Indianapolis, and he can't figure out why. "Look, I just want to play," he told ESPN.com this week. "The money is irrelevant. It's just hard to sit in front of the television on Sunday afternoons and be a spectator. Just once, I'd like someone to look me in the eye and tell me why they don't want to give me a shot." George refuses to use the term "blackball," or to allow the media to put the word in his mouth or his mind. But he's got a point when he contends he is superior to some of the current starters. We're aware that numbers alone don't make a quarterback, but George's career statistics are comparable to those of, say, Drew Bledsoe. But right now, he can't even get an audition. The odds are slim that George, 34, will land on a roster before the end of this season. But after this season of quarterback carnage has run its course some team -- like Cincinnati, where the quarterback situation is in eternal flux -- would be wise to bring Jeff George to camp. There will be no hungrier player, no more humble a veteran, and few quarterbacks who can throw the ball like he can.
News that former journeyman defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo is coming out of the closet was surprising, but shouldn't be overly shocking, although no gay player is apt to admit his sexual preference until he retires. Over the past 30 years, the only other player to openly acknowledge homosexuality was Dave Kopay. Noted sports psychologist Joseph Dannon: "You think in a normal male population of 1,500 or so players in the NFL, there haven't been more gay men than that? It's preposterous to even consider that as fact, isn't it?" In fact, in covering the league for 25 years now we've had two players, both now retired, acknowledge they are gay. Neither has taken the daunting yet courageous step Tuaolo took this week. Atlanta players who shared a locker room with Tuaolo in 1998 admitted to us this week that they were aware of his sexual preference. And the result? "He was basically an outcast," said one former Falcons player.
The move to appoint Art Shell to his new position with the league, as the player appeals officer, has been in the works "for a pretty good while now" according to one NFL source. So it wouldn't be fair to adopt the cynical mindset and suggest that the fact the NFL announced Shell's hiring, just two days after officials met with activist attorneys threatening a lawsuit if the NFL doesn't improve its track record on diversity in hiring for key positions, was anything more than coincidence. The timing, however, did raise some eyebrows. Basically, the activists, led by firebrand Johnnie Cochran, are talking about a lawsuit for which they have no plaintiffs. As noted here recently, we know of no current assistant coaches willing to attach their name to such litigation, because they feel it could be professional suicide. But Shell, a class act but also a man who has never camouflaged his desire to be a head coach again, might have been a potential candidate for such a suit. Two years out of the game, Shell's name hadn't significantly surfaced anywhere, not even for an assistant coaching post. It's not far-fetched to consider that he might have listened to Cochran, whose plan for rewarding teams that present the league a diverse slate of candidates when there is a key coaching or front office vacancies, will be considered by owners at a meeting next week in Manhattan. Shell quietly has been working for the NFL in the area of college relations and also writes an occasional column for the league website. The new position provides the former Raiders coach a much higher profile. And given that reality, he is much less likely to bite the hand that feeds him, some skeptics point out.
There was much clamoring from Miami players this week about what they felt was the unfair treatment afforded injured wide receiver Oronde Gadsden by team officials. But they ought to consider that their teammate -- who said he would delay surgery on a ligament in his left wrist, and continue to play in pain this year, if the Dolphins signed him to a big-money extension -- was essentially extorting the franchise. Was the offer the Dolphins made a tad shy? Maybe so. But to have held up the team for more money, knowing that the Dolphins had a dire situation at wide receiver, was unthinkable. And it remains to be seen just how much action Gadsden generates when he goes into the unrestricted free agent market in the spring of 2003. Hey, the guy will turn 32 next August. He's started only 56 games in five seasons, has never been regarded as a "lead" receiver, never had more than 56 catches or 803 yards in a year. Chances are that teams will not be beating down his door next spring.
One young wide receiver who will be at the top of most wish lists if he gets into the free agent market after this year is Peerless Price of the Buffalo Bills. This has been a breakout campaign for the fourth-year veteran and Bills officials are working hard to try to get him signed to an extension that will keep him in Buffalo for a long time. Price has 47 receptions for 639 yards and five touchdowns after seven games. Along with Eric Moulds, he provides Drew Bledsoe the most dynamic and explosive wideout tandem in the league. But he also knows the Bills paid Moulds a signing bonus of $12 million to retain him two years ago. Price, who is playing for just $450,000 in base salary this year, might not command that much. But it's going to take a head-turning offer to keep him from testing the free agency waters and Buffalo officials know it.
