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National Football League
Thursday, January 13, 2011 ■ Page 3D
Vikings: We’ll pay for a third of cost of new stadium By PATRICK CONDON and DAVE CAMPBELL Associated Press EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Though Minnesota state lawmakers appear likely to insist that a roof be part of any public deal for a new Vikings stadium, the team is sticking with its offer to pay about a third of the bill — minus whatever a roof would cost. Vikings vice president and stadium point man Lester Bagley said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Vikings would prefer an outdoor stadium, but understood that might not win legislative approval when lawmakers in February take up the team’s request for a stadium funded in part by taxpayers. State Sen. Julie Rosen, likely lead sponsor of the stadium bill at the Capitol, confirmed that hunch. She said most lawmakers want a
facility like the Metrodome that can host not just NFL football but also dozens of high school and college tournaments and other public events. Bagley said the Vikings wouldn’t insist on playing outside, despite team owner Zygi Wilf’s recent comments that he preferred an outdoor stadium. But Bagley said the Vikings saw it as precedent that the Minnesota Twins ponied up about a third of the cost of outdoor Target Field. “A roof does not provide any benefit to the Vikings,” Bagley said in the interview at team headquarters in Eden Prairie. “It also costs a couple hundred million dollars more in capital costs, in addition to the operating costs that are much higher for a covered facility.” With the team’s lease for the currently snow-damaged Metrodome set to expire after next season, Bagley said the team is hop-
ing lawmakers act this year to replace a building he called “not a viable NFL facility” and ensure the Vikings stay in Minnesota. An outdoor stadium has been estimated to cost at least $700 million, with a permanent or retractable roof likely to add another few hundred million dollars to the total price. But a roof could also be the cost of getting the bill through the Legislature, said Rosen, R-Fairmont. “If you’re going to put this much capital, this much sweat and tears into it, you’re going to need a 365-day facility like the Metrodome,” she said. Rosen said she expected to introduce her stadium bill in mid-February. She and Bagley offered few hints as to its contents, but said it would include a location for the new stadium, a total price tag and funding mechanism, and the type of stadium.
Sites previously discussed as possibilities have included the current site of the Metrodome, a few other locations within the city of Minneapolis or one of several Twin Cities suburbs. Both Rosen and Bagley indicated the funding proposal would in some ways mimic a previous plan to in part tap stadium users directly through taxes on football jerseys and similar items. “It’s not going to be a clean mechanism like it was with the Twins,” said Rosen, referring to the Target Field financing plan that dealt about a third of the cost to the Twins and the rest to Hennepin County taxpayers. “It’s going to be a cobbling together of many sources.” With a more than $6 billion budget deficit facing down state lawmakers, Bagley refused to speculate what would happen if the Legislature failed to act on the Vikings’ request this year.
Other American cities are seeking pro football teams, including Los Angeles, where two firms are currently competing to build a new NFL stadium in hopes of enticing a team there. The president and CEO of one of those groups, Anschutz Entertainment Group’s Tim Leiweke, said he and Wilf are “not in the middle of extended talks” about the team’s status. Leiweke said he and Wilf spoke as recently as late December, but emphasized their business relationship and Wilf’s interest in developing an entertainment district similar to what AEG has created in Los Angeles. “My assumption is that Minnesota is going to try to get their situation resolved in the near future, so we don’t get too worked up about it,” Leiweke said in a phone interview. “Zygi made it real clear he’d like to solve his problems there and get a sta-
dium built. We do business there, and we’re going to be very careful not to do anything to harm the process. So from a personal standpoint, I hope they figure it out.” Commissioner Roger Goodell, during a visit to Minnesota last month, said he “certainly” hopes the Vikings don’t move. “Our focus is entirely on making sure they’re successful here in this market,” Goodell said. Rosen, the state senator, said that’s where Minnesota lawmakers come in. “I do feel the Vikings could easily pick up and move,” Rosen said. “Because it is a business. You have to ask yourself what would the Legislature be doing if, say, Target was threatening to move out of state? It demands a response.”
