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| Monday, March 26 Associated Press | |||
PALM DESERT, Calif. – Instant replay might become a permanent
part of the NFL rulebook for the next three seasons.
The league's competition committee, which met this weekend, is
prepared to make the three-year recommendation to the owners, who
begin meeting here on Monday. If so, it would be the first time in
the nearly 20 years that the NFL has been experimenting with the
rule that it will be implemented for more than a year.
"We think we have the support to get the three-year window,"
Bill Polian, the president of the Indianapolis Colts and one of the
members of the rules-making committee, said Sunday. "We would
leave it open for change from year-to-year, but the basic structure
would remain in place."
The committee's recommendation, of course, isn't binding and the
recommendation has yet to be cleared by commissioner Paul
Tagliabue. But that seems likely.
Instant replay was first installed in 1986 and taken out in
1991, each year barely winning or losing. A vote of three-quarters
of the teams is required to implement it. It was revived two years
ago with the coaches' challenge system.
But it has been discussed every year and never has it been put
in – or ruled out – for more than one season.
This is not likely to be a busy meeting. Or rather, it is not
likely to be a newsworthy one.
Some owners are not even attending because Tagliabue spent the
last nearly two weeks in Los Angeles for the lawsuit which the
Oakland Raiders have filed against the league. That meant he did
not have time to get prepared on certain business issues.
The league already has put off until late May – just before the
June 1 deadline – realignment to eight four-team divisions. The
move will be made for the return of Houston to the NFL as an
expansion franchise for the 2002 season. Some of the options may be
discussed at this meeting, but it still remains a contentious
issue.
"In the 40 years I've been in the league, the toughest thing we
ever had to do was to realign in 1970," said Art Modell, owner of
the Baltimore Ravens. "It's still one of the toughest things we
have to do."
The biggest problem is that realignment is one of the issues in
which teams are adamant about putting their own interests ahead of
anything else.
In this case, for example, Arizona Cardinals owners Bill Bidwill
does not want to be separated from Dallas, the only team that sells
out his stadium on a regular basis. But most of the proposed
scenarios have the Cardinals going into a West division while the
Cowboys stay with Washington, Philadelphia and the New York Giants,
maintaining their long-standing NFC East rivalries
Under the new scheduling format, each team will play only six
division games – home and away against the other three rivals.
They also will play four games against another division from
their conference on a rotating basis, four more against a division
from the other conference and two more against conference teams
based on the previous year's standings.
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