There was more than mild surprise this spring when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones decided he wasn't going to re-up Hudson Houck as the team's offensive line coach. Instead, the Cowboys permitted new offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet to bring in former Bengals tight ends assistant Frank Verducci as his offensive line aide. The results in Dallas, certainly not all Verducci's fault, have been disastrous. Verducci has been victimized by an incredible string of injuries that have the Cowboys seemingly scouring the waiver wires every week for viable candidates. But also, some of the holdover veterans on the unit just haven't bought into the "zone blocking" scheme Verducci implemented. Contrast that to San Diego, where Houck has managed to this point to transform chicken feathers into chicken salad. The Chargers five starters are hardly household names and include a pair of rookies in left guard Toniu Fonoti and center Jason Ball. The former is a second-round draft pick but Ball is an undrafted free agent playing well.
|  | | Flutie has not thrown a pass for the Chargers this season. |
A quickie Chargers note: Although unreported, quarterback Doug Flutie last month completed a "simple" restructuring of his contract for this year. He reduced his scheduled base salary from $4.3 million to $3 million and got the balance guaranteed, essentially as a signing bonus. The maneuver allowed San Diego to create a little over $1 million in cap room for this year. But it increased Flutie's already-high cap figure for 2003 to $5.26 million. Translation: Unless he dramatically lowers his 2003 base salary ($4.5 million) and cap value ($5.26 million), Flutie probably won't be around to hold the clipboard for Drew Brees next season.
Once again, in completing a six-year contract extension for defensive tackle Darwin Walker this week, Philadelphia Eagles president and CEO Joe Banner has succeeded in crafting a deal that is good for the player and good for the team. In the absences of starting tackles Hollis Thomas (foot) and Corey Simon (ankle), the relatively unheralded Walker has performed well. He has 29 tackles, and 4½ sacks, and has netted at least a half-sack in five straight games now. For his play, the third-year pro got an extension that is worth about $10.5 million in so-called "new money." The deal calls for a signing bonus of $4 million and base salaries of $800,000 (for 2002), $450,000 (2003), $1 million (2004), $1.1 million (2005), $1.2 million (2006), $1.3 million (2007) and $1.4 million (2008). There are workout bonuses totaling an additional $36,860 from 2003-2008. The advantage for Walker, who had played in only 11 contests before this season and started none of them, is that he pockets $4 million now. The beauty of the deal for the Eagles is that they retain an emerging player, and at a position where it is nearly impossible to find quality performers, for six years beyond this. And the cap number for Walker never climbs above $1.98 million. In fact, the Eagles get Walker for a cap value of $1.2 million this season and just $1.027 million in 2003. It's the latest example of Banner opting to extend a player long before he was compelled to, before the player was eligible for unrestricted free agency. Walker, 25, could have been a restricted free agent next spring, but restricted players rarely change teams. At a late training camp practice this summer, Banner sat with us in the bleachers at the club's complex and acknowledged that, with injuries on the defensive front, some young players would have to step forward. Typical of the Eagles, they did not panic amid the media fretting around them, and decided to find out if some of their young guys were prepared to contribute. Philadelphia now has its top three defensive tackles signed through at least 2004. And the highest cap value for Thomas is $2.53 million, in 2005. The biggest cap hit the team will take on Simon is $2.37 million, next year. Simon could be the next tackle to get an extension.
There's been plenty of happy talk emanating from the Minnesota Vikings this week surrounding negotiations with unsigned first-round offensive left tackle Bryant McKinnie. Unfortunately for the Vikings and their coaches, the rhetoric isn't necessarily reality, and sources close to the situation told ESPN.com this week that the chances of a deal remain very slim. Talks have been cordial, both sides allow, but progress is incremental. And at this point in the proceedings, incremental isn't nearly good enough. As noted several times here, if McKinnie isn't signed by Nov. 12 (just two weeks from next Tuesday), he is forbidden by the collective bargaining agreement from playing for the Vikings in 2002. And if the deadline passes minus a deal, then it's all but a given that McKinnie will never play for Minnesota at all, and instead will be either traded next March or go into the 2003 draft. The Vikings, just like any team in a similar situation, aren't going to show all their cards yet. The best offer McKinnie will ever see from Minnesota will come on Nov. 11 or Nov. 12, and not before that. This is a deadline league and rarely is anything accomplished without a gun to someone's head. But not even the Nov. 12 drop-dead date might be enough for the two sides in this battle to consummate a truce.
We're getting tired of hammering Cleveland Browns defensive right end Courtney Brown for his lack of production and penchant for injuries, but the first overall choice in the 2000 draft makes his shortcomings hard to ignore. Brown has now started 27 games and has full sacks (none of those shared sacks for us) in only four outings. Six of his nine career sacks came in only two games, three against Pittsburgh as a rookie, three versus Chicago last season. He is 0-for-2002, and failed to even get close to the man everyone loves to sack, Houston quarterback David Carr, when his team recorded nine sacks last Sunday afternoon. Brown's backup, Mark Word, leads the club with five sacks and could soon nudge his way into the starting lineup. Brown continues to play with notable lack of passion, a transgression that is tough for coach Butch Davis to comprehend, and the coaches are running out of ideas for motivating him.