Brady shrugs off criticism By HOWARD ULMAN AP Sports Writer FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady just wants to talk about football. The New York Jets won’t let him. Day after noisy day, the mouths to the south keep moving. The quarterback tries to evade their onslaughts as if they were 300-pound pass rushers. The latest blitz: Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie called the mop-topped leader of the New England Patriots an expletive. “I’ve been called worse,” Brady said, brushing it off like the heavy snow that fell on Foxborough. “I’m sure there’s a long list of people who feel that way.” Cromartie made his comment Tuesday to the New York Daily News and didn’t back off on Wednesday, although he said he’s never met Brady. “Why should I regret it? That’s how I feel,” he said. “As long as I’m in the NFL and he’s in the NFL, there’s going to be a hatred.” Brady just keeps plowing forward. The Patriots most valuable motorist, who was involved in a car collision three days before the season opener but made it to practice, traveled treacherous roads and arrived at work on time Wednesday. “It was tough conditions for everyone,” Brady said. “But everyone’s here, ready to work and get ready for the biggest game of the year.” Does anything faze this guy? New York’s Rex Ryan hopes to be as successful outwitting New England’s Bill Belichick on the field as he is off it when the coaches lead their teams in Sunday’s
Associated Press
New England quarterback Tom Brady was criticized by New York cornerback Antonio Cromartie. divisional playoff game. Ryan already has opened wide his bulging playbook of colorful remarks by throwing verbal jabs at Brady, who simply shrugs them off — but may not forget. Last Thursday, the Jets boss said “nobody” studies like Indianapolis quarterb a c k Pe y t o n Ma n n i n g . Brady, Ryan said, “thinks he does” but gets more help from Belichick than there is with Manning. Brady acknowledged that he gets “a ton” of help from his coach. On Saturday night during the Patriots’ bye week, Brady attended the Broadway play “Lombardi” about Green Bay’s legendary coach Vince Lombardi and missed part of the Jets’ 17-16 playoff win over the Colts on television. Ryan said on Monday, with a grin, that “Manning would have been watching our game.” He also said that day that Brady “took a shot at me by
his antics on the field.” Did he mean Brady pointed at the Jets’ sideline or looked at them after scoring? “I don’t like seeing that; nobody does. No Jet fan likes to see that. And I know he can’t wait to do it. He’s not going to say anything publicly,” Ryan said. He’s right about that. “It’s certainly not my intent. I’m sure there’s 50,000 cameras on the game. If I did that I’m sure they’d show it,” Brady said, sounding innocent. “I don’t think I’ve ever pointed at anybody. That’s not my style.” Even if he did rub it in by gesturing to the New York sideline after scoring during a 45-3 win Dec. 6, it could have been prevented — by the Jets themselves. “He was pretty demonstrative when we played him up there last time,” Jets linebacker Jason Taylor said. “I come from the school of thought where if you don’t want someone to celebrate or be excited or say something to you or do something that you might perceive as offensive, then don’t let them score.” Cromartie said he hopes Brady tries to pick on him Sunday for his remark. But is there a line that can be crossed that goes beyond trash talking? “ I ’m s u r e t h e r e i s ,” Belichick said calmly. And what is that? “I don’t know,” he said. “In my mind right now it’s the New York Jets Sunday at 4:30.” Might all the jabbering have an effect on the Patriots performance then? “We’ll see on Sunday night at 7:30,” Brady said. “That’s when everybody will be able to tell whether it played a role or not.”
Packers’ penalties percent of them come down to eight points or less for the entire season (and) 25 percent come down to three points or less. I think it’s very important that you don’t have critical penalties in the fourth quarter.” McCarthy is impressed with the Falcons’ team-wide discipline. “It’s just not one phase or two phases,” McCarthy said. “They are a football team that really stays on schedule as far as what they try to do and how they do it. They are very fundamentally sound. I really appreciate the way they have been coached because it shows up on film.” And finally, McCarthy is seeing some of the same things from his own team. Going into the 2010 season, Green Bay was among the NFL’s five most frequently penalized teams for three straight seasons. The Packers were the league’s mostpenalized team last season with 118. “We always tell the guys on offense, this is not a complicated game,” offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. “If you’re going backwards, it’s tough to score.”
This year, the reductions came across the board: — On defense, the Packers committed 15 fewer penalties in the 2010 regular season than they did in 2009. A major improvement came on face mask penalties; Green Bay had eight defensive face mask penalties in 2009 and only two this season. — On offense, Green Bay had 13 fewer penalties than in 2009. The reduction came despite the Packers actually having one more false start on offense this season than they did last season. — Their special teams had 12 fewer penalties than last season. There was a huge reduction in special teams holding calls. Green Bay had a whopping 14 holding calls on special teams in 2009 but only three this season. “When we began back in the spring, that was something that we identified that we needed to change,” special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum said. “We put the process in motion, and I think we’ve seen the results of it.” Green Bay’s disciplined
Continued from 1D play continued in Sunday’s playoff victory at Philadelphia, in which the Packers had only two penalties accepted against them. Philbin said the improvement began in the offseason but really took hold after what he calls the “disaster night in Chicago,” the 18penalty outing in a Sept. 27 loss to the Bears. “I think we made a bigger emphasis,” Philbin said. “I know we did offensively. I know Coach did as a team. I think we probably made more of a point of it, and the guys responded.” Defensive back Jarrett Bush, one of Green Bay’s key special teams players, said avoiding penalties is critical — but the Packers can’t get caught playing tentatively and worrying too much about the referees. “We’ve just got to worry about playing football,” Bush said. “Some calls can be questionable, some calls are accurate. We just worry about playing football, let the refs do the reffing and make the calls that they make.”
