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'Refining, improving' Owners' meeting to focus on player conduct policy
Posted: Monday May 22, 2000 06:41 PM
By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated BALTIMORE -- Still operating under the dual clouds of embarrassment and concern stemming from the worst wave of off-field player conduct in its history, the NFL this week will continue to opt for more bark than bite in regards to its approach to violent crime. When NFL owners convene here Tuesday and Wedneday for their annual spring meeting, they will hear a presentation from NFL management council chairman Harold Henderson regarding proposed enhancements and refinements of the league's policies and practices, but no new disciplinary initiatives will be recommended. Amid the backdrop of the Atlanta murder trial involving Baltimore's All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis, the murder case against Carolina receiver Rae Carruth and the sexual assault charges brought against Green Bay tight end Mark Chrmura, the league again will focus on increasing awareness and prevention in terms of its 1,700-plus players. At its March annual meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., the NFL put forth a two-page list of proposals designed to emphasize and strengthen its current guidelines against violent crime, with the aim of creating more effective support groups for players at the club level. Getting special attention is the clubs' identification of potential at-risk players and efforts to counsel about the dangers of hanging with the wrong crowd. "We don't expect anything dramatically different because we've got a good set of programs and policies in place," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "Now it's a matter of emphasizing them, refining and improving them. It'll be within that context that we'll be doing some things." Henderson, along with NFL commissioner Paul Taglaibue, co-chaired a brainstorming panel discussion at the March owners meeting, addressing league officials with the input and participation of three head coaches: Tampa Bay's Tony Dungy, Seattle's Mike Holmgren and Baltimore's Brian Billick. None of the recommendations resulting from Henderson's presentation is expected to necessitate a vote of owners. The report will translate some of the dialogue of the past two months into recommendations of league-wide practice, but prevention, not penalization, will be the thrust. One recommendation will be that the league's rookie symposium, held every June, intensify its sessions on player conduct and the importance of choosing suitable peer groups. The league is stressing that the responsibility of addressing the issue is split three ways: among the individual players, the clubs and the owners. In what promises to be a low-profile two-day meeting, the other issues on the league owners' agenda this week include:
The NFL has set a June 1, 2001, deadline for realigning itself into eight four-team divisions for 2002, but must first settle the scheduling formula question. The question whether to expand the playoff field from 12 to 14 teams also may be tied to the realignment discussion, but no decisions on realignment or increasing the size of the playoff field is expected until next year.
The scheduing formula that seemingly had the most support in March called for teams to play their six division games -- two each against three division opponents -- with four games coming against another division within one's own conference and four more games on a rotating basis against a division from the opposite conference. The question that surfaced was how to fairly determine a team's remaining two regular-season games on a rotating yearly basis. Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney is on record favoring a "strong" schedule format for the remaining two games. Under that plan, first-place teams from the year before would play two other division winners, and second place teams play two other second-place finishers and so on. "That way you'll equal it out," Rooney said. "Which means that the team that wins a division will end up playing about four division winners the next year. So that's pretty good." Also in Baltimore this week, but not at the owners meetings hotel, the league's head coaches and coordinators Tuesday will conduct their annual meeting Tuesday with the NFL's game officials, in order to review new rules interpretations and give each other a forum for questions and debate. Sure to be discussed is the new interpretation of the catch, no-catch rule, which was changed by the NFL's competition committee in March after the highly controversial reversal of a reception by Tampa Bay receiver Bert Emanuel in the NFC championship game. On Wednesday, also at a nearby hotel, more than 100 NFL assistant coaches are expected to take part in the league's third annual NFL coaches career development symposium. It is not know whether the meeting will also serve as a forum for new demands or discussion between the league's assistants and the NFL about increased benefits and other considerations. The NFL Coaches Association, led by former NFL assistant Larry Kennan, the group's executive director, is attempting to improve the pension and medical benefits of the league's assistants, in addition to offering some financial protection against the high rate of turnover in its field. The NFLCA has threatened to file a lawsuit against the league in the coming months if its concerns are not addressed. Aiello said the NFL is not braced for any development this week along the lines of a lawsuit and may find time on the owners agenda to discuss the group's concerns. Tagliabue in March said the league would probably have a meeting between Kennan and some owners at some point, but that the NFL still considers the issue one that falls under the responsibility of each individual club, not the league. Representing a significant setback, the ability of assistants to move around and seek promotions was restricted in March when the owners imposed an anti-tampering rule that eliminates the practice of putting supervisory tags on two coaches per staff. The rule in effect allows no assistant to break their contract for another job, other than a head coaching opportunity. No longer can a position coach be hired away by another team, providing they are named a coordinator or a supervisor. Teams can still grant an assistant permission to join another team in a position other than head coach, but they are not required to do so. The new rule will go into effect at the end of the 2000 season.
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