Commissioner, how do you feel in regards to the conclusion of your ruling regarding the Bill Parcells-NE situation? Have you reflected upon it at all?
"I think with the benefit of hindsight, I’m more convinced than ever that it was fair and it was balanced for both teams. NE has the first two players as a result of the 3rd and 4th picks in this year’s draft. We’ll see how they turn out to be. That could be something that they either make good use of the opportunity or not. What I’ve heard around the league has been very positive in terms other clubs feeling that it was a balanced and fair decision. As a precedent, I feel that it is a very narrow one because I don’t feel you are going to have many coaches involved with the unusual type of contract arrangement that Bill had at the end of his deal with the Patriots. So, it may be one of those things that just comes up every 20 years or so. Because of the uniqueness of the contract.
The Jets are right up against the salary cap, with the league being up for a new television contract after this year, do you anticipate the cap rising substantially?
It will certainly rise. Whether it rises substantially or rises gradually depends on a lot of things that will be talked about with the networks and with the Players Association. We have a commitment under the collective bargaining agreement that the cap will grow every year. So, we have to do a lot of planning in terms of the growth of the cap. So, how much it grows next year remains to be seen. It will definitely grow.
Are there any plans for the Jets to play in an American Bowl anytime in the near future?
We’d like to see every team play in these American Bowl games and spread the experience around. It’s a very unifying experience, a very positive experience for the teams and helps the teams mature. I was just talking to Marty Schottenheimer last week about the first one the Chiefs played in Berlin. They played in the Olympic Stadium over there. On the way over the players watched the Jesse Owens life story about the 1936 Olympics in the stadium. It’s a unique thing and we’d like to get everyone involved, including the Jets, with Parcells and the Giants with Jim Fassell. We don’t limit it just to the marquee teams, we try to have strong teams in there and hopefully the Jets and the Giants will fit that bill very shortly. No schedules set.. Overseas there is an inherent interest in the big (US) cities. They now about New York, Chicago and San Francisco, of course they also know about the Packers now, the smallest market in the league. But there is interest in the big city teams.
What sense do you have about the Jets?
""I find it interesting to see how the players respond to a larger than life qualities of a Mike Ditka. In KC, Marty has had a lot of success and there is a lot of excitement there. They have really revamped the team. They got some carry-over talent across the board. What I’ve experienced here today with Bill and the Jets is sort of a continuation of what I’ve seen. It underscores the importance of that coach who is not just great with the X’s and the O’s, but has those intangibles qualities of leadership and Bill and I met this morning with Maurice Carthon. We talked about his experiences of coming from the USFL onto the Giants, playing for Bill and now being on the other side, coaching and trying to bring some of those intangibles to the practice field as a coach and the communication skills. The personal skills and the ability to motivate an athlete when your legs begin to get a little rubbery and you begin to get dehydrated, it’s a tough thing. Sometimes it’s the harsh words and sometimes it’s the supportive word. But all 5 of these coaches underscore to me that this is a business that depends a lot of leadership, vision and a personality and an individual approach to the job with a lot of confidence and conviction. It’s almost the most important thing, going in there with the conviction that you’re going to win and the confidence in the program. Programs can be very different. The one thing the successful programs have is the conviction that they are going to win. That’s what you find here.
Is it important that there is a strong presence here in NY?
Well, I’ve said before that the Jets, Giants, Bears, those big city teams are important and create a level of energy and ripples through a very large population. But one of the things that is unique about the NFL is the national appeal of our game and out teams. GB last year created the biggest ripple that we’ve seen in a long time in terms of fan interest and you ask yourself, ‘Why?" I think it’s a combination of the triumph of tradition and the triumph of a legacy. Small town America versus corporate America. Community owned team against commercialization. But it was also the conviction of Reggie White as the new Willie Davis, Brett Favre is the new Bart Starr, so we have a league, Buffalo has been another example, where the small market teams can have as big an impact when they get to the playoffs. But it’s great to have the Monsters of the Midway strong and its great to have strong Jets and Giants teams in New York. I think the key thing is to have what we have now, which is now a shot at everyone being competitive. That’s the most important thing. Right now, going into last season, the only thing some people thought about was could the Cowboys beat the 49ers, and now all of a sudden NE came on strong, DEN came on strong. GB came on strong, the expansion teams came on strong. So all of a sudden, we had 6-9-10 teams that were strong. That’s the key thing I think from the fans’ perspective.
What do you think of some of the things Jerry Jones has done to correct some of his team’s problems?
"I think it has been very positive. I’ve spoken to Jerry about it and the Hill’s about it and Calvin has visited with Lem Burnham, who’s our v.p. of football programs. Lem was with me last week in my visits to other team’s and it was one of the things we focused on. Every team has a rep. now who is in charge of these programs. On a league wide basis, we are real pleased. At a seminar we had in CHI for the rookies in mid June was the 1st time it has been had, I thought it went very well. I spoke to some of the rookies last week and their reaction to the seminar was a uniformly very positive one. One player talked about the value he got in terms of what was available as far as family counseling and what kinds of issues he could be addressing as a young player. Where he should be living, how he can complete his college education. So I think it had an impact on the players.
What the Cowboys are doing is what everybody else is doing and it’s very, very important. We feel good going into this season that we have addressed this in a comprehensive way. Players responsibilities to act in a responsible way and not to be misled by people who have an agenda and people who claim to be friends with these players. In most cases that’s the problem.
When I spoke at the rookie seminar in CHI, I used the simple phrase, "You can either have the tears of joy or the tears of disappointment.’ The tears of joy will come when you win a big playoff game or when you complete your degree. I use Emmitt Smith as an example, he’s had the tears of joy. He’s accomplished almost everything a football player can accomplish on the field and last year in front of his parents, and grandparents he received his diploma. Those are the tears of joy. The tears of disappointment are what I see in my office when the player is in there on a disciplinary hearing and he’s admitting he did something dumb: brandished a weapon, threatened someone at a night club, or tested positive on the drug program and, in most cases, it comes from who you are hanging around with. So if we can get that message across, it’s important to those tears of joy.