Associated Press
John Fox arrived in Denver Wednesday to meet with the Broncos about their head coaching vacancy.
Fox interviews with Denver Coach’s flight had been delayed three times By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer DENVER — John Fox brought his spiffy new orange tie to Denver along with a proven blueprint for resurrecting a downtrodden team. Fox finally arrived in Denver early Wednesday afternoon to meet with the Broncos about their head coaching vacancy after his flight out of North Carolina was delayed three times this week by winter weather. Fox then met with John Elway, who is leading the team’s second head coaching search in two seasons, to see if he was a good fit with the Broncos, who are coming off a franchise-worst 4-12 season. Fox touts a top-of-thepile resume. “I’ve been doing it. I have a plan, whether it’s a bye week schedule, a training camp schedule. It’s not my first rodeo, so to speak,” Fox said. “So, I think I do have a blueprint to do it. We’ve had success, some years more than others. But you know the full body of work I think holds a blueprint for success.” Fox has built a team from the ground up before. “When I went into the Panthers we were 1-15 and it was very similar, a second (overall) pick, much the same situation,” he said. Fox’s contract wasn’t renewed by the Panthers following an NFL-worst 2-14 season. He is the fifth candidate the Broncos have interviewed to replace Josh McDaniels, who was fired Dec. 6 amid the team’s worst slide in four decades and the embarrassing Spygate II videotaping scandal. Fox said his interview was as much about him getting a feel for the Broncos to see if the fit was right.
“This is going to be twosided,” he said. “I want to see what direction they want to go, and whether or not I can be a benefit to that. We’ll find out and that’s why I’m here.” Although fellow candidates Eric Studesville, Perry Fewell and Dirk Koetter have interim head coaching experience and Rick Dennison has deep organizational knowledge after spending 24 years with the Broncos as a player and an assistant, none of them have the coaching credentials that Fox does. Fox, 55, spent the last nine seasons as Carolina’s coach, going 73-71 and winning five of eight games in three trips to the playoffs. The Panthers were coming off a 1-15 season when he took over in 2002 and led them to a 7-9 mark in his first year before guiding them to the Super Bowl in his second season. “I think the rebuild (in Denver) probably is going to require a little bit more on defense than offense but you know, I think I have a blueprint that we executed in Carolina and I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work here in Denver,” Fox told reporters at Denver International Airport before heading to Dove Valley. General manager Brian Xanders has said the team’s top priority is fixing the lastplace defense, which will be the focus on Denver’s draft, and Fox’s background is steeped in defense. He spent 13 years as a defensive assistant with the Steelers, Chargers, Raiders, Rams and Giants, including seven seasons as defensive coordinator, before taking over the Panthers. Fox said he wouldn’t have a problem if the Broncos want to stick with the 3-4 defensive scheme they’ve employed since 2009 even though he mostly used a 4-3 look in Carolina. Another advantage for Fox is his deep roots in the NFL, which would allow him to build a strong staff. Fox’s Panthers teams
averaged nearly nine wins a season in his first eight years in Charlotte, but Carolina was the only team with a worse record than Denver in 2010. Fox insisted he wasn’t beaten down by last year’s difficult season or by the grind of being an NFL head coach. “I still have a big passion for it,” he said. “I’m excited about this opportunity, the Broncos’ tradition. I think getting John involved is critical. And I just want to get a chance to visit these guys and see what their plan’s going to be.” Elway said last week when he was hired as the team’s new chief football executive that his new coach should be willing to work with rookie quarterback Tim Tebow. And Fox said he’s a big believer in the former Florida star who started Denver’s last three games. “Well, I’ll say this: I had dinner with the young man in Gainesville in the evaluation process and I know he’ll do whatever it takes to be a great player,” Fox said. “He’s got a lot of the intangibles I look for and where that goes, it’s hard to predict. He’s in the development stage for sure, but I think he has the makings to be as good as he wants to be.” Of Denver’s five candidates so far, only Fewell has had interviews with other NFL teams about their head coaching vacancies. He interviewed with the Cleveland Browns and the Panthers, who hired Ron Rivera. Fewell, the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, interviewed with the Broncos on Sunday as did Studesville, who went 1-3 after being promoted from running backs coach upon McDaniels’ ouster. Offensive coordinators Dennison of Houston and Koetter of Jacksonville interviewed Tuesday.