NFL is still eyeing L.A.
Before he retires as commissioner, Paul Tagliabue would like to see the NFL get closer to placing a team back in Los Angeles.
While Tagliabue plans to be gone from the league in July -- if the owners can get together and find a successor by then -- a solution to the situation doesn't figure to come that soon.
Two sites are being considered, in Anaheim and at the current location of the Coliseum, each with cost estimates at $800 million, considerably higher than previous price tags. Tagliabue is eager to see a franchise return to Los Angeles, which was abandoned by the Raiders and the Rams after the 1994 season -- then failed to come up with public financing for an expansion team, which went to Houston beginning in 2002.
The subject is being discussed this week at the NFL meetings in Orlando, Fla., although it will be at the spring meetings in May that any concrete plans are developed.
"My guess is that we will be going forward with those presentations on behalf of the Coliseum and Anaheim so that we can make some decisions in Denver, to select one of the stadium projects and to go forward with the process of identifying a team and building a stadium," Tagliabue said.
Tagliabue has told the 32 team owners that unless a plan for Los Angeles is formulated soon, getting a team back into the nation's second-largest market won't occur by the end of the decade. For now, a six-man committee is handling the issue.
Meanwhile, the competition committee presented its proposals to the ownership Tuesday and votes will be taken today on the issues. They include:
• Cracking down on end-zone celebrations. Players won't be allowed to do anything while on the ground and also can't use props such as end-zone pylons. They can spike, dunk or spin the ball as long as they are standing in the end zone, and it is not a group thing.
• Allowing video reviews of down-by-contact plays; this proposal was defeated in an owners vote a year ago. Currently, a play is dead once the whistle blows and the ballcarrier is ruled down by the officials.
• Toughening enforcement on pass rushers who hit quarterbacks below the knees.
Harrington seeks job
Detroit quarterback Joey Harrington, who is helping his team try to find him a new job, is scheduled to meet in South Florida today with Dolphins coach Nick Saban, a source said.
Saban said at the NFL owners' meetings that he hoped to sign a backup quarterback as soon as possible. A few hours later, he left for home.
Harrington, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2002 but a bust with the Lions, remains under contract to Detroit, which would like to trade him instead of releasing him. A trade seems likely because several teams -- Miami, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Baltimore -- appear to be intrigued.
"I have talked to quite a few teams that have shown interest in me, and I am narrowing my list of teams to a few and then probably will visit them in the next week," Harrington said on his family foundation Web site.
Around the league
• 49ers: Tight end Terry Jones re-signed with San Francisco, who claimed him off waivers from Baltimore last season. Jones caught nine passes for 76 yards for the 49ers last season after being dropped by the Ravens, who drafted him in 2002.
• Panthers: Carolina re-signed punter Jason Baker and brought back cornerback Reggie Howard, who started on their 2003 Super Bowl team. Baker, who set a team record last season with a 38.9-yard punting average, agreed to a two-year deal. Howard, meanwhile, received a one-year contract.
While Tagliabue plans to be gone from the league in July -- if the owners can get together and find a successor by then -- a solution to the situation doesn't figure to come that soon.
Two sites are being considered, in Anaheim and at the current location of the Coliseum, each with cost estimates at $800 million, considerably higher than previous price tags. Tagliabue is eager to see a franchise return to Los Angeles, which was abandoned by the Raiders and the Rams after the 1994 season -- then failed to come up with public financing for an expansion team, which went to Houston beginning in 2002.
The subject is being discussed this week at the NFL meetings in Orlando, Fla., although it will be at the spring meetings in May that any concrete plans are developed.
"My guess is that we will be going forward with those presentations on behalf of the Coliseum and Anaheim so that we can make some decisions in Denver, to select one of the stadium projects and to go forward with the process of identifying a team and building a stadium," Tagliabue said.
Tagliabue has told the 32 team owners that unless a plan for Los Angeles is formulated soon, getting a team back into the nation's second-largest market won't occur by the end of the decade. For now, a six-man committee is handling the issue.
Meanwhile, the competition committee presented its proposals to the ownership Tuesday and votes will be taken today on the issues. They include:
• Cracking down on end-zone celebrations. Players won't be allowed to do anything while on the ground and also can't use props such as end-zone pylons. They can spike, dunk or spin the ball as long as they are standing in the end zone, and it is not a group thing.
• Allowing video reviews of down-by-contact plays; this proposal was defeated in an owners vote a year ago. Currently, a play is dead once the whistle blows and the ballcarrier is ruled down by the officials.
• Toughening enforcement on pass rushers who hit quarterbacks below the knees.
Harrington seeks job
Detroit quarterback Joey Harrington, who is helping his team try to find him a new job, is scheduled to meet in South Florida today with Dolphins coach Nick Saban, a source said.
Saban said at the NFL owners' meetings that he hoped to sign a backup quarterback as soon as possible. A few hours later, he left for home.
Harrington, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2002 but a bust with the Lions, remains under contract to Detroit, which would like to trade him instead of releasing him. A trade seems likely because several teams -- Miami, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Baltimore -- appear to be intrigued.
"I have talked to quite a few teams that have shown interest in me, and I am narrowing my list of teams to a few and then probably will visit them in the next week," Harrington said on his family foundation Web site.
Around the league
• 49ers: Tight end Terry Jones re-signed with San Francisco, who claimed him off waivers from Baltimore last season. Jones caught nine passes for 76 yards for the 49ers last season after being dropped by the Ravens, who drafted him in 2002.
• Panthers: Carolina re-signed punter Jason Baker and brought back cornerback Reggie Howard, who started on their 2003 Super Bowl team. Baker, who set a team record last season with a 38.9-yard punting average, agreed to a two-year deal. Howard, meanwhile, received a one-year contract.
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