Solid move by the surging Arizona Cardinals by finishing off a two-year contract extension this week with linebacker Ronald McKinnon. For $4.5 million in "new money," a signing bonus of $1.2 million and base salaries of $1.65 million in both 2003 and 2004, the team tied up a truly good player most fans across the country don't know anything about. A seventh-year veteran, McKinnon, 29, is the heart of the Cardinals defense, loves playing for coach Dave McGinnis, and wants to be part of the solution in Arizona. There are times you scratch your head over some of the things the Cardinals do, but this wasn't one of them.
Finally here's the breakdown on the seven-year, $40.1 million contract that Atlanta Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney signed two weeks ago. He got a signing bonus, as reported, of $8.5 million and $4.5 million of that will be deferred until March of 2003. The base salaries are $885,000 (2002), $2.49 million (2003), $3.95 million (2004), $4.45 million (2005), $4.95 million (2006), $6.71 million (2007) and $7.19 million (2008). There are workout bonuses of $75,000 for this season, $150,000 each 2003-2005, of $250,000 for 2006 and of $50,000 each for 2007-2008. The final two years of the deal are voided if Kerney makes two Pro Bowl appearances in the first five years, or plays 85 percent of the snaps two times, or is in the top 10 in sacks in the NFL or the top five in sacks in the NFC two times.
Although he has all but recovered from injuries that limited his playing time early in the easy, Philadelphia first-round cornerback Lito Sheppard can't crack the lineup, and was inactive for last weekend's game. One big reason Sheppard can't get on the field is that he isn't particularly adept at playing special teams, a chore he didn't have to perform at the University of Florida, at least in terms of coverage duties. The other is that second-round pick Sheldon Brown has proved to be a better "nickel" and "dime' defender than Sheppard. The coaching staff isn't ready to throw in the towel on the enormously talented Sheppard for the year yet, but some are discouraged by his nonchalance on the practice field.
More evidence of the dysfunctional atmosphere in the Washington front office this week was the team's failure to consummate a contract extension with offensive right tackle Jon Jansen. For front official folks to think that they could get Jansen for an average of $4 million over six years, and with a signing bonus in the $5 million-$6 million range, was ill-advised. Jansen is having a subpar season, as is left tackle Chris Samuels, but the Redskins need to keep both players around. Jansen can be a free agent in the spring and Samuels has such a lofty cap value the team will almost certainly have to restructure his contract. There are actually some Washington officials who felt the team would be overpaying Jansen even at $4 million annually. To which we say: Let him get into the free agent market and $4 million per year will look like a bargain basement price. This is a team with a lot of holes to fill and it can't afford to let any of its good players get away. The guess here is that the front office will be shuffled again in the offseason and that, while he doesn't want total control, coach Steve Spurrier will seek a lot more clout in personnel decisions.
Please oblige us one personal note: Thursday marked the second anniversary of the untimely death of former NFL scribe Steve Schoenfeld, one of the good guys in the business. A close friend, and a teammate during my tenure at another sports website, "Schoney" was one of the best. While he never sugarcoated news, he had a knack for being critical, but without making an enemy. Two years later, I still miss the daily 9 a.m. phone call, and so do a lot of other NFL writers who knew Steve well, and who valued him as a dear comrade.
Punts: Just for the record, the one-year contract signed by Cris Carter with the Miami Dolphins on Monday is for a base salary of $935,000. Prorated over the balance of the season, it's worth $550,000, and is guaranteed. The NFLPA also lists $195,000 in "incentives/other" on the Carter deal. … Falcons wide receiver Willie Jackson, who seemed to be reaching a very good meld with quarterback Michael Vick, is miffed at losing his starting job to Shawn Jefferson. The veteran had 81 catches for New Orleans last season, knows the Saints secondary well, and felt he could have helped far more in preparation for Sunday's big showdown in the Superdome. More than anything, though, Jackson can't figure out why his playing time has been reduced, and he's got a pretty good argument. … Speaking of the New Orleans secondary, which remains a suspect element of the team, its most valuable performer right now might be Ken Irvin. The eighth-year veteran, signed as an unrestricted free agent this summer, looked awful at times in the preseason. But he has played lights-put in replacing the suspended Dale Carter in the lineup and just might get a contract extension. Some Raiders officials wanted to sign Irvin in the offseason, but then the team drafted Phillip Buchanan in the first round, and lost interest in him. With all the injuries Oakland has encountered at cornerback, the team would kill to have Irvin on the roster now. … Some Tampa Bay staffers, who once were very critical of the offense run by the previous coaches, now see just what their predecessors had to work with. The Jon Gruden staff now realizes how little quickness there is on the team and is bemoaning the lack of speed. … The New York Jets have already begun thinking about the feasibility of brining back Vinny Testaverde as the backup to Chad Pennington in 2003. From a salary cap standpoint it certainly is do-able. But Testaverde's agent is on record as saying that Testaverde wants to look around the league and see if there are any starting jobs that might be attainable in '03.… In two games this year versus NFC opponents, Drew Bledsoe has completed 63 of 85 passes for 791 yards, with seven touchdown passes, no interceptions, and a 130.1 quarterback rating. Why is this relevant. The Bills face the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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