Tagliabue blesses CFL expansion south of border
MARTY YORK
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 22, 2000
The Canadian Football League has received Paul Tagliabue’s blessing to take another shot at expanding into the United States.
About a week ago, Montreal Alouettes owner Robert Wetenhall quietly visited Tagliabue in New York on behalf of the CFL and asked the National Football League commissioner whether his league would object to three-down football being played again south of the border.
Wetenhall is strongly advocating CFL expansion to the States for the 2002 season but league executives had been concerned that such a venture would offend and/or upset the NFL. The CFL has no interest in irking the NFL. It was the NFL, remember, that bailed out the CFL a few years ago with an interest-free loan of about $4-million, most of which has still not been repaid. The CFL established a working alliance with the NFL at that time and there was an understanding that the CFL would never again attempt to invade the NFL’s territory with U.S. expansion. The CFL’s first efforts at U.S. expansion, from 1993 through 1995, proved to be a lamentable failure.
Tagliabue actually encouraged the CFL through Wetenhall to give U.S. expansion another try in 2002.
“The message was clear,” said a CFL governor, requesting not to be identified. “Tagliabue told Wetenhall that we shouldn’t go into certain cities such as Los Angeles but that his league would have no problem if we decided to give franchises to cities near the Canadian borders. That’s why places like Syracuse, [N.Y.] Columbus and Portland, [Ore.] are possibilities – and we know for a fact that there would be American businessmen who would be willing to pay substantial fees to have franchises in those cities.”
Debates over the concept of U.S. expansion for 2002 were hot and heavy at CFL governors’ meetings in Toronto last night. Wetenhall received stiff opposition from the operators of community-based clubs in Saskatchewan, Edmonton and Winnipeg. The meetings continue today and an announcement from league executives will follow them. Look for CFL president Jeff Giles to declare in a news conference today that his league will concentrate on expansion within Canada this year before pursuing expansion to the States.
Larry Smith,former CFL commissioner and Wetenhall’s right-hand man as president of the Als, considers it vital that a consensus be reached at these meetings.
“We’re at a point as a group where we must clarify strategically where we want to take the league,” Smith said. “We’ve made great progress in terms of stability the past three years but we have to seize opportunities now. We can’t vacillate.”
Smith said he hoped the CFL clubs who oppose U.S. expansion would still be intelligent enough to approve the league’s games on U.S. television this year. Giles and Toronto Argonauts’ owner Sherwood Schwarz visited ESPN executives last week and came away with the feeling that they could get CFL games aired on the U.S. network in the coming season if the league were willing to guarantee that it will pay for commercials should customary sponsors not be found.
“You can have TV programming into the States without trying to put franchises in the U.S. market,” Smith said. “I mean, Australian Rules Football is sold into the States on TV, but you don’t see any Australian Rules Football teams in the States, do you?” Here’s another scoop: Daryl Edralin was offered the opportunity to stay on for a fifth consecutive season as the special-teams coach with the Argonauts but turned it down after new Toronto head coach John Huard explained to him that his staff will be compelled to rely on computer technology.
“Huard is really into computers, and I respect that, but I’m a computer idiot myself,” Edralin said yesterday. “I mean, I can barely get on the Internet.”
So Edralin is jumping to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, where he will work under head coach Ron Lancaster.
He’ll be replaced in Toronto by Darrell Pasquale,a former special-teams coach with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. The Argos would have preferred Pasquale’s father, Larry, a long-time assistant coach in the NFL. But the elder Pasquale is about to accept a big gig – as an assistant with the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams. Did you know? The Pittsburgh Steelers may soon invite Hamilton quarterback Danny McManus for a tryout. “We’ve arranged to get some film on Danny,” said Doug Whaley, the Steelers co-ordinator for player personnel. “We have some interest in him, for sure. His brother [ Jerry McManus]called us and said Danny is thinking of playing in the NFL. We know he was the MVP in the CFL last year so maybe he could help us.” . . . The Ticats are trying to persuade McManus to forget about the NFL by offering him a long-term contract, but the quarterback is waiting to find out what the CFL’s maximum salary is. Whatever it is, McManus will get it. But, while CFL commissioner John Toryhas long been under the impression that it was $150,000, Giles told me yesterday the governors planned to discuss the matter at their meetings and may decide to establish a higher maximum. If they do, watch for an outburst from Damon Allen and his agent, Dan Lawson. Allen signed a two-year contract with the B.C. Lions last week, supposedly worth $150,000 a season, because Lawson thought that was the maximum and that it was etched in stone. Oh, what a league. . . . Another CFL quarterback who would be affected by the maximum salary is Kerwin Bell,a free agent. Bell also is thinking of jumping to the NFL and has just hired agent Gil Scott to try to get him there. That won’t make Winnipeg head coach Dave Ritchie too happy. Ritchie badly wants Bell back with the Blue Bombers. Scott also is Ritchie’s agent. . . . Hamilton co-owner George Grant is on record. He wants Giles to succeed Tory as CFL commissioner. Tory has said he will step down as commish next month. There are those in the league who do not feel Giles should be the commish, even though he has been most responsible for its day-to-day operations in his role as prez. Certain governors will try to persuade Tory to stay on longer. If they succeed, don’t be surprised if Giles quits. . . . Speaking of retiring, future Hall of Famer Lui Passaglia,45, has told the Lions he will do just that after next season. Passaglia is the leading scorer in the history of professional football. He’s been kicking around the CFL for a quarter of a century. You wonder if any player – in any league – will ever again last this long.
